75% of all real estate agents fail during their first year, and about 87% fail during the first 5 years in the real estate business (that is higher than the failure rate for restaurants!).What is the reason for this? Tom Ferris says “There are two kinds of people: Those at a level 10, and everybody else.”While this may seem harsh, what does this mean though (and there is some truth to this statement)? And how can you buck the trend and be among the 13% who are still in the business after 5 years, and frankly an even smaller percentage that will thrive?The real estate business is a business, and to succeed in this business you have to be serious about the business. This means:

• A daily routine that includes affirmations, getting into the right mind set, having a game plan (i.e. plan your day, tasks and outcomes).
• Recognize that Prospecting (generating new leads) is your most important activity, followed by cultivating/incubating the leads you have, followed by maintaining / staying in touch with your past clients. Set a side a time block each and every day for these important activities.
• Continually educate yourself, on your market, product knowledge, sales training, business training.
• Have a budget and set aside a fixed percentage of every check you earn, to grow your business (i.e. marketing). Spend less than you earn and realize that as in any new business, it will take time to grow your bottom line. Just because you had a closing and got a $10,000 check does not mean that you made a $10,000 profit!

So that’s what it takes to buck the trend, and there is no easy or lazy way around it. It’s not sexy and its hard work. But the rewards can be tremendous and since very few people are playing at a level 10, you really do not have a lot of competition to contend with. If you want to build a 6 figure real estate income and don’t know where to start then I highly recommend you look at the Creating a 6 Figure Real Estate Business play list I created on our YouTube Channel. This series of 8 videos will walk you step by step through the various areas needed to build a 6 figure real estate business, including how to create a budget and track your business for six figure success.Carpe Diem – To Your Success!

Thomas Heimann, Founder & CEO
Realty Partners LLC
@thomasheimann