Here is a very interesting YouTube video that shows the historical cycles of the housing market.
Let me know what you think about it. Thanks!
Here is another way to get some face time with your clients…
Everyone talks about how they back up, but do they really do it? Are you backing up weekly? Monthly? I know that I am guilty of not backing up on a regular basis. But at home I have started using a service called Mozy (https://mozy.com/). I am backing up all of my documents for free, up to 2 GB to an online service. I have installed the program and have scheduled it to run at night. This is a free automated way to back up.
I also am currently backing up to CD. I also have an external hard drive that I copy files to. I mainly use the external hard drive to transfer files between my 4 different computers. You can currently find a 500 GB external hard for under $150.
I have just spoken to a Realtor that has lost her whole computer due to a hard drive failure. They now have to recreate their whole database, not to mention losing all of their templates, photos, stored documents, etc. This is not something that you want to do!
Here is an article from CNN Money talking about backing up that is worth reading: http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/05/smbusiness/computer_backup.fsb/
You may have noticed me typing away on my crackberry, and what I do more than anything else on it is email myself. The reason that I do this is because I usually have way too much going on to remember to do that one task that we just talked about. So I compose an email, addressed to myself and tell myself what I need to do when I get back to my office. This way when I get back to the office I can sit down at my laptop and do all the things that I need to do. I find this way of note taking a lot better than scribbling notes in my binder or trying to use sticky pads. And if you ever have seen my handwriting you know why I would type things!
Also if you have a web-based email account you can send a file to yourself and pick it up at any other computer. For example, if you have a spreadsheet that you use to keep track of your listings. You can keep it in your email. You make changes at home, then email it to yourself. Then when you are at the office and using the general computer you can open your email, change/review the spreadsheet and then email it back to yourself. I personally have a Yahoo email account that I use. My free email account now has unlimited storage space. I am always emailing myself documents and photos without worrying about going over my storage limits.
Hope this comes in handy for you in the field!
Today I want to share a little in sight on a feature that I use all of the time: Print Screen. This feature allows you to take a snapshot of whatever is on your screen and do many things with it. Sometimes talking over the phone you can’t exactly get across what you see on your computer. I am always using print screen to email what is on my computer to show someone what I am talking about. The Print Screen button is usually located at the top of your keyboard; mine is right next to my F12 key.
Once you hit the key, whatever is on your screen will be copied to your “Clipboard.” You can then paste in the image straight into an HTML email. Or what I usually do is paste it into Publisher or Word.
Here is an example:
You do have to be careful, becuase everything that is viewable on your screen is copied. This includes your Taskbar items, clock, and other items. One of the reasons why I usually paste the item into Publisher is that you can easily crop out the items that you don’t want anyone else to see. Also from Publisher you can easily save the image as a JPEG (or other photo formats). All you have to do is to right-click on the image and choose Save as Picture…
Here is what that looks like:
Hopefully you find that this tool will come in handy. I know that I use it regularly! If you use Print Screen or have any tricks when using it please leave a comment and let me know.
For more information you can visit Microsoft’s Knowledge Base Article: Print Screen Features and Workarounds for Windows http://support.microsoft.com/kb/60874
It seems that everytime I sit down at someone’s computer that either don’t have the basic toolbars showing; or if they do they are not utilizing the toolbar correctly. I would suggest using your Quick Launch (Windows) and Links (Internet Explorer) toolbars. I am constantly using them.
The Quick Launch toolbar is that toolbar at the bottom left of your screen. Right next to the start button. I usually turn it on for people that don’t have it running. The easiest way to turn it on it to right-click your task bar and go to toolbars. You will want to make sure that the Quick Launch option is marked.
The next the that you will want to do is to make sure that you have the common programs you use are in the Quick Launch toolbar. The whole reason for this toolbar is so that you can quickly launch those programs you run all the time.
I have the Show the Desktop feature, Internet Explorer and the Snipping Tool in mine. For more information on the Quick Launch Toolbar, here is a link to Microsoft’s Knowledge Base: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/171206
Now on to the Links toolbar. I have fully customized my (and my wife’s) Link’s toolbar to include those websites that I go to on a regular basis. The Links toolbar is a default folder within Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Browser. To turn this feature on at the top of your browser; just right-click at the top of your browser and choose the Links option. This will display any bookmark that you have put into your Link folder in your bookmarks. Once it is on the top of your browser you can easily drag-and-drop links into it. I always rename the bookmarks to short names, so that I can view more of the links. Below is the top of my browser; showing the Links that I have chosen. I have Google, my online banking, Wikipedia, IMDb, my fantasy sports, my indoor soccer schedule, MySpace, my work email, espn, eBay, Sacramento Bee, online Backgammon, Craigslist and online Gin. I think that it saves so much time by just having to click once then type in a website, especially if it is somewhere that I go all of the time.
For more information on the Links Toolbar, here is a link to Microsoft’s Knowledge Base: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/171228
I think that is enough of a rant for now…let me know what you think and how you utilize your toolbars.
