Crystal's Not So Random Thoughts

It’s Not the Size, It’s How You Use It

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:13:00 -0600

To be successful in Social Marketing, your goal should be never to have the most followers, it should be to have the most highly targeted followers.

In two days it will be the New Year. As we all know, along with the New Year comes last year's lists. I usually look forward to these lists. Two lists I've seen recently were the top 10 people on Twitter and the top 10 influential people on Twitter. Both lists graded Tweeters solely on the amount of followers they have.

On one hand I have to say that if 40,000 people are following you, that you do have some influence in the Twitter world.

If Social Networking is supposed to be similar to being at a party (and I believe it is), then a party with 40,000 people is not a party, it's a convention. Have you ever been to a convention? If you have, how many people at that convention did you actually have a conversation with? I've been to conventions. I usually find a group of people who is interested in learning the same things I want to learn and hang out with them. We attend the same speakers, hook up for lunch, then maybe exchange emails before we go home. Never have I gone to a convention and connected with every person there.

So how can you be influencial in your little corner of the internet when you only have a small list? The secret is to highly target your list. Don't follow every person who you come across. I actually think you should have two Twitter accounts (you aren't allowed two on Facebook). One account for giving, and one for receiving.

The giving account is where you will follow people who may make a purchase from you or may know someone who will make a purchase from you. They are in your target market. You should follow every person back so that you can have conversations with them when the time comes. Don't use any of those silly rules I've heard about such as, only follow people with a picture, or only follow people who will follow you back. Because you are giving, people will naturally follow you back. And it doesn't matter if they have a picture as long as they are reading what you write.

Remember the rule of giving - you give from the heart, you don't give to receive. Don't expect anything back from these people. Just keep giving and they will want to learn more about you. Where will they do that? Why, on your website or blog, of course. That's where they will decide to do business with you or not.

The receiving account is where you want to follow people who will give you information that you will share on your giving account. Find the people that are leaders in your industry, that regularly send out valuable content. You will always be "in the know" when you read their posts. They don't need to follow you back since you aren't engaging them in conversation. You may want to add their blogs to your feed reader so you can see what else they are talking about. The trick with this account is to not follow anyone who isn't a thought leader in your industry because untargeted posts will only clutter up the pages that you are trying to read and add to the "internet noise".

If you follow the give-receive method, I know that you will be as successful at Social Networking for business as the people with 40,000 followers.

Find Local Twitter-ers

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:23:02 -0600

Cool feature for those of you on Twitter, Twitter Grader twitter.grader.com has a feature where you can see everyone who's in your local area who's on Twitter.

After you type in your Twitter ID, you will see that beside your Location, there is a link that says Twitter Elite. If you click on it you will be taken to a page that shows all the people in your town that is on Twitter. You can read their bio, check out their Web site, message them, or click on their picture to follow them.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter.

I'm editing this to show people who live in small towns how to find the people in their area...

Glitch: Twitter Elite will only show up if you live in a large city. There is a way to get it to show your area, though...

Step 1 - go to your Twitter account, and in Settings in the top right, change your location to the nearest large city to you.

Step 2 - now add your name to Twitter Grader. You will see the Elite show up. When you click on it, it will show you all the people in that city.

Step 3 - at the top of that page you can change the location to your town.

Step 4 - remember to change your location back in Twitter, lol.

Are You Ready to Start Social Networking?

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:26:03 -0500

Have you ever wondered what social networking sites you should be on? There are a few main ones that you must be on - MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. You may also want to join the social networking sites that are specific to your industry. Of course you are already on Active Rain.

The first thing to do before setting up a social network is to sit down and write a profile - one common profile that you will use on all your social networking sites. Your profile should show people who you are and why you are competent to do what you do. You want to add your personality to this profile, too. Many of the sites have places for you to list your interests, so that's a good place to start adding personality.

So how much of "you" should you add? That's a good question. Since you plan on doing business with some of your contacts, then try to stay on the professional side. When in doubt, look at other people's profiles and see what they do. Don't outright copy someone, though.

Then choose one photo that you will be common to all the sites. To brand your social networking sites to your website, gather together your header, your logo, and your main website color codes to be used to customize your site.

