I try and read a book a week. It doesn’t always happen, but I have a long list of books I want to get through. Most of the books I read fall into three categories: Real estate investing, self-help and marketing. The book that I’m reading this week is “Awaken the Giant Within” by Tony Robbins.

In the book, Tony talks about how you condition your mind for certain behaviors by reinforcing these behaviors and changing your belief about past behaviors (confusing, I know). He actually uses some fancy term, like Neuro Programming Association, or something along those lines. So, you’re probably wondering what this has to do with talking on the phone with sellers, right? Well, most new investors are scared to call a seller or talk to a seller on the phone. There is no rational basis for this, but they’ve conditioned their mind and now associate a negative feeling to talking with sellers.

I know that when I first started out in this business I hated talking to sellers just like everyone else. When I had a lead come in I would procrastinate for hours, before returning their call. Finally one day, I decided that I wanted more than anything to become a successful real estate investor and that no fear was going to hold me back. So, I scheduled a time each day that I would make calls to sellers (I highly recommend time blocking).

Anyways, since action cures fear, the more calls I made the more comfortable I became. Then as I started closing deals (which meant making money) I associated a good feeling with the phone calls….because phone calls began to equal money. Well, I’ve done something special for people who are afraid to talk to a seller on the phone, or don’t know what questions to ask them. I’ve recorded a two-part video where I go from A-Z showing you how I talk with a seller on the phone.

PART 1

Part 2

Next week, I’ll have another educational video for you that’s so secret I’m not going to tell you what it is (which means I have no idea what I’m going to show you, so I’m open to suggestions).

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Tags: Anthony Robbins, fear, productivity, real estate marketing, sales, self improvement

Last week I was in North Carolina. I love the outdoors and did some awesome hiking in the Linville Falls Gorge. A buddy and I went in a huge swimming hole that had a nice 20 foot cliff you could jump off of (search the Babel Tower swimming hole). I also went swimming in Lake Lure (for you ladies, that’s the place where the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed).

Anyways, all last week I worked about an hour a day (to return phone calls and emails). I was able to do this because I have my real estate investing on auto-pilot and because my assistant runs things for me. Getting to this point in your real estate investing career takes a while. There are several stages in an investor’s career (one of these days I’ll write about the stages) and right now I’m in stage four (your systems are in place and things run like clockwork…….most of the time).

So, you still probably think that the four hour workweek is a bunch of B.S., and it is….but not for the reasons you think. Working only a couple hours a week is fun to do when you’re taking a vacation or when you want a break every couple of weeks. However, here are the two reasons the four hour workweek is garbage:

1. As a true entrepreneur, you always want to improve your business. This means you want to find faster ways to sell your houses, you want to create better marketing materials that get higher response rates, and you want to do more deals every month and faster. Obviously, if you only worked four hours a week for 52 straight weeks, your business would stay stagnant and you wouldn’t close any more deals. So if you were averaging 10 deals a year, you would still only close 10 deals.
2. The second reason is because life would be BORING. Most investors that I know love what they do (if you don’t love real estate investing, get out now). I love what I do and that’s why I often work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. You can only sit on the beach so long before you almost die of boredom.

So, even though it’s a catchy book title, we all know that the four hour workweek is basically called vacationing…..and once you put your business on autopilot, the beauty is that you can vacation as much as you want and where you want.

By the way, next week I ‘m going to show you the number one way that I can tell if someone is going to be a successful real estate investor!

Tags: 4-hour workweek, productivity, real estate, real estate investing

For the novice real estate investor, it’s mighty tempting to handle business deals and tenant phone calls from home, but having a home office or dedicated office area provides a degree of separation essential for running a successful real estate enterprise. No matter how hard you try, it’s impossible to sound professional with a screaming baby on one hip and SpongeBob blaring in the background.

Thinking like a successful business person and presenting a polished front to clients and colleagues begins with a state of mind, not a desk. Think separation-keeping business and home life apart where never the ‘twain shall meet. A home office doesn’t have to be elaborate to get the job done. Many a successful business person’s started with a separate phone line and answering machine.

Our first office consisted of business phone line coming through the dining room wall, a $10 phone and an answering machine atop a 2 drawer filing cabinet we picked up at Wally World for 25 bucks. When the phone rang, I threatened all child-units into silence, plastered a smile across my chops, imagined myself with neatly coiffured hair and a French manicure and transformed from June Cleaver to Betsy Businesswoman. The kids pantomimed their hysterics by clutching their bellies and rolling about the floor -silent hysterics as any peeps would’ve earned the little ratfinks cow-stall cleaning duty for a month.

A Place of My Own

A step up from the cabinet in the corner would be dedicating a room entirely to business use. When we built our current home, we looked for a plan with a first floor room near the front door (and the potty) to corral all the landlord office equipment and paperwork in one easily accessed spot. A single closet with shelves evenly spaced to the ceiling provides tons of room for office supplies. A cup-hook system with color-coded tabs keeps keys to each house out of the drawers and within reach. (Its super secret squirrel location also keeps nosy neighbors from knowing all our business if they stop by for afternoon java.)

