Barbara Corcoran's Top 12 Tips For Small-Business Owners

Barbara Corcoran’s credentials include straight D’s in high school and college and 20 jobs by the time she turned 23. It was her next job that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country when she took a $1,000 loan to start The Corcoran Group. She parlayed the loan into a $5 billion real estate business and sold it in 2001 for $66 million.

Barbara is the real estate contributor for NBC’s TODAY Show where she comments weekly on trends in the real estate market. She’s also a Star on ABC’s reality hit Shark Tank. In the first and second season, Barbara bought 13 young businesses that she’s shepherding to success. Barbara is the author of If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails, an entertaining business book that has become a national best-seller, as well as Nextville, Amazing Places to Live Your Life. Her latest book, Shark Tales hit the No. 1 business book on Amazon.

Cover via Amazon

Here she shares 12 of her best tips for small-business owners:

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Make Big Mistakes. All the best things that happened in my business happened on the heels of failure. Don’t be afraid to fail; it’s proof that you are meant to be a successful entrepreneur. The only difference between people who are hugely successful and those who aren’t is the time it takes them to get back up after getting knocked down.

2. Little Companies Always Move Faster. The big guy may have the corner on money but the little guy usually has the corner on creativity. Take some time to sit down and figure out how your big rival is promoting their brand and plan something smarter and more creative for yours.

3. Take Full Advantage of all the Free Social Media Out There. Before you go out and blow money on advertising, capitalize on the free online access that leads you direct to your customers. Blog, Tweet with humor, and make as many friends as you can on Facebook. You can quickly build a huge following of customers willing to try your new product without spending a dollar on advertising.

4. Don’t Rush Out to Get a Patent. Most entrepreneurs get a patent on their new product as soon as they open their business. All that does is help build your patent attorney’s business rather than yours. It’s a much better bet to put all your energy into getting your product to market before the next guy does. Patents only protect you IF you have the money to defend them, and most young businesses don’t.

5. Make a Marketplace Report. The best way to get some attention for your brand is to publish an industry report chock full of statistics. You’ll be surprised how much you know about your industry once you start putting some numbers down on paper. Reporters need stories, and if you put your report in a short, easy-to-read format and name it after your company, you’ll soon become the expert reporters call when they need a quote. The easiest way to steal market share from your competitors is to steal the limelight, and nothing does that faster than being quoted in the press.

6. Choose Only Really Good People. Make sure you pick good people to build your business with, as they’ll determine 80% of your success. The best people are honest and have lots of enthusiasm. Don’t worry too much about their level of experience when you’re interviewing, as the right attitude always delivers much more than just experience.

7. There Are Only Two Kinds Of People In Business — Know the Difference. There are really only two kinds of people: expanders and containers. Learning to separate them quickly into the right category will save you a lot of time. ‘Expanders’ like to push the envelope, take risks, make new friends, and test how far they can go! They also like to spend your money. ‘Containers’ like to keep things in order and stay on top of the details. They keep you from losing your money. If you match the right person to the right position that takes advantage of their natural talents you’ll build a powerful team of workers with all the strength needed to build a huge business.

8. Focus On What’s Already Working For You and Do More Of It. When you look for ways to expand your business, the real pot of gold is usually the same stuff that’s already proven successful. So before you move on to the next exciting project or a new strategy, s-l-o-w down. Do a lot more of what’s already working and then do the new stuff.

9. Stop Putting It Off! Procrastination is the enemy of success. The time you waste on stalling breeds guilt, and guilt deflates energy and sometimes even leads to depression. When you feel stuck and can’t seem to move ahead, always remember that you don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going!

10. Make a System for Everything You Need To Do More Than Once. My mother ran her house like a boot camp. She had to – she had 10 children! She set up two sock drawers in the kitchen – the boy’s drawer with all blue socks all in one size and the girl’s drawer with all white socks, all the same size. I learned from my mom that to run a growing business you need to set up a system for everything. If you take the time to set it up once, you’ll build your business faster and avoid wasting time and handling customer complaints.

11. Make Sure You Know What Not To Do. Everyone should have their own ‘Not To Do’ list. I sit down regularly and make a list of all the things I have spent time on that have amounted to nothing. It’s smart to post your ‘Not To Do’ list where you’re bound see it so you’re reminded to do more productive things that give a better return on the time you spend at work.

12. Shoot the Dogs Early! If you spot a complainer and if you have the authority to do it, fire them right away. Complainers are like thieves, robbing you and your company of its good energy. Your whole team’s outlook will shine brighter once you’re rid of them.

