January 2006 Newsletter
”I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new
day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere
behind the morning…”
- J. B. Priestley
ADVANCED ACCESS – Year 2005 Highlights
2005 was a memorable and exciting year for us at ADVANCED ACCESS. In case you missed some of last year’s news, the following is a review of the highlights, accomplishments and milestones of the year 2005. In January we like to review our progress during the prior year and set our all-important goals for the year ahead. Our products, services and affiliations are designed to help you become more successful in your business, so we encourage you to take advantage of ALL the marketing tools available to continue your comprehensive Internet marketing program for 2006.
- To begin the year, in January we released our ADVANCED
ACCESS Virtual Assistant
Network. 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 the official ADVANCED
ACCESS Virtual Assistant Network was unveiled.
- We also announced the execution of our agreement as an Approved Supplier for RE/MAX International. The formal agreement is
the result of a stringent review process by RE/MAX International, Inc., and
designates ADVANCED ACCESS, its products, programs, and
services, as an “approved supplier” to more than 100,000 RE/MAX professionals in
nearly 5,300 independently-owned and operated offices in 53 countries
worldwide.
- February was the month of new partnerships with the announcement of two new
affinity agreements signed with the New York State
Association of REALTORS®, and the Oregon Association
of REALTORS®. The Affinity Program Agreements designate ADVANCED
ACCESS as the preferred provider of website services to more than
55,000 NYSAR members and 14,000 OAR members statewide.
- ADVANCED ACCESS was also selected as a
Spotlight Vendor for Keller Williams® Realty
International. With over 38,000 agents and 420 offices across the
country, Keller Williams Realty is one of the fastest growing, most innovative
real estate companies in the nation, and is currently the fifth-largest real
estate firm in the United States.
- In March, ADVANCED ACCESS announced a major FREE UPGRADE for existing subscribers to our popular MLS
search program formerly known as HomeFinder. QuickHomes® features loads of new product
enhancements that will save time and provide advanced features for you and your
clients. QuickHomes® is available in
designated MLS' throughout the country, and is offered in all areas in which
ADVANCED ACCESS hosts the MLS/IDX data. Click Here to View QuickHomes® MLS Service Areas.
- InternetCrusade®, an industry leader in
electronic publishing, email solutions, web hosting and training, named
ADVANCED ACCESS as one of its recommended vendors for website
development to its 60,000 plus customers and clients, in March of 2005. In
keeping with this special relationship, ADVANCED ACCESS hosted
educational events throughout the country during the year.
- ADVANCED ACCESS acknowledged the two-year anniversary of
our partnership with OnBoard LLC in April 2005.
During that time, our two firms have partnered to provide valuable real
estate-related data and content to our growing roster of approximately 30,000
ADVANCED ACCESS clients.
- In May we announced our Most Impressive Website
Contest - our third annual promotion that provided you an opportunity to
nominate a website designed and hosted by ADVANCED ACCESS for a special award.
All of the winners’ websites were dynamic, content-rich and in general, very
IMPRESSIVE. To view all the winners’ websites, click here.
- This spring we finalized an agreement with the Virginia
Association of REALTORS® (VAR). The Affinity Program
Agreement designates ADVANCED ACCESS as the
preferred provider of Website services to more than 34,000 VAR members
statewide. The Virginia Association of REALTORS® is currently ranked as the
tenth largest State Association in the country.
- In June, we announced the expansion of our Customer
Support Division to meet the needs of our dramatic growth in our clients
in the real estate market. The expansion included an increase in the number of
customer support representatives, a move to a new location within the building,
new ergonomically-designed work spaces, and equipment upgrades.
- This summer ADVANCED ACCESS Customer Support staff
launched our new and expanded weekend coverage to our
clients for both e-mail and phone inquiries. A well-trained and dedicated team
is now available for complete Customer Support services seven days per
week.
- Toward the end of the year we initiated the ADVANCED ACCESS Virtual Office Hands-On Workshop (VO-HOW) to provide ADVANCED ACCESS clients the opportunity to work on their own site while they are learning about the many features our comprehensive Internet Website system has to offer.