Now that you have so many social networking profiles out there, what's the point of having a website? Think of yourself as a rock star. You round up your band and your costumes and put them in the tour bus. You visit many cities gathering a following. That's your social networking. Each site is a city where you gather fans. Some of your fans may become groupies and follow you around to other sites. Unlike rock stars, you should reciprocate and add them or follow them also.

But you can't fit everything you own into your tour bus. You can't fit all your products, all your services, plus all your price lists. You may fit a few testimonials, but not all. You get the picture. What you need is a home base, a place where these things all fit. That's your website or your blog site. On the social networking sites you are going to leave links so when your fans want to know more about you, they will click on the link to your website or your blog. That's where they will find out everything they need to know.

Back date your email

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:43:09 -0500

You read that correctly. With Google's new Gmail Custom Time you can back date email. Did you forget to send an executed copy of a document on time. Back date it. Did you forget someone's birthday? Back date an ecard. You can also mark it as "read" to make them think they forgot about it. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's a screen shot.

Are you afraid of "Social Networking"?

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:18:25 -0500

WHAT IS SOCIAL NETWORKING - I'm sure you've heard that people buy from people they know, like, and trust. Social networking is all about giving people a chance to get to know you and like you so they will want to find out more about you and what you do. Social networking sites allow you to connect with millions of people who would have never known you otherwise.

What's the first thing most people ask when they meet you? "What do you do?", right? People are naturally curious about what other people do. Your answer starts their wheels churning as they begin to make assumptions about you. With Social Networking sites, you can control what you want them to know about you and your business by leaving breadcrumbs (links) on your profile page to where you want them to go from there.

They will begin to trust you in several ways. One is by seeing that someone else they trust has done business with you or is connected to you in a business manner. This is why people have portfolios and testimonials on their sites. Another way people get to trust that you are a good person to do business with is by reading what you write or seeing what you connect to and what your interests are.

I know what you are thinking - you only service a small area, why do you need to connect to millions of people. My answer is, you don't. You can choose to only accept connections to people who fit your ideal client profile, or are only from a certain area, or you can connect to everyone. It's totally up to you.

WHY SOCIAL NETWORK - Think of the world wide web as a giant popularity contest. Sort of like high school, but less drama, lol. In high school people made assumptions about you based on who you hung out with. Online, people are the same. You want to find the groups of people that are similar to who you want to be known as. (Birds of a feather... well, you know.) Once you are in the group and you begin to show your expertise, you will find people coming to you who want to learn about your market. You will then be the expert who helps them. You can choose almost any angle to connect with them.

Sounds a lot like blogging here on Active Rain, doesn't it? Although AR is a blogging site, it's also social. People make relationships here which often turns into business deals. See? You've been social networking and didn't even know it!

WHERE ELSE SHOULD YOU NETWORK - There are several places online to set up profiles. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Ryze, and many more. One is not better than the other. Just choose the ones that you want to be associated with. Remember, you are controlling what you want people to know about you.

HOW SHOULD YOU NETWORK - After you choose which sites you want to be on, set up your profile. Make sure your profile is linked to your website and blog so people can click to find out more about you. Each social networking site does things a little differently. Facebook and LinkedIn are similar in that you set your profile, then you get "connections". LinkedIn is sort of like an online resume. The more information you add about your past, the more people will connect with you. Each of these connections is a potential customer. You need to go in regularly and either add people to your connection or approve their requests to connect. Each of those sites have groups you can join, too, that will help with your exposure.

Twitter is a little different as you are talking to people directly. It doesn't depend on static connections. You can use Twitter to announce things such as a new listing or a price change or something you want people to know. That's not an actual conversation, but it's ok to do it that way. Twitter should be updated at least weekly to keep your info fresh. You are only allowed a few characters so it's not like a blog where you can write an article if you wanted to. As you get into social networking, you may find more social sites that are real estate specific.

On these places you want to cite your credentials to show your competence and show any testimonials you have. You want to show you have good character, that you are someone people want to do business with. And third you need to show your personality so people will want to connect to you. Showing personality online is hard.

You also want each one of these places listed in your blogroll here on Active Rain, and also on your website, so people who found you in a different way can click to your social networking places. The more places you can be found online, the more credible you become.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU NETWORK - Social networking can suck the day out from under you if you let it. Anyone who's said they were addicted to Active Rain knows what I am talking about. On the other hand, you can spend an hour per week just touching on your social networking sites, updating posts, and making connections, and still have good results.

