In today's Agent Insights post, Dusty Baker - a Real Estate Agent in Santa Barbara, California - shares how he got over fear of being obnoxious by adopting the pleasant persistence approach.

Here's Dusty:

I entered real estate with a very bad stigma in my head about real estate agents. They were all obnoxious overbearing cheesy salesmen that belonged on a used car lot. In response to that stigma (which of course was an overblown stereotype), I conducted my practice on the far other end of the spectrum. I gave respectful distance to a fault. And it bit me in the butt; in countless ways.

My sheepish business practices lost me upwards of $3,000,000 in sales - multiple buyers and sellers that went in the direction of whichever real estate agent was around them when they decided to make their move. However, after some frustrating trial and error, I found a comfortable medium where my business practices were strong but not obnoxious.

The "I'm not ready right now" Myth

Halloween isn’t limited to those who sell candy corn and costumes. You can scare up real estate leads over Halloween if you’re willing to be creative and engaged with your community.

Put these 5 Halloween marketing tips to good use:

Boosting aesthetic appeal of your client’s home is the best and easiest way to attract potential buyers. Home staging is an important part of enticing buyers – it’s all about the first impression. There are a variety of staging options that are inexpensive and easy too. The beauty of home staging is that it does not have to cost a lot of money to achieve an amazing transformation.

Here are 5 top home staging tips for real estate agents:

Are you afraid to get close to your desk as it’s overflowing with papers of any possible color and size, including scraps of paper and crumpled receipts? Real estate agents, including you, have to deal with unbelievable amounts of paperwork. And you dread organizing it.

Paperwork filing is one of the least favorite activities for most people so you’re in a good company. You also know that if you develop a habit of filing papers right away, you won’t stress about it as much. Filing paperwork doesn’t have to be complicated. We show you how to slay the 'paper monster'.

Follow these 3 steps to keep your desk paper-free:

This poem was written in 1977 by Donald Weill and it's still relevant. When you’re dealing with hesitant real estate clients, feel free to share this poem with them to get them moving in the right direction. Let's make an offer!

The Reluctant Investor