Free Flash Charts for Your Real Estate Blog or PowerPoint

By Reggie · March 22, 2008 · 8 Comments 

I thought that might get your attention.  It’s true; FusionCharts Free is now available for you to download. This free version is an amazing entry level flash charting component for your real estate website, blog or PowerPoint.  Easily create high impact, visually appealing graphs on Local Market Indicators, Average Sales Prices, Building Starts, Vacancy Rates, Mortgage Originations, Neighborhood Sales, and tons of other compelling data for your audience.

FusionCharts Free supports popular chart types including bar, column, line, pie and more. Also note that FusionCharts is a cross-browser and cross-platform solution that can be used with PHP, Python, Ruby on Rails, ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, ColdFusion, HTML and even PowerPoint Presentations. Read more

If you have enjoyed MyTechOpinion - Technology for Real Estate, please subscribe to our RSS feed!

Adding YouTube Video To Your Next Real Estate PowerPoint

By Reggie · December 16, 2007 · 3 Comments 

The impact of YouTube’s video sharing technology is hard to miss. Not only can you find any video imaginable on YouTube, but real estate professionals are leveraging the free bandwidth and enormous popularity to promote their own commercials, video testimonials, local community footage and lots more. However the need to leverage your video in a listing presentation, kiosk, or window display may arise. So let’s talk about how you embed that video into your next PowerPoint presentation.

This is a very straight forward task and can be achieved using a YouTube Video add-In created by Shyam at skp.MVPS.org. The Add-In works for PowerPoint 97’ to current. Keep in mind however the video is streaming, so you will need a live Internet connection to display the video in your PowerPoint.

THIS EXAMPLE IS FOR POWERPOINT 2007. For other versions of PowerPoint, click here.

To get started, download the YouTube Video Add-In here. Start by unzipping the folder.

1. Open PowerPoint, and click the Office Button.
2. Click PowerPoint Options then select the Add-Ins tab.
3. Click PowerPoint Add-ins from the Manage drop down and click Go.
4. From the Add-Ins windows click Add New.
5. Locate the folder you downloaded and unzipped. Select the Add-In YouTubeVideo2k7.ppa.
6. Choose Enable Macros if prompted.

Congratulations, the YouTube icon should now be added to your toolbar as seen below. To use, simply click the button and follow the simple 4 step process.

If you have enjoyed MyTechOpinion - Technology for Real Estate, please subscribe to our RSS feed!

Add PDF Conversion to Your Real Estate Technology Arsenal

By Chad A. Johnson · October 20, 2007 · 8 Comments 

The PDF (Portable Document Format) has long been the document standard for the Internet age. PDF files are small in size, are platform independent (can be opened on Windows, Apple, Linux, Unix), don’t require expensive software to view, and are non-editable duplication of the original files.

PDF files are the perfect format for many of your real estate document needs. Can’t email a Microsoft Publisher file because the file size is too large or the recipient doesn’t have Publisher, convert the file to the PDF format and the problem is solved. Need to email a Microsoft Word document to a client, but you don’t want any verbage to be changed, convert it to PDF and send it with confidence.

There are many ways that you can incorporate PDF files into your real estate business without shelling out hundreds of dollars for a full version of Adobe Acrobat.

• Zipform (Winforms) has the capability to convert forms into PDF. Real estate agents can then email the forms, confident that they can be opened by the client and can’t be modified before being signed.
• Microsoft Office 2007 provides a “Save as PDF” feature for those download a free add-in. Instantly convert Word docs, Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint slides into PDF files.
  The very popular Paragon MLS system offers PDF conversion of listing reports with a simple click. This allows for MLS reports to be inserted into listing presentations in a cleaner manner.
• Many free PDF distillers are available on the market. These programs create a pseudo-printer on your computer. Anything that can be printed can be converted to PDF by printing to that pseudo-printer. This is great for converting web pages into PDF. Take a look at Cute PDF and PrimoPDF for this functionality.
• Adobe, the creator of the PDF standard, has added an online PDF conversion service.

Once you have gotten a taste of how much value the use of PDF files can add to your real estate business, you may long for more control over your PDF files and additional functionality. There are numerous PDF editing tools on the market that ranges from $50 to several hundred. Most products offer feature comparisons between their product and competitor’s products. This allows you to purchase only the functionality that you will use.

