Book Club – What We’re Reading
JUNE
Sell With Soul: Creating An Extraordinary Career In Real Estate Without Losing Your Friends, Your Principles or Your Self-Respect
by Jennifer Allan- Hagedorn
Even in so-called boom markets, rookie real estate agents almost always find their new careers to be harder than anticipated. Statistics quote figures ranging from 70% to 95% dropout rate for first year agents and it s common knowledge in the industry that only a small percentage of the licensed agents are making enough money to live on.
Why is the failure rate so high? Is it a matter of unrealistic expectations? Maybe. A lack of enthusiasm? Probably. A lack of support and training? Definitely.
What agents need is good solid training on how to competently sell real estate and Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn’s book Sell with Soul offers just that. The book provides a blueprint for success to help new agents navigate the critical first year and beyond. Sell with Soul comes complete with checklists to help agents keep on top of listings and contracts, step-by-step guidelines for building a thriving real estate practice as well as anecdotal examples of real world real estate dilemmas and solutions to them.
Yet the book is so much more than a rookie survival guide. The author discusses such touchy subjects as commission discounting (she s all for it), buyer agency (don t push it), prospecting at open houses (do so with caution) and generating bidding wars (it s your duty). Practical advice is offered on everything from building a loyal client base to marketing listings to negotiating inspections and even handling pricing objections.
Sell with Soul focuses on helping new agents become competent at their craft, so they can be confident with their prospects and clients. This confidence enables them to stay true to themselves because they will have no need for the Old School prospecting strategies and aggressive closing techniques that force many new agents out of their comfort zone.
Readers consistently praise the readability of Sell with Soul, commenting that it reads almost like a novel instead of just another business self-help book. The book is written in a casual voice, with a relaxed style that is noticeably different from the more authoritative voices of the competition.
June’s Optional Book:
The Road To Recognition
by Seth Price
You own a brand. Its name is your name.
You need to take ownership of it and earn recognition as an expert in your field. There’s no simple shortcut. But now there’s a remarkably useful roadmap featuring:
An A to Z guide packed with actionable advice for developing your personal brand and accelerating your professional success. 26 practical lessons to help you whether you’re an entrepreneur, business leader, aspiring professional, creative, marketer or second careerist Insights from professionals who are reaping the rewards of recognition
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MAY
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons In Personal Change
by Stephen R. Covey
One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for 25 years. It has transformed the lives of Presidents and CEOs, educators and parents— in short, millions of people of all ages and occupations.
May’s Optional Book
The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success
by Andy Andrews
Only a few months ago, he was a successful executive. Now he’s a desperate man. But a divine adventure is about to unfold. Join David Ponder on an incredible journey that will help you discover the Seven Decisions for Success.
In the tradition of best-selling books by Og Mandino, The Traveler’s Gift is destined to become a classic.
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APRIL
Life by Design: 6 Steps To An Extraordinary You
by Tom Ferry and Laura Morton
Are you one of the 123 million people in this world who is dissatisfied in your life? Do you run day-to-day on autopilot? Have you settled for “good enough”? Are risks just too risky? Are you living in a coma and don’t even know it? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are living by default and not By Design! This book will help you discover a passion for life that extends beyond your career and material success—a passion that involves your identity, your self-worth, your relationships, and your health. It is time to emerge from your coma, embrace renewed vitality, and approach life By Design!
In this dynamic hands-on guide, world-class success coach and motivational leader Tom Ferry reveals the secrets to achievement at work and at home, and how to create a greater balance between the two. This book will help you conquer the four addictions that are holding you back from living up to your greatest potential: addiction to the opinions of others, addiction to drama, addiction to the past, and addiction to worry. By becoming aware of these addictions, you will be better equipped to respond to uncertain times and to the challenges that crop up in your daily life.
Tom Ferry’s unique six-step approach to living By Design will help you emerge from complacency into action and accomplishment.
Step 1: Explore the Core Seven life assessments—your career, your intimate relationships, your finances, your physical body, your spirituality, your attitude about the world, and your intellectual self—and pinpoint the areas in which you want to improve.
Step 2: Make the conscious, deliberate choice to change your life and find fulfillment, no matter the obstacles.
Step 3: Create your Life! By Design by declaring what you want for yourself, defining your goals, and devising a concrete plan to make it happen.
Step 4: Identify the actions you can take to ensure that you thrive in all areas of your life.
Step 5: Visualize your life as you want it to be. This simple but profound exercise is a proven technique that will lock in your vision and will lead you toward achieving your goals.
Step 6: Create accountability and structure to break old habits and gain the discipline required to live life to your fullest potential.
