Now is a perfect time to reassess and calculate what you need to do to get your goals on track! As we move towards mid-year, it's time to put pen to paper to figure out what is working (and what isn't).

A business plan isn't set it stone, nor should it be a heavy burden. Rather, it's a roadmap that helps clarify your objectives and how you're going to achieve them. Success stems from having established goals and a plan to achieve them. Fortunately, our latest Friday Freebie makes creating a plan with achievable goals simple. Read on to learn more.

Free Business Plan Builder from realtor.com®

Realtor.com® offers a free tool that allows you to review last year's results, set goals for the next year, and calculate just how many activities you will need to engage in to reach your objective. This free tool is designed for agents who have set an ambitious goal for prospecting, sales and closings. It includes recommendations for the following, based on your unique[...]

Tagged: Business Planning Strategic Planning

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Single property websites are one of the best tools for marketing your listings. Whereas your personal agent website is all about you and the services you offer, single property websites serve as an exhaustive source of information on a single listing. Not only is it good for your main site's SEO, but because it's a website solely dedicated to marketing their property, it's a potent way to impress sellers--and even win listings.

Today, we're taking a look at a single property website solution that's very potent. ListingsUnlimited from Properties Online is more than just a website provider--it's a full-on marketing suite that makes attracting buyers a breeze.

Getting Started

Your single property website is home base for all your marketing activities for a listing, so we'll begin by taking a look at the process of creating a website within ListingsUnlimited.

The driving idea behind ListingsUnlimited is that creating a website should be simple. By removing the need to know code or do[...]

Tagged: Virtual Tour Online Marketing Single Property Website Website Design

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According to a recent NAR study, 68% of new home shoppers use mobile apps throughout their research for a home. That's a huge segment of the market, and if you don't have an active mobile strategy, you're could be missing out on significant business. Fortunately, this week's Friday Freebie offers agents a great way to capture mobile consumers.

Free Branded Mobile App from realtor.com®

Stay top-of-mind with your clients on the go. Realtor.com®'s free mobile app is branded with your photo and contact info, allowing you to confer with your customers as they search and discover homes on their mobile devices. All primary inquiries will be routed to you, and you will receive immediate notifications on your iPhone®, iPad® or Android™ device.

The application's Collaborative Search feature lets you easily suggest listings to your clients. In turn, when your clients find something they like, they can share this with you and you can provide commentary and follow-up, all through the application. Your clients can request showings, and you[...]

Tagged: Promotional Online Marketing Mobile Applications

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Our latest Friday Freebie couldn't have come at a better time. Just this week, Sequent Systems announced that their lead-to-close transaction management solution, EZ Coordinator, now integrates with Google Calendar/Contacts, MailChimp, and Infusionsoft CRM. No more double data entry!

See how your favorite tools work with EZ Coordinator, risk free, with a free two-week trial membership. Read on to learn more.

Free 14-day Trial of EZ Coordinator

Real estate transactions begin far before it's time to sign a document. EZ Coordinator recognizes this, and that's why this transaction management solution is designed to manage the entire lifecycle of your clients from lead to close.

With EZ Coordinator, you can add leads, flag them for follow-up, track showing and offers, share documents, sign, close, and more--all in one place. Additionally, EZ Coordinator works with best-in-class solutions that you already use, like Read more...

Did you participate in Nationwide Open House Weekend last week? Spring selling season is upon us, and the events you hosted were likely just the first in a series of successful open houses that you can look forward to this year.

Realtor.com® is following up on Open House Weekend by initiating systems for agents to maximize their open house efforts. Read on to learn more in this week's Friday Freebie.

Free Open House Tool Kit from realtor.com®

The toolkit begins by showing you how to post open houses on the realtor.com® web site and how to make them visible on realtor.com®'s mobile applications.

Additionally, the kit offers support tools to help agents close more open house visitors. To overcome "sign-in reluctance," the tool kit includes:

• Free e-newsletter
• Sign-in sheet to receive the newsletter
• Downloadable posters and fliers
• Guide book for first time buyers
• Mobile micro-site for open house listings

This helps provide not only a larger audience, but also the means to easily[...]

