Getting Property Rental Ready

One of the most important things to remember, if you are attempting to make a property rental ready, is that each new tenant and lease has to be treated as a separate entity. This does not mean that you should not have a set of rules and guidelines to follow, but each time a tenant moves in should be unique. They will not care about any work you have done before they move in. All they want to see is the condition of the property on the days leading up to the move in date. To have a successful lease, what you do before the lease starts can often dictate how your term is going to go.

Even if you only have a few days from the end of the existing lease to the start of the new one, you need to follow a plan. You should have a checklist for everything you want to do. Start with the basic cosmetic items like painting and cleaning. Repairing or replacing little things like door knobs or rug mats may seem like a pain, but your tenant will appreciate it. Focus on cleanliness and safety, and look at the property in terms of what you would want fixed if you lived there. The little details count when making a property rental ready.

It helps to have someone close to you, but not in the business, walk through the house and give their feedback on what changes you should make. It is not the end of the world if the house isn’t 100% finished on the move in date. In this case, you should prorate the rent to as many days as they are in the property. This sets the tone for a happy, trusting relationship between you and your tenant. First impressions are important when your tenant moves in. Make sure you have the unit rental ready and looking as you would want it if you lived there.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…
 

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

Make Money From Your Life Story

To stand out, be recognized or even deserve a seat in the room, you need a good origin story. It’s what helps someone remember you after a brief interaction. Maybe it includes a little mystery to keep people intrigued to continue the conversation.

A carefully crafted legend will tell people who you are, why you’re uniquely qualified to be a part of their company, what you bring to the table, and maybe even how you plan to benefit from the relationship.

So let’s look at the essential structure of such a narrative…

A good origin story subconsciously communicates these three prerequisite qualities of a potential friend or advisor:

Competence: This should be obvious. Your potential customers, in response to your marketing, must be confident in your ability to help them. Colleagues must know that you can carry your own weight in the workplace.

Good character: Everything about your story must convey impeccable ethics. The things you do and don’t do or say and don’t say are a reflection of your honesty and ability to play fair.

Good will: Your story is the perfect vehicle for displaying empathy and understanding for the kind of customers and clients you wish to attract. Yes, you are of general high character, but there needs to be a special place in your heart that wants to see this specific type of individual succeed.

Your origin story should answer the question: Who are you? 

Your colleagues and prospects need a frame of reference. They need to know some basic facts about your background. And more importantly, they need sound reasons to believe you are the right person to be dispensing the kind of advice they’re looking for.

If you give them a litany of facts about your achievements, accreditation, experience etc., you may bore them or come off as boastful. But if you weave these facts into a satisfying personal story, you become a fascinating character that people will want to listen to and believe.

To develop your story, answer these questions:

• Are you a family man or woman?
• What were you like as a kid?
• What did your parents teach you?
• What did you learn from your first job?

Stay relevant to the needs of your prospects but stitch a half a dozen personal facts into your story. Of course, you will also include some facts about your professional qualifications.

• What specifically have you done lately that demonstrates you can solve a problem?
• What’s in it for YOU? Your prospects want to know your motivations.

It’s not enough for your story to demonstrate a certain skill set, level of experience, or expertise. It should not only be built around your victories.

If you try to portray yourself as a miracle man or woman, your prospects will have a great deal of trouble relating to you. It’s important that you share your struggles and the relevant lessons you learned, as well.

Sharing your suffering may be painful. It may make you feel vulnerable. But letting people see a little of your soft underbelly is essential to creating empathy and making a true connection with your target market.

Don’t forget to show people that you made hard choices in your life that demonstrate your ethics and integrity. Tell them about a time you were tempted to take an easy way out that threatened to compromise your values and why you rejected the temptation.

Here’s an outline to use as a guide:

At the beginning, you have an unfulfilled desire. An antagonistic force — another person, an institution, the forces of nature, or perhaps some aspect of your own personality stands in the way of your desire.

