ADVANCED ACCESS December 2005 Newsletter

December 2005 Newsletter

“We start with gifts. Merit comes from what we make of them.”
- Jean Toomer

Holiday Season Internet Marketing

During the holiday season it's more important than ever to keep in touch with your clients and prospects. If you haven’t already begun your holiday marketing campaign, it’s still not too late to send out holiday cards to your farm area and sphere of influence. Whether you are sending your greetings via snail mail or e-mail, it's nice to acknowledge the season with a festive holiday greeting (and a GREAT opportunity to market your business.)

NOW is the time to deck the halls of your website to capture the spirit of the season. With our Classic Package™ 3.0 FLEX DESIGN, you have many options to acknowledge the holiday season with a seasonal change of décor:

Change your Home Page to one of the holiday styles available in the design center of your Virtual Office. It’s as easy as a click of your mouse!
Create a CUSTOM BANNER with seasonal photos and add it to one or several of the pages of your website
Send a Holiday IntelliC@rd™ greeting to your sphere of influence, your clients and prospects.
Create a Holiday Link Page with links to some of the popular holiday websites
Decorate your site with one of our beautiful pre-designed Holiday Banners available in our Virtual Office Design Center

Be sure your Voice Mail Message greets your callers with a cherry “Happy Holidays,” and remember to refer to your website as a great source of information about the area, local listings and more.

Remember, at ADVANCED ACCESS we offer you WEEKLY MARKETING TIPS full of Internet marketing advice, tips, products, services and ideas for maximizing your presence on the Internet. If you don’t have time to read our marketing tips every week, we archive them for you on our website.

With the FLEX DESIGN capabilities available in our Classic Package™ 3.0, you will be ready to celebrate the season in style with a festive Internet Marketing program. We invite you to try it today, and be sure to call us TOLL FREE at 1-866-518-1571 if you have any questions or need any assistance. Our customer support representatives are here to help you 7 days per week, and we sincerely appreciate your business.

Lighten Your Load with an ADVANCED ACCESS Virtual Assistant

We know how busy you are – especially during the holiday season. Some of our clients tell us that it’s difficult to find the time to work on their websites. That’s why we offer our ADVANCED ACCESS Virtual Assistant Network, to provide you with a resource for expert assistance to help you with administrative tasks so you can focus on what you do best…selling real estate. The response from our clients has been fantastic – the VA network has been a resounding success, and we have added NEW Virtual Assistants to our resource page on a regular basis. Check out our list today!

Each Virtual Assistant on the list was screened and interviewed by our ADVANCED ACCESS staff to confirm they were experienced in the real estate industry and knowledgeable in our Classic Package™ 3.0 product. Referrals were forwarded to us by a variety of ADVANCED ACCESS clients, and after an extensive review process, our official Virtual Assistant Network was listed for your benefit. The costs for our Virtual Assistants vary, and each has different skills and specialties to offer. Feel free to give them a call to find your perfect match.

Please note that although we have made every effort to screen each candidate carefully, ADVANCED ACCESS cannot make any guarantees regarding the Virtual Assistants listed above, and cannot be held responsible. We recommend that you contact several Virtual Assistants to find the one who "fits" your personality and business style the best. Our goal is to help you make your website the best it can be, and we hope our Virtual Assistant Network will be a valuable resource for you in the process. The Key to Your Success - is Our Service.

Position Yourself to PROSPER in 2006

The years 2003-2005 were banner years for real estate sales. Record-low interest rates combined with moderate to strong job markets created a supply/demand balance resulting in the fair market value of homes nearly doubling in many regions across the United States.

Add to this the exceptional number of active REALTORS® and you have got a story reminiscent of the mid 1980s. But two decades later, there is a new twist in the form of Websites that help newly licensed agents outsell 10-year veteran brokers.

Based on information gleaned from top industry associations it appears one thing will remain consistent regardless of market conditions: Those Realtors with the greatest Internet visibility will be in the best position to prosper.

