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Financial Reality…

Many real estate professionals feel caught in a financial vise right now.  We’ve all been there.  Most are there right now.

Client Expectations…

Your selling clients DEMAND great exposure in order for their listing to stand out in an already-overcrowded market, while you struggle to pay for that exposure with a declining income level.  And it’s imperative to be tech-savvy in today’s rapidly changing real estate industry. But exposure and technology are expensive, right?

Low-Cost Solutions…

So, what are we to do?

The answer is simple: leverage the myriad of free technologies that exist to provide that exposure and to be that tech-savvy pro without putting a dent in your wallet or purse.

Here are some of the things you can start doing today:

Box.net | Store your documents online and access them for free from anywhere. This is a great way to share information with your clients – photos, copies of listings, contracts, addenda, etc.  Set up folders specific to your clients and avoid the hassles of emailing large attachments (which is a constant challenge for me).  We just started using this, and it is so much more convenient to use than email.

Flickr.com | This is the web’s number one photo-sharing site.  I’ve often purchased stock photos from various websites when similar things can be found here for free.  You can also post photos of your listings here.

Google Docs | Much like Box. net, but within the wonderful context of all things Google.

Google Earth | An awesome mapping tool that you can embed in your promotional materials to help make you look tech-savvy and allow potentially interested parties to instantly get a feel for your listing’s location.

Google Wave | This is the best free “project management” option I’ve found. Rather than using email, you can create a Wave specific to each client and use the Wave itself as a record of all of your interactions with that client. Upload documents, photos, videos, etc. and carry on a running dialogue from start to finish for a given transaction.

Guru.com | This is a great site to find people for special projects – marketing, writing, upgrading your website, etc.   While it technically is not free, I thought I’d include it just because you can certainly save money by obtaining quotes from multiple freelancers (news flash: most Realtors have RADICALLY overpaid for their websites).

Postlets.com | This is Craig’s List on super-steroids.  Post your listing here and it automatically appears not only on Craigslist.com, but on Backpage.com, Google Base, HotPads, Oodle, Trulia, Vast and Zillow

PrimoPDF.com | Instantly turns just about anything into a .pdf, which has become the de facto “gold standard” of document formatting because of the format’s universal accessibility.  This is great for emailing, and you can also protect your work with security control which you can enable if you choose to do so

Screencast.com | This is a content sharing site with privacy options. I dealt with an amazing vendor who used this to communicate with me via video. Instead of sending emails, he recorded video messages and sent me links so that only I could watch. I’m now starting to use this approach myself, and it saves time and conveys so much more nuance than the written word.

WellcomeMat.com | Sort of like YouTube, but specifically created for real estate and other business applications.  It has a more upscale feel than YouTube

YouTube.com | A great place to upload videos of your listings for free

ZeeMaps.com | Allows you to create customized, interactive maps that you can use to promote your listings and or include on your website

Zoho.com | Need a specialty software and don’t want to spend the money?  Check this out and see all the free web-based utilities this site offers

I hope this helps you in some small way!