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239-344-7510

11.01.16

by Brad Larson

5 Components of Every Successful Business Plan

5 Components of Every Successful Business Plan

In this post we’ll identify and discuss some helpful guidelines for writing your overall business plan as a real estate sales associate. Without putting it in words, unwritten business plan is just wishful thinking. Therefore, the process of writing your business plan is just as important as the result because writing forces you to examine your assumptions and analysis more carefully. And although there’s no established template that is always used, any well-rounded business plan will include the following elements:

A mission statement.

This is a statement that clearly expresses the exact nature of your business. It’s the guiding light for everything your business does. Regardless of the particular activity in which you are engaged you should be able to articulate how that activity relates to the mission statement.

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Achievable goals

These must be measurable and consistent with your mission statement. Reverse engineering begins with the desired result. Your business plan will include the steps to achieve your goals.

Objectives

These are measurable milestones that must be accomplished to achieve your goals.

Budget

This will determine the amount of money you will have for marketing and promotion.

Action Plans

These specify what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it, and when you’re going to do it. It also includes your marketing and personal promotion plan.

Keep these 5 components in mind when drafting your own business plan and you’ll be more likely to make it a successful one. Note: Traditionally, a business plan is prepared to seek financing, especially a loan from a bank or venture capital. However, it’s helpful to consider your business plan in those terms even if acquiring financing is not currently a necessity for you.

About Larson Educational Services:

Brad Larson

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 44

Fort Myers, FL 33907

239-344-7510

10.18.16

by Brad Larson

7 Tips for Masterful Negotiation Part 2–Florida Real Estate School

7 Tips for Masterful Negotiation Part 2

Think confidence, machismo, and stamina are the keys to winning a negotiation? Then your bargaining skills need a reboot. Over the past decade, a growing field of literature on the subject has come to the conclusion that checking your ego at the boardroom door is a must. Compromise and kindness are the new rules of negotiation. How does this gentler approach work? We’ve compiled a short list of pointers to get you started.

Ditch the Dog Metaphors.

Negotiating: It’s two pit bulls locked in a room and one is going to be forced to roll over. Ick. That mentality is not only outdated, but will get you nowhere. That’s because, frankly, baring teeth and barking the loudest doesn’t have the power it might seem to when bargaining. When deal making gets tense, no one ever wants to back down. In Roger Fisher and William Ury’s negotiating text, “Getting to Yes,” the experts suggest that instead of viewing your counterpart as the adversary, you focus instead on the merits of the case and search for ways to achieve reciprocity. The idea is to “attack” the underlying issue, rather than the other negotiator.

This is how you look when you try to act tough during negotiations.

When All Seems Lost, Gain Something Else.

If a negotiation is going nowhere, and taking up too much of your time and energy, you may want to walk away from it. Before you do, entrepreneur Janine Popick recommends that you stop and think: What else can my company or I get out of this situation? Might someone else give the negotiations a try? Or perhaps you can use the bad situation as an opportunity to train someone at your company on how to deal with toxic clients.

Remember: You’re Already a Pro at This.

However much you think you negotiate, you’re probably underestimating your experience. That’s what bargaining manual Getting to Yes posits. “Everyone negotiates something every day,” the author wrote. And in Bargaining for Advantage, author G. Richard Shell agrees: “All of us negotiate many times a day.” Yes, your co-workers, children, spouse, and even fellow passengers on the train, help you refine your skills day in and day out.

Utilize these 7 tips to reach your own level of negotiation mastery.

About Larson Educational Services:

Brad Larson

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 44

Fort Myers, FL 33907

239-344-7510

10.04.16

by Brad Larson

7 Tips for Masterful Negotiation Part 1–Florida Real Estate School

7 Tips for Masterful Negotiation Part 1

Listen Before you Speak.

There will always be time to open your mouth later, but tap your patience to find out what the other side is thinking first. Then you have extra leverage to tailor your points to fit both sides’ goals, writes Norm Brodsky. When Mike Baicher came to see Brodsky for advice about negotiating a loan, Brodsky told him a story with a familiar moral: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Or, in his particular case, one man’s misery is another man’s idea of humor. So, when entering a negotiation, don’t make any assumptions about what’s in the other party’s mind – just enter the situation with an open mind and plenty of questions.

Don’t follow the cable news theory of negotiation; just because you talk over someone doesn’t make you right.

