You’ve heard them before. You may have passed them on. You may have believed them. You may have re-enforced them. And you may not even know it! I’m talking about “Farming Myths”.
You may even be wondering what the heck I’m talking about. If you knew the truth,you would probably never continue spreading a myth, right?
To ensure that doesn’t happen let’s start by talking about what these myths really are!
Myth: noun
\ ˈmith \
– An unfounded or false notion
The reality is that our industry is filled with myths and most agents don’t even realize it. Most of them are passed down my unsuspecting agents who think they are doing good by sharing them. They are like that game you played as a kid “telephone” where one thing is said and by the time it hits the end of the line it’s nothing like the original message.
That’s how many of these myths get started. Something is said or done and eventually down the line the original message is so distorted you wouldn’t even recognize it.
If we want to break the cycle of these myths it’s important to understand where they start.
The first is fear!
Fear is the root cause of most of the farming myths we have today. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear of looking silly. Fear of losing money. Fear of missing out and so many others. These fears stop way too many agents from getting into farming in the first place and have ruined many agents’ attempts at scaling up their farms.
The next is misinformation!
Misinformation has stopped so many agents from successfully farming because they just don’t know the truth. Maybe they got bad advice. Maybe they misunderstood what the reality of farming really is. Maybe they were the victim of a bad game of telephone! This misinformation also further compounds many agents’ fears and spreads even more myths.
If you want to overcome the misinformation, you need to be willing to question what you thought was true in the first place. This open mind can help lead you to massive success in your farm.
And the next is lack of training!
This is why I started Launch Your Farm in the first place. There was a real lack of quality training for geographic farming. This lack of training in our industry around geographic farming leads agents to feel lost and forces them to try and figure it out on their own. Then it further compounds the misinformation and fear!
And then comes lack of experience!
Many of the myths we are stuck with today come from agents who have never actually farmed or at least never done it correctly. This lack of experience drives so many myths and turns agents away from farming before they ever start. Without experience and training mixed with the wrong information the fears start to creep in. It’s a vicious cycle.
And lastly we have out of date practices!
These out of date practices is another big reason I chose to start this whole project in the first place. There are so many out of date practices that just don’t work anymore, or at best just aren’t as effective as they used to be.
If you have ever tried farming in the past, you may have been a victim of using out of date practices because you didn’t have the experience and got the wrong information because there wasn’t any good training and you were left with crippling fear. See how it all works together? Scary eh?
So now that we know WHY the myths are here, lets share a few of the top most common myths that I see running rampant in our business and then lets bust them so you can start to change your perspective around farming!
- Myth: I should promote the heck out of MYSELF!
Truth: This would be the absolute most common myth I see. So many agents do what everyone else does and that is focusing on promoting their face and name. If this is you, you aren’t alone. But there is hope!
In my area, we have over 50,000 agents in just one board!!! When 49.900 other agents are all doing the same thing, it’s hard to stand out. The solution that so many agents think will fix it is to just put your name and face out there even MORE. That can be extremely expensive and very inefficient. And there are agents who will always be willing to spend more to beat you. This doesn’t work like you think it will!
The key to building your farm is understanding the C.P.R. which I’ve shared many times on here in the past. It’s all about the community, your positioning and your relationships. No one cares about your name and face if they know you don’t care about them. If you haven’t, go back and read my recent blog about it to understand more about this important fundamental part of farming.
For many agents this is extremely difficult for them to let go of because this form of marketing is so rampant in our industry that we’ve become almost brainwashed to believe it without understand why agents do it in the first place. Just because it’s been done, doesn’t mean it works and it doesn’t mean you should be doing it too. This will help stop the spread of these farming myths.
- Myth: It’s all about postcards and door knocking!
Truth: The good thing is that this is very easy one to bust. Do these two strategies work? Of course! Are they the best way to grow your farm? Not really. Are these the fundamentals of farming? Not at all!
That is the way that many agents have built their farms in the past, but that isn’t what farming is truly about. As we just talked about, the core fundamentals of farming is all about the C.P.R.!
Post cards and door knocking are strategies you can use in your farm, but it’s not the key to farming. When you learn to stack your strategies using the S.C.O.P.E. Method, you learn the importance of layering your strategies so that you reach more people, more effectively and protect your business.
When you have a balanced approach in your business you can take more risks, save money, increase your efficiency and get more market share. If your only focus is on sending out postcards, you are a one trick pony and will most likely lose your market share to agents who are using my strategies and building their businesses based on C.P.R.!
- Myth: Farming doesn’t work in my area!
Truth: I call B.S. on this one for sure! To start, it depends on what you classify as “Your Area”. Farming can work in any area, in any market. Now, your strategies may have to change and you may have to adapt, but farming itself works… PERIOD!
“Old School” farming may not work where you live. Certain strategies may not be as efficient in your market. You may not be willing to do what you need to do to succeed. There may be stiff competition already crushing it with strategies you want to try. And you may not have the budget to make it work.
But one this is for sure, with the right strategies and mindset, farming works! That is, if you are committed to making it work and are willing to do what it takes. But don’t tell me it doesn’t work in your area!
BUSTED!
As you can see already, these farming myths may stop you from having a healthy and productive business, so the quicker you can bust these myths, the quicker you can start having success. Don’t let the myths you’ve heard and believe stop you from becoming the agent you want to be.
If you are looking to implement strategies into your business that actually work and will help you overcome most of these myths, then be sure to check out my training programs that will bust most of these and help you overcome the root causes of many of the myths you may have heard.
Check out the Launch Your Farm Training Here!
Happy Farming!
Ryan Smith – Founder/Creator
Launch Your Farm
Be sure to check back on our blog and show to get awesome information about geographic farming!
Blog – http://www.LaunchYourFarm.com/Blog
Show – http://launchyourfarm.com/category/interviews
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