Tagged: Promotional Showing Appointment

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Can consumers find you online, or are they finding your competition instead? In this week's Friday Freebie, we're introducing you to a great online directory where consumers go to find real estate agents they can trust.

Free Profile in the Mountain of Agents Directory

Mountain of Agents was created for consumers by a consumer frustrated with the process of finding a reputable real estate agent. This online agent directory lets prospects search for real estate professionals in their area by zip code and view ratings by current and former clients.

Participation in the directory boosts your online visibility and gives you a great new source for leads. Every rater is authenticated through Facebook, and each new rating is posted to the rater's Facebook wall--providing you with exposure to their network of contacts! Other benefits of claiming your Mountain of Agents profile include:

• 1-click agent ratings - Ratings equal leads, and Mountain of Agents makes it simple for clients to leave ratings with the click of a mouse--no written recommendation required.
• Video greeting[...]

  Tagged: Promotional Agent Ratings Online Marketing

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April is Open House Month, and realtor.com® is offering tools to help agents prepare open houses that convert visitors into sales. Read on for more about this week's Friday Freebie.

The Complete Open House Productivity Package from realtor.com®

According to NAR's 2012 Survey to Home Buyers and Sellers, almost 45% of home purchasers used open houses as a key part of their home search. In fact, open houses top the list of ways consumers find their agent!

A strong open house can turn listings into sales, or even bring you new clients. Realtor.com®'s free open house productivity package shows you how to create effective open houses. The package includes:

• Instructions on how to post an open house on realtor.com®
• Free e-newsletter to offer their open house guests so they'll be more likely to sign in and leave good contact information
• Downloadable sign-in sheet for the newsletter so that agents can follow-up afterwards
• Open house flyers with information provided from their listing on realtor.com® and a QR[...]

  Tagged: Promotional

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In this week's Friday Freebie, the good people from realtor.com® are sharing their expertise and helping agents solve the problems of lost leads.

The company administers thousands of buyer and seller lead generation programs and, as a result, spends hours each day on the phone listening to the stories – both good and bad – of agents and brokers. They've discovered some techniques that crack the code on lead conversion, and are sharing them in a free online guide.

Free Online Lead Conversion Guide from realtor.com

It seems obvious that picking up the phone, answering the email or text, and being timely in replying to consumers should be the easiest step in lead conversion. But there are circumstances like being occupied with another customer, or having to reserve at least some time for the family that make it impossible to be 100% responsive.

Realtor.com®'s newly updated guide to internet lead conversion deals with this problem and shares ideas real agents have put in place to get around this issue[...]

Tagged: Promotional Lead Management

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For most new homeowners, the most challenging, tedious, and confusing part of their real estate transaction was the paperwork. As a real estate professional, it's your job to simplify that process as much as possible. But who is making it easier for you? One product aiming to do just that is zipForm 6 Professional. Hardly a new name in the industry, zipLogix is constantly improving their flagship forms solution, as is evident in its current generation. So please join us for a tour of zipForm 6 Professional.

Creating a New Transaction with zipForm 6 Professional

zipForm 6 Professional opens on a list of your transactions. From there, you can easily access any transaction that requires attention, or you can create a new transaction. We created a new transaction to see what the process was like.

When creating a zipForm 6 Professional account, the appropriate forms will be added to your account based on current membership status[...]

Tagged: Product Demo Tech Products Contracts / Forms Digital Signature

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Traditional sign riders are too expensive and take too long to receive. Not to worry. The Sign Rider Store solves these problems for you. With their unique do-it-yourself approach to creating sign riders, real estate professionals can print, assemble and hang sign riders right from their office and hang them the same day.

It’s extremely simple. Try it yourself!

Start by signing up for a free account. You’ll be able to design and print signs unique to each listing. Once a sign is printed in your office, it can be assembled in just seconds with components in a Sign Assemble Kit. This is a powerful concept. Not only can you design and hang signs immediately when needed but you can highlight amenity and property details to help spark buyer interest.