Office furnishings don’t have to be elaborate or trendy, but if you’re spending tons of time staring at the walls anyway, you might as well make things pleasant. Recently, I found a totally cool MCM bookcase for $25 (that’s Mid Century Modern for all you decorating challenged individuals. You remember, the stuff your grandma couldn’t give away at her yard sale back in ‘73 that’s now going bonkers on ebay). It’s big enough for all my REI books plus the writing books that should’ve taught me how to quit writing mile-long sentences interrupted with dumb tidbits of useless information.

My office: plastic tables, antique swivel-chair, lovely HP-Officejet, etc.

A nicely equipped home office would include:

• A desk: We use two plastic folding tables from Sam’s Club sitting at right angles in a corner. Not pretty, but cheap and sturdy.

• Office chair: Make it adjustable and cushyand your back will thank you.

• Phone + answering machine: Spring for a better machine if possible. The newer, digital messaging system makes yours truly sound young, hip and professional, no lie. My kids snicker every time the silly thing comes on.

• Lighting: This is surprisingly more important than you might imagine. Any extra will help, but recently we splurged on one of those new daylight bulb lamps and the difference on my poor middle-aged eyes was immediate and dramatic.

• Dedicated phone line: Out here in the boonies, cell phone reception’s beyond laughable. We pay $40/month for a basic line with call waiting, caller ID and call forwarding. Even if you use a cell phone (young whipper-snappers), a landline may be necessary if you need a fax machine. Speaking of which-

• Fax machine/ printer/ scanner/ copier: I’m totally in love with my HP Officejet all-in-one. In fact, I’d marry the thing if the mister didn’t have first dibs (might do it anyway if the ink were a bit less expensive…) If you don’t have a copy machine, this puppy will make you cry with delight every time you throw your keys back in the drawer instead of fighting the Goth chicks for copy-time at the library. And don’t even get me started on the fax machine… so lovely.

• Filing cabinet: Word of experience–don’t skimp here! The cheap-o model we started with drove us to the loony bin and back– drawers sticking every which way, files falling sideways and out the back. Look for solid construction and file drawers with *sides* not rails. Hon’s a good brand available at most office supply stores.

• Shredder: Self explanatory, really, but be careful-one ate my fingers during a feeding frenzy and the result was very ugly (and painful.) I’ve given all my kids shredder lessons since that time and having a mangled hand to wave around illustrated the point quite well.

The Holy Grail: The IRS Home Office Deduction

Lots of folks are afraid to take the home office deduction, fearing they’ll trigger an audit or worse. But these days, with hundreds of thousands of folks working from home, the deduction is much more common and fairly simple to figure, as long as you have dedicated space used only for business purposes. Our accountant suggested we forget the idea of putting a sleeper sofa in our office, suggesting that making the office a multi-purpose room (office + guestroom) would muddy the waters, making the deduction harder to justify if we were ever challenged.

There’s no reason to forgo a legitimate deduction and, over time, this one can really add up. This year, ours is running in the $3000 range-nothing to sneeze at, for sure. For a simple calculator, check here to see how much your deduction might be. You can learn about the legalities through a simple, online search. (Here’s a good place to start.)

Home Offices are Good and Stuff

For any type of real estate related business, you’ll need a separate phone line or cell phone, answering machine with caller ID, and a filing cabinet. Later, you may want to add a fax machine, a computer just for your business, printer and (gasp!) perhaps a real desk.

Our home office is one of my favorite spots. Business stuff stays where it belongs-away from my kitchen. The ability to turn the volume up on the answering machine and close the door means we hear incoming calls and messages from most anywhere in the house, but can choose to ignore them all we want. During office hours, we set the answering machine to pickup after 4 rings, giving plenty of time to get to the phone if we’re advertising a vacancy or just feel like playing big-shot real estate investors for the day.

One of these years, I plan to outgrow my home office, but in the meantime, it’s probably my most favorite spot…

… right after that fishing hole just down the street a’ways.

Another look at nirvana: Even the drapes are deductible.

Cool MCM bookcase, file cabinet and other stuff.

Tags: deduction, home office, irs, office, productivity

Most people live their life in a box. Wake up, get ready for work, work for 8 hours or so, come home, spend time with family and so on. They are either content with their jobs or not, but they work a typical job, and can count on a typical schedule. While oftentimes boring, such a predictable schedule actually makes life easier, and I’ll argue, makes you a bit more productive.

Hear me out . . .

Who do you think is more productive? The entrepreneur / real estate agent / investor who gets up and heads to the office (even if its at home) and has a routine, or the guy without one? The guy with a routine spends the first hour or so doing email and finishing business from yesterday, works leads for a few hours, sets up meetings for lunch, etc. Every day, without fail, he sticks to his routine, and can count on running an organized business for himself.

The guy without one gets up when he pleases, heads to the office when he feels like it, and changes his routine like he changes his clothes. Is he going to run a productive business for himself? I’ll have to argue no.

As someone working for yourself there is nothing more important then setting and keeping your schedule and routine. Ruining the flow can be disruptive, and make you ineffective.

I have personally experienced this phenomenon, as I’ve worked part-time jobs while trying to set up my entrepreneurial endeavors. Those days that I have stayed in my routine have been extremely productive days, while I circle my desk on days when I show up late to my office. I feel like I’m playing catch up all day long. It is a constant distraction.

So, I’d like to impart this upon all of the entrepreneurs, independent contractors, and real estate professionals (investors included) out there. Set up a routine that works for you and stick to it. You’ll find that you get a ton more accomplished!

Tags: advice, entrepreneur, productivity