“Making” things happen is a very western way of thinking that resides firmly in the ego.  In essence, when you try to make things happen, this is what you are really saying about how it will get done:

• In my way
• Within my time schedule
• Using my resources
• Under my control

“Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead –ram anybody or anything that gets in our way!”  Are you beginning to see the problem here?  Especially when others are all taking the same approach.  Everyone struggles and he/she who struggles most/best wins –that is if you call being exhausted, uptight and frustrated most of the time “winning”.

There is another way that is so powerful you may be tempted to think that it is just too simple to ever work.  It’s called “creating a space” for things to happen.  Instead of fighting for every inch, go with the natural flow of things.  Open up the space of possibility for what you want to happen.  Now for you to successfully employ this method and enjoy all of its benefits (relaxed effortlessness, serendipity, greater outcomes than what you intended, etc.) there is a few things you need to let go of.

First is the illusion that you have control over anything other than your own choices.  Anything else is just part of the mystery and wonder of life.  Secondly (and this is REALLY important) let go of any attachments to the outcomes.  This means being dispassionate about whether or not you achieve your objectives no matter how badly you want them.  When you marry strong intention (i.e. what you want) with letting go of the need for control and not being attached to outcomes you have by definition created a space for your intentions to happen.  This is a powerful space in which miracles occur effortlessly and often bigger and better than you intended.  They may not happen in the way you intended, on your time schedule, or through your resources, yet they will happen never-the-less.

This doesn’t mean sitting back waiting for things to happen –not at all.  It means taking the steps with full commitment you deem necessary for fruition, yet being open to any possibility that may result from your efforts.  By the way, this approach is even more powerful in relationships.  When’s the last time you tried to “make” a relationship happen? (and how did that work for you?)  In this context making a space for a desired relationship means showing up fully for the other person yet not being attached to whether or not they respond in the way you wish.

There is a corollary to this principle that basically states that the more you try to make things happen, the less space you create to allow them to occur with little or no effort and the more fear is pushing you away from what really works.  There is no valor in struggle when there is an easier, more natural way.

The next time you feel tempted to swim upstream just ask yourself how tired do you really want to be when you finally get to where you want to go –only to be taken down stream once again anyway.  Fight life or flow with it –it’s your choice.

Anytime we work on achieving a goal, we are acutely aware that there two possible outcomes: we either achieve it or we don’t.  And for most people, the more intensely committed we are to achieving our goal the sweeter the taste of victory when we do, and likewise, the more bitter taste of defeat when we don’t.  As a result, the greater the effort and commitment expended, the more we tend to become attached to tasting the sweet and avoiding the bitter.  This approach makes achieving big goals a rather tense affair, even to the point to where we don’t bother because we can’t stand the possibility of not achieving them.

Now what if we took an entirely different approach to achieving any goal or objective, no matter how big.  Imagine for a moment being totally and completely committed to achieving a big goal where you are giving it everything you got.  And, (this is the important part) not being attached to the outcome.  In other words, you truly become indifferent to the whether your goal is realized or not.  Kind of makes your head hurt doesn’t it.

Being totally committed to every endeavor without being attached to the results of your efforts is one of the most powerful secrets to true and lasting success.  Here’s why:

• You have more energy available to achieve your goal – that’s because you don’t waste any of it on worrying about what will happen if you don’t achieve it;
• You have more creative resources to achieve your goal – being unattached puts you in the present moment like nothing else.  No longer are you concerned about the future.  This empowers you to focus on the “right now” which is where any goal is ultimately achieved.  Also, being in the present allows you to access other creative possibilities that you may not have considered if worrying about the future outcome.
• Failure becomes a stepping stone to success – not a gauntlet of self-doubt and incrimination to be avoided at all costs.
• It’s a lot more fun! – when you are in the moment working on something important without worry of the ultimate outcome you will simply enjoy your efforts that much more.

A straight line from point A to point B is rarely the quickest path.  We often run into many detours, road blocks and alternative routes that at first seem to take us further away from where we want to go.  Yet these are all part of any process to achieve anything worthwhile.  How you react to these unexpected twists and turns and whether you choose to treat them like the adventure they are, or barriers to your progress will ultimately determine how fast and often you reach your goals.

Commitment without attachment to outcome is a skill that can be developed.  Start practicing with small goals first just to see the relief it give you.  Then work up to the big ones –your life will never be the same.

How Retargeting Works

Humans are creatures of habit.  We seek information using certain guidelines or parameters. And, when there is something we are interested or curious in, we tend to notice things that relate to that item more readily. So, let’s say you are considering buying a house, you will search for information on the internet using some term like “buying a home in ______” (fill in the blank with a geographic location).  You get a list of real estate websites, and will probably click on the first 3 or 4 before wondering what other resources you can find and try a different search, perhaps ending up on say, Realtor.com.

