Confessions of a Top-Producing Real Estate Agent, the Agent Grad School Podcast

When you think about having the real estate business and life outside your business you’ve always wanted what comes to mind? For most of us, there is a moment of dreaming big followed at some point by a thought like, “I’ll never be able to have that.” Or, something along the lines of “Sounds great, but I have no idea how to make that happen.” Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we think we can’t have what we want, or that what we want is somehow an impossibility for us? That what we want and our ability to actually have it are not equal? Life is too short not to have it be exactly the way we want it to be.  Like, why can’t you be a successful real estate agent and have a great life too?   Make good money and have some free time to enjoy it…that doesn’t seem like an impossible dream to me. It’s not asking for too much out of life, yet so many agents I talk to think a life like this is not in the cards for them.   Once you realize what you reallllllly want in life and how you’ve been holding yourself back, it can bring up a lot of emotions–sadness, anger, frustration, and after all that comes hope and then finally the thing that matters most–action.   In today’s workshop-style episode of Confessions of A Top Producing Real Estate Agent, I’m walking you through a 7-step process so you can make whatever you want happen.   And, because as Lee Iacocca said, “The disciple of writing something down is the first step to making it happen,” I’m also giving you a free workbook for you to use as I walk you through the 7 Steps to Get Anything You Want.   Get The 7 Steps To Having Anything You Want Workbook Here Having anything you want is not a catch phrase and it’s not too good to be true.  It’s something each one of us is capable of, but only if we remove what’s in the way.  This 7 step process will help you do that. Let this be the year you say I will _________________________ and then truly go for it like it’s going to happen.   Don’t just wait and see what happens, decide and then commit to make it happen.   ​​Not in a stressful way, but in a “I’m worthy and capable” kind of way.   Because you are. 💖 To your success, Jennifer Click here for the shownotes and transcript of this episode. Click here to get the workbook mentioned in this episode. If you're ready to make 6 or even 7-figures in your real estate business AND have time for a life, without needing a team to do it, learn how here. 

As you reflect on your accomplishments for this year, you may or may have not hit your goals.   The real question, though, is what are you going to do if you didn't hit the goals you hoped to?  Your answer to that question will determine what happens next.  It will determine not only how 2023 goes for you, but the entire trajectory of your real estate career.   Yes, this moment is THAT important.   If you didn't hit your goals this year, move the "T" as we say here at Agent Grad School.   Learn more at AgentGradSchool.com/MoveTheT Learn how you can have a 6-figure real estate business AND a life without a team here. 

Today I’m talking with one of Agent Grad School's mindset coaches, Nancy Anderson.  She is a master at helping people not just set a goal, but actually achieve it with her S.M.A.R.T.E.R goal process. Here’s what you’ll learn: What's missing from most goal setting advice that leads to us not achieving our goals; How to know whether the goal you are setting is achievable; What to do along the way to achieving that goal so you know you'll hit it; Each step in the S.M.A.R.T.E.R goal process so you can use it too! Whether you want to work on business goals or personal goals, today’s podcast will show you a proven process to help you reach any goal you choose.  To learn more about Nancy, the S.M.A.R.T.E.R Goals process and get a free S.M.A.R.T.E.R goals process cheat sheet go to AgentGradSchool.com/CoachNancy. If you're ready to finally make 6-figures or more per year AND have a life, learn how at AgentGradSchool.com/Mentorship.

Real estate is emotional. Our clients have emotions, we have emotions and other people in the transaction have emotions. When you decided to become a real estate agent, you probably didn’t realize what an emotional roller coaster it would be! Not just for you, but also for your clients and everyone involved in the transaction – there are a lot of ups and downs coming at you from all sides. Understanding how to handle the emotions as a real estate agent is so important, I tell our students it’s the #1 skill they need to learn to succeed in this business. Learn how to do that on today's episode.   For more information on how to build a six or seven figure real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com.   To view the shownnotes for this episode, go to: AgentGradSchool.com/Emotions.

On today's episode, I'm talking to one of Agent Grad School's three mindset coaches, Coach Lisa. Our goal with this episode: help you get unstuck and keep moving forward in your real estate business even if you've never done the thing you are trying to do and have no idea what to do next. Listen in to learn: The mindset shift that will create a spiral of upward business and personal growth; The “least sucky action” approach; How to move forward even if you haven't done what you are trying to do before; The difference between confidence and self-confidence and how one leads to the other; The “Four C’s” to getting unstuck; And so much more For the show notes for this episode, go to agent Grad School.com/CoachLisa. For more information about how Agent Grad School can help you build a successful real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com.

