FM Durham Tech Bytes: HTML Email Signature for iPhone

I would say that about two thirds of the agents in my office use an iPhone.  And if they are anything like me, they probably send about two thirds of their emails from their iPhone.  The only problem with that is I get so tired of seeing the same old default email message that ends with “Sent from my iPhone.”  I wanted to have a great email signature that would show my logo and have links to my social networks.

Well I found Cool Geex.  They've created a website that allows you to create an HTML version of your email signature that can be used on your iPhone...and it's FREE!  With this tool, it is easy to make your email signature stand out against your competition's.  You can also add some of the social media sites and tools to your signature to make it easy for your clients to connect with you.

All you have to do is visit Cool Geex website, create an account, fill out the online information form for your signature, set up the desktop icon on your iPhone and it's ready to go.  Then whenever you are sending a new email, click the desktop icon on your iPhone and a new email will open up.  Also, be sure to remove the email signature you had set up under the "mail settings" on your iPhone, or you will be sending emails with two signatures.

The only shortcoming I see with this, is that the new email signature will not show up when you are replying to an email.  But I personally don't like have someone's long email signature shown 10 different times in an email thread.

There are other html email signature tools out there you can use for your iPhone, but in my opinion this one is the best and it's free!

Brandon L. Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201

Child Tips for Real Estate Agents

As a parent of young children, I am always reading of ways that I can better raise my children and help them grow.  I was recently reading an article on Parenting.com titled "Teaching your kid not to give up."  It was swimming superstar and Olympic gold medalist, Michael Phelps giving advice on bouncing back from disappointment.  He offered 3 simple pieces of advice that I thought applied to real estate agents as well.

Do some prep work:  Michael stated that before every race, he would visualize everything that could happen, good or bad.  He wanted to be prepared for anything that could happen.  As an agent, you need to do the same thing.  If you are going on a listing appointment, you need to be prepared to answer any question that a seller throws at you.  If you are showing property in a particular neighborhood, know about that neighborhood.

Learn from your mistakes:  Michael stated that he would always look at his failures, and learn what he needed to do so that he didn't repeat them.  This is great advise for a real estate agent.  For example, if you go on a listing appointment, and the seller decides to list with another agent.  Call that seller, thank them for the opportunity and ask them, "I am always trying to improve myself as a real estate agent and the service that I can provide a client, may I ask you why you did not choose me to sell your home?"

Stick with it:  Michael advised to never ever give up, no matter what obstacles are thrown your way.  Again, this is great advice for a real estate agent.  Let's say you have been on 9 listing appointments, and you haven't gotten a single one of them.  Should you give up?  No, because if you have been doing your prep work and learning from your mistakes, the 10th appointment could be the one you get.

Sometimes the simplest of advice is the most powerful!  Thank you Michael Phelps for the words of wisdom.

Brandon L. Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201

FM Durham Tech Bytes: Facebook Timeline for Business Pages

For those of you who have a business page on Facebook, you may have noticed that you page will be automatically updated to the new timeline format on March 30th, 2012.

Several things I would like for you to think about before setting up your Facebook business page are:

• Think Visually
• Think Historically
• Think Live Media
• Content is Still King

Your cover photo is the biggest change that comes with the new timeline format.  This is the first thing your fans will see when the come to your page.  This is a great opportunity for you to creatively showcase your real estate business.  A few ways you can use your cover photo are:

• Photos from around your market
• Photos of your office staff or members of your team
• Photos of special events, promotions or exclusive deals
• Advertise a featured listing
• Collage of photos or your listings or your happy clients

*  Keep in mind, the size of the timeline cover photo is 850 x 315 pixels.

You also will want to emphasize your most important posts.  Keep them most visible by pinning them to the top of your timeline.  The post will stay there for up to 7 days.  You can also highlight any story, giving your story more exposure by expanding it the width of your timeline.  Always highlight or pin to the top your real estate marketing fliers and your special events.