STOP!! Don't tell people you sell real estate!

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:02:36 -0500

When you meet someone for the first time, do you tell them that you are a real estate agent? That could be a bad thing - here's why.

Everyone has a pre-conceived idea of what a real estate agent is. For the most part, Realtors rank just above used car salesmen in the eyes of the general public. So when you say, "I am a real estate agent", the person's mind starts reeling about the stories they've heard or the last interaction they had with a real estate agent. This may or may not be a good thing depending on whether their experience or stories they've heard was good or bad. Most likely, the stories were bad. A happy customer tells two people. An unhappy one tells 10. Even if the person has had a good experience with a Realtor, when you say you are a real estate agent you are now lumped in with the group of real estate agents that they already know. You don't stand out.

I propose that instead, when someone asks you what you do, tell them what you do, not what you are. "I sell homes to people just like you!". Of course you'd get more specific than that. You can get specific about the types of properties you sell, and you can get specific about the type of person your typical client is. In any case, when you tell them what you do rather than what your title is, you've taken away the chance for the person to put you in a category. You've given them a new category, your own.

Say it loudly, say it proudly, and say it with a smile.

"I help real estate professionals just like you use technology and the internet to sell properties!".

If I only had that one magic product...

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:49:20 -0600

Big surprise coming! Did you know that the Real Estate community is one of the most marketed group? J/k, there's no surprise there. We are all looking for that magic bullet that will catapult our business to the top. Someone comes along and says they have that magic bullet and we are so quick to try it out. We justify it by saying that what we are doing now isn't working so it can't hurt to try, right.

I want to warn people to go slow on your purchases, especially in the beginning of your career when money is still tight. If you find you need something and you don't have it, you can always purchase it later. If you purchase it and find you don't need it, you have simply lost money.

I am the self-proclaimed "Queen of Free". Some people like to pay top dollar for everything they buy thinking that the more they spend, the better the product will be. It's a personal choice that isn't necessarily bad. I just don't perceive value as having anything to do with the cost of an item. In my experience, many free programs are just as good as the top dollar ones.

I especially love Open Source software. An Open Source program means that the software comes with the source code so developers can fiddle with it and make it even better. Open Source programs are almost always - free.

As you would suspect, free doesn't mean you get the best programs, just as it doesn't mean you get the bottom of the barrel. It does sometimes mean you get the bare minimum of what you need a program to do.

If you purchase a program and it doesn't do things the way you need it to, you may find yourself purchasing a second program to fill in the gaps. Most programs don't allow reselling, and even if they do, you'll never recoup the full cost of what you paid. If you download a free program and you find out you need it to do more, first you now have a clear understanding of what was missing out of it. Second, you haven't spent a dime, only sweat and (sometimes) tears.

Free is great in the beginning of your business building when you don't have a lot of money coming in and you are on a limited budget. When you start bringing in a little extra cash, you can upgrade to the programs with the extra bells and whistles.

When choosing what programs and software you want, be open minded and check out what is available for free first. Ask around and find out if anyone you know has tried the free programs. See what limitations the free programs have. Then decide if free meets your needs.

And don't forget that your computer comes with many programs already installed so take a good look at your list of Programs under the Start menu and see what programs you already have before you decide to make a purchase.

Autoresponders demystified

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:03:57 -0600

It's really funny how there's so much information on the internet, but when you're looking for something and you don't type in the right keywords, you can't find it. I was recently looking for an "autoresponder" when I should have been looking for a "sequential autoresponder". Apparently they are two different things.

An autoresponder sends an email message in response to someone sending you an email. You may have seen these. Suppose someone is out of the office or gone on vacation. You send them an email and you get an immediate response saying the person is out of the office and what their instructions are. Most web hosts offer you a few autoresponder emails that are designed to handle small jobs such as announcing that you are out of the office.

But suppose you want to send a training course or a drip email campaign. This can be done in one of two ways. The first way is that every person who signs up gets the next email in the sequence. If the email goes out on Mondays and I sign up on Tuesday, I don't get any email for 6 days, and on that 6th day I get the same email as everyone else. Most autoresponders can handle this fairly easily.

But what if you didn't want anyone to miss out on any of the emails? You wanted each person to get email #1 the day they sign up, email #2 so many days later, email #3 so many days after that, and so on until they've finished your training. You get a second sign up and they receive their email #1 immediately and their email #2 the same amount of days later. There's no missed email messages. For that you will need a "sequential autoresponder".