Now, consider this… You are starting to search around there, when you see an ad offering a custom luxury tour of a neighborhood you were just considering, or perhaps the ability to get greater details on a house you were interested in.  Coincidence? Nope!  Retargeting.

Because of your cookies, search engines can track every single place you visit on the internet. Google also has a vast network of advertisers, and they only get paid when someone clicks on one of those ads.  So by combining these two pieces of information, Google has the ability to present specific ads to select people who have already shown an interest in that particular service or product, thus increase the likelihood the audience will click through.

You can leverage this for your site and business by developing targeted ads presenting tempting offers to entice the lead to return and engage with you.

Implementing a Retargeting Campaign

Firstly, you need to understand there are two different ways you can garner an audience for retargeting.  The strongest by far is building your own list – which happens over time as people visit your site and are naturally tracked by their cookies – because you will already know that not only are they interested in real estate, but possibility even what specific kind of real estate.  The second way is to use a “preset audience” which goes by established preferences based on browsing history, for example internet users who like horses, in a certain geographic region, and expressed an interest in real estate.  This second method is not quite as accurate as the first, but allows you to get started right away.

Next step is to develop your ads.  You must have a variety of them, because think about it… If you see the same thing getting shoved in your face over and over, are you really going to say yes the 10^th time you see it when you’ve already said no 9 times before?  Don’t think so!  A templated ad builder is available, or you can have a designer customize and upload them.  By the way, ever notice that ads are different sizes at different places on web pages?  Some are a banner across the page, some a little box to the corner, some long up and down the side.  You will need to have your ads created in all these sizes because Google will select ones that fit the available space.

You can control all aspects of your ads including budget, number of impressions, termination point, etc.  You can set your ads to display according to certain keywords, or even specific websites.  You can even control what they see when they get to your site, which means you can drop them right in the entrance to your click funnel.  For example, here is Progressive Insurance’s general site at www.progressive.com:

Obviously, you see navigation, multiple offers, all kinds of access to all kinds of information.  Now, look at what we get after clicking on a retargeted ad:

No navigation, no offers.  One purpose, and one purpose only – follow the three easy steps.  Note also that the box she is holding says “Auto” on it, because I searched using the keywords “car insurance.”  I repeated this exercise using “house insurance”, and in the image she was holding two stacked boxes, you guessed it – one labeled “Homeowners” and the second “Auto.” So you can very simply drop your retargeted lead directly on the landing page for the offer you present, don’t make them think about it.

After launching, you will want the ads to run a couple of months until you saturate your market, then swap them out.  It can still be the same offer, mind you – just a different way of presenting it.  For example, you may start out with an ad offering a “No Committment CMA,” then go to “See Recent Sales in Your Neighborhood,” then swap to “Check Out Detailed Market Data.”

How Much Does Retargeting Cost?

So, I’m telling you that you can follow up with warm leads on a consistent basis over a long period of time with a single effort of setting up a couple ads.  You’re saying, this has got to be yet another major expense to undertake, right?  Actually, it costs less than standard pay per click.

To determine the cost of an ad, you have to balance out the per click payment versus its quality score.  On the basic level, Google determines the quality score by the number of times a given ad is displayed (an impression) and the number of people who respond to it.  If the ad has too low of a quality score, Google will shut it down because the ad is not making money.  On the other hand, if you are getting people clicking through but still not engaging, it is not worth any money you are paying and you need to revise the ad.

Now, let’s look at a return on investment.  Studies show it takes an average of 7 touches for someone to engage with a site. If you are paying $4 per click to get a visitor to your site using pay per click, but out of 100 visitors only 2 engage, that’s $392 lost.  Now, if you can pay a fraction of that to retarget those other 98 visitors over a period of weeks or months, you vastly increase your exposure and the chances of those warm leads returning, thereby increasing your return on the initial investment.

In the end, retargeting comes out less expensive than standard pay per click.  PPC is triggered by keyword searches, which although gives you a “best guess” does not necessarily identify any specific need.  On the other hand, retargeting is based in the actual content the user elects to view, which is a far more accurate gauge.  So Google charges less based on the likelihood being much higher of someone clicking on a retargeted ad versus a generalized pay per click ad.

