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(eM+C)—In the early days of Apple’s iOS App Store, dozens of developers experienced a gold rush of success as iPhone users raced to download new releases from a small catalog of only a few hundred apps. Some of the best-selling apps even made a few developers into millionaires within mere months.

Mortgage lenders across the country have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years. From helping homeowners avoid foreclosure to showing buyers some of the best bargains in decades, lenders have sought to keep customer service levels high through it all. At Citi, we’re reengineering the way we serve our customers in many ways. Here are just a few: Better Communication: As a real estate professional, you know how communication builds trust. We’re rethinking how we communicate in order to create a better customer experience.

This week’s headlines from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® include: Access to 6 business building webinars for only $14.99, a message from Liberty Mutual, and promotional materials now available for REALTOR® Designation Awareness month.

This week, Greg Rand (@gsrand) , CEO of OwnAmerica hosts Rand on Real Estate on 770 WABC, discusses with Ed Forman the benefits, industries, economics and real estate market of Jacksonville, Florida.

Yes, there is magic in positive thinking! In aviation, the word attitude means the angle at which the plane meets the wind, whether the wings are level with the horizon, and whether it is climbing or descending. The pilot who fails to take responsibility for the attitude of his aircraft is in serious trouble. And likewise, any person who has not taken charge of his or her own beliefs and attitudes runs a similar risk. The key to cultivating and maintaining a positive mental attitude is to take control of your thinking and avoid negative minded people. It's a challenging task to develop a calm, focused mind, but well worth the effort.

I often find myself hearing the same comment in several variations about advertising: “I bought a large ad in my local newspaper and didn’t receive any immediate business from it. It’s obviously not working and a waste

It’s certainly a tense time in business. The uncertain economy has many business leaders constantly poring over the financials, crunching the budget, and nixing every possible unnecessary expense. Unfortunately, says Dave Anderson, financial problems aren’t the only ones your company might be facing. He asks if you’ve recently taken a good hard look at the character of your company. “When you really think about it, many of the transgressions we see in business today, from CEO scandals to terrible customer service, boil down to a lack of solid character,” says Anderson, author of How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK—Revised and Expanded: A Biblical Blueprint to Bless Your Business.

(EMC)—Companies are now spending billions of dollars annually on social media to create brand awareness and lead generation. A significant percentage of this money will be spent on Facebook, with the goal of increasing a brand’s fan base through either Facebook page applications or Facebook ads.

Hopefully, by now we all can agree that social media has given consumers the most powerful voice they have ever had. And it’s universally accepted that word of mouth has always been considered the very best form of advertising. Since Facebook’s “Like” button was introduced in the spring of 2010, users can now show their approval of others’ photos, articles, ideas, discoveries, videos, products and services with just one simple click. In fact, it is estimated that Facebook’s “Like” button now gets more than one billion clicks per day!

The media world has changed in a very fundamental way in the past five years. In the old paradigm, the gatekeepers held the keys to the kingdom. Publishers and editors in print, program directors in radio, and producers on television got to decide what the rest of us read, listened to and watched. There was a bottleneck on information in media, and unless you had great contacts, or got very lucky, you were going to be ignored.

Former LPS Senior Executives Jay Gaskill, Prem Luthra, Mike Kovar and John Hensley announced the completion of a management buyout of select business lines and operations from LPS’ Real Estate Group to launch Real Estate Digital (RED). The aforementioned executives will continue in their roles leading the newly formed company. Moving forward, the team believes RED will bring the industry the best of both worlds: unmatched expertise and resources combined with an entrepreneurial ability to adapt and innovate.

Several years ago, when I was managing an insurance office, I was interviewing a perspective sales rep who I felt had great potential as an agent. Throughout the interviewing process she was articulate, impeccably dressed and demonstrated excellent people skills; I was convinced that I had found a real superstar. Shortly after she was hired, my new agent invited me to attend her son's high school football game. When the referee called a questionable foul on her son, my superstar jumped to her feet and let loose with a flurry of curse words that would make a sailor blush. Everyone, literally within shouting distance, was as shocked as I was to hear such profanity come out of her mouth.

This week’s headlines from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® include: a personalized brochure emphasizing the benefits of working with a REALTOR®; September-only super savings from REALTOR Benefits® Program Partner, Dell; and RPR

Greg Rand (@gsrand), CEO of OwnAmerica, the host of Rand on Real Estate on 770 WABC, asks the question "Why didn't the Great Recession happen 10years ago today?" The circumstances were ripe for a major recession. We were already in a minor recession; endured the evaporation ...

In my column last month, I chronicled the harrowing sequence of events that led to my epiphany and examination of the concept of mental preparedness. People are regularly faced with adversity and unpredictable challenges. One of the key differentiating variables amongst people is how we handle and adapt to these events. Although you cannot plan for every possible event, you always need to be prepared.