If you’ve been in the real estate game for a while, you already know. One of the best ways to kickstart your growth is by gathering with your peers for a high-energy industry event. 

You also know the past few years have been anything but ordinary for live events. But real estate conferences around the world are reconvening with an even greater appreciation for being together. Not only that, there are now plenty of new ways of gathering too — with virtual conference options to provide

If you’ve been in the real estate game for a while, you already know. One of the best ways to kickstart your growth is by gathering with your peers for a high-energy industry event. 

You also know the past few years have been anything but ordinary for live events. But real estate conferences around the world are reconvening with an even greater appreciation for being together. Not only that, there are now plenty of new ways of gathering too — with virtual conference options to provide knowledge and networking even when you can’t be there in person. 

If you’re looking to plan your conference calendar, you’ve come to the right place. This guide gives you the need-to-know details for 10 of the top real estate conferences you simply can’t afford to miss. 

FUBCON is for those who are ready to take their real estate business to the next level and is one event you won’t want to miss. 

This Follow Up Boss inaugural event is happening November 8–10, 2022 and we can't wait to see you on the conference floor! 🎉

Join us to learn from industry icons and top real estate coaches as we help you master your motivation, marketing, and systems so you can consistently dazzle your clients and convert more deals.

You need to build the real estate career that works for you — and we’re here to help! Along with experts like Tom Ferry, Jon Cheplak, and Veronica Figueroa, just to name a few. 

At FUBCON, we’ll give you the tools you need to achieve your biggest results yet with proven approaches to running your real estate business.

Attending a Follow Up Boss event is filled with energy and opportunities to collaborate with some of the top real estate professionals in the industry. I walked away with very specific and actionable items that made an immediate positive impact on my business. I’d highly recommend FUB events to others!

Jenny Usaj,  Employing Broker & Co-Owner of Usaj Realty

Hosted by Realtor® associations in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, this regional event offers continuing education credits over four days of presentations on the latest and greatest updates in real estate. Learn from consultants and coaches, top legal minds, real estate leaders and more.

Attendees can also visit the trade floor featuring hundreds of exhibitors in a wide range of categories.

Keller Williams agents — current and future — from all over will be coming together in Anaheim to celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary in 2023. 

The speaker lineup includes some of KW’s best-known names, including Board Chairman Gary Keller (with his classic Vision Speech), KWRI President Marc King, Head of Industry Jason Abrams, and VP of Learning Jay Papasan.

Enjoy a work-hard-play-hard environment of learning and training over the course of this five-day event, including Red Bash celebrations for the ultimate KW birthday party.

The best is yet to come for this world-class event hosted by Realty One Group. The international convention offers coaching, training and networking for members — and of course, a time to celebrate the wins of the past year with your ONE family!

Last year’s keynote speaker lineup included names like author Simon Sinek, hip-hop preacher Eric Thomas, and Olympic gold medalist Erin Jackson. 

As Realty One CEO Kuba Jewgieniew said, the UNBrokerage refuses to put on an average convention — and we’re sure 2023 will be no exception!

Calling all RE/MAX agents and affiliates! RE/MAX R4 2023 will head to Las Vegas once again but, as they say, the event is anything but a gamble. 😉

Networking is a top priority at this three-day event that awards and recognizes RE/MAX agents and promises top-notch entertainment, charitable auctions, training courses and more. The 2023 event marks the 50th anniversary of RE/MAX — so there’s sure to be plenty of other surprises in store for next year’s event!

This annual gathers the NextHome community of brokers and agents for three days of networking receptions, a gala dinner and educational sessions.

The high-energy 2022 event brought 1,100 of the “NextHomies” together in Orlando — decked out in orange, of course — and celebrated NextHome’s vibrant, one-of-a-kind culture. Next year, head to Houston for #Next2023 in what’s sure to be another unforgettable gathering.

LeadingRE members, this one’s for you! 

Save the date for next spring’s Conference Week in Las Vegas. Join the festivities with a summit made just for you, with dedicated conference tracks for agents, sales leaders and luxury teams.

With brokerages in over 70 countries, LeadingRE’s invitation-only network features the best in client experiences from across the world, and their annual conference is a “who’s who” in real estate that members will not want to miss.

This exclusive, invite-only think tank from T3 Sixty brings together some of the brightest minds in real estate for three days of roundtables and thought-provoking conversations. 

The event is designed for innovation and exploration and is meant for discussion among industry leaders and execs. (No pay-to-play speakers allowed!) 

With just 350 seats, invitees should reserve their seats ASAP to secure their place in these exclusive, cutting-edge conversations.

