Having a mission is important. To run a successful business, you need to be on a mission. Yet many of us small business owners (particularly real estate investors and professionals) skip writing a mission statement. Companies put their mission statement on the wall, not because it’s cheesy but because it’s important. Actually, many company mission statements are cheesy, but having a good one is a good idea. Think of it as your foundation.

Building a successful business requires a strong foundation, especially today. Opportunities come around every day. Do you take this new client? Should you join this new social network? Should you take your company in this direction or that? If you refer back to your mission statement, you ought to be able to answer questions like this pretty swiftly and with certainty.

If you don’t have a mission, then you don’t have any objective means of maintaining any consistency. And if you have employees, managers or anyone who makes decisions on your behalf, then you definitely don’t have any way of keeping a cohesive brand together. Not without a mission.

What is your mission?

Writing a mission statement may sound pretty simple, so it’s easy to overlook how important it is. But sit down to write one. It’s more difficult than you might expect. It’s one thing to be able to write posts to your blog on a regular basis, build your friends list on Facebook, etc…the day to day stuff of building your presence online. But what exactly is it you’re building? Have you thought to consider it?

A tweet came through my feed on Twitter this past week. I think it was from Chris Brogan or someone like that. It’s buried now, and I can’t find it, but it was basically something like “describe your brand, what you do, what you’re about in 140 characters or less. Can you do it?” This is a mission statement.

• What are you about?
• What are you building?
• What drives you?
• Why are you doing it?

Answering these grandiose questions in a line or two is difficult, but that’s why it’s important.

Why You Need a Mission

You need a mission for one reason…NOT having a mission means you’re drifting. From a business perspective, you’re a ship out to sea without a sail. Without a mission, you have no brand. Not really. At best, your brand is an accident. You need something as a foundation.

Notice that my assertion here is that a mission simply gives you a sail. It’s essential, but your mission statement is not going to be what differentiates you or makes you the best at what you do. It’s simply a building block. No one is going to do business with you solely because of your mission statement. But it needs to be there.

It’s important to have a mission, but it doesn’t matter what mission you choose!

All that matters is that your mission speaks to you. On a fundamental level. It needs to excite you, but it also needs to do more than that. It needs to drive you. It’s beyond excitement; it needs to be primal. It can be pretty, but you have to mean it!

An Example of a Bad Mission Statement

To satisfy our customers’ desires for personal entertainment and information through total customer satisfaction

I found this on Seth Godin’s blog and I agree 100%. What the hell does this even mean? Ha.

Is it wrong of me to assume that this doesn’t really speak to someone’s heart? Is some manager somewhere really busting ass to make this happen every day as if his life depended on it? Seriously, I doubt it. This is an example of a mission statement with nothing behind it. Ironically, (although I can’t verify this) it also probably cost the company thousands of dollars for some troll to produce it. Someone who has no ownership interest in the company. Bad move.

Do you run your company? Don’t outsource the writing of your mission statement…it completely defeats the purpose.

An Example of a Rocking Mission Statement

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Just my opinion…this mission is engaging and exciting. Also, it doesn’t ramble on with useless corporate-speak and unnecessary verbiage. It’s clear and ambitious. To me, this is a mission. It’s frickin huge, and that makes it all the more appealing, but it’s also very targeted. You could stay busy for a while with a mission like that…

It’s not about the mission statement itself. The process of writing your mission statement is almost more important than the actual mission statement you produce. The fact that you can refer back to it is invaluable, but the process of coming up with your mission statement should be a soul searching experience. It should take you a minute, you know? Think about it, write it. Live by it. It should be something more than exciting to you. You should love it. After all, you’re going to be working day and night to make it happen. Make it a good one.

Do you have a mission statement? Do you agree or disagree that it’s vital to have one?

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Why You Need A Rocking Mission Statement

If something takes 5 minutes a day, but saves countless hours and drastically improves your success would you do it?  100% of you are saying yes right now . . . now I want you to commit one whole year to doing this before you have the chance to back out.  You will be amazed by the results and you will continue to do it for the rest of your life.

Studies from an Ivy league school’s graduates have shown that there is a direct correlation between the highest earners and doing this one simple thing daily.  It can actually apply to just about every part of your life whether it is family, relationships, career/financial, health, hobbies, etc.  You will be amazed by the results and what you can achieve.

Write Down and Track Your Goals

The one thing I recommend to everyone is to write down your goals every day.  I cannot stress enough how much of a positive impact it will have on your life.  Challenges are no longer stressful, they become a goal and just something you work towards everyday in your life. 

