How often do you check FB, email, and voicemail per day? Is your business open 24/7 or do your operate your business with boundaries? Boundaries are the foundation of all businesses, particularly for entrepreneurs. Start each day with your end results in mind, putting yourself first.

Starting or growing a business has its rewards as well as it challenges. If we choose or must do everything ourselves, then we are the whole team….and not typically operating as effectively as we could. If we decide that there are tasks and activities that can best be delegated to others, then we should choose our team wisely.

Have a look at your website and marketing material. Are you promoting all the incredible ways your visitors can benefit from Your products or services? Or how great Your company is and why You are their best choice? OR does it focus on your Customer? Do you focus on Their needs, wants and desires? Do you focus on THEM or on YOU? By focusing on the visitor more and you less, you have a higher chance for conversion. So check your language.

Fact: Your assistant has a job. Fact: You own your real estate business. Many people have jobs, but very few actually own their jobs. To own your job you need to be passionate about what it is you do, accountable for the commitments that you make, able to be confident in every task that you undertake, and know and understand your limitations. Does your assistant own their job?

Real estate changes on a daily basis. The economy, the season and your point of view will have a lot to do with how busy your business is. One thing that I know for sure is that a real estate business will experience peaks and valleys. We will be busy….and we will not. What’s the answer to having a more consistent business?

Maintaining open channels of communication between team members can be challenging, especially if you are not in the office regularly. How do you share your ideas with others on your team? Email? Text messages? A little notebook? These are all great ways to keep track of ideas, events and tasks but how do you use them?

At the beginning of the year many people say that they are going to hold or attend regular meetings. Usually the first couple of weeks will go smoothly, but what happens when things start to get busier again? One of the first activities that falls by the wayside is holding and attending meetings. Only meetings that have a predefined structure will be able to stand the test of time. So how do you hold a meeting with a purpose?

As 2012 begins, we begin to think about what our life will look like over the next year. If you have sat down and made plans, set goals and created a vision for the year to come, good for you. Creating a road map for your business and your personal life will be your guiding light to reach your desired goals. Consider this, imagine getting into a taxi in a very big city and saying to the driver “take me somewhere nice” Where would you end up? How long would it take you to get there?

The answer: BOTH! You may already have business and marketing plans, so why do you need a marketing strategy?If we were to ask you if you have a marketing plan, you would probably say...

Are you ready to succeed in 2012? Think about your best year in real estate. Was it 2010? 2011? Now think about increasing your services and profits by 50%, 100% or even 500% in 2012.

When you hire support personnel what do you look for? Organization, writing skills, marketing skills, telephone skills, computer skills, dedication, loyalty?

When you hire support personnel what do you look for? Organization, writing skills, marketing skills, telephone skills, computer skills, dedication, loyalty?

Perhaps one of the most challenging parts of being an administrator or real estate assistant is remaining calm, cool and collected under pressure.

Clients, employers and the public depend on the competence, knowledge and skill set we provide. I think you can appreciate how frustrating it is when you approach a person you think will be able to answer your questions or help you with a product or service only to hear “sorry, I have no idea.”

Leading a successful life doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s a few simple principles practiced every day.

What do you focus all your time on…your next goal, or your daily accomplishments?

How do you manage leads, conversations, ideas, lists and suggestions? Or do you?

Technology, social media, and the internet are all great tools…but getting back to the simple basics may still be the way to a successful business.

What is important in the job you do every day? What makes you show up every day? What matters most in your life?

What strategies do you have in place to increase your sales and finish off your year strong?

Are you meeting your financial goals? What steps will you take right now to increase your profits?

In asking yourself these questions, it will help you define if you really want to grow your business…or not, why you want to grow, and if growing your business will help you achieve what you want.

I had a job once where I worked 5 days a week, 8 hours a day and had 2 real and complete days off a week. Then I became licensed in real estate and with that came the belief that I had to be “on” 24/7. Especially in the early years, I still remember saying to our wonderful front end girl, Kathy, “The only pages I get are to bring home milk!” “One day you’ll wish that was all you had” she said.

Most of us get into real estate because of a dream. A dream to be our own boss, to sell people into their perfect home, the freedom to set our own hours, or the dream of living a comfortable lifestyle.

I still remember the first time I ever turned on a computer. I wasn’t 5 years old like my grandson who can surf a Mac like he was born with it, I was a new REALTOR® trying to stay on top of the game and the computer/internet was the tool of choice.

Way back in the day, when I became a real estate agent, the only means of gaining clients was by simply talking to them.

I received an email today saying “Nina, it’s so difficult to find quality help that have integrity and a vested interest in their work.” Why do you think that is?

When I first received my real estate license, I was pretty much at a loss as to what to do and when. My office was great for support, but it wasn’t enough.

I still remember my first few years in real estate. Being new, I tried to scrape together as many clients as I could while juggling all the behind the scene “stuff”. As most of my fellow associates will agree, there is a lot of work in starting any new business, let alone a real estate business, and creating a profit centre that keeps us wanting to remain in business.

No matter how much experience a real estate assistant or administrator has, they need to be trained or re-trained.

I seem to get a lot of emails asking me over and over “What kind of things can my assistant do? We just don’t know.”

