Established in 1965, Benetton is present in 120 countries around the world. It presently has global sales in excess of $2 Billion dollars annually. Yet many in the mainstream find their advertising and marketing strategies downright offensive.

The aim of United Colors of Benetton corporate communication is to create the image of a global enterprise that is modern and projects towards the future and uses distinct imagery and messaging to promote its principal and most important characteristic: uniqueness.

If your brand is clearly defined enough to have the power to attract enemies, it also has the power to attract raving fans. And the raving fans of your brand are the ones who return again and again. They’re the ones who will tell their friends about you. They’re the ones who will wear your logo. They’re the ones that almost enjoy the annoyance of your brand-haters and will keep coming back for more.”

So don’t fear the hate. Embrace it. Maybe in your next brainstorming meeting, don’t ask how you can appeal to X. Ask how you can annoy the hell out of Y. …………………Rick Nobles then president of Two West Inc

In marketing conventional wisdom is not always the chosen path. The delivery of a message and its ability to reach the intended audience need not be communicated the same way as your competitors. In fact sometimes it makes sense to completely differentiate yourself. If most of your competitors are turning left, then turn right. If those products or services you seek to overcome are painting there portrait in white, paint yours in black.

There are, as we have been told, two sides to every story and in marketing this could not be more true.

Are you afraid to offend someone with what you marketing materials? Do you shy away from making tough statements in your marketing messages on your collateral media pieces or on your blog or website? Have you received some angry comments or emails from people vehemently opposing or denouncing what you have said? Have you heard from some people that they will absolutely not buy from you or will not use your service or perhaps will not read your blog?

If so, then instead of being upset, you should be smiling like the proverbial cat that just ate the canary. Why? Because by having an audience that voices displeasure with you means that you are succeeding in branding your business and you are expertly applying the principles of Contrarian Marketing.

Obviously one has to have a well thought out plan and commitment to execute a Contrarian Marketing Plan to fruition. It is definitely not for everyone and in real estate it seems to be even less likely to be implemented as a part of an overall campaign.

While all marketing and advertising is designed to evoke some measurable emotion or reaction from your target demo, most in real estate opt for what they erroneously view as the safe way out. Most real estate marketers rely and stake the success of their “businesses” on trying to deliver positive messages to a target they hope will like them and subsequently buy from them. Positive messaging surely works and is a marketing mainstay.

However, Contrarian Marketing also works very well. When you are building your brand you are declaring to the public, in any forum that you choose to use, that listen all “this is who we are”, but as anyone in marketing will tell you, you are also as loudly proclaiming, “this is who we are not“.

What this is all about is positioning. In a competitive business environment, the shape and definition of your brand and its values informs the target audience what you believe in, and the message also clearly defines that which you do not.

In that regard, when someone is motivated to the point of taking time out of their day to let you know that they disagree or better yet exhibit anger about your message, don’t be upset…revel in the knowledge that your plan is succeeding and that the message that you wanted to deliver has most assuredly imparted a defined branding of your business.

Okay, I can hear it already. This guys has lost his ever-loving mind! How am I ever going to succeed and earn a profit if people despise my brand and won’t buy from me. [i.e. buying meaning the acceptance of your product or service].

If you feel this way, you are looking at the picture from the wrong angle. This “playa-hating” would not be occurring if you did not design a Contrarian Marketing campaign. So the end result is to be expected. But why would someone initiate such a campaign?

Simple answer. It works! Here’s the secret. If someone is driven to the point of anger to respond to your brand with such emotion then you have clearly determined that you have the ability and power to attract many enemies.

Sheer marketing logic then dictates that you have determined that you have the same ability or even greater ability to attract avid fans. And as you know, the avid fans are the ones who will buy and accept your message time and time again. That’s how your message can go viral. While the squeaky wheel complains openly, the fan may not. Yet they will tell their friends, they email you directly and they buy from you.

What’s more compelling is that the avid fan actually enjoys the displeasure of the complainers and they become the foundation of your brand and business.

Some of the biggest brands in business have major detractors. Yet they don’t care. They appeal to a segment of the population and audience that does not subscribe to what those who feel offended think. In fact the brand of choice actually becomes more clearly defined as positive, by the more the naysayers complain.

A brand needs to appeal to a way of life, an attitude, a system of beliefs and values. It can not, nor should not attempt to pander to all demographics of society. A brand (insert blog, house, service or product) attempting to woo everyone actually becomes a diluted commodity failing in its purpose to actually attract an avid fan base.

Instead it does just the opposite, it creates brand indifference. Want the fastest way to kill your business? Engage in a campaign that, in a sea of competition, breeds indifference to your brand. In that instance, you’re done.

Benetton has mastered Contrarian Marketing. Where most brands seek to avoid offending any segment of a demographic, Benetton’s contrarian approach, since followed by Abercrombie & Fitch and many others, Benetton seeks to set themselves apart from its competitors by delivering strong messages designed purposely to evoke an emotional response. Take a clothing campaign they ran using photos and stories about prisoners on death row. Can you imagine using murderers and rapists as pawns in your marketing campaign?

Benetton knows their audience. They know that while many will be appalled, many will applaud such a provocative marketing campaign with the backdrop of making social and political commentary.

Remember the Miley Cyrus photo shoot at Vanity Fair that caused a tremendous uproar. Vanity Fair could not have paid for such publicity. While many condemned what occurred, the readership of Vanity Fair, what may be the silent majority, did not have a problem and I am sure in the boardroom their were a lot of high-fives going around. Try and price out the amount of brand mentions that Vanity Fair has received in the days since the Miley Cyrus photo shoot went public. Now that shoot seems tame to what she is doing now. So what did Vanity Fair do…they upped the ante with a radical cover and interview with Lady Gaga in their upcoming issue.

Advertising that makes you feel good inside is fine and most assuredly has its place, however companies that utilize a contrarian approach do so because they feel they can get a lot of mileage out of exploiting “hot-buttons” and moral outrage. Their target demographic distinctively accepts this.

Diversity of market share is often taken for granted amongst the established brands. In real estate, there has been an established norm. The belief is that there is a certain way to do business, and the masses who enter follow by being given the same instruction.

This does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that there are not consumers out there that want to and will accept a business that will throw caution to the wind and deviate..no kick to the curb, conventional wisdom.

A contrarian position can only work if executed with full knowledge and care that you have ascertained that a market exists that is silent and wants a voice. While offending some, you must be statistically sure that there are numbers in your demo whose loyalty will grow as the assault on conventional wisdom continues. Contrarian Marketing is a high risk, high reward strategy that is not for everyone.

While it’s doubtful that there could ever be a message as bold as Benetton’s in the real estate industry, contrarian marketing can and does work in this sector.

The next time you design a marketing campaign and it’s met with jeers and denigrating comments by those outside your intended demographic, don’t worry about it and definitely don’t fear it.

Instead understand that your goal was to evoke emotion and each response you obtain from someone who was offended indicates that your campaign is working, so embrace a negative response.

Then go back to the warroom, sit with your team and don’t engage in talk of how to appease those who are appalled, but rather figure out what you can do next to tick them off even more!

Trust me, it works! If you don’t believe me, ask Benetton, or Abercrombie & Fitch, or Apple, or Starbucks, or…well…us!

Brand Identity

Definition: How you want the consumer to perceive your product or your brand.

Today’s marketer can position themselves any way they want to. Whether you want to appeal to dog lovers, single mom’s, Gen X or Gen Y’ers or empty nesters, you can create a brand that will align you with the market you want to reach. Sometimes you can reach all simultaneously.

Have you given clear and concise thought as to who you would like to reach in your real estate marketing? Everyone wants to find a buyer but not any buyer will do. The Buyer interested in a waterfront mansion is hardly the buyer for a duplex in Cleveland.

However, does your brand tell either what you are selling? Not much thought is given to branding when agents and investors think about their real estate business.

