Shhhhhhh!!! The Intrepid Paparazzi here, dishing you the low down on what Michael Russer is really up to when he’s out there visiting all of you! What he doesn’t know is we’ve figured out how to hack into his little blog system here to share these unauthorized insights directly with you. First up, Amsterdam! Yes, our dear Mr. Internet loaded up and went overseas to visit our Dutch brothers.

With the opportunity to address RE/Max Europe came the chance to delve into what trouble a new city has to offer. Let’s go ahead and get the practical business info out of the way… Yes, it was a highly successful meeting! There were over 35 countries represented in this seminar hosted by RE/Max Europe, Europe’s largest real estate brokerage. The attendees were delighted with Michael’s performance, stimulated by the new ideas he presented, energized and motivated to take their business to a new level. Of course, we expected nothing less, right?

Now to the fun stuff. Honestly, Michael cleared out of that meeting as fast as he could go. There were things to do, places to go, sex toys to see! Oh, ah, we mean… well, no – it’s true. You know they are a lot more liberal with that kind of thing over there! Just take a look at this picture. Nah, that’s not so bad, huh? And it must be admitted we never actually saw him enter the shop. However, he did have a few extra minutes when this Intrepid Paparazzi had to visit the little Dutchmen’s room!

The rest of the sight seeing was even more beautiful. Like this place for example! What would a trip to Amsterdam be without sampling the golden bubbly native nectar? Of course, doing a bit of sampling ourselves, we missed getting that incriminating photo for proof…

Oh, and what visit to a new locale would be complete without a bit of gambling on the side, hmmm? You should have seen Mr. Internet there – even the Little Dutch Boy couldn’t have stopped his cash flow!

All right, all right. We didn’t catch him with his finger in the dam either, so guess we’re done impugning Mr. Internet’s squeaky clean reputation. Worst we can accuse him of is trying on a few too many pairs of wooden shoes. Truth is, the main focus of Michael’s camera during his trip was on the true beauty of Amsterdam: the unique architecture, the lovely landscaping, the artistic decoration. Called “The Venice of the North” due to its extensive canals, boats and bicycles are the primary transportation in the city. Here we share with you a few of the images he captured.

Well, that’s it for now. We’ll keep you up to date from time to time, giving you the low down on the down low of Mr. Internet!

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I know that there are tough markets out there right now. I know that there are some freaky mortgage things happening right now. I know that there are some agents struggling right now. I know that I have yet to see a market not make sales from month to month. That is, no one has reported back to me that there have been zero sales in any market. I also know that the layman’s definition of insanity is, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

If you are in a tough market you have to change the way you think, unless you are really insane. Of course, if you are insane and are aware of it, then please seek professional help.

My wife is a successful real estate agent, and has been in the business for over 22 years. She closes 350 homes per year 65% of which come from our internet presence. I have watched our business grow as a result of the internet, when I created our first website in 1997 for $150. However, the one thing that she has always said to me is that listings drive the business. This is still true regardless of the market, but what most of my clients tell me in this market is that getting listings isn’t so much of a problem. So, what happens when you are in a market that is piling up listings faster than the national debt? You may need to change your approach to real estate. You are in need of a mind set change.

If you are in the type of a market where listings are not the problem, and since homes are still selling, then what you need are buyers. Quite honestly you may be in a market where buyers are driving the business. This will be quite a mindset change, but follow the logic.

Homes are still selling, maybe not at the same rate that you once had in your market, but they are still selling. Based on national statistics, more than 60 percent of buyers select their agent from the internet via search engines. To be found on the internet in a search engine one must have a web presence (not just a website) that helps give you search engine power. One must also balance their web presence with a tremendous amount of content that is regularly updated, that is well organized, and is actually useful to the consumer, and is consistent with their business model.

What does this mean? First, know your numbers!!! I can not emphasize this enough. Are you tracking how much traffic you are getting from your website(s)? How many leads are you getting? How many are you converting? What is the percentage of quality leads? How are you defining quality? What is your average response time when a lead comes in? What are all different ways people are finding your site? How are you tracking which advertising is driving the most traffic? Where are your internet leads coming from? How are you tracking that? If you are having difficulty answering these questions then it is like a person dropped into the middle of the wilderness with compass. You may have a useful tool, but you have no idea what direction you should really be going in.

Second, this means that you need to have a complete analysis of what you are really providing to the consumer. Do you know what information your consumers are looking for? How do you really know, or are you just making the assumption you know? Who are your consumers? What is really your target market? Do you know what questions are really important to them? Are you really answering those questions, or are you just telling them how great you are? Do you even know what the right questions are to ask? How about usability? Is your site set up in the most psychologically advantaged way so that the consumer can ultimately find the information they are looking for with ease? How do you know where they are clicking on your site? What is the most visited page? Why that page versus other pages on your site? How are using that to your advantage to gain the potential client as a lead?