Find your tribe and grow your business at this premium event for the real estate industry. Join agents, brokers and real estate-minded professionals of all backgrounds for three days of inspiration and relationship-building in Las Vegas.

Inman Connect has welcomed major names like Susan Daimler, president of Zillow, and Christy Budnick, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices among many more. 

Couldn’t join live for the 2022 event? You can purchase replays from the 2022 event for $399 or go ahead and sign up for next year’s event!

Ready to take your skills to the next level? Why not attend six events in one! 

In three days of coaching with Tom Ferry himself, you’ll gain insights on a range of topics from networking and converting leads, to upleveling your marketing strategy and your productivity.

This event has featured major names in business like Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk (AKA Gary Vee), Brian Tracy, and Jay Abraham. Don’t miss out on the chance to see who Tom brings in next! 

We don’t know about you, but this list has us ready and raring to get together, learn from, and network with the many amazing real estate professionals who make our community awesome.

We hope your brain and your calendar are abuzz with all of the real estate conferences you’ll attend as you continue growing your skills and your business. 

And of course, we can’t wait to see you this fall at the first-ever FUBCON in Las Vegas. 

Our team has worked tirelessly to create an event that drives real value for brokers and team leaders. We’re excited to help you build a business and a life you love, starting with an event experience you won’t forget!

We’ve all had “those days” in the real estate business. You know the ones: when morale is low. When the nos seem infinitely more numerous than the yeses. When you’re just not sure you can pick up the phone to make one more call.

And let’s face it. Real estate is always one of the toughest businesses out there — definitely not a career path for the thin-skinned. Add in a seemingly endless string of uncertainties in recent years, and it’s no wonder it can be difficult for even

We’ve all had “those days” in the real estate business. You know the ones: when morale is low. When the nos seem infinitely more numerous than the yeses. When you’re just not sure you can pick up the phone to make one more call.

And let’s face it. Real estate is always one of the toughest businesses out there — definitely not a career path for the thin-skinned. Add in a seemingly endless string of uncertainties in recent years, and it’s no wonder it can be difficult for even the best agents to stay motivated.

We asked six top-performing real estate agents their favorite tips for staying focused, energized and productive. Their words of wisdom point to universal best practices every agent can live by. 

But you won’t find any secret sauce here. Ultimately, you’ll need to find the path to focus that works for you. With a healthy dose of great habits, thoughtful reflection and commitment to your core values, you’ll be back to boss mode in no time. 

Table of contents

Believe it or not, avoiding burnout is a process that starts long before your motivation is flagging.

From your first day as a real estate agent, the steps you take to build your routine will go a long way to helping you stay productive when harder times hit. 

Rather than trying to recover your productivity in emergency mode, shaping your rhythms ahead of time creates momentum. And momentum can help you take the small but important steps that keep you going for the long haul.

Here are a few tips for building the momentum you need to get going when the going gets tough.

1. Turn power tasks into daily habits

On any given day, the list of tasks you could spend your valuable time and energy on is endless.

That’s why it’s so important to establish your daily must-dos and turn them into non-negotiable habits that stick.

“On the hardest days of real estate, it’s important to be very clear on why you do the tasks you do.”  

Mike Stott, Head Coach at Your Coaching Matters 

A licensed broker and real estate coach, Mike is still actively selling homes himself. He knows firsthand the power of habits to help hone your focus. “Focus is a product of the habits you create, so focus now and every day on creating the habits that lead to business,” he says.

When building daily habits, sustainability is key. Resist the temptation to take on massive, unrealistic to-do lists at a pace you won’t be able to keep up. 

Instead, find daily goals that you can commit to and stick with. Then, turn them into habits that last. Try using a proven tool like the classic SMART framework for goal-setting: make them Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. This way, your daily tasks won’t lead to the overwhelm that inevitably leads to burnout.

2. Take care of five contacts first

“Today really got away from me!” “I can’t believe it’s already 5:00.” “I set aside time for that task, but I got pulled away.” 

Have you heard and/or said any of these statements? (Or all of the above?)

Who hasn’t, right? All too often, even our most fundamental tasks can lose their spot in our day when our schedules get packed. That’s why a “first things first” mindset is so important. When you take care of mission-critical tasks first thing in the morning, you ensure that those to-dos won’t get crowded out of your calendar.

Mike Stott coaches his clients to take care of their five contacts before they do anything else. (Yes, even before checking their email!) 

He also advocates for making some key swaps in the morning: listening to inspiring books and podcasts over watching the news. Checking in with an accountability partner over scrolling social media. 

Each team might approach their day a bit differently. For Eric Bramlett, Broker at Bramlett Residential, building a systems workflow is top priority — with a focus on quality over quantity. “We make the fewest recommendations we can, but we keep it very consistent,” Eric says. 