A sequential autoresponder is a timed series of email messages. Very few companies offer the sequential autoresponder.

There is a third option. You can have someone set this up on your own web server using MySQL. I know it can be done, but I have no clue how. If you choose to do it this way, be extra careful to ensure people double opt in to your mailing list. Double opt in means that they fill out the form to receive your emails and you send them an email back saying, "If you are really the one who signed up for this email, and you really want this email, click on this link and prove it." This protects you from being called a Spammer. You don't want to have your ISP banned from the internet providers.

A good use of an autoresponder is when someone signs up for your newsletter, you can offer a free download. When they sign up, an email is automatically sent to the prospect asking them to click on a link. Once they click on the link, the autoresponder sends a second email. This is the email you put the link to their free download in. You set it up once and forget about it until you want to change the item you are offering.

This is different from an ezine, or online newsletter. With an ezine, person A signs up today and gets this month's issue. Person B signs up next week and he doesn't get anything until the next issue is sent. Sort of like a magazine subscription. An ezine sounds like an autoresponder, but the ezine is scheduled to go out by you where an autoresponder is triggered by the person sending you an email first.

Can your blog make you rich?

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:06:26 -0600

One of my favorite books is a collection of articles by Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced Decision) called The Tightwad Gazette. Amy was a pioneer. She started back in the early ‘90s writing articles on ways to live within or below your means back when living on credit cards way above your means was the norm. Amy took a subject that she was passionate about, realized there were others who were equally passionate, and began writing a newsletter to connect with those people.

That was her goal, to connect with like-minded individuals. Word spread like wildfire about this guru of savings and within a few short years, Amy was able to retire. She simply took her newsletter that she had been sending out and compiled her articles into 3 books (she later compiled the 3 books into one called The Complete Tightwad Gazette). At this writing, she spends life with her 6 teenagers living on a farm in Maine.

Blogs are popping up all over the internet. From what I hear, it's like 1 per minute. That's a lot of blogs. I'm sure that means there are a lot of good writing out there, as well as a lot of crap being written. I would like to stay on the side of good writing. Amy obviously did things right. Here are some of the reasons I think she succeeded:

1. Amy didn't have the internet "experts" to distract her from her vision. She only had what was around her and her passion. She wrote about what she knew, which is what made her the expert.

a. As a blogger, are you writing about your passions or are you writing what the experts are telling you that you should be writing about?

2. Amy didn't write to get rich. She got rich, but that was secondary. Amy wrote because she wanted to meet others that shared her passion. She regularly included letters from her readers in her newsletters.

a. As a blogger, are you writing to share your passion, or are you writing to make money?

3. Amy stuck to one subject in her articles. She didn't pretend to be an expert on everything. She showed the steps that brought her to the conclusions she made so others could follow the steps and come to their own conclusions. She wasn't a "know it all".

a. Is your blog all over the map as far as subjects go, or are you steady on one course?

4. Amy was human. Once someone questioned her because she took a muffin away from a free buffet to eat later. This made her honestly question herself whether she was ethical by taking it rather than eating it there. She asked other's opinions. In the end, she regretted her decision to take the muffin.

a. We all make mistakes. You don't want to look incompetent in your blog, but you do want to be approachable.

5. Amy was the first.

a. With so many blogs out there, it's hard to be the first, or even original. That means you absolutely have to be the best. There's no room for mediocrity.

Virtual Assistant certifications, what do they mean?

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:09:06 -0600

You want to know what I saw today!?! A VA, here on Active Rain, who says she is "certified Military Spouse Virtual Assistant". Ok. Who gives that certification? And what the heck does it mean? Why do Military Spouses need a VA?

I swear some of these certifications are purely made up. I think I'm going to start offering blog posting certification. All the VAs here can pay me $395 and I will give them a logo for their website that says they are certified to post blogs. It will immediately give their blog more credibility than other blogs without the certification.

Seriously, how do you know what certifications mean anything? Well, the NAR REPA certification is given by the National Association of Realtors. You can bet that certification is a good one. IVAA has two certifications that are important, the CRESS or Certified Real Estate Support Specialist, and the Ethics Checked certification.

