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Jan Atchley ...

Are you wondering how to survive this holiday season? Do you get caught up in the fast pace to the point of stress and exhaustion? What if, this year, you could create exactly what you want? How about transforming stress into joy? How about making more money, instead of digging yourself into a hole? This article offers seven tips to help you thrive this holiday season, financially, emotionally, and energetically.

There is more than one way to brand yourself, and for First Team® Real Estate, a traditional marketing plan just wouldn’t do. For the company, recently named the favorite real estate firm in the Orange County Register’s 2011 “Best of Orange County” readers poll,

Real estate agents are people, too. You have personal lives. You have emotional ups and downs in addition to financial ups and downs. The following simple steps ensure that your 2012 Business Plan works for your business and your life.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes edged up two points from a downwardly revised number to 21 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for December. This marks a third consecutive month in which builder confidence has improved, and brings the index to its highest point since May of 2010. “While builder confidence remains low, the consistent gains registered over the past several months are an indication that pockets of recovery are slowly starting to emerge in scattered housing markets,” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev.

Producing the world’s best video doesn’t mean a whole lot if people aren’t watching. Granted, if you’re incredibly talented and lucky, you may come up with something so irresistible it spreads virally by social media, sharing, and word of mouth. If not, something called key words are probably your best bet.

Real estate agents are people, too. You have personal lives. You have emotional ups and downs in addition to financial ups and downs. The following steps, continued from part 1, ensure that your 2012 Business Plan works for your business and your life.

Sound, lights, action! The show is on and you’re out to get the best bang for your buck. After all, you’ve dedicated considerable resources for travel, lodging and other expenses to attend one of the most important industry conferences of the year. You should be able to draw as much value from your investment as possible. For many, overwhelming “noise” at conferences can easily turn the “action” part of the equation into a “freeze” scenario. A deer-in-headlights-type situation.

(eM+C)—You think you have a great website, but do you? If you're not testing and targeting, you're likely not making the most of your online presence. Research shows that many companies still aren't testing, and as a result are losing ground to competitors who are.

In the world of listings, the silver medal means absolutely nothing. It pays less than nothing. And, in fact, it actually costs you, because of all those wasted hours (and gas for your car, materials for the listing presentation, etc). This is why your only goal in the business of getting a real estate listing is first place. Being second carries zero reward–and even a negative balance. Whereas, if there were five REALTORS® competing for the same listing, then the last person actually beat you, because they probably spent less of their time and money on it!

(eM+C)—A major issue that’s top of mind right now for a lot of marketing professionals is how to predict their budget for 2012. Determining what technology will be affordable is challenging. According to a recent study by Digital Asset Management News, 68 percent of marketers say that up to 30 percent

Unemployment and other factors have caused many homeowners to involuntarily default on their mortgages. At the same time, falling home prices, the possibility of being underwater for many years and advice from certain influencers, or “mavens,” may have encouraged others

A few weeks back, Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers of the NFL, showed up at the parking lot where we were tailgating before the game. A group quickly formed around him to talk and get autographs. I looked at my son, Jordan, and said, “Jordan, it’s Jerry Richardson, the owner of the Panthers, and I want you to introduce yourself. I want you to go up to him, look him in the eye and give a good handshake with your right hand. Give him your name as well.”

Thinking outside the box, tailoring your marketing materials to the audience you’re trying to reach and staying away from a cookie-cutter approach are just a few of the ways Associate Broker Bob Blauers with RE/MAX Hometown Choice is working to stay ahead of his competition.

Think about the meaning of the phrase, “at the top of your game.” What does it mean to you? Does it bring up images of success? Can you picture yourself in the future being successful and maintaining a balanced life? If this picture is fuzzy, here are some common mistakes that you can avoid. Mistake No. 1 Lack of clarity. So many people I know tell me that they want to be more successful. When I asked him specifically what do they mean by "more successful,” they often do not have an answer.