By Capital One Guest, CapitalOneSpark

Taken from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/capitalonespark/2012/12/04/barbara-corcorans-top-12-tips-for-small-business-owners/

Partner Links:
1.Canda Goose Expedition
Welcome to our best canada goose expedition store. We supply cheap canada goose expedition with high quality & best service. .. Canadagoose2expedition. Com online store
2.Discount North Face
Discount north face online sale. We offer discount & different kinds of north face jacket with 100% authentic guarantee. Free shipping!
3.Canada Goose Clothes
Canada goose clothes online store offer cheap canada goose clothes for cold winter. Fast delivery no tax. Up to 67% off!
4.Canada Canada Goose
Best quality canada goose for sale online. Cheap canada goose for sale hot. Get your own clothes with cheap price.
5.Canada Canada Goose
Top quality canada goose jacket online. All kinds of canada goose jackets on hot sale. Buy three,extra 20% discount!

Related articles

• Barbara Corcoran's Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
• Barbara Corcoran's Secrets to Success
• 5 Things Solo or Small Law Firms Can Learn from Entrepreneurs
• "The Houses of 9 Great Entrepreneurs"

What Are the Best Real Estate Selling Skills?

I’ve often heard fellow real estate agents say they’re not “salespeople.” I can understand that. Nobody likes being sold to, so who would want to associate themselves with something so negative, right?

Unfortunately, our distaste for being “sold to” makes us paint all salespeople with the same brush, including ourselves.

But here’s the truth about selling skills: If you’re in a real estate business for yourself, having sales skills works better than having no sales skills. Whatever you might think about salespeople, as a real estate agent you will do more real estate business and make more money if you learn how to sell.

Not having selling skills means you’re just winging it, hoping you say the right things at the right time and in the right way.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having good selling skills means shortening the decision cycle, helping people get off the fence, helping them process the issues that are holding them in place. The act of selling boils down to language skills. By understanding how questions work, how people process information and their own thoughts, and how tone and word choice can impact the DIRECTION of a person’s thoughts, you can sell. When you get really good at those things, you will hold a lot of power in your hands — power that can be used to manipulate or to serve.

I’m sure you’ve met with both kinds of salespeople. There are those who make you feel like you need to wash your hands, and there are those who make you feel grateful you found them. Both are using the same language skills, but one uses them consultatively and the other uses them coercively.

As a real estate agent, you need to learn the right pattern of sales conversation for your typical sales situations, including open houses, sign calls, referrals, cold calls, door canvasing, for sale by owners, expireds, and more.

Different sales situations require different approaches to the sales conversation. A one-call-close telemarketing cold call, for example, requires an instant attention-getting phrase, plus a tone that implies authority. It requires a steady building of yesses. Too much back and forth communication significantly lengthens the decision cycle and gives the customer too much time to access their fears about the decision. If you’re doing telemarketing, it’s important to have high integrity and a truly effective product, otherwise you will end up being the kind of salesperson no one likes.

On the other hand, a real estate conversation with a prospect during, say, an open house or a for sale by owner visit, requires a different approach. As with telemarketing, an open house conversation also needs an instant attention-getting phrase. But from there, it’s less about convincing people to keep listening and more about drawing them out and getting them to talk.

The way to get people to open up to you is to ask questions in a specific sequence to help them move through the decision cycle…a cycle of diving deeper into their needs and concerns. Your questions should draw people out. The more you can get people to talk about their needs, fears, and concerns, the more they’ll trust you. It’s a curious paradox that when you ask great questions and get someone else to do most of the talking, the more intelligent you sound.

There are many sales training courses, each with a slightly different approach for working through the decision cycle with a prospect. In the residential real estate sales context, I prefer openhanded selling or high-integrity selling approaches, as opposed to more “old school” approaches that rely on presentation and objection-handling. Openhanded consultative selling isn’t for everyone, but it works well for real estate agents who are confident about listening and asking questions.

Be consistent. Be bold. Be smart. Linda Schneider is a real estate business coach for smart real estate agents who want to be more powerful in their business. Drop by RealEstateBusinessCoaching.com for more about selling skills and real estate marketing ideas to take your business to the next level.

By Linda Schneider - 18 September 2012

Taken from: http://realtybiznews.com/what-are-the-best-real-estate-selling-skills/98715535/

Related articles

• 'Inside Secrets' of Real Estate
• Jupiter Realtor Anton Seiss, the local expert, states the top reasons why and how to choose a real estate agent
• Real estate agent blunder cost seller $70k
• Unlicensed real estate agent in court