Archive for the ‘MR. INTERNET TIP’ Category
Instantly Record Anything On Any Computer To Play Anywhere —For FREE!
Saturday, August 20th, 2011
Most of my students and readers of this blog know that I’m a big fan of Jing. This nifty utility lets you record anything on your screen quickly, easily and share it IF you and the person you plan on sharing it with have a PC. However, it a world becoming rapidly populated with iPads and smart phones, that just won’t cut it. That’s why this recently discovered screen recording utility is so exciting.
Screenr – the Ultimate Free Screen Cast Tool
Screen casting (i.e. recording anything on your computer and sharing it) couldn’t be easier than with Screenr. All you literally do is go to http://www.screenr.com and click the “Record” button on the top of the page. A recording boundary box appears which you can resize (including your full screen) and move around. Once you place it where you want it click the red record button to start recording. Screenr gives you up to 5 minutes for each recording and then stores it for you on their servers. Just click the video below to see a very cool 1-minute demo.
Now here’s the best part. You can instantly share any of your Screenr screen casts with anyone including those using iPads, iPhones or other smart phones. Check it out. Now sharing the best of what’s on your screen simply could not be easier —especially when it’s so free!
How to Pace Yourself For Success
Saturday, August 13th, 2011
Does it ever feel like you are going straight up hill with your business with no end in sight? Everyone runs into these kinds of challenges from time to time. The good news is that there is a proven way to conquer them and turn them into your advantage.
This became abundantly clear to me as I recently hiked to the summit of Mt. Shasta (elevation 14,160′) with a group of eight friends. Here’s what I learned from the most difficult hike I’ve ever been on that also applies to business:
- Pace yourself - when the challenge is very difficult (read: steep), you will quickly burn out if you don’t pace yourself. On the seemingly endless 45° slopes of Mt. Shasta we could maintain a pace of 20 steps, rest; 20 steps, rest; and so on. Anything faster and we would actually fall behind and become more exhausted. For maximum advancement, find your pace, then stick with it.
- It’s better to not look at the whole mountain - for our final assault on the summit, we left at 4:00am using head lamps to see our way up the vast snow field. Seeing only a few feet at a time was a good thing. It would have been too demoralizing to be constantly reminded on how much further we’d have to go with every step.
- You will reach the summit, eventually - there is always a point where you no longer will struggle with the up hill slog. It’s called being at the top, the summit and the view is incredible.
- Once you are at the top you can enjoy the ride back down - there is nothing sweeter than knowing you achieved your hard won goal and can now enjoy the fruits of your efforts. For us it meant having thrills (and some spills) glissading down the mountain (i.e. sliding down our butts in the snow).
- You now have greater confidence - the experience of conquering a difficult challenge gives you the confidence and experience to it again, or even something greater. (BTW, Mt. Kilimanjaro – elev. 19,341′ is on my bucket list)
Human beings were designed to be challenged. It’s the only way we grow, get stronger and get better. So next time you run into a wall with your business, just remember that it’s just a really, really steep hill. And with the right approach you can conquer it and turn it into your advantage.
NOTE: to see some HD videos of our Mt. Shasta adventure taken with my “helmet-cam” just go tohttp://vimeo.com/mrusser/videos/sort:oldest. These include attempts at glissading by me and our team and some breath-taking scenery.
The Tweak That Will Double Your Business
Saturday, July 30th, 2011
Why did one top producing agent suddenly lose four listings in a row when he’s used to about a 98% listing presentation closing rate? He has since fixed this problem, but it’s the same one that most agents have and don’t even know it.
The top producer in question has a nearly unbeatable value proposition for his potential sellers. The reason it stopped working for him is that he “went off script” as he put it. He fell back into the lazy habit of focusing on “features” of what he will do for sellers, rather than the benefits. We witnessed this same proclivity during our recent “Why should I choose you?” listing presentation contest. Nearly every contestant proudly presented the features of what they would do and make them stand out instead of the benefits that would be important to a seller.
The reason it is so easy for salespeople to sell features is that we are so familiar with our services that we “collapse” the benefits with their respective features. In fact, it is hard to imagine why anyone doesn’t immediate “get” the benefits of those wonderful features we so readily and excitedly expound upon. The problem is that most prospects won’t get it, and in fact may feel intimidated by not understanding why those features are supposed to be so valuable.
People buy with their emotions and justify it with their intellect. Benefits are the shortest distance to the heart of the prospect, features are the roadway that support that journey. If benefits are even mentioned in a presentation, they usually follow the feature (the old “features / benefits” selling script). This is ass-backwards. Always, always, always share the benefit first, then justify how it will be delivered via the feature.
