So you've heard about using a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, you've heard how its a great way to amp up your productivity and allow you to do more business.
You've heard that you can use a VA only when you need one..sort of pay-as-you-go and that sounds like it actually might suit your budget. All you need now are some hot prospects and to shop some pricing and rates..easy enough. You are are sure you can find your VA for $10-$12 an hour real quick.
But...you get a rude awakening. Your ideal VA is going to cost you between $30-$55 an hour, depending on the service.
Why? I bring this up only because of a common MISCONCEPTION. The word "assistant" is giving you the wrong impression.
Running a real estate business takes business savvy. Tech savvy, Marketing savvy, Financial savvy, Internet savvy, Social savvy and think outside the box savvy. It takes alot of talent to keep the momentum going..contacting leads, managing your database well, planning and EXECUTING marketing campaigns, learning all the new technology and staying on top of your online precense. All of this is an investment in your time..time that could be overwhelming you, to the point that you are having a hard time keeping up the momentum. I won't even mention balancing your people skills, phone skills, sales skills..that is your department.
So in the corporate world, busy executives like you know that having team members that can handle some of the time consuming tasks is what it takes to be the best CEO of their companies. They don't do it all.They have people. Talented and effecient people. Let's take a look at some of the salaries of these talented individuals who keep the CEO on top of his or her game.
Executive Assistant: Salary: $40,000-$60,000 annually plus benefits
Internet Marketing Specialist: $50,000-$70,000 annually plus benefits
Social Media Marketing Manager: $60,000-$120,000 annually plus benefits
Transaction Coordinator: $30,000 annually
Webmaster: $45,000-$55,000 annually
Photoshop Professional: $40,000-$55,000 annually
Website copywriter: $50,000-$60,000 annually
Add in for free: real estate knowledge, training and experience
The above positions are the basic specialties that you will find in my particular business and many VA's like me. We are trained, we are experienced and we run our own companies as our own CEO's. We pay our own taxes, our own insurance etc. just like you. We pay for our office equipment and supplies. We pay for our training. All of it..just like you! We are worth our pay-scale just like you!
40 hours per month with a VA is an average of $1400. $1400 equals $16,800 a year. No employee taxes, no office equipment, no benefits. So when and if you start looking for your "assistant" ....get that word out of your head, and look at what you are really getting. You are getting a full fledged professional who takes their business very seriously..as much as you do.
Get to know your partner, they will get to know you, and after a while you will be amazed at the fabulous and effecient business you are running. Partnering with a real estate virtual assistant is an investment, an investment in you!
Hey, check this out this reminder. I wanted to pass this along! (this kind-of stuff is good to know...pass it on..)
Also, if you do marketing for Real Estate Professionals in California make sure you have this info on hand for printed materials!
Effective 7-1-2009!!
SB1461 Disclosure of License ID Number Requires a Real Estate Licensee to place his/her License Identification Number on all first point of Contact Marketing Materials and on Home Purchase Agreements
SB 1461 (Negrete McLeod) Disclosure of License Identification Number (Chapter 284) Effective 7/1/2009, this bill requires a real estate licensee to place his or her license identification number on all first point of contact marketing materials and on home purchase agreements which they negotiate. First point of contact materials includes business cards, stationery, advertising fliers, and other materials designed to solicit the creation of a professional relationship between the licensee and a consumer. The Department of Real Estate (DRE)
SB1461 Disclosure of License ID Number Senate Bill No. 1461 CHAPTER 284 - An act to amend Section 10140.6 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to real estate. [Approved by Governor September 25, 2008. Filed with Secretary of State September 25, 2008.] SB 1461, Negrete McLeod. Real estate licensees. This bill would, on and after July 1, 2009, require a licensee to disclose his or her license identification number on specified solicitation materials, as defined, and on real property purchase agreements when acting as an agent in those transactions. The bill would authorize the Real Estate Commissioner to adopt regulations in that regard. The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 10140.6 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 10140.6. (a) A real estate licensee shall not publish, circulate, distribute, or cause to be published, circulated, or distributed in any newspaper or periodical, or by mail, any matter pertaining to any activity for which a real estate license is required that does not contain a designation disclosing that he or she is performing acts for which a real estate license is required. (b) (1) A real estate licensee shall disclose his or her license identification number on all solicitation materials intended to be the first point of contact with consumers and on real property purchase agreements when acting as an agent in those transactions. The commissioner may adopt regulations identifying the materials in which a licensee must disclose a license identification number. (2) For purposes of this section, “solicitation materials intended to be the first point of contact with consumers” includes business cards, stationery, advertising fliers, and other materials designed to solicit the creation of a professional relationship between the licensee and a consumer, and excludes an advertisement in print or electronic media and “for sale” signs. (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or change the requirement described in Section 10236.4 as applicable to real estate brokers. (c) The provisions of this section shall not apply to classified rental advertisements reciting the telephone number at the premises of the property offered for rent or the address of the property offered for rent. (d) The amendments made to this section by the act adding this subdivision shall become operative on July 1, 2009."