In talking with several agents and investors today I asked a few different questions of each, sort of a brand survey. Here are those questions:

1. Who specifically would be interested in your product or service?

2. What do you do on a daily basis to position yourself as the brand they would turn to for that product or service?

3. How does your product or service provide what they are looking for?

4. How do they know that you have the product or service they are interested in?

5. And lastly, why would they buy your product or service instead of that of a competitor who is trying to reach the same audience?

Five simple questions that require tremendous thought and focus. Answer those five questions with great definition and certainty and you could be on your way to an absolute stellar sales year.

Not enough real estate agents concentrate on Brand Marketing. Branding allows you to obtain and affinity with your customers, wherein you win attention, become authoritatively persuasive, and increase sales through loyalty and emotion.

Take a start tonight and try as hard as you can to make the answers to those five questions point to your business…your inventory. I think if you can adjust from the conventional wisdom of most real estate agents and realize that you need to have a variety of persona’s to excite and create an incentive to different markets while BEING the brand, your success will gradually and measurably improve.

Brand Identity – Definition of Brand Identity Definition: How you want the consumer to perceive your product or your brand. Companies try to bridge the gap between the brand image and the brand identity …

Location, Location, Location are no longer the three words that are most important in real estate. That distinction is now been awarded to conversion, conversion, conversion!

While the catch phrases are resounding…you know them, Web 2.0, Real Estate 2.0, blogosphere, RE.net…there is a reason we all are engaging in this new technological era. That reason is simply to make money. Let’s not be ashamed of that fact but let’s not lose sight of it either.

While all of the aforementioned components of the new world are important, they amount to nothing if we are not making money. Maybe some aspire to change professions and become journalists, maybe some have decided to abandon their real estate endeavors to save the whales or stop global warming, the rest of us are blogging to make money.

Whether that revenue is derived from advertising sales, real estate sales, seminar enrollments, ebooks, or widgets, we are here to increase the bottom line. Simultaneously we all know we need eyeballs in order for any of that to happen. We all have our own techniques to drive traffic but once the controversial article is written, or last month’s market report divulged…what’s left is conversion. If you are not converting then you are not making any money. If you are not trying to convert..well then you are in real trouble.

Have you ever thrown a party and have no one show up? I think you would agree that it would be kind of embarrassing. What would be even much worse would be for you to throw a party, have 1,000 guests show up and to have them eat your food, dance on your carpet, run amok around your yard, then leave without so much as a thank you, never to be heard from again.

Is your blog throwing that kind of party? Are people showing up, reading your content, sniffing around and leaving without so much as even a comment or a opt-in? If so, you my friend have a conversion problem. either that or your SEO is fantastic and your site stinks…but that’s a whole other problem and article we’ll need you to read.

What is Visitor Conversion?

Conversion is the sales process of getting your blog’s visitors to heed your call to action and actually doing something you are leading them to do. Some common conversions may involve:

• a visitor reading a particular article or page on your site, web page
• downloading an ebook or file
• signing up for your RSS feed, newsletter or email list
• asking for more information on something product you are featuring
• buying something…that’s the end game isn’t it?

You can easily figure out your blogs conversion rate. You can take your conversion rate in different intervals depending upon your various calls to action. for sales you may want a monthly conversion, for downloads you may want a weekly conversion, and for email sign ups you may want a daily conversion. The choice is yours. I like to take a daily conversion on free downloads and a weekly conversion on sales.

The mathematical formula for calculating conversion rate is:

Conversion Rate (%) = Number of Sales*
Number of Visitors

(you can substitute “sales” with downloads, opt-ins, whatever you are measuring)

For example, if you get 1,000 unique visitors to your blog in a day, and 25 of them opt-in to your newsletter you have achieved a conversion rate of 2.5% for subscribers on that given day. As I previously stated, you can take a conversion sample based on your duration variable as you desire.

The most important thing to remember is that you indeed can measure your conversions and THAT should be your desired goal. Traffic is essential for the success of your blog and converting that traffic is essential to your bottomline.

So, how does all of this affect my real estate business. Unless you are running a social blog or commentary, an article on your kittens fur is not really going to make you any money…that is not if it isn’t tied into an overall plan to laser target the demographic you are trying to reach.

Real estate is about selling houses and as a real estate agent, you don’t get paid until the deals actually close. So it is absolutely imperative that you are able to quantify and track your conversion rate. We have read on many websites that an acceptable conversion rate for real estate agent websites is 2-5%. When this rate is discussed, they are talking about mere leads!

If you are only generating 2-5% conversion on leads, you have a lot of work to do to convert those leads into sales. Capture and conversion are two very distinct and separate items. While is may be good to “capture” 2-5% of the visitors on your site as leads, what are you doing to increase your conversion rate which will increase your revenue?

An upcoming article we are researching is going to talk about the methods of increasing your conversion rate. In the interim, it might be beneficial for today’s Web 2.0 real estate agent to take a look at their present conversion rate.

Today’s question comes from Charlie in Los Angeles:

Dear Short Sale Professor, Why is it that so many Realtors just don’t get it? I mean it seems they are more part of the problem than part of the solution. What gives?

Dear La La Land Chuckie,

I wish I had the answer to your question. Unfortunately the Professor is at a loss for words. I too have seen this malaise evolve into a full blown pandemic problem in the real estate industry.

I am not sure, but there’s a veritable goldmine out there in today’s real estate market and it seems that most Realtors just don’t get it. Why is that?

Well, maybe because the leadership of the National Association Of Realtors just doesn’t get it either. Check out these gems from the NAR braintrust:

“The recent drop in prices has brought about a lot of multiple bidding, according to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.”

DUH!!!! Does this guy even have a clue? I mean there are whole websites dedicated to exposing Lawrence Yun and the NAR for its incompetence in addressing the distressed property market. But wait…here’s another…

“A very large proportion of distressed home sales are taking place at discounted prices compared to more normal conditions a year ago,” said NAR President Charles McMillan. OMG!!! and cigarettes cause cancer. Thank you Captain Obvious!!

But ya might want to light a fire under the collective butts of your rank and file members. They don’t seem to have received the memo that buyers are going nuts over great deals and that the disposal of distressed properties IS THE REAL ESTATE MARKET.

Remember back when we went into Iraq and we were kicking Saddam’s butt and this guy kept coming out saying ” all is fine”, “we are in control”? That guy was Baghdad Bob.

Lawrence Yun is kind of the same guy for the NAR regime of despots. He’s obviously not that dumb, so you can only deduce that he is a propaganda mouthpiece for the real monkeys in the NAR.

Reading so many industry blogs you’d think that many Realtors are themselves taking on the persona of Baghdad Bob. This propaganda stuff that so many Realtors are spewing is holding them back financially.

In fact, it’s kind of weird. Makes you wonder if anyone has seen these guys in the same place. Hmmm..we better check on that…

Now, when the potential for agents to earn considerable commissions is greater than it has been in some time, where are the short sale proficient Realtors?

On blogs across the Country, people are denouncing the ability of Realtors. Here’s a recent comment from a prospective homebuyer in Las Vegas:

“I’ve been trying to work with several Realtors in my area. It’s obvious that NAR has brainwashed several of them. I negotiate shorts sales and purchase homes, but I’m finding that the average Realtor wants nothing to do with reality. They would rather put up a sign, price the home higher than it should be priced at, wait for some sucker to come along and make a purchase…all the while building up the hopes of the homeowner that their home will actually sell…problem is, without more aggressive negotiations with the bank, the home will sell, just on the court house steps…”

Ouch! That hurts. However what makes it sting even worse is that this buyer’s sentiment is being echoed by buyers over and over again. We hear it all of the time. We read about it all of the time. We even have been hearing it from the banks.

CNN Money reports that As many as 40% of all sales made during the three months that ended Sept. 30 were short sales properties or REO’s repossessed by banks. These are eager sellers

In a market where throngs of buyers are looking for deals and in a market wherein 40% or more of the homes in inventory are in some form of distress, why aren’t Realtors getting themselves in position to seize this unbelievable opportunity for profit.

