As any entrepreneur will tell you, the real gains are made in business when you leverage your existing resources and maximize your output, with a minimum expenditure of assets. As an investor, there may be no better way to accomplish this than to utilize the latest and best real estate technology available, so you can get more leads, sales and productivity than you would otherwise.
The difficult task every investor faces is knowing which bit of real estate technology is worth adding to one’s toolbox. What are the best real estate apps to invest time in? Which real estate apps will move the needle in your business?
Here are four examples of the best real estate technology out there that can help you get more done, in less time, and reach heights with your investing career that you never thought possible.
The Best Real Estate Technology To Add To Your Business
1. Google Voice
Chances are, you’ve probably heard about Google Voice, but this voicemail service does far more than just provide you a call-forwarding service, which — by the way — it does very nicely. It belongs on any list of the top real estate apps because it allows you to:
- Create a different area code number for each of your markets.
- Create a different number for each sector of your business.
- Split-test your marketing by using different numbers for different campaigns.
- Ensure, no matter which number a lead calls you at, you can always be reached.
- Make collaboration with virtual assistants more efficient and trouble-free.
- Utilize the voice transcription service (great for dictating notes on your phone while you drive).
More Info: Google Voice
2. Gmail
While we’re in the Google side of the street — and when you think about it, aren’t we always on the Google side of the street? — let’s touch on that super-powerful, though often under-utilized, productivity tool: Gmail.
The thing that makes Gmail one of the best apps for real estate investors is that no matter what specific domain email address you use for communication, you can handle all your email back-and-forth (and so much more) right in the Gmail dashboard.
This includes things such as:
- Using canned, templated responses to save time.
- Utilizing the “email alias” feature to allow team members to send email on your behalf.
- Integrating a third-party tool, such as Gmelius, with your Gmail account to pre-write emails and schedule them to be sent days, if not months later.
- Filtering your inbox aggressively so you know exactly what emails need to be dealt with right away.
More Info: Gmail
More Info: Gmelius
3. Email database and messaging tool
Sometimes the best real estate investing apps are not those which reinvent the wheel, but instead those which take a simple process and make it more streamlined and efficient. That’s because, at some point, you’ll realize using an Excel sheet to handle your marketing systems is a poor use of your resources.
You want to look for a service that lets you collect contacts in an email database and lets you send targeted email messaging to those contacts.
A couple of things to keep in mind when looking for an email database tool:
- Don’t bust your budget: You may not need a deluxe CRM solution, such as InfusionSoft, right out of the gate. Instead, look at a tool such as Aweber or MailChimp to handle your database collection and email follow-ups, then scale up as needed.
- The best tool is the one you’ll use: Give the features of each email database tool a try. See which templates and interfaces you like. They all have varying pros and cons; key is to find the right one for you.
- Filter and tag: Email marketing works best when you consistently filter and organize your contacts into logical groupings. (Such as “list of wholesale buyers who have not opened any of my last four emails.”) Many email database tools — sometimes with the help of a third-party plugin — allow you to add automated tags that assist in the crafting of targeted, focused messaging that gets people on your list to take action.
More Info: Aweber
More Info: InfusionSoft
More Info: MailChimp
4. Leadpages
All those lovely tools and apps for real estate investors won’t do you much good if you’re not consistently acquiring leads to put into your marketing funnel. And when it comes to maximizing your conversion rates, and reducing ad spend, there may be no more important tool to add to your arsenal than LeadPages.
LeadPages is a landing page template tool that allows you to quickly, and easily, build website pages — and other marketing pieces — that encourage web visitors to join your funnel.
A couple of great ways investors can use them is to:
- Create opt-in boxes within your website content.
- Generate landing page opt-in forms (Do one for each different market and audience).
- Build sales pages (especially if you want to dip your toe into affiliate sales).
- Collect email subscribers through text messaging.
- Build “thank you” pages that pre-sell you as an investor.
Best of all: LeadPages doesn’t require any knowledge of code or web design to utilize. (All the tech stuff is done for you.)
Unfortunately, LeadPages is a paid tool, so it can’t be added to a list of free real estate apps, but it is a tool that can provide some serious bang to your marketing buck.
More Info: LeadPages
Building a Better Mousetrap
Terry Pratchett once said “it’s still magic, even if you know how it’s done.” When it comes to the best real estate technology to help your business grow exponentially, it’s not required you find the newest, shiniest apps from Silicon Valley. What’s important is you choose technology that lets you deliver your powerful message to a variety of individuals, in a personal, human way. When you can leverage your technology in this way, and be in numerous places, all at once, you’ll find your business begins to maximize its real potential.
