The Work From Anywhere Agent
Welcome to The Work From Anywhere Agent with Alexa Rosario, where we’re redefining what it means to succeed in real estate.
This podcast is for agents who dream of having the freedom to work from anywhere, scale back their hours without sacrificing results, and ultimately build a practice they can sell.
Join me as I document my journey, sharing practical insights and strategies to help you systemize your business, leverage your resources, and shift your mindset from agent to business owner. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m figuring it out—and I’m bringing you along for the ride.
If you’re ready to break free from the grind and create a real estate business that works for you, this is your place to start.
The Work From Anywhere Agent
25. My go-to reads for real estate success
Have you ever felt stuck in your business, knowing you need a boost but not knowing where to find it? That hit me recently, and I realized that sometimes the best solutions are already on our bookshelves. In today’s episode of The Work From Anywhere Agent, I’m sharing the nine books that have repeatedly given me that essential kick in the butt to reignite my passion and focus.
Reflecting on my journey, I’ve noticed that different books resonate at different times, depending on the challenges I face. For instance, "The Ultimate Sales Machine" by Chet Holmes transformed my approach to lead generation, while "Fanatical Prospecting" by Jeb Blount reignited my enthusiasm for reaching out to new clients. These books aren’t just about motivation—they're about practical, actionable strategies.
Today, I delve into each of these must-reads, covering insights from sales techniques to mindset shifts. Whether you’re looking to refine your business strategy with "Ready, Fire, Aim" or tackle those deep-seated money blocks with "The Psychology of Money," there’s something here for every agent needing a nudge towards growth.
Join the conversation in our Facebook group and share which book you’re excited to dive into next. Who knows, you might even find a book club partner! And if you're curious to explore more strategies, don’t miss out on our 7-Day Funnel Challenge.
Tune in and let's keep pushing our boundaries together!
Business Systems for Realtors Facebook group: https://facebook.com/groups/bizsystems.
7-Day Funnel Challenge: https://orbit.realestate/cnfin7days
Explore how you can team up with us at eXp: https://alexarosario.com/exp.
In today's episode, we're talking about the seven books that I always go back to whenever I need a kick in the butt in my business. An important part of knowing when you need a kick in the butt isn't just saying like I need motivation, right, because that it's not about that. What we do need, though, is specific motivation and specific strategies and specific reminders around whatever part of your business or whatever part of your mindset that needs polishing. So, a lot of times when people make book recommendations, if you're starting to read it around whatever part of your business or whatever part of your mindset that needs polishing. So, a lot of times when people make book recommendations, if you're starting to read it, but that's not what you need at that moment, it's not really going to resonate deeply with you. The reason why some books resonate so deeply with people at a specific time is because that's what they needed at that time in their life, where you might be somewhere else, and so, since we're all real estate agents here, let me get started. So number one is the Ultimate Sales Machine. This book was written by this guy named Chet Holmes. He used to work for Charlie Munger and he took a failing magazine. He basically took their ad sales from like the worst in the market to being the best in the market and growing 50% year over year over year. And so in the Ultimate Sales Machine, it's very much about building a systematic sales process and then being able to bring people into that model, and so this book has been really fundamental for me in terms of when I think about the lead generation, when I think about the Dream 100, when I think about the strategy of focusing on attorneys and referral partners in my business has been a game changer. So that would be my first suggestion, especially if you're in a place where you're, like trying to decide where you want to take your business and you don't feel like you have structure or vision around your lead generation. Second is Ninja Selling. This particular book is a new favorite of mine. I read it for the first time a couple months ago and what I loved about it was how practical and tangible all of it was. So it really goes into like the specific strategies around creating a great client experience around your daily habits, all of that fun stuff. So definitely recommend that. I think that is one that everybody should read. It really touches on the lead generation, but it's more so about the entire business practice of like your day to day as a real estate agent, and this is going to be one of those where there's a lot of like, small, practical things that you can implement into your business, where you're like, oh OK, yeah, I see how that works and you know we talk a lot about the systems on the Orbit side, but this gives you kind of the structure for your systems.