If you don't know Rocky Turner you are missing out. When the frustration of the daily news makes you wonder why we can't accomplish more to help make this world a better place, log on to Mothers Fighting For Others and find out what this woman has done, and is doing not just for children in Africa, but for us. She shows US what wecan do when we help. You never think you have it in you, until she shows you.
Breaking The Cycle Of Poverty By Educating Young Kenyan Women
Inspiration is the spark that leads to change. Our dream is to create a home for orphaned girls filled with love that will give them a new family. Inspire The Child will also construct a new educational facility for K-8th grade girls. This facility will prepare the girls for a brighter future and support their re-introduction to society. The school will provide counseling and medical attention, and teach them the skills that will empower them to be a strong and independent new generation of Kenyan women.
Mothers Fighting For Others wants to build a home. We want to build a school. We want to build a small community for these girls to learn, to be loved, to believe and take pride in themselves, and to dream big. This is the just the beginning of the journey. I am so grateful to be going down this path. So, I'll be heading back to Kenya next month to scout out three parcels of land. We'll have a better idea of what our needs will be next month.
I am so excited to get started on this program. I hope you are too!!
This is so cool! It's no secret that syndicating your listings to as many places as possible is key to reaching buyers or sellers in the media that they are comfortable with. While I was doing some syndicating of listings the other day I was happy to notice that they now make it easy to add your Postlets property ads, to your favorite social media sites, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, FriendFeed, and of course Facebook.
Hey Guys..you know I love you. I loved you for a long time. 3 Years in fact. You've allowed me to share my stuff with other resepected individuals and real estate professionals on this site. Because of all the real estate networking I've been exposed to all areas of real estate...Lending, Selling, Buying, Marketing, Staging, etc. and businesses and business owners representing them.
There were may times when I could do go the Home Page menu that had the RE Professionals divided into categories of expertise...I could find my fellow Virtual Assistants, Stagers, Agents, Brokers, etc in a nice link from the home page and it would take me right to their category...sadly its no more.
And it sort of makes me mad. I thought this was a network that supported everyone in the industry..not just Agents, Brokers and Lenders..? Now..it looks as though unless you read my blog that says I AM A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT, you wouldn't know that. My profile would not be linked to my fellow colleaugues.
So unless, I'm missing something here...it would be really great our profile categories back again.
I've come to AR a million time to find profiles of people to network with that weren't just Localism bloggers. It would be nice to have a way of finding them again. Are they even on here..?
Am I missing something? If not..I humbly submit my BONE to PICK.
Delegating to a Real Estate Virtual Assistant doesn't have to be difficult or expensive! Welcome to Day Three of Outsourcing Ideas you can let your real estate VA handle for you! This is a quick and easy to read resource you can always come back to:)
Delegation Day Three
Problem:BLOGS: You need help writing them, need ideas about what to write about, need help getting through writer's block, and need help posting them consistently with some knowledge of SEO, keywords and links, and back links.
