Road to $20 Million

by Shane Torres

  As you Plan For Passengers, give some thought to the people that will support you along the way. If you’re new to a community or don’t want to rely on those close to you, what will you do to build your name in the areas you’re focused on? Getting involved in groups/organizations outside of real estate will help you create a name for yourself without “in your face” marketing.

  As I mentioned, just being on a committee or being a member of the Chamber of Commerce isn’t enough. You must become involved in these activities with an understanding that you’ll be rewarded with referrals and business in time. My involvement in the Chamber of Commerce has done wonders for my business and given me an incredible network of people to lean on.

  Chapter Nine:

  Find Your Fuel & Efficiency

  One of the biggest obstacles that I’ve seen in real estate agents is their ability to create efficiencies in their business. And as a result of the inefficiencies that are occurring regularly, they aren’t able to produce what they’re truly capable of. You might say they can’t get out of their own way long enough to find true success.

  From the day I started in real estate, my time was always something that I paid close attention to and you should too. After all, there will always be more money, but no one is making more time. The only thing that can ever happen with time is spending it, and it’s up to you to determine how best to spend your time.

  The goal of this chapter is to help you maintain your motivation in the business through focusing your energy on creating systems. When the systems in your business are working flawlessly, the systems actually run the business. No matter who you plug into an excellent system, you should be getting excellent results.

  One such system is how you calendar your appointments and other obligations. In our offices, we use Google Calendar exclusively and we all have visibility with each other’s calendars.

  You can get really creative about how you color code listing or sales appointments, family events, and networking meetings. But the most important part of using the calendar, in my opinion, is blocking your time out to knock out certain tasks.

  Nothing happens unless it’s in the calendar, so my team, my spouse, and my partners all know that this system is what keeps me most efficient and the expectation is they’ll use it accordingly.

  Some of the systems I created at the beginning of my business are still running efficiently. We’ve tweaked and modified them over time as technology changed, but the end result is still the same — we get leads, listings and sales!

  One of the first lessons I learned in marketing myself was consistency matters. So, I built a system to send postcard mailers to a particular zip code and I have team members that execute that system every month.

  Once a system is in place and we know that it produces results, we simply make sure it happens. We modify it every now and again, test the results, and keep moving forward. Efficiently.

  If you’re lucky enough to have a team working with you, make sure that you’re being incredibly intentional with the team as much as possible. At first, I was skeptical about bringing other people into the business with me, but then I realized that if I have 40 hours to work a week (more like 50-60 realistically) having another person on my team gives me another 40 hours. Now I’ve got 80 hours of productivity to leverage. In the RT20M course, I go into greater detail about how my team and I create efficiencies, leverage systems, and hold each other accountable to them.

  When you do what you do

  Staying healthy is one of my core values, and I found that attempting to squeeze workouts in late in the day or the afternoon just didn’t work. I’m a guy that has a lot to do, so to maintain my health and stay efficient with my time, I get up early to hit the gym. This isn’t ideal for everyone, but if you’re going to maximize your time, you’ve got to decide what are the most important things to accomplish as well as decide when you’re going to tackle them (while focused on your goals).

  This applies to networking functions, client lunches, kids’ events, putting up signs, posting listings, running errands, etc. The blessing and curse of real estate is you have relative flexibility of your time. Oftentimes, this means that agents spin their wheels doing non-productive activities when they could be super productive and efficient.

  If you know that you run low on energy right after lunch, perhaps doing errands or putting out signs or networking meetings are best suited for these hours.

  If you know that you’re a night owl, how can you best leverage your energy at night to maintain productivity?

  Finally, what is the fuel of your day? This may seem like an obvious statement, but if you’re putting junk in your body, you’ll probably feel like junk throughout the day. You have the ability to make significant money in real estate, but it’s going to require you to be at your best as much as possible.

  Here’s why — you’ll have moments where everything in your world is challenged. And the one thing that will determine whether or not you achieve your vision is how much grit you have to get through it. Grit is the one thing that has kept me on the Road To $20 Million and beyond. It’s the one trait that I can’t teach other people to have. You either have it or you have to foster it.

  In this step of the Road to $20 Million, I break down how to add fuel to your business and how to create efficiencies through systems creation and leveraging the skills of your team.

  Remember the following three things as you take this journey:

  1. On a daily basis, maintain your motivation and focus to achieve your goals.

  2. Maximize your time and your energy.

  3. Implement systems in your business and life to create efficiencies.

  Chapter Ten:

  Engage In The Journey

  To be a professional real estate agent, you must do business, not just play business.

