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Real Estate Services by Jon Griffith

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About Registering a Domain Name

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Thousands of professionals use e-mail every day under “free” e-mail providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook, and Juno.  If you’re in business, you owe it to yourself to create an identity.  Not only is this a good plan for branding your business, but it’s also a good plan for establishing a permanent “world address.”

Many years ago I registered my name, jongriffith.com because I wanted exclusive ownership of that name.  I wanted complete and total control over all of the traffic that the internet sent to that domain name.

Think of a domain name as your surname.  No matter where you go, no matter where you live, your name will always be the same.  Your numeric address over time will change, but your NAME will always be the same.

In the internet world, we don’t refer to destinations like we do in the world of the U.S. Postal Service, although the system is similar.  There’s the Griffith family household at 1234 Main Street, and there’s jongriffith.com at some arbitrary, hidden number that would be too hard to remember.

I bet, in fact, that even though you know where some of your friends and family live, by landmarks alone, you don’t know their address.  You also wouldn’t know if they moved unless they told you, and if they did move, they would have to tell you.

On the interwebs, if you move, if your “house” is burned down, (your house being the computer where your website and e-mail reside,) you never have to tell anyone that you’ve changed your address.

This is NOT the case if you use Yahoo.com, or Juno.com as your e-mail provider.  Imagine one day that Yahoo announces that they’re either a) ending free e-mail as you know it, or b) went out of business, or c) changed their name.  Now you’re stuck having to announce to everyone, yet again, that your “digital address” has changed.  In the process you lose connection with some people because there was an interruption in continuity between you and that person.

Establishing your own domain to handle your website –and– your e-mail traffic will eliminate this from EVER being a possibility.  You probably apply this logic already to your cell-phone, which should, unless the entire system changes one day, always be the same number, for the rest of your life.  Why not make your e-mail address behave the same way?

Using Google Apps for Domains (let’s just make the safe assumption that Google isn’t going anywhere) you can establish a domain name and a permanent online web-presence that will never change.

[add_to_cart id=”55946″ sku=”GAEO”]

Ditch the PC and Switch to a Mac

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As a former PC technician with over 20 years experience in distribution, retail, networking, and repair, I abandoned the world of Windows and PC’s in 2010 with the purchase of a new MacBook Pro and my efficiency has gone through the roof.  Short of a few hardware issues here and there, the most maintenance I’ve had to do on my Mac involved backing up my data and replacing the batteries in my Bluetooth wireless keyboard.

I don’t use a PC for anything, and I don’t print documents.  All of my business is done digitally between my MacBook Pro, my iPad, an Android Nexus 7 (non-Apple) mobile tablet, and my iPhone.  That’s it.  That’s all I need to conduct every form of business I encounter.

If you’re looking for someone to help you solve your PC problems, you may want to check out Data Doctors.  I’m in the efficiency business, and the most efficient and problem-free path to getting more homes sold and more business done, will be found on a MacBook.

There’s an initial investment, but count the cost of your time, and the initial start-up costs to owning a MacBook are well worth it.

Stop Using Paper Altogether

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I’ve been a REALTOR for 3 different brokerages.  I’ve closed dozens of real estate transactions.  I’ve also trained and coached some of the top producing agents in the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix, AZ.

In every one of the environments that I’ve been a part of, there wasn’t a single day that passed where someone didn’t have an issue printing a document. It didn’t matter how well the office computers and network were designed, the problem still persisted.  Even after building a 9-office network, following industry standard practices, I was unable to prevent printer related problems, no matter how hard I tried.

Some of these problems at times were due to standard maintenance issues.  Some of them were due to the computer that the user was printing from, often owned by that person, and almost ALL of the problems occurred on Windows based computers.  The only actual reason I found that was causing the issue was the expectation the REALTOR had of the technology tools that the brokerage had put into place.

Brokers do NOT educate REALTORS in basic computer literacy says http://www.workbootsnerd.com, and 99% of the printer problems I’ve witnessed on a day to day basis have been directly related to what the agent expects the printer’s capabilities to be contrasted by the level of computer literacy that particular agent possesses.

I have been closing sales for 5 years without needing to print a single page.

 

Have I printed?  Yes.  Have I needed to?  No.  Today’s digital tools empower you and eliminate the headache associated with printing paper documents.  Let go of the printer.  It is a cost center.  Not only does it cost in materials, it costs you in time.  Your competition is paperless.  I can teach you how to be paperless too.

Gmail, a Realtor’s Best Friend

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Let’s face the facts people.  A majority of the real estate professionals out there are computer illiterate.  I know this because I trained, in a classroom setting, over 300 agents when I was working as the IT director at a real estate company here in Scottsdale, and as a private technology consultant for some of those agents.

