bill risser: Evernote for Agents - Part 1 - 07/05/12 10:10 AM
Lately, one of our most popular workshops is Evernote.  This series is in response to that demand.  If you would like a specific topic covered in a tutorial series, feel free to leave a comment below...  
   For more information on Evernote for Real Estate, check out Dean Ouellette's e-book. It is loaded with examples designed to help agents be more productive in their business.
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bill risser: Facebook Friend Lists Part 1 - 10/04/11 04:18 AM
  Facebook is at it again. Personally, I like the fact that Facebook is continually striving to improve the user experience.  Of course, they are also improving the ability for marketers to use Facebook more effectively. In today's tutorial, I re-visit Facebook friend lists and their importance.  If you are a real estate professional and you do not have all of your friends in lists, you are wasting your time on Facebook from a business point of view.     … (4 comments)

bill risser: Have You Seen ChicagoAgent Lately? - 06/27/11 03:45 AM

ChicagoAgent (a.k.a PalmAgent) is a Net Sheet and Closing Cost program that allows real estate agents and lenders to program real-estate-transaction calculations right into their BlackBerry®, Smartphone (such as an iPhone™, Treo™  or Droid™) or a Microsoft® Windows® handheld device.  It provides information quickly and easily which translates to better service to the customer.
 
Watch this video to see how ChicagoAgent can help you in your business.  Contact your Chicago Title Sales Representative to get started.
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bill risser: LinkedIn Love - 04/21/11 12:46 PM

I'm getting more and more requests for workshops on LinkedIn.  With over 100 million users, the oldest of the big 3 (Facebook and Twitter are the other 2) is going through a bit of a resurgence in popularity. 
Part of the reason for the renewed interest is the ongoing effort LinkedIn has put forth in the social arena.  Included in these items are the status update, applications, and the discussions generated in the group feature.
I recently found a new item that looks like a great source of content for agents and lenders.  LinkedIn's new Today feature is a compilation of … (4 comments)

bill risser: Trevor Hoffman Retires... My Thoughts and Recollections - 01/13/11 02:24 AM
In a past life, I worked in the ticket office for the San Diego Padres.  The time period was 1988 to 1999.  My all-time favorite baseball player is Tony Gwynn.  I even mention this in my Ignite Phoenix 8 presentation about Barbra Streisand  (blatant plug for Ignite Phoenix).  If asked to pick my second favorite Padre, it would be Trevor Hoffman.

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011, Trevor Hoffman announced his retirement from Major League Baseball after 18 years.  He leaves the game with a record 601 saves, 42 ahead of Yankee great Mariano Rivera and 300 ahead of any other active … (3 comments)

bill risser: Where Did My Facebook Friend Lists Go? - 12/22/10 01:41 AM
Facebook made another change this week (of course they did).  In the screencast above, I show you how to locate your friend lists if you need to filter the updates in your News Feed.  Anyone that has attended my Facebook workshop knows that these friend lists are central to the use of Facebook as a marketing tool.   If you would like to attend one of the workshops, check out the upcoming schedule. Do you think the new location for the friend lists is better?  Let me know in the comments below... … (3 comments)

bill risser: Happy Veterans Day! - 11/11/10 02:34 AM
 
Happy Veterans Day to all that protect us and allow us the freedoms and liberties we many times take for granted...
Many of my family, friends and clients served in the military, and we really need to take time out of our day to thank them for their service.  
Find a Veteran today and tell them thanks!
 
 
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bill risser: New Facebook Changes Announced - 10/07/10 04:28 AM
Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg announced two new features for Facebook. The first is the ability to "Download Your Information" from Facebook to a .zip file. Your posts, photos, and videos are examples of the data you can now grab from Facebook. The second change is a new Group product. Only 5% of Facebook users use the List feature, and Facebook developers are trying to create an easier way for users to engage with the small groups in our lives... To see more about the new Groups, got to Facebook.com.groups. … (4 comments)

bill risser: New Twitter - 09/15/10 03:59 AM
Twitter is giving Twitter.com a face lift.   Photo and video links will be viewable directly on the site via a cool slide out feature.   There are a few other changes as well.    You can check them out on this video.   The changes are nice, but not nice enough to compel me to leave HootSuite.com.   As you probably know from previous videos, I am a HootSuite.com fanboy.   Click on the tag dropdown in the side bar and click on HootSuite.  You'll see... … (2 comments)

bill risser: Best Bet Ever - 09/03/10 04:35 AM
Immediately after wrapping up the When Hell Freezes Over fantasy football draft last night, I heard Dean Ouellette (@deanouellette) mention to Jay Thompson (@phxreguy) that they play each other the first week. After some typical chest pounding, testosterone fueled smack talk, they decided to put a little wager on the outcome. A few ideas were bandied aboout, and here is the final bet. I'm calling it the Best Bet Ever. It is: Loser of the week one match-up must spend 24 straight hours in a WalMart. Awesome! Would I take that bet? Never. Will I spend a lot of time in … (4 comments)

