Tech Article for You

If your real estate technology plan does not include using an 800 number response
hotline with your listings, classifieds, open houses and direct mail, you are wasting
money on your advertising… guaranteed.

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Just in case you have never heard of a service like this, 800 number response
hotlines (also called IVR Numbers or Interactive Voice Response Numbers) provide
you with an easy way to get information to your prospects. You get an 800 number
and tons of extensions to use with your different ads. For example, with your next
listing you could setup a message at your 800 number at a specific extension.
When your prospects call the number and enter the extension they will hear your
message and you will capture their contact info.

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Now the biggest benefit of adding a hotline like this to your real estate technology
arsenal isn’t that you will have a steady flow of prospects calling YOU for
information about your listings…

The biggest benefit isn’t that you will be able to WOW your prospects by calling
them immediately after they call you for information…

And the biggest benefit isn’t even that you will be able to blow away the competition
at your next listing presentation by letting your future clients hear the Pre-Recorded
message you have ALREADY recorded for them about their listing…

No, the absolute biggest benefit of investing in 800 Number Response Lines is that
you will be able to stop throwing your money away on unprofitable advertising by
tracking every piece of marketing you put out there with a phone number on it.
Everything will be trackable. Everything.

When your prospects call your number and enter their special extension, you will
know EXACTLY which ad they are responding to. That knowledge is priceless.

It will be like having an invisible hand guiding your marketing decisions… because
you won’t spend any more time walking down the dead end path of unprofitable
advertising.

If you find your postcards aren’t profitable, you can abandon them or fix them until
they are.

If you find that your open house classified ad is not pulling its weight, you can fiddle
with the headline until the response improves.

There are so many ways to use this technology… the list is only limited by your
creativity.

So if 800 Number Response Lines are so great, why aren’t more real estate pros
using this technology?

Well let me ask you a question:

Aren’t you just a bit overwhelmed by the number of “systems” that are out there that
are designed to “revolutionize” your business? I know I get overwhelmed just trying
to keep abreast of all of the new ones that are coming out every month. And that’s
my business!

You’ve got contact management systems, mailing systems, prospecting systems,
referral systems… You name it, there is a system for it.

Everywhere you look you are bombarded with real estate technology systems for
this and systems for that. It is no wonder that eventually you get so tired of it all
that you “shut down” and swear off systems altogether.

Now take a hard look at the systems you use in your real estate business and ask
yourself, “Does this system make my business more profitable or does it just make
me busier having to babysit, monitor and tweak it all the time?”

If it’s the latter, throw out the system and start over.

A system to track your advertising, however, is not optional for any smart business.
Tracking your marketing will payoff huge dividends in the form of money saved and
more money earned.

800 Number Response Hotlines have been around for a LONG time, but I am always
surprised by the small number of real estate professionals that are actually using
them…

If you aren’t using them, you NEED to look into it. Take the time to focus on setting
up this invaluable marketing system. It could be one of the smartest marketing
decisions you make this year.

Jason Leister, the Real Estate Technology Guru ™, is owner of Computer Super
Guy, LLC, a Chicago-based technology firm that helps real estate professionals
profit with technology.

Visit the
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Optimization.”

Tag: real estate technologyreal estate technology

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Do you need access to your email (ALL of your email) from anywhere?

Are you concerned that you are only a hard drive crash or a stolen computer away
from losing all of your email?

Are you in the dark when it comes to transferring your email from an old computer
to a new one?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you need to understand two
important email-related words:

-POP (Post Office Protocol)
-IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)

Don’t worry about remembering exactly what they stand for. As it is with most
technology acronyms, the exact meaning doesn’t really matter. It’s the underlying
idea that is important. All you need to remember is that those two acronyms decide
where your email lives.

With POP, your email lives on YOUR computer. With IMAP, your email lives on the
computer of the company that provides your email service.

No matter which you choose to use, you will read your email in the same way.
Things will pretty much look the same from your perspective either way.

Choosing whether POP or IMAP is right for your real estate business is something
you decide based on these key things:

1. The setup of your email service provider (do they offer you a choice?).
2. Whether or not you need access to your email (all of your email) from anywhere.
3. Do you want to be responsible for the security of your email or do you want a
professional tech person to watch over it?

