I cannot believe that we are half way through the first month of the new year.

You spend the first part of your life waiting on milestones and the second trying to hold them back!  The last quarter of 2011 was fast and furious as one change after another enveloped me.

Craig and I threw off everything but not each other lol!  Until you get to back to basics, you’ll never see the forrest for the trees.  We now have a brand new Independent brand which allows us the total freedom to be ourselves.   I will never allow another to stamp their name on my forehead again.

In the meantime we have abandoned our makeover service, sold our warehouse and reassessed our future.

Since creating WHO Adelaide a few years ago, my business role is far more diverse.  I find it impossible to say I am a Real Estate Agent.  This is only part of what I do and who I am.

I realise you can wear a number of hats successfully..  I don’t want to have a future set in stone ..

One of the casualties of this ever changing world are those who are without ‘Plan B’.  Demand for their services has dried up and there is no fall back position.

They are one trick ponies with no additional services that can sustain them. You cannot afford to wait for things to pick up.  This is not the climate.  You need to be where the fish are biting.  If it is not your Industry, you need to change direction and quickly.

It is interesting to see how many are making radical changes to their business model.  As the money starts tightening, so do the reigns.  The minute the flow slows, it’s amazing how you scrutinise EVERYTHING.  More worryingly is what you find!

Times such as these give you the ideal opportunity to reassess.  I have been saying for a long time that being lean and mean is the only way to go.

It’s interesting that one of Adelaide’s biggest Real Estate Companies has just trimmed  1.2 million in middle management salaries ..

These days you can’t afford to be top heavy with burners in your business.  You need to convert burners to earners and this means investing in training so that they can earn you income. If your burners outnumber or even equal your earners, you have an unsustainable business model.  The days of the PA’s having PA’s are well and truly over.  Staff that are one dimensional will cost you dearly!

My girls are multi faceted and it suits our future business plans perfectly.

A big part of our future earnings will be derived from the advertising and marketing on our WHO Adelaide social media side.

We are receiving approaches from large Corporates that are looking to join our community.  Their contribution will help to fund all the ongoings with that side of our business.

My plans this year will involve mentoring, business booty camps, business makeovers and social media training and property.  Our new business model will involve servicing less homes but the right clients.  I want us to be boutique in the true sense of the word.  I don’t want to rely on our sales to service our commitments.  I don’t want to be forced to take on listings for the sake of it.

The future will be filled with challenging times.  With more clients in the negative equity boat, many will hit the point where they simply will not be able to afford to sell.

I’d like to maintain an optimistic outlook but it needs to  be tempered with realism.  My advice to all is to not put all your eggs in one basket.  Have a diverse business plan that allows you to ebb and flow.  We have a number of new income streams that we will be rolling out in the coming months.  These will assist with incremental income to our business.  Every person has that opportunity to value add within their own small business.

This time last year our largest facebook page had 32,000 likers.  At the time of writing it is approaching 58,000.  It is receiving 7.8 million views a month on that single page.  I started the pages back in 2008 when things were still pumping along.  I was always mindful that things were changing.

It is interesting that most Real Estate Brands are only just jumping on to Facebook now ..

The problem is the horse has bolted.  They have no hope of cutting through as FB themselves have made so many changes.  This is true for most brands.   it is near impossible to get up and happening.  Any one still ignoring FB and social media in general will do so at their own peril.

We now have 160,000 likers across our pages.  This is simply phenomenal and it grows every minute of every day.

Our Twitter reach has grown enormously also.  I have nearly 10,000 followers on my own account alone.  One of our most recent initiatives has been our small business networking group.

This has been implemented to service and interact with all our small business owners that are in our small business directory on The WHOot.  This is another element of our community that is exploding!

Who knows what the future holds for anyone.  One thing I am extremely confident of is that our Real Estate Clients obtain an unprecedented advantage that NO OTHER Agent can offer them in the Adelaide Real Estate market.  The edge that it provides is invaluable, effective and unique.

If you’d like to network in our secret group, feel free to knock on our door and I’ll be happy to let you in.  You will be astounded at the level of activity and the things you will pick up and the contacts you will make.  I have cheekily proclaimed 2012 the year of the owl.  Let’s see if I’m right!