You muster the courage to step out of your comfort zone and begin searching for a way around this limitation.

You seek out a mentor. You try different tactics with your mentor. Some move you forward while others waste your time and test your resolve.

Chances are you are tested to the breaking point. Great sacrifices are made, until something borderline miraculous allows you to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

Your story allows people to see that you know first hand what it’s like to want something so badly you can almost taste it. While at the same time you felt utterly frustrated in your efforts to get it.

So you are now here offering to help others with their thwarted desires. This shared feeling of disappointment is what creates a natural affinity between you and your market.

You’ve been where they are, you’ve felt their pain, but you found a cure and want to share it. That’s why you’re here. You really care about your colleague’s or prospect’s success. The money is secondary and your story proves it.

If you don’t have direct personal experience of frustration, explain how you felt the pain of someone close to you. Tell them how you helped this person find a solution to their problem. In this case, the person you helped becomes the protagonist of the story and you become the mentor.

Your origin story is a powerful targeting tool that serves to attract your ideal clientele. People tend to like people who are similar to them and who share the same core beliefs and values. So, if you tell your story in a way that illuminates your values it will act as a magnet. Some people will be attracted while others are repelled. And this is exactly what you want.

As they climb the relationship ladder, the probability of affinity increases and you don’t waste your time with people who are ill fitted for your practice. This might sound discriminatory. It is. But you are not a government agency. The more discriminating you are, the tighter the business bonds you will be able to create.

Such is the awesome practice-building power of a good origin story.$

[Ed. Note. Ray Buckner is dedicated to helping you take control of your financial future with a web-based business that you can operate from anywhere in the world – including a coffee shop, your kitchen table, or anywhere around the world where there is Internet access. Discover how you can achieve the American Dream and your financial independence here. You’ve never seen anything like this before.]

Escaping Ordinary to Achieve Freedom

When I was in elementary school, I always pictured the principal’s office to be this dangerous, dark and scary place where kids went in for the dreaded paddling.

I had a respectful fear of the principal.

Fortunately, I never actually visited his office. That respectful fear stayed with me through high school. Even now when I think back, I just get this image of an evil torturer standing in his dark dungeon… watching the endless line of kids entering into his kingdom. Just waiting to swat someone with his "Board of Education". Yikes!

As far as I can tell, those years helped me develop a healthy respectful fear of authority. And it stuck with me for a very long time.

Becoming a Brave Chicken

Over the years, that fear transformed into something a bit darker: disdain. That’s when the rebel in me was born. That’s when my subversive side started to show.

I didn’t get what was happening at the time, but I started to have a severe dislike for having a boss or people who where in positions of authority over me. I didn't like having people tell me what to do and when. I did not want my life controlled by others.

It wasn’t because of anything personal or anything that they did, it was just because of me.

My feelings had begun to bubble up to the surface. And it came out as disgust. I was becoming braver about confronting the status quo, but I was without a plan to do anything about it.

I guess you could say I was a brave chicken, if there is such a thing.

You see, I wasn’t brave enough yet to publicly state I was “breaking free,” but I was bold enough to take those actions in private.

I was the kid who was perfectly sweet when the teacher was looking, but as soon as they’d turn their back, I’d do anything I could to subvert their power.

The Personal Revolution Begins

When I was younger, I had no idea what freedom was all about. I had no idea where it was hiding. And I had no idea how to build it into my life.

To me, accepting the status quo meant accepting the authority of another (in this case, the thinking of another) over my own.

I had no idea what to do about it except to get disgusted. And I got very, very disgusted.

It was all bottled up of course. After all, I was a nice kid. My training was complete enough to allow me to suppress what I was really feeling and wear an outer persona much more acceptable to the people around me.

Eventually, I blew everything up and abandoned it all.

The management career… gone.

The great job right out of school… gone.

All of the connections I’d spent years building… gone.