Tagged: Promotional

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This week's Friday Freebie comes to us courtesy of a longtime site contributor. Dynamic Page Solutions has been educating RE Technology readers on the basics of Search Engine Optimization for almost two years. To see their collection of articles, click here. To learn how their expertise can help your website--keep reading!

Free Website Evaluation from Dynamic Page Solutions

How's the health of your real estate website? If you're not sure, now's a great time to find out. Dynamic Page Solutions is offering a free, no obligation website evaluation.

Your website and its architecture will be evaluated on its ability to:

• Keep up with search engine algorithm changes
• Rank for focused keywords
• Generate traffic via longtail keywords
• And more

Following the evaluation, Dynamic Page Solutions will make recommendations to increase your traffic and lead generation. This may include services like online branding, optimized IDX, SEO, and pay-per-click advertising.

To learn more or start your evaluation, visit Dynamic Page Solutions'[...]

Tagged: Evaluation SEO Website Design

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Selling properties or helping your buyers find a property is all about showings. After all, real estate isn't generally something people buy sight-unseen. The logistics of scheduling these appointments is tedious and can significantly siphon away time that could be spent on other important tasks in buying or selling a home. One of the solutions available to help simplify and improve this process is eShowings. I sat down with Jay Lantz, National Sales Director, to learn more about the tools available from eShowings, particularly Show It Now – a tool that is free to MLSs and agents.

A Trusted Partner

In an industry where technology is often a "flash in the pan," eShowings has been in business for 14 years. They have established relationships with MLSs in 38 states, but serve real estate professionals in all 50 states. This experience and the relationships they have formed give them an edge in supporting the real estate community.

How Does eShowings Help Agents?

Basically, eShowings helps with appointment scheduling.[...]

Tagged: Product Demo Call Center / Concierge Showing Appointment

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Ever wonder if your emails are being read? Our latest Friday Freebie replaces all the wondering with a plug-in that tracks opens and more!

14-Day Free Trial from ContactMonkey

Try ContactMonkey free for 14 days. ContactMonkey is a smart email tracking tool for Outlook and Gmail that gives REALTORS insight into their sent email. It's a great way to track time sensitive messages like offers, condition removal forms, and beyond.

In real time, Contact Monkey shows your emails being opened by your clients and prospects. It even displays the number of times a message has been opened, when and where it was opened, and on what device. You can monitor activity from an always-on sidebar to keep tabs on all viewings.

Visit ContactMonkey to sign up for the free trial.

For information on Brokerage and Association plans, contact Dave Young.

[...]

Tagged: CRM Lead Management

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We're excited about our first Friday Freebie of 2013! HomeFinder.com is offering a free digital marketing eBook featuring the stories of five real estate agents. Learn from their successes as you craft your marketing strategy for the year ahead.

Free Digital Marketing eBook from HomeFinder.com

With HomeFinder.com's free eBook, agents will learn real life examples from their peers on how to close more business using digital marketing, including:

• How five of your peers are using YouTube, Instagram, WordPress, Facebook and Single Property Websites to generate leads, sales and lasting client relationships
• Detailed success stories with tools and tips to get you started or recharge your digital marketing strategy
• Specific do's and don'ts from agents who have already tried and succeeded online

Click here to download HomeFinder.com's free eBook.

[...]

Tagged: Online Marketing

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You may remember Contactually from our Holiday Deal earlier this month. We highlighted the free relationship management eBook they were (and still are!) giving away to real estate professionals. Today, we're bringing you another great offer from Contactually--a risk free trial with no credit card required!

Try Contactually Free for 30 Days

Contactually is offering their Premium Plan free for 30 days. Even better? You can put the wallet away, as there's no credit card required and no risk of being charged after your trial period ends.

Contactually acts as a personal assistant that helps you stay on top of important relationships. Real estate agents and brokers can use Contactually to keep leads warm, maintain strong referrals, and organize their relationships. Features include:

• Daily reminders about important contacts you should re-engage
• Connect multiple Gmail, IMAP, and Exchange email accounts
• Store information on unlimited contacts
• Email and phone support
• Track e-mail and social media conversations
• Email signature scraper that automatically stores your[...]