They ask their team to spend the first hour of their day focused on their follow-up workflow, key tasks, and Smart Lists. While they’re happy to advise agents who ask for additional help, this one-hour task always comes first and foremost. 

“If they’re not doing their daily follow-up workflow, then they shouldn’t think about anything else until that habit is 100% built.”

Eric Bramlett, Bramlett Residential

3. Think of your habits as investments

When you’re feeling burnt out or overwhelmed, it can feel tempting to skip those daily to-do’s. After all, what difference does one day make? 

But like any habit — saving money, working out, or eating healthier — every small, positive choice makes a difference. Added up over time, your “small” habits become hugely significant.

Shannon Milligan of RVA Home Team uses this analogy to stay committed:

“I remind myself of compound interest. What I do may seem small and insignificant, but, over time, the consistency adds up to results.”

This mindset is also an important reminder in times when the market is especially difficult. When demand is low, you might not see the impact of your daily contacts or follow-ups right away. But Eric Bramlett points out that agents who stay optimistic will see results. 

“Agents have to stay positive and know that these activities will turn into sales in the future,”

Eric emphasizes, “Agents who stay productive now will have a pretty good 2022, but they'll have the best year of their careers in 2023 and 2024.”

Consider those daily tasks you complete today as investments that will pay off powerfully in the years to come.

4. Remember what really matters

For professionals in any field, it can be easy to lose your way. But forgetting why you became a realtor in the first place can be a major factor in burnout. In fact, researchers refer to this as cynicism — one of the three key factors driving burnout.

Here’s how they define it:

The cynicism dimension was originally called depersonalization (given the nature of human services occupations), but was also described as negative or inappropriate attitudes towards clients, irritability, loss of idealism, and withdrawal. 

When you’re feeling the heat, it’s important to take a step back and remind yourself of the reasons you do what you do. (Note: This will look a little bit different for everyone and that’s ok!) 

Take stock of the things that energize you about your chosen career path. Then lean into the things that excite you about real estate — and come back to them on those difficult days.

5. Reflect, then re-engineer

Feeling stuck in a rut with your daily or weekly workflow? It’s ok to pause and reflect on your overall strategy and schedule. 

But be careful not to use that reflection time to dig yourself in deeper. Overthinking can be a trap that leads to decision paralysis — unless you use your reflections to take action.

“Reflection is good, but use what you reflect upon to re-engineer your next steps to improve and iterate.”

Nicole Beauchamp, Engel & Völkers

It’s not enough to simply identify what’s not working in your strategy. Positive changes come from taking steps to improve and resolve the problems you find. 

Does problem-solving seem overwhelming at the moment? That’s ok. 

Do what you need to do to reset. This might mean stepping away from your desk and going outside to clear your head, pouring another cup of coffee, or talking it out with someone. 

Just remember, once you’ve pressed that reset button, it’s time to refocus and reprioritize. 

Reevaluate your to-do list and consider which items are urgent and important, and which are not. (Nicole often uses the Eisenhower matrix to determine her next steps, but find the method that works best for you!)

6. Define and deliver excellent service

We’ve talked about identifying your daily goals and habits. But what about defining big-picture success for yourself? 

Eric Bramlett’s take is that defining agent success isn’t rocket science. In fact, he says, “We absolutely know what agents need to do to be successful.”

At the end of the day, great real estate agents are laser-focused on providing excellent service.

What does excellent service mean? “It means setting up awesome searches for buyers, sending awesome market analyses to sellers, and making yourself available for IRL meetings,” Eric says. 

The results of this mindset speak for themselves. In times of high market demand, service-focused best practices translate to shorter sales cycles and pretty immediate sales. (And for Eric’s team, this meant a volume of more than $350M in 2021 alone.)

7. Focus on relationships

Speaking of service, real estate agents who continue to crush it long term tend to be very focused on relationships — both in good times and bad. 

President of Southwestern Real Estate, Pat Roach, notes: 

‍“There are many ways to build a successful real estate career, but building a career that works by the referrals of our friends and past clients can go a long way toward defending our businesses against external forces.

Even when the market is rocky and demand is low, relationships will outlast these natural but unpredictable ebbs and flows.

“Relationships take time, energy, and care. But for those who are willing to invest in others in a meaningful way, they will grow an extension of their salesforce that will remember them when transactions are few,” Pat says.

“Building relationships is the heart of a high-functioning network and a recession-proof real estate career.”

What’s more, relationships are a deeper and more authentic approach to your sales and marketing, consistently outperforming any short-term marketing campaign. 