High-powered selling is not magic or even hard if you understand and apply basic human behavioral principles. Prospects are only interested in what you can do for them from a benefit perspective. They don’t want to know about the drill, they just want the hole. Learn this well and have the discipline to apply it to every sales situation and watch your closing ratio shoot skyward.
Go Where Eagles Gather
Monday, July 25th, 2011
As I write this I’m in San Diego speaking to the Corcoran Coaching Mastermind and STAR POWER conferences. Both of these event tend to attract the “best of the best”. And as a featured speaker, it gives me a unique opportunity to see the shared qualities that make these folks so successful.
Here’s the short list:
- They think like business people – most of them strive to make their business run successfully without them doing all the work;
- Their hunger for new ideas is insatiable – they are constantly looking for the “edge” in sales, marketing and operations;
- They are wary of “bright shiny objects” – too many of them have already been burned by the “Just buy this and all your problems will be solved!” pitches. They know that building a successful business is marathon, not a quick sprint using some fancy new tool or service;
- They freely share ideas – no small-minded “I’m going to keep this idea to myself.” behavior found in these groups. In fact, they are down right excited to help each other;
- They consistently implement - this group knows that great ideas not put into practice are worthless;
- They are very coachable – they really get that the potential size of their business success is inversely proportional to the size of their ego when it comes to being open to new ways of doing things.
And one more thing. Eagles gather with other eagles on a regular basis just like at these kinds of events. So if you are tired of hanging around the turkeys and want to really soar, start showing up where the eagles hang out and grow a few –eagle feathers that is.
Why Should I Choose You?
Saturday, July 16th, 2011
It’s not too often that I get to be on the “consumer” side of real estate. Yesterday I helped my wife evaluate two Realtors for the possibility of listing her mother’s home for sale. We asked a series of questions starting with “Why should we pick you over all of your competitors?” and that’s when the fun began.
The look on the face of the first one (who had 31 years in the business) was priceless. After composing himself he shares that he’s in the office every day at 8:30am and returns all his phone calls in a timely manner. No really, that’s what he said.
Then we asked “What is your marketing plan that will make this home stand out from all the others and give us the highest value in a reasonable time?” At that, he points to his very nice (customized and hard-bound even!) presentation package and says: “It’s in there, read it –or do you want me to read it for you?” At which point we quickly (yet politely) ended our meeting.
The second one wasn’t much better. He was quite a bit younger and more hip to technology yet he still stumbled all over the question as to why he should be chosen over anyone else. When asked about his marketing program he started rattling off his budgets for print and online advertising, yada, yada yada. When asked why he spends so much money on print when most people use the Internet he said: “I only do the print to satisfy the sellers and to promote my company, we’ve actually never received any business from it.” When we requested that he put together a comprehensive marketing plan for my mother-in-law’s home, he nods at the folder in his hand then gives it to us. Unlike the first agent, it was not customized, had only examples of mostly print advertising and no formal plan whatsoever. We’re still looking…
Granted, most consumers are not going to be quite as, well, thorough as we were. Never-the-less, if they can’t quite articulate the question, they are thinking it: “Why should we chose you over everyone else?” If you can’t answer that in a powerful and straightforward way (while avoiding the typical bromides of “I work hard!”, “I already have buyers interested in your home!”, “I have tremendous experience?”, etc.) then you are working way too hard and earning far too little.
You already have your answer if you are specializing in a niche. Otherwise, take the time to come up with a powerful response. Take it from someone who has just experienced it first hand from the consumer side, you will quickly appear to be head and shoulders above your competition within the first five minutes of any listing appointment.
Why Your “Winning Formula” is Holding You Back…
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
What would happen if you gave yourself permission to behave differently? Your friends and associates would almost certainly start wondering “What happened?” and you would probably feel very much out of your comfort zone. So why would you ever consider such a thing? Well, it may be the path to truly setting you free.
If you have enjoyed any level of success in your business (and life for that matter) chances are you are behaving in a way that has worked for you since childhood. This is sometimes referred to as one’s “winning formula”. Adrenaline-driven energy, adroit social skills, seduction etc. are just a few examples (out of potentially hundreds) of behaviors people use to succeed.
The problem with winning formulas however is that they will, in some way, hold you back from your true potential as a human being and business person. That’s because we become comfortable with wearing that “suit” since it has worked and protected us in the past. After a while though, that suit becomes your straight jacket, severely constraining the real you from showing itself.
We are so much more than our behavior, than our actions and reactions. Yet to explore beyond these old familiar ways can be scary. Feelings of disorientation and thoughts of “If I’m not __________ then who am I?” will pop up for sure (fill in the blank as you see fit). And you might even have to deal with the childhood fears that brought on the development of your particular winning formula in the first place.