• ScanSoft by Nuance provides multiple PDF solutions to fit nearly any real estate agents PDF technology needs. Features they offer include: password protection of PDF files, the ability to merge multiple documents into a single PDF, delete, add and reorder of document pages, and PDf form creation.
• For those looking for the Cadillac of PDF creation and editing tools, you need to go to the source, Adobe. The Adobe Acrobat 8 product line provides the ultimate feature set for working with PDF files with an emphasis on collaboration tools.

If you are currently utilizing the power of PDF technology to benefit your real estate business, please share your experience with us. What tools do you like? How are you using PDF files in the daily running of your real estate business?

If you have enjoyed MyTechOpinion - Technology for Real Estate, please subscribe to our RSS feed!

10 Reasons a Real Estate Agent Should Upgrade to Office 2007

By Chad A. Johnson · June 27, 2007 · 10 Comments 

It is almost unfortunate that Microsoft released Office 2007 on the same day of the release of Windows Vista. In the technology shadow of the massive juggernaut, Office received little attention. While I am impressed by Vista, it is the advancements that Microsoft has made in the latest version of Office that really blows me away. These changes are significant enough for me to whole-heartedly recommend Office 2007 to real estate agents, no matter what version of Microsoft Office they are currently using.

The most obvious change (and the one most talked about) is the addition of the new user interface called the “Ribbon”. While I think that the idea of changing the menu options based on your current activity is brilliant, I would like to look beyond the obvious to the smaller features and tweaks. Those little things that you wished Office always had and now does.

While I couldn’t possibly cover all of these new features, I have put together a list of 10 features that has made my life easier and more productive.

1. Save as PDF – The PDF file format is gaining more and more importance in the real estate industry and now you can save your Office files directly as a PDF, no additional software required.
2. Email Merge in Publisher – Email marketing is becoming a standard marketing channel in the real estate industry. Publisher 2007 has now made it easier to send full cover email campaigns to your past client base by adding email merge capability. You can now personalize each email and send it without relying on the BCC field.
3. Indexed Searches in Outlook – Outlook has always had a Find feature, but it has been painfully slow. Searches in Outlook 2007 are virtually instantaneous. Your search keywords are even highlighted in the search results. I would have upgraded just for this feature!
4. Easier Pivot Tables – I am a statistics junky. I love to analyze market activity to find trends. I use pivot tables in Excel to create dynamic tables and charts. The new Excel finally makes creating pivot tables an intuitive process. The pivot charts that it creates look so good that you will want to include them in all of your listing presentations and marketing materials.
5. Context Checking – There? Their? They’re? I often forget which one to use. The new context checking ability in Word will put a blue underline on any word that it feels is misused. I love technology that makes me look smarter.
6. Post to Your Blog From Word – You know that blogging is here to stay when Microsoft incorporates it into Word. You can now publish a post directly from Word to your blog. Why would you want to do this? Think, active spelling, grammar and context checking.
7. Smart Art in Powerpoint – This is so cool that you have to try it. Take a list of bullet points in Powerpoint and turn them into a chart with a click. Use this and your listing presentation will jump to the next level of professionalism.
8. Text Formatting Menu – Right-click on any text and find a formatting menu pop up. No longer do you need to venture off to the top menu to change the font or size of text. This menu as to be using my wrist fatigue.
9. Conditional Formatting in Excel – In college, a professor showed us how to use convoluted formulas to change the background colors of cells in Excel based on the cell’s value. With Excel 2007, you just need to highlight the cell(s), click Conditional Formatting and make a selection. Try this to color code a spreadsheet of listings. Color code listings that sold below asking price in one color and those above as another color. Once you do this, you will see market trends without even putting your glasses on.
10. Graphs that Impress – All I can say is “WOW”! Recreate a graph that you made in a previous version of Office in Office 2007 and get blown away. You will look like a professional graphic artist to your clients.

I’m sure that I missed many indispensable new Office features. If you can think of one, leave a comment telling us about it. We’d love to hear why you think Office 2007 has made your real estate business more efficient.

Tips on Using Microsoft Office 2007 for your real estate business.

View microsoft Office 2007 Video Promotion

If you have enjoyed MyTechOpinion - Technology for Real Estate, please subscribe to our RSS feed!

PacificIT on Blogging for Brokers

By Reggie · February 17, 2007 · 1 Comment 

Robert Sanzalone has a wonderful presentation developed for Insurance Brokers on the benefits of Blogging. After reviewing this PowerPoint, you’ll too learn what Robert realized…the included concepts can relate to almost every business sector, especially real estate. Read Robert’s article titled “Successful Online Marketing Strategies and Blogging For Brokers”

If you have enjoyed MyTechOpinion - Technology for Real Estate, please subscribe to our RSS feed!