I spent the last week in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Many people I told that I was going said “that’s awesome; you will have lots of fun!”. I received some great tips on enjoying the beaches and nightlife that it had to offer before my trip.   I certainly was looking forward to fun, but probably different fun than what most people thought. 

My fun started the first morning that I was there.  There was going to be a small group of online entrepreneurs gathered to learn from each other.  

The rules were simple: 

  1. Show up on time, sessions start at 8:30am, don’t be late
  2. Everyone must contribute, so be prepared for participation (you can’t just sit there and hold out on everyone the secret to success)
  3. Respect each others businesses, what is said in the group stays there 

With these small guiding principals the sessions were left to be open and action packed.  This niche group of 12+ individuals who run very successful online businesses came willing to share and critique each other.  After introductions I quickly realized that each person was in a totally different industry. 

Learn from the differences 

Over the next 3 days I realized that each person being from a different industry was probably one of the best aspects!  The variety of perspectives provided analysis that was different and was applicable to almost every business.  Truly eye opening it helped me to see that too often we get caught in a vacuum of our own industry and reaching out to others in diverse fields can help you to quickly see the problems you are having so you can start to experience the success you have always envisioned. 

We are going to write a 5 part series here on the learning that we came away with that can help you with your real estate businesses.  In all honesty we could fill up months of content from this past 3 days (and we certainly will) but over the next handful of days we will point out some of the most power packed aspects that will help you to start impacting your businesses immediately. 

Fair warning before you read on 

Preparing to read this series requires some dedication.  Sure, you can think of it as any other “series” you find online, but this one will be different.  In fact if you aren’t willing to abide by the following guiding principles, then I suggest you don’t even read the next few days. 

Yes, don’t read the next 4 days (maybe even a bonus 5th day) if you don’t want to embrace the following. 

  1. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable.  We are going to challenge the accepted “norm” and give you items that will cause you to learn something new so you can experience explosive results.
  2. You must want to take action.  If you want to read and do nothing, this series is NOT for you.  Be prepared to take action for that is how you will improve your business.  Learning just for learning will just cause you to complain that “the market is bad” and there isn’t any room for complaints here.
  3. Be willing to share.  Share your results; share your challenges (but no complaining) so that everyone can learn together.  There is enough business out there for everyone so have no fear to share. 

That’s it, 3 simple guiding rules to follow.  We are going to mix it up and share some of this series over on our blog at Active Rain as well to make sure that we can maximize the sharing.  Refer it to your friends if they want to improve their business and want to abide by the rules. 

As always, to your success online.

Here are the upcoming series headlines:

  • Master your Niche, Not the Whole Enchilada - Day 1
  • Follow up, Follow up, Follow up with Systems - Day 2
  • Try Something New, You Aren’t the Only One That Struggles With It - Day 3
  • Always Look to Provide MORE Value to Your Customers - Day 4
  • Sharpen Your Skills, Even the Ones You Think You Have Mastered - Day 5