Realtor.com® administers thousands of buyer and seller lead generation programs. For us to continue to do so, we need the brokers and their agents who receive these leads to be able to convert them to sale.

Almost on a daily basis, news reports detail the marketplace factors that can affect businesses large and small. No matter what the potentially game-changing info coming out of Washington, D.C., or China, though, there are winning strategies that not only endure but should be part of every workplace’s culture, says financial expert and small-business advocate Chris Hurn. “With some merit, analysts are always reviewing contingencies that may change investments by businesses; most recently, the ‘fiscal cliff.’ But there are many ways to invest in your own business regardless of the economic climate,” says Hurn, author of “The Entrepreneur’s Secret to Creating Wealth: How the Smartest Business Owners Build Their Fortunes.”

(MCT)—You are a brand. Just like Coke or Nike or Starbucks. People think of you in a certain way. It’s how you look and what you wear.

New concepts are constantly emerging in marketing. We’ve seen the rise of “green marketing” — appealing to people’s environmental concerns by emphasizing recycled packaging and the like. And mobile marketing,

A record number of women are Fortune 500 CEOs. Women are launching businesses at 1.5 times the national average.

(MCT)—Something has gone wrong with one of your clients. One of your employees has made a mistake or maybe you were the one who messed up. Either way, you have a hopping-mad person on your hands and a sinking feeling in your stomach. How do you deal? How do you recover? Start by taking a step back from the situation. As tempting as it might be to dive headlong into the debate over who is at fault, stop and take a deep breath first. It’s important to remember that your first move in an emotionally charged situation is to manage your own feelings before attempting to manage anyone else.

In the real estate business, color is key when creating customer communications across all platforms. Consistent color branding imparts a professional and memorable brand impression that resonates with your prospects. Xerox research reveals that color improves brand recognition by up to 80% and increases comprehension by as much as 73 percent. Are you taking full advantage of color in your business branding? Whether you’re just starting out or revitalizing your current marketing, here are some tactics to help you choose colors that will net your business a little more green.

NAR PULSE—Register between March 16-31 for NAR’s Seniors Real Estate Specialist® Designation Online Course through REALTOR® University School of Professional Development and Continuing Education and NAR’s MVP program

In Part 1 of “Winning Listings and Converting Buyers” we discussed some keys to generate qualified leads by integrating your offline and online marketing initiatives. This article focuses on the conversion of those leads. It is very important to remember that you only get paid on conversions. Nobody cares if you have 1,500 friends on Facebook if you can’t sell their house nor can you financially support driving around endless buyers who fail to ever purchase something from you.

“There is always a choice in how you look at real estate: You can grouch about how hard the business is or you can be grateful,” says Ron Cadieux of HER REALTORS®/ The Raines Group. Read on to learn how, in the real estate industry, gratitude can prove to be ...

If you are currently suffering from procrastination, let’s explore why and what you can do about it. You don't love what you do and you're not excited about it. If you are not eager to work, it can be because you're thinking about the money you don't have and the money that you need to make. The need to make money only appeals to your prefrontal cortex not your heart.

The real estate market has turned the corner. Am I being overly optimistic? I don’t think so. The signs and economists are saying that barring unforeseen calamities or further limitations

Not every prospective customer you meet will be ready to close right away. When you are collecting dozens of new prospects each month it can be a daunting task to stay in touch with every one of them. Use this free e-newsletter from realtor.com® to stay current with all of your contacts until you can reach out to them personally. It is loaded with news articles, National and regional real estate statistics, and can be customized with your own editorial. It is updated each month for you to distribute with your branding and photo. Plus it’s integrated and sent monthly automatically by Top Producer® CRM.

Why is it that some sales reps consistently earn a six-figure annual income while other reps, putting in the same hours, selling the same products, and trained by the same sales manager struggle each month financially to make ends meet?

The art of assessing risk management when selling a business entails a serious effort to uncover and recognize where the business risk resides for both the current and prospective owner.