May 18, 2012

10 Things a Real Estate Virtual Assistant Can Do For You

In the business world, REALTORS are some of the busiest people I know. So many tasks are involved like working directly with clients, marketing their listings and then marketing themselves. Agents make their money by working directly with their clients, eyeball to eyeball. Much of thee “busy work” type of tasks involved in running their real estate business can take away from their bottom line. And if a Real Estate Professional doesn’t have an assistant, they ARE an assistant.

Still wondering what a Virtual Assistant can do to help keep you from burning the candle at both ends. Here are 10 things a VA can do to help:

  1. Listing Coordination – You just received a signed listing agreement with a client, and now it is time to deliver on your marketing promises, all of which can be very time consuming. Your VA can handle everything from the moment you sign the contract. This can include entering the data into the MLS, creating flyers, creating and mailing “Just Listed” postcards, arrange print advertising, publish to personal website, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, track showing feedback and much more. All you have to do is send the pictures and the info, and your VA can do the rest.
  2. Contact Management – Making sure you stay in touch with your database, keeping them up to date, and keeping track of appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, etc, can be a daunting task. Let your VA manage your contact management, by using such CRM’s as Top Producer or the Wise Agent. The VA will keep your database up to date, make sure action plans and campaigns are being applied appropriately, set up your reminders for events and appointments.
  3. Internet Lead Management – Receiving lots of leads from your websites or blogs? Let your VA help you manage your lead intake. They can import them into your CRM, make sure follow-up and drip campaigns are going off without a hitch, and help you stay in touch to convert those leads into clients.
  4. Website Maintenance – Have several websites, but never have time to update listings or add fresh content? Let your VA maintain your real estate websites by making sure they are optimized for search engines, make sure your listings are updated, and that you have fresh relevant content for your visitors. Most VAs even have the ability to customize and design your sites to set them apart from the rest of the competition.
  5. Listing Presentation Preparation – Want to impress potential seller clients? Your VA can create a professional listing presentation for you that will clearly outline your marketing plan and selling process for your sellers, in digital or print format. It can be customized to the the house you aim to list, to really knock their socks off!
  6. Transaction Coordination – From the moment you get a sales contract, things can go from zero to crazy in an instant. Your VA can manage your transaction from contact to close and you can rest easy. They will manage all the documents and signatures, schedule inspections, handle the appointments and be main point of contact for your transactions.
  7. Custom Marketing Materials Design – Want your flyers, postcards, and presentations to have a professional look, but have no idea of how to make them that way? Hire a VA to custom design your marketing materials with your branding scheme. It help you put your best foot forward and set you above the rest.
  8. FSBO & Expired Prospecting – Want to tap into the FSBO and Expired markets? FSBO and Expired prospecting takes some special attention that your VA is well equipped to handle. By the use of certain programs, your VA will be able to harvest the FSBO and Expired leads, start the campaigns, send the letters & emails, etc. With the help of your VA, you will show those prospects that you are the one that can successfully list their homes.
  9. Social Networking Assistance – So you have a profile on Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo, ActiveRain, LinkedIn, or other popular social networks, but you can’t keep up with the friend requests and updates. Let your VA screen and manage your friend requests, make sure your latest blog entries get posted, post listing information, and make sure you get “out there” in the social networking world.
  10. Marketing Planning – No idea on how to focus your marketing efforts or any idea on what to budget for? Your VA can strategize with you to come up with long term marketing plans with many different options to make sure you get enough “touches” and stay in front of your clients, contacts, and farm.

Now if any of the above options sound like something you would like to unload from your busy schedule, than you should consider delegating these kinds of tasks to a Real Estate Virtual Assistant.


 10 Things a Real Estate Virtual Assistant Can Do For YouMegan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy.

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Tweet Tips – Twitter For the Beginner

twitter bird Tweet Tips   Twitter For the BeginnerSince social networking for the real estate industry has become heavily woven into the internet marketing fabric, many new and unique opportunities have cropped up. This week, my focus is on the fun micro-blogging tool, Twitter, and some great ways to use it for real estate. And I am probably the last one in my industry who hasn’t yet blogged about it. So here I go.

