I bet that if I asked you right now approximately how much money you had in your personal bank account that you would know the answer. And I bet that you probably keep fairly good track of the checks that you write in your checkbook log.

Of course, you are saying to yourself…so what’s the point? My point is simply this: you obviously have a pretty good knowledge of the financial numbers in your personal life, so how come you don’t know the numbers in your Real Estate Investing business? Now, there is more to knowing your numbers than knowing just how much money you have in your bank account and in your checkbook, so I don’t want you to think that you can get off that easy. Ultimately, if you want to be extremely successful as a real estate investor then you need to know, review, track, and work to improve the numbers of your business on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis!

In my business, every Monday I get together with my employees and we talk numbers such as: How many letters were mailed out, how many calls we received, how many appointments were scheduled, how many houses we are trying to buy, how many houses we are trying to sell, how our marketing is converting, how, how, how, how…. It’s called, keeping a finger on the pulse of your business. Do you have a finger on the pulse of YOUR business?

If you are lazy, or think you don’t have enough time to compile and review your stats, or think that it doesn’t matter, THINK AGAIN! Here’s the reality of how important it is to know your numbers: No numbers = No business (period!). Everything in this real estate investing business revolves around numbers and simple math. My advice to you is to create some simple reports that you can easily analyze and compare once a week. It doesn’t have to impress a Statistician, just keep it simple and start to keep track of that which you feel is most important to your success. If you have an assistant or employees that can help you, then create the report and have them compile the data for you to review each week (that’s what I do).

Make a commitment to yourself to do this for a minimum of 1 month. If it seems to be too much work then you can stop, however you have to do it for a minimum of 1 month. About the 2nd or 3rd week your eyes will open wider then they ever have in the past as you’ll now begin to know your numbers. This simple act will make you smarter, more confident and more wealthy as you grow your real estate investing business …GUARANTEED!

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please let me know!

To your real estate investing success,

Brian Evans

One of the most important things ever taught to me as an Entrepreneur and a Real Estate Investor is the following, you must Always Focus on Revenue.

Gosh, I can’t stress enough how important this is for your real estate investing business and every business for that matter. As a business owner you are in business for one reason and one reason only…. to make money. Lots and Lots of MONEY. Even non-profit businesses have to make money in order to stay in business, so don’t be fooled by the “non-profit” part of it.

As a real estate investor I know what it is like to be wondering when the next deal is going to take place and provide us with some cash in the bank. Maintaining business cash flow is one of the biggest problems in this business. Although it seems so simple to think that you should always focus on revenue, you’d be surprised how forgotten this mindset actually is. Now a days, people (and I am guilty too) get so caught up in all of the little day to day distracting things like email, and phone calls, and faxes, etc that they forget to prioritize their time and focus their effort on that thing or task which will help to bring in the next paycheck.

There are three primary habits that you need to implement as soon as possible to help you grow your business so that you can Always Focus on Revenue.

1) Delegate Tasks as Often as Possible – if you are the only one in your business then this will be difficult for you to implement, however not impossible. Ask yourself, is it time to hire help? At minimum you may want to consider finding part time assistance. However, I firmly believe that if you can’t make money in this business by yourself then you probably can’t make money in this business when you have help. Do a deal before thinking about hiring help.

2) Prioritize your Tasks and Time Appropriately – The first thing you do in the morning should NOT be to check your email, it should be to create your to do list for the day and do the most important things FIRST, that will allow you to get closer to the next payday! Only after you complete your important tasks should you check your emails. Being busy and being productive are two very different things.

3) Create Systems – Having systems in place is so important to the efficiency, longevity, and profitability of your business. The better systemized and organized you are the easier it will be for you to Always Focus on Revenue.

If I were you, I’d open up a word document, center and bold the text and type on the page “Always Focus On Revenue.” Then enlarge the text as big as possible keeping all of the words on the page. Print the page and tape it in front of your desk so that you can see it everyday.

If you aren’t the one focusing on revenue then who is? Someone better be otherwise you’ll end up another small business failure statistic, and I will not let that happen to you!

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.

To your real estate investing success,

Brian Evans

Last week I talked about having the right mindset in this business and doing everything you can to come in first place, and running your real estate investing business as if there is no second place. And when things go wrong (and they will) simply accept it and learn from it and keep reaching for the finish line.

But here is the tricky part that may be difficult for you to understand right now… You’ll never reach the finish line because there isn’t one….

