Second Self Virtual Assistance

Do you have documents you want to share with your colleagues or real estate clients?  I’ve found an online document storage site for FREE: DocStoc.com.  At DocStoc, you can upload your professional documents, such as deed transfers, letters of intent, notice to vacate and lease agreements (both residential and commercial).  Once uploaded, you can share them publicly or keep them private so only the people you choose to share them with can view them.

In addition to the online storage, DocStoc offers documents for purchase as well as free downloadable documents you can share with your clients.  Some of the official documents available to download include commercial lease agreements, deeds and agreements, financial models (Hope for Home Owners Program, Offer to Purchase Real Estate and Traits of a Quality Loan Mod are just three of the top documents available), industrial documents, lending documents (such as Assignment of Mortgage and Loan Modifications), residential leases/rental agreements, retail forms (such as Purchasing a Franchise, Business Relocation and Real Estate Price Index) and many others.

If you have a professional document you would like to sell, the DocStore is open for business. Put your expertise and experience to work by creating documents that other real estate professionals can use.  If you haven’t been able to find a form that suits your needs for an aspect of your real estate business, you may want to create one and market it to others.  Or, you may find that, by visiting the DocStore, someone else has created just the form you need for your real estate needs.

For all your online document storage needs for free, consider DocStoc.com.  It’s great for sharing, it’s great for storing, it’s great for selling.  See how you can utilize DocStoc for your real estate business now.

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

Are you looking for new ways to be fun and engaging on your website or blog?  Need to spruce things up a bit?  I have just found a way to jazz up your site with SiteJazzer.  SiteJazzer, from Harbinger Knowledge Products, is an interesting program that allows you to get creative in how you showcase your online content, whether it’s for a blog or a website.  For example, you can create a 3D cube, 3D flip book, panning cards, add ticker captioning to videos, create animated banners, add quotes from past clients and much more!

3D Cube - Add images for different pages on each one of the cube’s six sides and then link that side to its corresponding page.  It’s a unique way to capture a visitor’s attention and keep them engaged on your site.

3D Flip Book – This creates an online “book” where visitors can “flip” the pages to go on to the next item.  It would be great to use for relocation guides, community information or even buyer/seller tips.

Panning Cards – Set up photos showcasing different areas of a client’s listing.  Each card also has a link where you can bring up a blurb discussing what each room/area has to offer a potential buyer.

Ticker Captioning- Do you use video on your site?  Add ticker captioning to the bottom of a video, similar to news programs like CNN and MSNBC.

Animated Banners – Create a scrolling banner for your photos both vertically and horizontally.

Quotes – Highlight your testimonials using the quote flicker feature.

Right now, Harbinger is offering a 30 day free trial for SiteJazzer. Just sign up and use it for 30 days, risk free so you can get a feel for it and see how you like it.  If you wish to continue on after the 30 days are up, you can pay for the Silver subscription at $9.99/month or $99/year or try the Gold subscription for just $24.99/month or $149/year.

If you’re looking for a fun way to jazz up your site, try SiteJazzer.  It’s a unique way to showcase your best assets and engage your visitors.

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

Do you have a difficult time remembering names? Do you forget a person’s name as quickly as they’ve given it to you?  This is not only embarrassing, it’s bad for business.

Why do we forget another person’s name so easily? Are we internally setting ourselves up for failure because we’ve decided that we just can’t remember?  Or, is it a matter of the person’s perceived importance to us in our business or personal lives?  For example, the clerk we just met at the post office may not be quite as important to us as the prospective client.  So, we are more apt to remember the prospect than the clerk.

What are the best ways to remember a person’s name?

1. Tell yourself you will remember – Avoid the mental block.
2. Repeat the person’s name – Say it again during your conversation with them.
3. Learn some techniques/tricks – Ask for a business card, think of something that rhymes with their name or use word-association.

In today’s past-paced world, let’s take a little time to remember that everyone we meet has a name and loves to be remembered.

This week is “Be Safe at Home” Week.

