Instagram for Real Estate Pros
Published March 23, 2012 | 
You’re a busy real estate professional on the go. You’re negotiating a deal for one client, getting an open house ready for another, just received a call from your next possible client who has just moved into the area and needs a home ASAP and are on your way to meeting up with colleagues for a power lunch at a new restaurant you’ve heard nothing but raves about. What if I told you that you could squeeze marketing into all that at the same time? With Instagram, you can share photos to your Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler and other social media accounts right from your iPhone!
Instagram is a free app available through your iPhone’s App Store. You can sign up for an Instagram account directly from the app. Simply add your email address, choose a username and password and you’re good to go. Once your account has been established, you will need to add the social media accounts you wish to share your photos with. In addition to Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, you can post to your Flickr, Posterous and/or Foursquare accounts. That means you can share a photo you take instantly from your phone to as many as six different social networks all with the touch of the screen. That’s a real time saver! There’s even a little bit of photo editing software included if you want to tweak your pic slightly before sharing it.
Of course, as with all social media tools, you will want to create your own sphere of influence to reach as many people as possible. That can be done either by searching and following Instagram users you find interesting, adding people from your contact list or simply contacting your Facebook and Twitter friends. It’s easy!
Right now, the Instagram app is only available on your iPhone. However, Instagram recently unveiled a prototype of its app for Android phones at SXSW in Austin. It’s set to launch soon, so keep an eye out, Android users. The next time you want to show off a new listing, invite people to an event you or your company is throwing or find the best coffee house in all the land, whip out your iPhone, click on the Instagram app, take your photo and share it with the world. Instagram is just another tool that should be included in a successful real estate professional’s arsenal.
Virtual Business Cards Get Personal
Published March 16, 2012 | 
Like just most things in life, even business cards have gotten quite “techy”. They’ve evolved from a simple piece of paper into wonderfully creative works of art. Since almost everyone nowadays has some form of computer available within reach at almost anytime of the day (whether that be a desktop, laptop, tablet or smart phone), taking the business card from paper to the virtual realm seems like a logical step.
This isn’t a new concept, of course. Virtual business cards have been around for a while. But, boy have they changed! CardFlick, one of the more popular and user-friendly of the virtual card designers, has unveiled a way to give your virtual business card a truly personal edge by allowing you to utilize photos from your Facebook Timeline, Instagram account or your own computer’s library. It’s really simple. After you have created your free account and added your profile information, go to CardFlick’s InstaCard section. From there, you can choose a design layout from one of their 30 templates, choose a personal background photo, decide on the text and accent colors, save and you’re ready to share.
CardFlick has made sharing your business card just as painless. When you are done designing your virtual business card, you can choose to send it to your contacts right away or save it for later. With their iPhone and Android apps, “flicking” your card to someone is as easy as touching the screen on your smart phone. And this is all available absolutely free to you. One down side I found was that it froze up when I tried to access the InstaCard section while using Internet Explorer. However, this was not an issue in Mozilla. So, I suggest you access your CardFlick account in the Mozilla browser.
Visit CardFlick’s website now to create your own personal virtual business card to share with your real estate clients. You are only limited by your imagination. Of course, if you ever need any help, please feel free to contact us at Second Self Virtual Assistance. That’s what we’re here for!
Create Your Own Facebook Welcome Page
Published March 1, 2012 | You only get one chance to make a first impression. This is true with blind dates, meeting your significant other’s parents, real estate listings… The same can also be said about your Facebook business page. When a prospective client goes to your Facebook welcome page, what are they greeted with? Something that looks like a work-in-progress or a real professional standout? You can create your own Facebook welcome page with the free Welcome Page Designer from AppAddictive.
The Welcome Page Designer app gives you four templates to choose from. You can add contact forms, edit videos and create your own content quickly and easily. You can also organize the email addresses you receive from your contact forms into a user-friendly, downloadable spreadsheet to keep track of your visitors. This app is absolutely free, takes seconds to install and will make you look like a professional in no time. Of course, there are limitations to what you can make it look like, since you only have four predesigned templates to choose from. For a more customized look, you will need to contact a web designer or Virtual Assistant, like Second Self Virtual Assistance.