This is just the beginning. Our hard working staff
members are working on MORE new product enhancements and affiliation
partnerships that will be announced in the near future. We will be
keeping you updated through this
newsletter and our weekly marketing tips, so be on the lookout for additional
products and services to be released SOON.
To find out how you can use
our new produ cts and features to maximize your Internet Marketing plan, please
contact us via e-mail at support@advancedaccess.com
or by phone TOLL FREE 7 days per week at 866-518-1571. We value
your business and support, and we believe “The Key To Your
Success…Is Our Service.”
FREE Upgrade to the ADVANCED ACCESS WebMail System
We are pleased to announce a FREE upgrade to a newer, enhanced version of our ADVANCED ACCESS web-based email system. Some of the highlights of this new version include:
- The ability to customize your own personal "preferred" white and
black lists. For those unfamiliar with the terms, “White list” refers
to emails that will always be allowed to come through to your inbox. “Black
list” refers to certain email addresses that you have decided should always be
deleted. You can now customize both of these lists at your discretion to ensure
you receive only the mail YOU want to read.
- Forwarding of your emails directly to your mobile phone.
Now you are truly mobile…you’ll never miss an important email with this
new feature!
- Automatic disabling of certain auto-downloadable "active content" in received emails. For your protection, many email providers, including Outlook 2003, have moved to a system like this to prevent the automatic downloading of unwanted scripts, including viruses.
We hope you enjoy this latest FREE upgrade with our compliments. As
always, our Customer Support professionals are available TOLL FREE seven days
per week – 1-866-518-1571 – if you need any assistance with the new WebMail
program enhancements. Or send us an email – support@advancedaccess.com. Thank
you for your continued business and support.
Kick Your Site Into High Gear - For the New Year
By Anna Bourland
from our Marketing Tips
Archive
...Sigh... It's that
time again...New Year's Resolutions...and the struggle to keep them.
While many of us are looking back on a few weeks of already broken resolutions
like eating better, exercising more, kicking a bad habit, or whatever other
vices we are vulnerable to, there is a resolution that you can make and keep.
And you don't even have to give up that cake you're staring at right
now!
While we are always encouraging you to utilize your website and make
it a quality, effective business tool, there is just something about this time
of year that gives this message special meaning today. So, use that New Year
feeling to your advantage and harness the power of your real estate
website!
Now, we previously shared this list of items with you a couple
of months ago...but that was just the prep work. We knew you were busy and
probably didn't get a chance to really get some work done on your site. But now,
it's a new year; a new time, and we are confident you will want to pick up the
pace on your journey to success on the Web.
Read the rest of this marketing tip.
The above is an excerpt from our first Marketing Tip of 2006, entitled Kick Your Site Into High Gear…For the New
Year. It provides you practical advice and basic guidelines for lead
generation (consumer friendliness) and search engine friendliness. If you
haven’t already read this Marketing Tip, we encourage you to read it today to
jump-start your marketing plan for 2006. If you have any questions, don’t
hesitate to call us TOLL FREE seven days per week at 866-518-1571, or send us an
email – support@advancedaccess.com.
The Key To Your Success…Is Our Service.
Featured ADVANCED ACCESS Client – Linda Slocum
HISTORY & HER START IN THE INDUSTRY
Linda Slocum, (www.HoneyStartPacking.com) CPA, REALTOR®, e-PRO, SRES, ABR,
CNHS™, ASP™, CRS, and member of CyberStarsTM , of Pinnacle Real Estate
Properties, is a native Californian, and was born in the City of Burbank. She
has lived in Santa Clarita for the last 18-years, and is the younger of two
children. Linda’s role also includes that of a parent – and she has a 13-year
old son, Kevin. She is a graduate of the University of California-Northridge,
with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.
She offered the following observations regarding the real estate industry. “…The industry has definitely gone more tech, and along with it the Internet has certainly played a major role in the many changes that make our profession the challenge that truly is. Innovation is still before us, with things like Pod-casts, and change will continue with much being dictated by the on-going change of the market. It seems to be slowing a bit, but is still very, very active and still moving briskly for prospective buyers and sellers.”
