From his position as the CEO and founder of Collective Genius, Jason Medley has a unique view of hundreds and hundreds of entrepreneurs. And not just any entrepreneur, Jason’s mastermind works with some of the nation’s top performing real estate investors. I’ve personally done double digit million dollar deals with Jason, and many of the other investors in this mastermind.
The approach of the Collective Genius mastermind is far more hands-on than what you may be used to. Jason and his COO personally go through applications and physically document and connect individuals who can help each other out. Jason’s viewpoint has allowed him to come up with 9 traits that separate elite real estate investors from everyone else.
p;
ELITE REAL ESTATE INVESTORS RUTHLESSLY BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
With a small team, you can use system strategies and resources to do hundreds of real estate deals in a year. You might even be able to buy a couple of small multi-family units in a year. But when you’re talking about really big deals, like 500 units at a time, those deals are relationship driven.
There will come a point in your business where who you don’t know is holding back your investment strategy. And that’s where a mastermind could come into play for you. Jason uses his mastermind to expand his members’ rolodex, where their membership opens them up to making deals in a whole new way. He literally pairs investors with mentors to help them sit down with and fix a problem they have in their business. And in turn, those investors will mentor someone else.
ELITE INVESTORS HAVE A CLEARLY DEFINED VISION
An elite investor is a visionary leader. He has clearly defined values and objects, and knows what he stands against. When he creates those boundaries or those borders, he is also creating an environment for his customers and his team that says, “You’re either with us, or you’re not”.
It’s a little like if you decide that you’re only going to do multi-family deals, but a storage facility comes across your desk. Your clearly defined vision tells you that that’s not your focus, so you can let it go and not waste time on it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a quick deal that’ll make you a lot of money. Your role as a visionary leader means you can focus on the things that matter the most to you.
ELITE INVESTORS HAVE A RUTHLESS FOCUS
They say genius is doing something successfully for ten years. Do you have what it takes to day in and day out just go after your vision? Having a little bit of focus can make you feel like you can be successful at anything. My friend, Vinnie Fisher, told me one time, “How can you be so arrogant to think that because you built one successful business, you can build a second one and do it three times as fast and make three times as much money?”
Along with great vision, elite investors have to have a ruthless focus. Maybe you’re like me and Jason and you have a hundred awesome ideas every day. But you have to bridle those ideas because following after them weakens your business vision. Once you pick your vision, stay focused on it, no matter what.
ELITE INVESTORS USE DISCIPLINE AND PATIENCE TO PIVOT
Once you figure out your business model, and you have your team trained and moving right along, you may decide it’s time to pivot in a new direction. Around 2014, I made the decision to jump into the private equity world and start raising capital for fix and flips. It made a lot of sense because people needed funding then. But now, there’s a lot of private money in real estate, and I can start to shift my focus into something else.
ELITE INVESTORS MAKE DECISIONS AS THE CHIEF STRATEGIST OF THE COMPANY
This fifth elite trait is closely related to having a ruthless focus and using discipline to pivot, but it sets the investor up as someone who thinks strategically. If something’s not working in your business, don’t jump to something else. If you’re only closing 50% of your leads, you don’t need more leads. You need to figure out how to increase your closing rates. You have to drill down and figure out where the problems are at, and then fix those problems. Your job is to think those big picture thoughts and figure out how to solve problems.
ELITE INVESTORS BUILD TRUST WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS
Your customers are the lifeblood of your business, and they must trust you. You’ve got to really understand your customer, and most of them who need to sell to you, they’re embarrassed. If you’ve contacted them, and they’ve backed out but not sold, they should be followed up on. You have to nurture that trust so that they want to sell to you. Don’t show up in your jeans and t-shirt; be a professional so that they feel comfortable working with you.
ELITE INVESTORS KNOW THEIR NUMBERS
If you don’t know your numbers, then you don’t know where the break in your funnel is. Elite investors know exactly how many leads turn into appointments and how many appointments turn into contracts. They know their KPI and their metrics. They know their numbers inside and out so that they can figure out which part of their business truly makes them money.
A lot of these elite traits are interrelated, and this is no exception. If you don’t know your numbers, then you can’t be the chief strategist of the company. You have no idea if your marketing is effective, or if your sales team is falling down on the job. So figure out your numbers.
ELITE INVESTORS INVEST IN THEIR EMPLOYEES
If you’re building a team around you, you have to pour into your employees. You have to realize that when you hire them, you are grooming them to succeed. You’re impacting their life just as much as they’re impacting yours. But for a little while, when they first start training with you, they’re not going to be amazing, and you’re just going to need to wait it out and train them to get better.
ELITE INVESTORS TURN IT ALL INTO PASSIVE CASH FLOW
And finally, elite investors know when it’s time to turn that positive cash flow into passive cash flow. If you’re feeling beat down, worn down, or maybe you’ve lost enthusiasm about your core business, then it’s time to move into a business model that serves your new goals.
I feel like there are incredible suggestions in here that can help you separate yourself from everyone else, and really turn you into an elite investor that builds relationships wherever he goes, and thinks strategically about his team and his business.
Be daring,
Josh
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?
Every business—no matter how small or how large—can benefit from professionally-created videos and digital marketing tools. Have you had success with videos? Or are you looking to learn more about the process? Let us know below.