Embrace Your Fear.

The late Bob Woolf, a prominent sports and entertainment attorney and author of It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask, was quick to say that 95 percent of the folks you’ll ever negotiate with feel just as nervous and, yes, as scared as you do. For that reason, he believes that kindness is a key competitive advantage when it comes to negotiations. Find his theory that “nice guys finish first” at the negotiating table hard to believe? Well, his track record of using a combination of professionalism, ethics, and manners speaks volumes—he successfully represented Julius Irving, Larry Byrd, Carl Yastrzemski, and Thurman Munson in contract negotiations.

Avoid Storytelling.

In a negotiation, “the important thing is for you to be completely truthful about your situation,” veteran entrepreneur Norm Brodsky has said. This is especially true when it comes to negotiating a loan or another financial arrangement. You don’t want to win a particular negotiation at the expense of your credibility. The more forthright you are with the other party, the more likely you are to arrive at a satisfactory outcome. “When you’re negotiating about money you owe, don’t make up stories,” Brodsky says. “Just tell the truth.” Read more.

Study Up.

Remember, the more knowledge you have of a situation before going to the negotiating table, the better off you will be. There are many reasons preparing yourself with the best research will be to your advantage, but one lesser-known perk comes from psychological studies. It’s called the “consistency principle,” which refers to a person’s intrinsic need to appear reasonable. That means your counterpart will likely abide by certain standards, and defer to your authority if you are able to demonstrate that you absolutely know what you are talking about. With greater knowledge, you will be able to set the parameters of the discussion in your favor. Read more.

Check back next time for part 2.

About Larson Educational Services:

Brad Larson

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 44

Fort Myers, FL 33907

239-344-7510

09.20.16

by Brad Larson

Video Resources for Real Estate Agents–LarsonEd

Video Creation and Video Conferencing Resources for Real Estate Professionals

There are plenty of video creation and video conferencing resources available online for free or for cheap. You can use these resources to post videos that improve your brand image as well as your search rankings on Google.

YouTube

YouTube is the largest free video-hosting website that allows members to store and serve video content. YouTube members and website visitors can share YouTube videos on a variety of platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, a blog) by using a link or by embedding HTML code.

Vimeo

No advertisements will play in your video if you have an upgraded account. Password protection is available so you can post the video to friends/family/colleagues/clients before you share with the world – just forward the video and provide the password.

Powtoon

PowToon is a company which sells cloud-based software for creating animated presentations and animated videos. Powtoon provides all the animation tools you’ll ever need to immediately begin creating your own professional-looking animated explainer videos and animated presentations.

Here’s an example of a Powtoon cartoon from yours truly, Larson Educational Services.

Skype

Skype is service provider that offers free calling between subscribers and low-cost calling to people who don’t use the service. In addition to standard telephone calls, Skype enables file transfers, texting, video chat and videoconferencing. The service is available for desktop computers, notebook and tablet computers and other mobile devices, including mobile phones. Included in the free service is a softphone application that can be downloaded to any computing device running Windows, Macintosh, Linux, or Windows Mobile operating systems.

Go-To-Meeting

GoToMeeting is a web-hosted service created and marketed by the Online Services division of Citrix Systems. It is an online meeting, desktop sharing, and video conferencing software that enables the user to meet with other computer users, customers, clients or colleagues via the Internet in real time. GoToMeeting is designed to broadcast the desktop view of a host computer to a group of computers connected to the host through the Internet. Transmissions are protected with high-security encryption and optional passwords.

Join.me

Join.me combines instant screen sharing and powerful meeting tools in an app that anyone can use to present, train, demo or concept. Join.me is designed to be intuitive and accessible, providing features that you’ll use every day for everything from show-and-tell to formal presentations.

FaceTime

A video telephone / video chat service that makes it possible to conduct one-on-one video calls between iPhone, iPad, and Mac notebooks and desktops. Apple’s FaceTime service is free to use but does require an Apple ID and a Wi-Fi connection

TeamViewer

TeamViewer is a proprietary computer software package for remote control, desktop sharing, online meetings, web conferencing and file transfer between computers. The software operates with the Microsoft, Android and Apple operating systems. It is also possible to access a machine running TeamViewer with a web browser. While the main focus of the application is remote control of computers, collaboration and presentation features are included.