Solution: Have your VA set up Google Alerts for your Town, Community, Neighborhood or Farm to track excellent resources for your blogs and have them come to you AND your VA. Your VA can then sort relevant topics, links etc. and send them to you to keep the writer's juices flowing. If you need help writing the content a VA can help you get started and will make sure you have the basics of SEO included. Once finalized and proofed, your VA can post the blogs on Active Rain, and any outside blog you may have, as well as syndicate your links to your Social Networking sites. (More on that later!)
There's one good reason to delegate something to a Real Estate VA!
A real estate virtual assistant is like the missing piece of your business' puzzle.Having someone available to you to help you with the the 'small stuff' while you focus on the big picture - the things that will earn you the most income is key.Once you get that into place, you'll be growing your business faster than ever before.
Problem: Your web-generated leads & past clients are not being properly followed up with, put into 8 X 8, 12 Direct, 33 Touch, or 5 or 10 Year Campaigns because you are too busy taking care of other day to day tasks. Before you know it you are back logged with leads who are not being followed up with.
Solution: Have your VA design and create a system of email drips in your Top Producer or other CRM program, as well as setting your Touch system up for you in an Action Plan. Then delegate your VA to make sure your touches are going out. If you are not consistently touching your leads, someone else will!
There's one good reason to delegate something to a Real Estate VA!
A real estate virtual assistant is like the missing piece of your business' puzzle.Having someone available to you to help you with the the 'small stuff' while you focus on the big picture - the things that will earn you the most income is key.Once you get that into place, you'll be growing your business faster than ever before.
Welcome to Day One of the 10 Days of Outsourcing to Your Virtual Assistant!
I'm going to coach you through the process of working with a VA by showing you a sample task you could send to your VA today to make your life easier and free up your time to work on the true business building tasks.
So, join me for this blog series - for only a few moments - to read through the things you could unload onto a VA quite easily.The first step to working with a VA is understanding what it is that they can do for you and just how EASY it is to get there.
The format will always be the same (without this intro text) and it will be quick, painless and easy to read in a matter of minutes. I want to illustrate just how easy it really is!
Let's begin! If you have any questions along the way, please feel free to e-mail me:)
Delegation Day One
Problem: You're spending too much time on the computer adding your listings, listing photos, videos, and virtual tours to your various websites, Craigslist, syndication sites, and keeping up with updates, price changes, as well as migrating the information to your Active Rain blog, your hosted blog, and Social Media sites.
Solution: Delegating these tasks to a real estate virtual assistant can eliminate those hours from your week or month and allows you TIME to spend on your "income-producing hours" like power calling your leads, touching your contacts with the letters and emails you never seem to get around to. Your VA will systemize, and automate your task list to ensure a successful listing launch every time!
There's one good reason to delegate something to a VA!
A real estate virtual assistant is like the missing piece of your business' puzzle.Having someone available to you to help you with the the 'small stuff' while you focus on the big picture - the things that will earn you the most income is key.Once you get that into place, you'll be growing your business faster than ever before.
Well..I did it..I recently downloaded Xobni (Inbox spelled backwards) and am really liking it!
Xobni is a plug-in for Outlook that allows you connect to your contacts by having a super fast email search function, attached conversations, AND connect to them directly through Social Networking like Facebook, Skype and Linked In.
Here is a screen shot of the famous Brad Andersohn. At first I thought it might be even more disctracting but the more I use it, the more I like it. There a ton of features I'm sure I haven't tapped into yet, so if you are a user, feel free to share your opinions:)
Real Estate Virtual Assistant in California sharing real estate experiences, technology and know-how...virtually.
Get great free widgets at Widgetbox! -->
<!-- AddThis Bookmark Button END -->
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
So you've heard about using a 
Ready to Get Creative? Laura Monroe | 
Ready to Get Creative? Laura Monroe | 
Posted by 
Well..I did it..I recently downloaded 
;)
;)