You’ve heard the phrase, “Home Sweet Home”.  Home is where we go when we want to be safe and sound from the world around us.  However, according to some studies, it may not be as safe as we think.   Some people tend to let their guard down at home because people “feel” safe there.  They overlook hazards and potential accidents.

We have all  heard a good bit about “toddler proofing” a house.  However,  keeping your family safe inside and outside your home goes a lot further than that. Your home needs to be a place where you actually are safer; not just “feel” safer.

You can do something special during this week:

• Challenge yourself, family, friends, and neighbors to fix as many potentially dangerous things as possible around the house like that loose door, wobbly chair leg, slidding area rug, nail that backed out of the wooden deck, leaking faucet, add safety locks to cabinets with chemicals, etc.
• Write about your last 5 home accidents; one per day and tell how they could have been avoided.
• Write about safety equipment every home needs and why.

Don’t let this week “slip” by you without doing something for your family.

Stop paying hundreds of dollars a year for your website!  Get a professional real estate website for less.  At Second Self Virtual Assistance, we offer several different templates that also allow you to create a blog directly on your website.  Since search engines LOVE content that continually evolves, having a blog directly integrated into your site gives you that much needed “Google Juice”.

The real estate market has taken its toll on just about everybody, including REALTORS®.  In today’s economy, everyone needs to watch their expenses.  A real estate website is important to a real estate professional’s business.  But, you don’t have to spend big money to keep your web presence alive.  After the initial set up fee, your cost for your domain name and web hosting can go from hundreds of dollars per year down to as little as $60 a year.  That’s a savings you can’t afford to ignore!

So, if you are looking for a more cost-effective way to market yourself online, get a professional real estate website for less.  All you need to do is fill out our handy free online consultation form and we’ll be happy to discuss your options whenever you want.

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

It seems that the way we view online information is continually evolving. Luckily, so is technology. At first, websites had lots of text. But, that got boring. Then, we added photos for a splash of color. Nicer, but still not enough. Static photos gave way to slideshows. And now, videos are all the rage. Luckily, with the evolution of websites and viewer tastes comes the evolution of technology. If you’re looking for a way to bring interest to your site, you might want to consider creating a video yourself. But you don’t have to step in front of the camera or even hire actors to do this. You can convert text to movies with XtraNormal.com.

With the free XtraNormal account, you choose your background, whether you want one or two actors in the movie, whether you want them to be both men, both women or a man and a woman and even the type of voice you wish your actors to use (American accent, British accent, Australian accent, Indian accent, boy, girl, adult, etc.). After that, you simply type in what you want each actor to say. You can control the camera angles, actions, facial expressions, insert any sounds and create pauses wherever you want with each character. If you want an even wider variety of options, you can pay for them with xtranormal points you can purchase.

What can a REALTOR(R) use this for? Create a video profile on your social networks or website, a special holiday message, highlight a community in a fun, new way, talk about recent real estate news that your visitors may enjoy, share information that you think may be helpful to buyers or sellers or even create a fun “congratulations on your new home/the sale of your home” video. This is definitely one way to catch a website visitor’s attention and help you stand out from the crowd.

Here is a quick video that one of our team members put together using the free options on XtraNormal:

It’s silly and fun, but can also be used as an inventive way to grab those potential clients’ attention. If you can type, you can create a movie. Convert your text into movies with XtraNormal.

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

In a competitive field like real estate, it’s important to not only stay up-to-date on the latest real estate trends, but also to continually evolve your marketing strategy to keep up with the times.  In some cases, this means that real estate professionals need to think outside the box.  Here’s one possible idea: coupons.  Coupon usage is on the rise, especially with so many people counting their pennies and really thinking about where they want to spend their money.  I’ve found a great place to create your own online coupon: RealtyCoupons.com.

At Realty Coupons, you can create your own account for free.  Your profile can contain any information you want, including your contact info, a link to your website and a blurb about your business.  From there, you can create any real estate-related coupons you want.  You are only limited by your imagination.  Some examples of coupons other real estate professionals have created include receiving a check for $350 at closing from the agent, receiving a free property inspection, a home purchase credit, cash back at closing and free foreclosure lists.  I even created my own coupon about my free websites for real estate professionals program you see to the right of this post.

