TheMiddleShelf.com

In 2009, it was just an ugly year for most businesses, particularly in real estate.  Real estate agents need more than connections and hard work to get back to revenues of the year past.  Here’ s a number of newer technologies to improve productivity and save time.

1.  A great service to use is eFax, which does not require any equipment or implementation on your part other than to start giving out your 800 fax number.  If you are out of town and receive a faxed contract or lease, you can forward that e-email to your clients, have them sign and e-mail it, then send that document to all parties.

2.  Add DocuSign to your business.  It costs $19.95 per month, with no contract required.  You can cancel at any time or just order a month here and there.  With DocuSign you can get your clients’ signatures on a contract or lease, even if they do not have a printer or fax machine.  Send the contract to your clients via e-mail with a link to DocuSign; then they adapt a signature and sign and initial where indicated, and that’s it.  E-mail the signed contract to the other parties.

3.  Invest in a good camera which takes still photographs and video like Panasonic Lumix or Kodak Zi8.  Take photos of all your listings, and then upload them to your Website and to about 40 real estate portals.  You can also upload photos and videos of your new listings to Facebook and Twitter and to your blog; add more real estate-specific information on YouTube and other social media sites.  Add the following social media tools to your