All of the “potential” I had to pursue a life as a corporate whiz… kaput.

I got rid of all of it.

Gone in favor of something real. Something for me.

That’s the only thing I could think of doing in order to give myself a fighting chance of breaking free.

My acceptance of the status quo was too complete for the “slow and steady path.”

I needed a revolution, and I got one.

My Roadmap to Personal Freedom

I finally realized there was really only one path for me to tread. And that was a path of my own making.

This is easier said than done. Because it meant I had to redefine everything I knew about who I was and why I was here. I had to redefine:

The status quo regarding my family…

The status quo regarding my  work…

The status quo regarding my time management…

The status quo regarding my spiritual matters…

The status quo regarding how I view myself and the inherent value I bring to the world…

It was painful, turbulent and frightening. It was also the best thing I’ve ever done.

First, understand that personal freedom begins in your mind, body and soul and grows from that place.

It is an ideal that you cling to. And ideal that you build upon. Eventually, that internal fuel makes its way into the physical world.

The road to personal freedom and the escape from the status quo begins with waking up to each and every decision you make in your life.

This is a difficult habit to plant, in my experience. Years and years of shallow thinking have invaded most of our lives. We do things without really thinking about why we do them. We create entire lives for ourselves that are based on other people’s ideas and agendas.

Today is your opportunity to change that.

Today is your opportunity to break free from allowing the status quo to control you.

The truth is, it can’t control you unless you allow it.

The day you stop accepting the status quo is the day you start living your life.

You escape by understanding that you are on a journey worth taking.

Today is the day to escape.

You escape by understanding that the prize is worth a life.

You escape by understanding that you have been given a gift that is completely without measure: the ability to decide what direction you will travel today, tomorrow and the next day.

But I have to warn you, the journey probably won’t be easy. Especially at first.

There’s a middle ground, a limbo of sorts, where it feels like you’re out there all by yourself. It feels that way because you are all by yourself. For the time being anyway.

You are 4-5 steps away from the herd. They see you there, and they don’t like it.

That’s the time to persevere.

If you keep paddling, you’ll soon come upon another land. A better land if I might be so bold. This land is where all of the people live who have abandoned the status quo in search of something better–in search of something more fulfilling, more real.

They’re on a similar journey. And seeing them gives you great strength. It shows you that you are in very good company. The best company there is actually.

You are an independent being. You are free to make your choices and to take action on those choices. You are free to do this today, despite the best efforts of “the herd” to keep you in line.

What do you get in exchange for all of this trouble?

You get the life that is meant for you. And that, dear Reader, will make all the difference.$

[Ed. Note. Ray Buckner is dedicated to helping you take control of your financial future with a web-based business that you can operate from anywhere in the world – including a coffee shop, your kitchen table, or anywhere around the world where there is Internet access. Discover how you can achieve the American Dream and your financial independence here. You’ve never seen anything like this before.]

Read This or Go Broke

If there’s one thing that gets under my skin the most about most businesses it’s when these well-meaning owners, in poor judgment, decide to compete on price.

Absolutely insane!

Often times the ill logic is accompanied by statements like…

– “there’s four other businesses just like mine within five miles of me who charge less”

– “yeah but the economy in my area is different” 

– “people here have no money” 

– “there are two big box stores that charge less and I can’t compete with them” 

– “you don’t understand, my circumstances are different”

These are limiting beliefs of the lazy and undetermined.

When you compete on price, there’s always going to be a competitor that is willing to go broke before you.

The worst thing you can do in your business is get sucked into the “low price” battle with your competitors.

Doing so is the fastest way to go broke.

No one wins.

Not you.

Not your clients.

Not your competitors.

All it takes is three simple things to pre-condition your market that you’re different, better, and far superior than all other options available to them.

I’ll tell you what those three things are in just a moment.

See, people only shop on price when they’re uncertain and apprehensive about the service.