Other than those, take a look at what the VA had to do to achieve the certification. Just because it's a certification doesn't mean the teachers knew what they were doing. The virtual assistant industry is unregulated. Anyone can say they are certified in anything. It doesn't make their knowledge any better than someone who's been in the trenches gaining life experience. At this point in the VA industry, a person's associations and memberships have as much weight as their certifications, if not more.

=========

EDITED TO ADD: I was contacted off blog for clarification on my intentions with this post. I figured I'd post them here to make sure everyone reading this understands.

1) I am not knocking the VA industry. I did laugh when I thought there were VAs to Military Spouses, though.

2) I am not knocking VA certifications. I am just warning people that some certifications may be bogus and to check them out and not blindly believe a logo that anyone can make.

3) A VA who is an active member of popular VA organizations is less likely to be fly-by-night. They are also more likely to know lots of cool stuff that can help their clients because we VAs talk to each other and we share all the good info with each other. That's why I think affiliations are as good as certifications.

I hope that clears up any misunderstandings.

The 31 day blog makeover

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:38:31 -0600

I came across an excellent blog post on how to make your blog a better blog. It's a 31-day action plan written by NorthxEast, a blog about blogging.

If you are new here and haven't started blogging, this is a great way to start off on the right foot. If you've been blogging a while, it's a good exercise to get your blog in shape. Even if you only do some of the ideas, your blog will be better.

Here's the link to the action plan...

Will the real blogger please stand up

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:39:41 -0600

I'm reading a blog. It's a blue blog. And it's about credit. It's a good blog. Lots of good information. And well-written.

Um, there's a problem. I don't know who wrote it. It's not an Active Rain blog because Active Rain blogs have the person's picture and a way to contact them in the right sidebar. I did get there starting here, though.

It's definately a Wordpress blog. I know because it says so on the bottom.

There's a HOME page an ABOUT tab but those pages are blank. I would think it was a new blog except there are 18 posts. And according to the archives the first post was in September of 2006. There's 31 chicklets and 8 people on their blogroll. None of those links helps me figure out who wrote the posts.

If this blog sounds familiar, just a suggestion, but you may want to add some contact info in your sidebar or sign your posts.

The latest Wordpress update...

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:21:19 -0600

For those of you using Wordpress.com as an additional blog to Active Rain, you may have noticed a warning asking you to update your blog to the latest version to fix a security issue that Wordpress found.

Before you update, there are a few precautions that you should take. First, update your database. Worst case senario is that you mess up your blog so badly that you have to reinstall it. Ok, I doubt that will happen, but just suppose it does. You don't want to lose your comments and posts. Here's how: http://codex.wordpress.org/Backing_Up_Your_Database

Next, deactivate all your plug-ins in case one of them is not compatible with the new version of Wordpress. Once the update is complete, activate one plug-in at a time and check to make sure everything is working before you activate the next one. This is the only way to isolate a problem plug-in. If your plug-in also asks for an update, do it the same way, one plug-in at a time.

There is another update coming out March 10th, so watch for it.

Is your client an ***? Are you?

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:59:47 -0600

I recently had my first client from h-e-double hockey sticks. I suppose it was bound to happen. I had a gut feeling I was making a deal with the devil when I took on this client. But I'm not one to talk bad about people behind their backs so that's all I'll say about it.

I came across a test to help you determine if you have one of those types of clients http://yourclientfromhell.com/. And here's a quiz to help determine if you are the problem http://electricpulp.com/guykawasaki/arse/.

Sex offender registry - a false sense of security?

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:01:26 -0600

I know it's been a while since I've posted but I read something today that really moved me to post.

I still get the newspaper from my hometown - even though I haven't lived there in a very long time. Front page of yesterday's paper was "Convicted Level 3 Sex Offender Rapes 6-year old in Public Library".

In the public library. A place where I always felt safe.

I used to take my kids to the library and drop them off in the children's room while I went to look for my books. We've been a gazillion times. My kids know the library like they know their own homes. I never felt they were in danger there. It's large, it's open, you can see the first floor from the second or third. I was wrong.

I've said this many times, having a sex offender registry that allows us to know if a sex offender lives in our neighborhood does not keep our children safe. It only tells us about the ones that have been caught. Does this mean we now need to know not only where they live but where they hang out? No. It means we have to stay just as on guard with our children as if we didn't know where they lived. Sex offenders are everywhere. Not all of them are on the registry.

Why am I writing this here?