Here is a bit more detail.

1. Write down your goals everyday
2. Write what it will take to achieve them
3. Begin completing these tasks
4. Start over at 1 everyday

Do this everyday and you will be amazed how productive, efficient and effective you become.  Whether it is career, real estate, and financial goals; family and relationship goals; or fitness and hobby goals, you will become organized and unstoppable if you truly commit.

Photo Credit: dcysurfer

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

How to Acheive Your Personal and Business Goals in Five Minutes a Day

Image by said&done via Flickr

Real Estate marketing is a science, not an art. One of the greatest books you could ever read for Real Estate marketing, whether it be by marketing articles and tools for your website, is called “How to Master the Art of Selling” by Tom Hopkins. The book is fantastic for Real Estate professionals who are looking to win more referrals and leads while at the same time baking the cash every single month.

Before I go into this simple, yet very effective technique, I should clarify that this is not some kind of a mind control technique or anything like that.  The way I see it, it’s 100% ethical and it is being used by someone every hour of every day.  Also, I hope that by reading this post, you’ll see the power of it and apply it not only in your business but in your personal life.  I know that this is a very popular blog and what I say here will be seen by a lot of people.  In the end, this strategy can benefit both parties involved.  So, let’s get going here.

For your 2009 marketing proposals and pitches, instead of trying to push a product or service, in this case a home, start your salesmanship by listening and opening yourself with questions when a customer comes to you for advice. Whether you are an investor, realtor or a broker, you should remind yourself that the average sales person would talk more than he would listen and because of it less amount of communication will be from both parties.

Instead, try asking questions and eagerly listening with your body language pointing obvious enthusiasm to your potential buyer or future prospect. If you come to think of it, Tom Hopkins would agree that this is a champion salesmanship process. You listen and gather rapport. You establish communication and involve the client by establishing genuine interest. Not by trying to push a sale or manipulate the brain for what already is one of the most emotional purchases for most people.

Among the most important sales skills you begin to process is a plan to clear potential objections based on what the customer really wants once he asks more questions.  Not only do you win by passing the potential buyer of a home into a selling process, but if you take the time to learn about the client’s interests, you win through adjusting your salesmanship and abilities whether you ultimately win or lose the sale.

So, next time you get a possible buyer or seller on the phone or see them in their house, be quiet and listen to what they have to say.  Remember, silence is extremely powerful.  Train yourself to be quiet and let the other party talk.  Most people are very uncomfortable when there is silence and they’ll just start talking.  Now, I know this isn’t an easy task.  Believe me, I’m still working on it.  My wife is an amazing woman and she reminds me of it once in a while

But the simple fact is that when you let other people talk, you BOTH end up in a better position if you were to be the one talking and not listening.  Even worse, talking over each other.

So, do you want to find out your buyer’s real problems? Do you want to know how you can help them?  Then BE QUIET!  Try it and then come back here and let me know by commenting on the post below.

To Your Success…

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

How To Find Out Your Buyer’s or Seller’s Biggest Problems Every Time

Today I am going to share something with you that can literally change your life.  This little technique will give you the power to master your own business and your own life.  You need to master this technique if you want  to be successful in life.  What am I talking about here?  I’m talking about Effective Time Management.  Without it, you’re just spinning your wheels and get nothing done.  Without it, you’ll look back at your own day and say:  “What happen?  Where did the day go? I didn’t get anything done!”

If you look on the internet and type in time management in Google, there are thousands of different ways to manage your time.  I will show you one technique that I use in my own life and my own business.  You can use that technique or you can use something else but this technique has proved to be most effective for me.

First of all, I have to give credit where it’s due.  I learned this from Alex Mondossian, an internet marketer and an old school copywriter whose been famous for a long time—his name was Eugene Schwartz.  By the way, if you want to learn effective copywriting, Eugene Schwartz books and swipe files are amazing.  So check them out.

Here’s the simple time management technique:

Step 1 – Create your master to do list.  Your master to do list is going to have to have all of the items you have to finish the next day.  You can use a notebook or 5″x7″ index cards.  So, if you are writing your master to do list on Sunday, you are focusing on your to-do list for Monday.  Don’t write more than 20 items though.  When you complete an item, cross it out with a RED pen.  Believe me, it works.  It’s a psychological thing.  One tip I learned is to do couple of fun items first. Not only does it get you going but it gets you excited about your list and your day.

