Florida, Arizona and Nevada were once again top traffic destinations for international buyers.  Florida attracted 31.04% of all international traffic to the U.S, while Arizona increased it’s share from 15.15% in Q3 to 19.44%.  Nevada maintained its 3rd place spot with an 8.61% share of traffic.

Canadian traffic was once again the highest source for online visits, with 93.58% going to Arizona, 78.28% to Hawaii and 74.11% to Michigan.

Las Vegas retained it’s top spot on the report’s overall ‘top 20′ cities searched, with a share of 14.53% of all search traffic, and holding on to 90% of all the international traffic recorded for the state of Nevada.

But that’s not all!  To read the FULL report, make sure to download it here.

Are you an engaging leader or is control more your style? While a strong leader uses both styles, the engagement approach normally generates the best results.

When it comes to leadership styles, the Control Model is the most common. The Control Model places the focus on the leader’s needs as opposed to focusing on participant needs.

The challenge with the control model is that it mirrors the traditional classroom lecture situation. Adults, and especially Gen Y’s, dislike lectures where they they’re expected to listen and defer to an expert’s superior wisdom. The shift from control to engagement is important because it lays the foundation for creating trust.

To illustrate this point, imagine that you are leading a meeting where you must announce a fee or dues increase. You know that there will be serious resistance.  What would you do to best handle the situation?

The person who uses the control model will take the position: “Just live with it. It’s raise the fees or close the doors.” This often creates resentment because most people want to have a say in this type of decision, even if they can’t change the decision.

In contrast, the engagement model allows the leader to surface concerns and alternative solutions.

“We had to make a difficult decision between making major cuts in our services or raising our fees by 10 percent. We are going with the ten percent fee increase. What are some ways that we could trim expenses or increase revenues so that we can avoid future fee increases?”

When participants engage in the process, they own it. Best of all, this approach may surface new ways to improve your organization’s effectiveness while reducing costs as well.

Need more tips on how to lead effective meetings? Visit www.LeadGreatMeetings.com for more ideas on how to improve your leadership skills.

The holiday season is quickly approaching, bringing the new year in its wake and conjuring up images of all the things that were meant to be accomplished over the past 11 months, but never seemed to be completed.  Oh, the guilt of having neglected the reorganization of my laundry room!

But take heart!  Here are five easy steps that you can employ to ensure that 2010 is a successful and prosperous year for your business. Read more.

That is why the National Association of REALTORS® has updated their e-PRO® Technology Certification course – to aid real estate agents in offering the best service possible to home buyers and sellers through knowledge of key Internet business principals.

The re-vamped e-PRO Certification course aims to provide everything from the basics of online marketing to more advanced knowledge on social networking/Web2.0.  The course is ideal for real estate agents who are already online but want to build and maintain their customer base via the World Wide Web.  For a complete course preview just visit the e-PRO website right here.

Until October 16th, NAR is offering special discounts to both new and existing members.  For complete details, visit the e-PRO site right here.

Don’t miss this opportunity to take advantage of some of the best learning opportunities available to real estate agents, like you!

The Real Estate Web Guy, Michael Carbonara.

Formerly a real estate professional, Michael utilizes those experiences and skills to assist his clients in not only designing and customizing their Point2 Agent websites, but also providing assistance through virtual entry of listings, training, and Search Engine Optimization assistance.

For more information, check out Michael’s website.

Well, Mrs. O, this is for you! 

All four Getting Started Guides have been modified to be more concise, fewer pages, and fewer unnecessary screenshots.  Take a look at the new GSG’s!

Enjoy!

Tanya

~ Tanya Spilchak, Education Coordinator