If you are seeing what’s going on in the market and you don’t want to resolve yourself to another month of no sales and no commissions. Why not learn how to be a professional who can take advantage of the change in today’s real estate business.

The good old days are long gone! Fuhgettaboutit!

Learn how to proficiently and expertly execute short sales. We are offering a 7 Day No Risk Trial on the #1 rated Short Sale course on the market.

The Short Sales By The Numbers Online Video Course is changing the way that Realtors execute short sales and our clients are seeing success within a week of taking the course.

I invite you to take us up on the 7 Day No Risk Trial and see for yourself how this course can change the way you do business and increase your commissions substantially.

Introducing the Short Sales By The Numbers Online Video Course. This video tutorial is a comprehensive, 25 video course that takes you step by step and shows you how to properly and successfully complete a short sale.

Over 1,000 real estate agents and investors across the USA have found this to be one of the best courses on short sales they have ever seen. It is based upon our hugely successful live seminars and affords the viewer the opportunity to learn how to execute short sales in the privacy of their own home or office and on their timeframe.

A Short Sale Video Course comprised of 25 videos taking you step-by-step as to how to successfully and correctly execute a short sale.

Following the “Short Sales By The Numbers” system will allow you to effortlessly profit from what some consider too much work for them to bother with.

Watch our introductory video on the left to see how simple it can be for your real estate business to be transformed into a cash cow almost overnight.

Learn how you can have as much business as you can handle and how YOU can decide just what deals you want and what deals you don’t.

Learn how YOU will decide how many hours you work each week while drastically IMPROVING your business and SUBSTANTIALLY raising your income.

Forget what you’ve been told by you’re friends, your broker’s and what you have read on some online network of agents who spend more time writing posts than actually selling real estate.

There are plenty of deal-seeking buyers out there and there is obviously a tremendous amount of inventory. So what’s the problem?

For more information, please go to the Short Sale Video Course website.

Foreclosures, the sub-prime crisis, trustee auctions, mortgage bailouts, you name it and it has been Murphy’s Law personified in the real estate industry.

The housing industry is mired in the worst slump in recent history and many real estate agents who earn their living from the commissions earned from the sale of a home have found themselves unable to make a living.

Many are opting to leave the business in search of part-time jobs to support themselves and their families.

Some have left the business altogether and others are working as secretaries and office administrators or restaurant managers working 50 and 60 hours or MORE per week and STILL making less than they did as a real estate professional.

But not all those working in the real estate industry have met the same fate. Meet Wendy Daley. Wendy was working for a real estate agent when the market hit the skids. She had to do something.

She hadn’t received a commission check in over 4 months and in June she realized that with September coming soon, she had to do something to generate some money to pay for her son’s sophmore year at college.

After spending weeks looking at everything from Amway to Ebay she realized that she didn’t want to just get a quick fix.

She wanted to make an income that wasn’t about selling juice or make-up to family and friends and then relying on them to tell two friends and on and on. No, that multi-level marketing crap wasn’t going to work.

After all, she had just spent 12 years in a business that dried up because no one in her sphere of influence was buying or knew anyone that wanted to buy. So going into some multi-level marketing scheme wasn’t going to work.

Then one day the lightbulbs went off and she realized that the secret to her future success wasn’t in selling houses to people she met at the bakery.

She also realized that she did not want a store, did not want to make anything, did not want to be involved in shipping anything and definitely didn’t want to be involved in dealing with customers anymore.

As a 42 year old, recently divorced mother she wanted to make sure that her son was taken care of and that she could begin enjoying life again with the freedom of pursuing her life’s dream of traveling and giving her son and herself the life that they deserved.

After reading the New York Times BestSeller, The 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss she had found the Secret to living the life that she wanted and now all she had to do was find the Secret to making the money she desired.

It took Wendy just 45 days to develop and implement her plan and for the last two months she has generated over $50,000.00 per month working under 10 hours per week and is happier than she has ever been.

Find out what Wendy did and what you can do….

A couple of days ago I asked, if real estate agents had any idea as to how to make money. Hmmm, the results were quite revealing. Most agents we have spoken to and who desired to remain anonymous feel that they really don’t have any hope of making any money before the end of the year. What are your prospects? Seriously…look in the mirror and answer that honestly. Do you see yourself making any significant dollars before the end of the year?

As we begin talking about alternative ways for agents to make money, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself:

1. How much take home (net) income do I NEED each week / month?

2. How much How much take home (net) income do I WANT each week / month?

3. How long has it been since you reached either #1 or #2 above?

4. How much money are you willing to invest to obtain either #1 or #2 above?

Be real people. We all know that Realtors are some of the tightest people on the planet and that everyone is always touting this and that for free, but let’s get serious. If you want to make the income that you WANT, there is most assuredly going to be some form of a personal investment. We’re not talking a lottery ticket here. That’s not business

5. How much time and effort are you willing to commit to achieving your goal as stated in #2 above?

6. What level of computer experience do you have and please don’t tell me you think AOL is the Internet?

7. Do you have a blog or a website? (Active Rain is not a blog and does not count)

8. How often do you check your email? If it’s not at minimum 2x per day you really need to check yourself…unless you are already living the 4 Hour Work Week. In that case I applaud you.

And most importantly, if you are shown real opportunities for you to achieve #2 above, would you be willing to act on it right away?

I’m not looking for you to answer me via comment. I am looking for you to be honest with yourself and your spouse / significant other and seriously introspect and come to some conclusion as to whether or not you are happy with your current income and if you are ready to do something about it.

It’s a very easy question that many will shun. That’s okay, those who look the other way already have their destiny mapped out for them. But you who know that they are not satisfied, those of you who know there is something more, something better, but just want to be presented with a bevy of ongoing opportunities both in and out of real estate….those are the people we want to be working with.

A little introspection never hurt. It can also be quite freeing.

Lately we have been getting more and more email from agents across the Country who have not seen a commission check in some time. We have also heard from many Realtors who say that getting by on a commission check here and a commission check there just isn’t cutting it.

To make matters worse, we are approaching the Holiday season and talk about depression setting in. No I’m not talking about the financial kind, I’m talking about the emotional kind. You know what I mean. The kind of depression that settles in when you realize you can’t get your kids that new Xbox or your wife that new necklace.

I bet there will be a lot of people getting underwear and ties under the tree this year. I also bet there will be a lot of tears shed behind closed doors over the Holiday season as well.

Why? Because most agents don’t have any alternatives for generating income. Unless they sell a house…I mean CLOSE on a house in the next 6 weeks or so, it many may have to get out the hankies and simply make do.

That is…if they truly don’t have any alternatives. Other than hanging out on ActiveRain or some other such site finding solace amongst the other real estate agents turned pseudo journalist debating whether or not a Seller should paint his house or not, do you have a plan to make some money?

No, I’m not talking about you running off to sell Amway or juice or the latest multi-level marketing scheme, although I wonder why someone hasn’t launched one on ActiveRain given the gullibility, but that’s another story.

No, I’m wondering why people on these social networks and industry multi-author blogs don’t talk about making money. Why is it that I can go to AgentGenius and find 1,000 reviews of products that allow me to Tweet someone while having a bowel movement but not a single post ANYWHERE on how you as an agent can make some money TODAY!

If someone is upset thus far, hit your back button and make sure you have a good supply of Kleenex handy. I’m not singling out any site for the content that they DO have. I’m singling out all these so-called real estate industry websites for the content that they DON’T have.

Let’s face it. The real estate industry is a really simple business. You only have two options or schools of thought:

a. You find Sellers, you list the home and you hope you either find a buyer or someone else finds a buyer and you get paid

b. You find Buyers, you show them homes, you hope they like one, and if they do, you get paid.

That’s it, unless of course you throw a rental in here or there. But for the most part, that’s the entire business model.

