 Today, I want to talk directly to the real estate agents that got in over the last couple of years who are finding it really hard to stay in the business, struggling financially, thinking about going back to your 9-5 job if you are in fact full-time. And if that's you, this video's for you. If you know an agent that's going through this, please send this video to them because I really want to encourage the industry to pick these agents up. Let's come together and let's really rise up as an industry here. I'm seeing a lot of commentary from agents really saying, oh, let's just get those agents out of here and we don't need those agents and we don't want those fly-by-nighters and all this stuff. And it's really not a good look, honestly. I see that and I'm thinking, man, because I, listen, I'm from a really firm belief that this business is 100% unlimited for everyone, forever. Closings are going to happen every single day for the rest of your life, regardless of market conditions. And there's an unlimited amount of loyal clients for each and every one of you. And so when I see comments like that from agents saying, oh, let's just get them out of there. Why are you trying to encourage those agents, Ricky? I'm thinking, man, why do you care? And why are you trying to bring these agents down? We should be trying to bring these agents up. So if you are struggling and you have to pay bills, you have a family, you're going back to a job, that is okay. I did the same thing. When I lost everything, everything, I was homeless sleeping in my car, eating out of people's refrigerators, roofing houses, serving tables, worked on an oil rig, went bankrupt. Somebody, I had somebody give me their car, their beat-up car. That's what I lived in. All my cars were, all my clothes were in the trunk. I had to ride the brakes at nighttime so cops wouldn't pull me over. So I had tail lights. The tail lights didn't work. I had a boombox in the back that we listened to music on. And when I left the business, guess what? I kept two bills, my real estate license and my cell phone. I was never going to let those two bills go. I didn't have a car note, rent. I didn't have insurance, utilities, nothing. I didn't pay none of that stuff. I didn't have to. I didn't have a house. I didn't have a car and nothing. But I kept my license and I kept my cell phone number. I was never going to let that go because I wasn't going to quit real estate. Just plain and simple. I wasn't embarrassed that I got knocked on my ass. I woke up every day and worked as hard as I could, regardless if it was roofing, if it was real estate, if it was serving... It didn't matter what I was doing. I was going to wake up and work as hard as I could every day. So if you have to leave real estate and go work to provide for your family, you need to be proud of the fact that you're willing to say, you know what? I need to go make some money right now to support my family. You should be proud of the fact that that's who you are. But let me do this right here and ask you to do me a favor. Don't give up on real estate. Don't give up on real estate. Why? Because even if you have to spend an hour away, even if all you only have an hour a week, just keep trying, even if it takes you two, three years from now to actually get there. It took me that. I left the business in 2005, didn't get back until 2008 and I still wasn't anybody. I'm still not anybody, but I was trying to build my business. And in 2008, I started selling stuff again three years later. I didn't give up. And so I just want to share that with you, hoping that you don't give up and that you keep fighting and that you keep plugging along. And look at this from the perspective that you got into this and do it for 30 years. Why are you giving up after a couple of years? Because it's not that it didn't work. It's that it's harder than you thought it was going to be. And it's going to take a lot longer than you thought, but that's okay. We're only on this earth one time. We only get one shot at this. Here's an article that I saw. Home sales, as home sales slow, realtors go back to their other job. Some agents who pivoted into real estate during the pandemic now struggle to make a living. I need to feed my family, you know. And the thing is, is that this year, guys, this year, we're going to have the third largest year in the history of real estate. The third largest year in terms of volume sold. Why? Because of appreciation and prices, even though we feel like prices overall year over year are probably down a percent or two, we're still going to have the third largest year ever in terms of volume of property sold because of appreciation. And the two years ahead of us are last year and the year before. This is an incredible opportunity for you. Now, transactions per agent right now, 6.3. That's down from 9.8. Okay? And if you think about it, if you look through history, that 10 transactions per agent is kind of where the market likes to be, kind of where it lives. So we're going to see a down, we're going to see agents, you know, bounce out of the business. There's nothing I can do about the agents who are going to quit. I'm not talking to you. If you're, if you're dead set on quitting and you're just out, you're done, then I'm not talking to you. Go do your thing. I'm happy for you. It didn't work. You don't like it. It is, you know, whatever you go. That's fine. Let me help you do whatever you are doing. But for the agents who don't want to quit, that's who I'm talking to. I'm talking to the ones who don't want to quit. When you hang in on this business, and when you start to really understand the market cycles and the fact that this business never stops, it's like Mother Nature, then you realize that and that 10 per, that 10 transactions per agent numbers with the market kind of always bounces back to and right now we're basically in all time low, 6.3. We're going to see a lot of agents drop out of the business, let their license lapse, and we're going to go back to that 9 to 10 transaction per agent market. That's what I believe is going to happen because that's what it always does. But when we dive into this article, you know, this guy was a 46 year old father of three. I mean, you know, when you're a father of three, you don't have a whole lot of choices. You have to take care of your family, right? And he says at that point, I was like, I need to feed my family, right? And there's nothing to be embarrassed about that. I did this post, I kind of did this, you know, with that actual article in the background is home sales slow, realtors go back to their jobs. You know, right here was a comment, and she says, why encourage those to stay in the business when all they wanted was a big check without doing real work? Most of them, I know, thought it was easy money. Please go. They won't even pick up the phone to have a real conversation regarding a transaction because it was supposed to be easy money. And I replied with why worry about the ones that are quitting anyway. I'm not, I don't, I'm not, I'm talking to the ones who do, right? Who do and have the potential to be great agents who need encouragement right now. See, the thing is, is that I remember when I was in that spot and, you know, I didn't have anybody saying, you know, you can do it, do real estate, you know, and all that stuff, like I'm trying to do for the industry right now. But man, that would have been cool if somebody would have said, you know what, closings happen every day, you can do it, it's unlimited, unlimited amount of loyal clients. You know, all you got to do is create five new friends a day. Here's the 60 day challenge for free. Here's my scripts for free. Hey, I made a million dollars a year. I'm the number one agent in Alabama and my market and everything. Let me teach you everything I know for free. Here's some free courses. Here's just watch my thousand YouTube videos. Let me, you know, call me, text me, DM me. I'll answer every single message. What can I do to help you? I wish I had somebody like that. I wish I had somebody like that in my life that I could reach out to, ask questions to, bounce ideas off of, but you guys do have somebody like that, me. So when I started Zero to Diamond, the mission statement was and still is today to reduce the failure rate in the real estate industry one agent at a time. That's my mission and that is what I'm standing firm on, still to this day. And this is the moment right now where I feel like, you know, I always said, I can help the industry. I can reduce the failure rate two ways. I can introduce Zero to Diamond philosophies, but also I can help agents through the crash realize they don't have to leave the business. So this is a message you're going to see me echoing here on YouTube and also on my Instagram, um, because I just want to pick those agents up. So if you're one of those agents, this is for you. Reach out if I can help. If you know one of those agents, share this video and I'm going to put another video right here. If you guys to click on and watch, so you can continue learning and collaborating with me. I'll see you guys on the next video. Keep crushing it.