There's no doubt that many of you have felt the continuous ebb and flow of the real estate market in recent years. What separates top producers from their less-successful counterparts in this and every market is their ability to work on their business while working in their business.

What's the difference? For most, it begins with the right mindset. Real estate sales is not just a job; it is a career and a business that requires planning, careful thought, organization and systems that create and maintain balance, accountability and forward momentum.

Step 1: Have a plan.

Part of working ON your business is to create a written plan. You likely fall into one of three categories:

1. You're brand new and more than a little overwhelmed at where to start.

2. You're an early adapter to the concept of effective planning and are enjoying a stable, productive career despite market peaks and valleys.

3. You've been at this for a while now and, while still in business, you do not have a formal plan to create sustainable, repeatable success and stability. You find yourself working 12-hour days with high stress and little certainty as to where your next deal will come from.

Planning is critical to realizing your goals, generating consistent income and creating an exit plan that ensures you have a valuable "book of business" that you can sell when you are ready to retire.

Your plan should:

• be written out and clearly defined

• have a realistic and comprehensive budget

• be based not only on your goals, but also on your family's goals (very important to maintaining the support system necessary during long days or tough weeks!)

• outline the number of transactions you will need to reach those goals based on commission dollars, list-to-close ratio and fall-through rate

• outline the number of contacts, appointments scheduled and appointments attended you will need to realize your transaction goal

• break your numbers down into daily, weekly and monthly activities so that you ALWAYS know where you are in relation to your goal

Step 2: Employ smart marketing.

In today's competitive arena, effectively marketing yourself, your listings and your business requires both consistency and laser focus.

Consistency. Countless agents send single marketing pieces to blanket areas of several thousand consumers, with no intention of following up. Many others take the "holiday" approach to staying in touch by sending an annual holiday card in the hopes that they are remembered. Both of these approaches are a waste of time, energy and valuable marketing dollars.

Truth is, you should be in contact with your sphere of influence at least every four to six weeks. Using the popular send-call-see approach (part of our free BusinessBASE^TM), you can easily set up a system for contacting your VIPs each month. Send a postcard, letter, newsletter, flyer, novelty or note one month. Call with a friendly event reminder, helpful hint, or just to say hello the next month. During the third month, arrange to see them via a networking event, social gathering or quick in-person visit (with notice, of course) where you drop off a small token, informational item or card. Then start the "rotation" over again. Such consistency creates vital 'top-of-mind' awareness that often becomes "the key to the kingdom" when growing your referral base and creating a reliable income.

Laser focus. I've written before about the power of target marketing in today's sales arena. Gone are the days when agents could afford to take a "shotgun" approach—casting a wide net in the hopes of "catching a few" wastes precious resources on prospects that couldn't, wouldn't or shouldn't do business with you for any number of reasons.

Response rates increase dramatically when you speak directly to the needs and interests of a particular group. Wise agents seek out demographics and/or geographics that they relate to or have a history of success with. The more comfortable you become speaking to a particular group or segment, the more you become recognized or thought of as a specialist in that field.

So discover the wonderful world of data mining; your watch and your wallet will thank you for it! Here are just a few examples:

• First-time homeowners. Try DataLeader.com to quickly data mine for local renters. Send a postcard or letter that explains the advantages of home ownership as well as the possible monthly savings and ability to build equity!

• Builders. Offer to help builders eliminate their #1 worry: standing inventory. Create a list of every builder in your area, then send a flyer or brochure explaining how you can data mine for the perfect customers to purchase their homes!

• FSBOs. There are many effective search products for this demographic. Fear leads many agents to steer clear of FSBOs, which eliminates at least a portion of your competition. Because you know that they are (or at least were) motivated to sell, you can pull out the stops, give them the tools they need to sell, and use your best skills to price it right for your particular market.

Step 3: Put systems in place. Without systems, you're like a hamster on the wheel–spinning and spinning without really getting anywhere. Systems are the only way to establish and maintain the delegation, automation and streamlining necessary to continuously work ON your business. Systems allow you to:

• manage your time effectively

• create a consistent standard of service

• assure clients that their needs are being met by a "team"

• provide checks and balances for fine tuning your business

• promote efficiency and accuracy

• reduce training time when bringing on new team members

What systems should you have in place?

• lead generation/prospecting

• pre-listing

• end-to-end marketing

• closing

• price reductions

• automated Just Listed/Just Sold

• customer retention/sphere of influence

• measurable return on investment tracking

Working ON your business requires dedication and a commitment to the activities that earn you top dollar and allow you to "feed" the career you're building. Never lose sight of the fact that prospecting, presenting and closing should always be at the top of your list.

Believe it or not, there's never been a better time to succeed in this industry. Seize the opportunities that others see as obstacles. Learn from the success stories that have come before you, and model their ability to navigate exponential growth, a balanced life and a book of business so valuable and reliable that they never have to wonder where their next deal will come from. I wish you much success!