The Final 30 Feet Rule - A Quick, Simple Method To Decide Who To Take Advice From And Who To Ignore
The Final 30 Feet Rule is a way to weed advice based on who is giving it.
There's a lot of people out there that want to give advice and have theories on what will work and have a set beliefs on the way things should work.
But if they haven't walked the final 30 feet... maybe you shouldn't take their advice.
The Final 30 Feet Rule
Okay, in a nutshell, I tripped across this – it comes from the comedian, old-school comedian, Buddy Hackett. Here was his advice that he gave to a young, up-and-coming comedian allegedly.
He said, "When people give you their advice or their opinion – because everyone is going to, right? Opinions are like bellybuttons. Everyone has one. Listen, politely smile, allow them to feel like they have been helpful, and then turn around and seek out advice and only take advice from people who have walked the final 30 feet."
And here is what he means by the Final 30 Feet:
Keep in mind, Buddy Hackett was a comedian and this advice was to up and coming comedians.
What he was trying to say was only take advice from those who have walked the final and most important 30 feet from backstage to being alone in front of the microphone with nowhere to hide.
Then and only then will you know the advice comes from reality and not theory. They'll understand the emotions, the work it takes to get it right. They'll have made the mistakes and created the laughs, not just read about how to do it. That is the Final 30 Feet Rule.
I discussed this concept with my friend Jonathan Rivera, who runs The Podcast Factory, and he said,
"You know what's interesting about that, Darin?
I totally agree with it of course but it also ties it to not really being into the tools and tech and software, and that kind of stuff, because of people who talk about that put that stuff out there have never actually done the work, right? They had never done the work of helping a buyer or seller in a real estate transaction, how could they know what it takes to get there?"
Exactly.
It's so easy to talk about Facebook Ads, pay-per-click stuff, websites and marketing ideas if you've never put your own money on the line to generate that kind of business and understand that audience.
How many of the people that marketing at you, vendors and coaches, have actually been in the trenches selling real estate?
Anyone can say, "Here is the best practices," but chances are it's completely BS because they haven't walked the final 30 feet.
They are just theorizing, like Buddy Hackett said.
They have just read about it, about how to do it, and are coming up with theories or their own opinions on things.
Some of the worst advice is free advice.
The world we are living in, the average person can go ahead and put up a blog, start a Facebook page and group, put up some YouTube videos and start spouting off things that they heard or thinks sound real cool.
With a very low barrier to entry, you have a platform. And that' a problem if you don't know what to look for. This whole liberation of media just makes it so easy for us to put stuff out there so that really leads to a lot of people putting bad ideas out there.
For example, a few years back, Realtor.com was doing this AgentMatch thing where they are putting up people's production levels when home buyers or sellers are searching for a neighborhood.
The problem specifically with something like AgentMatch, that means REO agents are going to look better or people who work new construction maybe. So, the people aren't actually getting the best agent for them. They are just getting the agent who sold the most.
But for some reason, some tech nerd decided this is the way it should be. They create some code. They put it up and then they go, "Okay, well, that's the way it should be."
They have never been in the trenches with a real-estate agent, knows what it's like to try to convert a buyer to be loyal to them or sat down at the kitchen table across from a seller and had that seller beating them up on their price and how much commission they are charging.
Or I've noticed some failed real estate agents decide to be "real estate coaches" now. They couldn't make a professional level of profit in real estate sales, doing things their way, so now they want you to pay them so they can teach you their way. WHAT?!?!?
The 30 Feet Rule?
The final 30 Feet Rule helps sort out who you take seriously.
And it simply comes down to this: be careful who you take advice from.
There are three types of people that you need to be careful who you take advice from.
Number one, the people who have never took the walk, who have never done the final 30 feet.
Number two, the people who took the the walk but failed. Either because it scared them or the didn't know how.
And finally, number three, also be careful taking advice from people who took the final 30 feet walk, and succeeded, but it was a long, long time ago.
Not to say that there is something that can't be learned from them but they might have forgotten what the emotions and the nuances of it were because they are so far removed from that now. And time is a funny thing. We forget things.
Think back about how you remember things five years ago or ten years ago.
Because I'm in real estate transactions everyday I personally know the emotional ups and downs of what's happening.
If you're ready to walk the Final 30 Feet, to take your real estate career to the next level... check out our Breakthrough Solutions Conversation
AND WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S 3 WAYS I CAN HELP:
Get on my email list, get access to free training videos and resources.
Join the private Facebook group - Real Estate Marketing and Productivity Tips
Get the M.A.P. on how to work with me