Because I know many agents have links to the registry on their Web sites. I think that's giving people a false sense of security. One time, during an open house, a potential buyer pointed to a home down the street and said, "a sex offender lives there". So I pointed to three other houses and said, "does that mean no sex offenders live in those houses?". He bought the house.

Happy Thanksgiving

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 07:34:53 -0600

HPPPY THANKSGIVING

I wanted to say that I am thankful to all the people on Active Rain (and the one's who don't post here) who have supported my business this past year.

You always hear what a virtual assistant can do for your business, but you may not realize that you do just as much for us. We learn so much from you every day. I'm always saying how you need to be an expert in what you do. Then someone said to me that they never want to be an expert because that will mean there's nothing left to learn. How true. There's always so much more to learn about something, especially in the real estate business. I feel that I have learned so much more about real estate since becoming a virtual assistant than I knew when I was selling real estate.

I am thankful for those of you who have taken the chance on a virtual assistant.

Crystal Pina, PREVA

Survey for real estate agents / brokers

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:21:48 -0500

If you could have a comprehensive book on one topic, what would you want it to be about? What would you want to know more about at this exact moment in your life and in your career. It doesn't matter if you are brand spanking, shiny new or you've been doing this since man lived in caves. There must be something that you wish you could find in a book that will tell you everything about it.

It would be titled, "The Ultimate Guide to..."

Are you letting business slip through the cracks?

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:29:47 -0500

I read recently that according to the NAR, it takes most agents 3 days to return a call from a prospect. Could this be true? Do you really take three days to call someone back? You don't have to tell me, but you know if this describes you or not. Do you know that when a prospect calls or emails that they expect a response within 2 hours or they will make a call to the next person on the list?

This goes for all industries not just realtors. It seems like once someone gets busy they let the "unimportant" calls go. A very busy virtual assistant recently asked me if I wanted to reply to an inquiry she had received because she couldn't fit another client into her schedule at that time. So I replied. The response I got was, "Where were you three weeks ago when I needed the help?"

While I understand that no one can be available 24 hours waiting for the phone to ring, there are things you can do when you are busy so that you minimize your chances of losing these prospects to your competition.

Set a time when you will make follow up phone calls. And stick to it. Then add a message to your answering machine that tells people when they can expect a return call, such as "within X amount of hours". You don't have to be specific but you should give them an approximate time when you will call. You can also set an autoresponder for email inquiries, which is basically an answering machine for email that will tell prospects the same thing.

Prioritize your call backs into groups. I don't need to tell you who is more important than whom. That's for you to decide. I put all current clients as my top priority. Followed by people who are major players in meeting deadlines.

So - what if you really are too busy to get to the prospects on your list when making your call backs? If you are finding that after calling everyone on your priority list that you don't have time to call prospects back, get help. You should not be letting new business go because you are too busy with current business. Embrace the growth of your business. That's a good thing. Then find the very best people you can find to take some of the tasks off your hands so you can be the one who makes the calls to your prospects.

Let 100 flowers bloom

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:22:43 -0500

It's one of those marketing sayings that has many interpetations, sort of like how the 80/20 rule has become the rule for everything in life. That doesn't make it less true.

I recently wrote two posts that discuss how to get buyers or sellers. Someone asked which idea works best. I say, "Let 100 flowers bloom". Plant 100 seeds and collect data. Analyze it. For example, if you put an ad in the paper, how many responses do you get and how many of those that respond turn into clients. If you purchase an ad here on AR, how many people click on your link vs how many actually turn into clients. Know where you are growing flowers and where you are growing weeds.

There's another rule in marketing that basically says double what works and stop doing what doesn't. Don't work the area where weeds are growing. Spend your marketing dollars and efforts where the flowers are blooming.

Value Added Services

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:40:36 -0500

I was talking to a friend recently about our experiences in buying our homes. More specifically, our experiences with our buyer's agents. Both of us ended up in a dual agent situation, which we all know is never good. One thing my friend said was he wished his agent had told him what school district his house was in. He wouldn't have purchased that house if he knew the school district beforehand. He was coming from out of town so he didn't know anything about the area. In my case, I didn't know that my town didn't have Gas - at all. It's electric and oil. I spent several hours on the phone calling various gas companies only to be told they weren't my gas provider. No one could tell me who my gas company was.