Third, this means that you must have a search engine strategy in place. Are you going to use pay per click? How much are you going to spend? What words and phrases are you going to spend it on? What happens when the budget runs out, are you willing to fund it? What are the best words? Are the most common words and phrases the best? What are the best words for producing business? If not pay per click what is your strategy for organic search? Do you even know what organic search is? What words and phrases are you going to focus on with in your text? Are you adding new content to your site regularly? Who is connecting to you? Link exchange is now being degraded by the search engines, so who is linking to you? Where else are you in the internet? Can other people find you outside of your one website? Do you have pages in other places? What do they say about you? Are they about you or good information for the consumer? How about BLOG’s? Do you have one? Do you update them daily?

Finally this means that you do NOT go to a web designer first. It means that you have to outline and employ a solid strategy that is going to have the ability to answer these questions and more that I have not asked. Web Designers by trade are not interested in answering your questions they are interested in getting you a design. While it might look appealing at glance, you may in fact have an awful website. What’s worse you probably will not engage in a web presence at all. Please, please know your information before web design.

I trust that you realize you must have a mind shift. If you are in a tough market you have to become friendlier in your web presence you have to balance your web content with what the consumer wants, what the search engines want, and what you are capable of doing in your business model. This means that in some of your markets the old adage of, “If your going to last, you gotta list” must change to, “If your going to get a bigger piece of the pie, you better meet the needs of those who buy.” You are going to have to wrap your mind around a business model that flies in a different direction. In many of your markets those who have the most buyers are the ones who are making a tough market work. Then when the market does change, you will have put yourself in an easier position to get listings. You are going to build a reputation as the real estate agent who can be successful in the tough markets not just the good ones. Your job now is to change your mind set, so that you set up minds of your market.

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Last week I went to pay some bills online. I looked at my account and realized there were charges listed that I had never made. I called the bank immediately. We shut down all of my accounts and opened new ones.

I went to the bank 10 business days later, and I still did not have a functioning ATM card. That meant that rather than simply go to an ATM for cash, I had to wait in a long, long line at the bank for a teller. Twenty minutes later, by the time I got to the head of the line, I was seriously annoyed. I expressed my annoyance to the teller. Her response? “Calm down, Ma’am.”

So my dear readers, do you think this response calmed me down?

Of course not. It had exactly the opposite effect. I went through the roof. “Don’t tell me to calm down,” I snarled. Where before I had simply been annoyed, now I was really angry.

So why am I sharing my banking woes?

The above story illustrates a basic principal: If you want people to respond well to you, you must meet them where they are. Had that teller been well trained, and had she really wanted to calm me down, she should have responded by matching my intensity and agreeing that not having an ATM card and having to wait in a long line was really annoying. She could have then apologized for the situation (”I’m sorry you still don’t have your card”) and I would have felt heard and understood.

When making introductory calls, or even in your face-to-face meetings with prospects, you have no idea what may have happened the moment before you called or walked in the door. You have no way of predicting the mood or the personality of your prospect. Whoever they are and wherever they are, you want to meet them in the same place. This is called Matching. You want to match your prospect’s intensity, energy, rhythm and personality as much as you can. This does not mean that if your prospect seems to be angry, you need to be angry too. It means that you acknowledge that anger and respond at a similar level of energy and intensity.

What is interesting is that if you match your prospect, you can then help them to shift their energy. Had that bank teller responded by acknowledging my annoyance and matching my energy, she would have calmed me right down. Once we were in the same place, all she would have had to do was speak a little more slowly. I would have followed. This is called Pacing. You go to where your prospect is, then you can start to take them to a different place.

Because I’m a dancer, rhythm is important to me. Everyone has their own internal rhythm. There are also regional differences in rhythm. I live and work in the Northeast. We tend to be speedier than other areas of the country. When I call another part of the country, I need to slow down a bit. I have a client based in the Midwest who frequently calls the Northeast. She needs to speed up when she makes those calls. This is also Matching.

A good place to start is by simply listening to other people’s rhythms. If they speak quickly, so do you. If they are a little slower, well, slow down. Over time you will begin to do this automatically. Once you’ve got the rhythm down, work on the other elements, the intensity and energy. You will find that the more you are able to Match and Pace your prospects, the easier it will be to build rapport and have great conversations.

Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. Her recently released program, The Miracle Appointment-Setting Script, and/or her book, Cold Calling for Women, can be ordered by visiting http://queenofcoldcalling.com. Contact her at wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get Wendy’s free Special Report, How to Write an Effective Cold Calling Script, at http://www.queenofcoldcalling.com

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