Speaker 1:Number three is fanatical prospecting. This is one that I go back to probably once a year or so. Jeb Blount or Blount, I don't know if I'm saying his name correctly he's written several books around sales, prospecting, objections, contract negotiation, and all of them are great. They're super easy reads, super engaging, they're fun to consume and they really get you back on the bandwagon of wanting to make those calls, wanting to talk to people and wanting to run through a brick wall, while also giving you the practical strategies around the lead generation. So down into like how do you organize who you're going to call for the day? The other day, during one of our masterminds, one of our agents was saying how she has all these leads and she has all these clients that are not actually doing anything, and so then we took it back to this whole. When you generate, you don't have to tolerate mindset right. If you're holding onto leads that are not doing anything, it's because you stopped lead generating and you stopped filling your pipeline, so you're attached to these leads that are never actually going to transact and so you have to go back to finding new business, and so that's where fanatical prospecting comes into play.
Speaker 1:Next up is never eat alone. This was one that blew my mind wide open, because for the first probably five or six years of my career, I did a lot of networking, but I never felt like it turned into revenue fast enough, and so never eat alone gives you a practical framework around your approach of networking and really how to turn, like sphere relationships, into actual revenue. It's super easy read, definitely engaging. Highly recommend it, especially if networking is a big part of your business. The next couple are more so around business strategy and mindset, and I have to tell you I've read a lot of books in these categories, but these are the three that I go back to and reference and talk about the most.
Speaker 1:So number one is built to sell. Now, if you've been around here for a while, you've heard my vision of really building a real estate practice that becomes a sellable asset. Now, I don't know if I'm ever going to decide to sell my business, but I know that I want the option to if I wanted to. I know that doctors and lawyers and financial advisors and accountants all built businesses that they can sell when they decide to retire and I want to have that option one day. And so built to sell is literally around building a business that becomes sellable. It's told in a novel style format, but it completely changed the way that I thought about building my real estate business Because, realistically, how often do you hear about real estate agents who sell their practices Like almost never?
Speaker 1:Next up is zero to one. This is one that is so interesting because what I find when I read this one is I didn't really know what to expect. But this concept of zero to one is basically focused around building monopolies. So if you think about Amazon or Google or those types of platforms, what the book talks about is how monopolies don't like to be considered monopolies because that invites like government intervention that invites criticism, government intervention that invites criticism and scrutiny and all these other things, so they don't consider themselves monopolies. And then it goes into, at a more practical level, how salespeople the best salespeople never call themselves salespeople. They call themselves lawyers and doctors and politicians and all these other things, and I think this book really became the foundation for my ghost selling strategy, the focus around really making sure that when I'm communicating about my brand, when I'm talking to people, I'm not triggering that sales defensiveness, and I think this book was really the foundation of that for me.
Speaker 1:Next up is Ready Fire Aim. This is one that will make you think bigger than you've probably ever thought before. This is written by a guy who basically what he does is he helps companies go from zero to 10 million, 10 million to 50 million, 50 million to 100 million plus, and so he talks about the different challenges that you'll run into at each of the different phases of your business. And when I say 10 and 50 and 100 million, I'm not talking about volume sold, I'm talking about revenue into the business, right, and so, as you start thinking about growing really big business, this is one that you absolutely have to read.
Speaker 1:I know that I said there were seven, but there's two more that I feel like I would be doing a disservice if I didn't throw them in here. So I'm going to give you two bonuses. So the first one is seven levels of communication. This is one that a lot of real estate agents have heard about. It's written by a realtor and it's written in novel format. It kind of aligns with never eat alone, but more at a practical level for a real estate agent. And so if networking and relationship building is your priority definitely never eat alone and seven levels of Communication those two will give you such a powerful foundation for building your business around networking and relationships. And the last one has literally nothing to do with business but everything to do with your mindset.
Speaker 1:This one is called the Psychology of Money, and I have to tell you that I have identified so many money blocks in my own brain that this book really kind of broke some of those open for me and set me on a path of healing some of those.
Speaker 1:And the Psychology of Money isn't necessarily practical around. Here's exactly what you need to do to invest in your future and all these other things, but it really does give you a framework and gives you permission to say you know what? It's okay that I don't have it figured all out. Here's kind of the plan that I'm going to start developing, and so if you find that you have a money block, like you're blocking your own blessings, if you will, because of these deep rooted fears or pains around money, psychology of Money is a great one to read. So those are the nine books that I always go back to whenever I need a kick in the butt, and so, as always, please join our daily discussion in our agent Facebook group. I want to hear which of these books are you going to go read next, and hopefully maybe you'll find someone to do a book club with. I think that would be a lot of fun. So until then, I will see you in the next episode.
