Why pay for something you can get at no cost? And it's even better when the free solutions do such a great job of helping you to market and manage your real estate business. I run through software, hardware and services technology solutions with a vengeance. I use them, abuse them, and throw many out. However, I do have some favorites that I use and love. Here are the top ten free real estate technology solutions.
Gmail is my most-utilized online application. Not only do I have my personal Gmail address, but I also have multiple business addresses for different purposes. It is accessible from any Internet computer, fast, a huge storage facility, and I can find my old emails with ease. Learn why I made it the first item on my list of free favorites.
YouTube, another Google product, is fast becoming the only place to go for videos of all types in business. Major TV networks and shows place their segments on YouTube. As a real estate professional listing properties, you cannot afford to overlook the marketing exposure you can get with a video of your listing on YouTube. Learn why it is good for your business.
Yes, another Google product. It's just that Google has done a great job of bringing a calendar online in a way that works for me. And, it's free. Because Gmail is my email choice, and Google Calendar integrates beautifully with my Gmail application, it helps me to manage my time better. The ability of Gmail to recognize appointment type verbiage and suggest a one-click entry into the calendar is a big plus. Learn more here.
I Want Sandy is in continual improvement mode. The users make suggestions, and the staff try to do something about them. It is a calendar application and task management online service that is completely free. Sandy can be integrated with your Google Calendar, and it allows entry and manipulation of tasks and appointments via email. You Blackberry addicts will love it. Learn more about Sandy here.
Now, if you're super analytical, and you want huge detail in your accounting records, then stick with QuickBooks or Peachtree. However, if you're into simplicity, and spending as little time as possible in getting expenses and income into an online and free solution, then Xpenser is worth a look. Entry is fast and easy, even using your cell phone.
Jott is by far the most effective tool on this list, because it communicates with many of the other items here. In fact, most items on this list will take entries via voice from your Jott cell phone account. Use it to do accounting, enter appointments and tasks, and much more. This is probably the most useful tool for all of you who spend a great deal of time out of the office.
YouMail is a free online message service that takes over your cell phone voicemail function. Using caller ID, it can answer your calls with customized greetings depending on the identity of the caller. It also sends you an email with the voice message attached as an MP3 file. If you want to save messages related to a transaction, it's easy now. There's more.
Using the free 4info.net service, you can create text messages with listing details, place a sign rider with a text message address, and a drive-by buyer can get listing details instantly. It isn't that difficult to set up, and you can throw away that brochure box for something better.
The most widely used blog platform in the world, WordPress powers many sites that you wouldn't even recognize as blogs. Though the basic WordPress-hosted blog platform is free, you'll want to look carefully at hosting it yourself at a small cost in order to take advantage of many more formatting and other powerful features. Get the tutorial here.
If you're going to blog, why not make multiple uses of the content. Learn how a free Feedblitz account can take your blog posts, create a nicely formatted email newsletter, and send it out on your assigned schedule. I now use it instead of drip email for a much more user-friendly and current email contact system.