In this world of social addiction it has become a standard to re-tweet, tag, hack and instantly spread everything and anything about anyone!

Let’s face it, it’s our clients that support us in building our businesses. Without them, well, there is no business. So what do you do to bring in and retain your clients?

This is an excellent time to do a mid-year review. One way to do this is by surveying your clients, vendors, employees and anyone that is important to your overall business. You can use a free...

Real Estate can be a complicated yet rewarding business to be a part of. But no two REALTORS® are the same nor are their businesses. So why would we expect our assistants to...

Most professionals understand and appreciate the power a professional assistant can bring to them and their business. You would never expect your heart surgeon to manage the anesthetic and your vital signs on top of operating delicate surgery, all at the same time...

Imagine a day when you run into the office to find your email box organized with only priority emails waiting for your response, your social marketing humming along, your top five income generating sources attended to through a consistent follow up system and there is a prospecting list sitting at your desk...

My husband and I went to the Rod Stewart concert in Vancouver the other night. What a fantastic performance! From the moment the curtains went up it was first class all the way. His stage, his musicians, his outfits and his music. He gave me exactly what I had gone for...

I love being on social networks. Facebook keeps me in touch with all my friends and family, Twitter broadcasts thoughts that I have and information I want to share, and youtube can be informative and entertaining. But how much has...

What kind of people do you like to hang out with? The ones that are filled with optimism, smiles and positive energy? Or do you prefer to be around the cynical, low energy, constant complainer? I would be kidding myself if I thought for a moment...

What a wonderful word especially right around tax time. Numbers are such a vital part of every business. We must know the number of sales, the number of clients, the numbers in...

I went to a conference this week and the speaker was amazing, inspirational and even entertaining. This morning I applied the lessons learned and...

I think confusion is overrated. We can spend a lot of time stressing, fretting and wondering which is the right fork in the road, the right person to hire or...

Don’t over promise and under deliver.

When I think of time I think of the rabbit in Alice in wonderland singing "I’m late, I’m late for a very important date”, but did he really get anywhere? We all have the same amount of time in our day...

What does that mean? To the hungry and homeless it may mean surviving the day.

Do you live each day with passion?

Everyday I say to myself “you have to blog today”. Why?

Be interested in real estate, be proactive, learn as much as you can...

So just how quickly do they forget you? I received a newsletter from a REALTOR® the other day that I had almost bought a condo from in Whistler. I had forgotten all about her. She had done a great job...

I am confident that as long as they know the end result is within our vision, we are all together on the same track.

One of my favourite people of all time to follow is Seth Godin. I love his writing because it's straight-up and right to the point...

As I watched these great REALTORS® each stand up and receive their well-earned awards, I recognized the stages they were at in their business, and I felt excitement for them.

I received a call the other day from an old friend of mine and a great REALTOR®. He was looking to hire one of our grads...

A quick quiz to aid you and your assistant.

Eagerness to help, while appreciated, is not always enough to run a productive and thriving business.

When considering career options as a professionally trained assistant, many people look to the dental, medical and legal fields; real estate is not always top of mind.

If you’re a top producer or your goal is to become one, you may want all the support you can get.

A team is “a number of persons associated together in work or activity”.

First, ask yourself, "Who are my customers?"

Whether your team is your helping family members, outsourced providers, or employees, they become to business owners, a group of individuals that the business relies on.

By understanding and identifying your competitive advantage, it reinforces your position...

A business plan is the cornerstone of a successful business.

Not sure who we are? Check us out at www.pratraining.com

The first call can be the worst. If you get a rejection, dust yourself off and move onto the next person.

Are you swimming in a vast sea of competing great resumes?

Real estate is an important employer the Lower Mainland...

A properly trained assistant will make you more productive and your business more profitable.

There are specific advertising requirements from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the Real Estate Council of British Columbia (RECBC), each local Real Estate Board, and even specific brokerages.

Guidelines from the Real Estate Council of British Columbia's Licensee Practice Manual on what unlicensed PRAs can and cannot do.

Social networking sites to help you gain the greatest exposure...

Benefits of social networking...

Are you promoting all the incredible ways your visitors can benefit from Your products or services?

Bill C56, the federal government’s new Fairness for the Self-Employed Act is now law, and that’s great news for PRA professional real estate assistants .

When we invest in our administrative personnel, we invest in ourselves and our business.

We train your assistants for you, or we offer an exclusive job match service.

PRA™ Training offers Foundational (beginners) and advanced programs...

Having an assistant today is about adding value to not only what a REALTOR® does best....

The road to success is paved with a million details.

I look forward to the day that as a result of PRA training, PRAs get the professional recognition they deserve.

The benefits to employers include flexibility and lower costs. You can hire a PRA by the project, by the hour, part or full-time. Everyone benefits.

A question that we get asked often is: “What should my assistant be doing right now?” The answer is quite simple: support their REALTOR® and make them money. Here are some ways that an assistant can provide support to make more money:

What is it we really want from our support staff? I put a question out to my associates and friends asking them “if their assistant could do one thing to make their business rock, what would it be?” and here are the top answers that seemed to be a consensus...