A Niching Success Story My guest today, Harrison Casagrande knows all about how successful niching down your real estate business can be. Harrison felt a calling to help other military families find a home, and has created a successful real estate business serving military personnel in south Florida.  His story is a testament to the power of niching down in the real estate market. Join us today as we talk about how to successfully find your niche in the real estate business by: Identifying a problem (that you can solve!) Defining the value you will provide Becoming an expert Building trust  Connecting with your target market Harrison shows us how to build a truly gratifying business that is not only successful, but makes a difference in the life of each person he serves. Listen in to this episode to learn how you can do this too. To learn more about Harrison and get the shownotes to this episode can be found at AgentGradSchool.com/Military. 

There are huge opportunities during a market shift. The agents that will succeed through the shifts are the ones who see a sliver of opportunity and open that door wide enough for them to walk through it. Once they walk through the door, they decide to own the room. You have this opportunity right now. But, you might be wondering HOW. Or saying, “Yeah, but what should I actually DO?” That’s why I invited a good real estate agent friend of mine and fellow brokerage owner–Lindsay Dreyer–to today’s podcast. She was also very successful back during the last market shift and we discuss what we both did and continue to do during a shifting market. We also talk about what’s happening in the market right now, why you shouldn’t be confused, and give you strategies that will help you see the huge opportunities you have available to grow your business right now. The reality is people buy and sell homes every single day no matter what the market is doing. Your job is to find those people, become known by those people, and offer them something they need. That’s truly all it takes to succeed in any market. Listen in to today’s episode to learn how we did it and how you can too. Shownotes go to: AgentGradSchool.com/how-to-successfully-handle-a-market-shift/. For more information about how to have a successful real estate business no matter what the market is doing go to AgentGradSchool.com.

In Never Split The Difference, a former international FBI hostage negotiator, shares his time-tested and refined strategies for successful high-stakes negotiations — and discusses how we can use these strategies in all parts of our life, including – as we discuss in today’s podcast – your real estate business. Listen to today’s podcast and learn how Agent Grad School students are applying the negotiation strategies from this book to their businesses including: How negotiation starts with listening, validating emotions, and creating trust; Using mirrors to create empathy and bond with the other party; Using tactical empathy to find potential pathways to agreement; Why hearing “no” is a good thing; How to identify a client’s motivation using “how” and “what” questions; Using “The Black Swan” in your negotiations; And more! For show notes go to AgentGradSchool.com/neversplitthedifference.   For more podcast that will help you grow a successful real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com/podcasts.

Every one of us works in a real estate market that has a yearly cycle to it (and a weekly cycle too, but that’s for a different conversation). Every year there are slower times and there are busier times. And they come and go like clockwork. So, here’s an important question to consider: How do YOU handle downtime in your real estate business? Do you let it fill you with anxiety and thoughts like, “This is the end of it. I’m never going to sell another house again.” OR Do you use the naturally slower times of the year to your advantage? How YOU decide to use these naturally quieter times could be just a life and business changing. Learn how to stop the anxiety and take advantage of downtime in your real estate business instead on today’s episode of Confessions of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent, The Agent Grad School Podcast. Episode Show Notes: AgentGradSchool.com/Downtime.

Every summer, we host the Agent Grad School Summer Book Club.   July's book club pick was Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear.  This book introduces the idea that success is not a once in a lifetime transformation, but instead a byproduct of our daily habits.  Want different results?  Create new habits.  There are so many golden nuggets in this book that can be applied to real estate, from how to create new habits, to how to know if you've created a habit that will stick, and even how to break bad habits.   Here's an excerpt from our book club discussion so you can hear how we are applying the concepts in this book to our real estate businesses.  Next month's book is Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss.  Are you reading that one along with us?   Never miss an episode of Confessions of A Top Producing Real Estate Agent by joining the Agent Grad School Inner Circle.  It's totally free and you can join here: AgentGradSchool.com/InnerCircle

If things are happening slower in your real estate business than you imagined, I hope this episode helps you.   What I learned from being a real estate agent over the last 19 years is that we need to be patience--actively patient--in four very specific areas of our businesses: Patient with ourselves; Patient with building our career; Patient with the market; and Patient with our clients. Learn more about how to be actively patience and how it can actually speed things up in your real estate business on today's episode.   For this episodes show notes go to: Agentgradschool.com/activepatience/ To grow your real estate business go to AgentGradSchool.com

