Seasonal Comfort and Invisibility or 13 Simple Steps To Omnipresence and 2010 Comeback.

2009 Completely Sucked.  It’s Not OVER.  Don’t Fret.

Did your business grow up or shrivel in 2009?  Did you earn more or less?  Were sales easier to close or harder?  Were people stressed or blissful?

You made it this far anyway, right?  Congrats!  You made it through the first 9 months of the worst year EVER.

You and I are apparently survivors – Yea!

What’s 2010 Next?

If you’ve been around awhile, you know seasonality in the real estate business will shrink the opportunity pie through January 2010.  Doesn’t mean there’s NO business for you and I, just a smaller pie.

Some will decide to bask in the seductive glow of the Holiday Season.

We Have Some Choices..

Most will slow to smell the pine-cones and sip eggnog.  The cozy-comfort crowd will hibernate till January 7th, then Spring forward, blah, blah?  That’s what most will do.  Because it’s the easy thing to do. It’s a cozy-comfort zone and common.

Can I ask You A Semi-Personal Question?

How’d you work your way from  bloody-back-there to hopeful here?  How did you scratch, bite, claw and hard-work-navigate through the Wall Street Melt Down, the Rip-Snort-Recession and Housing-Bubble-Blow-Up?  By doing what’s easy and comfortable?

Hell NO!  I didn’t think so.

What’s Next?

Here’s what might happen…

1. Job losses begin slowing – less people lose their houses, more people can afford stuff, the economy turns.
2. Corporations begin reporting profits – people feel confident, companies hire more people, people spend more money.
3. Retirement portfolios are slowly re-inflating – people feel safer.
4. Interest rates will most likely remain low the 1st half of 2010;  but talking bobble heads warn double digit interest rates loom – this creates a sense of urgency and fear of loss (loss of flea sized interest rates).
5. Case Schiller reports home prices are on the rise – previously cautious buyers begin to feel homes have bottomed.  6 month and 1 year leases begin to expire; the flood of families who chose to rent consider taking advantage of supremely low rates and bottomed home prices.
6. People who have the ability to up-size, downsize, rightsize, etc., have postponed needs and desires; this is called pent up demand.  Desire and need doesn’t go away, it smolders and sparks to eventual satisfaction. When it’s safe, these able buyers and sellers will leap. This is called pent-up demand and a screaming opportunity for the prepared (you and me).
7. Instead of my Pollyanna perspective, imagine your worst nightmare scenario unfolding in FUBAR slow-motion.

Pick your recovery mode; V, U, W or FUBAR; relaxing into the Holiday Season will kill your chances to explode into the 2010 New Year.

Knowing the “slow season” will seduce most into a cozy-comfort zone of inactivity and invisibility, you can choose the same and hope for the best in 2010 or you can choose…

Hyper Visibility and 2010 Majesty.

The plan is simple, but not easy.  Sprint for the next 91 days. Take your visibility, remarkability and relevancy to new heights.  While others become invisible, become omnipresent.  When the snow melts, you’ll be a shiny Top Of Mind Awareness North Star!

1. Make time to hug, love, celebrate, smell pine-cones, sip eggnog and position yourself for 2010 majesty.
2. Engage in On-Purpose, In-Person Conversation and Contact.
3. Schedule some Open Houses – Meet new people and promote like P.T. Barnum.
4. Send handwritten Note-Cards after talking to people on the phone.
5. Take some friends to the movies.
6. Set up some neighborhood auto-notifications.
7. Flood your blog with relevant content.
8. Recontact all those renters you placed in the last 12 months.
9. Call everyone and wish them happy holidays – no need to mention Real Estate, just say “Hi, blessings”.  Then send a note card.
10. Find out where the local Holiday festival, Lighting Of The Doves, etc. are being held, send the information to everyone, post on your blog, post links in FB.
11. Daily, check the Facebook Status of your friends, clients, suspects, prospects and past clients.  Comment.  Engage.
12. Use the Add-Friends-Feature of Facebook to scan your email accounts for friends – add them.  Send invitations to everyone else.
13. You know what to do.  Do what you did to survive this mess, just do it harder, deeper, longer….for 91 days.
14. Please share any bright, simple, effective, proven, remarkable, easy actions and activities you might recommend, in the comments.  Thanks.

What say you?  Cozy Comfort, In-Activity and Invisibility or Counter-Comfort, Hyper Visibility and 2010 Majesty?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Cheers.

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