Say what??….. That’s right, there is NO FINISH LINE. Sounds weird, I know, but let me explain. Majority of entrepreneurs go through life reaching for their goals and doing everything they can to reach the finish line. This is all good and well, but after they reach the finish line they go flat because they achieved what they set out to achieve. The thing is, once you get to the finish line you find out that it is great for a short period of time but eventually all the hype that you created in your mind isn’t so great anymore.

Another way to think about it is like this. Many people go through the ride of life waiting to reach the glorious station at the end of the ride. However, you eventually discover that there is no station at all, but only the ride. So the key is to enjoy the ride along the way, because there is no finish line and there is no station.

So how do you approach business and life as if there is no station and no finish line? … I’m so glad you asked, here’s how. You need to approach your business with two mindsets: (1) A Goal Mindset. (2) A Growth Mindset. With a Goal mindset you are setting goals regularly and working hard to achieve your goals. With a Growth mindset you are aware of the fact that you are setting goals, but even more important than setting out to achieve your goals is making sure that you are constantly growing as an entrepreneur. By that I mean, you need to constantly challenge yourself and grow your business and learn new things. If it ever feels like your business is smooth sailing and on the easy track then I can virtually guarantee that you are about to go flat and hit a wall. I firmly believe that your business needs to be constantly moving up-hill with new challenges and allow you to grow and change effectively.

You see, by having a Growth Mindset as well as a Goal Mindset you begin to realize that there is no finish line and no station at the end of the ride but only the ride itself. Once you fully understand this concept you’ll be able to better appreciate the challenges in life and business and be more successful as a result!

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.

To your real estate investing success,

Brian Evans

There are few things that are more important in business than the subject that I am about to discuss with you right now. This subject is having the right mindset and playing the game of business as if there is No Second Place. Take a moment and say this phrase out-loud to yourself…. “There is No Second Place” … “There is No Second Place” … “There is No Second Place.”

It is a powerful and gutsy phrase that few business people live by. Are you one of these people?

Let’s dissect a few things so you can see why this phrase is so important. Having the right mindset in business is vitally important to the success and longevity of your business. If you convince yourself and truly believe that there is no second place then your actions and your subconscious mind will feed off of this mindset and in turn allow you to maximize your full potential and achieve your goals.

If you play the game of business and think to yourself that you may not win or succeed but that you’ll give it a try anyway, then I can virtually guarantee that you will fall short. The reason why the ultra successful business people are where they are is because they have an internal sense and belief about themselves and their ability unlike anyone else. Does this mean that they always win or have all the answers before they begin or succeed at everything they do? No. But it does mean that they approach everything they do with a deep internal belief in themselves and their business that they will succeed and win the game. Not for one second to they believe that they’ll come in second.

Why would anyone play the game to come in second? They don’t. You need to run your business with everything you’ve got and do everything you can to succeed and come in first place. Accept nothing else. And when things go wrong (and they will) simply accept it and learn from it and keep reaching for the finish line.

But here is the tricky part that may be difficult for you to understand right now… You’ll never reach the finish line because there isn’t one…. To Be Continued.

Next week I’ll explain why there is no finish line and why this is a good thing and how you can succeed from it.

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.

To your real estate investing success,

Brian Evans

One of the foremost requirements of being a Real Estate Investor is the consistent interaction with everyday people. To achieve great success you need to have very confident and personable communication skills with people. You need to be able to deal with uncomfortable situations. Because the fact of the matter is this; majority of the people that you do business with are people in distress. Not all, but most.

So what does all this have to do with today’s lesson titled, “Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep.” The explanation is simple; if you haven’t yet, you will eventually find yourself in a situation where you will want to promise the sun the moon and the stars to the person sitting across the table from you. The real estate deal that you are considering will look so sweet and profitable that you’ll want to say anything to get the other party to sign paperwork with you.

This is absolutely the WRONG approach. The last thing that you ever want to do is find yourself in a situation where you’ve made a promise to someone, and you are uncertain that you’ll be able to keep that promise. Here’s the reality of the business; “Murphy” lives everywhere. If something can go wrong then it probably will go wrong, and if you’ve made a promise to someone that you can’t keep because of “Murphy” then you may find yourself in a very difficult situation.

For example: in the business of investing and negotiation short sale deals. Every situation is different and the lender is ultimately in control. You don’t know if you’ll be able to stop a foreclosure and purchase the home until you get to closing and leave with a check in hand. Therefore, to keep from making promises that you can’t keep, have your seller sign paperwork in the beginning that says “there are NO GUARANTEES.”