If your entire market knew without a shadow of a doubt that you’re the best option in town and that your programs, products, or services constantly and consistently produce happier customers – would you ever have to compete on price?

Think about all the times you’ve paid more than you normally would have for something because you were convinced that it was of higher quality and of better value.

People happily pay more for what they feel is of higher value and superior quality all the time. For example, you’ve probably paid more for:

Organic vs. traditional fruits and vegetables

Grass fed vs. corn fed beef

Free range vs. caged chicken and eggs

All-natural almond butter vs. national brand peanut butter

BMW and Mercedes vs. Ford, Chevy, or Toyota

MAC vs. Maybelline

Rolex vs. Nixon

Gray Goose vs. Absolute

So what do MAC, Rolex, BMW, organic, natural, free range, Mercedes, grass fed and Gray Goose all have in common?

They are recognized as best in class.

Price is never a factor when buying these products and brands.

They’ve become competition proof and are in “a category of one”.

Fortunately, you can do this with your personal training or boot camp programs, too.

You can (and should) convince your market that you are their only real choice as it relates to your industry.

Eliminating apprehension and uncertainty within a prospect comes down to pre-conditioning prospects.

Pre-conditioning simply means being known for something… or in this case for a few things, such as…

…establishing your image

…building up your reputation

…creating credibility, trust, and authority

Pre-conditioned prospects come to you pre-qualified, ready to buy, and with little or no resistance. There are many ways to pre-condition your market, and here are three of them.

1. Publish case studies.

Case studies can be done on your website and blog, in print, and in emails.

Case studies are success stories that you share with your prospects showcasing how happy one of your clients was after purchasing your products or services.

The best case studies are not “pitch” driven but are story driven where you demonstrate how your product or service was the solution to your client’s biggest frustrations.

2. Demonstrate social proof.

Include testimonials in video, print, along with before and after picture in ALL of your marketing material…

… on your website, postcards, framed on the walls of your facility, in print ads and even on your business cards.

And not just one or two testimonials, either… but a near endless array of success stories and social proof so that anyone who sees your site, ads, and other marketing material can easily see that you repeatedly create happy customers.

3. Send a “Shock and awe” package.

Send an unexpected and meaningful gift when someone joins your program.

Price, cost, money should never be the deciding factor whether or not a prospect will become a client or not.

As Dan Kennedy once wrote, “The rules remain: If you want money, it’s a good idea to place yourself where there is plenty – and if you present someone with the ability to spend something they very much want or need, and secure their trust, they’ll hand you their money. You need to create your own economy via relationship with a “prime herd” that is not affected by overall economy. Be careful of devoting excess attention to product or media or technology, and not enough to ‘prime herd’. Ultimately the financial facts of your life will be more governed by who you sell to and the nature of the relationship you have with them.”

It all starts with pre-conditioning your prospect to understand that you are the premium option in your industry. Do that, and selling will become easier without resorting to cutting prices.

Don’t compete on price.

Don’t be willing to go broke.

You’re worth so much more.$

[Ed. Note. Ray Buckner is dedicated to helping you take control of your financial future with a web-based business that you can operate from anywhere in the world – including a coffee shop, your kitchen table, or anywhere around the world where there is Internet access. Discover how you can achieve the American Dream and your financial independence here. You’ve never seen anything like this before.]

How to Negotiate Like a Billionaire

Today I’d like to talk to you about the most important skill you can use to live a richer life.

Most people think they’re good at this skill, but in reality they make one simple mistake that ruins them.

What skill am I talking about?

Negotiating.

Most people botch major negotiations for one major reason.

John D. Rockefeller had a difficult childhood.  His family bounced between poverty and comfort because his father was a con-artist. The elder Rockefeller traveled the countryside of upstate New York selling patent medicine which was often simply “snake-oil.”  The Rockefellers didn’t exactly fit in where they lived in the small New York village.