Provided that your email service offers IMAP mail, you will need to make your choice
between POP and IMAP when setting up the program (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.)
you use to read email.

Here is a quick rundown of the main differences between the two setups:

********
POP
********

PROS:

-simple and quick, even dial-up users can download email without too much
waiting
-most email programs default to using POP email so no extra knowledge is required
to set it up
-requires less space on your email provider’s computer (resulting in cheaper rates)
since you are constantly moving it onto your own hard drive

CONS:

-your email is downloaded to and stored on your computer only, after which it is
viewable from your computer only
-the safety and security of your email depends on how well you maintain the
security of your computer and how often you backup your data
-transferring email from one program to another or from one computer to another
can be a huge headache

********
IMAP
********

PROS:

-email is not downloaded to your computer - all of your email is stored on the
computer of your email service provider
-email security and backups are monitored by your email provider; if your computer
meets an early death, your email will be unaffected
-your email (including all of your folders and subfolders) is accessible from any
internet connected computer
-transferring your email from one computer to another or from one email program
to another is quick and simple

CONS:

-requires you to be connected to internet to read your email
-probably not a good idea for dial-up users
-takes up more space on your email provider’s computer as the amount of mail
stored there grows and grows (resulting in slightly higher rates)

Here’s the million dollar question:

How do you choose which one to use?

Just ask yourself two questions:

1. Do I need/want to view my email from any computer?
2. Do I want to ensure that I will never lose my email due to a computer crash?

If you answered “Yes” to one or both questions, you should look into IMAP. If you
answered “No” to both questions and regularly backup your email yourself, you
should probably stick with POP (that is most likely what you are using now).

Regardless of which email setup you choose, understand that as your real estate
business changes, you always have the option to change your technology setup to
support your new goals.

Tag: real estate technologyreal estate technology

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Despite the large amounts of time I spend surrounded by bits, bytes and other tech related objects, I am first and foremost a business person.

And while clients, vendors and revenues are important to running a business,
PROFIT is king. After all, it hardly matters what you make. What really matters is
what you keep.

To that end, I firmly believe that if technology is not making you money, then
something needs to change.

It is time that real estate professionals stop shortchanging themselves by viewing
technology as nothing more than a support staff for their business. Yes, computers
are good at automating menial tasks, but they are even more effective at marketing,
selling and generating profits for your real estate business.

In order to transform real estate technology from a cost center into a profit center, it
needs to be promoted from the “administrative staff to the board room.” Real estate
technology needs to become a strategic partner in your business, working WITH you
to achieve your CORE GOALS. If it can’t do its job, then it needs to leave.

So how in the world do you do that?

The first step is to be absolutely clear about what your goals are. Goal setting can
look very different from business to business, but the important thing is that your
goals are SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE. What EXACTLY do you want to achieve? By
when?

And how will you know if you are on the right track?

Goal setting can take a lot of time, but the payoff to having your target clearly
defined will be huge!

Once your goals are set, you are ready to begin brainstorming about how to use
technology, not to SUPPORT you in reaching those goals, but to PROPEL you to reach
them faster, easier and with more certainty.

Of course the help of an expert won’t hurt in making technology decisions for your
real estate business, but the important thing is to make sure that EVERY decision
you make has a clear connection to moving you closer to your goals. As a business
owner, however, YOU have to lay the important groundwork by etching your goals
clearly in your mind.

When technology is completely aligned with helping you reach your business goals,
your real estate business will run more smoothly and create larger profits with less
effort than ever before.

So is there room for improvement in your current real estate technology situation?

Here are some questions to consider:

1. If your current computer systems were an employee, would you fire him?

2. Which does your current technology setup create more of, clients or problems?

3. Is technology pushing you towards your goals or creating obstacles between you
and your goals?

And the most important question of all…

4. At the end of the day, is all of your real estate technology costing you money or is
it making you money?

NOW is the time to consider stepping onto a new path: the path where technology
begins to put money in your pocket rather than take it out of your pocket. This new
path is more fun and a whole lot more profitable.

Tag: real estate technologyreal estate technology

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