Building Your Real Estate Technology Tool Kit

Your Real Estate Technology Tool Kit

The last 10 years have brought revolutionary changes to the real estate industry especially as it relates to technology. I'll never forget the first website I built in 1995, the same year Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 1.0 and Windows 95. Of course, there were very few people looking online for information about real estate. My site was more of a resource - a link I could email potential customers with information about the area. As far as finding my website, search engines were still in their infancy and Google wasn't officially born until 1998.

There are numerous technology tools, in addition to agent websites, that help real estate agents become more efficient and enable them to better serve their clients. I've shared these ideas at the panels and conferences where I've been invited to speak. Below are some of the tools I find most useful in my real estate business. At the end, you'll also find a list of books I recommend.

Active Rain

Online community for real estate professionals

Active Rain: Active Rain is both a social networking site and a blogging platform. Google loves Active Rain but even if blogging isn't your thing, Active Rain is a great place to go for real estate and technology information, and much of it about as current as you'll find anywhere. You will need to Sign up to access the member only posts. It will take just a minute and you'll be amazed at the good stuff you'll find there!

Agency Logic Powersites

Single property websites

Agency Logic Powersites: Agency Logic Powersites offer a unique way to market a single property with the features of a full blown website and a distinct domain name. Powersites offer the ability to add 100 photos, unlimited prperty description text, imbedded video and audio, and custom links. The $50 price includes the domain registration and 12 months of hosting.

Animoto

Welcome to the End of slide shows!

Animoto: Animoto is a new and free mashup tool that lets you create a video from your images and music. Animoto was developed by former MTV, Comedy Central and ABC studio producers. It is automatic, customized to music and easy to use. As their website proclaims: welcome to the end of slide shows!

Big Huge Labs

Get creative with your photos

Big Huge Labs: If you use FLICKR and you REALLY should, then you will love BigHugeLabs! There you will find online photo toys which give you the ability to make calendars, cubes, badges, slide shows and magazine covers from your own digital photos. One of my favorites is the Motivator toy which lets you create a poster with a humorous or inspirational message. There are plenty of useful real estate applications at BigHugeLabs.

Carbonite

Economical backup service

Carbonite: If you are looking for an efficient backup service, then Carbonite might be just what you need. Carbonite's online backup service starts automatically and works continuously in the background protecting your data. You can restore files you accidentally erase or recover deleted files with just a few clicks. And if your PC crashes, you just visit the Carbonite website to recover lost files.

Email Ideas

Email signatures

Email Ideas: Make your email signature a marketing tool with quick links to your personal websites. Reinforce your branding with every email you send. An ecard signature by Email Ideas is just $4.95 a month.

Evite

More than a party animal

EVITE: Evite can help you plan your next event with checklists and other cool tools, but it is the electronic invitation feature of the site that makes it worthwhile. You'll need to think beyond party invitations to fully appreciate this site; consider using it for office meetings and other business events. You first create your invitation online. Your guests receive an email to view their invitation which includes maps, directions and details. Evite will track responses for you and your guests to view. Even planning a meeting can now be fun!

Free Conference

Free conference calls

Free Conference: Yes, you can make conference calls for free! I've been using FreeConference.com and their free web-based scheduling tools for my voice conference call needs. This is the perfect solution when it is appropriate for each caller to pay their own long distance charges. No gimmicks here. Free and reliable.

Flickr

Organize, store and share your photos

Flickr: Photography has become an essential component of real estate marketing. It is easy to quickly accumulate 100's of photographs. Flickr helps you to organize, store and share your photos on-line and makes it easy to add photos to your websites. If you are already using Flickr to store your photos, you may not even realize you can also create photobooks, calendars, posters and stamps. And be sure to check out MOO where your creativity and Flickr combined can produce some really cool stuff!

Flip Video

Video Recording Made Easy

The Flip Video: I bought the Flip Video on Amazon a few weeks ago and couldn't be more pleased. It is simple to use with one-touch recording and fits in my purse or pocket. The internal memory holds up to 60 minutes of video. Plug the USB arm into your computer then upload your videos to share by email or upload to YouTube. It is perfect for showings and on listing appointments.

Gizmoz

Build a talking character of yourself

Gizmoz: Sometimes you just gotta have fun! Gizmoz.com allows you to create a talking character of youself! Upload a photo and Gizmoz will animate you fast and free. Record your own message or use it with one of their pre-recorded messages. It might not get you business but your kids will think you are very cool!

Google Page Creator

Build a quick webpage

Google Page Creator: Have you ever wished you could create a quick webpage but don't know HTML from CSS? Google Page Creator lets you design your own webpage as easy as creating a word document. The pages you publish are hosted on Google servers for the world to see. It's simple AND FREE. All you need is a Google account and a GMail address. (Also free.)

Jott

Your voice message transmitted into text

Jott: Jott is FREE, simple to use, and very cool! Jott turns your voice message to text. Dial a toll free number, speak your message and the transcribed text message is delivered via email (or voice) to yourself, someone else, or even a group. I have the Jott number programmed on my cell phone and use Jott to leave myself reminders or to contact the whole team while I'm on the road.