“Computer literacy is defined as the knowledge and ability to use computers and related technology efficiently, with a range of skills covering levels from elementary use to programming and advanced problem solving.”

-Wikipedia.com

Not only is computer illiteracy a problem, but ignorance to the basics of branding and running a business is also at the forefront of their every-day practices.

One of the ways you can effectively brand yourself is by creating a domain name that fits your vision.  It’s cheap and very easy to do, and it’s technological purpose extends far beyond the branding aspect.  With your own domain name, you can eliminate one of the most flagrant errors in your day to day communication.  The “other-guy” e-mail address.

What do I mean by the “other guy” e-mail address?  How many agents do you know that still rely on free e-mail systems like yahoo.com, hotmail.com, outlook.com, cox.net, aol.com etc.?

In the poker world, when someone who doesn’t know how to play sits at a table, we call them a fish, or a donkey, because you can take all of their money, because they’re blatantly obvious about what they do or don’t know through common “tells.”

Using aol.com, cox.net, etc., is a “tell” in the e-mail world.  It “tells” your reader, that you’re not really in business.  Furthermore, what are you to do if one of those companies goes out of business?  Don’t you want your brand to move with you instead of against you?

Creating a domain name like “yourname.com” just like I did for this website is one way to establish a permanent online presence.  But there’s more to consider than just creating a domain name.  Once you have that name, you have a choice in the technology you use to handle the traffic (“mail”) that’s sent to the addresses within your domain.

I used to be hung up on the full Microsoft Office Outlook software, which is big and bulky, slow, exclusive to Windows, and expensive to own.  Sure, it works, but it’s designed primarily for a corporate environment where there are thousands of users.

Thankfully there was a solution that came along called GMAIL, and after that, Google Apps for Domains, which is a set of tools that Google offers for a very low fee (annual or monthly options available).

Google Apps for Domains allows you to take your domain name and launch a set of tools based on that domain.  If your domain was “realestatebywhomever.com” then you could have a GMAIL account that would handle all e-mail sent to “yourname@realestatebywhomever.com.”

Since switching to Gmail inside of Google Apps for Domains, my e-mail productivity has gone through the roof.  I am able to label specific messages based on who they come from or what’s in the body of the message, archive messages permanently for later retrieval, and most importantly, search ALL of my e-mail, past and present, for specific messages quickly.  That barely touches the surface of what I’m able to do.

If you have a smart mobile device, you can connect it to Google Apps for Domains very easily so all of your e-mail behavior is mirrored on every device.  Read a message here, it’s marked “read” everywhere.  Delete a message there, it’s deleted here too.  Contacts are automatically added to your phone and vice versa.

When you switch all of your communication and online collaboration (yes, calendars are also integrated into your mobile devices) to Google Apps for Domains, you not only build a better brand for your business, you also establish a permanent presence regardless of where you choose to hang your license, and you have complete confidence that your data, contacts, e-mail, appointments, etc., will never be lost if you lose the device that’s storing them.

I would never go back to what I once thought was superior software.  Now the hardware that I require, the tools of the trade, can be lighter, faster, and less expensive to accomplish the same goals.

Interested in learning more about how to make this happen for your real estate business?  Simply drop me a line and I’ll set up a consultation with you to help you make the migration.  There are some up front technical issues to consider before you make that transition, but once that is handled, you’re on your way to a better system, and a better brand.

Contact me today to start the process.

Soonr.com Is Almost Everything I Need

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Soonr.com is an online cloud.  It’s a place where I can store specific files permanently so they are away from my computer.  It works in the background, simply monitoring folders that I specify on my MAC or PC.  When a file is added or changed, the Soonr.com agent which is always running sends that changed file to my cloud on Soonr.com.  Coupled with the iPhone, it gives me a very easy way to access those files.

What Soonr.com doesn’t do is what I really need it to do, and that is keep not only files on one computer synchronized to the soonr.com website, but also synchronized to another computer.

All of my transaction documents, contracts, HUD-1’s etc., are stored in a set of folders which is nested beneath a single folder on my desktop.  Since I use two different computers for most of my work, having quick access to the most recent file on each computer is vital to my productivity and it’s one of the main reasons I am able to deliver such quick responses to document requests.

In order to make sure that a folder on one computer appears on the other computer as well, I employ a simple program called Windows Live Sync.  I’m not a big fan of Microsoft products, but since both of these computers that I’m using are PC’s, and I’ve been working with Microsoft products for years, I figure it’s the best I can do for free.  Windows Live Sync does what Soonr.com doesn’t.  It monitors a folder on your computer, synchronizes it with the Windows Live website, then synchronizes it with any other computers that have been assigned to the same folder.

