I came across this when I was researching color ideas for my new site..and loved the energy it inspired.

FREE Cool Tool ALERT!

Yes, It’s that time again..the time where I jump on my blog in excitement, when my little fingers can’t type fast enough to get the word out, about a cool new tool!

As a real estate virtual assistant, not only am a booking my own consultations and appointments, I am often asked to manage a clients as well. Booking showings, phone calls, coaching sessions and marketing webinars and teleclasses is just few of the reasons why scheduling has become a very important tool for today’s business owner and their team.

In the world of fast driving technology in real estate I have become one of the many who is seeking better tools for working virtually and for being a mobile professional. As we step outside our old office and into our home office/car office being productive and efficient is key. The more online tools that I can access and embed for my use the better:)  Such as it is with Appointy.com.  This makes scheduling appointments fun and VIRAL!!

SO WHAT MAKES APPOINTY SPECIAL? Check out the scenario below:

Ana searches for a real estate agent. She finds a local expert (YOU) and books an appointment instantly.

Eric, Ana’s friend decides to join Ana and books an appointment with the same expert (YOU) for another time. Again, Eric’s entire friend list got an update that he is going to meet the expert (YOU), by spreading word-of-mouth publicity virally.

If you have 10 clients with 10 friends each, you already have 100 clients in your area. Appointy.com helps you get those 10 clients by registering you in our search engine from where first clients will reach you. Be prepared to scale your business exponentially!

With the FREE account you get these features. (With paid versions there is added features)

• A community of people will help your business grow exponentially.
  (New ways to grow your business)
• An easy to use 24x7x365 online booking system
  (Your clients would enjoy taking appointments with you)
• Daily, weekly and monthly availability in just one click
  (Ajax powered very clean Interface)
• Unlimited Staff, Service & Bookings
• Customer Relationship Management Tool
  (Export your data anytime in excel format)
• INTEGRATE ON YOUR WEBSITE
• Automatic Verification of client to stop false bookings*
• Send text messages (SMS) or automated call alerts to clients (Appointment reminders to reduce client no-show, notes, offers, etc.)
• Set your business hours based on the fact that each staff can perform service at different times of the day
• Send courtesy “Thank You” message to your clients and accept ratings / feedback to improve your services.*
• Multiple service booking at the same time
• Allow your clients to select their preferred staff
• Personalize your calendar by uploading your logo, business information, and interactive Google map of your location
• Automatic appointment assignment to the most free resource. (If staff selected)
• Set Service Dependency
• Reschedule Appointments

I just think that these types of tools are the ones that will set up real estate offices and brokers of the future, putting the power of Social Media and online web tools together to build from ANYWHERE! It may not be for everyone, but its one type of service to get excited about.

(Disclaimer: Oh, and P.S. I do not get paid for any endorsements..! Please read all features and demos on the website for the most accurate info, thanks:)

As you may already know..Real Estate is changing. It takes place in the office, at home, in Starbucks, and from your car. Having the right tools to do business means leveraging technology with productivity from “virtually” anywhere.

Using a professional real estate virtual assistant is fast becoming a viable option for real estate professionals to find administrative and marketing assistance. But making the decision to use a “VA” can be vague without having the proper information, tools and references to evaluate where to look for a VA, what to look for in a VA, and exactly where to start.  So begin here:

A Real Estate Virtual Assistant will..

• Help you discover innovative strategies that will propel your or your team’s business by increasing productivity by 20%-60%.
• Be your real estate assistant, when don’t have the time to train someone, and don’t want to deal with the hassles or the expense of an employee.
• Provide virtual support for real estate tasks such as Listing Coordination, Marketing, Social Media Management and is knowledgeable in the most up to date trends, real estate programs, and Web 2.0 technology available.

Yes! You CAN Afford a  Virtual Assistant:

Whether you’re a Top Producer or a new agent, need a one-time project or an ongoing relationship, we have flexible plans that will work for you, and can be tailored to fit your needs…and better yet…are affordable! You can pay hourly, per project, or by monthly plan. We can provide the perfect combination of reliable real estate assistant services with creative designs for your collateral marketing materials. Many original templates can be seen in our Portfolio.

Working Together, Virtually:

With Creative Agent Solutions.com as your real estate virtual marketing assistant you have a partner who has already been trained on some of the most up to date Internet marketing tools used today. We consider it our job to learn those new concepts, so you don’t have to. Together, we can implement creative real estate marketing strategies to keep you in front of the competition, and give your listings the extra attention needed in today’s market.

Need more info on virtual assistants for real estate?

We know that you will want to be as informed as possible when making the decision to outsource to a VA. Take the time to educate yourself with the resources you may find here. Take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions for answers to questions most commonly asked, then give us a call for a FREE consultation.

