Ultimate Real Estate Resources

I’ve found that there are a handful of books, videos and websites that I am constantly quoting, referencing, re-reading or thinking about.

These are the concepts, ideas and people that have shaped and molded me the most.

I thought I’d put them together in one place just for the sake of convenience.

I hope you get something from one or more of these resources. I think they are all incredible. I hope you agree.

In no particular order, here are these resources (note that not all of these things are real-estate-specific, but I nonetheless have included them because they are applicable to ANY industry because they are so powerful):

General

• Socialnomics by Eric Qualman (@Equalman) – This is the best resource for understanding the power and potential of Social Media, which is one of my primary passions. Qualman lays out the facts, the stats and the exploding trends that made getting involved in Social Media a no-brainer for me.
• Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk (@GaryVee) – Vaynerchuk is the poster-boy of leveraging Social Media into a cottage industry of its own. He is a dynamic, high-voltage speaker who spawned the “Crush” movement of which I am a mega-disciple.
• The 4-Hour Work-week by Timothy Ferriss (@tferriss) – I’ve consulted this book so many times I’ve nearly destroyed it (see image below). I have no idea how Ferriss came up with so many great ideas in one book, but, thank God for all of us, he did. Read this book. Read it 20 times. There’s that much in this thing.
• Trust Agents by Chris Brogan (@ChrisBrogan) – Brogan is a giant in Social Media, and this book is one of the primary reasons why. He talks about how relationships are built and based on trust, and how anyone can leverage this idea to create lasting success. We thought so much of it we created an entirely new community outreach program based on a blog post he wrote. And it’s creating great results for us already.
• Start With Why by Simon Sinek – This book (video summary below) changed literally EVERYTHING we do at our company. I threw SIX YEARS worth of marketing strategy out the window and started over because he made us realize we were NOT “starting with why” (actually, we were, but you’d never know it from our marketing, which was entirely “features and benefits” driven, ergo, we had “commoditized” ourselves into looking exactly like our competition, which we are not).
• The EMyth by Michael Gerber – Summarizing the main point of this one, “Just because you’re great at making pies does not mean you’ll be great at running a business that makes pies.” This is particularly valuable for agents with aspirations of being brokers.
• The Book of Business Awesome by Scott Stratten – This is actually two books in one, depending on which way you’re holding it. It covers both best practices and trainwrecks in terms of how to leverage behaviors and social media practices to make your business awesome.
• Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh – Why corporate culture is so important, from the creator of one of the best corporate cultures of all time.
• Digital Leader by Erik Qualman – Here’s an excerpt that gives you the gist: “Digital footprints are what we post about ourselves. Digital shadows are what others upload about us. Collectively, they have changed the world forever. As leaders and future leaders we need to adapt to this new world.”
• Real by Dave Crumby and Lani Rosales – A collection of different chapters, all written by different real estate thought leaders, about how to make your business better and more authentic (full disclosure: I wrote one chapter and ghost-wrote another).
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie – Timeless. Classic. If you read only one of these books, this is the one to read. It will change your life.

Real Estate-Specific

Inman News – Inman is the number one portal for real estate news and information. I visit this site at least once a day and I find that I get more quality, practical content from this source than probably any other.

1000 Watt Consulting by Marc Davison (@1000WattMarc), Brian Boero (@1000WattBrian) & Joel Burslem (@JBurslem) – From a branding/strategic perspective, 1000Watt Consulting is the ultimate brain trust in the real estate game. They are the the seers, the visionaries, the “we know what’s next” guys that tower over all the others. I read everything they write…because they’re always right. As their slogan says, “Turn On.” Indeed!

Real Estate Trends Report by Stefan Swanepoel (@Swanepoel) – Swanepoel is real estate’s ultimate observer, commentator and educator. His annual Trends Report is the most widely anticipated, read and quoted publication of its kind in the industry. When Swanepoel talks, I listen…always!

Video

“What Motivates Us” by Daniel Pink

“Start With Why” by Simon Sinek

“Social Media Revolution” by Erik Qualman

“Social Media ROI: Socialnomics” by Erik Qualman