This is a really cool tool for a real estate professional. Watch this video when you get a chance.
Have you been using Docusign and tired of paying? Well A la Mode Inc has launched SureDoc with E-signatures. I am going to test it and do a comparison next week. If you can’t wait until then go check it out.
Now that we’ve moved our office into the cloud to become truly paperless we were struck with the idea of safety. We are using Google Apps to run our brokerage. It is great. However, what happens if Google changes their mind about not being evil and deletes all of our data?
The solution we came up with is Backupify.com. I feel like Carbonite.com is the solution for backing up your laptop or desktop. Backupify however backs up all of you info in the cloud. Facebook, twitter, Gmail, Google Apps, Google Docs etc.
There is a free version that mostly backs up your social media sites. The version we chose is less than $5/month and my whole company is essentially backed up. What a deal.
I have just switched my brokerage over to Google Apps. I did it at first to save on email costs. Essentially I was paying about $10/month per user for a hosted exchange solution. It was reasonable but it adds up and it is not very scalable as the costs would get really high after awhile. I just did it so I am going to reserve judgement but the main problem agents have is that their email is different depending on the device and syncing is problematic.
Using Google Apps I was able to manage my domain so I can have user@mydomain.com However, we get the gmail interface. So if you like gmail this is almost like making gmail personalized. I can set up group email addresses like admin@mydomain.com to send to just the support staff. Or, agents@mydomain.com for the agents. So far the new email is great and every device is synced.
Now for a couple of benefits I didn’t even know about. I can overlay calendars with my staff to see who is available and so they know when I am. This is huge. We no longer have to invite each other to events so they know when I am gone. Also, Google sites allows us to whip up websites whenever we need something quick. For example we are building an admin wiki so when we hire new people they have a resource to see how to do things.
There are free apps for recording podcasts and editing photos and so much more. I am still just getting a feel for how it works. I’ll let you know in a month or so all the other things I can do.
If you are not using QR Codes you are crazy. First, in case you live under a rock, A QR code is a barcode readable by scanners. 85% or more of the phones being sold today have the ability to scan QR Codes.
Here is the beauty of QR Codes. Within that code in the bar, information is stored. Here are some examples of information that can be stored. This information is unlocked and displayed to the user.
URL’s – Send them to your facebook page, your website, your listing detail page, your virtual tour, a youtube video, or any other URL you can imagine. Ideally, since they will probably be viewing it on their phone’s browser, send them to a mobile version of your site. If your company’s listing detail does not automatically create a mobile version use something like Vflyer to create a mobile flyer. Then send people to that mobile flyer.
Why would you put a piece of paper with a couple of pictures and some information out on a sign when you could literally give someone all of your contact information, community information, house information, pictures, virtual tours etc? I believe in the very near future no one will have paper flyers anymore. It may not be QR Codes but it will be some form of digital information.
Now, think of some creative ways that you can use QR codes to build your business. For my test, I just changed my profile picture on facebook to a QR Code. I then used goog.ly to shorten the url and track the number of times it is clicked. If you are not using goo.gl click here to read why you should. Hint, it creates QR Codes for you amongst other things.
Goo.gl is a url shortener. It is better than most because of the following.
It shortens your url
It creates a QR Code for that url
It remembers that you created this url if you’re logged in
It gives you statistics on the number of times your code was clicked.
Bottom line, all of your links should be sent out using goo.gl That way you’ll be able to tell what is generating traffic, from where and and when.
I have been waiting a long time now for the ekey to be available for android phones. The Iphone got it a couple of months ago and I have been excited ever since. There is nothing worse than forgetting your keypad when you are out showing. With this, too large for my taste but, beggars can’t be choosers, fob attached to my keychain I will not have that problem. Supra released it’s Android solution and I went out immediately to get it. Below is a quick video if you want to see what it looks like and how it works.