At the end of the day, a process might look like this.  1) I create a new PDF file in the transaction folder.  2)  Windows Live synchronizes it with all of the computers I have setup for synchronization.  3) Soonr.com shuttles the file up to the Soonr.com site so I can view it from any computer, AND from my iPhone.

With both tools implemented, not only do I automatically duplicate my files for a quick backup to my other computers, but I also send a version to my cloud at Soonr.com, ensuring it’s permanently preserved.

Soonr.com treats each computer separately, and doesn’t link the two together, which means you won’t see a file on one computer that you created on another computer without accessing the Soonr.com site directly and downloading the file.

Until Soonr.com implements this feature, I’ll stick with what I have, which is working just fine.

My Daily Toolbox: Microsoft Outlook

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Quite honestly, this topic could go on for hours, or days, so I may be breaking it up into multiple articles, and as time progresses, I’m certain that a new tool will be discovered, or an old tool will be abandoned. The pursuit of cutting costs has become number one priority these days, and it shouldn’t be that way. What I mean, is that we always need to be cutting costs that weigh us down, on easy street, and on skid row.

Managing Contacts

Much of the corporate world uses some variation of Microsoft Outlook, whether the latest and greatest version, or an outdated version, to manage Contacts, Appointments, Tasks, and E-mail.  I recommend Microsoft Outlook as a basis by which you manage your contacts and communication to your contacts.  I’m speaking of the full blown Outlook, not Outlook Express, the kid sister to Outlook.  Outlook express comes with your computer free.

How to Get Outlook Free

A little known secret in the IT world is that you can get Outlook for free.  How?  Well, firstly I’ll explain one major condition that you must meet prior to choosing Outlook as your “Dayplanner.”

Outlook is a corporate level software application.  It’s a big deal.  It does all sorts of things that the average user is unable to take advantage of.  You see, Outlook was designed with bigger things in mind.  Outlook really shines when it is combined with Microsoft’s Enterprise Server product, Microsoft Exchange Server. Microsoft Exchange unlocks the most treasured features of Outlook and allows you to really collaborate with other team members.

What if I don’t have a team? That’s okay, because using Outlook all by yourself, in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server will save you thousands of dollars in the future.  You could consider Exchange Server to be your Outlook insurance policy.  You don’t have to have a team to take advantage of the features.

How much does it cost?  Well, if you operate your own server, which 99.99% of you will not be doing, you would need approximately $5000.00 worth of hardware and about $1600.00 worth of software, and a few years of IT experience.  Alas, there is a solution.  There are many companies out there that allow you to “rent” a mailbox that’s operating under Microsoft Exchange Server, allowing you all of the corporate, enterprise features for a single user, and all for around $10.00/month.  That’s cheap insurance.

Why is it a big deal?

Jennifer, anothe real estate agent, recently contacted me to talk about how she could better manage her e-mail and contacts.  “The problem with Outlook is that all of my e-mail is on my computer and I can’t get to it without my computer,” she complained, “and when I try to go online to my webmail, the inbox on webmail doesn’t match the inbox on my computer in Outlook.”

A hosted Exchange account will solve this problem.  Here’s how it works.  You setup your e-mail account with a hosted exchange server company, like Exchange My Mail.  They help you configure Outlook to connect to the server, and Outlook displays all of your data on your computer screen through the interface you’re already familiar with.  Everything including your e-mail, contacts, appointments, and tasks are stored on the server, not on your computer, so that means you could lose your computer, but you’d never lose your data.

When you have your e-mail hosted this way, there is only one copy of everything, which means you read your e-mail once, and it’s read.  There’s no more deleting mail from to places, no more scanning e-mail that you may have already read on one computer, but not on another, etc.  If you have a Windows based smartphone or an iPhone, you can also connect to Exchange and view the same information, live.  Delete an e-mail message in Outlook, and it’s gone on your phone too.  Change a contact name and phone number, add a contact, or delete an appointment, and voila!  Every device you use is instantaneously updated.  Don’t have your computer or phone on you?  No problem, just login to Outlook Web Access anywhere you can use a computer that’s connected to the internet.  All of your data is there, and it’s all in the same place you left it, in the same status you left it.

Managing contacts, appointments, tasks, and e-mail has been made seamless and extremely efficient, and secure, and safe.  I recommend considering this as your primary method of managing this part of your business, and one of the best parts about it is that whenever you use a hosted exchange company for your e-mail, you get a free copy of Microsoft Outlook with your account!  That alone will pay for the service for about a year or so.