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Created by my client Coach JD, The VIP Coach at High Level Performance

It seems that every email, newsletter, ezine or business tweet I see these days is reminding me to re-do my business plan for the new year.  Revamp for the new year.  Change everything for the new year.  Great advice, but for someone like me who is in the business of helping other businesses like yours, this gets a tad overwhelming at times.  Also, as a mother for four (exceptionally good-looking) children, my new year typically begins in September.

While I may not be jumping on the bandwagon completely, I will step lightly on it.

Our service packages are in the process of changing right now, and I think you are going to be VERY pleased with our new options.  I’m taking a two-week vacation to Oregon right after Christmas and staying with another Virtual Assistant Business Owner.  It may not sound like a vacation to you, but I am super-excited to get together with this amazing “chick” and create some kick-ass packages and programs for YOU.

As I work on the NEW Services page, I wanted to make sure that the old one was not lost.  I’m not one to get all nostalgic too often, but I do love this page (and it was stolen enough times by newbies that I know it’s good!)

At Virtual Assistant Chick, your “stuff” is our specialty!

Ongoing Real Estate Support

It’s all about personal service, anticipating your needs, and being there when you need us.  When you purchase a support package, we are available to you when you need it the most.  We only work with one agent per market so that you really can get a leg up on the competition.  Need a listing changed?  Have a problem that needs to be solved now?  Need to learn about how to effectively use Social Media or want to become the expert in your area?  Many agent’s have told us that they’re able to work with more clients, and when the stress of doing it all is removed, they are much more attractive to prospective clients.

Listing Coordination

Listing Coordination is more than just creating flyers and virtual tours.  When Virtual Assistant Chick gets a hold of your listing, you can be sure that everything is taken care of from the moment you take the listing through opening escrow.  CMA’s, listing packages, entering the listing into the MLS, preparing flyers online and off, scheduling an open house and even preparing the Listing Agreement are part of our Listing Coordination service. Don’t forget to take a look at our portfolio to see what our designer has created for other agents!  With multiple packages to choose from, you can select the best fit for YOU!

Transaction Management

Experience is key when it comes to properly closing a real estate file.  Utilizing the latest technologies such as transactional software, Docusign & various file sharing programs, we can close your files in record time.  From the moment you open escrow (or are under contract), your Transaction Coordinator (TC) will track, organize, obtain signatures for all documents and coordinate schedules and appointments.  At the end of the transaction, you will receive a complete, DRE and Broker Compliant zipped file that you can print or put on disk.

General Office Administration

No, we can’t get your coffee for you, but we can “virtually” do everything else.  Pass off your email, appointment scheduling, newsletters, auto responders, office documents, mailings, data entry, and all of those other mundane tasks that keep you from the real core of your business.  Imagine going on vacation and still have your business run without you.  We even have a Virtual Concierge on our team who specializes in travel planning to get you on that vacation!  Check here for a full list of services.

WordPress Websites & Blogs

You hear it all the time – you’ve got to be a “tech-savvy agent”, you’ve got to have a WordPress site with IDX and a lead capture form.  You need to blog every day and be a neighborhood expert.  Your website is your “hub”; everything has to feed back to it.  Who has time for all that?  Instead of trying to be that “tech-savvy agent” yourself, partner with a tech-savvy virtual assistant!  That way, you can do what you do best and leave the rest to us.  We’ve learned from the best on how to build WordPress websites from the best, and have partnered with some WordPress pros to make sure all the “tech stuff” works perfectly.

 

“He who fails to plan, plans to fail”

I speak with a lot of Realtors® in my business, and one thing that runs true with most (not all) of you is that you don’t like to blog.  You tell me things like

• I don’t have time to blog!
• I’m not a very good writer.
• I don’t know what to write about.
• Can’t you just do it for me?

I Don’t Have Time to Blog!

Um, yes you do.  It takes 15 minutes if you plan ahead for it, which you should be doing for everything.  You know how you just sat on Facebook for 15 minutes?  Whether you were “working” on Facebook or not, you could have written a blog post about that great little restaurant you ate at last night that’s in your farm area.  Set aside 15 minutes per blog post and JUST DO IT.  You and your analytics will thank me later.

I’m Not a Very Good Writer.

Neither am I.  Next?  Seriously though, a little advanced planning will help you overcome your fear of poor writing skills.  Determine your audience and write as though you are speaking with them one on one.

