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, endlessly fascinating, and can be 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 deep into cyberspace and seriously hooked!

You're not alone. Many of your real estate 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 have been invested much more profitably.

If you, like others, find it hard to resist the lure of endless information and interactive chat rooms, it's time to put yourself on an Internet diet. The first step is learning how to get where you want, 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 each time you get on the Net.

2. Limit the amount of time you intend to spend there. Ten minutes or less should be your goal. The Internet can be all consuming, so make use of a timer to keep your time online in prospective.

3. Stay focused. Discipline yourself to produce results from the time spent on the Net. 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 per page. For example:

   Google's advanced search option will give you 20, 30 even 50 to 100 results on your first click rather than the 10 default sites. In addition, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and Askjeeves.com all offer variations of the advanced search option, plus collections of images, weather forecasts, news headlines, maps, and other practical information. For Internet dieters, this 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 are seeking.

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, phone numbers, Internet addresses, maps and driving instructions.

7. Find out what your competition is doing. Using a search engine, 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 for finding vendors and comparing their products and prices.

8. Bookmark your favorite and most helpful websites.

Take Your Experience to the Bank

Doing a better job in less time is everyone's goal, and efficiency is the key. eRainmakers who limit their web searches 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 complicated, when a lot of the time, we just need simple, direct, and informative.

Published: November 16, 2005

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