Lastly, you are going to want to add history to your Facebook page.  By adding milestones, you can give your fans a look into your real estate business and see your growth overtime.  Use photos to mark milestones such as awards, new location, new brand or product, new staff, etc.

Whatever you plan on doing with your Facebook business page timeline, be sure to take your time and put thought into it.

Brandon Penny

bpenny@fmrealty.com

http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham

(919) 402-1201

What Agents Need to Look for in a Manager

Typically when I hire a new agent, I know that they have interviewed with other companies or offices.  After I hire them, I always ask them what made them choose to join our office.  Overwhelmingly they state a majority of the interviews they've been to with other managers, consisted of nothing more than a high pressure close to get another body.

I would hope that most new and experienced realtor recruits try to look for the following in a manager:

1.  Coach - This word tends to be a “buzzword” in the Real Estate industry today, but a true coach should be a person who can help the new Realtor get their new career up and running quickly, with their end goal for the Realtor to get “paid” in their first 90 days on the job. You may think that 90 days is an awful long time to wait for commission income, but consider that the industry average is approximately 6-9 months! Ask your potential manager how long it took their average new Realtor to earn their first commission in the last 12 months.

2.  Technologist – With over 90% of the public accessing the Internet for Real Estate information, a manager should be familiar with technology and the implementation of it to help the new Realtor become successful quickly.

3.  Business Analyst – A manager should be able to spot and analyze trends in their market place. Does the manager that you’re interviewing with know their market. What’s their current inventory in the marketplace? What’s their average Days on Market? Do they know of any business opportunities in a target mini-market that could increase my personal business?

4.  Business Planner – A manager should be able to help a new Realtor create a custom plan detailing the who, when, what and where of networking so the new Realtor can become successful quickly, not flounder about for months.

5.  Trainer – Even with the majority of companies offering corporate level training. The branch manager will most likely be the individual to answer questions and offer tips and techniques for the new Realtor. A manager with sales experience can provide tried and true methods to generate sales.

These traits in a manager can help a Realtor start or restart their career on the right foot!

Good luck in your new career!

Brandon Penny

bpenny@fmrealty.com

http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham

(919) 402-1201

FM Durham Tech Bytes: Dropbox

When conducting your daily business, how many devices are you using?  Are you using a PC, MacBook, iPad and iPhone?  Does working with so many different platforms create a challenge for you?

What you need is a cloud based solution for working with your files.  Some agents like working with Google Docs or Microsoft Live.  But I prefer Dropbox, because it allows you to edit your files. 

By storing all of our business files in a Dropbox folder, everything is in the cloud. Securely stored with access to past versions. Plus, you have the ability to share files with other Dropbox users.  This is great for real estate teams.  Giving each team member or assistant access to the documents you are working with. 

If you add a file to your PC, it will sync with your Dropbox folder on your MacBook or iPad.  This has pretty much made flashdrives obsolete. 

Cloud computing is changing how business is done. With easy access to all of your important files, catching up on work can mean 10 minutes with your iPhone in line at Starbucks.

Brandon Penny

bpenny@fmrealty.com

http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham

(919) 402-1201

Negotiating Price on Your Listings

Last week we had Stacey Anfindsen, from the TARR Report, present to our office during our meeting.  When reading through the 2011 Fourth Quarter and Year End Durham County Market Summary, one paragraph that stood out to me was "what happens when a house is price correctly at initial list."  It reads:

Good things. When final list price is equal to original list price, the average days on market for closings during the quarter was 59 days and the house sold for 96% of list. When final list price is lower than original list, there is a days on market penalty. These houses sold in an average of 178 days and for an average of 84% of original list.

This clearly demonstrates the importance of pricing a home correctly.  You will have both a time and financial penalty for incorrectly pricing a home.  I do not feel that agents have a hard time pricing a home, I feel they have a hard time handling objections to pricing from a seller.  So today I want to discuss a few core concepts to help you empower the seller to make an informed decision  when choosing the appropriate list price for the home based on information from the marketplace.