Best Practices for Successful Retargeted Ads

As always, there are a few guidelines you should follow when creating and launching your campaign:

• Make sure your ad shows on related sites.  A guy shopping for lingerie for his wife on Victoria’s Secret is NOT thinking about real estate.  Do not waste your time and money displaying your ad to him.  Be sure your keywords are specific enough that only sites related to real estate are used.
• Don’t make it easy for your competition.  Don’t show paid ads on your blog or site.  You cannot control what ads Google shows on your site, and it would be mighty embarrassing to have a competitor stealing your leads.
• Follow good marketing practices. As always, your ads should focus on benefits first and foremost, have big headlines and a strong call to action.
• Give ‘em what they want. Few things are more frustrating to a visitor than having to search for the promised information.  If your ad offers a specific product or service, make sure the link takes them directly there, not to your home page landing.  The whole point of this is to channel them into your click funnel.

Although some companies have been using retargeting for quite some time, it is becoming more and more prevalent.  To find out more about actually implementing retargeting, you can go here: http://www.google.com/ads/innovations/remarketing.html

When used strategically and judiciously – there is a huge difference between retargeting and cyberstalking – this long-term method of marketing to potential online clients has shown itself to have tremendous success.

NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.

Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He’s dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.OnlineDominance.com and Facebook page at Facebook.com/OnlineDominance

This article is reprinted in its entirety from the December 2011 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright © 2011. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark of RUSSER Communications.

“What are your mooring lines?”  In other words, what is holding you back from being the very best you can be.  The reason this question is so powerful is that it puts the responsibility of our life and business success squarely on our shoulders and no longer allows us to blame others.

As you know, mooring lines are the things that prevent hot-air balloons from rising, planes from taking off and ships sailing away.  In just the same way, they are the things that prevent us from soaring, from truly living life fully, from achieving our highest business success.  Mooring lines are unique to each person.  No two people have the exact same ones.

There are many different types of mooring lines.  See if any of these ring true for you:

• Limiting Beliefs – seeing your world as “small” so you feel safe in being small.  Not accepting possibilities that are right in front of your nose for all kinds of “because” your mind will throw your way.  You were designed to live and work large and this mooring line will prevent you from doing that.
• People and Relationships – chances are you have existing relationships that are absolutely holding you back.  These creatures can take the form of “energy vampires” (where you feel exhausted just being around them), “complainers and nay-sayers” (who quickly throw a wet blanket on any attempt to change for the better) and “green monsters” (who outwardly applaud your successes yet inwardly seethe with envy).  These mooring lines can be hard to cut because our society puts such a high value on relationships (as it should).  Yet here’s the thing, when you cut these lines it frees you up to find new relationships that support rather than constrain.
• Negative Emotions – anger, frustration, etc. (to name a few) can all be powerful mooring lines because they take up so much of our energy and time.  The way to cut these lines is learning to become “unattached” to outcomes.  The fine skill of being totally committed to something yet unattached as to whether you achieve it or not is one of the most powerful you can have for both business and life.
• Lack of Gratitude – seeing the glass as half-empty vs. half-full holds you back from seeing unbelievable possibilities.  Now imagine how different your life and business would be if you saw everything that happens to you, no matter how devastating, as a blessing in disguise.
• Being Shut Down – sometimes the pain of life is so unbearable we shut our heart down to avoid feeling it anymore.  The problem is that you don’t feel anything else anymore as well.  The way to cut this mooring line is to imagine your heart being open, even in painful or threatening situations (which admittedly takes lots of practice).  And once you let this line go, you are free to accept the most powerful gift life can offer us, love.

You may be wondering why “Fear” was not part of that list. Actually, the very strands of every mooring line are woven with the fiber of fear. Behind each one is fear when you really get down to it.  It just shows up in different forms.

Now here’s the best news. No one but you is holding on to your mooring lines.  You have the free will, the choice, to let each and every one of them go.  Will it be easy?  Most likely not.  Will it be worth it?  You already know the answer.

Ponder this for a moment: Everyone alive on this planet today will likely be dead in 100 years from now (major breakthroughs in life extension notwithstanding). We have just so much time and when it’s over it’s over, fini, caput. So given this context, is what you are currently doing and even more importantly, who you are currently “being” represent your full, ideal life?

It’s a safe bet how 99.99% of people living in the developed world will answer this question. Money, possessions, deep loving relationships, exciting lifestyle, etc. won’t cut it if you are in “prison”. A prison where the seemingly impenetrable bars are made of nothing more than of our fears about living fully, outrageously and from our hearts.

How many of us have “comfortable” relationships, comfortable jobs, comfortable lifestyle, comfortable distractions and so on. The more affluent of a society we live in, the easier it is to be sucked into “comfortable” rather than living fully —which by definition means allowing oneself to fully and intensely feel pain, pleasure, love and overall lust for life. Striving to be comfortable, safe and protected is like soundproofing your soul as the universe is playing Bach’s 5th symphony. You know something great is occurring and you are afraid of what might happen if you let go of all self-imposed protections to experience it.