As you may already be aware of, Facebook made its new timeline profile page mandatory as of today. Don’t be scared. Sometimes change is a good thing. In my opinion, the new layout is much more visually appealing and engaging. The jury’s still out on the scrolling sidebar thingy, though. I think I just need a little more time with it. Anyway, what you may not be aware of yet is that, as of March 30, 2012, all Facebook pages are also getting a new design. They are going to follow the same timeline format that profile pages are now utilizing. Don’t wait until March 30th to get your Facebook business page looking sharp. Create your own Facebook Welcome Page now with AppAddictive’s Welcome Page Designer. Of course, if you need help, Second Self Virtual Assistance can create an outstanding, fully customized welcome page for you as well. Just let us know what you need!
Free Video Channel for Real Estate Listings
Published January 26, 2012 | 
We can all agree that videos make great advertisements. Whether it’s for a property, an event or even showcasing your real estate skills, videos have surpassed still pictures and even slideshows in helping market you and your listings online. YouTube has become the second most used search engine (behind Google and in front of Yahoo! and Bing) on the internet today. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a place to upload the video of your client’s real estate listing without having it compete with cats playing the piano, stunts gone wrong and startled baby faces? Well, there is. It’s called Property Tube.
Property Tube was created exclusively for private sellers and renters as well as professional real estate agents and offices as a marketing platform for their properties. They give exposure of your clients’ properties to a world-wide audience. All you have to do is take any video you’ve created or had created by a professional and upload it to your free Property Tube account like you would with a YouTube video. In just two easy steps, you can map the location of the property, upload the video, add a catchy headline and provide details of the property in question, including adding a link back to your website or blog right in the description.
Just like YouTube, you can even create your own real estate channel. Keep your data base updated on what’s happening with your office, what’s going on around your neighborhood, new listings that need to be seen to be believed and general real estate news that everyone can use with your own branded real estate channel. This is a great way to engage an audience and keep them asking for more. And all this is absolutely FREE!
If you don’t fancy yourself a cinematographer, don’t fret. Property Tube can help you find a videographer near you to shoot an amazing, professional quality video. However, anyone with a Flip camera and some imagination can put together something truly special on Property Tube.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is just about priceless. And, with Property Tube, your priceless video can be advertised to millions of potential buyers all across the world for FREE! Just think of Property Tube as the YouTube of real estate listings.
Customize Your WordPress Site for FREE!
Published January 12, 2012 | Creating an interesting, interactive website used to cost thousands of dollars a year. Even if you went the “do-it-yourself” route, you ran the risk of looking like many other real estate sites out there by using the same old limited freebie themes. However, websites have come a long way, baby. Most real estate professionals are ditching their old expensive websites for a hosted WordPress site. They are much more affordable, offer a wide variety of plugins and widgets to completely customize your site, and, most importantly, they are completely user-friendly. Even computer novices can look like geniuses with WordPress.
Theme Shock is a great program I have found to help my real estate clients create a truly impressive WordPress site. Through Theme Shock, you can download your own free bundle of WordPress themes to use on your hosted site. Each free bundle includes your choice of 99 different WordPress themes (you can use 10 different ones at a time for free), 750 free high quality icons and more. For a fee, you can download the premium Shock Bundle. This includes 102 Premium WordPress themes, icons for Android and iPhone, credit card icons, social media icons, logo templates and so much more. The following are just a few examples of Word Press sites using Theme Shock my clients are currently using:
Don’t delay. Stop spending thousands of dollars on your real estate website. Get Theme Shock now and make a true impression on future clients. Just let me know if you need any help getting started.
Don’t Forget Anything Ever Again With Evernote
Published September 15, 2011 | 
Everyone seems to living a “hurry up and GO” lifestyle. Multi-tasking has become a common way to get through our daily lives. That is especially true when it comes to the life of a real estate professional like yourself. But, when you multi-task, you run the risk of forgetting some important information that you really wish you had later. There is a new real estate tool I have found that I believe can help you remember every idea, snapshot, memo and more for retrieval at any time. Don’t forget anything ever again with Evernote.