Step 2 – You are going to blackout your daily prime time hours.  Now you may be a morning person or night person.  I am a night person and tend to sleep in the morning, so my prime time hours are late afternoon (after I get up) or later at night because everyone is away and I can focus on what I am doing.  I would suggest that you should keep your prime time hours between 1-4 hours.  These prime time hours are going to be your focus hours on items that are critical to your business and your profits.  Focus on those items and avoid interruptions.  Turn off your phone, close your office door and whatever else interrupts you during the day.

Step 3 – You are going to use a countdown timer during your prime time hours.  It can be any kind of timer as long as it counts down.  You will set your prime time hours to 50 or 55 minutes. Mr. Schwartz was teaching about 3 minutes and 33 seconds or 33 minutes and 33 seconds.  He would set his clock for that amount of time. Play around with the time and see which one works better for you.  At first, you might start with 33 minutes and 33 seconds because you might not be used to focusing for so long.  Then, as you get better, you can ramp it up to 55 minutes. So, you turn the timer on and start working.

Let’s say you want to write an article for marketing purposes but you have no clue as to what to write about. Turn on the timer that you set for 33 or 55 minutes and sit there in front of that paper.  If you can’t think of anything that is fine just start writing crazy stuff down and sooner or later something will come to you.  Here is a critical point you need to remember, after your time expires and your timer beeps you need to stop.  Step away from the desk put your pen down and go do something for about 5 or 10 minutes.  It doesn’t matter if you are in a middle of something or that you have finally started writing.  You need to do this step.  It’s extremely critical you do.  Here’s where the magic happens.  Your mind will start working on what you have been doing and will start creating ideas for you.  You can be getting a drink or walking around your office.  It doesn’t matter, your mind will do it’s job.

That’s it.  Just rinse and repeat.  After a while, you’ll be amazed how much work you’ll get done and how effective you’ll become.  Believe me, I’ve seen this technique work and it is amazing.  So go out there and start doing it, today!

One last thing, let me know in the comments below about your thoughts on this.  Have you used this technique?  What do you think about it?  Maybe you have some really good tips you can share with others on this blog.  Thanks again and I’ll talk to you soon.

To Your Success,

Peter Kolat

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

How To Master Your Time Before The Time Masters You

When people first decide to buy an apartment building it is common for them to make a few easily preventable mistakes. The most common error that I see new investors make is not having what I like to refer to as the “investor tool chest”.

For example, if you wanted to build a house you would need a few things to get started. You would need first to have a blue print for the home drawn up by an architect. Second, you would need to have the proper tools to actually complete the building, You would need the nails, hammers, saws and drills to work on the raw materials. Thankfully, investing in apartment buildings doesn’t require any physical tools or skills. However, investing in apartment building does require the same kind of mental planning and in this case your “tool chest” is actually a “tool chest” of knowledge.

To Be a Successful Apartment Investor, You Must Have a Plan!

The best way to acquire these essential educational tools is to read many books and magazines on the subject. The first and most important tool that an investor can have is the ability to determine the investment value of apartment building. There is no way that an investor can be sure that he or she will be buying a cash cow or a money pit without the necessary ability to analyze the value of a building. There is an endless array of information available about debt coverage ratios, cap rates and real estate evaluation. In my opinion the first time commercial real estate investor should operate with one simple mental “tool” or presumption and that is to determine what the building is worth to him or her and to ignore almost everything else. What this means is that investor should virtually ignore what prices other similar properties have recently sold for in the area. Instead, the investor should figure out the price that will allow him or her to buy the property and make the profit and cash flow that will make it a good investment.

In order the figure out what price you should pay for an apartment building, assuming for example that you want to realize a certain return, or Cap Rate on your investment annually, simply use the following formula:

Net Operating Income
__________________ = Price You Can Pay to Realize a Desired Cap Rate
Capitalization Rate

Photo Credit: jthetzel

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Buy an Apartment Building With a Tool Chest of Knowledge

With the US Dollar falling and rising inflation many individual investors are looking for alternative methods to preserve and grow their capital. Apartment buildings are starting to receive a lot of interest from many investors who have little or no experience in the world of commercial real estate. Investors are now attracted to apartment building investments because of their relative security, positive cash flow and growth potential. These new investors are hungry to learn how to buy an apartment building. However, the first time buyer should do his necessary homework before actually investing his hard earned money in a multifamily property.