Simply put? One of the founding principles at Southwestern Real Estate is this: “If I want more business, I grow my network.” 

Relationships will not only increase sales, but keep you motivated and connected to the heart of what you do as an agent.

With all of the tasks, workflows, and unique clients you deal with daily as an agent, it can be easy to get distracted. And when distractions pull your attention from your motivations and productivity, they can lead down a slippery slope to discouragement.

These tips will help you to keep your eyes on the prize — even when it’s tempting to let stress,  burnout, or distractions take over.

8. Focus on the present

When you’re feeling discouraged or unmotivated, it can be easy to ruminate on poor decisions. On the flip side, you might feel yourself obsessing over the future. While there is certainly value to learning from past mistakes and building a plan to work toward, your top priority should be focusing on right now.

Considering that you can’t change the past or the future, focusing on the current moment is the only way to be truly productive.

“Work on bringing your mind to the present because it’s the only place you can actually participate with the world around you.”

Taylor Hack, HACK&Co

Completing one task at a time with intention lets you put boundaries around overwhelm and stay in the present moment where you can actually get things done.

9. Control what you can control

Similar to focusing on the present, remember that you cannot dictate what will happen outside your business. External forces will come and go — good, bad and indifferent — and you can’t control those forces. You can only control how you prepare and respond to them.

For Pat Roach, your responses to these forces can make or break your business. “Our ability to stay in business or grow our business will be determined by how we prepare for those uncontrollable forces and sometimes how we need to react to those forces,” he says.

Rather than feeling overwhelmed when you consider all of the things that could happen in the market, start by deciding what steps you can take right now within your sphere of influence to strengthen your business. 

Take specific and actionable steps to respond to the unexpected, one small but necessary decision at a time.

10. Maintain a mindset of abundance

Shifting tides in real estate can make you feel like scarcity is everywhere you look. Every rejection or lead that doesn’t convert can feel like a blow, especially when they’re the latest in a series of no thank yous.

Pat Roach reminds us that real estate is a sales career. And like sales professionals, real estate agents will see some seasons of feast…and others that feel like, well, famine (2008, anyone?). 

“There are…days where all the forces of nature seem to be pushing against you,” Pat says. But the key is to not let those forces detract you from your consistent daily habits, relationship-building and other core tenets of your business.

“A mature salesperson has learned that two things are critically important: self-talk and a mindset of abundance,” Pat explains. “How you talk to yourself about what you are experiencing is key to how you’ll process reality and have the ability to move forward.”

How do you reinforce that abundance mindset? Pat recommends his agents remind themselves: “No one deal makes or breaks my year. I work hard all year, and there is always enough.”

Telling yourself a story focused on abundance and optimism, rather than anxiety or scarcity, will keep you grounded and on track to that next big win. It’s important to stay level-headed and committed so that you can continue to deliver for your clients.

Many of the age-old reminders for real estate agents are considered tried and true for a reason.

At the end of the day, your training and experience have brought you to this exact moment in your career. So you can trust your gut and lean into your values, even when you’re missing that extra boost of motivation. 

Let’s close out this expert roundup with some timeless tips for getting it done.

11. Compete against yourself, not others

In a performance-driven field like real estate, comparison is a tough monster to combat.

It’s easy to look around at how others are doing with a competitive mindset, rather than a supportive one. But no one has your exact strengths, skill sets and network. And trying to compete with others as a motivational factor is a no-sum game.

Shannon Milligan is very clear: “Put your blinders on and focus on your race. Winners don’t look back to see where the rest of the pack is; winners compete against themselves.”

Top performers use their own performance to keep leveling up.

So how can you improve upon your performance from one, two, or five years ago? How can you do better today than you did last week or last month?

Keep track of your own progress (rather than others’), and use it to propel you forward as you keep climbing.

12. Remember the big picture

We’ve already discussed how external forces can impact the real estate landscape. And when you feel bogged down by the day-to-day, it can be easy to lose sight of how you play into the industry as a whole.

But don’t forget that at the 10,000-foot view of real estate, there is always opportunity. Nicole Beauchamp reminds us, “People need places to live; they will either need to buy or sell or rent.” 

Independent of the changing tides around you, the real estate business isn’t going anywhere.

But staying in touch with both the big picture as well as how current market factors may be impacting the industry helps you be the best realtor possible. Nicole explains:

“Understanding what is going on in the economy and the impact it will have at a macro- and micro-level will help to position you to truly be a holistic advisor to your clients and be of service and value beyond the immediate transaction.”

This advice goes back to the tenets of excellent service and relationship-building. Leverage your expertise and industry knowledge to help your clients feel confident throughout the homebuying process. 