LetterPop

Make newsletters in minutes

LetterPop: Want to create and send an online newsletter? Try Letterpop. Get started with a free account which gives you a maximum of 10 newsletters a year. Or, for more newsletters to a larger audience, you can sign up for as little as $9.98 a year. As their website suggests: "You can make Amazingly Creative Newsletters in minutes. Easy, Fun Powerful - with no software to download.

Log Me In

Simple access to your computers from anywhere.

Log Me In: This service is similar to Gotomypc.com but free! Log Me In also offers an upgraded pay product but I'm completely satisfied with the free service. I find it a great tool to access office computers to assist with support or for file transfers.

Paperport

Paperport turns piles into files

Paperport: One of my very favorite organizational tools is Paperport. Paperport software is the easiest way to turn piles of paper and photos into organized files that you can quickly find, use and share. Paperport simplifies things by bringing together all of your project documents in one place. As an example, each of my listings has its on online file complete with documents and photos which can be viewed as large clear thumbnails on one page.

PhotoWorks

Turn your real estate photos into client gifts

Photoworks: I'm always looking for ideas for closing gifts and farming giveaways. I found some creative products at Photoworks, a great little website where you can turn your photos into custom books, photo cards, calendars, mugs and more. I especially like the photo tiles and coasters as a closing gift. There's plenty of fun stuff there too, like photo playing cards and puzzles.

Picnik

Online Photo Editing

Picnik: There are many choices when editing photos, including Photoshop Elements, a popular choice among amateur photographers. While Picnik may not be able to do everything that PE can do, you'll find a much shorter learning curve, giving you the ability to easily edit your photos online. Besides the typical tools like fixing red eye, Picnik has some fun stuff like creating borders, drop shadows, and a cool Polaroid feature. Picnik's basic tools will always be free. Picnik Premium, featuring advanced editing tools, more effects, and more fonts and shapes, is $24.95 per year.

Read Notify

Track your email

Read Notify: Have you ever wondered if a client actually received the email you sent? ReadNotify will track your email and tell you the date and time it was opened, how long the email was read, how many times it was opened and whether it was forwarded. If you included a URL in your message, it will also let you know if the URL was clicked. Yes, it sounds a little big brotherish but I find it a very useful tool when sending important communication. A one year basic subscription to ReadNotify costs $24 a year.

Real Estate Shows

Easy, fast and unlimited presentations for one annual fee.

Real Estate Shows: If you are interested in quickly creating internet presentations, Real Estate Shows is something you should consider. This product is a simple and easy tool for creating 30 and 60 second commercials. Editing is instantaneous. Make a change and that change is seen immediately by anyone viewing your presentation over the internet. Links easily to your MLS and Realtor.com, too! The price of $125 a year for UNLIMITED shows is a bargain.

Realty Tools

Online CMA program

Realty Tools: When I first saw Realty Tool's "Tool Kit CMA" program, at the National Association of Realtors® Convention almost 10 years ago, I remember breathing a sigh of relief that I had finally found the CMA product I was looking for. Toolkit CMA is a web based system that delivers pages of professional graphics and a final product to be proud. It is custom branded for major franchises including RE/MAX.

The program does plenty of other stuff too, like buyer property tours with mapping and FSBO and expired listing presentations. For me, the CMA program alone is worth the $168 a year price tag.

Roboform

Password saver and filler

Roboform: Is logging into your favorite websites becoming a chore? Roboform makes easy work of it. Roboform memorizes your password and user name and then automatically fills them in the next time you logon to the site. You need to only remember ONE master password and roboform securely stores the rest of the details. You can also use roboform to complete registration and check out forms. Although there is a pro version for $29.95, the basic version of roboform is free.

Snag It

Innovative screen capture tool

Snag It: This week's technology tip has a top spot in my technology tool-kit, as it falls into the "I can't live without it" category. With SnagIt, you can select anything on your screen - an area, image, article, or web page - and capture it. Then, save the screen capture to a file, send it to SnagIt's editor, then share it by e-mail, or drop it into a Word file, MSPublisher file or another favorite application. Quick, clean and cheap!

vFlyer

Create online (virtual) flyers

vFlyers: Create online flyers to use on your own blog website, in your email and for websites like Google Base and Craig's List. vFlyer offers a free, ad supported service as well as a number of affordable subscription options.

Wellcome Mat

The YouTube of Real Estate

WellcomeMat: 2008 will certainly be the year of the video in real estate and Wellcome Mat is quickly becoming known as the YouTube of real estate. This free resource allows any real estate professional to upload their own 3-5 minute video tours (or they will recommend a videographer to do it for you). You'll find the final results similar but of a much higher quality than YouTube. Once uploaded, your video can be embedded into any website or blog.

Books I Recommend

How to Use Flickr: The Digital Photography Revolution

Secrets of Online Persuasion: Captivating the Hearts, Minds and Pocketbooks of Thousands Using Blogs, Podcasts and Other New Media Marketing Tools

by John-Paul Micek, Deborah Micek

Amazon Price: $25.51 (as of 07/26/2008)

Real Estate Rainmaker: Guide to Online Marketing

by Dan Gooder Richard

Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 07/26/2008)

More Great Books I Recommend

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