ActiveRain Contest: iPhones, Laptops, Google, Electronic Signatures and ActiveRain…What Do These Have in Common?

There are certain things we cannot live without in our lives – air, food and companionship (at least for most of us) come to mind immediately. Let's just assume those types of things are a given. But what about in your business? Many of us have become extremely dependent on a variety of tools, gadgets, websites and any number of other ways you want to describe the applications you use in your business.

For this months ActiveRain challenge, our friends at Adobe EchoSign want you to consider what tool in your business has become indispensable, even though you were able to get work done before you stumbled on this new found life saver.

When you drop your phone in the toilet, like I did recently, your world can come screeching to a halt. We have put an incredible amount of power in the tools we use to accomplish the tasks required of us each and every day. Some of the tools we use, like electronic signatures, make our jobs much easier, and others, like our cell phone, make us wonder how we managed to survive before they were invented.

Of course we didn't always have these tools available and we still got things done, but we assume they will always be available moving forward, or that they’ll be replaced by even more powerful tools.

So what if these tools ceased to exist? Not very likely, I know. But dropping your phone in the toilet will get you thinking about this stuff, I promise.

Take a look at your business in the last few years and determine what tool, application, gadget, website, etc. that you couldn’t imagine being without. Now let’s eliminate what you’ve been using from day 1 – the phone, laptop, fax machine, pager, and other essential “office supplies.”

How has this tool (I'll use this word from here on to describe whatever it is you decide to write about) changed the way you do business? What process did it replace? How has it become ingrained in your day-to-day activities? Why would you refuse to give it up?

We would like you to write a blog post that details your favorite tool and convinces someone else that if they aren't using this tool in their business, they are missing out – BIG TIME. Maybe it's something you think every real estate professional should be mandated to use and if they only would, my how your life would be so much easier. Convince anyone reading your post to immediately drop what they are doing and go sign up, purchase, adopt, try, steal (just making sure you are still paying attention) this for their own use.

There will be 3 categories that you can choose to write about. We ask that you pick one category for which to submit a post.

The Categories:

Hardware: Has your iPad become invaluable in your business? When you walk in the door and give your listing presentation are you batting 1.000? Maybe it's your hand-held digital video camera that has turned you into a YouTube machine. Whatever the piece of hardware you'e added to your business recently, tell us why everyone needs one.

Software/Websites: Maybe it's your IDX and lead management platform. Maybe it's your electronic signature program. Maybe it's Facebook or Twitter. Whatever it is, why can't you live without it?

Apps: These things have exploded on the scene in the last few years. With seemingly everyone having a smart phone, apps are making life easier for millions. Is there an app you are using in your business that you couldn't imagine living without? If everyone else was using it wouldn't your life be easier? Let us know about it.

Posts must be at least 300 words in length, because let's face it, you're not convincing me your tool is the best in under 300 words. Posts should be submitted by Friday May 25th at 11:59pm Pacific Time in order to be considered for this contest. Posts will be considered submitted when a link to the post is placed in the comment section of this post.

Prizes: We will select a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner for each category.

• 1st in each category: $150 Visa Gift Card
• 2nd in each category: $100 Visa Gift Card
• 3rd in each category: $50 Visa Gift Card

Each post submitted will be eligible to receive 1500 ActiveRain points.

How we will select the winners: Winners will be selected by a panel of judges from ActiveRain and EchoSign. Above all, we will be looking for you to convince us that your tool is the best and demonstrate the impact it has had on your business. We want to walk away after reading your post and feel like we can't go another minute without having this tool for our real estate business. Good luck!