It's what you do now that is going to determine whether you start 2005 from ground zero or with momentum and focus. If you are proactive this month, you will reap the rewards next year.

Have a Productive December

December is a perfect month to making warm calls or visits. G to as many functions and parties as possible to be high profile. Prospecting is not limited to the horrid cold calls but includes any activity that puts you in front of someone who wants to buy or sell. Statistics tell us this is probably about 10% of the people. So one in every 10 people you see probably has a need. See more and have fun doing it. Several years ago, one of my coaching clients called and talked to each person in her past client database in December and had 6 new listings from those people in January.

December is also a good time to focus on business. The buyers are more serious this time of the year. If you have a motivated seller, there is an advantage because there is less competition, the house looks prettier with decorations and the buyers are more likely to buy. Coach your sellers not to wait until after the holidays but to take advantage of this. There are agents whose best month is always December because they are working when others are not. It sure makes January nice to have a few checks coming in

Get your Planning Done

It is said the most productive day of the year is the day before vacation. On that day you are focused, you prioritize and you take lots of action. You may want to take lots of "vacations" in December-giving yourself plenty of time off to play, enjoy and visit. Take out your December calendar and schedule that time in on the calendar. Now schedule peak performance time to balance it out. The peak performance days are those days when you'll focus 80% of your day on dollar productive activities.

The 2005 planning must get done now if you want to hit the ground running in 2005.

I recommend a full day to do a complete overview and creation session. Review your numbers from 2004. This should be in depth. Know where every listing or sale came from. Know how effective your advertising was in each media you used. Know what your gross was and how much your expenses ate it up. There deeper you delve here, there more impactful your results will be.

I offer a simple Awesome Year Planning Guide containing worksheets to help with all of this or there are a couple of Real Estate specific business planning tools that can help. An Internet-based program that is extremely detailed is called CreateAPlan, you'll be able to track exactly what each listing or sale cost you as well as being able to do some "what ifs" with your business. These "what ifs" might include cutting your commissions by a half-percent or adding an assistant. Another program called Performitor is software for you to design your plan on your computer and generate a tracking sheet for the month that will keep you aware and on target with your goals.

Review what worked and what didn't. What was your hourly worth this year (you know, net divided by hours?). How could you have used your time more effectively? Should you have outsourced more, focused on a different target market, let go of some needy, high maintenance clients?

Review your net worth. Are you better off now than you were at the end of 2003? It astounds me to see agents making plans with no connection to a long term financial plan or goal. They just pick yearly figures that seem reasonable and think they have done planning. Without being part of an "escape" plan, you yearly figures don't have much power to help you achieve financial independence.

Okay, now you can start the planning for next year. What do you want to achieve in terms of net profit (the only number that really counts when it is all said and done!) ?

Why do you want this? Clarity on the WHY will motivate you and give passion to your actions. Do you want to fund a college education, a month long vacation, a new house?

If your date of financial independence is 10 years away, is the net this year sufficient to create enough reserve to fund the retirement account sufficiently? Your business is not your life. It is the means to be able to live your life. What are those areas of your life you want impacted this coming year and in the future through your business results in 2005?

Once you know how much you want to make, then you can decide where it will come from and what activities you need to do to hit those numbers. Be strategic in doing this. By that I mean that you should base what you are going to do from knowing where the business will come from, not simply picking figures that are, say, 20% above last year. From the data you compiled from 2004, where did the business come from? What percentage was from referral, past clients, and your sphere? What was from advertising? What was from your open houses or opportunity time at the office? From your farming?

For 2005, segment three to five target markets from the above categories or from a new emerging niche you can grow and identify what share of your business will come from each of these areas. Then apply marketing budget and activities that will ensure that will happen.

Leave at least 30 percent of your marketing budget uncommitted so you will have flexibility as the year unfolds to take advantage of new opportunities without going over budget.

Review your technology needs (and wants :>) for 2005. Assign budget amounts here as well, with the same 30% unaccounted for. Make a list of those items that would be the best to buy or use next year and schedule when you will make the purchases. Start with the 3 things that would increase your productivity most.

And, I don't believe in the "reasonable" goals. It is better to aim high and miss than to aim low and make it. Don't put a lid on it, but rather commit to something big that will stretch your thinking to doing things that might be riskier than the normal, but that also have the potential of a bigger payoff. Plan to be extraordinary in 2005 instead of ordinary. If, each day, you start the day asking yourself, "How can I make today extraordinary?" your 2005 will be a supremely prosperous one!

Published: December 15, 2004

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Joeann Fossland ePRO, GRI, MCC, PMN, SRS is a dynamic speaker and business coach. Co-creator of THE REAL ESTATE GAME® and NoBloggerLeftBehind.com, she provides coaching solutions to enhance your effectiveness and life balance. You can subscribe to her free weekly tips, attend free monthly tele-seminars, and find out about classes delivered by email and personal coaching by visiting Joeann.com or email her at .