The paperless office redefined by Adobe

If you have wondered what format most real estate professionals use to store their documents you must think to Acrobat 9 Pro: It will protect documents and accelerate information exchange with PDF. The PDF format can be used for print or Web delivering your clients an easy to read and store document.

For newer brokerages it is standard for the old school it is a must to embrace technology to move forward.

Webographer Blog Interview

1) Tell us a little about yourself and your business.

My business has evolved over the years from hardware to building custom website applications to providing a service by using SaaS Tools to deliver fast easy to use applications to real estate professionals.
2) What is your background?

My background varies from early retail and food service while in school to jumping on one of the 1st Internet Companies providing eCommerce back in 1994. That evolved into working with one of the largest search engines up in San Francisco, LOOKsmart. I was following the stock options which lead me back to one of the original founders of one of the largest Mall on the Web as an server administrator heading up a development team where employees local and abroad collaborated with us. Technology has always been my focus with a high regard for customer service and usability.

3) Why did you undertake the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™ (REW™) certification?

It was one of the few educational programs I found that can bring an agent or broker up to speed. ePRO is passe'.


4) Which course (or courses) did you find the most value in?

All of them were valuable. Even if I knew the answers it doesn't hurt to have a refresher now and again.

5) In what ways will you utilize the technologies you learned in the REW certification to enhance your career or business?

It will allow my wife's brokerage to grow utilizing the latest technologies to speed transactions, provide our clients with the best customer service and save time and money. Her company Triple8 Associates Inc is as paperless as they come. We can chat offline about what we do and why.

6) How long did it take you to complete the certification and what are your impressions of the online experience?

I could of tested out as fast as I could get through it but I took my time to review the lessons, got busy putting out fires and missed my deadline and had to reinstate. My background gave me the tools so I had a built in knowledge base. I recommend it to any agent who I speak with.

Thank you Scott for taking the time.

ScottLau@Webographers.com

Choosing a Notebook, Netbook or PDA or other Mobile Device

Most real estate professionals need to stay connected during their work day but what device you choose directly relates to how tech savvy you are as well as your over-all office infrastructure.

Just a few years ago, most agents would go into an office and use the company computers, phones and resources while trying to grab or be assigned an incoming lead to the bullpen.

Those days aren't entirely gone. Really they are alive a well with some of the largest real estate companies in the United States. I was recently in a class on Marketing and the instructor started speaking about "Farming" in terms of mailing postcards. Even most citizens who grew up on a farm and their families were Farmers don't FARM anymore. Their land has been sold off due to competition and lack of resources or subsidies from the government.

Anyway, enough of my rant on to the technology. Your choices are the following:

• Desktop with 500GB mobile storage (limited use)
• Laptop - (larger market)
• Tablet or Convertible - (great for new online signing software - Recommended)
• Netbook (newer - not for everyone)
• iPhone or PDA Blackberry (good multi-use hardware - has limitations but should be standard for all agents)

If you have questions about brands, new technologies coming out drop me an email. Getting good advice before you head off to Best Buy or Frys is advisable because just because something is cheap doesn't mean it is good. It could be last years model that isn't going to be supported and if you had the knowledge to wait 3 weeks it would have you a ton of money and big headache.

Jason

Are you a mobile professional?

Are you a mobile professional?

If you havent been living in a cave for the past 20 years you at least own a cell phone but that dosent make you a mobile professional.

Own a Desktop or Laptop OR possibly a Netbook?

If you answered Desktop, that is great but you should have a notebook with an internet connection when you are out and about with clients or traveling. A PDA works but MLS data is limited.

If you answered Laptop or Tablet you are on the right track, especially if you utilize digital signatures and paperless software. In many instances, it is at the brokerages discretion to implement these policies which is costly in the short run but slingshots their business over the competetion over the next five + years.

If you said Netbook, you would be an early adopter due to the fact some of the models are anquicated and cute but only serve limited purposes. The newer models fix many of the original issues including more Memory and Hard drive Space which is directly linked to the Operating System your device comes with. Wireless connectivity is great if you can find a Starbucks or other WiFi Network to crash but to be fully capable the device must be connected full time using services like At&t 3G or Verizon 4G built into the board so you do not have to fool around with pc cards or usb devices.

The new HP Mini 5101 takes it to the next level - Check it out here weighing in at a little over 2 lbs.