Unfortunately, most people will not risk this level of freedom until they have grown very weary of their winning behavior (assuming they are even conscious of it in the first place). It usually starts with a nagging feeling that there is something far greater that is possible for you. And, you may have reached the limits of what your “winning formula” can do. If you feel this way you are on the precipice of transformation —a sudden, rapid shift to another larger possibility and experience of the world. I don’t know about you, but standing on the precipice of anything scares the crap out of me.
Now here is where the magic happens. Unlike animals who react by instinct and would back away from anything that scary, we have a choice. We can choose to stay within the comfortable “known” and limit ourselves, or move through our fear of letting go and risk learning to fly as we were all meant to.
As you grow older, you’ll find the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do.
~ Zachary Scott
Freedom to Succeed
Monday, July 4th, 2011
Happy 4th of July! As a kid, this was my all time favorite holiday with its requisite BBQ’s, ball games and fireworks (not necessarily in that order). As an adult it’s still my favorite, more so now because of what it represents, individual freedom —something far too many of us take for granted.
Very real blood, sweat and tears were shed in untold quantities for us to enjoy freedoms that those in many other countries can only dream about. Yet slowly, insidiously we are letting our freedoms be exchanged for “security”.
Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.
~ Benjamin Franklin
One doesn’t have to look to hard to see signs of this in nearly every aspect of our daily lives. The mere fact that our esteemed lawmakers seem fit to pass thousands of new laws each year under the guise of “protecting” us, the citizens is evidence enough. And I see so many in our industry that willingly give up their freedom to innovate and stand out in exchange for the comfort and protection of group, company or franchise with whom they have chosen to align.
In the end it really boils down to just one simple thing: individual responsibility. Unfortunately far too many people are will to exchange their freedoms (of any kind) in exchange for relinquishing their responsibility. Power hungry political leaders understand this as do organizations…
Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry is own weight, this is a frightening prospect.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Freedom is the most precious thing we have and it requires personal responsibility to sustain its life and vibrance. It also means not blaming others or situations for our lack of achieving the results we hoped for. Each and every one of us has the freedom to attempt success and risk failure —as long as we take responsibility for our own actions.
A truly free man or women much prefers to try and fail repeatedly, than to not really try at all because they have given up their responsibility (i.e. ability-to-respond) to someone or something else. We are hard-wired for freedom and to accept anything less will only result in frustration and misery.
Don’t Let Your “I’m Excited!” Turn Into “I’m Miserable!” Failure
Saturday, June 25th, 2011
You know how excited you get when you go to an awesome conference and come back with tons of ideas? You’re pumped, the charismatic speaker has you seeing dollar signs everywhere and you can’t wait to get started. Sound familiar? It happens everyday in this business. Yet for most, this burning desire turns into dismal failure in short order. Here’s why and what you can do about it.
It’s easy to get excited about new possibilities because as human beings we conveniently don’t think about all the blood, sweat and tears that must go into realizing them. We focus on the payoff without giving much consideration to what has to be paid to receive it. It is this cognitive quirkiness that makes us extremely vulnerable to all the “quick” schemes pitched to us daily whether it be to get rich quick, get thin quick or get smart quick, etc.
Now here’s the thing. It’s not how excited you are in the beginning that determines your success. It’s how you keep moving forward even when you are bored out of your skull with the “shiny new idea”, exhausted from working it, and totally frustrated with the seeming lack of progress…
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
~ Dale Carnegie
True and lasting success is almost always a long-distance marathon. Endurance, not speed is the factor that determines the magnitude of your success. At times it will feel like you are just going through the motions without an ounce of enthusiasm. Fine, at least you are still moving forward —unlike those unfortunate souls who gave up because they no longer feel the “buzz”.
History is replete with examples of people who felt like quitting but didn’t, only to realize incredible accomplishment. If you were to ask how they were feeling just before their breakthrough, chances are you would get an earful of “I hate this!, This sucks!, When will things ever turn around?!…”. Be clear about your objective and the path you’ve chosen to achieve it. Then never, ever give up.
Turn your frustration into a game where the more daunted you feel, the more determined you are to take the next step. Take this approach to your business and life and guess where you will inevitably end up.
How to Avoid Being BOPPED By Your Competition
Sunday, June 19th, 2011
The media recently highlighted the fact that IBM just celebrated its 100th anniversary of being in business. So what does this have to do with you and your career? Well, actually quite a bit.