In addition to creating your own coupons, you may want to consider letting your clients know of other valuable coupons available online.  At RetailMeNot.com, you can search their database of over 65,000 online stores to get special coupons available only online to places such as Amazon, Home Depot, Best Buy and Target, just to name a few.  CouponSnapshot.com offers coupons in all kinds of categories, including travel deals, health care and even pet care.  And PennySaverUSA.com allows users to search for coupons available in their specific area for things like free moving supplies and self storage specials.

So, whether you wish to use coupons already available online or create your own online coupon, this is something different to offer clients that will definitely be appreciated.

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

My husband and I love the Steve Martin movie “Father of the Bride”.  Yes, the Spencer Tracy version is nice and all, but I do love Steve Martin.  In the movie, he tries to cope with the costs of a “little wedding” that turns into THE event of the century.  Trying to pare down the costs wherever possible, he decides that it is better to go with the “cheaper chicken” (which sounds like “chipper chicken” when spoken by wedding planner Franc, played by a hysterical Martin Short) than the “chic shrimp” for dinner.  So, anytime my husband and I make the more economical decision, we call it “the chipper chicken”.

Why am I telling you this story?  To explain this story.  In the last week, I have had two real estate professionals call me to fix errors made by another Virtual Assistant who charged less money but also did a much more inferior job.  In effect, they ordered the “cheaper chicken”.  And both real estate professionals told me the exact same thing: “I should have just hired you in the first place.” Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I wholeheartedly agree.

Now, I’m not saying you should stand for highway robbery.  And the most expensive person isn’t necessarily the best either.  However, if you call around to different Virtual Assistants and find that they all charge between this amount of dollars and that amount of dollars but there’s one Virtual Assistant who is charging much less than what everyone else is charging, there may be a reason.  That reason will most likely be that they don’t know what the heck they’re doing.  I think the best way to gauge whether a Virtual Assistant can do what they promise is to check their references.  After all, who’s better at letting you know how happy/disappointed they are with a Virtual Assistant than someone who has used them before.

As for the cost, consider this: if the two agents had hired me originally to do the job rather than hire “the other guy”, it would actually have been cheaper in the long run.  It typically costs more time (read “your money”) to fix a mess than to get the job done right the first time.  So, when you need to hire a Virtual Assistant to help you with any of your website, marketing, blogging or social network needs, etc., consider checking out their references before hiring the “cheaper chicken”.  You do get what you pay for.

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

Have you ever tried posting something on Twitter or even tried updating your Twitter profile and gotten the dreaded ”Fail Whale”?  Earlier this week, I was trying to change the background on a client’s Twitter account and was having trouble saving my changes.  At times, I couldn’t even log into an account because the system was so busy.  That little whale has popped up on my screen so much lately that I was pondering the idea of abandoning Twitter altogether.  What’s going on?  Is Twitter outgrowing itself?  Do the recent issues signal an end to Twitter?

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By now, you all should understand how important blogging has become to promoting your real estate business.  But, just like static photos have given way to slideshows and videos, blogging has evolved into something more: podcasting.  It is now easy for real estate professionals to create your own podcast for FREE!

PodBean.com is a podcast hosting website that allows you to create and publish your very own real estate podcast for FREE.  Yes, I said it…FREE!  You don’t have to be a “techie” to do it either.  Once you sign up for your free account, you will be sent an email containing your password.  Log in to your account, add a logo/photo, podcast title, podcast description and podcast directory listing on the dashboard and you’re ready to rock.

Your PodBean site looks very similar to a blog.  In fact, when you want to publish your real estate podcast to your PodBean account, you will need to go into your dashboard, add your tags, title and content describing the podcast.  Then, you will be able to add your media file and publish it.  PodBean accepts MP3, M4A and MP4 audio files as well as MP4, M4V, MOV, AVI and MPG video formats, FVL flash video, 3GP mobil video, PDF (eBooks), Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.  With that many options, your promotional opportunities are endless. (more…)