Some investors have trouble asking for help when they need it. I wonder how bad they’ll need help before they can get over that. Do they have to be on fire, or losing their own home, or about to miss out on the real estate deal of a lifetime because they don’t have a lender? 
Shyness certainly has its place, but it will make your investment business perform more like a hobby than a business. I encourage you to step out on faith and get over your shyness. Start asking for what you want. If you don’t get what you want, ask someone else. Ask again. And don’t stop until you find what you’re searching for.
You can do it all yourself, sure. You can struggle on and on all by yourself, and you can take years to accomplish goals that you could have accomplished in months. It just doesn’t make sense to re-invent the wheel when there are already so many makes and models and styles and sizes of wheels out there that we can choose from.
Put your hand out and introduce yourself to new real estate investors. Introduce yourself to other investors and speakers. Tell them who you are and what you are trying to accomplish. Tell them what you are looking for. Ask them for the resources that you need, and offer yours to them.
I always listen and take cards from the people who introduce themselves and offer their cards to me. I do not keep all of them, but I’ve benefited greatly because I opened myself up to the possibility that they could help me at some point in the future.
Stick out your hand and ask. Get on the phone and ask. If the person you ask can’t help you, ask them if they can think of two other people they know who might have the information you are looking for. It forms an endless chain of information and contacts that will carry you forward to what it is that you are looking for. The new contacts you make will be friends, contractors, other investors, buyers, sellers, appraisers inspectors, trades people, bankers and a host of others.
And remember to pass along what you have to offer. Listen for the needs of others you are talking to and share your information when you can. Don’t be stingy unless you want the others to be stingy with you.
If you have difficulty opening up to others in conversation, do it a little at a time. Join a conversation already in progress or ask someone what he or she thought of the speaker at a meeting. Ask or make a statement about something that you are both interested in or doing at the same time like shopping at Home Depot, for example. Stick your hand out, tell them your name, and ask them.
Timid investors have skinny children.
Mary Kay Ash, who built Mary Kay Cosmetics Company, was fond of telling her salespeople to ask for the order when they were on a sales call. “If you don’t A-S-K, you don’t G-E-T.” Ask for what you want. Ask again. Every once in a while, ask for the moon. You never know, someone just might give it to you.
Until next time, happy (and profitable) investing!
Doug Smith
President
myHouseDeals.com
P.S. Go ahead. Ask me for deals. Yes, I have them! And you can access them by starting your free trial to myHouseDeals.com today at www.myhousedeals.com/freetrial. Not only will you get access to hundreds of wholesale deals and motivated seller leads in your area, but you’ll also get over $1,253 in free bonuses.