productivity

Time Management Tools That Will Supercharge Your Real Estate Business

May 22, 2024

With countless tasks to juggle, from client meetings and property showings to negotiations and paperwork, real estate agents need tools that can help streamline their workflow.

Here are some of the best time management apps for busy real estate agents and why they are essential.

1. Trello:

Trello is a versatile project management tool that uses boards, lists, and cards to help you organize tasks visually.

For real estate agents, Trello can be used to track client interactions, manage property listings, and coordinate marketing campaigns.

Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to move tasks through different stages of completion, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

2. Evernote:

Evernote is a powerful note-taking app that helps you capture and organize information from multiple sources.

Real estate agents can use Evernote to store client details, property descriptions, and meeting notes.

With its robust search functionality and ability to sync across devices, you can access your notes anytime, anywhere.

3. Google Calendar:

Google Calendar is an essential tool for scheduling and managing appointments.

Its integration with other Google services, like Gmail, allows for seamless event creation and reminders.

Real estate agents can set up multiple calendars to separate personal and professional commitments, ensuring they stay on top of their busy schedules.

4. Todoist:

Todoist is a task management app that helps you keep track of daily to-do lists and long-term projects.

Its simple yet powerful interface allows you to prioritize tasks, set deadlines, and create recurring tasks. For real estate agents, Todoist can be invaluable for managing client follow-ups, property showings, and administrative duties.

The Get More Listings Scheduled Campaign is shown above. To learn more, Click Here.

5. Buffer:

Social media is a crucial component of modern real estate marketing, and Buffer helps you manage your social media presence efficiently.

With Buffer, you can schedule posts across multiple platforms, analyze performance metrics, and maintain a consistent online presence. This ensures that your social media marketing efforts are effective without taking up too much of your time.

6. RescueTime:

RescueTime is a productivity app that tracks how you spend your time on digital devices.

By providing detailed reports on your activity, it helps you identify time-wasting habits and focus on high-priority tasks. Real estate agents can use RescueTime to optimize their workday and increase productivity.

By incorporating these time management apps into their daily routines, real estate agents can better manage their tasks, stay organized, and ultimately, enhance their productivity.

These tools not only help streamline workflows but also ensure that agents can provide exceptional service to their clients, leading to greater success in the competitive real estate market.

When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazin

Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct, response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts and engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you. Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Planner

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

3. The Free Online Real Estate Business Plan

The Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your financial goals. – Click Here

4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

How to Become a More Productive Real Estate Agent in 2 EASY Steps

Sep 2, 2021

Much of your daily activity may be necessary, but some tasks may be keeping you from being the top-producing real estate agent machine that I know you can be.

And, some of the suggested methods for becoming a high-yielding agent might surprise you.

For instance, Sir Winston Churchill, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, insisted that he got twice as much done after napping (I’ve always liked that man).

“Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day,” he said. “That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imaginations. You will be able to accomplish more,” he concluded.

Fellow napper geniuses include Leonardo Da Vinci, who snoozed for 15-minutes, every four hours. President John F. Kennedy made it a habit to doze off every afternoon for one to two hours and who can forget the many photos of President Clinton, fast asleep, at some pretty inopportune moments?

So, go ahead and take a nap, but not before finding out other ways to become more productive.

1. Say “no” to overtime

Back in 2008, the powers-that-be at Microsoft Japan gave employees “five consecutive three-day weekends.”

While this cut operating costs for the company, it also increased sales. In fact, sales increased, per employee, 40% overproduction from the previous year.

Then, there is the study from a construction company wanting to figure out how scheduled overtime impacts their projects.

It turns out that working 60 hours or more per week over the course of two months correlated with a significant drop in productivity. Working more than 8 hours a day, 48 hours per week tanked productivity to the point where it was taking 3 hours to accomplish what had been done in 2 hours.

As a real estate agent, you need to be even more cautious of how much time you spend working. Without someone scheduling your work, it’s far too easy to keep working until you’re doused in that ‘midnight oil.

Set your schedule, keeping in mind the aforementioned studies. It may take some time to train yourself to turn off the lights and close the door at a set time each day, but it’s imperative if you hope to become a more productive real estate agent.

2. Take more breaks

You are your boss. As such, it is amazing how many agents treat themselves like sweatshop workers.

If you had a boss, you would be granted, by law, a number of breaks from work, scattered throughout the day.

Yet more than 60% of Americans claim to eat lunch at their desks.

Our brains need rest, according to Meg Sellg at psychologytoday.com. And to achieve it, avoid “Doing activities that don’t rely heavily on prefrontal cortex function [the area of your brain you are using when you work] but rely on different brain regions instead …,” says Nir Eyal, author of “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life,” tells Sellg.