Just like most small towns, everybody knew each other.  Gossip and rumor spread like wildfire. And the village scorned Rockefeller’s father who they correctly thought was a snake-oil salesman.  Whispers followed the family, they were excluded from social life and young John could not help but hear the vicious things the villagers said about his family.

Because they were ostracized, Rockefeller quickly developed a thick skin and a calm demeanor that helped him ignore the verbal barbs from the villagers who thought the sins of the father should blemish his son.
People commented on the boy’s almost Buddhist detachment from events that kept him from getting angry or flustered, even when his father committed the ultimate sin and abandoned their family.

Throughout his childhood, Rockefeller built a fortress of calm.

And this fortress served him on his journey to remarkable success.  You see, when Rockefeller sat down to negotiate, it was impossible for people to emotionally manipulate him. Even when he sat in front of a hostile Congress who wanted to destroy the company he built, Rockefeller remained calm and composed during the crisis.
Nothing could faze him.

Now I’m going to show you how you can get calm like Rockefeller before you enter into any negotiation during your life.  This could be buying a new car, trying to close on a house, or simply convincing your spouse to do something for you.

Most people, when faced with any negotiation, let their emotions rule.  That’s the major mistake. If you let your emotions reign during a negotiation, I promise you will be crushed.

But it’s hard to remain calm especially when you’re trying to get something that you really want.

Think back to the last time you had a major negotiation.  You probably felt nervous and anxious. You may have struggled to say the right thing without stammering. You may have felt clammy or even a little nauseous.

That’s okay. It’s normal to feel like that when the stakes are high. But you can work around those feelings using this simple Rockefeller trick.
When you enter a negotiation of any kind, before you start talking, take a moment of quiet to compose yourself.  Be silent for a second.  Don’t rush into things or tip your hand.  Take a deep breath and enjoy the silence for a moment.

Rockefeller would enter a negotiation softly.  He waited a moment before he said anything. If you follow his example, you will immediately feel calmer.

The worst thing you can do when negotiating is try to rush things.
Don’t forget that during your brief silence, the other person will feel just as uncomfortable as you.

After you collect your thoughts, compose your first sentence and speak it calmly and confidently.  Don’t worry about moving fast.  If you do rush, it immediately sends the signal that you’re nervous, scared and overwhelmed.  That’s not the impression you want to make.

A calm tone and a slow pace is your friend here.

Later in his career, Rockefeller surprised people he met because he was so calm and genial, even during hostile negotiations. They expected that the king of the Robber Barons would bluster and rage.  But he didn’t.

He simply stayed still.

And he spoke calmly, quietly and never rushed.

It’s a rule in negotiations that if you lose your cool then you won’t get the deal you want.

Stay calm and you’ll be just fine.

Beyond learning to stay calm, Rockefeller learned another valuable lesson early in his career: threats don’t work. Businessman lost their cool during a negotiation and made threats when things weren’t working in their favor. This destructive behavior almost always damaged the budding relationship and cost the bully dearly.

Threats ruin relationships. And a rich life and career is built on great relationships.

Machiavelli got it wrong when he said, “It’s better to be feared than loved.”

Rockefeller never made threats, even when he was the richest and most powerful business owner in the world. In fact, Rockefeller was happy to slightly overpay for things in order to maintain and build relationships.

Take these two valuable lessons from Rockefeller:

1. Take a moment before you start any negotiation to clear your mind and remain calm.
2. Don’t ever make threats. They don’t work long-term.

If you work on remaining calm during the negotiation, you’ll notice that you become more persuasive, more rational and more likely to get what you want.  It’s one of the most valuable skills for living a rich life.

So keep calm and negotiate it.

Start today.$

[Ed. Note. Ray Buckner is dedicated to helping you take control of your financial future with a web-based business that you can operate from anywhere in the world – including a coffee shop, your kitchen table, or anywhere around the world where there is Internet access. Discover how you can achieve the American Dream and your financial independence here. You’ve never seen anything like this before.]