bill risser: the HootSuite Hootlet - 08/31/10 05:44 AM
The Hootlet application is one of HootSuite's most powerful features. While browsing the web, you can quickly and easily forward the link to your social networks with two clicks. No more cutting and pasting links into Facebook or LinkedIn. Let the HootSuite Hootlet do all the work for you... Be sure to check out the rest of the HootSuite Series: HootSuite Analytics HootSuite Status Updates HootSuite Streams HootSuite Overview … (5 comments)

bill risser: HootSuite Streams - 08/26/10 04:28 AM
In part 2 of my HootSuite series, I look at the role of streams.   Streams are the columns of information that you control.   Streams can be from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare and more.   Streams can also be customized searches and also used for keyword tracking.   With streams residing under tabs, the ability to categorize and stay organized is easy.   Tomorrow, we will look at the status update feature... … (1 comments)

bill risser: Customize Your Facebook URL - 08/20/10 05:19 AM
Did you know you can change the URL to your Facebook profile?   Simply go to Facebook.com/username and you can customize your URL.   Be careful, however, as you only can change it once.   Double check the spelling before submitting... If you have an Official Page (or pages) on Facebook, you can also change the URL as well.   In order to make this change, you must have at least 25 "likes".   Once again, you only get one shot. Custom URL's for Facebook work well with e-mail signatures and print pieces.   Leave a comment below if you have … (3 comments)

bill risser: Basic Facebook Page Creation - 08/19/10 08:38 AM

In this video, I show the main steps to creating a Facebook Official Page. Obviously, there is much more to creating a successful. compelling page, but you have to start somewhere. Remember, these pages are visible to anyone with a Facebook account. There are no privacy settings, nor do you have to "friend" someone. Facebook created this option for business marketing.
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bill risser: Facebook Friend Lists - 08/17/10 04:05 AM
Creating Friend Lists in Facebook allows you to control your News Feed and your privacy in a more effective way. If you created a Past Client list, by simply clicking on the list, the News Feed is filtered and only their updates appear.
 
This can be helpful if you have limited time but don't want to miss an important post from your best source of referral business. As for privacy, Facebook allows different lists to have different privacy settings. This allows you to accept all friend requests, provided you set up a list designed to restrict these "friends" you have … (4 comments)

bill risser: Spell Check is Your Friend - 08/11/10 03:44 AM
Every day, more agents enter the blogosphere.   A disturbing trend is poor grammar and spelling in some of these posts.   I compare it to a football referee.   When they do everything right, they go unnoticed.  They make a mistake, and they become the center of attention.   Same rules apply to grammar and spelling.   Do it right, it is unnoticed.  Do it wrong and the message you send to readers is quite different than your intended message.   Take the extra minute or so and use the tools technology provides.   Your readers won't notice, but that's … (7 comments)

bill risser: Arizona HOA's Increasingly Turn to Working Capital Fees - 08/05/10 04:04 AM
As homeowner associations try to beef up their reserves, working capital fees are becoming more prevalent. I can remember when only two associations charged this fee. Now, nearly half of our transactions with the property in a planned unit development have some sort of additional "fee". In the case of a short sale, this can lead to problems. Short sale lenders can refuse to allow the fee to be paid by the seller, effectively reducing the net to the lender. If you are working short sales, pay attention to this latest hurdle... … (5 comments)

bill risser: A Passion for Knowledge - 08/04/10 05:00 AM
In order to keep up with the latest news and information, you need to have a plan. For me, finding good sources is key. ThinkBigWorkSmall.com e-mails a daily four to six minute video full of the latest mortgage and real estate related news. Brian and Frank are funny, informative and smart. I also rely heavily on my Google Reader. This is an RSS feed reader that brings my favorite websites content to me. If you don't know about RSS feeds, give me a call and I'll get you hooked up. … (1 comments)

bill risser: Playing with Prezi - 08/03/10 05:02 AM
If you haven't explored Prezi.com, you are missing out on an extraordinary presentation tool. I have vowed to never prepare another Power Point slide show, unless forced by threat of violence or induced by cash payment. The Prezi below was prepared to run on a loop at ARMLS's Twilight Training. The ability to use scale and zooming allows the presenter to highight and emphasize critical points in the prezi. Let me know what you think, and if you have any questions or would like a quick lesson, just drop me a note. .prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; … (0 comments)

bill risser: Short Sale Payoffs - 07/29/10 04:07 AM
Short sale payoffs require special attention.  Some of these payoffs are 5-6 pages long with conditions that must be met or the payoff will not be accepted.  Two important items for escrow are the expiration date of the letter and the method of delivery of the funds.  If the payoff is not received by the date specified on the payoff letter, it will be rejected by the lender.  It is important to watch this date if the escrow is delayed.  The agent will need to obtain an extension and an updated payoff letter in this case. Some lenders are requiring "certified … (1 comments)