I know that because of discrimination, you may not be able to say if it's a good school district or not. I know some states don't even allow the agent to give the client information about the schools at all, but no matter where you live I know you can tell them what school district the property is in.

A value added service is something extra you provide that adds value to the service you are providing. If you give out a packet that shows first time homebuyer's the buying process, that's a value added service because not all agents give that out. If you give out a list of all the area utility companies, that's value added to the services you provide.

Value added services may be the thing that makes you stand out as an agent. It may be the reason a client refers their family and friends to you.

Another value added service can be a packet with a list of 3 or more mortgage professionals, 3+ real estate lawyers, 3+ home inspectors, etc.

You can advertise these things, too. COME LEARN ABOUT THE HOME BUYING PROCESS, EXCLUSIVELY AT XYZ REALTORS.

What are you doing to stand out from the crowd?

Fake it till you make it? Or not.

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:15:02 -0500

I started my virtual assistant business a little over a year ago. June 2006 to be exact. I can't count the times someone has advised me to "fake it till I make it". It was one of those things I heard but pushed to the back of my mind thinking it may be needed information one day.

I mean, think about it. If you are new to selling real estate you certainly don't want a prospective seller know they are your first listing, right? Nobody wants to be someone's first client. We all want to work with people who are experts in their field. At the same time, we all have to start somewhere, hence the fake it attitude.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't like the fake it method. In my opinion, it's just too tiring pretending to be something you are not. I don't mean to tell your first client that they are your first. But I believe that everyone's an expert in something and that if you sell your expertise, it can overcome your newness. My first virtual assistant client will never know he was my first because I am an expert in customer service. My first listing did know they were my first because I gave them one of my dorky announcement cards. My first buyer never knew he was my first, again, because I am an expert in customer service.

The part of "fake it" that I don't like is the pretending to know something when you don't. People aren't dumb. They will spot a fake. Not only that, but you can unwittingly give out bad information.

Being an expert doesn't mean being a Know-it-all. When I wasn't an expert, I surrounded myself with experts whom I could ask questions on a moment's notice. Clients do expect you to know more than they do. That's why they are paying you. So I learned to use a phrase that has done me well, "I don't know, but I'll find out".

To turn this around, the flip side to faking it is actually being an expert. When you are an expert, people who need your expertise will be naturally drawn to you. What is it that you are an expert in? Example - do you know your neighborhood better than anyone else? That will overcome newness and draw people toward you who want to live there.

Figure out what you are an expert in and shout it out for the world to hear.

Do what you do best, we'll do the rest.

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 06:46:18 -0500

Case Study #1 - Pablo is a very successful REALTOR(c). He's made a name for himself in the first time homebuyer's niche. Between his backyard barbeque marketing, word of mouth, and his print advertising, his phone rings off the hook with people who want to move into home ownership. Pablo is high energy. He knows the formula to getting his buyers to make an offer fairly quickly. He's so good at this portion of his business that he can do it in his sleep.

Pablo is a natural at negotiation and his buyer's love him. The problem is that Pablo doesn't have time to dot all the Is and cross all the Ts in the transaction because he has a waiting list of buyers who needs his attention.

Pablo uses a virtual assistant for two tasks. His first virtual assistant makes all his appointments for him. He calls her and tells her what the buyer's criteria is and when he wants to be out showing properties. She searches the MLS for appropriate properties, then calls the listing agent for showing instructions, gets the lock box codes, and makes the appointments. She emails him the property information sheets so all he needs to do is print it out and go. Doing this step for himself slows down his momentum and he's on the fast track to success. He doesn't have time to slow down.

His second assistant takes over once there is an accepted offer. She makes sure all paperwork is in order and on time. He never has to worry about deadlines.

How does Pablo afford two assistants? Simple, he is only paying for time on task so he'd be paying exactly the same if he used just one. The advantage to two assistants is that he is getting true experts and not a jack of all trades.

While Pablo's assistants are doing what they do best, Pablo is out doing what he does best - making money.

(This is a true story. I just changed his name.)

SPAM no more

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:03:42 -0500

I love free. What I don't love is having to give my email address to be able to download what's free. As we all know, once you've given your email address you will be bombarded with Spam.

I once created an email address just for this reason. I go in once every quarter and delete hundreds of emails so that it will not go over quota and I can continue to use it to download free products.

