Politicians do it! Pollsters do it! Even those cute 10 year olds selling candy bars do it! What is stopping you? Your key to additional success must include door to door knocking. The face to face, in your face, 'Hello, how are you..." is one of the best ways to meet your buyers and sellers. Knocking on doors puts you at the ground level of sales. This approach lets you familiarize yourself with the neighborhood, the people and the market.

What do you do if nobody answers? If no on answers at the home, you still have an opportunity to make a contact. The point of knocking on doors has 2 main goals. First, to familiarize yourself with the market you have chosen to target; Second, to get a listing! You may have heard the real estate phrase, "List to Live; Sell to Survive" - If you need to survive, then you need to must sell, but in order to have long term success, you have to list properties. If you've knocked on the door and rang the doorbell and no one has still answered, then you need to do 2 things... leave your business card or door hanger on their door and make a note of the address so you can send them a card in the mail - "Sorry I missed you".

Even better, what do you do if someone does answer? This is your opportunity to let the homeowner know who you are and what you can do. Don't forget, every time you have someone come to the door, you are interrupting whatever they were doing, even if it was nothing. So how do you make the best of it? It is always best to thank someone for taking the time to see you, so a simple... "Thank you for taking time to see me, my name is <YOUR NAME>, with Sellstate Realty. I am in your neighborhood offering professional real estate services to homeowners." This is a great way to "get your foot in the door" by offering your services to the homeowner. What are these services? They can be a current market valuation of their property, information on local ordinances and regulations, flyers or handouts on tips for homeowners, or a complete listing of all your services and homes currently for sale in the area.

Make sure you approach every home with a list of specific leading questions that you will ask. Use a clipboard or a folding notebook with the property address and home information. When you speak with a homeowner, you can ask for more information so you can put them in your database of contacts. Always ask! "May I send you more information? Do you prefer email or direct mail? Is it alright if I drop off the information you have requested? When is the best time to reach you? Is there any other service I can provide as a real estate professional?" If a homeowner is receptive to any of the services you have offered, you have made the first step to securing a listing. Providing your services to the homeowner gives them the information they may have been afraid to get on their own, didn't have time to get or didn't know they needed.

Always follow-up your door-to-door visit by mailing a thank you note that you have personalized. If you have promised to mail, email or drop off  information, do it! If you don't follow-up, you could not only lose the future client, but all of their neighbors, family and friends.

Once you have them as part of your database, send them something monthly to remind them of your services. How many doors are you going to knock on this week? If your farm list was the minimum of 500, you need to knock on 125 doors a week to reach them all in 1 month. Don't make excuses! Get in front of your customers and knock out your competition.

Did you miss the first Personal Business Mastery Newsletters of 2008? Catch up on what you missed and build your business success!

■ 2008 Personal Business Mastery (Volume 1)
■ 2008 Personal Business Mastery (Volume 2)