In case you are scratching your head and wondering what in the world Twitter is, let me tell you. From Wikipedia,

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

140 Characters is what you get to quickly tell people what you are doing, what is going on with your business and what is going on in your life.

So why should the real estate professional care? Twitter is fast becoming a popular social networking tool, and a growing number of users in the real estate industry are starting to use Twitter to their advantage. Real estate is all about relationship building, and what better way to build a great repoire with your clients, colleagues, and online prospects, on a regular basis by telling them what you are doing, announce important neighborhood news, share articles you find interesting, and build your reputation as an expert.

And Twitter is completely free and super easy to set up.

In future posts I will be covering ways to use it for real estate, draw leads and market to your internet prospects. For now, here are a few tips for beginners that want to successfully get started with Twitter.

  1. Create & Update Your Profile – Make sure to put in a url to your website and let the world know what you do your profile. I personally do not follow those that do not fill out profile information. i like to know who I’m following and what they do.
  2. Meet people – Start with following or inviting people that you know. Then branch out and ad people in your community and colleagues in the business.
  3. Promote Your Twitter Profile – People will only now you to find and follow you if they know you’re there. When you join Twitter, you get a unique url that you can promote anywhere to direct people to you. Or, generate a badge (or widget) in Twitter to use on you other social network and blogging spaces like Facebook, Myspace, Blogger or TypePad, etc.
  4. Contribute Interesting Info – Do not be one-dimensional and only use twitter as shameless self promotion, or to only market your listings. People will want to follow you if you have something interesting to say, not a constant commercial.
  5. Humanize Yourself – Don’t look like just a real estate robot. Grab people with things like what you are currently doing, even if it is reading a book or eating lunch. People like to see a glimpse into real people’s lives. But still keep it professional. You don’t need to air ALL your personal dirty laundry.
  6. Be Choosy About Following – You do not have to follow everybody that follows you. You could end up spending a lot of time sifting through your tweets so follow those that you think are interesting. There are twitter spammers about so beware.
  7. Don’t Over-Tweet – One way to get blocked or ignored by fellow tweeters is by tweeting way too much. It’s annoying and can look “spammy” to some. Minute by minute accounts of what you are doing are not necessary.
  8. The Lingo -
  • Follow – Way to receive messages from people
  • Followers – People who get messages from you
  • Tweets – Twitter messages

Coming up later, specific tips on Twitter for real estate and ways to market and use it to your advantage.


© Megan E. Barber, Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, LLC

Megan Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, and publisher of The REAL Advantage E-Zine. Megan has spent 9+ years doing the “behind-the-scenes” work in the real estate industry assisting agents with their real estate marketing and transaction needs.

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Megan Barber, Real Estate Virtual Assistant Earns REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER (TM) Certification.

For Immediate Release

Vineland, New Jersey. Megan Barber has successfully completed the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHERTMcertification to join an elite group of real estate professionals who have earned the prestigious certification offered through the National Institute of Webographers, LLC (http://www.webographers.com/). Megan has successfully completed 12 short courses which include: Online Business Strategy, Agent Websites, Single-property Websites, Lead Generation and Management, Virtual Tours, CMA and AVM technology, Neighborhood Search, Online Transaction Management, Electronic Forms, Virtual Assistants, Mobile Technologies and Blogs.

The REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHERTM certification teaches real estate professionals how to develop and maintain an effective online business strategy in a web-based environment. Candidates learn how to establish an effective consumer-facing, all-inclusive web presence; while increasing their knowledge on real estate technologies and strategies clients expect. The program helps real estate agents and affiliates increase marketability by aiding them in determining where they should invest their resources to generate leads, acquire new clients, advertise and facilitate closings.