  What that means to me is you must engage in the journey of building a $20M real estate business, even if you’re in your first month. This business is wonderful for those who are playing the long game. After all, if clients buy from you and they’re happy with the service you provided, then logic would tell you that they’ll come back and use you again. Especially if you’ve built in all of the systems mentioned here—in the book and in greater detail inside the course—that help you foster and keep the relationship top of mind.

  As a team, we spend lots of time evaluating the steps of the sales process and how to build an incredible relationship with our clients. We talk through how to adjust to changing market conditions and demographics to build our list. And we are working all the time to turn names (or leads) on our list into qualified buyers and sellers.

  Being a real estate agent is so much more than just helping people buy and sell homes. It’s as much about being an incredible marketer, a social media strategist, a professional networker, a systems-minded entrepreneur, and a leader in your community.

  The Road To $20 Million requires that you engage in the journey of becoming the agent that can produce, build a team, weather the tough times, and ultimately create a lasting business that begins to work harder than you do. That may mean engaging others around you that excel in areas that you don’t.

  There’s an old African proverb that says: “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.”

  The three easiest ways to get Engaged In The Journey are:

  1. Build your database. Right from day one you should be focused on building a massive list of people who are familiar with you. These people will be the sources of ongoing sales and listings well into the future.

  2. Know your market. Your knowledge of the market will help in listing appointments, in selling various areas, and in answering questions from a place of credibility. Spend time learning the ins and outs of your market and become the go-to expert.

  3. Convert leads to clients. Think about how you might convert those who merely know of you to those who refer you, sell through you, or buy through you. It’s about buildin
g a relationship with people over time by providing great content, value, and expertise whether you’ve met them or not.

  Chapter Eleven:

  Explore Your Options (for Business Entrepreneurs)

  One of the things I realized early on in my real estate career was all of the different ways you could generate revenue as an agent. When no one else was interested in doing BPOs, I made $50,000 in one year doing them. That willingness to test a different model of making money as an agent led me to learn everything I could about short sales, thereby become a top performing agent on the side of town that had a ton of BPOs and short sales.

  The same thing happened when I ventured into doing flips, building homes, opening my own office, hiring agents, and buying out the broker with my partners.

  While you’re on The Road To $20 Million, keep your eyes open to other potential sources of revenue. The RT20M Course goes into greater depth and detail of the various ways to build diversified sources of business income, but for now keep this in mind — the market will trend one way or another and those who figure out how to stabilize their income no matter how the market is trending will always be on top.

  I think it’s important to know your business, be able to identify opportunities, and to always be learning. A lot of people want success, but only as it fits in their checklist — right location, right time, right amount of effort, etc. You have to look outside the box and if something doesn’t work, you figure out how it could, while remembering to stay true to who you are. Keep an open mind and remain flexible to allow for growth and adjustments to your vision and goals. Don’t hold so tight to your success criteria that you prevent success from happening all together.

  Chapter Twelve:

  Drive Your Brand and Your Business

  Whether you know it or not, you are creating your brand on a daily basis. Everything from the marketing you use, the way you dress, even the way you drive could be impacting your business either positively or negatively.

  Marketing will be the lifeblood of your business and having a well thought out and executed plan will make all the difference to get you on the road. In this chapter, you’ll learn about brand awareness and promoting your business.

  Brand awareness

  So, the primary objective at the beginning of your business should be to identify what your brand is. Will you build your reputation specializing in listings only? Are you an agent that’s going to only work on listings above a certain amount? When people see your signage, what do you want them to think or say? When you’re out in public, how will you present yourself to stay consistent with your branding?

  A few examples of Realtors who have done this:

  1) Realtor A specializes in the Luxury Market because it is who he is — he has the cars, the house, the clothes, the image. It’s not a show, it’s his lifestyle.

  2) Realtor B is referral based — she spends very little money on marketing. She is great at building relationships and staying in contact with her referrals.

  3) Realtor C specializes in new construction, represents many builders and is all in and focuses primarily in one community. This Realtor works, lives and plays in this community.

  A common denominator in all three of these Realtors is they are giving not only their money but their time — they give back to their community and those around them.

  Building a marketing strategy and specific content around that is key to creating a very specific brand in your area.

  When I started promoting myself I had very little money and went for the most cost-effective approach I could — direct mail postcards. To this day the postcards still go out on a regular basis and are just as consistent in messaging today as they were the first day they were sent.

