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Running Around 90 Miles an Hour with Your Hair on Fire?

Published September 29, 2011 |

Do you feel like you’re running around 90 miles an hour with your hair on fire?

Are you running out of time before you’ve run out of work to be done?
Do you wish you had two of you to help with your daily duties (a “Second Self“, if you will)?
Has the sales portion of your business (not to mention your family) suffered because you’re spending way too much time on administrative duties and marketing your business?

Successful real estate professionals know that, in order to be productive and stay on top of their game, they need to delegate their workload so it’s completed in a timely, proficient manner – giving them more time to focus on their buyers and sellers. That’s where a Real Estate Virtual Assistant comes in. But, what should a Real Estate Virtual Assistant be doing for you?

The right Real Estate Virtual Assistant has the experience, dedication and knowledge to take care of just about any job a traditional in-house assistant can do for you. They never call in sick, you don’t have to pay for their health insurance and payroll taxes, they need no training and you only pay them for work they do. There is no “down time” cost for adding a Real Estate Virtual Assistant partner to your staff.

A Real Estate Virtual Assistant should be able to help you organize and maintain your online presence. This includes blogging, social media networking and marketing yourself where it counts. That’s what gets your name on the tips of potential real estate clients’ tongues and keeps your phones ringing.

A REVA can also make sure your clients’ listings are promoted across the web to get the most exposure. As you already know, most buyers in today’s real estate market turn to the internet first when looking to purchase a home…even before they decide on an agent to represent them. So, getting your clients’ listings seen on the internet is an important factor in selling real estate to today’s tech-savvy buyers. Using mobile sites, drip campaigns, weekly or monthly newsletters, consistently blogging, targeted social media marketing and a professionally designed and maintained website can create a platform for both you and your clients to gain a widespread audience, especially to those potential buyers who are outside of your local real estate market and are contemplating a move to your area.

Your clients hire you to handle their real estate transactions because they need the knowledge and expertise you possess. This is the same reason you need to hire a Real Estate Virtual Assistant. A dedicated REVA continually educates themselves on the latest marketing techniques that help their REALTORS® succeed, not unlike a smart real estate professional does with their continuing real estate education. The REVA you hire doesn’t even have to be in the same city or state as you are to get the job done. We, at Second Self Virtual Assistance, have worked with clients from as far as Hawaii and Alaska to New York and Florida.

These are only some of the things your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can be doing for you. There may be a special project that pops up that necessitates getting help. A REVA can do that. Do you need someone to help you with traditional real estate marketing (such as flyers, postcards, etc.)? A REVA can do that. Only need someone to handle listing syndication or weekly blog writing? A REVA can do that.

Set an appointment with a Real Estate Virtual Assistant to discuss your current support needs and let your REVA set up a Plan of Action to accomplish your professional goals. Stop running around at 90 miles an hour with your hair on fire and start enjoying your real estate profession – and your family!

Pamela Cendejas, Real Estate Virtual Assistant – Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn’t Enough of You to Go Around!

Tagged real estate help, real estate va, real estate virtual assistants, reva, second self virtual assistance, virtual assistant for realtors

Stand Out from the Crowd

Published September 5, 2011 |

By resupport

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 |

Tagged custom icons, standing out

Free Online Computer Classes

Published September 4, 2011 |

By resupport

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!