The latest issue of the Economist magazine did the best job of analyzing why IBM lasted so long in such a tumultuous and ever-changing field of technology. The writer addressed the very core of what makes this company great and why it is likely to be around for another 100 years. This “core” is known as a Basic Operating Principle (BOP), which for IBM is: “We invent and use technology to help businesses become more productive.”
A powerfully effective BOP is simple, well defined and so fundamental that it will work no matter how much things change. It is the “True North” of highly effective businesses.
We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and make all other considerations bend to that one objective.
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
If you look closely at other great companies, their BOP will shine through. For example, Apple’s is: “We create insanely cool personal technology and sell it for insanely high profits.” All of this of course begs the question as to what your BOP is, and is it powerful and fundamental enough to last through all the market changes going on today and in the foreseeable future.
Those that specialize in a particular niche already know their BOP. However, that’s less than 2% of the real estate sales population. Most of the others likely use: “I try to get business any way I can.” as their BOP. Needless to say, some BOPs are more effective than others. Yet here’s the thing; if you are not clear about what your Basic Operating Principle is, you will likely be BOPPED by those that are.
Increase Website Profitability by Instantly Testing It
Saturday, June 18th, 2011
When you build your Website you hope that it will be effective in engaging visitors so they pick you over your competitors. Perhaps you included several unique offers on your site that you hope will catch their eyes and cause them to start clicking on their way to doing business with you. This is all well and good except for one thing. You really don’t know how your visitors are going to react to any particular part of your Website until you test it. Typically, this was a process that only the “big boys” could afford to do. Now there is a way you can instantly test any aspect of your site’s ability to engage visitors, so you know for certain what works and what doesn’t.
A/B Testing on Steroids
A/B testing is the process of creating two or more versions of your Website that are delivered at random to your site visitors and then measures the click-through rate for each version. This is a proven way to have your visitors vote with their mouse as to which version engages them more. The traditional tool for this is Google Website Optimizer which is free. However, it requires that you (or your Webmaster) create the different versions of your Website that need testing which is time consuming, requires a fair amount of technical skill and therefor is definitely not free.
That has all changed now with a new online service called Optimizely. With Optimizely you can create different versions of any part of your Website instantly right from their Website. Its online WYSIWYG editor allows you to make create alternative versions of your site’s copy, images and even move whole sections around in just a few minutes. And the astounding thing is that this can be all done without creating different versions of your Website’s code.
After you have created the alternative versions of your site, you simply add a bit of Javascript code provided by Optimizely to the pages being tested. Once your A/B test is active, Optimizely will automatically and randomly send the different versions of your site to visitors and measure the click-through rate of each one. You just let it run until you’ve had sufficient numbers of visitors to give you a reasonably certain statistical answer to which version more effectively causes visitors to click or convert. And don’t worry about trying to remember your Statistics 101 class because Optimizely automatically calculates the statistical significance for you.
Since videos are worth a thousand screenshots, the following will demonstrate just how easy and powerful this new service is to use:
Your first 30 day’s use of Optimizely costs nothing, after that it is a very reasonable $19/month. Now here’s the thing, you can turn this service on and off at any time which means that for about $19 you can determine what kinds of changes to your site will produce greater conversion of visitors to new transactions. Not a bad ROI.
Of course all of this begs the question as to just what you should consider testing on your site…
Offers, Offers, Offers
Ideally your site has one or more “Irresistible Offers” that are designed to attract your visitors’ attention and compel them to take action. If you are a little fuzzy about what irresistible offers are just check out my earlier REALTOR Magazine article “Make An Offer They Can’t Refuse”.
Often what we think is irresistible is anything but from the consumer’s perspective. So creating different variations of your offers is the first thing you would want to test for conversion effectiveness. Here are some other things you might consider testing as well:
- Copy – create alternatives to copy that compels visitors to take action. For example, one Pennsylvania REALTOR found that he received a far greater click-through by changing “Featured Listings” to “Best Buys”.
- Images – perhaps a different kind of image in the body of your home page will cause more people to click on getting your special report or check out your IDX listings.
- Action Buttons – this is a subtle yet potentially very powerful test. Consider changing the shape, color and/or copy of your clickable buttons and see which version receives the most clicks.
- Reassurance Language – test different variations of the copy above your important forms that reassure your visitors that their privacy will be protected and see which ones cause the form to be filled out more often.
Avoid Build and Forget
The most profitable Websites are under a constant state of refinement. Far too many people just have their Website built and then do nothing to improve its ability to convert visitors into new business. The main reason for this is that it was just too time consuming and expensive to do it the old way. Now with Optimizely you have no excuse for having a site that “doesn’t work”. It’s just a matter of testing different variations until it does.
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 June 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.