  As I began to see success with the postcards, I bought advertising on a bus bench in the area where a majority of my short sales were coming from. That bus bench has generated tens of thousands of dollars in commissions over the past several years and continues to produce today.

  Promotion

  As my listings and sales client base grew, so did my systems around marketing to that list. We send an average of 10,0000 emails a month to a list that continues to grow week by week. The people who have bought and sold with me are one of the greatest sources of business I could ask for because they know what to expect with me: consistency.

  They hear from me so regularly, they’ve just grown to expect it.

  The content that we send out to our clients is a variety of things. I was one of the very first customers of a service called Referral Squirrel (https://www.thereferralsquirrel.com/). The service arranges discounts of all kinds (restaurants, sporting event tickets, activities, etc.) and then does direct mail pieces to the list we provide. In our emails, we include recipes, scheduled events in the community, and facts about the real estate market.

  Your goal should be to include things of value so there is a reason for your prospects and clients to open the email or read the direct mail piece.

  The key to driving your brand and your business is to take a very long-term perspective.

  The typical family lives in a home no more than four years, so if you can set up your systems in the first 2-4 years effectively, the rest of your career should be a breeze. The repeat business you’ll receive from treating your clients right, coupled with the referrals you get from them will have you on the Road To $20 Million in no time.

  Chapter Thirteen:

  Enjoy The Ride and See The Sights

  There are two thoughts I want to leave you with as you find yourself on the road with me. Both of these concepts have made an incredible difference in my life both personally and professionally.

  The first is keeping your eyes open to opportunities to create passive income.

  Being in real estate has a distinct advantage because we get to see properties coming on the market before anyone else does. The “deals” that can be found are numerous if you’re looking for them and prepared to act on them when they appear.

  Investing in real estate has created a passive income stream for me and my family that allows us to sleep peacefully at night, no matter what is happening in the business.

  Real estate can be a very up and down business depending on the local and national economy. In the major metro area where we operate, there are two major employers that hire tens of thousands of people. When they start talking about layoffs, the market can shift in a hurry.

  Having some forms of passive income can create stability in your business that will allow you to take risks that others won’t be able to take. As shared in Part Two, I took a fair number of those risks that paid off enormously.

  Consider putting aside a certain percentage of each check for the purpose of investing in passive income properties. How and what you invest in is up to you, but I cover passive income sources and how to identify those opportunities in the RT20M course. The beauty of passive income is doing the work once and getting paid over and over and over and over again.

  The second thought I’d like to leave you with is the importance of giving back.

  The gifts that we’re given are meant to be shared and nothing has been so rewarding for me and my family as being able to give back to causes and charities we believe in.

  Whether it’s your church, local food pantries, national charities, or even the school district near you, think about the ways that you could be giving back as your business grows... I feel it is our duty as business owners to do so.

  I hope you have enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing you on the Road to $20 Million.

  NEXT STEPS

  If the information covered here has you left you wanting more, the Road To $20M Course is a deep dive into each of the chapters covered in this book. The course will guide you through each of the steps you’ll be taking along the way, shared by me, with support to help you while you’re “on the road.”

  My team has also created downloadable worksheets that will help you through each step. You’ll fi
nd the download links in each chapter and I encourage you to download those pdf documents and follow along accordingly. My real estate career has been loaded with twists and turns, but my mindset has always been you either win or you learn!

  As a result of that philosophy, I’ve been able to build a highly productive team, bought out my broker (and now help manage over 100 agents), flipped dozens of properties, and live a life that I once thought was extremely out of reach.

  Your real estate career may be speeding along or you may be stuck in traffic. No matter the case, my goal is to help you get on the Road To $20 Million. That means different things for different people — for some it might mean selling another 50 sides this year, for others it might mean building a team and expanding your marketing reach, and still others might be interested in property or land development.

  I’m here to help you go anywhere you want to go.

  So, let’s get started with the roadmap that got me where I am today. Go here http://roadto20million.com/RT2Mbookgift to download the Mindset and Goal Setting Roadmap at no cost to you to get you laser focused on your goals AND how you’re going to get yourself there.

  Being on this journey with me will take dedication, discipline, and drive — along the way I’ll encourage you, share resources with you, and answer questions you may have.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Shane Torres is a partner-owner for one of the top ranked real estate brokerages in the nation, RE/MAX Concepts.

  He is the owner of one of the top producing real estate teams at both the state and national level, and is an entrepreneur/owner of several additional business ventures with multi-million dollar revenues.

  He is a valued coach, consultant and presenter.

  Shane has a lifetime of experience in overcoming adversity and more than 20 years experience in the housing industry.