Imagine what your life (and by extension, your business) would be like if you were “fearless”. Not that you can or even should eliminate all fear, but playing full out in spite of fear. Breaking free of the self-imposed prison bars of fear. Freeing yourself up to infinite possibilities you never could have imagined…

Fate loves the fearless.

~ James Russell Lowell

Our hearts are always whispering to each and every one of us. It is very hard to hear when we bury ourselves in work and distractions. We each have our own true path during this blink of an eye we call life. Your heart is your guide and your head is your servant to help you achieve what the heart knows is best for you. You don’t have much time left, so use it wisely.

Outrageous is not about being goofy or tastelessly offensive for the sake of eliciting the biggest reaction from others. On the contrary, being outrageous is all about letting who we really are come out and shine for all the world to see —without concern or attachment to how others (even close others) see you.

It is no accident that some of the most successful people in the world are considered outrageous. My personal hero is Richard Branson of the Virgin group of companies. I can’t imagine anyone having more fun, while making more money, while changing the world for the better than him. Another favorite of mine is Rush Limbaugh. Regardless of your political leanings, you’ve got to admit that this guy (who I believe never finished college) does and says exactly what he wants and as a result attracts the largest radio audience in the U.S. and “Has more fun than a human being should be allowed to have!”

You see that’s the beauty of being your outrageous self. Doing so will attract far more people to you than any other way. Human beings are almost preternaturally attracted to those who have discovered the secret of just allowing the entirety of who they already are shine through —like moths to a bright flame.

For most people, being outrageous is the purest form of who they are, who they “be”. The jaw-dropping reaction we normally equate with “outrageous” is because almost everyone is so constrained in the way they live and interact that when someone does allow their true “outrageousness” to show, it is a shock to those who witness it.

I have Dalinian thought: the one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.

~ Salvador Dali

Being truly outrageous in the manner described here takes tremendous courage and a willingness and faith to let go of all pretenses. Few are currently willing to do this which is the primary reason being outrageous will cause you to stand out incredibly. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. When you are ready to truly be outrageous, the world will unfold like a beautiful flower and you will surely wonder why you waited so long to be who you already are.

Measuring Your Visitor Behavior

Website analytics (e.g. Google Analytics) provides extensive statistical data about where your visitors came from, how long they stayed, links they clicked on etc.  While a powerful and necessary tool for any Web marketer, it’s not enough.  Since most Websites are not static, it’s crucial that you also see how visitors react to and interact with your Website.  This is called behavioral metrics and there are now a number of easy to use (and inexpensive) tools that provide detailed insights on how visitors behave on your site.

In one of my previous articles I mentioned an online service called CrazyEgg which provides “heat maps” of what your visitors view and click on in aggregate, on your site (see example heat map below —the brighter the spot, the more people clicked).

While very useful, another recent startup company, LuckyOrange, has taken behavioral metrics to a whole new level.  In addition to heat maps, LuckyOrange also gives you the ability to record (like a video) what visitors do on your Website, including how they move their mouse, where they scroll, what they click on, etc.  This innovative service even lets you “spy” on visitors as they are on your Website in real time!

Now before your brain starts screaming “That’s an invasion of privacy!”, it’s really not, well… in most cases anyway.  The reason is that you don’t know who they are, just that they are an anonymous visitor.  There is one exception however, and that’s if they start filling out a form on your Website and then decide not to hit the “Submit” button.  LuckyOrange will record what they typed into the fields, whether or not they decided to follow through.

The only way to really get a feel for the full scope of what is possible with LuckyOrange is to visit their site and click the “Watch the Live Demo” button near the top.  Be ready to have your mind blown as you watch recordings of actual Website visitors move their mouse, scroll, click, fill out forms and so on.

Best Practices

Like any kind of tool, LuckyOrange has no value unless used and used properly.  With this in mind here are some best practices to help you get the most out of this one:

• Don’t Initiate Chat – while in real-time “spy” mode you have the ability to initiate a chat session with your visitor, ostensibly for the purpose of helping them find what they are looking for.  Avoid that temptation unless you want to scare them away from your site.
• Watch what they click on (and don’t) – use the heat map feature to determine what most visitors find attractive as they vote with their mouse clicks.  If they are not clicking on various parts of your site consider changing them to something more compelling.
• Watch their mouse movements – by viewing the recordings of individual visitors you will gain insight as to how engaged (or not) they are with your Website.  You will find that most people move their mouse as they read, almost like using a finger to underline text as a book is read.  Do they appear to be focused and engaged, or distracted?  You may need to change some of your site copy to keep them on the edge of their seat.
• Watch for any hesitancy in when completing forms – you may consider redesigning your forms, adding privacy language etc. if your LuckyOrange recordings indicate visitor hesitancy to completing your all-important Website forms.  Abandoned forms cost you immediate business.

