The Bengel Blog

Congratulations to Nancy Alert, of the Arlington office, who was recently featured in an article in BlackEnterprise.com:

Black Enterprise invited owners of large technology firms, single-person shops, and part-time businesses— or somewhere in between—to share their stories with readers. We asked one simple question: How have you used technology to make over your business? We received numerous responses to our tweets, as well as to our Facebook and LinkedIn queries, and selected companies that reflect the variety of resources available and the ways in which even a small investment can make a huge difference in revenues, outlook, and mindset.

Company: Nancy Alert & Associates L.L.C. [2]
Principal: Nancy Alert working under RE/MAX Allegiance
Location: Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. (also licensed in Maryland)
Type of Business: Real Estate
2009 Revenues: $200,000-$250,000
In real estate, 2009 was just an ugly year. I decided I needed to get back to revenues of the year past, when I was making real money. I wanted to do what I could to make myself stand out and measure those efforts to see if they worked. So I implemented a number of new (to me) technologies to improve productivity and save time.

I have added DocuSign [3] to my 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 I can get my clients’ signatures on a contract or lease, even if they do not have a printer or fax machine. I send the contract to my clients via e-mail with a link to DocuSign; then they adapt a signature and sign and initial where indicated, and that’s it. I e-mail the signed contract to the other parties.

Another service I use is eFax [4] ($9.95/month, discounted through RE/MAX), which does not require any equipment or implementation on my part other than to start giving out my 800 fax number. If I am out of town and receive a faxed contract or lease, I can forward that e-mail to my clients, have them sign and e-mail it, then send that document to all parties.

I have also invested in my tech education. I successfully completed a course called e-Pro [5] ($349, discounted through National Association of Realtors), which helps real estate professionals leverage technology to increase sales. The e-Pro designation says you know how to work with the new technologies in real estate.

Because I decided this would be the year I got more tech savvy, I also invested in a Kodak Zi8 HD [6] video camera ($179 on sale), which takes still photographs and video. I take photos of all my listings, and then upload them to my Website and to about 35 to 40 real estate portals. I also upload photos and videos of my new listings to Facebook and Twitter and to my blog. I can add more real estate-specific information on YouTube [7] and other social media sites.

I have added the following social media tools to my online marketing efforts: LinkedIn [8], ActiveRain [9] (real estate specific), RealTown [10] (real estate specific), Plaxo [11], and several others—and they’re all free. These took a little time to set up, but are well worth the effort in terms of the reach they afford me.

The core thing you need to understand is that today, according to the National Association of Realtors, 80% of buyers search online listings. So you must have your listing at every place that the buyers are looking. Video serves a great purpose in that it ties in the whole social media experience. Videos are the first go-to for homebuyers—and not necessarily just for videos of the properties. It could also be a message you want to give to prospective buyers. Having a video on YouTube takes you to another level, and here is what I’ve learned: If you want to maintain your level in real estate or any sales business, you definitely have to be involved in social media.

I can attribute an additional $50,000 in revenues to the tech tools I’ve implemented and expect 2010 revenues of between $300,000 and $350,000.

URL to article: http://www.blackenterprise.com/events/women-of-power/women-of-power-articles/2010/03/04/a-tech-makeover-story-2/

URLs in this post:

[1] Image: http://www.blackenterprise.com/files/2010/03/03Tech-Nancy_Alert1a.jpg
[2] Nancy Alert & Associates L.L.C.: http://www.nancyalert.com
[3] DocuSign: http://www.docusign.com
[4] eFax: http://www.efax.com
[5] e-Pro: http://www.epronar.com
[6] Kodak Zi8 HD: http://www.kodak.com
[7] YouTube: http://www.youtube.com
[8] LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/
[9] ActiveRain: http://activerain.com/
[10] RealTown: http://www.realtown.com/
[11] Plaxo: http://www.plaxo.com/