The statistics below confirm the importance of Internet Marketing in the Real Estate Industry:

Homebuyers used the Internet more than other media to search for homes; Internet usage for searching was 71%, which is more then used newspapers (41%), home book or magazines (24%), Television (17%). (NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2003)
Homebuyers who search for homes online are more likely than other buyers to use a real estate professional to buy their home. (NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2003)
Homebuyers, who found an agent online, were more satisfied with their agents than traditional buyers in all aspects of the home buying process. (CAR Internet Versus Traditional Buyers Study 2003)

We all know that your ADVANCED ACCESS site positions you as a reliable expert resource for real estate and community information in your city or region. In fact, on the Internet, your Website IS you to consumers.

The holidays are a good time to plan for the New Year ahead. Why not take control of your own Internet Marketing program today! Plan for 2006 and take advantage of the tools that are provided to you in your ADVANCED ACCESS Website.

Want to make a quick change? With ADVANCED ACCESS you can make changes with a click of a mouse. With our easy-to-use Virtual Office Manager, you can transform your Website into a dazzling custom creation. There is no limit to the number of pages you can create or link to, and you can edit your Website at any time from your own location.

Remember, as always, we’re here to help you. Call us, email us, or log-in to our ADVANCED ACCESS Forums. Our ADVANCED ACCESS Customer Support Department is at your disposal 7 days per week, so call us TOLL FREE 866-518-1571. For Internet marketing ideas and advice, you can read our WEEKLY MARKETING TIPS, or call a VIRTUAL ASSISTANT for additional help.

Portions of this article were reprinted with permission from RISMedia, Inc. Copyright 2005

Featured ADVANCED ACCESS Client – Paula Bean

HISTORY & HER START IN THE INDUSTRY

Paula Bean was born in the Orlando area, and is a true Central Floridian native. Paula is happily married for the past 20-years to her husband Sam, a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. They have a son, Sam (5th generation namesake in the family). Both her husband and brother have been involved in Orange County (Florida) law enforcement for over 20-years.

Paula graduated from West Orange High School, and went directly to work for the Orlando Sentinel, and began to work in the Real Estate Advertising Department. For the next three years she coordinated accounts with major real estate offices and clients from around the Greater Orlando area. “…I had several companies tell me that I was pretty good at this, and mentioned that I should take a real estate class. I was 21, and looked 15, and no one would ever talk to me. So I took my real estate exam, a two-week “cram course,” and earned my license in 1979.” She continued, “…back when there were no Websites, there were no training classes, just a new MLS book every two weeks or so. To find out what the inventory was you had to drive around the market in your car – there was no Internet, FAX machines, cell phones, and no real formal training to speak of.” On today’s changing profession and improvements, Paula states, “…the new agents today have it SO much easier than in the past. I also earned by Mortgage Broker license in 1994, because I could never get a loan officer on the phone to help me. This was about the time that the MLS and the Internet started to make it much easier on-line, which is such a convenience for real estate professionals today!”

When asked to compare and contrast today’s improvements in the industry with when she started back in 1979, Paula reflected that the biggest single improvement has been the Internet. “…The Internet is the single largest improvement today. The buyer can get so much of what they need and want WITHOUT actually speaking to a REALTOR®. Before, if they wanted any information, they had to talk to us, and today, they just don’t!”

She continued, “…because consumers can get so much of this information, it can be both a good and bad thing. Because they have access to so much info on the Internet, they think they know it all. But actually, they need to have a real estate professional to be able to help them understand what exactly the next step should indeed be. The Internet can actually make it look much easier than it is…so they always need to have a trained professional there to assist them on their journey to purchasing their dream home! The good part for REALTORS® today is that we don’t have to spend as much time getting business either!”

PAULA BEAN TELLS WHY ADVANCED ACCESS?

“Initially, I went through several other companies, and I just wasn’t getting the kind of product and support that I was satisfied with, and then I came across ADVANCED ACCESS. Everyone I talked to about ADVANCED ACCESS said you didn’t have to spend a fortune, and you also would have the ability to customize great-looking template sites. Finally, they all added that the Customer Service was just FANTASTIC! I also run a forum for NEW agents, and when they ask me who I should speak to about a Website, I always recommend ADVANCED ACCESS. Even with the time difference, someone is always there to answer my questions and inquiries and help me along the way if I need their support. The forum is always there, and the folks who moderate the forums are AWESOME! Aside from the price, the customer service is the real reason anyone should choose ADVANCED ACCESS.” Paula also was adamant about doing her own thing! “…I want to know how to do things myself, and they will either teach you how to do it, or do it for you, and I appreciate that kind of directness and personal service.”

