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“Technology is changing everything!” When was the last time you heard this? Well, guess what? It’s still true, and as we make our way through 2012, your inbox will continue to be flooded with opportunities to own the latest and greatest “must-have” technology tools. But while emerging technology will always “change everything,” it also has the capacity to suck away your time and energy and cause you to lose focus on the most important things in your life and business. Let’s take a look at social media as just one example. Social media has taken not only the real estate industry, but the entire world, by storm. The concept of social media as a tool for business is a solid concept, and the premise of regularly staying in front of your clients has enormous value.

Do you know that 90 percent of Americans break their New Year’s Resolutions by January 31st? You can prevent this from happening, and turn your resolutions into a reality. Tip 1: Be Clear and Specific People are always coming to me and saying they want to be more successful. Is this your goal for the New Year? If so, then start to think in specifics. What does success mean to you?

Many agents have and continue to work with buyers without the security of a formal contract. Yet, similar to the listing agreement with the sellers, there are buyer broker agreements between an agent and the buyer for a specific period of time, with an exclusivity attached to it – that exclusivity basically states that if they buy any home within that period of time, as long as they’re in that relationship with us, we will get paid a pre-agreed upon sum of money. In many real estate businesses, it’s 3 percent.

Just three weeks after Congress restored $40 million in its budget for homeownership counseling, a new study by the Urban Institute reports that counseling greatly increased the ability of homeowners to stay current once they cured a serious delinquency or foreclosure.

We have many reasons to be optimistic about housing. Past-due mortgages and foreclosure filings have been trending down in recent months, not to mention inventory is decreasing, interest rates are lower than ever and home prices are stabilizing. But the progress is fragile, and ongoing recovery won’t be helped by unreasonable regulation. The only appropriate focus for legislators is helping families who are struggling right now and doing whatever it takes to keep properties out of the REO market.

Are you wondering how to survive this holiday season? Do you get caught up in the fast pace to the point of stress and exhaustion? What if, this year, you could create exactly what you want? How about transforming stress into joy? How about making more money, instead of digging yourself into a hole? This article offers seven tips to help you thrive this holiday season, financially, emotionally, and energetically.

Whether it's filing your taxes on time, paying your bills, cleaning out the garage, or getting out of bed to exercise, everyone tends to procrastinate once in a while. It has been said that Robinson Crusoe is the only person to have all of his work done by Friday. Are you the type of person who tackles projects head on and gets tasks done right away, or do you tend to procrastinate and put things off? The habit of procrastination is an attractive form of self-sabotage and is the grave in which opportunity is buried. Procrastination can take a toll on all aspects of your life and has a significant impact on your mental and physical health. The habit of procrastination brings with it a whole host of overwhelming, negative emotions such as increased stress, anxiety, guilt, fear, worry, depression, and low self-esteem.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes edged up two points from a downwardly revised number to 21 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for December. This marks a third consecutive month in which builder confidence has improved, and brings the index to its highest point since May of 2010. “While builder confidence remains low, the consistent gains registered over the past several months are an indication that pockets of recovery are slowly starting to emerge in scattered housing markets,” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev.

In recent years, it has been hard to ignore all of the negative publicity that has been circulating about the national economy, the stock market and current events. The state of the real estate market in particular has received a lot of bad press. With all of the foreclosures and short sales that have been flooding our market, and all of the problems that have been occurring in the lending industry, I thought it would be in all of our best interests to create a quick business plan to help us focus. Simplify, simplify, simplify — Find a few things that you are good at and become an expert in each one. We are constantly being bombarded by massive amounts of data, new marketing strategies, advancements in technology and new techniques for serving our clients.

Sound, lights, action! The show is on and you’re out to get the best bang for your buck. After all, you’ve dedicated considerable resources for travel, lodging and other expenses to attend one of the most important industry conferences of the year. You should be able to draw as much value from your investment as possible. For many, overwhelming “noise” at conferences can easily turn the “action” part of the equation into a “freeze” scenario. A deer-in-headlights-type situation.

Consumer confidence in our industry has plummeted and brokerages of all sizes are having a hard time maintaining their relevance. We need help, and we need it now. So what can the real estate industry learn from Apple and Steve Jobs’ tremendous impact on other industries? Lots, if we pay attention to what he did. - He gave consumers an engaging way to acquire products that were completely different and changed the way things had been done before. - He created must-have products that were streamlined, engaging and simple to use.

In the world of listings, the silver medal means absolutely nothing. It pays less than nothing. And, in fact, it actually costs you, because of all those wasted hours (and gas for your car, materials for the listing presentation, etc). This is why your only goal in the business of getting a real estate listing is first place. Being second carries zero reward–and even a negative balance. Whereas, if there were five REALTORS® competing for the same listing, then the last person actually beat you, because they probably spent less of their time and money on it!

Editor's Note: The below article, which originally appeared in the December 2011 issue of Real Estate magazine, features updated information regarding the National Flood Insurance Program. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) is a leading advocate regarding federal legislative and regulatory issues affecting the industry and homeowners. NAR’s efforts drove these accomplishments in 2011:

The heart of any company can be found beating inside the walls of its customer service department. Providing superior customer service after the sale is a smart business decision that pays long-term dividends. All the money a company spends on sales training, marketing research, advertising, and PR initiatives to attract new customers is wasted if clients aren't satisfied after the sale. Your satisfied customers' positive "word-of-mouth" endorsements have always been and always will be your company's greatest asset and most effective marketing program.

When used correctly, QR, or Quick Response codes, are exactly that—instant, direct and an extremely efficient means of delivering content to a potential consumer. QR codes definitely have the “cool” factor. Unfortunately, for many companies, the use of QR codes ends with this cool factor, never allowing them to fulfill their potential as a valuable marketing tool. Here are some basic, good-practice measures that can take your QR campaign to the next level, harnessing the power to put your content in the hands of the consumer.