As of this writing you can try LuckyOrange for two weeks free and after that it is $7/mo per Website.  To get started, you (or your Web master) simply put a bit of code on each page you want to record.  After that, it’s just a matter of visiting your own site and pressing CTRL + SHIFT + 1 on your keyboard to bring up your site’s LuckyOrange dashboard (after entering your email and password one time).

The more you understand your Website visitors’ behavior, the better you will be able to tweak your site to help convert them into closed transactions.  And I know of no other behavioral metrics tool that does a better job of this than LuckyOrange.

NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.

Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He’s dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.OnlineDominance.com and Facebook page at Facebook.com/OnlineDominance

This article is reprinted in its entirety from the August 2011 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright © 2011. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark of RUSSER Communications.

The amount of money you make doesn’t determine whether you have a business or job, it’s how you make your money that does. For example, you really only have a job if you:

• don’t get paid unless you do the work yourself;
• are the only one that knows how everything gets done;
• built your book of business around your own name (i.e. created the brand of “you”);
• constantly run around putting out fires;
• have trouble handling the work you already have, much less grow it;
• are a “jack of all trades” doing most, if not all, that needs to get done by yourself.

Now really, does the above seem like something you want to celebrate?

Whereas when you truly have a business it works for you, not the other way around. Things get done and money is made whether you are there or not. And, you have something to sell because it’s not about you and the operations side has been fully documented which essentially means you’ve made your business “turnkey” for any buyer.

So as you chomp down on that burger, swill your beer and fry you skin in Summer’s dwindling sun think carefully about what you really have. And perhaps more importantly, what you could have if you only chose to.

If you have enjoyed any measure of success chances are you feel it is due to your grit, drive and determination that got you there, in spite of all set backs. And to a large part that is probably true. Here’s the thing, just because pushing hard worked before, doesn’t mean it’s the appropriate strategy all the time. In fact, there will be times when pushing hard is exactly the wrong thing to do.

Live and business is a lot like surfing. The power of the ocean waves dwarf’s any attempt on our part to control them. Yet if we learn when to take off, how to stand and steer we are in for one hell-of-a thrilling ride. And the best part is, the wave itself does most of the work. Sure, you will fall and occasionally be pummeled, but that’s just part of learning. Surfers don’t master the wave, they master how to ride it’s immense power.

The key here is don’t let your ego trick you into thinking that you can drive forward at any speed any time you want. All this leads to is exhaustion and frustration (and probably a lot of pissed off friends and family).

Life and business is a journey, one where we travel on our own unique path (or wave, if you prefer). Surrender to the subtleties of the one you are on and you will know when to push hard and when to back off. Trust me, you will enjoy it much more and go a lot further using much less energy. For what it’s worth, the ability to “surrender” is the very essence of coachability…

The first thing to remember is that no matter how bad the economy gets, people will still be buying and selling real estate. I remember being in the business (actively buying investment properties) when interest rates on 30 year loans were around 17% – 18%. The key is to help those who need to sell –right now! This means aggressively courting the FSBO’s and Expireds of the world. The majority of these folks need to sell, no other option available, which means they need YOU.

I made a lot of money during another recession (in the mid 1970′s) specializing in FSBOs. Here are some proven tips to help you turn these market opportunities (FSBO’s and Expired’s) into cash:

• Sell the appointment, not your service - you have to get “belly to belly” with these folks if you want to list their home. Many agents make the mistake of selling their services over the phone. The only thing you want to use the phone for is to get that in-person appointment. So get good, real good at selling the appointment.
• Be their advocate - FSBO’s and Expired’s tend to be stressed out and just a little bit cynical about Realtors. Make it clear that you are there to help them achieve all of their goals, whether or not you get the listing.
• Have an irresistible marketing plan - you better have something that will make them go “Wow!” when it comes to selling their property. Something that most other agents in your area are not likely to offer. For an incredible example of this review the 2/8/11 GUEST EXPERT “How to Win Every Listing and Have Sellers Pay You Upfront!“ Live Group Coaching archive.

There will always be business. And in times like these when it seems everything has been made that much more difficult, you may just be open to doing things that are proven to work, in any market. And that my friend is the gift of troubled times.