THE FORUMS ARE AN ADDED PLUS AND A WEALTH OF INFORMATION

“I don’t post a lot on them, but I always look and read what is actually being discussed, and in most cases, I e-mail them and have them answer my questions and inquiries. In the entire time I have used ADVANCED ACCESS, I can’t remember a really negative experience. And that in itself truly impresses me about the Customer Service Staff. Almost instantly, they are all willing to share -- telling you exactly what you need to know, or even better, where to go to get it, it is a true family setting. As a good example, I contacted Gene Carey, the ADVANCED ACCESS November Featured Client of the Month, and he was so helpful and told me exactly how to proceed to get the results I wanted with the information that I was seeking. I’ve found that all ADVANCED ACCESS users have this same helpful mentality, and that is something I’ve always loved, sharing and helping others learn. I truly believe that everything that goes around, comes around. I have e-mails and phone calls from agents all over the U.S. asking me for help, and I am happy to give it to them as well. When they have a referral, they think of me first, and when I need something, they are for me as well!”

ADVANCED ACCESS ALLOWS ME FLEXIBILITY

Paula is a trend-setter, and her comments reflect her individual Website tastes. She states, “…I don’t want my site to look like every other site. I want to stand alone in a crowd, and the fact that I can change things is very, very valuable to me. There isn’t a thing you can’t do with an ADVANCED ACCESS site. It all depends on how much time you have to spend on your Website. I have taken the time to look at a lot of ADVANCED ACCESS sites, and I take the time to make the kinds of changes on a consistent basis that brings in the business I get. My site is in a big renovation stage right now. I’ve purchased additional domain names, created extra pages they point to, made forms that have a drip program initiated with them, and with all the things I have learned from ADVANCED ACCESS…I can’t wait to get started and apply more of the things I have learned! If you don’t constantly change things around, your Website can become stale and stagnate…!”

THE FINAL WORD

Paula Bean concluded, “…the important thing to me about my Website is this…it should always be a work in progress! It’s important to realize how to get your site to appeal to as many potential clients as possible. One crucial area that I found to be useful is the process of looking at my back-end statistics on a bi-monthly basis. ADVANCED ACCESS allows you to actually view and look at where a majority of your business is coming from. The home page will always be your main landing site. Buyers, will always be looking up buyer’s reports…sellers, looking at seller sites..and such. I need to create more for these sites, fill out the info, and get into my Intellicards™ drip-system. It is one of the most important systems you will ever have.”

“Drip campaigns are very important. Not all buyers are ready to buy right now, not all sellers are ready right now, but they will do business with the person who stays in touch. One of my most recent clients contacted me after being in one of my drips for over two-years from my first initial contact with them. They continued to receive information and updates from me. When they were ready, they actually picked-up the phone and gave me a call and said… “…OK, I’m ready to purchase a home!”

“I have over half of my business now in real estate consulting, which I believe is the way the future will be in real estate. My ADVANCED ACCESS Website will also be able to assist me with this expanding portion of my business. Again, I am able to tweak a few things, and presto, my ADVANCED ACCESS Website can help me promote that entire other side of my business. It allows me to expand an additional side of my business model, with so little effort and so much ease!”

And finally, Paula reflects on her Website experiences. “…ADVANCED ACCESS has a really wonderful thing going on for their clients. I have had over twenty Websites in the past, and the overall product and service is unparalleled. Your clients need to really just how valuable your product is, and how flexible and easy to use it is, and how it can make you and your business very successful and able to make a ton of money!”

“…Since I joined ADVANCED ACCESS, I have had a noticeable increase in my “hits,” and recently the efforts that I did in my reciprocal linking program have really paid off -- almost immediately! I am just totally amazed at how good ADVANCED ACCESS is…and when I get asked by agents who need a site, or are unhappy with their current one, I am very pleased to talk to them about why they should choose AA.”

Pending Home Sales Index Shows Market Easing

The Pending Home Sales Index, a leading indicator for the housing market, is moving toward a more balanced market, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

The index, based on contracts signed in October, dropped 3.2 percent to a level of 123.8 from a reading of 127.9 in September, and is 3.3 percent below October 2004; the current reading is the lowest since March of this year.
The index is based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, and the sale is usually finalized within one or two months of signing.