1. Position yourself as the messenger from the marketplace, not the message.  Use data from the MLS system, programs like the TARR Report and your CMA program to create the message.  Use data to support the message.
2. Involve the seller in the pricing process to educate them about market conditions while giving them ownership of the results. 
3. Determine a price at which the house is the most competitive with other listings in the market place.
4. Establish with the seller the direct correlation between "Price" and the length of "Time" a property is on the market.  It is imperative the seller understands time on market is directly influenced by price.
5. Do not take their objections personally.  Simply put, and objection is just a request for more information.  Use this as an opportunity to get them the information they are looking for.
6. Look for patterns in their objections.  There are a handful of objections you hear on a regular basis.  Identify these and have answers ready for them. 
7. Answer the objections before they are asked.  If you know that you repeatedly get an objections during a listing presentation, why wait?  For example, agents report that they are frequently asked by sellers about the relationship between market value of their home and tax value of their home. Instead of waiting for them to ask (or worse them wondering about it but not asking) address the issue in the presentation.

These are just a few thoughts that will help you better deal with your sellers when negotiating a list price.  Good luck!

Brandon Penny

bpenny@fmrealty.com

http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham

(919) 402-1201

FM Durham Tech Bytes: An app for safety?

Recently there have been reports of three homes in Apex, NC that had jewelry stolen during open houses.  This is a reminder that agents and homeowners need to take some steps to make sure their open house is a safe one.  According to National Association of Realtors less than 1% of buyers purchase a home they saw at an open house, however 45% use it as a source of information in the search process. The open house is a smart lead generation idea for an agent and a good way for sellers to let prospective buyers see their home, you just want to make sure it is safe.

Moby is a GPS software company that provides a smartphone safety app for real estate professionals.  Moby released the results of their 2011 safety survey as part of a free Safety Toolkit. Available now from Moby’s website, the toolkit can be used by real estate associations, offices, and individual agents to provide safety education and awareness.

“Many real estate professionals find themselves in situations that put their personal safety at risk, such as meeting new clients alone or visiting unfamiliar neighborhoods at night, which are all considered necessities to simply fulfill the everyday requirements of their job,” says Rob Goehring, co-founder and VP Marketing and Product Management for Moby. “The number of agents and brokers who feel unsafe is alarming, yet they assume the risks as part of the business but have indicated a strong demand for safety training to better prepare and resolve safety issues.”

Moby is a private location sharing app.  It can help you locate family members and see their exact location on a map, family members can check in with you to let you know when they have arrived at their destination, and with the push of a button you can ask for help while instantly notifying your family members of your location.   With Moby, you can control who can see your location and for how long.  They have apps for iPhone, Blackberry and Android.  Best of all, its free!  Give it a try and stay safe!


Brandon Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201

"Yes I can"

I recently conducted a training session called Facebook 101:  Business Pages.  It is designed to help real estate agents set up their business pages and to provide them with ideas for their business page action plans. 

During this session, I told the class that I make two, value-added posts a day to my Facebook business page (Fonville Morisey Durham).  A student in the front of the room said, "that's a lot!"  My reply to her was "who says that's a lot?"

I responded to her that she had basically already talked herself out of using social media as a part of her marketing plan.  She agreed.

This was a perfect example of self-sabotage.  How many people talk themselves out of things before they give themselves a chance to start?  This really is sad when you think about it.  How many great ideas has someone given up on simply because they thought it would be too hard?

There is enough negativity in the world to keep us down as it is.  Why would we allow ourselves to be another barrier to doing something new and exciting?

Next time you are thinking of doing something, and that little voice in your head says, "that will be difficult" or "you can't do that" stop what you are doing and shout, "YES I CAN!"

Just like a bully that would steal your lunch money, once you stand up for yourself, the bully will usually back down.  Stand up against your own self-sabotaging bully.

Brandon Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201