I’m live-blogging #AREC16 from the Gold Coast. Here are my top learnings from Zali Reynolds: Sow the Seed to Reap the Rewards.

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10 different schools in 9 years. Homeless at 14. Working at McDonalds earning $5.97/hr to survive. And a determination to finish high school. Now selling prestige property and dominating her marketplace. Remind me again about your excuses for not achieving your dreams?

1. The old gag was that when you started in real estate you got 3 things: a desk, a phone, and a month! How do you expand from there? The Farming System means identifying about 1,000 homes in your target market, and an ability to touch all of them about once a month. Zali is up over 7,000 homes in her farm area, with her team and her systems.Good farms / precincts have consistent turnover, good average sale price, high level of owner-occupied homes, appropriate competition (don’t tackle someone with 60%+ marketshare, especially starting out), a relatable demographic to help you create ‘your tribe’, and you must have a passion for the area.
2. Being a Farmer: Plant more Seeds, and watch them propogate. As they grow, build a team and systemise. It takes about 9 touch points for people to remember your name, and 25 touch points to be remembered as an expert. So keep planting your seeds – things like:
   Letterbox drops,
   Mailers (price drive letter bi-annually), newsletters, suburb reports, Just Listed / Invite to Auction / Just Sold (vendor paid),
   Door Knocking (“Do you know anybody in the area who is thinking of selling?” 3rd Party language is less direct, less confrontational, engages community gossip!)!
   Sponsorship (be involved)
   Be seen – spend time hanging in your area! Zali has a ‘Coffice’ – treat your local cafes as your office, have meetings there, and spend time in there between meetings not all the way back at the office.
   Client Nights – I’m hoping for an invite to Zali’s next movie night, though my lack of Glen-Iris-property-ownership probably precludes me from receiving that in the mail!Zone your farm areas – the same approach may not work in every zone, so monitor results and have a long term plan.
3. In everything I do, I aim to come across as a real person. The best piece of marketing she’s ever done? The Newsletter that included her wedding photos. AUTHENTICITY PEOPLE!! Be the master of doing 1 thing (strategy) really well, before moving on, rather than trying to do everything.
4. How do you Harvest – leverage the Listings you win? 10x10x20s, invitations, doorknocks. Get the owner to leverage through social media (their friends will care about the listing a lot more than your friends will!), and repeat when Sold.
5. Your Mindset is absolutely everything – in life, not just real estate. You need a WHY, realistic goals and a plan, and a dream team (Zali lists personal trainer, life coach, and industry mentors among hers).

Thank you Zali for sharing so much of your personal story – you could have made the same points just talking about McDonalds and your success but your background and recent loss made it so real.

Our next speaker is Tom Hector – live blogged here.

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Jacob Aldridge is a co-founder and business coach at Real Estate Grow.

If you’re a real estate Principal looking for fresh ways to help you work on your business, let’s chat. Contact me on either 0427 151 181 or jacob@realestategrow.com.au.

Not ready for that level of commitment? Follow me on Twitter @jacobaldridge