So I drove home from my second experience at RE Bar Camp in San Francisco with a bit of urgency..after experiencing some amazing sessions! When I walked out of Trulia Headquarters, I realized what I walked away with was not just “ideas” or “new technology” or “tips”..I walked away with some “in your face” implementation tactics that can be used NOW!

If you could take steps right now to increase your leads, increase conversion, streamline your website and your Social Media strategies, and actually track your ROI, I know you would feel the urgency I feel as well. So here goes: My brain dump from my experience from RE Bar Camp San Francisco.

Why Your Website is Failing..Creating a Website that Works

by Jim Marks of Virtual Results

After studying the statistics of what consumers are clicking on there are some clear standout strategies that you can take now on your website to give the consumer what they want. The basic concept that you all must be considering is the difference between Traffic Conversion vs. Branding.

If your website is all about you, then you are not giving consumers what they want. They don’t care about you, they don’t care how many designations you have and what they stand for. They Want LISTINGS! They want Information! According to statistics of what consumers click on the most, here are the Top 4 things to do on your website right now to increase traffic and conversions;

• LISTINGS- Your Home page biggest feature should be “FIND YOUR HOME” “call to action” with a basic MLS/IDX function right there. Don’t make consumers look for it, give it to them by framing it into your home page. (DON’T call it “Search the MLS“, as only 17% if consumers actually know what the MLS is”) You can have different levels of search functions. An example would be to have limited basic photos and details, before asking them to sign up or add their email.

• MARKET REPORTS- Let your consumers know how the local market is doing? What are the stats? Put this info in layman’s terms so that they understand what those stats mean to THEM. What is the information per neighborhood or development? They want to know what their neighbors house sold for and why?

• WHAT IS MY HOME WORTH? Another popular call to action is offering a CMA so that they can find out for free what their home is worth? Convert these leads by giving them something of value! A free Market Report, a Community Newsletter are some ideas. (ok I added that in…)

• Add YOUR BLOG TO YOUR WEBSITE- How many of you have a static website, and separate blog? That is SO 2006!!! Your Blog IS YOUR BRANDING! Remember how putting your dog on your home page was all the rage?? NO more! Your blog needs to be incorporated in your website, and it is there that you are free to share your voice, your personality, your photos..but remember to remain an authority on your community and balance your branding and flair with relevant information for your consumers! Even if your only blog is on ActiveRain, get it into your website!

Edutizing an Agent Population by Matt Dollinger

Learning to be a Local Expert does NOT just have to come from your experience or out of your head. It come from real life, in the moment information. And sometimes being the first to get that information out, makes you the front runner in being THE Authority in your market. So think about how you get that information and streamline the process so that your are getting relevant information for your consumers and your market. Some must have tools to have in your arsenal are:

• Use Google Reader: Grab your favorite RSS feeds from blogs, online newspapers, real estate outlets and craft your information to give the consumers what they are looking for.
• AGENT Metrics:
• OutsideIn.com
• MetroMix , YELP
  
• Local Photos, FLICKR
• Education.com, GreatSchools.net

Next, you must find out the correct delivery of this information for you target consumer. Do they hang out on Facebook? Do they respond to video media? Are they on Twitter? Are they Blog Followers? What is that they want the most?

You may need to do some experimenting to find this out, but here are some thoughts:

Have a 30 Day Facebook Campaign, a 30 Day Twitter Campaign etc. For 30 days track your statistics of how many people are clicking on your links, referring back to your website etc. Spend 30 minutes a day pushing the information out there and see where most of your hits come from. Then you will know what works and what doesn’t. Keep your 30 Day campaigns separate so you can track them accurately. But once you know, you can create an even better strategy for getting you information out there so they can devour it from their expert! (you can track your links with various link shorteners, like BUDURL.com and others.)

Ask yourself these questions on an ongoing basis:

What did I learn?
How was it received?
What medium is better in my market?
Was the topic valuable?
How could I make this more effective?

Implementation is sometimes the hardest thing in real estate! What many of you may feel you need is a start-up plan to help you start implementing the strategies that you learn along the way. As fast as things change in RE Tech and Web 2.0 we just can’t afford to sit and figure out HOW, when we just need to DO it!

This was just a taste of what I learned at RE Bar Camp SF..hopefully I can write more later, but I’m still wrapping my brain around it all!  It is an awesome event!

It was so great to finally meet IRL, ACTIVE Brad Andersohn, Gena Riede, Calie Waterhouse, Heather Elias, Ines Hegedus-Garcia, Rocky Turner, Mike Mueller, Dale Chumbley, Kristal Kraft, Sandra Mathewson and see again all the friends from RE Bar Camp LA.

Special thanks to:

Andy Kaufman, Ginger Wilcox, Todd Carpenter, Brad Coy and Rudy Bachraty