RISMEDIA, August 6, 2011—Consumers worldwide have been quick to embrace the concept of a tablet computer. As brands start to explore how best to reach people via this nascent medium, JWT, a marketing communications brand,

RISMEDIA, August 5, 2011—Are you a perfectionist? Do you know someone who is? Have you ever wondered if perfectionism is a help or hindrance on the road to success? In my 15+ years of coaching real estate agents to be at the top of their game, I have seen that perfectionism does more harm than good. In fact there are at least seven ways that perfectionism stops you from success.

RISMEDIA, August 5, 2011—People are regularly faced with adversity and unpredictable challenges. One of the key differentiating variables among us is how we handle and adapt to these events. Moreover, it can be incredibly easy to become

Wouldn’t it be terrific if the latest gadget would actually make you more money with less effort? And wouldn’t it be even better if you could get all the money back you’ve already spent on products that still sit unwrapped in their original packaging under your desk right now? You are not alone! Everybody wants the latest silver bullet. And every day there seems to be a newer better, whiter, brighter, quicker, and way-more-cool tool than the one you just bought that guarantees you will make more money…or will you?

Mention the phrase “social media” and most people automatically think of Facebook and Twitter. But if you have any dealings in the corporate world—whether you’re a CEO, salesperson, human resource manager, administrative

RISMEDIA, Aug 2, 2011—We can trace word-of-mouth marketing all the way back to 2000 B.C. when Eve said to Adam, “You ought to try a bite of this apple.” The Garden of Eden scenario represents marketing in its purest form—after all, trusted friends always trust each other’s recommendations. Since then, marketing has embarked on quite a journey, of course. The invention of the printing press opened the door to mass marketing, which eventually came to use newspapers and magazines as primary promotional vehicles.

You’ve just started your own business. You have put your sweat, blood, and tears into its success. So, now what? How do you plan to spread the word? Technology is advancing so rapidly that if you thought you had a real bang-up

Paul David Walker—business advisor to mid-sized and Fortune 500 CEOs; founder of Genius Stone Partners, a company that partners with the C-suite to build business performance; and author of Unleashing Genius: Leading Yourself, Teams and Corporations—has guided business leaders to reaching their goals, unleashing genius and inspiring teams for more than 20 years. Based on his vast experience, Walker has compiled four key tips to keeping teams in sync, highly focused and working as a cohesive and inspired team toward a collective goal.

There are some interesting things happening when it comes to doing business in the current environment. • If it used to take 30 days to get a transaction closed, it now takes 120 or more • If it used to take 20 contacts to get someone to listen to you, it now takes 100 or more • If someone was inclined to do business with you before, they are now inclined to make sure they are getting the best deal regardless of their relationship with you

Although real estate professionals understand the importance of having a website, there is a huge opportunity to develop a website more specific to a niche market. If you are working with the short sale market and speaking with distressed homeowners, you know first-hand how different this scenario is versus the traditional real estate listing process. By developing an extremely targeted website focused on the needs of distressed homeowners, you will be able to help them look at their options and, at the same time, generate leads for your business. Here are seven steps to developing a short-sale website.

I find that many of my clients avoid marketing when it comes to their sphere of influence. Yet statistics show that your sphere of influence can be the greatest source of referrals. Let’s look at how you can dig in and get the “gold.” Tip 1: Define and Rate your Sphere of Influence When is the last time that you took a good look at your contact list? What is the total? What are the categories in that group? Do you have past clients, friends, acquaintances, people you hardly know? Before you do anything else go into your data base and group your sphere of influence in categories.

RISMEDIA, July 21, 2011—Some 15 years ago, I read the book Control Your Own Destiny or Someone Else Will, a showcase of Jack Welch’s leadership and turnaround of GE. Like him or not, the book is full of anecdotes, leadership philosophy and application-level stories from one of the most reputable business leaders of our time. Today, that book holds a lot of significance: where we are as an industry and the delicate tipping point between the past and the future. This quote from the book is incredibly relevant: “If change is happening on the outside faster than on the inside the end is in sight.”

RISMEDIA, July 20, 2011—(EMC)—There is no doubt that you see QR codes everywhere these days—in ads, magazines, posters, etc. They offer exciting opportunities for delivering information quickly to people that are mobile. They also provide a quick and easy way to do more with a single marketing channel. But before jumping in, it’s important to consider this: QR codes are no different than other direct marketing tools in that you must build a strategy, tactics and plan for testing, tracking and measuring results. Start with a strategy that answers the question, “What do I want to accomplish and how do I get there?”

RISMEDIA, July 20, 2011— Google AdWords is the dominating pay-per-click search engine on the Internet today. However, according to ROI Advisors, Inc., a Certified Google Partner Company, an advertiser who pays more doesn't necessarily have

I can think of no other profession that's as closely associated with the term rejection as a career in sales. You might say that rejection is as natural to a salesperson as trail dust is to a chuck wagon cook—it comes with the territory. In fact, frequently the first two orders many new sales reps receive are "get out and stay out!"