Heading into the new year, here's a game-changing strategy for you:

Open up your CRM, scan your sphere of influence, and pinpoint all the business owners. Start by reaching out to them. Call and ask, "Hey, Jim, how's the new year looking for you? How did last year finish off?"

Share your plan, "I want to start endorsing a local business every week on my social media, and I'd love to feature yours. I just want to promote local businesses I admire. No strings attached. Are you cool with that?"

They'll likely say yes, appreciating the gesture.

Be the Go-Giver. Lead with their needs. Within a week, make a post about their business on social media. Include photos, share your personal experience, and publicly endorse them. Tag them in the post. They might even share it with their audience. It's a win-win, a feel-good moment for both parties.

Even if they don't reciprocate immediately, the spirit of giving will work its magic for your business.

Now, measure your efforts. If your goal is to...

How many referrals did you get last week?

If you received none or just one, you might be wondering, "How can I get more?"

Well, here's the secret: To get more referrals, you need to start by sending more referrals. It all begins with the concept of giving. When you give generously, the power of reciprocity comes into play, and you'll start receiving more referrals.

As REALTORS, we often act as real estate concierges, with a network of contacts at our fingertips. When clients ask for recommendations, it's common to say, "You should use my friend John for that. Let me send you his number." However, this might not be the most effective approach.

Instead, consider this value-added strategy to increase your referral potential. Say, "I have an excellent gardener who does exceptional work and offers my clients special deals. Would you mind if I give him a call and have him contact you, so he knows the referral comes from me?"...

Let's consider your office location: If you were to drop a pin on the map around your office, extending 2 to 5 miles, have you connected with local business owners in that area?

Many business owners are facing challenges due to economic changes and other factors. It's an excellent opportunity to reach out to them and establish a connection.

Here's a simple approach: initiate a business card exchange. Walk into a nearby business and introduce yourself. Mention your office's proximity and express your interest in referring people who are new to the area. You can say, "I often meet people relocating here, and I prefer to refer local businesses. Would you mind exchanging business cards?" Allow them to share information about their business.

You can further enhance the connection by saying, "I like to highlight a local business on my social media each week. Would it be okay if I featured your business next week and tagged...

Hey guys, let me share an inspiring story with you:

Years ago, I met Wan Foran, a REALTOR who faced incredible challenges on his journey to success. Wan graduated from real estate school on September 11, 2001, as a Muslim immigrant in a small town. Despite the odds stacked against him, Wan achieved remarkable success. I asked him, "How did you overcome these obstacles?"

His answer changed my perspective, and it can change yours too.

Wan knew he needed to expand beyond his local market to thrive. So he adopted a unique approach to farming...

Instead of targeting specific demographics or niches, he focused on feeder markets—areas surrounding his town that contributed potential clients. Wan identified the top 10% of REALTORS in each feeder market and initiated contact through postcards, calls, and emails. He introduced himself as a hardworking REALTOR and offered an enticing proposition:

If they referred clients to him, he...

Do you want to be a better recruiter?

As a seasoned recruiter with over 30 years of experience, I can tell you the secret to successful recruiting is this:

Recruiting is like owning an NFL or NBA team.

You need to understand that recruiting is all about building relationships with people. People join people, not companies or brands. If they don't like you, they won't come to work for you.

So, first and foremost, you need to establish a career-long relationship with people in the marketplace.

To build these relationships, you need to have conversations with potential recruits. Top recruiters in the NBA, NFL, and NHL are cold-calling and creating connections with people. They're showing them the organization's value, passion, and vision of how they can help them win. Ultimately, people want to be with a winning team and need to see how you can help them make more money and make their life easier.

It's not all about commission...

People ask me all the time, Jim, how do you retain amazing agents? You've recruited and retained some of the best agents in America. They've stayed with you for years. You took a company from a hundred million to 1.4 billion over 10 years, created a company from 39 agents to one of the top companies in America. How'd you do it?

Well, the answer is, I want you to think about the people that work for you. Just think about the landscape of people that work for you today. And I want you to ask yourself, how many of those people consider you to be their personal friend? And if the answer is, I don't think any of them do, you have a problem because you're looking at them transactionally. And that's the first mistake.

It's the same mistake agents make when they look at their clients and customers transactionally too.

I look at the top agents in America. The top agents in America don't look at their buyers and sellers as buyers and sellers. They...

How many referrals did you send out last week to your favorite vendors in your market area? If the answer for most of you is a big fat goose egg, here's the problem:

The problem is you gotta put into place the power of reciprocity.

You start pushing out what you want to receive. Give, give, give, and eventually things will start coming back to you. It's just a natural thought, reciprocity.

We give because we want to be grateful and generous, and we know eventually good things will come back. But when you're not in that mindset of having abundance and you're closed up, you're not ready for opportunity. You have to open yourself up to opportunity by being the person that provides opportunity to others.

When you're out in the market, you're listening for opportunities to help people in your sphere of influence, people that you can help with their small businesses and what they're trying to get done in their lives. When...