So in this economy, with inventory levels at record highs and lots of Sellers not being able to be competitive on price, throwing more inventory on the fire and hoping something pans out may not be the horse you want to bet on in this race for Holiday money.

Bagging the elusive Buyer is an option and can indeed be a very viable one if you are willing to market and advertise to attract them. (i.e that means spend MONEY to attract them)

But too many agents don’t want to work with Buyers and fewer want to spend money to market to them. Imagine a store owner not advertising for customers…I could go on and on but that’s not the point of this article.

Do a search on some of these industry blog sites and see how many real suggestions you find for finding buyers. Make sure you’re sitting down. It’s a barren desert. Except for hitting up your friends and family and their friends and families and the parents at the PTA meeting…wait a minute, I digress, that began to sound a whole lot like a multi-level marketing scheme. Real estate professionals would never do that would they?

Anyway, since for the most part, nothing that most agents are doing is helping them increase their income right now, we thought we would get in the Holiday mood early here at Real Estate Radio USA. I’m gonna done the old red hat of Mr. Claus since I already have the belly, and I and the other Barry, he can be my elf, are going to write and talk about only that which can make real estate agents money over the next 8 weeks.

Yep, it’s going to be a daily dose of ideas and programs that if you choose to do any of them will cost you very little and have a tremendous amount of upside potential. And you won’t even have to quit your day job! You can also keep toiling away as a real estate agent as well.

Today is October 21, 2008 and for the next 70 days you are going to hear about money making ideas that can bring you cash this Holiday season…and you won’t even have to know how to use Twitter!

Imagine this. Seriously, I want you to imagine this. Imagine:

1. Hearing an idea or having one of your own tomorrow morning by say 9AM

2. Having a plan given to you as to how to implement that plan for your review by 11AM

3. Deciding to implement said plan by Noon

4. And seeing money..actual cash money in your bank account by 6PM that day.

Now imagine that happening everyday for the next 70 days except you not having to do steps 1-3 ever again, unless you wanted to.

That’s what we want to show real estate agents. We realize that Realtors are the most skeptical demographic on the planet but we don’t care. Those of you who want to make some money are going to be introduced to some very inspiring people who are making a killing inside and outside of real estate. The rest of you who think in your normal skeptical manner, good luck and have a great Holiday season.

I’m looking to work and speak to some people with a seriously positive mental attitude, who want to make some jack, have some fun, toss conventional wisdom out the window and begin living again!

I truly want to be Rockin Around The Christmas Tree this year…do you? Let me know.

Over the last year the B&B Crew have interviewed a number of people in the real estate world. Some very prominent agents, some very prominent business leaders and some representing some of the best products being made available to the real estate industry.

However, I can’t remember interviewing a character as funny and enlightening as Tim Mai. Mai’s story is unreal. He and his brother escaped Vietnam on a fishing boat in 1986. He was 11 years old and his brother was 18 at the time that they escaped .

They spent seven days and six nights at sea and were mugged by pirate boats. Being robbed and stripped of all valuables, they were lucky and did not meet the same fate of death as happened with other unfortunate escapees.

Eventually, a Malaysian boat picked them up, and they spent six months in a refugee camp before being transferred to a camp in the Philippines.

After a short stay there, the United States accepted the Mai brothers, and they ended up in Houston. What a story!

Now Tim Mai is a real estate investor who has devised a system that is allowing many newbie real estate investors to absolutely make a fortune in what many real estate “professionals” are calling a down market.

It’s become almost comical how those in the business of actually profiting in real estate are looking at those responsible for brokering the sale of real estate. I wonder if real estate agents really truly wonder what the world outside of ActiveRain and ActiveGenius..err..I mean Agent Genius really think of them.

Obviously they don’t otherwise they would actually DO SOMETHING about their image. While some real estate agents are worried about being able to put gas in their tank to get to the supermarket tomorrow, we have been speaking to some investors who are making 5-6 figures per MONTH.

What recession? What bad market? What down economy? What’s even more impressive is that for them to be making that kind of money it means they are actually SELLING HOUSES. TO REAL BUYERS. WHO HAVE MONEY. WHO ARE LOOKING FOR DEALS.

Why is it that these guys, who don’t have the benefit of a week long education nor a valid NAR membership card in tow, can actually be making money…lots of money.. in today’s market? Simple…they know how to market! They know how to find property, anywhere in the Country and sell it to any buyer in the Country …without ever seeing the property or meeting the Buyers.

Warning: Before any agent reads this and inserts foot into mouth, this is ALL LEGAL and above board. You’re water cooler rhetoric should be saved for someone else you can bloke smoke at.

Tim Mai is a funny guy. He makes funny videos and he sells houses and teaches people across the Country how to successfully profit in today’s real estate market despite what everybody thinks.

If you don’t know who Tim Mai is you may want to check him out. Hey, you might actually learn how to make some money in real estate. Imagine that…making money in your chosen profession…amazing!

Have you noticed the funeral dirge being played out on the RE.net lately. Redfin layoffs, Zillow layoffs, and tons of real estate agents lamenting about the market.

I have a question. What do Redfin and Zillow layoffs have to do with real estate agents not making any money? As far as I have been able to ascertain, and maybe I am wrong, but those who unfortunately met their demise at Redfin and Zillow were employees. They lost a J-O-B!

Maybe that’s what’s wrong with the real estate industry. Too many agents treat their chosen vocational pursuit as a job instead of as a business. If business is down you either do something to make it better or close up shop. An employee does not have that luxury. They are dependent upon the decisions of others to ensure their continued bank deposits.

Yesterday I wondered aloud if real estate agents even cared about making any money. I really don’t think earning a living and creating business and generating a substantial profit is the goal of most Realtors.

A real estate agent, controls their own destiny. The true professional should know how to make money in any type of market. While we saw the tremendous volatility in the stock market last week I simultaneously saw more E-trade baby, Charles Schwab and Scottrade commercials than I think I have ever seen. Why do you think that is?

Could it be that good , bad or indifferent, they are still making money. Whether you were dumping your declining portfolio or being opportunistic, you still had people trading. People were still buying and selling and one top indicator of that was trade volume. Who do you think got paid by all those trades? If you don’t know, then maybe you should not be in business and you should lay yourself off.

Here’s the rub…the type of market is irrelevant to those who facilitate the buying and selling in the market. They get paid either way.

When I hear real estate agents whining because of this and because of that I realize that they are trapped in the mentality of an employee and have no real sense of what being in business means.

Want proof? Why is it that more millionaires are made in so-called down markets than in what is considered an up market? Right now is the best opportunity to become a millionaire in real estate than we have seen in years. You just have to know how to capitalize on this market and pick the carcasses clean.

Does that bother you? Does that make you uncomfortable? Then go get a job, you’re not cut out for real world business opportunity. It’s true. If making a substantial profit in today’s economy bothers you then we all know who you’re voting for and you don’t get to wear the Joe The Plumber T-Shirt.

I recently ran across a neat video by a guy named Frank Kern. Kern is a well known Internet marketer. What makes this video so compelling is the simple, almost DUH way that Kern talks about the opportunities in today’s economy. The title of the video is How Much Money Will You Make In this Recession?  Why You Have More Opportunity Now Than EVER Before!

[flv:http://www.realestateradiousa.com/videos/kern2.flv 512 384]

He so simply expresses the truth of the matter. It’s all about marketing. Pure and simple. If you want customers, if you need additional income, then you need to be marketing. Employees don’t market. Employees don’t spend any money on marketing. Business owners invest in marketing.

If you’re not investing in your business, if you’re not investing in a proven and significant marketing campaign, then go ahead and give yourself a pink slip and call it a day.

You are your own employee and you will not make it in through to the other side…that is the other side that YOU are seeking. The true wealth seeking opportunist knows that they don’t need to get to the “other side”.

They know how to profit in any market.

How do you spot an employee masquerading as a business owner?

