Posts Tagged ‘Mr. Internet’
The Secret to Online Lead Conversions
Monday, March 8th, 2010
For most sales professionals, converting online leads is the bane of their Internet world. Online consumers just don’t behave anything like those you meet face-to-face or on-the-phone. Now imagine if there was just one thing you could do that would suddenly convert cold online inquiries into serious clients.
Small Steps to Solve Big Problems
In their new book: “Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard” authors Dan & Chip Heath explore how big problems don’t always require big solutions or worse, big changes in behavior. Big problems can often be solved by leveraging just one simple, small change in behavior. For example, real estate companies and their agents have been struggling with how to boost online lead conversion since the inception of the commercial Internet. They often approach this with massive training programs and/or constantly introducing even more complicated strategies (like social networking) when agents haven’t even mastered the basics of speaking the language of online consumers.
If companies and agents would use just one thing consistently, they would see their online lead conversions soar. That one thing is what I call the Critical First Response Email script. This is an email script engineered to be used specifically as the first response to online inquiries. I crafted this script and have been teaching it since the 1990’s and always receive email from incredulous agents who are astounded at how well it works. Here’s one that I just received a few days ago:
Last week I had used the email lead response script that was provided in the course. I had been going back and forth with the prospect and finally met to show her the rental property this week. Very nice, professional gal and we hit off very well.
She thanked me profusely for my quick replies to her emails AND said, the first email I sent to her was the reason why she trusted me!!! It was non-threatening and she felt I totally understood where she was coming from making an internet inquiry. It was EXACTLY as you and Michael said!!! Amazing…
RuthAnne Salvatore, REALTOR/Broker Associate
C.R.S. Certified Residential Specialist
ERA Goodfellow Homes
203.994.4860 (Mobile)
Just One Thing…
Remember the movie “City Slickers”? Billy Crystal’s character asks “Curly” the trail boss (played with dead-eye aplomb by Jack Palance) “What’s the secret to life?” And Curly responds by holding up his finger and says “Just one thing…” Well, I don’t know about the secret to life, but I sure as hell know the secret to boosting online lead conversions and it’s just one thing —consistently using the Critical First Response Script for every initial inquiry that comes your way via the Net.
Here’s Where You Find It
If you’ve read this far then you deserve to have access to this incredibly powerful, yet simple tool. Just go to www.FaceBook.com/OnlineDominance and click on the “Cool Tools” tab at the top (you will need to be a fan of Online Dominance to get access to this tab’s contents.) You will be able to immediately download this script right from there.
Remember, big problems can often be solved by very small changes in behavior. Here’s your chance to find out just how powerful this thinking really is…
How to Turn F.U.D. Into Carpe Diem
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
If you were to make a list of all the problems affecting your life and business chances are that list would be long. Yet, given the state of world affairs, it would pale beside the ones we are all likely to face in the near future.
The stark reality is that most of what happens to us, or is likely to happen to us is out of our direct control. Sure, there are things we all can do to mitigate the negative outcomes, but they won’t eliminate all or even most of them.
As a result, most people live in a state of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt). They are either debilitated to the point of being paralyzed by it, or they engage in furious action thinking somehow they can thwart what they fear most. While taking action is almost always better than doing nothing, there is still something missing here. And that is, how we internalize and react to those things of which we have no control…
It’s not what happens to us that matters, it’s how we react to it.
W. Mitchell
The only thing we have control over really is how we react to something. We have been given a gift that no other living being has, and that is the ability to choose. We can choose how to react to outside circumstances in a way that empowers us rather than enslaves us, which effectively gives us a way to “bend” our own reality…
Is there something outside of you that’s troubling you? The distress you’re feeling is not from the thing itself. The distress you experience is from what you think of it and the way you feel about it. You can change that in an instant.
You can change what you fear into what you eagerly anticipate. You can change a burdensome problem into a magnificent opportunity.
Ralph Marston
So think about this the next time you see something as insurmountable or feel a sense of dread. It just may be the best opportunity to come your way in a long, long time.