Need a tip to turn off that prefrontal cortex?

Get up and move. Whether it’s a 5-minute walk or any other physical activity, Stanford researchers have learned that movement makes us more creative and, thus, productive.

Eat your lunch at the park or even on a bus bench. Views of nature and streetscapes relax and rejuvenate.

Whether you work remotely or in a brick-and-mortar brokerage, stop chaining yourself to your desk. Take naps, take breaks and close your “office” at a specified time each day. Then, watch your productivity soar.

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Real Estate Times Scheduled Campaign (shown above). Learn more, HERE

TO LAUNCH A REAL ESTATE TIMES CAMPAIGN:

Hit “CLICK HERE”, below, to schedule your campaign (from a desktop or laptop computer).

And, remember, YOU DON’T PAY until each mailing goes out (cancel or change mailing up until the night before it goes out).

USE PROMO CODE: TIMES10 to get 10% off at checkout.

Launch a Real Estate Times Scheduled Campaign now, CLICK HERE!

Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some helpful tools to support your success.

1. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here

2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here

3. Become a Neighborhood Brand

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a NEW 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically every month to an exclusive carrier route (membership includes your own online Homes & Life Agent Magazine). Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

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The Real Estate Mailing List Guide outlines the top tools for generating targeted prospecting lists including Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters, Investors, Lifestyle Interests, High-Income Renters, Move-Up Markets, and more. The Guide also defines done-for-you marketing campaigns to match these markets. –Click Here

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! –Click Here

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is CRUSH-IT-Guide-3-d-298x300.jpg

The “Crush It” Guide includes easy steps to launching an effective direct mail marketing campaign, how to create a targeted prospect list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here

Protecting your productivity when you work from home

Feb 23, 2021

In January, nearly a quarter of working Americans worked from home, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

While there are many positives to working remotely, real estate agents with families to care for have learned the hard way that remaining productive is often their biggest challenge.

Work-at-home-agents (WAHAs) we’ve spoken with list several productivity challenges. Let’s see if we can help you out with those.

Dealing with distractions

From last night’s Netflix movie that you fell asleep in the middle of to the overflowing laundry hamper, distractions beckon during the workday.

Even when you do manage to sit down at the computer to do some work, there are far too many shiny objects tempting you to do otherwise.

The solution? Ensure that your home office is away from the main traffic areas of the home and that it’s set up as an office, not a catch-all room. This will serve as a reminder to yourself that you’re working.

If the internet is the temptress, check out Cold Turkey, a website blocker that “… will be there for you when your willpower isn’t.”

Nancy Reagan was right

It is always open-season on the self-employed who work from home. For some reason, too many people have this notion that you’re not really working. Thus, the phone calls from friends and neighbors asking the WAHA if she can run an errand or two.

By the way, interestingly, none of the male agents we spoke with have had this experience, while most of the females have. From delivering a neighbor’s kid to dance lessons to running other errands, female agents are imposed on far more often.

First Lady Nancy Reagan nailed the solution when she uttered three famous words: “Just Say No.”

Don’t give in to the requests. Set your boundaries, protect your time and productivity. Just say no. If you’re a people pleaser, “no” may not be in your vocabulary. So, try this one:

“I’d love to help you, but I’ll be working then.”

It’s a bit harder to say no to family members in the home. One agent we spoke with told his family that when his office door is closed, he is unavailable for anything but emergencies. If the door is open, they’re welcome to enter.

Avoid the urge to over-work

Agents who live alone face the danger of becoming workaholics, especially if they’re following the pandemic specialists’ cautions that we should socially isolate.

As you know, in a real estate business there is always more work to do. But it can wait. Now more than ever it’s important to take care of yourself and your spirit.

Take a real lunch break, even if it’s just to get outside for a walk. Quit when the normal work day is over. Turn off the laptop, turn off the lights and close the office door.

Only you can protect your productivity during the workday, only you can protect your psyche.

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*Renter Scheduled Campaign*, shown above, learn more **HERE**

TO LAUNCH AN RENTER SCHEDULED CAMPAIGN:

Click the “GO NOW” link, below (from a desktop or laptop computer).

And, remember, YOU DON’T PAY until each mailing goes out (cancel or change up until the night before mailing).

GO NOW

Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.

PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

1. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

3. Become a Neighborhood Brand

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

Three Brilliant Ways to Remain Productive as the Season Slows

Oct 9, 2019

As the season begins to slow in the coming months, one way to remain productive is to spend your time reflecting on your marketing efforts and determine what’s been working and what hasn’t. This way, you’ll have all your ducks in a row to kick off 2020 with a brand-new and ultra-strategic marketing plan.