Be honest and do business with integrity. Don’t making promises to people, and then the result is: you don’t have to remember who you lied to. Voila!

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.

To your real estate investing success,

Brian Evans

If you recall from last weeks blog post I discussed with you the importance of always doing what you say as well as the need to keep people accountable to what they say they will do.

There are two secrets to making this work for you:
Secret #1 – Don’t say you’ll do something if you are at all unsure that you’ll be able to do what you say.
Secret #2 – Use a Planner

Use a Planner you say?? How is that such a big and all-important secret? Well, I will tell you that once I implemented and committed my self to using a planner in my business and life, not only was I able to keep my promises with ease, but I was also able to remember to keep people accountable with ease.

Now I’m not talking about an electronic planner, blackberry, palm, or Microsoft outlook calendar. I’m talking about the good old fashioned leather planner with a paper and pen. There absolutely is nothing better…guaranteed.

Everyday when I get to my office, the first thing I do is open my planner and place it in a stand on my desk so that I can see my schedule and “to do’s.” If there are any “to-do’s” from the day before that I didn’t complete then I automatically write then in today’s page so that I am reminded to get them done.

You see friends, my planner is my excuse to FORGET! I have a terrible memory and you can ask my wife about that. However because I have established such a good habit of using and implementing my planner EVERYDAY it has allowed me to be a better business person and appear as though I have a memory of an Elephant.

Not only this, but my planner is my “idea center.” If you are an entrepreneur like me then you probably also have tons of NEW and GREAT ideas on a regular basis about how to make big bucks in real estate or any other business venture. The thing about me is, I write these ideas down in my planner and then once they are in my planner I automatically know that the idea will get IMPLEMENTED.

If you are not using a good old fashioned planner to organize you personally in your business and life then I believe that you will likely struggle with keeping your commitments and keeping people accountable to their commitments. No matter how big or small these commitments are.

I am a firm believe that the more organized and systemized you get, the faster your business will grow and the more money you will make! Your planner is your secret weapon, your friend, your memory box, your idea center, your accountability partner, your implementation device.

Put it this way, if there was ever a fire, and I had seconds to grab something and run, you’d see my laptop in one hand and my planner in the other. It is invaluable to me as a business owner and entrepreneur.

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.

To your real estate investing success,

Brian Evans

This week’s Real Estate Business Tip is something that is extremely important on many levels (Business and Personal). And this tip is, “Do What You Say.”

Sounds simple and miniscule doesn’t it? Well it is far from it. How many times has someone told you that they would call you back, or get back to you about something, or keep you in the loop, or let you know, or shoot you an email, or whatever and NOTHING HAPPENED? Better yet, how many times have you said that to someone and then not followed through with what you said?

Of all the pet peeves that I have, this one might top the chart. There is nothing that is more annoying to me than someone who says they’ll do something and then not do it! And 90% of the time I would venture to guess that they knew when they said it that they weren’t going to do anything, however they said it anyway. Why?? Because you didn’t want to hurt my feelings or let me know up front, and perhaps I’ll forget about it? Makes no sense does it?

Confession time…I was once guilty of this habit. And that is exactly what it is by the way, a BAD HABIT. In my earlier investing days I can recall times when I said that I would call a seller back or a buyer back and then not do it. Why did I do this? I think at the time it was just the easy way out and the easy thing to say to not disappoint the other person. Well, eventually I was called out on it and I was embarrassed. From then on I committed my self to ALWAYS do what I say, and on the flip side of that ALWAYS keep people accountable to what they say. Funny thing is, once you make this commitment you’ll be surprised how many other people DON’T do what they say.

Although breaking this bad habit wasn’t easy, once I committed my self to it, it wasn’t long before I was Always doing what I said I was going to do. Am I perfect now? Absolutely not, but I guarantee that I am better than 99% of other real estate investors and business professionals out there when it comes to doing what you say.

There are two secrets to making this work for you:
Secret #1 – Don’t say you’ll do something if you are at all unsure that you’ll be able to do what you say.
Secret #2 – ……..To be continued…….

Stay tuned for next week’s follow up article to this one where I share with you Secret #2 to being able to always do what you say and always keep people accountable to what they say. You won’t want to miss it!

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.

To your real estate investing success,

Brian Evans

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