I found a better alternative. Spambox.us will give you a temporary email address to sign up for the free things you want.

Here's how it works, you give Spambox the email address that you want the free trial or free report to go to, then you select the amount of time you want the temporary email address. I selected 1 hour, but you can even select 20 minutes or 1 day. Then you use the temporary email address that Spambox gave you to sign up. The report will arrive in your real email address but the spam will go to the temporary one.

Pretty cool.

Question for Mortgage professionals

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:03:03 -0500

I am researching what someone needs nowadays to purchase a home. I'm not sure if the information I am finding is old, though, since things are rapidly changing.

If someone wanted to purchase a home today, what are the things you'd ask of them, the things you'd look for to approve them for a mortgage?

Where do listings come from?

Virtual Assistant | Crystal Pina (Visions Virtual Assistance ) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 00:27:37 -0500

This is part 2 of a special report on Lead Generation that I am writing. I'd love to hear what you think of it.

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If you've ever held a job where you had to mail in your resume and cover letter, then you know that the resume wasn't meant to get you the job, it was meant to get you an interview. The interview was meant to get you the job. It's no different with prospecting, your main goal is to get the presentation. Then, hopefully, your presentation will get the listing. For me, changing my wording helped me change my thinking. I stopped saying I was prospecting for listings and started saying I was prospecting for an appointment to do a presentation.

This is a much different strategy than finding buyers because you have no real presentation stage with buyers, plus buyers can jump ship at any time.

Buyers and sellers also don't hang out together. That's one reason they need you to bring them together. Buyers hang out on the internet. Sellers don't. Or at least most of them don't. You're going to find sellers in their neighborhood, at their local diners and stores. At local parties and neighborhood meetings.

So let's talk about your farm. There are several methods of connecting with your farm such as door knocking and direct mailers.

Door Knocking.Works best if you are just out introducing yourself as the agent in the neighborhood. (Also works best if your farm only has about 100-200 houses.) Think of yourself as the local politician and you are out door knocking and hand shaking to meet the neighbors and let them put a face to the riders they have been seeing (or will be seeing). Do not ask them if they want to sell their home. Do tell them where you can be found should a real estate need arise. Things you can offer to get a second meeting is a free CMA or let them know you can find out what their neighbor sold their home for. And for Pete's sake, bring gifts. They'll remember you if you brought them something.

Another non-threatening way to door knock is when you are holding an open house in the neighborhood. Knock on the door, introduce yourself, and invite them to the open house.

Direct Mailers. Just like door knocking, direct mailers work best if you want to introduce yourself or make an announcement or if you want to send out information that your farm may be interested in.

There is a rule of thumb that a person needs to see your message 5 times to remember you and 7 times to take action, so plan your 7 mailers in advance.

Some ideas are:

Introduce yourself, nice to meet you, letter
Here's something you may be interested in, letter
How I can help you, letter
Invitations to open houses
Reminders about local events
Your newsletter
Neighborhood statistics

Another reason to send a direct mailer is when you are highly targeting a small segment of your farm. An example is when know the length of time that the average home sells in that neighborhood. If it's every 7 years, send a letter to everyone that purchased their home 7 years ago. Try to make the letter personal and highly targeted so they won't feel like you've sent it to everyone.

Cold Calls. Only cold call if you already know the person may need your business. You hear they are building a strip mall in the neighborhood so you call the affected homeowners and ask them if they might be thinking of selling.

Yard signs, name riders, and open houses. Pretty self explanatory. It's advertising. Neighbors who see your name often start to subconsciously believe that you are the best agent. The more they see your name, the more it will come to the surface when they think of real estate.

SOI. If you want your sphere of influence referring you, you need to be in the forefront of their minds. Keep in touch, at least every 90 days. Send cards. People love getting cards.

Expireds/Withdrawns and FSBO. You've heard this several times before, targetting properties that have expired just makes sense. They've already proven they want to sell.

Your Website.The NAR doesn't have numbers on how many sellers are finding their agents by signing up for the free CMA on most agent's websites, but that has to be listed here as a method of finding a seller because I'm sure some people are doing it. Remember the goal is to get an appointment to make a presentation. If someone contacts you asking for a CMA via your website, send them the CMA, then follow up with a phone call to see if they had any questions. Then, if you don't get an appointment, you can add them to a drip email campaign.

You can read part 1, buyers, here.