Paperwork for a real estate transaction – from listing to closing – can be a real time-drain for all involved. Just sign here, here, here and initial here, here, here and here…and when your fingers are cramping and numb, we’ll have ourselves a legal document.  And with all the signatures and initials, it could necessitate a physical therapy appointment.

DocuSign (www.docusign.com) offers a legal, secure  electronic signature service guaranteed to reduce wear-and-tear on schedules and fine motor skills. DocuSign Lite is a free service anyone can use from DocuSign’s homepage. There’s no paper, no account to set up, no cost or credit card number to provide.

Simply upload the document that requires a signature and enter the email address of the recipient. Your recipient gets an email message from DocuSign notifying them of a document to be signed and you receive an emailed receipt confirming that the process is complete.

An electronic signature is enforceable and legal. (even in California!) There’s a whole section on the DocuSign site dedicated to real estate professionals and how DocuSign can speed up this necessary chore for folks on both sides of a transaction.  For more information, check out the key points from an October 6 talk by Ken Moyle, “Legality of Electronic Signatures and Real Estate” (http://docusign.com/blog/category/realestate/).

So when you hear, “where do I sign?”;  now you can tell your clients,  just click here, here, here and here…

This week I had the opportunity to attend a class for real estate professionals on using LinkedIn and how to “data mine” for new business with this Social Networking site.  I was surprised to see that out of 25+ agents in the class, only 7 or 8 had set up a profile!

The instructor was Richard Kirby, a recruiter who has developed a network of over 3500 connections!  He has successfully used LinkedIn to meet new clients, make connections with Corporate HR contacts and develop his business!

Here are some eye-opening facts about LinkedIn:

* There are over 40 million business users on LinkedIn, including managers and executives at virtually all major employers.

*LinkedIn is the leading online Social Networking website for Business.

*LinkedIn is a giant database of members who are relatively open to networking and inquiries.

*Nearly 60% of the members have incomes over $93,000. (based on a study done by Anderson Analytics)

Are you on LinkedIn?  It’s easy to navigate and set up a profile.  You’ll get the most visibility on your profile when you complete each section: Photo, summary of current position, email address, website links, interests, previous jobs and work experience.  Then start connecting with colleagues, old friends, new friends, past clients, etc.

Join a few groups: college alumni association, sorority/fraternity, special interests, employer groups, and of course, there are lots of real estate groups to join!  Once you have made connections, ask for recommendations.  Richard Kirby recommends getting 5-10! This will complete your profile and give you more visibility!

Start today using LinkedIn to find and develop new clients, connect with clients who aren’t on Facebook or MySpace, share updates, and establish yourself online!

And while you’re there – connect with me!

If you take the time to create a flyer, then make it work for you.  How do you get a bigger bang for your buck (and your time) with a Listing Flyer?  Think outside the box, (the front lawn box) or the Kitchen counter display!

Start by using these 6 quick marketing tricks!

1) First – Save it as a JPG. Creating a JPG image of your flyer will open up a vast array of online tools for marketing your listing.   Save an ‘image’ of your flyer and e-mail it to area agents from Top Producer or Outlook.

2) Use that JPG image as one of your 25 photos on Realtor.com.  Instant visibility to hundreds of potential buyers!

3) Put your listing flyer on the internet. After you’ve e-mailed that JPG image, upload the listing to Postlets and Craigslist. Both are great sites for listings – And they’re FREE!  Postlets creates an attractive flyer automatically – it can’t get much easier than that!  Add it to your personal website as well.

4) Facebook. Of course, Facebook or MySpace! Upload your flyer image or the Postlets flyer!  With thousands of members you can take advantage of the huge pyramid of friends who will view your listing.

5) TwitPic -Share it with your Twitter friends using the free TwitPic tool.

6) Hyperlinks! And boost the impact of your flyers by creating a PDF version and adding hyperlinks to area websites like neighborhoods, community and your own website. Potential buyers can then visit these sites to learn more about the area and you. Email the PDF as an attachment to out of town buyers or let your sellers email it to their friends and colleagues.

Listing Flyers can be a fabulous tool for boosting visibility. Make your flyers work for you, by using them everywhere, for all to see!

(Special thanks to Pam Sherlock – Listing Coordinator – for assisting with the information in this blog post)

“If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.”  What a great line! 

I heard a statistic the other day that surprised me. (maybe I’m an eternal optimist, but it surprised me)  Did you know that 87% of everything we are exposed to is negative? Whoa… 87%! That’s a lotta negative!  No wonder we feel overwhelmed,  frustrated or feel like our world is going insane!

Take lesson from Jimmy Buffet and laugh a little!  Come on, there’s always something to laugh about!  Or, at the very least, muster up a little chuckle!  Having a postive attitude and an attitude of gratitude is good for the soul!  And if you need some liquid encouragement, have a Margarita!

So sing a long with me!!

Changes in Lattitudes, Changes in Attitudes

It’s these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of our running and all of our cunning
If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane

If we weren’t all crazy we would go insane!

Jimmy Buffet