Hmmm…the next time you are on a blog or social network and they you read a post or comment about how tough the market is, or how they don’t want to spend any money on marketing or if they are accumulating post after post or comment after comment from others who feel likewise…then you are wading in pink slip land.

This may seem like a real DUH! moment, but seriously, have you seen or read what is going on in the so-called Re.net? I mean every where I look I am seeing a post about everything EXCEPT making money in real estate.

Today I went to some of the blogs that are considered preeminent in the industry and after suffering through page after page of mindless drivel there was nothing I could take away from ANY of the posts that would allow me to implement in my business today that could have me on the road to making money.

I have begun to think that making money is no longer an objective for many real estate agents. Maybe with the government getting into our business lives it is to be expected that some would adjust comfortably into a Socialist atmosphere.

However, I can’t lose hope on all of humanity and I can’t lose hope in the real estate business that we as professionals in this sector have become over populated by agents who really don’t have the premise of earning a profit as a clear business objective.

Twitter this, and Zillow that, and Homegain and the other thing…whatever….are there any real estate agents left out there that still regard being in business to actually make a profit as being the primary reason for being in business?

One of the reasons we have been somewhat dormant over here at Real Estate Radio is because we have been taking some time and networking with some people in the real estate industry who are absolutely making a killing! I am talking about some people who are making five to six figures per month with little effort. I am speaking with some serious movers and shakers and wondering, where do so many real estate agents go wrong?

Is it the vortex sucking social blogs that get so many writing about nothing that’s got so many trapped? Are the “big dogs” and geniuses of the Re.net nothing more than country clubs for the similar thinking? I really don’t know. But what I do know is that we have been talking to some real money making killers out here in the field away from the blogs and it has really got me wondering…Do real estate agents really want to make some serious money?

Love to hear what you think. We’re going to follow this up with some profiles of some in the real estate industry who are actually making some fat cash and you’ll see what they have to say and what they’re doing.

It’s possible that you might learn some things and one thing I know…when you’re done listening to these guys, you’ll be able to actually do some of what they say and have the opportunity to make some cash that same day!

We know some will be skeptical. Don’t worry, there’s always the usual suspects for you to seek out that familiar, yet dampened shoulder to cry on, but if you want to actually wake up in the morning with a purpose and would like to see cash in hand by the end of the day, then you may want to read and watch our follow up segments.

I mean, that is…if you actually want to make any money.

The California Association Of Realtors recently released their “2008 Survey of California Home Buyers”. The data found in this survey isn’t all that astounding to those who have actually been using such information to improve their business. However it further underscores how many real estate agents are out of touch with reality in regards to what today’s consumer wants and expects.
I can hear it now. The stubborn cold-calling, door knocking old school, 3 yards and a cloud of dust, real estate agent angrily discounting the data in the survey. “It doesn’t apply to me”. “Real estate is local”. “My market is different.”

You know them, you’ve probably read their baseless, rantings on multi-agent, back-slapping, hoo-rah sites wherein no amount of data, survey results or trade information relates to them. You know them, they are the ones who still probably have AOL email addresses and may in fact still think that AOL is the Internet.

They’re the ones who are just finding out that you can take screen shots of images on your computer or believe there is “Google Juice” for “an open house this Sunday in Boise”.

If you’re still reading their blog posts and listening to what they have to say after you read this information then you deserve the lack of income you are enduring.

Does that upset you? It should! It’s time you as a real estate agent who wants to run a “business” wakes up and takes notice of what is REALLY going on in the industry.

The CAR Survey was conducted using a sample group comprised of recent homebuyers. 1,249 who used the Internet and 351 who did not and went the traditional route.

Like I said earlier, the data is not startling, but it is remarkable. Here is what the survey found:

1. Home buyers expect and want real estate agents to answer the friggin telephone or respond by email! People, can you imagine calling your local hair salon or dentist’s office or lawyer’s office and not being able to get in touch with anyone and if you do, no one returning your call?

We all know that real estate agents are some of the worst communicators on the planet. Unfortunately, the consumer knows this as well.

96 percent of Internet buyers expected a response within four hours or less…31 percent of the Internet group expected  an IMMEDIATE response!

84 percent of participants ..let me say that again…84% of buyers said that they considered the agent’s response time to be either a “very important” or “extremely important” factor in their decision-making process.

I recently took 20 random listings off of the MLS and called each one of them. I called on Friday morning and Saturday morning. 40 phone calls in all. 2 agents answered their phone and only 4 called back.

Do you really think the real estate industry is slow or have agents simply given up? Until real estate agents grasp the idea of communication as a business tool, there are going to be a lot of real estate agents existing under the poverty level. This is an easy fix. You see what the consumer wants. Deliver it! Real simple. You don’t need a business coach to learn how to be accessible and answer the phone or an email!

2. “I don’t work with buyers because I’m a lister and buyer’s waste my time”. Nothing signals the label of dinosaur quicker than these words being spoken or written by a real estate agent. If you hear a real estate agent uttering these words, back away, no run away, lest you be struck by the rapidly approaching comet.

Today, gas prices across the USA are rising because of the recent hurricane. Refineries are not able to produce gas so the price goes up because the inventory can’t meet the demand. Unfortunately, in most markets across the country, the same supply and demand impact is not present.

In fact it is much to the contrary. There is so much inventory that it has dwarfed demand. So why are some “mega-producing” agents heralding the fact that they are “listers”. Doesn’t their statement pretty much mean that they don’t understand Business and Economics 101?

Now let’s look at that nutso mantra of “buyers are hard to work with” BS that we keep hearing. I have a question…too hard to work with compared to what? The NAR says that the average buyer’s agent spends 14 or so hours with a buyer. So just what is the buyer taking you away from? Oprah? Dr. Phil? You’re other job?

The fact is that the recent CAR study shows that “Traditional” buyers take as much as 10.3 weeks searching for a home and wanted to see almost twice as many homes with their agent (23.3 homes) as Internet buyers (12.7 homes).

200% more, twice the amount of work…Hello McFly!! , I ask again. Buyers are too much work? Maybe you are working with the wrong buyers!

3. Today’s consumer is not satisfied with the performance of their real estate agent. Again, not surprising. In the CAR survey, customer satisfaction with the home-buyer process dropped in EVERY category and dropped 16% from the preceding survey last year. Wow!

Almost 80 percent of those who were not happy with their agent’s performance said the agent “did not negotiate aggressively on their behalf”. That’s completely understandable since most real estate agents are not trained negotiators.

I recently watched a David Knox video and he amusingly pointed out in one of his workshops, that going back and forth with counter-offers is NOT negotiating. Don’t you think if you are going to be in this business that you might want to learn some negotiating skills?

Watch Divorce Court or re-runs of L.A. Law..do something! If you’re not going to learn how to properly negotiate then you are doing a disservice to your soon to be former client. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a real estate agent tell me how “insulted they were by my low ball offer”. No…what’s insulting is that you don’t know how to negotiate aggressively and you expose yourself as an amateur by making such an utterance.

Why do I say “soon to be former client”? The CAR survey found that only  71 percent of the Internet buyers would use the same agent again. That would not be all that bad except for the fact that this is down 21% from the same period last year.

If you think that’s bad, it only gets WORSE when you speak to traditional buyers. Among the “traditional” buyers, only 27 percent reported they would use the same agent again…which is down 20% from last year and down an alarming 52% from 2005.

Business people do not ignore this kind of data. However, many real estate agents will.

3. You need a well marketed, SEO intensive Blog or website if you are going to survive as a real estate agent. There it’s said. It’s in black and white. What are you going to do about it! Going to keep hanging out singing Kumbayah on some mass agent community network or are you going to actually up your game and get your site up to today’s standards. Your choice but guess which agents are going to succeed?

Homebuyers who used the Internet in the home-buying process reported that the first Web site they visited was Google (40 percent), followed by Realtor.com (28 percent), Yahoo Real Estate (8 percent), and Zillow (5 percent). Four percent reported that they first visited the Web site “of a home that I was interested in,” while 3 percent reported that Craigslist.org was the first site they visited and 13 percent were unsure.