Google Makes Your Active Fan Page Even More Valuable
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
Google is busy serving up real-time updates from Twitter, Myspace, blogs and so on for hot search topics or trends. It just added Facebook Fan Page updates to this mix and here is why it’s important to you.
The world of search results and relevancy is going more real-time (you can largely thank Twitter for that). Since Google is all about providing relevant search results for a particular search, it is now striving to provide these real-time yet ephemeral results right at the top of the non-sponsored results of each search. If you have an active Facebook Fan page focusing say on your primary neighborhoods, and fans are actively posting comments, then you are going to see more search engine traffic. First to your Fan Page, then (by extension) to your site. This also means that your Fan Page is likely to rank higher in the search results over all as a result.
For this to work in your favor however, two things need to be in place regarding your Facebook Fan page:
- Its focus needs to be relevant – a Fan page is NOT about you (at least not if you want to succeed)! For most real estate sales professionals this means it needs to be about your particular niche and/or neighborhoods you service.
- Fans need to be active – this means you must keep the content fresh and worthy of comment.
I truly believe that appropriately maintained social media will be the new “Google Juice” for driving Web traffic and hence most online business. Static content, even if comprehensive, is no longer enough. So if you are not connecting with clients and prospects this way (i.e. via an active Facebook Fan page), now is a good time to start!
* Special thanks to Brad Carroll of Dakno Marketing for this tip :0)
Ignorance Is, Well… Ignorance
Friday, February 26th, 2010
My Mom had an expression to describe the innocence of my Dad’s world view: “Ignorance is bliss.” Apparently that particular trait was not passed down to me given one of my favorite expressions is: “Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.”
Unfortunately “Ignorance is bliss” is the way far too many people live their lives or go about their business. It’s easy to see why. It’s a way to avoid the unpleasantness that is a part of our existence here on earth. It’s also the way to avoid taking responsibility to make things better for ourselves and those around us.
Choosing the “bliss” of ignorance is choosing to be unconscious. It also means lost opportunity, failure to see real danger and often being the cause of it…
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Seeing things for what they really are is often not a fun experience. It is necessary however if you want to thrive in a world that is changing at light speed. The key is to not internalize what’s happening “out there”. Observe it, make behavioral adjustments as needed and move on. Reality becomes painful primarily when we turn it into a story about us rather than acknowledging that it is simply “what is”. Easier said than done, I know —which is why so many people opt for the bliss of ignorance. BTW, if ignorance was bliss, then why aren’t there more happy people? Something to think about…
The Future is NOW…
Sunday, February 21st, 2010Here are three new innovations that will change the way we live, work and power our lives.
The Kindle Killer
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my Kindle –it has changed the way I read books forever. However it was only a matter of time before someone developed an innovative new “passive” screen technology that blows the doors off Kindle’s E-ink nearly static gray-scale screen. Qualcomm appears to be that company as they plan to launch their Mirasol e-Reader in this coming Fall.
It incorporates a revolutionary new screen technology that uses ambient light to reflect a full range of colors using the same principles that nature uses to produce breath-taking colors in a butterfly’s wings. Because it uses no backlight to illuminate the screen it uses very little energy. In fact, Qualcomm claims that it will use even less than Amazon’s Kindle. In addition, this screen will show full motion video as well. Check out the YouTube demo below…
Now imagine having your For Sale signs incorporate this kind of screen (powered by a single solar cell). The only problem is you’d have to post an armed guard just to prevent people from stealing them :0)
Minority Report Minus Tom Cruise
Remember those cool virtual screens with floating images that Tom Cruise manipulated with special gloves? It was all Hollywood smoke and mirrors back then. However, the MIT professor the producers hired to come up with a futuristic computer interface for the movie has started a company called Oblong that went ahead and actually created this way of working with computers. And they gave it a really consumer friendly name: g-Speak Spatial Operating Environment –now there’s a mouthful! The following video can do a much better job of explaining what this is and how it works.
Some Fortune 500 companies are already using this technology and eventually it will find its way to you and me. When it does, virtual tours will never be the same!