Three Quick Marketing Questions For You

Everything you know about marketing a business is wrong.

Forget everything you’ve heard about systematically marketing, strategically building a list, ruthlessly promoting yourself and writing out your marketing calendar 12 months in advanced.

That stuff is anxiety provoking.

Marketing (relationship building and value adding) is not a robotic process… it’s art, it’s instinctual, and it’s the equivalent of – dare I say it – love making.

There’s a certain magic about great marketing that moves people to action with a smile.

A great example of magic in marketing is Disney and how they extract money from us – and we happily comply.

Don’t get me wrong, good marketing IS formulaic and there is a “process” to it…

…however the difference between business owners who get a steady flow of new prospects and referrals and are generating six figures VS the business owner that relies on having random hit or miss promotions is the ‘magic’.

It’s like this…

I could go out on a weekend and play hoops at the local park and maybe be the best player on the court.

But put me in the NBA and I’d be lucky if I could keep up with the water boy.

The missing ingredient? Magic.

Now, in sports you either have it or you don’t.

If you have the natural talent and work hard at perfecting your skills then you’ll make it to the big leagues.

But if you don’t have the natural talent, genetics, and skills then you’re never going to make it to the big leagues.

It’s not like that in business and marketing.

Even if you don’t have the natural skills (instincts), you can develop them over time.

In fact, I’ve seen some pretty socially awkward business owners become legendary in their marketing skills over time.

Here’s how to develop your marketing skills…

Rather than just taking a marketing promo and regurgitating it, ask yourself these three questions each weekend to help you plan out your weekly priority and productivity list.

1. What do I plan to do this week to get more clients?

Notice, I didn’t say leads or prospects. I said CLIENTS.

Odds are that you already have a list of prospects that you haven’t followed up on… or at least haven’t followed up on thoroughly.

Maybe you’re going to follow up with these leads and prospects better with calls, emails, auto-responders, and direct mail.

Maybe you’re going to get them back in for another free trial or consultation to demonstrate greater value.

Maybe you’re going to improve your sales skills and convert more of these leads and prospects into paying clients.

Or maybe you’re going to come with the coolness and deliver more value, better and more consistent content and compelling case studies.

It’s not always about marketing or lead generation.

But it may be…

and if it is… then take a look at your best producing month and reverse engineer what worked – and do it again – only better.

Next, ask yourself this…

2. What do I plan to do to keep my clients?

Fantastic, so you’re delivering a great product or service.

Big deal. Let’s be honest, most business owners are skilled enough in their craft that they can deliver a good product or service. You need to differentiate yourself.

What else are you doing to keep them?

To your clients, in addition to results, the other four things they want from you is to keep it fun, recognition, appreciation and a sense of belonging – a second home.

It’s a lot easier to keep your clients than to get new ones.

And finally, ask yourself this…

3. How do I plan to add value to the people in my circle of influence? 

What connections or hook ups have you made for your clients recently?

What value are you going to deliver to the businesses that refer to you (or to businesses who you want to refer to you)?

Read the “Go Giver”. It’s a great little book and fast read on the topic of being a value adder. Plus it just makes you a better human.

See more often than not we’re always looking for others to do something for us rather than to come with the giving hand.

For example, most business owners are just thinking “me, me, me”.

Mail out for me.

Host my lead boxes.

Let me put my flyers in your store.

Send me more referrals.

But that doesn’t get you very far. In fact, it repels connections. Instead, think about building relationships this way.

What VALUE are you bringing to others?

Do it without expectation and see what happens.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer working with value adders and not value extractors.

Just one of the rules I live by.$

[Ed. Note: If you're not happy with your financial situation, you're in the perfect position to change it for the better – right now. Ray has just released a special video that covers an online business system that you can use to start growing your wealth. To watch this short video, click the following link: http://www.raybuckner.com]