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e P O W E R! N E W S
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Issue 1 / Volume 2 -- January, 2001
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"The Power Of People Connecting With People Through The Internet"
A powerful resource for real estate professionals looking to maximize their
online business with the Internet Empowered Consumer™ (compliments of Mr.
Internet!)
__C O N T E N T S___________________________________________
* mrinternet! TIP #1: How To Add Live Help To Your Web Site For Free In A Way
That Blows Human Click Out Of The Water! ...
* mrinternet! TIP #2: How To Turn Showing Feedback Into A Powerful Competitive
Weapon! ...
* MAIN ARTICLE: How To Ease Into Online Transaction Management For Free And
Get New Listings To Boot! ...
* PARTING THOUGHT: 'Tis The Season ...
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** mrinternet! TIP #1: How To Add Live Help To Your Web Site For Free In A Way
That Blows Human Click Out Of The Water! ...
Many agents are already benefiting from the use of Human Click, a great
little tool that provides real-time interactivity for your Web site
visitors. However, beginning in 2001, Human Click will no longer be offered
for free.
No problem. You see, I have uncovered another similar service that in
addition to being free, has features and benefits that leaves Human Click in
the dust! It's called Livehelper and can be found at
http://www.livehelper.com. Now
before you go clicking off to check it out --check *this* out first:
* Voice and text chat capability - you or your assistant can actually speak
to your visitors if they choose!
* Unlimited number of "operators" - you can have any number of assistants
(especially "virtual" ones) monitor and interact with your site visitors!
* Complete records of every session (text and voice) - you can see how
effective your assistants are in assisting visitors and whether or not they
exceeded regulatory bounds!
* Easily build a library of pre-set messages - allows much faster
interaction without typing when typical answers can be sent in a push of a
button!
And much, much more. In fact, the feature set of this incredible tool is so
enormous, it would take more than this entire newsletter to explain it all!
You can see their very comprehensive product comparison by going to:
http://www.livehelper.com/products2/comparision.html
Rarely do I get so excited about a new product or service, but this one
really pushed *my* interactive buttons!
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** mrinternet! TIP #2: How To Turn Showing Feedback Into A Powerful Competitive
Weapon! ...
Getting agents that show your listings to provide useful feedback can be a
big problem. Assembling that feedback into a powerful presentation for your
seller's consideration is a lot of work.
Both of these issues "go away" with a very clever and inexpensive new online
service called Homefeedback.com which can be found at
http://www.homefeedback.com.
I spent some time with Rick Bengson, CEO of Homefeedback.com as he explained
the service and listened to some suggestions that I had (they do listen, BTW
--a very good sign for a "dot-com" these days!) This service essentially
automates the process of requesting and entering feedback from showing
agents. It will send out at least 3 e-mail requests (which you can
customize, like just about everything else in the system) until there is a
response as well as track agent response time. Showing agents just fill out
a simple form on the Web, which then gets automatically compiled into very
attractive looking statistics to show the seller. Very cool, very well done.
These folks have really thought this through with nice extra touches like
enabling you to create and offer any kind of incentive (i.e. lottery
tickets, participate in a large drawing, etc.) to entice agents to report
back on their showings. Now imagine going on a listing appointment and
showing the prospective seller how you can give them real-time feedback on
the showing / marketing process --it almost makes you feel sorry for your
competitors!
Their pricing is already quite reasonable ($5.95 per month plus $3.95 per
month for each property input into the system). However, I was able to
negotiate an "e-Bate" pricing package for you that effectively eliminates
the monthly flat fee. Just go to
http://www.homefeedback.com/package for details. BTW, they do not
advertise this package on their site --you will only hear about it from this
newsletter or in the e-Bate section of my Web site at
http://www.russer.com. (as always, I
receive no compensation for negotiating these e-Bate discounts --just my way
of saying "Happy Holidays"!)
This is one of those services that really leverages the Internet in a way
that makes you look like the hero, beats the uninformed competition, and
makes your job a whole lot easier!
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** MAIN ARTICLE: How To Ease Into Online Transaction Management For Free And
Get New Listings To Boot! ...
You've heard and read about it, and there are close to two dozen companies
offering it --Online Transaction Management. This use of the Internet is
destined to powerfully change forever the way we manage our transactions.
However, with so many "players" it's hard to choose which one to even try.
Not any more. This month's eye-opening main article will guide you to the
one and only online service (to the best of my knowledge, anyway) that is
set up to manage transactions (at no cost to you or your broker) regardless
of where you reside in the U.S. (my apologies to my non-U.S. subscribers...)
or the nuances of your area's closing process. As an extra bonus, it also
goes on to show how you can use this service to beat your competitors to new
listings as well! Just go to:
http://www.russer.com/~ami/001215/dmri_00-12-15.html
(reprinted with permission from the January 2001 "Ask Mr. Internet!" REALTOR
Magazine column)
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** PARTING THOUGHT: Tis The Season ...
Here we are, entrenched in yet one more holiday ostensibly for the purpose
of feeling better about ourselves and our fellow man. Unfortunately, these
are the times (especially this particular holiday) when we are more likely
to feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and in a great deal of hurry to make sure
all of our holiday "obligations" (isn't that a contradiction in terms?) are
taken care of. So much to do, so little time to do it...
What if we just "stop" for the moment, and instead use this special time to
consider who we are and *why* we are here? Let me share something with you
that helped me "stop" and regain the real perspective of this season (and of
life, actually).
Most of you don't know this, but working very hard behind the scenes to help
me do what I do is my very capable virtual assistant Valerie Kushnerov. She
and her husband Paul (who is of Russian descent) decided about a year ago to
adopt a young child, preferably a girl, from Russia (they already have a
very cute five year old son, Nicholas).
In your wildest dreams you could not imagine the bureaucratic red tape that
is involved in adopting a child from a country that hardly has the means to
support its own working population, much less the disenfranchised (you would
think they would be anxious to see these children with loving, safe,
financially stable families --go figure).
After many false starts and nearly crushed hopes, Valerie and Paul (who are
in Russia as I write this) have finally realized their dream by officially
becoming the loving parents of Katie, an absolutely beautiful young Human
Being. You can see Katie for yourself by going to:
http://www.russer.com/personal/katie/katie_kushnerov.htm (she looks a
bit younger than she is because frankly, she was highly undernourished at
the under-funded orphanage where she was staying.
When I first saw those big-brown eyes of hers, I wept --knowing that two
very loving human beings literally saved the life of another (and knowing
that so many others wouldn't be so lucky). I can think of nothing more
powerful to "stop" and thus enable me to really tap into what this season
(and life) is all about.
'Tis the season --to stop and remember who we are, and why we are here. May
your holiday season be rich, warm, and filled with the joy of knowing a
little better this thing we call "life".
~ Mr. Internet ~
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Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark of RUSSER Communications,
mrinternet™,Internet Empowered Consumer™, IEC™, and Rules Of
Engagement™, are all trademarks of RUSSER Communications
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ISSN: 1530-5252 - Library Of Congress, Washington D.C., USA
Copyright © 2000, 2001 RUSSER Communications, all rights
reserved. You may forward this newsletter only in its
entirety including this copyright notice.
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