8 Simple Ways to Break an Internet
Junkie Habit

by Dan Richard, Gooder Group

Tips from the 11th new rule of online marketing:

Old Rule: Best practices are the best practices.

New Rule: Best practices are the ones that work for me.

No doubt about it, the Internet can be addictive. It’s easy to access 24/7, it’s endlessly fascinating, and it’s habit forming. You’re at your keyboard, checking on the latest tech tools or market listings or mortgage rates when the urge to click on an attractive link “for only a second” creeps up on you. Before you know it, you’re four or five links into cyberspace and you’re seriously hooked!

You’re not alone. Many of your colleagues, clients, and prospects are Internet junkies, too. No harm, no foul, right? Wrong. Anytime you find yourself surfing the Net and having nothing to show for it, you have just cost yourself time and money that could be invested much more profitably.

If you, like others, find it hard to resist the lure of endless information and amusing interactive chat rooms, it’s time to put yourself on an Internet diet. The first step is to learn how to get where you want to go without getting lost in those meandering side trips.

The Internet Junkie Diet

  1. Search, don’t surf. Make it a rule to have a particular purpose or specific information to find each time you get on the Net.

  2. Limit the amount of time. you intend to spend there. Fewer than ten minutes should be your goal. The Internet can be all consuming, so use a kitchen timer to avoid the chance of minutes ticking by without your realizing it.

  3. Stay focused. Discipline yourself to produce results from time spent on the Net. It’s so tempting to go down this rabbit hole or that one, leaving your purpose - your need for specific information - in the dust. Use the “back” button to keep your place and stay on purpose.

  4. Use advanced search options on major search engines to increase the number of results shown. For example:
    • Google’s advanced search option will give you 20, 30, 50, or 100 websites on your first click rather than the 10 default sites.
    In addition,
    all offer variations of the advanced search option, plus collections of images (for example: Images.Google.com/Images, weather forecasts, news headlines, maps, and other practical information. For Internet dieters, this alluringly bottomless buffet is extremely appetizing. Don’t go there unless acquisition of that information is your stated purpose.

  5. Refine your search by using a method called Boolean logic which uses “and,” “or,” and “not” to zero in on the information you’re seeking. This site Computer.HowStuffWorks.com explains, among other things, how Boolean logic works. Again, beware! Here, the temptation is to find out how a lot more things work.

  6. Go right to the source. If you want to locate a specific business or person quickly, Switchboard.com or AnyWho.com (among others) will search U.S. white and yellow pages to give you an instantaneous listing of requested names, addresses, phone numbers, Internet addresses, maps and turn-by-turn driving instructions (free and paid report options).

  7. Find out what your competition is doing. Use a search engine to bring up your or your company’s website. Right under your listing you will find an option to check out similar sites, such as competitors. This tactic works well, too, for finding vendors and comparing their products and prices.

  8. Bookmark your favorite and most helpful home pages. For example, USPS.com will help you find a zip code, calculate postage, locate a post office, and track and confirm mailed items.

Take Your Experience to the Bank

Doing a better job in less time is everybody’s goal, and efficiency is the key. eRainmakers who limit their web searches every time to a few minutes per results-producing-trip experience new highs in their online productivity rates.

Time and money are important to your clients and prospects, too, so pass the favor on by making it easy for your clients to navigate your website. Everyone appreciates an uncluttered and easily navigated site with answers at every turn. Make it a point to employ the two-click rule: One click on subject, one click on topic. No distractions. No distress. Often, simple web design is best.

The Internet is a complicated world, when a lot of the time, we just need simple, direct, and informative.

Copyright Gooder Group. All rights reserved. Dan Gooder Richard is author of REAL ESTATE RAINMAKER® GUIDE TO ONLINE MARKETING (www.eRainmaker.com) and REAL ESTATE RAINMAKER® Successful Strategies for Real Estate Marketing, published by John Wiley & Sons. Dan is also founder and president of the Gooder Group, www.GooderGroup.com, a Fairfax, Virginia-based publisher of marketing materials for real estate professionals and lenders. Dan is a member of the National Advisory Councils for GoGetLoan.com and GoGetRealEstate.com. For more about Dan, visit GoGetLoan.com/Get/DanRichard.

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