Tough Times = Newest Quick Fix

And even this year, despite the slow market in much of the country, there seems to be no slowdown in our quest to obtain the newest and greatest. Let's face it - a lot of us are trade-show and gadget junkies. Think about it: how many of the 1,119,000 iPhones sold in the US as of October, 2007 were bought by people who REALLY needed a new phone? Or did we convince ourselves that the iPhone and other cool tools and gadgets would really bring us the new business that we so desperately need. After all, you have to spend money to make money, right?

May I suggest that our problem might be that we're always looking for the quick fix? With our business purchases, don't we tend to go "a mile wide (as in the quantity of what we purchase) but only an inch deep (as in what we actually utilize)?" We go to NAR® and get all excited about a nifty new piece of software or a set of glossy postcards that we saw demonstrated. They look fantastic. And we buy and buy, because when times are slow and business is tough to come by, the more we search for the magic bullet.

But then we get home and the aura wears off. The software that looked really cool at NAR® loses a little of it's glitter as we read through the instructions and realize that it takes a little work to get it up and running. We realize that it takes self-discipline to set up a drip system for the post cards. So the software that we spent good money on never gets installed and the cards never get mailed. And we're off to look for the next magic bullet.

Isn't this kind of like how we react whenever we hear of the newest diet? "Eat everything you want, lay around like a slug and still lose weight!" you hear. Deep down you know that no one gets a new body without working at it, but you so want to believe the claims...

As I write this, there are no less than 38 agents who have signed up for our ACRE™ (Accredited Consultant in Real Estate™) Course and Coaching Program in the last year, paid good money for it (when it's certainly not that plentiful) but have never bothered to actually take the course! And even though the ACRE™ program includes one full year of coaching, there are almost twice that many who have completed the course but have never taken the time to implement anything such as setting up their hourly worth or fees so they could actually practice consulting and start making money with it. Yet, our ACRE™ grads that get coached and put the work in to "set up their toolbox" are making thousands of dollars of income that they never would have had.

So, why in the world would agents who are crying poverty, drop serious money on a program and either not start it, or take the course but not implement the tools into their business? It totally blows me away until I get off my high horse and remember all the stuff I have bought over the years with great intentions that landed on a shelf.

Maybe for the New Year we should all start thinking about going "an inch wide and a mile deep". In other words, buy less, commit to less, but do it for all it's worth. My beloved late grandmother used to always say to me "Mollie, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well". So, maybe the lesson for all of us is before we buy the newest and greatest thing to pump up our businesses, that we look at what we've already invested in and see it through.