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, says a decline was expected. “The drop in pending home sales is an affirmation that we are experiencing a modest slowing in the housing sector,” he says. “The index is pointing to a soft landing for home sales, which will help to correct the inventory shortages that have dominated housing over the last five years. This should restore balance to the market.”

A Pending Home Sales Index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, the first year to be analyzed, and was the first of four consecutive record years for existing-home sales. Sales in 2001 were fairly close to the higher volume of home sales expected in the coming decade, well above the levels that were seen in the mid-1990s, so an index of 100 is considered to be historically strong.

NAR President Thomas M. Stevens from Vienna, Va., says it’s important to look at the index from a broader view. “The level of home sales activity remains quite strong from a historical perspective,” says Stevens, senior vice president of NRT Inc. “It’s unrealistic to expect continuous records or to sustain double-digit home-price gains. People shouldn’t interpret a market that is returning to equilibrium as something that’s undesirable—this will be good for the long-term health of the housing sector by taking excessive pressure off of home prices.”

Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine Online December, 2005 with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.

OUR ADVANCED ACCESS FAMILY IS GROWING….

We are thrilled to announce that the CEO and President of ADVANCED ACCESS, Kristina and Justin Davis, just delivered a healthy baby girl, Samantha Leigh Davis, on Friday, December 9, 2005. Everyone in the new family is doing well and sends their regards. From our family at ADVANCED ACCESS, we would like to extend our very best wishes for a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON to our valued clients. May the New Year ahead be filled with health, happiness and prosperity. Thank you for your business and support.

Featured AA Employee of the Month – Darren Kipfer

This month we’re featuring Darren Kipfer from our Sales Department. Darren was born and raised in Ontario, Canada and he is a Canadian citizen. Darren’s parents and most of his relatives still live in Ontario.

Darren received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario) in 1993, and a second BA from Eastern Mennonity University (Harrisonburg, VA) 1996, plus a teaching certification. He then received a Masters of Education from Eastern Mennonite University in 2001.

After graduation, Darren taught 2nd grade for three years and loved the experience. Then he received an offer to be a technology instructional specialist with a computer firm and spent about four years traveling the country, training adults on various computer programs.

Darren moved into technology instruction/training, marketing and consulting in the real estate industry for a number of years before coming to ADVANCED ACCESS to continue consulting, training, and assisting real estate agents in technology marketing and improving and increasing their business.

Darren enjoys his work here at ADVANCED ACCESS, saying “I have a huge passion for and love of the Internet and computer technology. I know website marketing not only works, but is essential in this industry because I found my real estate agent online several years ago.”

Darren’s interests include Ice Hockey – he loves to watch and play the game. As he says, “Hey, I'm from Canada - I can't help it.” In addition, Darren enjoys reading movies, music, and spending time on his computer.

The focus of Darren’s life is his family. He comments, “My church and my family are the most important parts of my life. My wife Amanda and I have two children: an eight year old and a one and a half year old. My children are my pride and joy - two of the neatest kids you'd ever meet! I am truly blessed to have an amazing wife. One of our highlights is when I proposed to her in a hot air balloon, flying over the mountains and valleys of Virginia.”

Some other highlights in Darren’s life: skydiving, jumping off a 100 ft cliff (into water!), visiting the childhood home of Wayne Gretzky and getting to meet his father, and a three month tour of the Middle East and Europe where he saw Egypt, Israel, Greece, Italy, France, and England. Crawling through the inside of the pyramids was a highlight of that trip.

Darren’s favorite quote: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky

Winter Holiday Season Office Hours

Our offices will be closed in observance of the Christmas & Winter Holidays on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday December 24th, 25th and 26th with normal business hours resuming on Tuesday December 27th.

Our offices will also be closed in observance of New Years on Friday, Saturday and Sunday December 30th, 31st, and January 1st with normal business hours resuming on Monday January 2nd, 2006.

The Shopping Criminal

It was the holiday season and the judge was in a merry mood as he asked the prisoner, "What are you charged with?"

Doing my holiday shopping early", replied the defendant.

"That's no offense", said the judge. "How early were you doing this shopping?"

"Before the store opened."

November 2005 | Back to Main Page | January 2006