Providing this kind of support will lead to happier homebuyers, better reviews, more referrals, and a healthier business overall.

Lastly, trust your systems

Once you’ve built strong habits, reconnected to your values and renewed your focus, it’s time to lean in and trust the process. Now that you’ve done all you can to reset and motivate, you have the tools you need to dive back in and execute.

Pat Roach puts it this way: “We must trust our systems and channel our stress toward controlling the controllables that will work over the long haul.”

Here at Follow Up Boss, we can’t control what will happen around you or single-handedly relight the fire that got you excited to help your customers find their dream home. 

But with a solid foundation and airtight systems to help you connect with your next incredible client, we know you’ll have everything you need to go back out there and crush it, today and every day.

‍We all need one less thing to worry about. Follow Up Boss makes lead management a breeze, even on the wildest days in the game. See for yourself with a free 14-day trial.

Follow Up Boss has been a remote company since day one, so getting our employees together in-person has always been essential for brainstorming, collaboration, and having a little fun. 

Before the pandemic, our company-wide meetups would happen once a year. But like most in-person events the last couple of years, our annual retreat was put on pause…until now. 

Just a few weeks ago, the entire Follow Up Boss team met up in Austin, Texas for our first meetup since 2019. Needless to say, it

Follow Up Boss has been a remote company since day one, so getting our employees together in-person has always been essential for brainstorming, collaboration, and having a little fun. 

Before the pandemic, our company-wide meetups would happen once a year. But like most in-person events the last couple of years, our annual retreat was put on pause…until now. 

Just a few weeks ago, the entire Follow Up Boss team met up in Austin, Texas for our first meetup since 2019. Needless to say, it was pretty dang exciting talking about all the new features and ideas that week plus meeting our co-workers–and for most of us, for the very first time!

We asked Beth Hogan, Head of People at Follow Up Boss, and Casey Blanchette-Phillips, Operations Manager at Follow Up Boss, for a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like planning our 2022 company-wide meetup.

Q: Why are in-person meetups important at Follow Up Boss? 

A: As a 100% remote company, it’s important to provide in-person retreats and gatherings to connect on common goals, prevent a siloed work culture, and boost overall morale.

Q: What are some of the challenges of planning an in-person event for a remote company?

A: One of the most challenging parts was the short planning period this year. We only had about 3 months to pull everything together. 

Developing the retreat content and agenda can also be tricky. Ensuring that we provide captivating material to staff and making sure our customers were taken care of while all staff were on-site. Each of those components took a lot of effort and collaboration to prepare. 

Toss in a pandemic and doubling the size of our team… we are pretty impressed with how it all came together!

Q: What was part of the planning process went the smoothest?

A: Our team’s support and willingness to hop in on anything and everything we needed was a huge help. We also hired a company called Flok to assist with event coordination onsite which really benefited us. Flok helped with a majority of logistics in terms of scheduling transportation, team building activities, retreat meals etc.—the process would not have been as smooth without them.

Q: What does the itinerary look like for a company meetup?

A:  The itinerary was carefully planned and executed with good care. It went through a few variations and stages but ultimately the days were strategically planned to provide a healthy mix of company-focused sessions, all hands-on deck support power hours, and fun group activities and evening festivities to reward our team for their hard work.

This is a guesstimate but about 70% of the day was spent on working 30% on team activities and leisure time. 

Q: We have remote folks all over the country (and some international!) how did you land on Austin?

A: We talked through a bunch of destinations and all the ones we chose were within a 1-hour driving distance to major airports for any and all international folks joining us. Ultimately we landed on Austin as it fit the bill for location and activities. 

Q: What was the theme of the event?

A: FUB to the Future!

Q: How did you land on this theme?

A: As a group we wanted to focus on the future of Follow Up Boss without forgetting where we came from. The idea was brought up on one of our retreat planning calls that that theme could be “FUB to the Future”. We all agreed and jumped right on into that. 

Q: What are your top five tips for planning an in-person event as a remote team?

A: Top five tips would be:

1. Give yourself plenty of planning time and set strict deadlines for planning milestones.  
2. Set expectations and try to plan as much as you can before announcing it to the team.
3. Invest in a local management/planning company that can assist you in hotel and vendor negotiations and help you onsite the week of the event.
4. Make sure you include the folks who can’t travel to the event as much as possible so they still feel part of the team.
5. Clearly define early on in the planning process the goals and key-takeaways you want from this event – it will help you formulate the agenda, decide activities, if you are including families, and ultimately choosing WHERE you should have your retreat. 

BONUS Q: Planning a company-wide event in 3 months is no small feat! If you had to pick a meme to represents the planning process, what would it be?