Hmmm, when 40% of the market is using Google to find homes just what do you think they were searching for? If you have to think too hard for the answer you may already be lost!

They’re not looking at single property websites, they’re not looking at your broker’s website, they are not looking at your company’s main website. 33% of respondents cited an individual real estate agent’s Web site was cited as the most useful Web site during the home-buying process.

4. Yard sign calls, brochures, pamphlets and the like are of little or no interest to today’s consumer. They won’t deliver you business! The survey found that 90 percent of buyers in the Internet group found their real estate agent using the Internet, while just 9 percent found their agent through a for-sale sign and 1 percent through an agent’s marketing materials.

Ok, so what are you going to do with this information? We already know that most will discount it as it not being relevant to their endeavors. Some won’t believe it and others won’t even know how to respond. That’s fine.

It’s the others out there that this is written for. That small percentage of maverick real estate agents who use contemporary data and means to actually run a real estate business. You know who you are. Take this data and run with it. You are and will continue to distance yourself from the pack and this survey confirms you are on the right track.

For the rest of you, please, by all means, continue with your ignorance and old school methodology. It’s expected and counted on. Seriously, how else are we in the New World Order of Real Estate going to overtake you if not for your ignorance.

For that, we thank you.

[flv:http://www.realestateradiousa.com/videos/beck.flv 300 250]

1 million plus members, many of whom do a good enough job on their own being fodder for the media, do you really need to be paying dues to an organization which continues to be the horse’s ass of trade unions?

C’mon, we know that there are more than enough reasons why a lot of consumers feel that being a real estate agent is maybe neck and neck with the local sanitation engineer (no offense meant to the sanitation engineer) but when will the rank and file members stand up and scream that they just aren’t going to take it anymore!!

This clip from the Glenn Beck show is an absolute riot. Too bad it’s absolutely true as well.

Can it be that difficult to just state the facts about the housing industry? Does the consumer have to continually hear these types of messages over and over again? Seriously…wouldn’t their be a whole lot more faith in the market if the consumer could actually rely on what came out of the mouths of the likes of Lawrence Yun and Dick Gaylord and the rest of the cronies at the National Association of Realtors?

If most real estate agents are willing to just lie down and let their professional ship be driven into iceberg after iceberg is there no wonder that so many are finally jumping ship?

I can hear it already..I’m bashing Realtors again. Really? I think Glenn Beck and guys like him do a good enough job without needing me to add fuel to the fire. I just have to wonder when it’s going to end and when the trusted membership of the NAR simply revolts and tosses these guys out on their collective rear ends!

Maybe then real estate agents won’t be looking to dogcatchers as their inspiration of integrity and consumer appreciation. No insult intended to dogcatchers intended.

The New World Order Interactive Real Estate Business Training Program is about instructing real estate agents as to how to unlock the entrepreneurial power of running and benefiting from a successful real estate business.

Running a successful “business” is way beyond getting listings and prospecting. Very few people have the unique entrepreneurial qualities of unremitting advocacy, evangelism, and dedication; Real estate agents have to realize that being an independent contractor is basically having a job and that entrepreneurship is an art, NOT a science.

Michael Gerber, the esteemed business trainer who is known worldwide for his E-Myth business program kicks off the first week of class in the New World Order Interactive Real Estate Business Training Program.

Gerber says that despite what many real estate agents think and are taught, the real estate industry is not unique in its challenges, it is negatively positioned in its model of operation. The discipline of enterprise leadership, and the rules, standards, and practices which define it, are the same no matter where they are practiced, regardless of the type and size of business.

Suffice it to say that Gerber’s observations are are based on his vast experience and success in teaching more than 30,000 E-Myth Mastery clients over a period of 27 years.

Gerber states that of the 1 million U.S. small businesses started each year more than 80% of them will be out of business within 5 years and 96% will have closed their doors before their 10th anniversary.

Is real estate different? Of course not, we are seeing hundreds of thousands of agents leaving the business and hundreds of thousands more holding on to their licenses while they seek “work” elsewhere or maintain a second job!

The mortality rate of real estate agents is actually WORSE than the national average.

Even the National Association of Realtors has stated that most new agents (5 years and under) exist with income levels below the national poverty line or in the general vicinity thereof.

These are indeed chilling statistics. Those few which not only survive but flourish have cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective strategies and tactics.

Don’t work IN your business, work ON it! The first step is to realize that you are indeed IN business and you must know that one of the keys to success is mastering what Gerber calls the The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company.

While you may not be the next IBM or the next Walt Disney Company, you can learn to truly DOMINATE your competition in your local real estate market by learning, implementing and mastering the seven essential disciplines followed by every major world class enterprise.

If you would like to take your real estate “business” to the next level and learn to realistically DOMINATE your local real estate market, join Michael Gerber and the rest of our stellar faculty by enrolling in the New World Order Interactive Real Estate Business Training Program.

Learn more about the New World Order Interactive Real Estate Business Training Program here.

Please wait, an interactive promotional video will load below.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.realestateradiousa.com/nwo/nwo_skin.swf" height="500" width="570" /]

More New World Order Information

The New World Order Interactive Real Estate Business Training Program is the most comprehensive real estate industry based business development series ever offered to help real estate agents maximize their income.

The entire 16 week, 24 module, training program is taught online and can be viewed from the privacy and comfort of your own home or office.

We have assembled a veritable who’s who of real estate and business to help you not just succeed, but rather achieve Total Market Dominance.

Click HERE to listen to the B&B Crew Announce this one of a kind program.

Click HERE to go directly to the New World Order Information page.

Keller Williams ranks highest among real estate companies in satisfying home buyers, while Prudential ranks highest in satisfying home sellers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Home Buyer/Seller Study(SM) released today.

The inaugural study measures customer satisfaction of home buyers and sellers with the largest national real estate firms. Overall satisfaction is determined by examining three factors for the home-buying experience: agent (65%); office (21%); and services (13%). Four factors are examined for the home-selling experience: agent (43%); marketing (38%); office (12%); and services (7%).

In the home-buyer segment, Keller Williams achieves a score of 831 on a 1,000-point scale, and receives highest ratings from customers in all three factors. Following in the rankings are Prudential (820) and Coldwell Banker (816). Prudential performs well in the agent and office factors, while Coldwell Banker performs particularly well in the services factor.

Among home sellers, Prudential ranks highest with a score of 793 and performs particularly well in the marketing and office factors. Coldwell Banker and RE/MAX follow Prudential in the segment rankings, in a tie. Coldwell Banker performs particularly well in the marketing factor, while RE/MAX performs particularly well in the agent factor.

“When buying a home, customers particularly appreciate agent professionalism, responsiveness to calls and e-mails and the agent’s skill in locating and showing properties in the appropriate price range — all areas in which Keller Williams excels,” said Jim Howland, senior director of the real estate and construction practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “When it comes to selling a home, marketing of the home is particularly critical, although professionalism and responsiveness of the agent are still important. Both Prudential and Coldwell Banker demonstrate considerable strengths in the area of marketing.”

The study finds that despite the popularity of home-buying and -selling resources on the Internet, real estate agents are key to customer satisfaction with real estate companies. A large proportion of both home buyers and sellers rely on the Internet to facilitate the buying or selling process, with 68 percent of buyers saying that they used Internet tools to help them in the purchase process and 61 percent of sellers reporting that they used a Web site listing to market their home. In addition, among home sellers, online methods are the most important aspect of marketing. However, the agent factor carries the greatest importance among the factors that comprise overall satisfaction among both home buyers and sellers.

“Although the Internet provides home buyers and sellers with the ability to perform some essential tasks — such as listing a home for sale or researching a neighborhood in which to purchase a home — it still does not replace the importance of a good real estate agent,” said Howland. “Particularly in an uncertain real estate market, professional advice from agents can be especially valuable to buyers and sellers. The knowledge and expertise provided by experienced agents is an important benefit of using a full-service real estate company.”