A Power Plant In Every Garage
If you happened to watch the 60 Minutes show this evening (2/21/10) then you witnessed what could end up being the birth of a whole new energy renaissance. It highlighted the work of a Silicon Valley company called Bloom Energy that has figured a way to make inexpensive and compact fuel cells that work using most fossil fuels (like natural gas). During the interview, the founder of the company estimated that homeowners could have one of their fuel-cell systems installed to replace the grid for about $3,000. That’s a whole lot less than solar and it works 24/7, day and night, rain or shine.
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I got excited when “Cold Fusion” was announced in the ’80’s. This time it’s different. First of all, legendary venture capitalist John Doerr is behind it with about $400,000,000 in venture capital (not exactly chump change even by Silicon Valley standards). And major companies like Google, eBay, Wall Mart, etc. have been using these systems for months to inexpensively power their operations. Bloom Energy is planning a major unveiling of this technology to the general public this coming Wednesday (2/24/10). This is something I wouldn’t miss. Talk about a green-jobs boost to the economy! This could be one of those innovations that is a game changer and help us out of the current recession. Let’s hope anyway…
Do You Have the Will to Win?
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Having you been watching the Winter Olympics? These athletes are beyond amazing. They train tirelessly for years just for the chance of competing for a medal that says to the world they are the best at what they do.
And, for the most part they are unstoppable. Lindsey Vonn still manages to shake off brutal injuries and pain to become the world’s fastest women downhill skier. Aside from raw talent, what makes these people champions while everyone else is either a wannabe or a spectator?
In a word, it’s their will to win. Their will is indomitable and laser focused. They let nothing get in the way of their goals and dream of winning a Gold Medal. So is this force of will just the province of lithe athletic gods, or is it something that we all have the potential of tapping into…
You have the means to get it done. There is no question of that. If it’s not happening for you, there’s really just one thing missing. Somewhere, somehow, you lack the will to do what it takes.
Yes, of course there are all kinds of obstacles. Certainly it is not easy and there are plenty of completely understandable reasons why you have not gotten it done. Even so, you know it is possible. And indeed it is possible for you.
Excuses won’t do it. Commitment, and the focused, persistent action to back it up, are what will get you there. It’s your choice and it’s your life. Right now, your greatest possibilities await your will to make them happen.
Ralph Marston
In my business (of coaching sales professionals) I run into a lot of who confuse lip service for will. Then there are those who give their will substance through committed, focused and persistent action. You can tell these individuals are champions right out of the gate. Their actions speak much more loudly than their words.
Fortunately your will is something you have total control over. Unlike native intelligence or athletic ability, your “will potential” is a function of choice —yours.
See Mr. Internet LIVE at the National Real Estate CyberConvention & Expo
Monday, February 15th, 2010
This note is to let you know that I will be the only featured LIVE speaker presenting “Dominate Your Online Competition” at the upcoming National Real Estate CyberConvention & Expo, February 21-27, 2010. To register just go to http://recyber.cyberconventions.com/
This is a wonderful on-line convention and you may attend all events — without leaving home! The event is expected to attract over 10,000 real estate professionals during its seven days (Feb 21-27) and is open to the real estate community worldwide.
This year’s speaker line up, the largest ever, in addition to my talk, includes 50 sessions plus an address by Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist of the National Association of REALTORS who will tell us what’s going to happen!
You can network in the CyberConvention Social Networking Community, check out the latest business building products and services at the Expo — and of course attend my session! Once again, my session will be the only one that is LIVE (i.e. real-time) while the others are pre-recorded.
Register for your pass at: http://recyber.cyberconventions.com/
Turn Weaknesses Into Strengths
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Think about this for a moment: What’s your biggest weakness that affects your business? Is it not being detail oriented, inability to delegate or is it that technology makes your skin crawl?
Whatever you just identified is potentially the source for the most positive change in your career. My dad often told me to turn my weaknesses into my strengths. It was a great saying that I really never thought much about until recently.
