Commentary by Pierre A. Calzadilla RISMEDIA, Dec. 12, 2007-The typical real estate professional today considers a Web site part of his or her basic online marketing plan-as important to business as their computer, PDA or digital camera.

By Barry Hurd RISMEDIA, Dec. 11, 2007-Have you ever asked yourself how many valid eyes would visit your site if you had that coveted first spot on a hot keyword? If the first spot is good, how much does the second or third spot get?

By Steve Harney RISMEDIA, Dec. 10, 2007-As a leader, you provide and maintain momentum within your company. While guiding your agents during the past boom market was easy, today

Compiled from published reports RISMEDIA, Dec. 7, 2007--President Bush announced a plan Thursday that offers foreclosure relief to 1.2

By Jeff Mandel RISMEDIA, Dec. 6, 2007-The end of every calendar year is synonymous with great holidays, parties, probably some football, and oh yeah, that dreaded thing called budget planning.

By Ralph R. Roberts RISMEDIA, Dec. 4, 2007-According to Realtor Lori Polin, she was totally unaware that what she was involved with consisted of real estate and mortgage fraud. If ignorance of the law was an appropriate defense, she could be off the hook. Unfortunately it's not. According to a recent story in the St. Petersburg Times titled, "Unsigned letter accuses agent of mortgage fraud," Polin was allegedly involved in classic cash back at closing schemes.

RISMEDIA, Dec. 3, 2007-As the mortgage and real estate industries face unprecedented times, homeowners could very well be left to pay the bills, literally. Mortgage companies are going out of business or declaring bankruptcy every day. When that happens, their assets can be frozen, which means they cannot transfer any funds, including the funds they owe on behalf of homeowners for hazard insurance (and other types of insurance) and real estate taxes.

RISMEDIA, Nov. 30, 2007-Mark Nash, author of four real estate books including 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home has completed his annual survey of 886 real estate agents in all fifty states in the U.S. and the eight provinces of Canada. What's in, What's out with Homebuyers illuminates what's popular with home buyers, and what can sour them. Compiled annually from-the-trenches, it offers a spectrum of tips that cover deal and design no-no's for home sellers and buyer must-haves.

By John Voket RISMEDIA, Nov. 29, 2007-Anyone willing to embrace the growing diversities among consumers should expect numerous opportunities in the real estate space, according to Oscar Gonzales, president and founder of diversity marketing firm The Gonzales Group. Gonzales shared his thoughts at a session titled "Five Reasons Why You Must Learn about Emerging/Specialty Markets," during RISMedia's 18th Annual Leadership Conference.

By Ralph Roberts RISMEDIA, Nov. 28, 2007-Independent real estate agents are often reluctant to explore the agent team approach. They often mistakenly believe that the best way to serve their clients is to do everything themselves-answer the phone, develop CMA's (Comparative Market Analyses), create presentations, meet personally with clients, show homes, and perform all the other tasks required to run a successful real estate business. Unfortunately, this "nobody could do it better than me approach" often results in inferior customer service.

By Barry Hurd RISMEDIA, Nov. 27, 2007-The buzz in the past 12 months has been about blogging, podcasting, online video...hundreds of ways for people to share commentary and talk about things. Regardless of how active you want to be with social media, the general population simply doesn't care if you are in the conversation or not. They are going to blog about you, discuss the colors in your logo, comment on how customer service issues were resolved, and possibly even try to tell you how to run your business.

By Dr. Maya Bailey, PhD. RISMEDIA, Nov. 26, 2007-Do you go through the same slump every year? It begins somewhere in November. Your business slacks and you realize that your income is going to come way down at the very time when you want to be spending and buying. You get sad and then you get scared and before you know it, you're in a full blown depression. Somehow the thought, "Desperation doesn't sell" finds a way into your already crowded brain.

By Gregg Gregory RISMEDIA, Nov. 21, 2007-Failing All Star teams aren't just a sports theme; they have been a challenge facing businesses for years. Companies want a super-star leadership team and end up tumbling. Look at Enron ... superstars from the top down, and what happened there?

By Barry Hurd RISMEDIA, Nov. 20, 2007-Do you remember a professional situation where you found out through a friend of a friend that some nasty rumor was floating around? What about the time you found out six months afterwards - or the time it seemed like everyone but you knew the rumor?

By Renwick Congdon RISMEDIA, Nov. 19, 2007-As we discussed last month, sharing information within a group or company is often referred to as "tribal knowledge." By de-centralizing the workplace, tribal knowledge-and with it, one of the most effective methods for continuing education-is lost.