About Larson Educational Services:

Brad Larson

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 44

Fort Myers, FL 33907

239-344-7510

09.06.16

by Brad Larson

How to Use Videos in Real Estate Marketing–LarsonEd

How to Use Videos in Real Estate Marketing

People like videos. While the average Internet user spends 48 seconds on a website, the same user spends close to 6 minutes on a website that has a video. If your real estate website and individual property websites include video, your visitors are likely to stay longer. What do videos help you do for your real estate listings?

Build relationships

Video helps develop familiarity and approachability. If someone can see what you look like, know how you interact, and get a sense of your personality it can put you in control of the first impression you have on them.

Stay top of mind

Having relevant video content, like home improvement or maintenance tips, can help you stay top of mind with your clients even after they buy a home.

Florida real estate school home improvement

Only do the home improvement thing if you know what you’re doing.

Be easy to find

When homebuyers are searching for properties one of the first places they go is online. Having searchable videos will help you and your listings findable. Videos are more likely to generate a first page Google ranking. A video on the first page is more likely to be clicked over other content. To market a listing, use the address as the URL and in the video description.

Grab and keep your prospects’ attention

A visitor to a website with videos will typically stay 6 times longer than sites with no videos. However, videos should be no more than 2 minutes in length.

Be viewed as the local expert

Delivering relevant videos to your current, past, and future clients is a great way to separate yourself from your competitors. If the videos you have are truly helpful, they will increase repeat visits to your site, blog, or social network.

Using professional-looking videos will help improve your search listings and the way potential buyers view your brand.

About Larson Educational Services:

Brad Larson

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 44

Fort Myers, FL 33907

239-344-7510

08.16.16

by Brad Larson

What is a SWOT Analysis and How Could It Help Your Real Estate Career?

What is a SWOT Analysis and How Could It Help Your Real Estate Career?

A SWOT analysis is an honest inventory of your strengths and weaknesses as an agent and what opportunities and threats exist for you (professionally).

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Strengths are your personal assets that can propel you to success. For example, one of your strenghts may be that you have a background in lending and finance.

Weaknesses are those personal liabilities that can prevent you from achieving your goals. For example, one of your weaknesses may be that you have little understanding of technology.

This isn’t a job interview; answer your SWOT questions honestly.

Opportunities are environmental factors that are helpful in achieving your objectives. For example, one of your opportunities may be that higher rent prices are causeing renters are looking to purchase real estate as first-time homebuyers.

Threats are environmental factors that are harmful to the achievement of your objectives. For example, one of your threats may be that lenders are not financing your buyers.

Remember:

Strengths and Weaknesses = internal and personal

Opportunities and Threats = external and environmental

Strengths and Opportunities = Helpful

Weaknesses and Threats = Harmful

An honest SWOT analysis can help you better understand where you are as an agent and what you should be doing to improve yourself.

About Larson Educational Services:

Brad Larson

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 44

Fort Myers, FL 33907

239-344-7510

08.02.16

by Brad Larson

6 Tips for Dealing with Sellers in a Buyer’s Market

6 Tips for Dealing with Sellers in a Buyer’s Market

The real estate market is dominated by distressed properties. Real estate professionals are competing with short sales and REOs. The best strategy is to price the property right when it’s listed. If the market demands change, then it’s time to lower the price. Here are some things to consider if one of your listings isn’t moving:

You’re drawing few lookers

What are the sales statistics? Why aren’t buyers looking at your home? The answers to these questions may tell you why your listing isn’t attracting potential buyers.

You’re drawing lots of lookers but have no offers

Something is wrong if good buyers are buying other properties. An overly high price may be discouraging buyers from making an offer.

Your home’s been on the market longer than similar homes

How long is it taking similar homes to sell? It may be time to price the home UNDER the market.

You have a deadline

It’s a race against time. The price is not determined by how much money you need or when you need to sell, it’s determined by the market.

You can’t make upgrades

If comparable homes in better condition are selling, buyers are paying less for a home that doesn’t show as well as others. If the money isn’t there for fix-up, then the price must drop.

Sometimes your hands are just tied

The competition has changed

Take a look at recent sales and current listings. You’re competing against the properties priced to sell, not the properties that are priced to sit.

Keep these 6 points in mind when trying to consider whether or not to lower your client’s selling price.

About Larson Educational Services:

Brad Larson

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 44

Fort Myers, FL 33907