The study also finds that the average time a home for sale remained on the market was slightly more than six months, although home sellers represented by the top-ranking real estate companies report that their homes were on the market for slightly less time — approximately five and a half months, on average.

“Satisfaction averages 794 among those customers whose homes sold within 5 months or less, but declines considerably to an average of 730 among customers whose homes took 7 months or longer to sell,” said Howland. “A real estate company that provides agents who are skilled at determining the appropriate market value and listing price for homes, and who can effectively market properties, can help minimize the time that clients’ homes remain on the market — which can not only save the seller money, but also diminish inconvenience and anxiety.”

Additional noteworthy study findings include the following:

– Nearly one-half of respondents (46%) report using recommendations from family or friends to find their real estate agent. Approximately 28 percent used the Internet, while 23 percent used an agent they had used previously and 11 percent used a printed real estate guide.

– On average, home buyers were shown approximately 13 homes before making a purchase.

– Home sellers report that, on average, their home was shown approximately 11 times and approximately five open houses were conducted before the sale occurred.

The 2008 Home Buyer/Seller Study includes 3,670 evaluations from 3,205 respondents who bought or sold a home between April 2007 and June 2008.

That is not meant to be an inflammatory statement whatsoever. It’s a direct question. I don’t want to presume anything but in reading so much of what is on real estate agent focused blogs, one has to wonder if that is really the case.

Many of our readers know that we operate a real estate investment company. We would not be in the real estate investing business if were not to generate revenue and retain substantial profits therefrom. Our business is real estate investing, our radio show is a marketing and advertising platform associated therewith.

When we look at a deal it has a very antiseptic feel. We operate under a very simple premise. Do the numbers make sense. There are very little if any other variables to consider. If a deal appears profitable to us, then more than likely we will greenlight it and look to engage the transaction and work a very profitable deal from acquisition to disposal. There is no reason at all, not a single reason to be involved in a transaction that is not profitable.

However, from the perspective of most agents, it appears that earning a profit (commission) is a crapshoot at best. We have heard from many agents who tell us that nearly 8 out of 10 listings in the current state of the real estate market go unsold. Top agents seem to only be successful in earning a profit only 40% of the time. Your results may vary, but nonetheless, we have been told that the expectation of earning a profit on every transaction is absurd? Wow..really? Great business model you have there…not!

So the question that I pose in the title of this article is aptly stated. Why would anyone want to be involved in a business wherein on average, they can only be expected to earn an income that is just above the poverty level in the first few years and not all that great beyond?

Of course there are exceptions and there are some mega agents out there like Craig Proctor and others who do over 300-500 sides per year, but those agents are seriously few and far between.

Well one reason some agents stay in the business is that with the proper training, and the right direction there is a chance that they can indeed reach a level of success like the mega producer’s in the industry.

Yeah right…and I want to be like Mike too! Here’s the deal. No matter how hard I train, no matter who my coaches are, I simply don’t have the skills to be a Michael Jordan. That would be quite harmful to my ego if it weren’t for the fact that there aren’t many people walking the planet that will ever be as good as Michael Jordan.

There are many online communities in the online real estate world. Some are very good at what they do. However one of the common denominators that I find lacking in many of the sites that I go to is the direct focus and attention to earning a profit. While I am absolutely sure that there are many real estate agents that want to know how to blog and effectively utilize SEO strategies, and while I am also sure that there are many agents in the Country that want to learn how to knock on doors and be shown how to use Twitter and Facebook, I am equally sure that most agents, real estate investors and even some consumers, want to know how to make money in real estate.

I have to admit, some of our focus was misdirected and we got caught up in the whole RE.net real estate blogosphere water cooler chatter, but beginning today, we’re going right back to our main focus of showing you, our valued reader, how you can profit in today’s real estate market.

Of course we’ll continue to cover news and current events in real estate but our focus here on Real Estate Radio USA is not going to be about what font to use, or what PHP code to write, or how to use Twitter or Facebook. We are going to be all about making money.

We’re talking hard-core in your face wealth building strategies for anyone who wants to profit in today’s real estate market. We have come to learn that our audience is not the current fold of real estate bloggers. We have researched and realized that our main core audience is comprised of agents, real estate investors and individuals who want to make money in real estate and are prepared to take the steps necessary to do so.

We have assembled, and will continue to assemble, a panel of real estate investing and general business experts that you will not find on any other real estate blog or website..anywhere. We don’t want to discuss the posts of others nor are we going to be interested in their commentary. If you come here or listen to our show it’s going to be about making money.

I can already here some now. “All they care about is making money”, “They don’t understand it’s about relationships”, and my favorite..”they’re not agents so they don’t understand”. Well, they’re right! We aren’t agents and we are unashamedly interested in earning a profit in our chosen profession. If I wanted to be a charity I would have formed a non-profit organization.

The problem some will have is that it seems we came to a rather abrupt decision when in fact that is not the case at all. We did not make this decision. Our readers and listeners, through many emails and calls, have told us to stop the inane blog coverage, get away from the “Dear Abbyish” mentality and give them the information, tools and strategies to make money in the real estate business. So we’ve listened.

We’ve added some of the best business and real estate investment minds in the Country to post articles and be wealth building contributors here and to be guests on our show to tell you how to make money.

All of the tips, strategies and methodology behind what you will hear is completely legal, absolutely ethical and assuredly proven to make you money. If you wan to know how to survive and prosper in this business, listen and read as much as you can on Real Estate Radio USA. If you want the inside scoop on the real estate blogosphere, then you’ll have to go elsewhere.

There are over 1 million real estate agents and I truly feel that there aren’t more than a couple hundred serious real estate bloggers. That means there are a ton of real estate agents in the business who simply want to know how to make money and the quest for the “great post” just doesn’t make it for them.

We’ll do our best to show you how to profit in today’s real estate market. Whether you’re an agent, investor, or consumer, we welcome the opportunity to assist you in your profit making endeavors.

I welcome you to enjoy, participate and contribute to the revolution.

As one who has a passion for Customer Service, I found myself as the recipient of The Spirit of Customer Service this past week. What a story!

I was in Chicago to speak to Accurate Perforating at their 2 day event. My program was to be at the Wildfire Restaurant. A cab dropped me off in front of the restaurant at 4:15. I wanted to get there early to set up and go over the location. I paid the driver, grabbed all of my materials, and slid out of the cab. Off he went, faster than Mario Andretti. I groped for my wallet, only to find it MISSING! Agggggghh! Is there a worse feeling in the world? The cab, reaching 60 mph in 1.8 seconds, was long gone.

I immediately went through the litany of things I share in “How to Build a Positive Attitude and KEEP the D a r n Thing.” I’m serious – I actually DO the things I talk about to people (!). As one who always tries to spin humor in any situation, I said to myself, “I would rather be standing here in a pink polka dotted Speedo with my wallet, than standing here with clothes on without my wallet.”

Oh, what a mess. The whole evening had changed. Now I had to take measures to try to get the wallet back and all the joy that goes with that process. I stumbled into the Wildfire Restaurant. They weren’t even open yet, but the head greeters, Harold and John, immediately sensed I was “discombobulated.” I spewed out my whole situation and they reassured me that many times the cab comes right back with wallets, cell phones, the works. They made me feel like my crisis was the most important thing, even though their phone was ringing constantly with reservation requests.They helped me with cab company numbers. I couldn’t remember the name of the company as my receipt was in my wallet (if I ever claim to speak on “Remembering Details,” ignore me).

I wandered into the side room that I would be speaking in later in the evening. Alan and Ana, who were serving the room, were incredibly supportive to me as I flailed away in Operation Recover Wallet.

Then, it was time to call … the wife. To make a long story short, her basic response was, “FIND THE WALLET!”

“Nancy, there are 5000 cabs in Chicago and over 35 companies.”