It’s time to draw the line between the past and the present as you face your fears, and go for everything you really want. This is Life! By Design. And the results will astound you!
April’s Optional Book:
The Magic Of Thinking Big
by David Schwartz
Millions of people throughout the world have improved their lives using The Magic of Thinking Big. Dr. David J. Schwartz, long regarded as one of the foremost experts on motivation, will help you sell better, manage better, earn more money, and—most important of all—find greater happiness and peace of mind.
The Magic of Thinking Big gives you useful methods, not empty promises. Dr. Schwartz presents a carefully designed program for getting the most out of your job, your marriage and family life, and your community. He proves that you don’t need to be an intellectual or have innate talent to attain great success and satisfaction—but you do need to learn and understand the habit of thinking and behaving in ways that will get you there. This book gives you those secrets!
Believe you can succeed and you will:
-Cure yourself of the fear of failure
-Think and dream creatively
-You are what you think you are
-Make your attitudes your allies
-Learn how to think positively
-Turn defeat into victory
-Use goals to help you grow
-Think like a leader
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MARCH
100 Ways to Motivate Yourself: Change Your Life Forever, Third Edition
by Steve Chandler
With the third refreshed edition of 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself, Steve Chandler helps you create an action plan for living your vision, in business and in life. It features 100 proven methods to positively change the way you think and act–methods based on feedback from the hundreds of thousands of corporate and public seminar attendees Chandler speaks to each year. The book now also includes techniques and breakthroughs he has created for individual coaching clients.
100 Ways to Motivate Yourself will help you break through the negative barriers and banish the pessimistic thoughts that are preventing you from fulfilling your lifelong goals and dreams. This edition also contains new mental and spiritual techniques that give readers more immediate access to action and results in their lives. If you’re ready to finally make a change and reach your goals, Steve Chandler challenges you to turn your defeatist attitude into energetic, optimistic, enthusiastic accomplishments.
March’s Optional Book:
Crush it!
by Gary Vaynerchuk
Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed here, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, readers will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business.
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FEBRUARY
Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
by Brian Tracy
There just isn’t enough time for everything on our to-do list—and there never will be. Successful people don’t try to do everything. They learn to focus on the most important tasks and make sure those get done. They eat their frogs.
There’s an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is eat a live frog, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’re done with the worst thing you’ll have to do all day. For Tracy, eating a frog is a metaphor for tackling your most challenging task—but also the one that can have the greatest positive impact on your life. Eat That Frog! shows you how to organize each day so you can zero in on these critical tasks and accomplish them efficiently and effectively.
In this fully revised and updated edition, Tracy adds two new chapters. The first explains how you can use technology to remind yourself of what is most important and protect yourself from what is least important. The second offers advice for maintaining focus in our era of constant distractions, electronic and otherwise.
But one thing remains unchanged: Brian Tracy cuts to the core of what is vital to effective time management: decision, discipline, and determination. This life-changing book will ensure that you get more of your important tasks done—today!
February’s Optional book:
The Richest Man In Babylon
by George Clason
Countless readers have been helped by the famous “Babylonian parables,” hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth. In language as simple as that found in the Bible, these fascinating and informative stories set you on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys. Acclaimed as a modern-day classic, this celebrated bestseller offers an understanding of—and a solution to—your personal financial problems that will guide you through a lifetime.
This is the book that holds the secrets to keeping your money—and making more. May they prove for you, as they have proven for millions of others, a sure key to gratifying financial progress.
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JANUARY
Shift – How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times
by Gary Keller
SHIFTS happen…
Markets shift, and you can too. Sometimes you’ll shift in response to a falling market, and other times you’ll shift to take your business to the next level. Both can transform your business and your life. You can change your thinking, your focus, your actions, and, ultimately, your results to get back in the game and ahead of the competition. The tactics that jump-start your business in tough times will power it forward in good times. No matter the market-shift!
SHIFT explores twelve proven strategies for achieving success in any real estate market, including
- Master the Market of the Moment: Short Sales, Foreclosures, and REOs
- Create Urgency: Overcoming Buyer Reluctance
- Re-Margin Your Business: Expense Management
- Find the Motivated: Lead Generation
- Expand the Options: Creative Financing
January’s Optional Book:
The Greatest Salesman in the World
by Og Mandino
“I will persist until I succeed.
I was not delivered into this world into defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep.
The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.
I will persist until I succeed.”
—From the ancient scroll marked III in The Greatest Salesman in the World
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THE LCA BLOG
Weekly articles that cover every aspect of the real estate industry, growing your business, personal development & so much more.
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