Stop being a generalist

One of the most interesting dichotomies apparent in real estate professionals is between the longing to stand out and the strict adherence to the standard way of doing business.

This results in marketing messages that are nearly identical, which is why the public claims “all real estate agents are alike.” If you truly want to stand out from everyone else you need to do something different. Start with your business structure.

Instead of trying to convince potential clients that you’re good at everything, why not concentrate on being THE BEST in one area? Ditch the rookie mentality that too many agents hang on to – that you are an all-purpose generalist who “specializes” in all areas of real estate. There’s nothing unique about that.

Be great at one thing

Decide that you’ll stop trying to be good at everything and concentrate on being GREAT at one thing. Be productive during your slower time and think long and hard about becoming the true expert in a niche area of real estate.

Think about what you like best about your current practice. Are there certain clients you enjoy working with more than others? Buyers? Sellers? First-timers, Baby Boomers, families?

Are there certain properties that you’ve worked with more often than others? Maybe waterfront, ranches, condos or vintage homes.

Speak the same language

If all else fails, imagine your ideal client and then create a profile of that person. For example, suppose I’m a veteran and I’ve always felt most comfortable assisting other veterans in their real estate transactions.

After all, we have shared experiences and speak the same “language.” There’s my niche right there.

Maybe you’re an equestrian and love working with other horse owners. Horse properties may be what you should specialize in.

Now you have someone specific to speak to. You understand their needs and can speak directly to them, instead of speaking in vague terms to all real estate consumers. Your content then becomes more valuable, your brand is better defined and your entire real estate practice is unique.

I once interviewed Steve Israel, owner/broker of Buyer’s Edge in Bethesda, MD. Notice his niche is in the brokerage’s name – buyers.

But, not just any buyers. Israel specializes in condos in downtown D.C. I asked him how he came up with this specialization.

He told me that his clientele was, by and large, first-time homebuyers. He also realized that “the condo market is a very vibrant part of the local market and that it lends itself well to being a niche.”

His first productive step was to create a website packed with information and details about the various condo communities. Yes, it was time-consuming, which is why we suggest that you use the slow season to get this started.

Niching your real estate practice works best if you work in a medium to large market. Those in small markets may not find it quite as valuable.

The Demand is High postcard is available in the Postcard section under the Content Card Series

We are rapidly approaching a new year. Consider being productive and using the slower times to create something unique and prosperous that results in a powerful jump-start for the new year.

Send at least 100 of the Demand is High & Inventory is Low postcards from the Content Card Series to an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan. – Click Here

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Wednesday Productivity: Intention

Wednesday Productivity

Jan 24, 2018

“Time is non-refundable, use it with intention.”

-unknown

We are here to support your success! Call us if we can do anything for you at 866.405.3638 today!

PLUS: Whenever you have a moment…here are 3 things to check out that will help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan – Click Here

2. The Online Sphere of Influence Calculator

Top real estate professionals state 66% of their business comes from their sphere of influence. So how many people do you need in your SOI? Check out our Sphere of Influence Calculator (from your desktop) to find out the answer – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here

Also…check these out 🙂

3 Click Postcards – Just snap, tap, send all from your mobile phone

MLS Mailings – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Wednesday Productivity: Strength

Wednesday Productivity

Jan 17, 2018

“The task ahead of you is never greater than the strength within you.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The ProspectsPLUS! Team members are your biggest fans! We are here to help you succeed in 2018. Please reach out to us if there is any way we can help you 866.405.3638.

Wednesday Productivity: Begin Doing

Wednesday Productivity

Jan 10, 2018

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

– Walt Disney

Here are 3 things to check out that will help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan

Treating your business like a business is a vital component to succeeding long term in this industry. While some agents put together elaborate business plans, there is something powerful to be said for keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan – Click Here

2. The Online Sphere of Influence Calculator

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

We are here to support your success! Call us if we can do anything for you at 866.405.3638 today!

Wednesday Productivity: Early Rising

Wednesday Productivity

Jan 3, 2018

“Early rising not only gives us more life in the same number of years, but adds to their number;

And not only enables us to enjoy more of existence in the same time, but increases also the measure.”

~ Caleb C. Colton

PLUS: Whenever you have a moment…here are 3 things to check out that will help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan

2. The Online Sphere of Influence Calculator

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Master Marketing Schedule is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here

We are here to support your success! Call us if we can do anything for you at 866.405.3638 today!