My Buy Essay

Posts Tagged ‘time management’

There is no question about it – Americans are running out of time. Family dinners are a thing of the past. We run from appointment to appointment, take work home, and cram leisure time into short bursts of stress filled moments. The question is, how did we did get into this predicament? It certainly isn’t because we are inefficient. In the past 25 years, economists estimate that productivity has increased by 70% or more. We have overnight delivery, cell phones, fast food, and instant messaging. Shouldn’t our ability to get more work done give us more time? Where does all this “extra” time go?

According to Dr. Bill Quain, we are spending too much time at work, and not enough time on the things we really want to do. Americans in the 21st century work more hours than peasants did in the Middle Ages, and spend less time at home with their families because of it. We are busy staying busy, but all that work doesn’t always translate to a better lifestyle. Our debt is up, and our leisure time is down. In fact, we don’t even take the leisure time we’ve earned. More than 25 percent of Americans will take no vacation days at all next year.

Dr. Bill Quain, an experienced author, businessman, university professor and speaker prescribes a cure for the whole treadmill syndrome. Dr. Quain, known as “The Time Doctor,” says he is the first person to really solve the time problem. His book, “Overcoming Time Poverty: How to Achieve More by Working Less”, doesn’t cost much or take much time to read. But it explains a system for gaining not only more free time but also more wealth, with less work.

While many popular authors and business experts recommend taking more time off from work to improve your quality of life, Dr. Quain says that can be a prescription for disaster. “Most people trade their time for money,” says Quain. “If you work less, you make less! Then, your quality of life suffers.” In his book, he describes a simple, five-step process to create more leisure time, with the money to enjoy it.

According to Quain, the process of overcoming time poverty is different than for overcoming financial poverty. Financially poor people don’t have money, but time poor people do have time. “We all get the same &ndash 24 hours per day. It isn’t a lack of time, it is the way we use that time that matters,” says Quain.

How should we use our time? “Don’t just trade your time, hour by hour, for a paycheck,” he says. “Use some of your time to create equity, and then let the equity make money for you.” In his book, Quain shows readers how to develop five kinds of wealth-and-time generating equity. Instead of working more hours, people can now increase the value of each and every hour &ndash giving them more choices as to how they spend their time.

Quain says that most of us are just playing the wrong game. We work hard to make money, and then work more hours when we want more money. Soon, we have money, but no time.

It is time to play a new game — make more money in less time. Take a job you like, but get off the “fast track” at work. Then, leverage your time equity outside work to combine the income of a CEO with the leisure time of a retiree.

And that sounds like a perfect prescription for coping with the time challenges of the 21st century.

To succeed in the mortgage industry, get used to meeting people. Referrals from people who know you and business from Realtors will make up at least half closed loans. And no matter how good you are, if people don’t have some reason to trust you, they’re not going to call.

“Real estate is a contact sport,” said Realtor Barbara Anderson.

She and her husband Ron are the owners and instructors of Success Real Estate Academy in Prescott, Arizona. According to Barbara Anderson there are some specific steps you can take that will keep you on their radar and building revenue:

• Be really, really good at what you do. According to Anderson, this means communication, competitive rates and consistent excellence. While Anderson and her colleagues can’t by law refer their customers to you, they do provide them with a list of three mortgage professionals. You have to be a star to get on that list. Nothing else will work. “I tell my students that they need to get out and interview them,” she said of choosing which mortgage professionals they’ll work with.

• Offer classes. Anderson says that she often has mortgage professionals speak at her school. Many of them will end up on the lists of the fledgling Realtors. Focus on subjects that enhance their professional lives. Topics that tap your expertise to show them how to save money, make more money or attract more clients are all winners.

• Join a Realtor’s association in your area. Like marketing frequency, the more times Realtors and escrow professionals see you, the more likely it is that you’ll come to mind when their list comes up for review. If you can, go the extra mile and offer to host a meeting. According to Anderson, mortgage professionals prove that they’re helpful, congenial and accountable by the way they show up amongst their peers. “It’s just being there for them,” she said.

• Grow your supply of testimonials. Another way to tap the power of who you know is to collect testimonials from your clients. Most people will lend far more credence to another person’s description of their experience with you than with your own assertions of excellence. Put the testimonials on your website, your brochures, your mailings and even on your business cards. A time-saving way to collect testimonials from all of your clients is to program an email request into your customer relationship management (CRM) software. That way, testimonial gathering, like all of the other tasks automatically managed and executed with your CRM, is a zero-work, high-yield proposition. If you’re still shopping for CRM, consider one geared specifically for mortgage professionals.

Taking advantage of service opportunities and association memberships has skyrocketed the revenue and credibility of more than a few mortgage professionals. According to Ron Anderson, it’s the most important thing they can do after establishing professional excellence.

“Their reputation makes a big difference, just like Realtors and doctors,” he said.