About Megan Barber
Megan Barber, owner & CEO of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant and a REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHERTM professional. She specializes in providing high quality support services to real estate professionals knows how to assist her clients in winning more listings, attract buyers by turning a listing process into a marketing process. For more information about the valuable services that Megan provides to her clients and web-savvy consumers, please feel free to make contact with:

Megan Barber
http://www.barbervasolutions.com/
Megan@BarberVASolutions.com

About National Institute of Webographers, LLC
Since 2004, The National Institute of Webographers, LLC has specialized in the education, training, assessment and certification of web-based technologies for the Real Estate industry. The REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHERTM Certification (REWTM) provides consumer-facing solutions, education and training through a series of interactive online courses. Certification, online modules for REALTORS® and Assistants include Agent Websites, Single-property Websites, Lead Generation and Management, Virtual Tours, CMA and AVM technology, Neighborhood Search, Online Transaction Management, Electronic Forms, Blogs, Mobile Technologies, Virtual Assistants, and the Learning LaboratoryTM, where Certificants can access an array of showcased technologies for hands on learning. Available 24/7/365, these courses provide the opportunity for working professionals to learn at their own pace while enhancing the skill sets necessary to compete and excel with today’s web savvy consumers. REWTMprofessionals provide consumers with a positive and profitable Real Estate experience. For more information regarding the National Institute of Webographers, please visit http://www.webographers.com/or contact Scott Lau at ScottLau@Webographers.com.

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We Made Blog of the Week!

VAblog We Made Blog of the Week!I just found out and I am pleased to announce that our BVAS Connection blog has been selected as th Virtual Assistant Networking Association’s (VANA) Blog of the Week!

VANAis one of the largest and most wonderful networking organizations in the Virtual Assistant industry. It is a place for aspiring and “veteran” VA’s to come together to share, learn and succeed! I have received so much help and support from their forum over the last 3 years I have been in business and I believe it to be a valuable resource to all VA’s.

I honored to have my blog recognized and I am so proud to be a part of such a wonderful organization.  Thanks VANA!

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Back From NAR & Back in Action!

After a few days of decompressing from my trip to the NAR Conference in Las Vegas, today I am back in my office, and back in action!

I came back from the trip when new contacts, new vendor connections and full of new ideas that I can’t wait to share. I am energized and excited for the all possibilities of what I can do for my present and future clients. There were a reported 37,000 in attendance this year and I was thrilled to meet many of them, including Realtors from all over the world. Just meeting new vendors and learning about what’s new with tools and technology in real estate made this trip to NAR super valuable and one that I will be sure not to miss in the future.

I met countless contacts from countless vendors new and old and over the next few weeks I will be sharing here on my blog some of the cool new things that I found there as well as some available discounts. I’m also full of new ideas and will be working hard to make the upcoming year of 2008 a success for all my current and soon-to-be.

I was there with my colleagues representing the IREAA (the greatest bunch of real estate virtual assistants on the planet) and we spent a lot of time educating and enlightening all that we met about virtual assistants and how we can help Realtors (and some vendors) grow their business. The ladies from IREAA were all so much fun and I was so proud to be there among the “cream of the crop” in my industry.

Cool new tools and vendor highlights will be coming soon!


© Megan E. Barber, Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, LLC

Megan Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, and publisher of The REAL Advantage E-Zine. Megan has spent 9+ years doing the “behind-the-scenes” work in the real estate industry assisting agents with their real estate marketing and transaction needs.

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Come Vistit the IREAA at NAR & Enter to Win Some Cool Prizes

  Meet me and other great members of the IREAA at NAR!

In a little less than 2 weeks I am heading off to Las Vegas and joining my colleagues from the IREAA for this year’s NAR Conference and Expo Nov. 13 – 16th. It should be an exciting conference and a great opportunity to meet new vendors and Realtors from all over the country. I personally am looking forward to networking and making new connections with other Realtors, virtual assistants and new vendors. 

