All of us are always selling. We spend lots of time and energy every single day trying to influence others in one way or another; whether we’re asking someone to buy something from us, agree with our reasoning or even obey our directions. As a real estate professional, you’re always on the sales frontline.

People have short attention spans.

In fact, a recent article from Time Health Neuroscience says: "The average attention span for the notoriously ill-focused goldfish is nine seconds, but according to a new study from Microsoft Corp., people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain."

Wow. 

But how exactly are you supposed to engage real estate leads just 8 seconds? 

Follow these 5 proven real estate lead engagement tips:

Real estate agents have a great deal of responsibility, not just when it comes to helping buyers and sellers through their transactions - but when it comes to acting ethically. Ethical behavior includes being open and honest, protecting clients and acting in their best interest, refraining from misrepresentation and cooperating with other real estate professionals to make transactions as smooth as possible. In many cases, it's as simple as following the golden rule and treating others the way you want to be treated, but in real estate - not every situation is that simple.

There are tons of articles out there telling you how to optimize your MLS listings to make them stand out to potential buyers (including this one that we published a while back). While it's true that you need to be aware of things that will be a turn-on to home shoppers, you also need to be aware of avoiding things that are a major turn-off. This post provides a list of MLS listing description faux pas, as determined by agents and brokers.

What NOT to say in MLS listings (advice for real estate pros):

I've seen plenty of articles about consumers' frustrations with agents, but haven't seen any that tackle the issue from inside the industry, coming from the people who eat, sleep, live and breathe real estate day in and day out. I did some research on what really irritates agents and brokers when it comes to their peers and compiled a list of the most common real estate pet peeves. 

Top 11 Agent & Broker Real Estate Pet Peeves: