1998 – 2003 Success
By 1998 I was recognized as one of the top residential real estate agents in the St. Louis metropolitan area. I attributed this success to effectively utilizing technology and implementing a team structure to my sales business. I had a couple of buyer’s agents and a full time administrative person. My primary responsibility was to generate business for the team. I was constantly looking for new ideas to generate business. I was involved in a number of real estate coaching programs that were designed to help me grow my business. At the RE/MAX convention that year, I met a company that was promoting websites for agents. I have to admit that I was not that up on the Internet but “I had heard a lot about it”. I decided to get my first website: www.JohnFWilliams.com I used this website to market my real estate business and brand myself. I felt that I had arrived! I was now part of the “e” revolution. But I was just getting started.
But I heard something in 1999 while attending a conference call with other top agents from across the country that caught my attention and would change the direction of my business. The agent leading the conference call was discussing the emerging Internet. He suggested to the group that we should all be registering geo-targeted domains. This agent explained how they were doing that in their town. It didn’t take me too long to realize that this was going to be the wave of the future. It all made sense. The Interent was eventually going to become very localized. So I began to register locally targeted domains. I also started learning how to set up websites. One such website allowed consumers to register to receive emailed listings of new properties. Today this is common, but back then it was cutting edge. My websites were now delivering me business! They were rainmaking for me 24 hours a day. So what did I do? I registered more domains.
Having these great domains was one thing, being able to use them “correctly” was another issue. I decided that I was going to learn how to create and market these websites. I taught myself how to build and host websites myself. I learned a whole lot of “what not to do”. I wasn’t the best at web design, but I stuck with it and the sites I created brought in more business. To be honest, some of my sites were awful! But, they were bringing me business.
In early 2002, my real estate business was skyrocketing. My Internet leads were increasing as the consumer began embracing the Internet. The dot-com crash gave me more opportunity. While some people were saying the Interent was all hype, I was seeing huge change coming! I could also see that the consumer was changing. They wanted to be more in control. The Internet was going to give them this control and I had better be the one in control of where they were going. I knew the Internet was going to become the consumer’s new yellow pages. Local consumers were going to use the Internet to research everything from dining to doctors. I wanted to be found when they searched for real estate.
By the end of 2002, I had achieved a number of company awards and recognition; Lifetime Achievement, Chairman Award, and others. I was featured in the local Broker-Agent magazine. Business was going great and I had plans to increase my business in 2003. I had plans to “blow the doors” off! At least that was my plans!
What I learned during this time:
- Hard work pays off.
- Believe in yourself.
- Focus on what your are doing.
- Don’t quit – If at first you don’t succeed , try, try again.
- Keep your eyes open for opportunity.
- Think long term.
- Work your plan.