  Tagged: Promotional CRM

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Take advantage of the ever-growing mobile market with this week's Friday Freebie from Smarter Agent.

Free Setup on Branded Agent Apps

Smarter Agent's Branded Apps are tailored just for you, with your name, phone number, and email address. All calls, texts, and emails go directly to you, regardless of the listing agent. Your competitor will not be marketed in your app, so you get to control your own market and brand. With your own app, you can establish direct relationships with customers, instead of having them come to you by way of aggregators and third parties who control your leads.

• Smarter Agent will waive the setup fee on its Branded Apps when you use the code RE12.
• Other features of the Branded Agent Apps include:
• Customized tools for easy distribution and marketing
• Access to powerful dashboard and statistics for usage tracking
• Unlimited free downloads for your clients
• Call and email tools, photo displaying capabilities, and GPS/geolocation technology

Visit Tagged: Mobile Applications Mobile Search

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We continue to highlight free and trial versions of real estate technology products this holiday season. Now is a great time to try new solutions to see if you should integrate them into your 2013 business plan!

30-day Free Trial of Point2 Agent

Today, we're featuring web marketing suite Point2 Agent. Point2 is offering a free 30-day trial that includes:

• Customizable agent website
• 1 single property site
• Listing syndication to over 50 property search sites
• Targeted advertising to other real estate websites in your area
• 1 email account

To sign up for the free trial and learn more, click here.

[...]

Tagged: Advertising Listing Syndication Online Marketing Single Property Website Website Design

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Our Friday Freebie series continues with two opportunities to win free Facebook services from N-Play. These services help consumers connect with real estate agents and brokers on the world's largest social network.

Win a Free Year of IDX Home Search from N-Play

IDX Home Search lets consumers search for properties directly on your Facebook business page. Visitors can view property details, photos, virtual tours, maps, and more information from your MLS without leaving Facebook.

To Enter: 'Like' IDX Home Search's Facebook page, then activate IDX Home Search on your own page to enter to win a year of free service. Click here to learn more.

Win a Personalized Facebook Advertising Campaign

The Real Estate Agent Directory is giving away 50 Facebook advertising[...]

Tagged: IDX Facebook Advertising Online Marketing

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Believe me, the last thing in life I ever wanted to be was a landlord. The thought of it reminds me of the old silent movies tying his poor tenant to a railroad track as she screams, "No, I can't pay the rent!"

It started at one of our Friday coffees at the Deli Delight where I get together with my real estate team—Bea Meriwether, real estate agent and Earnest S. Crowe, mortgage guy. Bea was selling a bank-owned bungalow two blocks away from me in my hometown of Mirage Mills, the Chernobyl of American real estate and the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis. Since there were two dozen fire sale-priced properties listed for sale within a mile of hers, she was having a hard time.

"It would be a perfect investment property for you and Felicia. You know the neighborhood like the back of your hand. It's close and easy for[...]

Tagged: Humor Rentals

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There was a new home that met our criteria on the MLS last night. Our agent sent us a link to the property details page on the MLS consumer-facing website. On this property's details page was the URL (not an active link) for a virtual tour, which I checked out. And boy, was I disappointed! I simply sat for two minutes and watched the very same photos that had been in the MLS cycle through. Afterwards, I angrily closed the tab in my browser and said to my husband, "I want my two minutes back."

Benefits of Virtual Tours

When I came into the office this morning, I was complaining about my experience again. "What was the point of the virtual tour at all?" I asked.

Victor Lund, always the voice of reason, played the Devil's advocate for me. He explained that I was taking a very myopic view and that there are some benefits to virtual tours I haven't taken into consideration.

1. They make sellers happy. If you're an agent, your seller clients want to know that you're putting maximum effort into marketing their listing. This means doing more than just adding the[...]

Tagged: Advice Virtual Tour

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