“FIND THE WALLET!” There wasn’t a lot of gray area in her response.

I hung up (not on her, but to continue calling the cab companies).For some reason, I decided to call my office voice mail. Might as well, I had called everyone else. Here is what I heard: “Hello, Mr. Adams, my name is Amir.I just found your wallet in the street. I actually work at the Wildfire. I’ve got your wallet. You can come by here.”

Amir had found the wallet by the curb as he was walking across the street to work. His only thought was to look for identification to call the person that had lost it and then go about his business of being the best waiter he could be for his customers.

Well, I ran back in the restaurant and yelled, “Where’s Amir?!” John at the front desk pointed me in his direction and I darted back that way! He saw me and immediately figured I must be the poor sap that was walletless. He walked over and gave it to me. I gave him a bear hug. Forget handshaking. He deserved a bear hug!

I knew I had a $20 and some other bills in there so I reached in and grabbed the $20 to give him. He wouldn’t take it. “I just see that as part of my job, Mr. Adams,” he said. “I was glad to find it for you.”

This young man was first class the whole way. Later, I thought I would recognize him in my Talk. I thought I would bring him in at the end of my Talk, share the story, and let the Accurate Perforating leaders applaud him. When I pitched that idea to Amir, he politefully declined. “7:30 is a very busy time for me with my customers,” he said humbly. “It would be hard to leave them even for a few minutes.”

As the evening went on, I later learned that John and Harold at the front desk had called countless cab companies trying to locate my wallet, even though they were getting reservations calls constantly. Another worker told me those two had been doing that for me.

I shared the whole Wallet story at the end of my Stoke the Fire Within presentation. The Accurate Perforating people beamed. One fellow did actually playfully ask, “That happened in CHICAGO?! Your wallet was actually returned?!”

When I deliver “The Spirit of Customer Service” it is people like Amir that make me believe in the topic. Yes, customer service has been declining for years across the board in some ways, but to say it’s not alive and well at places like the Wildfire Restaurant in Chicago and with many other places and people is wrong. People like young Amir and the Wildfire Restaurant stoke the fire within when it comes to Customer Service!

Devon Trabosh, a Realtor in Palm Beach County, Florida is tired of the market. Deven Trabosh has tried everything to sell her home. Nothing seemed to work. Tired of the ongoing disappointment, Trabosh hatched a plan to sell her home and find love at the same time.

Having grown tired of the singles bars and online dating sites like e-harmony. Deven Trabosh, in an effort to solve two problems in one fell swoop, has decided to sell her home and well…herself to the highest bidder.

Trabosh, unlucky in love and in selling her home, has com up with an out of the box idea as to how to finally sell her 4 bedroom, 2,000 square foot home by turning it into sort of Cupid’s Lair.

After enduring eight years of being single and suffering through a real estate market that has made it tough to sell her home, Trabosh has devised a promotion that is part fairytale and part Ashley Dupre’.

“Marry a Princess Lost in America,” Trabosh wrote in the ads she posted on eBay and Craigslist last week. She describes a life of romance and travel and a home decorated with vaulted ceilings, upgraded tile and a soaking tub in a gated community with a pool and tennis courts. “I figured let’s combine the ad because I’m looking for love and I’m looking to sell the house.”

So just how do you sell a home and offer yourself up as one of the amenities? She listed the home for $340,000 on a FSBO web site, but upped the price, adding a $500,000 shipping fee to include her “companionship”. That’s some awful pricey “companionship” !

“I’m not selling myself. I’m selling love…to meet that true love,” Trabosh says. “Of course, it’s gonna take more chemistry and connection. It’s not going to be instantaneous that I’m just going to be automatically for sale…it’s a package deal for true love.”

Trabosh says she hasn’t received any serious offers, but says she’s had nearly 500 responses, mostly positive, including one from Ottie of Surrey,
England, who e-mailed to say, “You are offering the perfect life with the perfect American princess.”

In a few weeks she hopes to meet Claudio, and Italian wine and cheese taster, who she’s been corresponding with since he responded to the ad.

“I’m struggling…I don’t want to lose my house and I want to find somebody,” said Trabosh, so I came up with this dream plan because I’ve always dreamt about being a fairytale princess.”

You have to hand it to Trabosh, she seems to have found the ultimate lead generation system. Sorry Homegain, Trulia and Zillow.

sources: Orlando Sentinel | Craigslist

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone nobody envisioned that it would one day be as widely accepted as it has been. 

Although the telephone can dramatically cut down on the amount of work that goes into qualifying your prospects, the amount of time you spend on the phone qualifying leads is time you have to take away from other more lucrative activities. If you want to take your real estate investing career to the next level it’s time you step into the 21^st century by investing pennies in a website – a solution that will free up time and help you bring in more pre-qualified leads than you’ll be able to handle.

The biggest benefit to you in having a website is that it can flood your inbox with pre-qualified leads – people who at a minimum already know something about you and are at least receptive to the idea of doing business with you. 

These are Grade ‘A’ prospects for you because you won’t have to explain as much to bring them up to speed and establish credibility with them because your website will have already done the heavy lifting for you.

A good website will have a questionnaire or information dialog box for your prospects to fill out.  This information will be like digital gold to you because you’ll be able to further screen your prospects and weed out prospects unlikely to be good candidates for the type of investing in which you specialize or concentrate. 

In mere seconds you can find out everything you need to know to help you decide whether that particular prospect can be discarded or warrants a telephone response.

At this point you can send a canned message to prospects you can’t help and concentrate on prospects more likely to have properties worthy of a personalized telephone response.  In addition, you can further screen the remaining prospects and call the hottest possibilities right away.

Every lead will land in one of four categories:

• Strong prospect – warrants an immediate call
• Potential – call after the stronger possibilities have been called
• Non-prospect – Based on the information they’ve provided, you’ve concluded that the lead doesn’t warrant a personalized response. These leads can receive a standard email thanking them for their interest, but unfortunately you don’t think there’s anything you can do to help them.
• Good candidate – just not for you. These could be prospects with property that would lend themselves well to an investing strategy you don’t handle. For these candidates, you might work out an arrangement with another investor where you swap leads that fit the other’s investing strategy – in exchange for a small piece of the pie when they make the sale. By the same token you can slide a little something their way for any leads they provide you with that end up in your portfolio.

You only have 24 hours in a day to handle the myriad details involved in locating and purchasing property.  Every second you spend on the phone is time you can’t spend on more lucrative activities. 

The beauty of a website is that it will work harder than you can.  It’s available when your prospects are actively seeking answers – even if they’re thinking about it in the middle of the night or on the weekend.

Put the power of the web to work for you and reserve the telephone for strong candidates.  Free up more of your time for other activities that will have greater potential to impact your net worth. 

If you find yourself itching to spend more time on the phone, give a friend or a loved one a call.  You’ll have time to catch up on the latest gossip because your website will be working while you’re on the phone.

A good fisherman uses good bait.  Decent bait will get you a lot of good nibbles, but a real estate website will cause the fish to jump into your boat.  Unless you enjoy sitting in a boat all day hoping for an occasional nibble, invest pennies a day in a solution that will give you a full string of fish that will get you home more quickly. 

To learn more about how you can put the power of the web to work for you by loading your inbox with qualified prospects, point your browser towards http://www.myreiwebsites.com/ .

Charrissa Cawley has a long standing reputation for excellence as a gifted speaker, real estate trainer and wealth coach. Her strength lies in training entrepreneurs in the areas of real estate, investing and financial literacy.

Her passion is bridging the gap between learning and doing. She has helped thousands of entrepreneurs all over the world seeking financial growth by equipping them with the tools, resources and specialized knowledge to succeed. 

Charrissa offers accurate and proven strategies to investors of all different levels and is the founder of http://www.reiconferences.com/, one of the fastest growing real estate investment training organizations in the US in addition to http://www.rewexclub.com/ , the top rated Real Estate Investor Community on the web today.