For years I've been a believer that it was best to "Work smart so you don't have to work hard".
I am sorry to hear that you've been unsuccessful in your endeavors to not have to work hard. Obviously you are extremely successful, but even after all of your success you are still one of the hardest working people I know. Surely if you were as smart as you are a hard worker, you would be one of the smartest people in the world. Any observant person can see that you are one of the hardest working.
Let's take a look:
1. You are in the top .001% of top point earners on ActiveRain. In fact you are #1 out of over 100k people. It takes a lot of work to achieve at that level.
2. You are up bright and early, 6AM, writing a blog post on ActiveRain. You are an SEO maven and know that blogging on ActiveRain is one element of work that generates SEO results. You would be surprised how few people start work at 6am. I would bet hard cash that you don't clock out at 5pm either. We're talking 12 hour days and 60 hour weeks. Definitely hard work.
3. You generate a ton of buyers on your website homefinders.com. Now a smart person would just sell or refer those leads outright. But you take the extra work to speak to nearly every prospect and set them up as slam dunks for your referral agents.
4. You registered homefinders.com in 1995 and have doggedly stuck with it for over a decade. I bet the first few years were lean. Lots of hard work investing in the internet when the smart money was on telemarketing.
5. I also understand that you programmed most of your website. I'm guessing that you don't have any formal training as a computer programmer, but you needed it programmed so you just did it. Doing the dirty work that you should have just outsourced allowed you to learn first hand how to increase your SEO. How's that SEO knowledge working out for you now?
The most successful people in nearly every industry are not so smart. To rise to the top you need to do things differently than all of the other smart people. You need to take risks that smart people think are ludicrous. You are a top producer now, but don't forget what it took to get there. You are doing our members a great disservice if you tell them that becoming great is going to be possible without an extra helping of stupid-hard work.
60hr work week? I didn't know she kept banker's hours.
Jonathan----you mean there is another way?:)
Hard work is definately a needed element in this business. However, this market has shown that you also have to be creative and able to react to the market changes. We used to have 95% listings and 5% buyers, now that has totaly reversed. We increased our iInternet exposure to attract buyers. While homes are selling for less, and they are generally bank owned, we are finding a lot of buyers that can now afford a homes.
Your Queen Creek Real Estate Specialist
http://www.QueenCreekRealEstateSolution.com
60 Hour work week? What's that?
I've always had time management issues...now they are more than an issue....they are a problem!
Lenn does an awesome job!
Jonathan--I don't think there is one person out there that would believe that Lenn does not work hard...But maybe she enjoys AR so much she doesn't consider this work. :)
Tom, I wouldn't be surprised is Lenn scoffed at 60 hours / week and went straight to the 70's. I personally left anything over 50 hours a week when I smartened up and entered my 30's this year.
Charles, Not if you want to be great.
Lenn is one of the hardest workers I know in the industry. She is a rain maker, broker, webmaster, SEO expert, graphics designer, negotiator...and get this. Lenn understands real estate from every aspect becasue she has worked in the trenches! She does in the DC area, what I do in the Atlanta area. My hat is forever off to her, and her knowledge! She is one talented individual.
Teri,
"Enjoying work" - sounds like something you could only convince a dumb person to do. ;)
Jim, No doubt. Could you imagine ever being smart enough to chart out a skillset / career path like the one Lenn did, without just diving in head first? The smartest person in the world could never plan it out that way. Lenn is brilliant. The path to brilliant doesn't lead through smart. Kind of like how "good" is the opposite of "great".
Lenn has had my respect from day 1! Jonathan, you make me feel like lifting a big glass of beer to Lenn - Cheers! (and I don't even drink beer).
See there. I said it doesn't take hard work. It takes smart work.
What's hard work? The only time I can recall working in the past year was. . . .
THANKS ACTIVERAIN FOR GETTING MY HOUSE VACUUMED.
I totally agree. Brilliant. I call Lenn about once a month to talk to and ask her opinions. She is a fantastic person!
There is no one that can talk Hardcore Real Estate better than Lenn that's for dam sure! She is a walking encylopedia of knowledge. If you are not reading Lenn's blog then you are missing out of some of the best Active Rain has to offer.
Jon - Oh by the way I love the header but who are you going to complain to that it is not sized properly:)
I just love Lenn...and i love ActiveRain :)
Love Lenn:) great tribute to a super hard worker! Gotta love your job...
Jon,
This comment belongs somewhere between this post and your last one...Working hard when you love what you do is hardly working...!!! Thanks, Fran
I'll bet Lenn wouldn't know what to do with herself if she wasn't working hard!
Jon - I love Lenn and her posts, knowledge... I could go on.
LOL @Bill's comment about your header ~Rita
60-80 Hr weeks come in many forms, I like my days to start at 8:30 and end at 9:00 with a little time on the weekend maybe. I leave the weekend for you agents.
We are all different. I am slow, Lenn is fast. I actually do not care how much time she spends, 20 or 80. I think both approaches are right.
Yes, you have to be creative to be on top, and getting there besides creativity and being able to take risk would take hours and hours, but without the creativity, and ability to envision the goal and be persistent in getting there, than what would be left is just hard work.
Hours themselves would not put you on the next level. You have to use both most important parts of your body, the head and the behind.
Did you know that weak behind is a flaw of the talent?
Hi Jon! I'm anxious to see Lenn's response to your post! I admire her SO much--she is one smart, classy business woman and it seems that everything she touches turns to gold! She is one of my favorite people here and I would love to be a mentee in her midst for about a year--Oh, the things I could do...
I think a good number of Active rain members are hardworkers and work smart, this is how we smoke our competitions. Working just hard or just smart is just not going to cut it in this market! :-)
Lenn is to real estate / AR like God is to us....how she does it all and so efficiently is amazing!