By Doren Aldana

As we approach the New Year, let me give you a couple important things that can make or break your ability to hit your income targets for 2011…

First, if you don’t have an assistant, I’m about to show you how procrastinating on this could be killing your growth, enslaving you to mediocrity and costing you tens of thousands of dollars in lost profits. Second, if you do have an assistant, brace yourself. You’re about to be literally freaked out of your skin with all the ways you could be profiting from your assistant that you’re currently leaving untapped. Sometimes a good healthy scare is just what we need to get off our duff and into action. BOO!

Lets start with the lone soldiers. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “I can’t afford it.” Actually, you can, and here’s why. I don’t care if you are only closing two deals per month, you could still benefit greatly from having a part-time assistant. For example, if you want to make $100,000 per year, working 40 hours per week, you need to make at least $48.07 per hour – and even more than that if you plan on taking a vacation or two. For simplicity’s sake, let’s just round it up to $50 per hour – that’s what your time should be worth! In other words, if you want to make six-figures this year you need to focus your time on activities that pay you a minimum of $50 per hour. If you’re spending your time doing menial admin tasks that could be delegated to someone for $12 per hour, chances are your income will drop accordingly. The sooner you delegate those low value activities, the sooner you’ll be freed up to focus on higher value activities that put moolah in your money clip.

Now, if you already have an assistant, I would bet on my mortgage that you’re not utilizing them as profitably as you could be. Most mortgage professionals myopically limit their admin assistant’s tasks strictly to those involved with processing and underwriting deals once they enter the pipeline but they unwittingly neglect to direct their efforts towards implementing marketing systems that actually bring in more deals. Sure, you may be providing great service but if you’re relying solely on word-of-mouth, you’re building your business on a shaky foundation. That’s scary stupid if you ask me! Remember, you’re NOT in the mortgage business – you’re in the marketing business. Until and unless you “get” this, you’ll have skinny kids and a skimpy bank account.

So, what exactly can you delegate to your assistant that will make the greatest positive impact on your bottom line? Here is a partial list of the TOP 3 referral marketing systems you can get your assistant to help you implement:

1. Monthly Client Newsletter: get your assistant to help customize the newsletter by inserting your photo, contact info, etc. Then get them to orchestrate the printing and fulfillment (in-house or through a printer). We provide a Done4U Newsletter service so it literally only takes 20 minutes per month to deploy. It’s easy breezy!

2. Weekly Email Tip: get your assistant to upload your list of prospects and clients to my 52-week email campaign. After that’s complete, your assistant would simply need to add new prospects and clients to the campaign on a daily or weekly basis. Once added to the campaign, your constituents would receive a weekly email tip that adds value and builds top of mind consciousness. Just set it and forget it – it works on autopilot. To get instant access to my 52-week email campaign Click Here.

3. WOW Factor Formula: this is one of my newest, most powerful inventions for WOWING your prospects’, clients’, and referral partners’ socks off with so much amazing value that they can’t help but refer you an chance they get. Your assistant can help you implement this four-card system with as little as 15 minutes per day. I’ve put together a series of video tutorials that walks them through the entire process, step-by-step. It’s a no brainer! Just send your assistant Here

At this point, you may be thinking: “OK, Doren. Sounds good BUT how do I recruit an affordable top-notch assistant?” Simple. Just follow these easy steps (and it won’t cost you a single penny):

Step 1 – Post an Job Ad on Craigslist.org, Kijiji.com and Backpage.com. (If you’re a member, here is the exact Admin Assistant Ad my clients use to generate 20-40 quality applications for free).

Step 2 – Send an email survey (included with ad template above) to all of the respondents from your ad. This will help to weed out the duds and identify the studs – without having waste your time interviewing each one individually.

Step 3 – Select the best 2-3 applicants (who have completed their email survey) and then call them to schedule face-to-face interviews.

Step 4 – Hire your superstar assistant!

Yes, it really is that simple – and it doesn’t cost you a thing until after their first pay period. Don’t make the mistake of thinking of them as another unwanted “expense.” That’s how losers think. Instead, think of them an investment in your future success, allowing you to focus on more high value activities.