The last thing a new investor should do is to buy the first apartment building deal that comes across his table. In fact, in my role as a commercial property finance consultant, as soon as I hear that the investor I am speaking with has never bought or managed a multifamily building previously AND that this is the first deal that he or she has ever looked it, then I know immediately that it is a deal that will never get done. I don’t even have to look at the rent rolls or the income and expense statements. To many readers this may sound cynical or brash but it is simply the truth. And it has nothing to do with the intelligence of the investor it just simply has to do with the fact that banks will not lend money on an apartment building that is not or will not soon become profitable.

Many beginner commercial real estate buyers are under the assumption that they will somehow be able to convince their commercial mortgage broker and the commercial mortgage bank underwriters the property is such a great deal at the purchase price because there is a new mall scheduled to be opened down the street or that the neighborhood is undergoing revitalization or because a big employer is moving into the city. All of this may be true but a bank will not generally lend money on an apartment building unless it is already profitable and the bank will usually want to see at least a 20% down payment. And I don’t blame beginning investors for believing what they do. Many real estate agents and property owners will say just about anything to get a building sold. The job of the real estate agent and the property owner is to get the property sold for the most amount of money that the market will bear.

The first time apartment building buyer needs to be aware of the fact that the real estate agent selling the multifamily building represents the seller’s best interest and not his or hers. For this reason it is imperative for the first time investor to have as much education and knowledge going into the deal as possible. The first skill the buyer must have to separate the junk deals from the deals that will be profitable, cash flowing apartment buildings. He or she should begin by taking all or some of the steps below:

• Get a book education first. Learn about the industry and terminology by reading many commercial real estate investment books Stay away from the books that over promise and under deliver. It if seems to easy to be true then you know that it is.
• Develop your analytical skills. You need to be concentrating on Debt Service Coverage Ratios, CAP rates and Internal Rates of Return. You don’t want to be thinking emotionally about the investment. This does not mean that you should eschew creative financing and acquisition strategies. It just means that these strategies and methods should be firmly based and tested in the real world.

• Network and forge relationships with commercial real estate professionals and investors. Every major metropolitan area has at least one very active real estate investment club.

• Build a “master mind” team of advisers that will help you evaluate your investment decisions. This team could include attorneys, accountants, appraisers, realtors, mortgage brokers, business men and other entrepreneurs.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

How to Buy an Apartment Building

Buy an Apartment Building Today?

In today’s turbulent financial markets many investors are looking for ways to grow their money that will offer a steady flow of predictable income and limited market risk. More and more people are buying apartment buildings to help diffuse the effects of inflation on their portfolios. Apartment buildings offer many exceptional advantages over traditional investments such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds. This is especially true in a recessionary market environment. In fact there are many attractive attributes of an apartment building investment that many investors who are new to commercial real estate may not even know about. There are some interesting facts about buy multi-family property investing that could radically change your perception about this fascinating and lucrative part of the investment world and inspire you to go out and buy an apartment building of your own.

Warren Buffet once said that “wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.” This quote seems especially true about the average investor in the United States who is listening to the advice of a financial adviser who in reality knows little more about the markets then himself. Usually financial advisers will recommend that a client be well diversified in investments ranging from stocks, bonds, mutual funds or maybe even a real estate investment trust. The adviser is putting his or her client into a group of “diversified” investments that were recommended by the firm’s top adviser and the research department. Unfortunately, however, for the individual investor is the fact that these investments are basically designed to preserve the firm’s capital under management and they don’t take into great regard the individual investor’s need to grow his capital.

The most successful investors and those that see the greatest returns are those that specialize in a particular sector. And the timing has never been better to begin specializing in apartment building investing for the average investor. The stock market is under intense earnings and inflation pressure. Investors need to look at a direct investment in an income producing apartment building to establish a profitable stream of cash flow that could last for decades to come. Many thousands of individual investors have been able to secure their financial futures by specializing in this unique niche and leaving behind the mediocrity of financial advisers and stock pickers.

If there has ever truly been a recession proof business it has to be apartment building investing. Even with the US economy is turmoil and business cutbacks people will always need a place to live. The actual demand for rental units in the US has never been higher then today. A total of 36 million of all households in the US are renter occupied. In total, a full 83% of all households under age 25 in the US are occupied by renters. Furthermore, a full 55% of all households between 25 and 35 are renters. The growing senior segment of society will be living longer and looking for rental properties as well. These are a few impressive statistics that demonstrate the strong current and projected demand for rental housing.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Buy an Apartment Building Today?