Read by More Than 30,000 Agents

2. Some Resources to Help You in Your Real Estate Business

The Internet has changed so much in our real estate industry. But on the residential side of the business, the changes have definitely been much more profound. Having one's own agent Web site, locating prospects through the Web and closing transactions with them, utilizing automatic E-mail "drip" message campaigns for both client and prospect follow-up, and having downloadable forms and information packages on one's Web site are all very much the norm on the residential side of the business.

But on the commercial side of the business, it's still very rare to find an agent who employs any of these approaches in his or her own real estate business. While this general lack of technology on the commercial side of the industry is surprising, it may also prove to be the industry's saving grace.

With the residential people having done such an outstanding job of making information available on the Internet, unfortunately this accomplishment is now being used against them. Home buyers and home sellers can easily find information on most every home available in their area, and discount brokerage companies are using this ease of access to drive commission rates down. In addition, the public now expects agents to continue providing this information on the Internet for free.

So what's basically happened here is you have hundreds of thousands of real estate agents continually inputting data into the system to make it work, while others are primarily using the system to reduce the commissions that these agents get paid.

And as a real estate agent, how does this make you feel?

This all reminds me of something that was said to me about ten years ago when I was managing a real estate office for Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services. The company employed an executive by the name of Jesse Harrill, and Jesse was a very bright man when it came to both information systems and their applications in Corporate America. And at one time he was even in charge of the most powerful computer in the world operated by the Department of Defense. But with regard to data and information systems in the business world, Jesse would often say something like the following:

"Don't ever give away your data. Once you give away your data you risk losing complete control of your business."

And truer, more prophetic words have rarely ever been spoken in our industry.

With all the data being continuously supplied online by hard working real estate agents, others are seizing the information and using it against the agents themselves. But what's interesting, since the commercial side of the business is much more fragmented in its dissemination of online listings, is the fact that this information is more difficult to use against commercial agents to drive down their commissions. Discount commission companies in the real estate industry can really thrive when they have streamlined access to a very efficient multiple listing service, but if they had to employ people to keep listing information current on an ongoing basis instead, this would make it more difficult for them to consider even entering the brokerage arena at all. (And yes, I've been approached by people wanting to discuss bringing discount brokerage to commercial real estate also.)

With this in mind I recommend that commercial brokerage companies watch themselves as they continue developing technologically in the future. While a national online listing system that showcases almost every listing in every market will have its advantages, giving this data away for free to everyone can also be costly to the industry. Agents work hard for their money, and with the downward pressure on commissions already coming from owners, investors, and developers, creating a system that may easily add to this downward pressure would simply be bad for both agents and their companies. And once the public gets used to a system like this and loves it, and the regulatory agencies are willing to fight to keep it this way, you've opened up a can of worms that you would never, ever want to deal with. Just ask the people who are currently dealing with this on the residential side of the business.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who love driving real estate brokerage commissions downwards. And if they can do it on their own both legally and morally, they're entitled to do this. But continually handing them all the data compiled by hard working agents to help them along on their mission is simply ridiculous.

Just as the public cannot demand that wholesalers sell to them directly and undercut the prices of retail business establishments, real estate agents should not be obligated to work hard to provide the public with a system that economically boomerangs and comes back to hurt the agents themselves.

Click here for downloadable E-books and live audio interviews with top-producing real estate agents. These interviews are with industry experts who show you exactly what they do to continually make hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars a year.

2. Some Resources to Help You in Your Real Estate Business

As I'm always coming across resources that may be of interest to you in becoming even more productive, here's a list of some of these resources that you may want to take a closer look at:

Free Conference Calls

Do you ever feel like you might want to schedule a conference call sometimes between all the parties involved in a real estate transaction? With this in mind, how would you also like to get it done for free? This service allows you to create conference calls with up to 100 individual participants on the call at anytime. 

If this may be something you're interested in, please visit www.freeconference.com. 

Skype

Are you interested in talking with people almost anywhere in the world for free utilizing your computer? This is a great service that allows you to do exactly this. Visit www.skype.com. 

Retrospect Backup Software

If you've ever wanted to find a simple solution to backup your hard drive, this is a solid product. It will backup your hard drive and then backup any changes and new additions you've made to your hard drive on an ongoing basis. I use this product regularly, and three weeks ago I was also able to easily transfer all of my important information from my old computer into my new one. For more information visit www.dantz.com. 

Merlin Information Services

This is a great service that many agents have been raving about. If you need to find property ownership information such as who the owners are in a general partnership, a limited partnership, or a corporation, and how to contact these people, this is the place for you. Please visit www.merlindata.com. 

GoToMeeting

Need to host an online Web conference at much more reasonable rates than what many companies are already charging for these services? This service has already received the Editor's Choice Award from PC Magazine. For more information please visit www.GoToMeeting.com. 

Virtual Assistants

Are you interested in finding people who will help you with support services such as database management, marketing and mailing campaigns, preparing listing presentations, administration, client follow-up, transaction management, accounting, graphic design, and Web design? These people specialize in doing these exact services specifically for real estate agents on a per hour basis. Please visit:

http://www.accbizsvcs.com 

www.REVATeams.com 

http://www.ivaa.org/ec_ress/cress.html 

Real Estate Cyberspace Society

For keeping informed on all the latest trends, technologies, and services to help you become an even more effective real estate agent, this organization is simply as good as it gets. For more information please visit www.recyber.com. 

Audio Generator

Would you like to add spoken audio to your Web site or E-mail and be able to easily record it on the telephone? How about sending a monthly or quarterly market update to your clients and prospects in your spoken voice in an E-mail to them? This service makes doing this very easy for you:

www.AudioGenerator.com 

Instant Video Generator

Would you like to add a video of yourself to your Web site and E-mail instead of just audio? With this service you can send monthly or quarterly video updates on your marketplace to your people via a simple link in your E-mail. For more information please visit:

www.InstantVideoGenerator.com 

Click here if you'd like more information on my one-on-one coaching program to take your real estate productivity to the next level. One-on-one coaching is available for both real estate agents and company management.

"After more than 20 years in the business, Jim has helped me to focus on doing the activities that make a huge difference in my income. I even generated 42 offers on one of my investment listings!"

Larry Cannizzaro
Beitler Commercial Realty Services/TCN Worldwide

Click Here for More Testimonials

Subscribers to my E-newsletter receive FREE online training. My training course is designed to take you to the next level in your real estate sales career regardless of where you are currently at in your career right now. If you're not currently a subscriber to my FREE E-newsletter and you'd like to subscribe and receive my FREE 7-Day Online Real Estate Training Course, click here.

If you arrange for me to lead a seminar or training for your real estate company you qualify for FREE coaching! Call me or email me for more information.

Please forward this E-zine to anyone you know who is interested in becoming a better, more productive real estate agent.

To subscribe to Jim Gillespie's 
ADVANCED REAL ESTATE SUPERSALES E-ZINE
 click here
and send a blank E-mail.

To unsubscribe and bring tears to my eyes follow the directions below.