Want to win some cool prizes? Come by booth #3951 and meet some of our great IREAA members and enter to win some fabulous prizes. At our booth, register for a chance to win one of two Flip Camcorders, a cool new technology tool that can be used to take videos of homes and then be quickly uploaded to promote properties on your website, Realtor.com or on YouTube. Also, you can enter for a chance to win one of two dotMobi websites, websites made for the mobile internet user to be viewed on Blackberry’s and PDA’s. And also, we will be giving away e-stationery to one lucky booth visitor.

In addition to giving away prizes, we will be conducting video interviews with Realtors and vendors that will be later posted on the IREAA website. So don’t forget to add booth 3951 to your list of must see exhibitors at this years NAR Conference!

See you at NAR!

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VAs in the News

VA’s were featured in the news today on on of the industry’s leading news sources, the Realty Times. Kim Hughes, one of the founders on the the IREAA, wrote the article Is Technology Getting the Best of You, highlighting how VAs can help rescue you from the technology overload that may be facing you.

I am also a proud member of the IREAA, and you can find me and my other IREAA colleagues at the NAR Conference & Expo this November in Las Vegas. Meet me at booth 3951 to learn more about how a VA can help your business.

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Top 10 Reasons Why a Virtual Assistant (VA) is Better than Hiring an In-house Office Assistant

Your business is growing and you have decided it is time to hire an Office Assistant. Hiring in-house staff can become complicated. Questions to answer are “where to advertise”, “what skills and experience should the candidate have”, “what will their work schedule be”, “what equipment and furniture do I need to purchase” or “what if they don’t work out”. Before writing up your recruitment ad, consider the advantages of contracting a Virtual Assistant.

  1. With a VA, you save money as you don’t have to provide office space, furnishings or equiment. Every VA works from their own office environment.
  2. With a VA, you don’t have to worry about coordinating work schedules. Simply send off the work to be done with a due date.
  3. A client only pays for the actual time a VA spends on completing the task. No money spent on bathroom visits, water cooler chats, or coffee breaks.
  4. When hiring a VA, there is no need to pay for fringe benefits like health insurance, vacation pay or employer wage deductions. A VA takes care of all their own overhead costs.
  5. In-house staff will probably require training. A VA is already proficient with the latest tools and technology to do the job.
  6. As an independent business owner themselves, a VA has the ability to see the bigger picture. Unlike an employee, a VA knows and understands the challenges of running a business.
  7. A VA invests in their own business and has the software available to complete projects. A client can save money by not having to use their funds to purchase software for every new project.
  8. As a worldwide organization, VA’s have a resource pool available to call upon. If there is a time constraint, they have access to numerous connections who can be called upon to complete the job.
  9. Commuting is never a problem with a VA. Your work will get completed even during the worst weather. No down time due to traffic accidents, construction or vehicle emergencies.
  10. As each client relationship is protected with a Confidentiality Agreement, you can be confident in the integrity of your VA and don’t need to worry about confidential company information being leaked at the water cooler.

When working out the true costs of hiring an employees versus contracting a Virtual Assistant, a client not only benefits by having a more qualified, more experienced professional on hand, but once the math is done, the VA often comes in at the same price or lower!

***
*Source: Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA)
The ever popular, friendly, informative, educational & resourceful network for successful and aspiring “IN THE KNOW” Virtual Assistants and Achievers globally that everyone online is talking about.

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10 Ways a Virtual Assistant can REVOLUTIONIZE Your Business

10 Ways a Virtual Assistant can REVOLUTIONIZE Your Business

For those of you who are still in the dark, a Virtual Assistant, or VA, is an executive level, administrative professional who works from his/her own office to support clients using some of the latest available technology. The Internet has brought many skilled professionals out of the corporate environment and back into their homes, enabling them to create a better work-life balance, while still performing in the roles they love. The VA is one such professional. Working from their home-based offices and making use of the Internet, telephone, fax and email, VAs are able to offer small and medium-sized businesses a quality of administrative support, previously only available to the corporate giants, in a cost-effective manner. A Virtual Assistant’s service offering may vary, but you are guaranteed to find one out there who is able to perform the exact functions your business needs. You will find that hiring a VA will REVOLUTIONIZE your business. [Read more...]

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