One of my first clients was a Southern California Realtor® whose native language was not English, and you could tell that in his writing.  It bothered him because he felt as though people would view him as less intelligent than other agents and he’d lose business AND be embarrassed.  Instead of giving up, I began editing his posts before putting them up on Active Rain and his website.  3 blog posts per week and his site climbed up the ranks and earned him a new client eventually.

I Don’t Know What to Write About.

We’re all plagued by this issue and none of us are immune to it.  Even the most prolific bloggers will be hit with the dreaded writer’s block at one point or another (and if they tell you otherwise, they’re lying).  This brings us to the real reason of this post:  Plan Ahead!

I use a simple WordPress Plugin called WordPress Editorial Calendar.  If you and I work together, you’ll see that it’s installed in the Posts section of your website.  Here’s a picture:

With this cool little feature you can plan your posts in advance and also see at a glance everything that you’ve published so far.  Plan it out a week, month, or even a year ahead of time.  Put in ideas for your holiday posts, link to other posts, reminders for your clients, WHATEVER.  Just start planning ahead.  Once you’ve done that, put a recurring appointment in your calendar that reminds you to blog.

You can also determine what you’re going to write about on a weekly basis.  Monday is about market stats, Tuesday is for local events, Wednesday is a picture submitted by you or a reader, Thursdays you can add in local politics.  You get the picture.

Also setting up your categories in advance will push you in the right direction.  My advice is to have 5 to 10 categories and that’s it.  It will keep you focused.  Anything beyond those categories can be covered by tags.

Can You Just Do It For Me?

Yes and no.  Yes we can help you install and set up your editorial calendar.  Yes we can help you come up with a kick-ass plan to get the ball rolling.  Need good categories?  We can help you set those up as well and some tag ideas to go along with it.  And yes, we’ll even write some blog posts for you, but they’re going to be generic in nature and aren’t going to be from YOU.  Well-researched information that your clients will want, but the real meat needs to come from you.  Put yourself out there and let your clients get to know you.  Blogging is just another form of social networking and should be treated as such.

If you need help getting off the fence about blogging, let us know how we can help.  Leave a comment below or have a free consult with us to find out how we can help you.  I can even schedule a strategy session with you and get you moving forward in no time.

The following is an excerpt from a Post I read today from Active Rain.  I am often asked by agents (both new and seasoned) how to jump into the “FSBO” game.  Barbara Todaro has given some great advise on the topic that I completely agree with.  Read the excerpt and then read the rest on Active Rain.

If I were a newly licensed agent trying to get off the blocks today, I would focus on the quickest way to make my phone ring.  You’ve struck oil, if you’ve found a “for sale by owner.”

The “fsbo” is a commission check waiting to be signed.  It’s a homeowner who wants to sell but also wants to save money. The majority of “fsbo’s” will pay a co-broke fee.

Call that homeowner and ask if they would be offended if you previewed their home.  Of course they won’t be offended, and that question always results in a positive answer. 

Continue Reading on Active Rain

I wrote a review a while back on My Intervals, the project management system I had been using since the beginning of 2011.  In that review, I wrote about all the really, really great things about it (ease of use, charts & graphs galore, super organized) and some not so great things (inability to work with Paypal, invoicing sucks, lots of double entry).

The time has come that I decided that the issues that I didn’t like about Intervals was costing me too much money each month in lost invoices so I’ve made the switch to Mavenlink.

Technically I’m still switching, but I’ve made the decision and am slowly moving over existing clients and all new clients will start there.  Watch the blog in the next few weeks on my updates regarding Mavenlink and my entire switch over to Google Apps.

Have a great week!

Assessment form created for our client “Coach JD” founder of HighLevelPerformance.com

Monthly Market Update Flyer created for Doug Wathen, Prudential Agent and owner of WathenRealtyGroup.com

Our designer created the entire design to match his branding, and we culminated all of the information from the MLS for him.

All Doug had to do was sit back and relax while we took care of everything!

Doug also reported that hand-delivering these flyers in his neighborhood increased his visibility as an agent and brought in more hits to his website.

Website logo/header created for our A-M-A-Z-I-N-G client Amina Cordano and her super fun website RetailMom.com

Data provided by ActiveRain.com. Join 215,590 Real Estate Agents on the world’s largest Real Estate Social Network.

Thank you to Doug Wathen, my awesome client and owner of Wathen Realty Group for sharing!