MATTHEW WADDELL: Are you an angler or a dangler?

One person was actually a very good fisherman and the rest of us admitted to having a go occasionally and hoping for the best.

He smirked and said that’s what we call “anglers vs. danglers”…10 per cent of fishermen are 'anglers' who catch 90 per cent of the fish, while the 'danglers' put a line in and hope for the best - with little result.

It’s hard to argue with that. Unless you know what you’re doing, you are just making up numbers and that’s so true in real estate sales.

Looking at some numbers on sales agents earnings across Australia supplied in Macquarie Bank’s Residential Real Estate Benchmarking Report 2012, only nine per cent of agents earn over $250,000, while 66 per cent of sales agents earn less than $100,000.

You can quite easily see what makes an angler and a top agent so successful:

• They have honed their skills and technique
• They are constantly learning from others
• They do activities that reap the greatest rewards
• They enjoy what they’re doing
• They have the best tools to get the job done

Without constant training and refining your skills, you can’t expect to one day become an ‘expert’ in your field. Sure, you may jag the odd fish but you’ll never get the consistency to do it day after day, year after year.

So, will 2014 be the year you change from a dangler to an angler?