Masterful marketer Seth Godin recently gave some timely and prudent advice for real estate agents. His hard-hitting advice is actually relevant to every salesperson and entrepreneur who will listen. Pulling no punches as usual, he had a great deal of wisdom to offer. Listen up salespeople... you cannot afford to miss this valuable sales lesson.

While speaking at a real estate professional convention, Godin advised them that due to the current economic conditions, it is now time to quit. Needless to say, he effectively got their attention. Many took his advice, actually having been searching for some time for someone to give them permission to indeed quit, and left the meeting at that point. The remaining agents then heard the rest of his speech, the message that was meant for the true professionals and committed members of their noble profession.

"Now, if you're still with me, you'll be glad to know that the competition for attention just got smaller. The agents who built their business on low interest rates, easy money and speculation (the order takers) have left the building. The ones that are left, that's you, can consider Plan B. If you're not going to be able to make a living by taking orders, by selling houses the way everyone else does, by using the never-ending rise in real estate prices to make sales, then what are you going to do? Whining is not an option. In fact, I think this is an extraordinary opportunity for you" announced Godin.

Seth proceeded to share a philosophy with them, one that I have been professing for a lifetime; that success mimics the Pareto Principle in that 80% of your efforts must come from personal development and 20% from specific techniques. Godin fed his hungry and attentive audience a two-course feast, teaching that there are two things they needed to do immediately:

1. Become the expert in what you do. Micro-specialize in a particular segment of your market. Become the authority, the go-to person in that niche.

2. Interact with your clients and prospects, both past and present. Open a dialog with them and communicate regularly.

Simple advice? Yes; advice appropriate for the times. An investment in your self is always going to pay lucrative dividends! Your specific skills and knowledge will be your competitive edge, your differentiator. Your talent for providing solutions will become your trademark.

Sharpen your saw; invest quality time improving your interpersonal and communication skills. Make time for self-investment. You are not as busy now as you were last year at this time, so instead of catching up on re-runs of Grey's Anatomy©, invest that time wisely, in you. Become an expert in your chosen niche. Learn all you can. Improve your productivity. Specialize.

We live in an age of communication, where multiple media formats allow us to extend our reach to almost everyone, everywhere, easier and faster than ever before! Do you have a mailing list? A blog? A newsletter? A web site? A video interview on You Tube? A pod-cast available on niche web sites? Do you speak at local functions? Write local newspaper articles? Why not? As Seth says "you're either the best in the world (where 'world' can be a tiny slice of the environment) or you're invisible." Learn to communicate both effectively and regularly with your niche.

In our ever-evolving, currently slowing economy, you cannot expect to be successful doing the same things in the same manner that you always have. It's time for change. It's time to reinvent both yourself and your approach. Develop a new plan of action. You must get started now! Why are you still sitting there watching TV? If you are, you may be like one of Seth's "order takers." Will that realistically work for you this year?