What you need to get a real estate virtual assistant.

Getting a virtual assistant in real estate | by Dan Wood

………………………………………

Getting a virtual assistant. What you need to know and the tools to make it happen.

Not everyone needs a virtual assistant. I only suggest getting one if you can keep them busy 20 + hours a week. If not… it becomes a full time job for you just thinking of what to have them do. People thinks it’s some easy pill. Guess what? As soon as they finish the 1st project they will turn to you and ask… “what’s next boss”? For the 1st few weeks you’ll be micromanaging them.

Things the can do for you:

• Add leads and contacts to your database and launch proper follow up plans.
• Put together your prospecting list of numbers to call (just listed, just sold, FSBO, etc).
• Blogging, video, content creation.
• Or anything else that can be done from a computer.

What you’ll need to start:


1. Get a Virtual assistant. (You pay the company and they pay the VA).
2. Get Skype. (This is your main source of communication. It’s free to chat & call).
3. Get a new laptop so your VA can work & save files.
4. Get Logmein and download it on your new computer. (Your VA will log into the computer using Logmein).

Points to know:

• Use any virtual company you like. Just make sure they are American based.
• They say they are real estate trained… but you’ll need to re-train them on your systems.
• Treat it like project work. Give small simple projects and check it’s getting done right.
• Buy a new computer so all your files are saved in your physical office. You don’t want your files being saved on their computer 12 hours away.
• You need to trust your VA and get along. Just like a real hire with a local person. Things can go wrong. They could steal your database. Mess up your blogs. Or say they know what they are doing when they don’t.
• It’s better to start with eLance and outsource your projects to the people who specialize in the project at hand. Your VA should be your partner in taking away all the things you know how to do, but don’t have the time for. If you give them jobs they don’t understand how will you guide them? Your VA should only be working on things you understand. Everything else is outsourced as project work. *** This is the biggest reason Virtual Assistants fail… because you hire them to do things you don’t understand and therefor they don’t have the right guidance.

Recruiting real estate agents online with Google AdWords

Recruiting real estate agents online - by Dan Wood:

I was in a discussion with a broker manager who was dead set on only hiring “seasoned agents”. As we walked the halls of his office I asked how many were are being occupied by “newer” agents. He thought about it and was shocked by the truth. The newer agents took up over 60% of the office space(!) That’s a big chunk of monthly expense being covered by something you don't want. Something to think about.

It’s a funny debate with the “only seasoned vets” vs. “mixed offices” recruiting strategy. I’d say a healthy office has a mix of both. You need the next generation in your ranks because they will be your future leaders and by that time they are so vested with your office it’s hard to leave. So think of it as future positioning.

No matter what camp you are in I’m sure you would like to connect with more agents to recruit. So how do we do that?

Many of you have tried Google pay-per-click but it gets tricky in large cities like Toronto, Ottawa & Calgary… the problem is it’s too big of a geographical area to target. Why target the east side of your city when your brokerage is located on the west? Most agents are going to pick a firm that’s either in the area they want to work… or one that is relatively easy to get to from home.

You can actually target extremely targeted campaigns on a small budget. Say $50-$100 (or less) a month! “But Danny I tried Google Adwords and it didn't work.”

Did you know you can actually use google to target just a radius around your office(s)? You don't need to target by city… but rather you would target just the neighbourhoods around your office. This is done by targeting the postal code(s). For smaller cities like Oakville & Mississauga you just need to tighten up the keywords. For example:

In google when setting up the campaign and doing the targeting part you simply click “advanced search” and type in your postal code instead of the city name. When you click it you'll see on the map what part of town you are targeting. During that part you can add other nearby postal codes or simply do a 1-to-2 kilometre radius around your location. Now you’re spend your money wisely :-)

Say a person is searching “real estate job” down the street from your office. I’d think you would like the opportunity to drive them to a squeeze page on your brokerage site about getting into the business. Or a office open house invitation. Or to do a tour of the office & come out to the next sales meeting! Well guess what. You can do exactly that! This is an example of targeting new agents because that’s the type of thing they search. They also search terms like “real estate school”, “getting into real estate” & “phase 3 OREA” (in Ontario)… these are all terms being searched by people you should connect with. The question is are you one of the google results when they do?

If not head on over to Eventbrite.ca and make a free landing page. Make a “getting into real estate phase 3 grads info seminar” and use this as a squeeze page. It’s free and easy. Plus it looks more like a event and not some poorly designed page on your brokerage site.

Use that as your landing page and match it up with the proper search terms and postal code targeting. Simple!

I find most articles & seminars are geared towards agents and not the broker of record. So I'm standing up and serving YOU the broker managers. Please share this article with your leadership and follow me as our next article we'll cover recruiting agents already in the business. We'll use a combination of free YouTube videos & targeted Facebook ads! www.danwood.ca

Infographic on coaching real estate agents by Dan Wood

Infographic for real estate agents looking for marketing & technology coaching:

We need this seminar at our real estate office!

Are you looking for ways to teach your agents? Watch this video:

Many real estate brokers are in need of leveraged training. It's hard to keep the training calendar full (especially of good ideas & training). So as a result attendance is low and your agents are forced to go out side for help.

I have a solution to help you train your agents on marketing & technology! It's free and virtual so any broker in the world can tap into this!


Reach out to me about:

• Office seminars
• Management retreats
• Mastermind sessions & networking events
• Company conferences

Stay connected on facebook.com/DanWoodCoaching as I post videos on marketing and technology for the real estate industry.

I can also be contacted at 1-888-430-2320 or 905-903-5442.