Every once in a while we hit a ceiling that we impose upon ourselves and don't even realize it. Even after coaching people and training for years, someone pointed out I was doing it to myself.
I had been trimming down my business and fine tuning my focus over the past couple of years and still didn't seem to be making a lot of ground. My book stalled out and I really lost a little motivation to re-do the cover and retile it because it was already selling a little bit. I do need to get to that.
One of the first things I did to punch through my personal ceiling was to give up coaching business owners so I could focus solely on the marketing aspects of the business. My coach pointed out that I was still way to broad and that I should focus on just one area. This goes against all of my thoughts and efforts for my client in online marketing, or so I thought.
Right about the same time my wife started working in Real Estate and of course my business took over her online marketing campaign. As one guy interestingly noted, "No one has figured out how to get listings online." and he is right. Listings are the name of the game in Real Estate. The science of selling a house of known quality is much better than helping people find their next home. Buyers can look at 50 or 100 homes before buying if they even buy at all. This was challenging to say the least.
Even ghost writing for my wife got a little sketchy since I didn't have a real estate license. In order to correct this, I decided last fall to go back to school so I could take the test in California. After I took the test and passed, I joined her as an agent at Keller-Williams. The intent was to be part time and just help her out but it didn't take long for my coach and I to see that this was the niche I needed to focus on.
I have been buying and selling homes to live in and as investments for nearly 20 years, making money all along the way. A couple of times only by sheer luck I might add. It only made sense for me to combine my coaching, leadership, marketing, sales and real estate knowledge and tie it all up on one package. As a Realtor, I use all of these skills and still get the freedom of self employment I enjoy. If I need more money, I go work more. The big difference is the checks take a lot longer in the real estate business.
On paper this might seem like a really big shift, and it hasn't been. What it has been is the clear path to move through the ceiling I was creating for myself by staying to broad in my efforts, and not following my own advice on focus.
By focusing on a single area, I can already see a difference in my ability to get things done which should eventually lead to more income, and less work. Isn't that what we all want?