Every summer, we have a book club here at Agent Grad School. Our students pick the books–one for June, another for July, and a third for August. At the end of each month, we discuss the books and share how we are applying what we learned to our real estate businesses with you. If you are following along with us in the Agent Grad School 2022 Summer Book Club, June’s book was This Is Marketing by Seth Godin. his book is a true must-read for every real estate agent. Why? Because it completely redefines how we think about and approach our marketing. Author Seth Godin breaks marketing down into 5 steps, and on today’s podcast, a few of our students and I are sharing how we are applying these five steps to our real estate businesses. Learning and most importantly, applying, these five steps will change the way you think – and the way you act – when it comes to marketing your real estate business. Marketing is more than how to find clients, or how to attract clients. It’s about finding your niche, and seeing your marketing as a way to help those people find the change they are looking for. We hope it helps you redefine how you market yourself as a real estate agent as much as it did for us. Listen in as the AGS book club and I discuss how we are applying what we learned from this book to our real estate businesses.   For more podcasts like this, go to AgentGradSchool.com/podcast.

Have you ever been told you need to be “everywhere” online to get clients or be a successful agent in today's market?   Sounds like a recipe for burnout to me.   You absolutely don't have to be everywhere on social media to have clients coming to you and have a successful business.   On today’s episode, learn what to do instead: The first decision you need to make when it comes to being on social media; How to know where you should be online; Why being “everywhere” online is a waste of time; How the decision about which platform to be on determines the content you should be creating; And so much more! Shownotes: AgentGradSchool.com/NotEverywhere/ If you are ready to make six figures as a real estate agent AND have a life without a team, without old-school tactics and without posting on social media all day, join Agent Grad School to learn my 5 Pillar System for a six figure real estate business.   AgentGradSchool.com/enroll

Here's what you'll learn in to today’s episode: How to successfully attract clients using social media; The very important difference between social media tactics vs. social media strategy; Why social media without the right strategy will never work; and My easy 3-step process to social media success. For the shownotes go to: https://agentgradschool.com/socialmediastrategy/ If you want to make six figures as a real estate agent AND have a life, all without a team, go to AgentGradSchool.com. 

Here’s a sneak peek into what you’ll learn in this episode: How to set expectations about how quick you'll see results when you start something new;  Why focusing on metrics and "the numbers" can sabotage you and what to focus on instead;  What to do if you aren’t getting any results and how to know if you should stay the course or jump ship;  How to know if you are on the right track towards your goals, even if you don't have the results you thought you would by a certain timeframe; and so much more! Episode Show Notes: www.AgentGradSchool.com/episode100.

Little did we know, but when we became real estate agents, we also had to become money managers. But, no one teaches us HOW to make these important decisions and even what decisions we should be making.  Things like: How much should I be paying myself? How do I know if I can take that vacation? Can I afford to hire an assistant to help me in my business? What should I be spending on marketing? Do I have enough saved for taxes? None of that should be a guessing game and using the Profit First system gives you all the answers.   Listen in to today's episode to learn more.     To access the free resources mentioned in the episode, go to this episode's show notes here: AgentGradSchool.com/profitfirst

Over the last two decades of being a successful real estate agent, I’ve learned a lot about money. How to make it.  How to spend it wisely. How to keep more of it.  And how to grow it. On today’s episode, I’m sharing what I’ve learned about money and being a real estate agent over the years. Everything I’m sharing came at a very high price and a huge learning curve. My hope is that by me sharing the lessons I’ve learned about money as a real estate agent, you’ll be able skip some of the painful money lessons I’ve had to endure and reach your money goals much more quickly than I did. Here’s what you’ll learn on today’s episode: the three steps to making money as a real estate agent; how to spend money on the things that will help your business grow; the financial management things I skipped for years as a real estate agent that cost me tens of thousands of dollars; what to do to keep more of your hard-earned commission dollars; And more. Shownotes: www.AgentGradSchool.com/money To learn more about how to launch and grow a six figure real estate business go to AgentGradSchool.com.  

You can spend time or you can spend money, but you're always spending one in your real estate bsuiness.   You are always, without exception, spending one or the other. Learn when to spend time, when to spend money and what to expect when you are investing in each on today's episode.   To learn more about how to have a successful real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com.   

There are two types of "leads" that come to us as real estate agents and yes, I'm comparing them to cookware.   Learn how to help the Crockpots™ who move more slowly and the Instapots move faster.  Most agents only focus on the Instapots.   Huge mistake. You need a real estate business that welcomes both.   Learn how in today's episode.  For more information to help you grow your real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com.

How to be content even if we aren't where we want to be yet with aduthor of Radically Content, Jamie Varon.