Evernote was created for any busy person living the on-the-go lifestyle. With Evernote, users can save notes, clip interesting web pages, store photos and even keep pdfs on file. It is easily accessible through your desktop, laptop or smart phone as well, making it totally portable and user-friendly anywhere you need it. If you have tons of paperwork and want to keep it organized, you can take a photo with your smart phone or scan it into your Evernote account at your home or office.
With your free Evernote account, you can create as many files (or “notebooks”) as you want. Add as many notes, photos, web page links, scanned documents and pdfs as you want to any notebook as often as you want. You can add tags to each file for easy reference. With their Web Clipper download, you can even “clip” parts of different web pages and send them to your Evernote notebook whether you use Windows, Firefox or any other web browser. It’s also available as an app on your iPhone, iPad or Android smart phone for your convenience.
Make a separate notebook for buyers, one for sellers, one for foreclosures and short sales, etc. You can include a checklist of information each new real estate client will need to have on hand that fits their particular profile (maybe a checklist of information a buyer will need to have on hand, what a seller needs to do to get their home ready before listing it or what a homeowner can expect when buying a short sale). Voila! You have an instant marketing package to send to any client.
Create an individual notebook for each client that includes their wants/needs listed to help you stay organized. When you do a broker’s open or caravan, take photos and upload them to specific clients’ notebooks so that you can share them with your clients later. You can also save any emails sent back and forth between you and your client in one area.
Evernote makes it easy to share with anybody and everybody, too. Simply go to the notebook you wish to share, click the “Share” button and choose whether you want to post it on Facebook, Twitter, send it through an email or get a link to share in another way. You won’t ever forget anything ever again with Evernote!
Stand Out from the Crowd
Published September 5, 2011 | 
Just as curb appeal is important when selling a client’s property, the image you put forth is important when selling yourself to potential clients. You don’t want your site, blog or advertising material to look like everyone else’s. You want to stand out from the crowd to keep your name on the tips of potential clients’ tongues when they want to buy or sell a property in your area. One way to do this is by using colorful icons to capture the attention of visitors to your website or blog.
Find Icons is a fabulous website I came across recently. It offers more than 308,000 different free icons available for download instantly. When I’ve look for icons in the past for my real estate clients, I’ve typed in what I’m looking for on Google and had to sort through tons of different sites to find just what I wanted. Then, I had to make sure they were free to use. With Find Icons, you can search by theme (ie, “real estate”, for example) or individual item (such as “home”). Change your social media icons at the holidays or to to fit your mood. Whatever image you want to project, you will most likely find something that fits here.
Whether you want to be serious, playful or simply need a change from time to time, Find Icons can help you stand out from the crowd. Whenever you find yourself in need of help with your online real estate image, just contact Second Self. We are always ready and willing to help you make the best impression possible for your real estate business.
Posted in Free Resources, Information, Real Estate Assistance, Uncategorized | 
custom icons, standing outFree Online Computer Classes
Published September 4, 2011 | I am a big believer in educating yourself to get a leg up on the competition. This is as true in the real estate business world as it is in your regular life. Since so many homebuyers turn to their computers to search for their next home purchase even before contacting a real estate professional, it’s a good idea to have at least some knowledge of how your computer works as well as gain knowledge on what you can do to make your clients’ listings stand out. Hewlett Packard, one of the largest computer companies in the world, offers some valuable free online computer classes that you may want to check out at their HP Learning Center.
Hewlett Packard is a wealth of information for real estate agents. Their Microsoft Office and Adobe classes teach
you how to work with Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Photoshop. Their home office classes will inform you about creating an interactive marketing brochure, designing unique business cards, constructing and printing high quality marketing materials and even online social networking tips. Their basic business classes offer information on editing videos for your real estate business, how to get started on Facebook and Twitter, networking basics and even how to build your very own web page. Their digital photography classes are a must for real estate professionals, since the first impression most buyers will have of your clients’ listings involve photos. Learn more about how to compose a shot before you take it to make the most impact, how to solve some common photo problems, scanning photos into your computer and how to touch up/edit photos using Photoshop.
Whether you’re a big corporate company or work out of your home, the HP Learning Center can help you build a better real estate business with their free online classes. Take advantage of all that Hewlett Packard has to offer today. Don’t feel overwhelmed, though. If you still find you need help with your real estate business, feel free to contact our team at Second Self Virtual Assistance. We’re always here when you need us!
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