It’s easy and frankly a lot more fun to keep focusing on those talents we are very good at. However by just concentrating on what we do best we risk the potential for becoming out of balance and not very effective. It’s like exercising just your right arm because you happen to be right-handed. Imagine how weird that would look. Just as an aside, I once worked for someone who broke his left arm which caused it to atrophy and become very weak. He took the idea of turning weakness into strength quite literally until he could do seven one-handed chin ups with that “weak” arm!
Working to strengthen our weaknesses by definition takes us out of our comfort zone, but the payoffs when we do are enormous…
…transforming a weakness into a strength can make all your other strengths more effective. When the weakness is no longer holding you back, every part of your life will see the benefits
Ralph Marston
If you had ever met me in high school I would have been the last person in the world you would have expected to become a successful international speaker and author. I had the social skills of a rusty lamp post. So take another moment to think about how your career and life would be different if you turned just one weakness into your strength…
Explode Your Facebook Fan Page Base For No Cost
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Douglas Newby is one of my long-time students who had zero (0) fans for his FaceBook fan page last September (2009). As of the date of this post he has well over 48,000 fans, each of which contributes to his search engine rankings. Here’s how he did it and how you can explode your fan base without spending a dime. NOTE: if you already have a fan page and want to learn the secret of explosively growing your fan base for no cost without having to read this whole article, just go to www.FaceBook.com/OnlineDominance and click the “Cool Tools!” tab.
Personal Profile vs. Fan Page
There are two primary ways you can represent yourself on FaceBook:
- Personal Profile – everyone who has a FaceBook account has a profile page. This is your “home base” for all your friends and family to connect with you in a personal way on personal (i.e. not business) matters. While how you grow and manage your “friend base” is a topic for another post, suffice it to say it doesn’t even come close to helping your business as the next way.
- Fan Page – sometimes also referred to as your business page. This is where you try to attract and interact with people who are part of your target market or at least connected to it in some way. Now this next part is very important: The more targeted fans you have, the more Google will see you as being relevant and important in your field of real estate expertise. And this translates to significant gains for your search engine rankings. For example, Douglas Newby is essentially a one-man shop in Dallas, yet his site consistently out-ranks those of companies in his area with 1,000 or more agents.
To create a Fan page in FaceBook simply go to www.facebook.com/pages/create.php and follow the simple steps. Now there are some things you might want to do jazz it up so it looks attractive and engaging. There are plenty of articles written about this that go into more depth (just Google “How do you create a fan page on FaceBook”).
Once created, Facebook will give your fan page an innocuous looking URL that no one would ever remember. However, once you have at least 25 fans, you can get your own URL that is tied to your brand. This is crucial that you do this ASAP!! Get your friends and family to become fans so you hit your 25 fan threshold as quickly as possible. Then go to NameChk.com to see if your intended name (i.e. brand name) is still available on nearly every social media portal on the Net. If so, grab it immediately on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube at the very least.
Growing Your Fan Base
Douglas Newby did something rather clever to build his fan base from 25 to about 2,000 in a short period of time. He simply created a FaceBook ad targeted to people on FaceBook who are interested in modern architecture. His ads were set up as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) which means if they clicked on his ad, they automatically became a fan. Keep in mind however, this method is not free and each fan you bring in this way costs you money. Once he hit the 2,000 mark, his fan page went wildly viral and started growing exponentially by word of mouth from his initial base. The reason his fan base grew so quickly after that is a) his content is extremely interesting to his target market, and b) there are millions of people all over the world that are interested in fine modern architecture.
Here are several ways you can grow your fan base without spending money:
- Send emails to your clients and prospects suggesting that they become a fan;
- Place a “Become a Fan!” widget on your Websites and blogs.
While these methods may add marginally to your fan base, don’t expect rapid growth this way. The key to explosively growing your fan base consists of two parts: 1) make sure you have something of extreme value in the eyes of your target market, and 2) well, it will have more impact if I demonstrate it for you —just go to www.FaceBook.com/OnlineDominance and click the “Cool Tools!” tab and you will instantly see how this second part works :0)
You will find that taking the time to aggressively grow your targeted fan base will have a dramatically positive impact on your online bottom line. There is simply nothing more powerful in marketing than having a bunch of raving fans…