Linda was one of only 130 top real estate agents invited to attend The Allen F. Hainge CyberStar® Summit recently in San Antonio, TX. The nationally recognized CyberStar® Summit is an annual invitation-only networking and idea sharing conference open only to outstanding real estate agents from the US, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas and Australia.
A leading member of the CyberStars®, Linda has long been a market
leader in Santa Clarita due to her commitment to serving customers and clients
and her use of technology to meet the needs of today’s consumer. Linda’s
emphasis on her website - www.HoneyStartPacking.com - as a top consumer resource
and on using technology for effective communication and service has made her a
unique success.
Linda's website at www.HoneyStartPacking.com receives at least 11,000 hits a month - that's a lot of exposure for any potential client. This site also rates in the Top 2 in Google for Valencia homes, Santa Clarita homes, and Stevenson Ranch homes.
HER MARKET – YOUR SANTA CLARITA REAL ESTATE EXPERT!
Linda Slocum has over 30-years of experience that she has to offer her clients, and her simple motto is also her URL address, “…Honey Start Packing.” She is headquartered in Valencia, California, and services the Los Angeles County communities of Santa Clarita, Valencia, Stevenson Ranch, Castaic, Newhall, Saugus, Canyon Country, Acton, Agua Dulce, and the San Fernando Valley with top-quality personalized service.
Her unique Website address stems from her ultimate desire to be different when she was starting her journey into the real estate industry. “…I wanted to very different, not just another real estate company on the horizon…and the actual name came off of some high-end marketing and advertising training that I had just completed at that time!”
LINDA SLOCUM TELLS WHY ADVANCED ACCESS?
“I became a client of ADVANCED ACCESS when they were utilizing the 2.0 version of Classic Package. Still, back then it was very good, but certainly not nearly as robust as the 3.0 version that I use today. I wanted a variety of templates, but realized then that I also wanted the ability to change, modify, and make changes to the content rather than have someone paid to do it for me or to even wait to have it done. That was the main reason I choose ADVANCED ACCESS. Also, the great reputation, the caring customer support, the longevity of the company – all of these things together with being very flexible all made my choice very simple at that time!”
THE FORUMS ARE AN ADDED PLUS AND A WEALTH OF INFORMATION
“I think the forums are very, very helpful! Really good stuff, that you can learn and what you ultimately need to know to run an effective and successful real estate business. There are enough folks in the forums to justify your participation, and again, they share all the good stuff from more than just participating staff members.”
ADVANCED ACCESS ALLOWS ME FLEXIBILITY
“I don’t want my site to look like every other site. I want to stand apart from the crowd, and the fact that I can change my site easily is very, very valuable to me. There is very little you can’t do, all depending on how much time you have to spend on your ADVANCED ACCESS Website.”
THE FINAL WORD
“My site is a big part of my business, and being an Internet-based business, my clients get to stay in touch with me at any time that they choose. Some of my potential clients, who may not have started on the Internet, have somewhere to go to simply get more information. Ultimately, they have a place to get all kinds of information and assistance, and in the final stage, can contact me directly anytime that they choose at their convenience.”
ADVANCED ACCESS Outside Sales Team Corporate
Meeting and Track Event
 |
On January 6-8, 2006, the ADVANCED ACCESS Outside Sales Team held their annual Sales Meeting and Corporate Track Event at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, near Las Vegas, Nevada. The purpose of the meeting was to announce the sales schedule for the upcoming season and establish individual and team goals for the New Year. After business was concluded on Friday, the team embarked on a thrilling
adrenaline-packed weekend event in high-performance Corvettes and Radical Race
cars. Spring Mountain provides a unique backdrop for team-building and
motivational Corporate Events at its facility in Pahrump, Nevada, just 45
minutes away from fabulous Las Vegas. Paul Cox, ADVANCED ACCESS’ Regional Sales Representative in the Chicago, Illinois area, comments on his experience. “I knew we were in great hands the minute we got there as we were prepped for our first lesson. |
| ADVANCED ACCESS OUTSIDE SALES
TEAM Back Row, L-R: Gary Brackle, Lito Felipe, Darren Kipfer, Pete Peterson, Matt Weiss, Paul Cox, John Morris, Jane Purcell and Larry Lokker Front Row, L-R: Roger Livingston, David Saitta, and John Vinsick |
The driving experiences will last a lifetime, but from our company’s standpoint, the teambuilding was also a major success. I would recommend Spring Mountain to any Corporation that wants to strengthen a team, but without a doubt, I would recommend Spring Mountain to anyone that just wants to have an amazing experience and take home some memories that will last them their entire life.”
Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch offers outstanding Corvette Advanced Driving School programs in new C6 and Z06 Corvettes. For additional information, prices and 2006 schedules, call Trasi Pillman TOLL FREE at 800-391-6891 or visit the website: www.SpringMountainMotorsports.com.
ADVANCED ACCESS Announces Direct Mail
Promotional Give-a-Way Winners!
During the last
final few months of 2005, ADVANCED ACCESS conducted a series of
“direct mail promotional advertising campaigns” to active members of all State
REALTOR® Associations that are currently part of the ADVANCED
ACCESS Affinity Partnership Program.
The ADVANCED ACCESS Affinity Partnership Program is comprised of seven State REALTOR® Associations and their active 359,684 members across the country. State Associations who make up the Affinity Program include three of the top five, and four of the top eight State REALTOR® Associations currently ranked by membership according to the National Association of REALTORS®, (NAR). They include the State Associations of Florida, New York, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, Oregon, and Kansas. This group and its members comprise approximately 28% of the total NAR REALTOR® membership listed today across the country.
The ADVANCED ACCESS Affinity Partnership Program was designed to provide participants with the highest quality and most useful Web design products at substantial discounts, while at the same time providing the participating Association with an ongoing source of non-dues revenue that increases and grows in direct relation to the number of its members who choose ADVANCED ACCESS as their Website company and provider.
The direct mail promotional campaign included themed postcard notifications that were sent out promoting each of the State’s annual conventions or tradeshows, and offered an additional special discounted price for members who were interested in Website start-up design and hosting and who visited the booth while in attendance. Winners were selected by various means, and were awarded either a GARMIN STREETPILOT C330 vehicle navigational system, or a PALM TREO650 mobile phone. The Associations and their winners are listed below:
Brenda Wilson -- NCAR
Member
GARMIN STREETPILOT C330
Winner
www.BrendaWilson.com
Stephanie & Todd Holderfield -- IAR
Members
GARMIN STREETPILOT C330
Winner
www.houseshoppers.us
Jim Welsh -- OAR Member Casino Night
Winner
GARMIN STREETPILOT C330
Winner
Association Member and Convention
Attendee
Betty Plashal -- VAR
Member
TREO650 PALMPHONE
www.callteamworks.com
David L. Holmgren – Kansas/REBR
Member
GARMIN STREETPILOT C330
Winner
www.DavidHolmgren.com and www.remaxsalina.com
Congratulations
to all the winners!
Meet Randi Berggren … our Featured AA Employee
This month we’re featuring Randi Berggren from our
Accounting Department. Although Randi is fairly new to the ADVANCED
ACCESS team with only seven months on board, she is already a valuable
member of the department. Randi’s duties include answering our customers’
billing questions by phone and email, charging credit card renewals and
payments, generating receipts and completing special projects for the Director
of Accounting.
Randi grew up in the Orange County, California area with her dad and step-mom, having lived in Brea until she was 10, and then moved to Anaheim Hills. Since she was 18, Randi has moved back and forth between apartments, and currently resides in Anaheim Hills. Randi has 4 older siblings, two half brothers, one step-brother, and one step-sister, but she never actually lived with any of them. They are all 10+ years older than Randi, so they weren’t around much.
Randi graduated from Canyon High School in 2001. Her goal for the future is to go to school to be a make-up artist. Prior to joining the ADVANCED ACCESS team, Randi worked at N-Care, a durable medical equipment provider, in the accounting department for about 2 ½ years.
Randi talks about her job experience, saying “I love working in the accounting department! Lito is really easy-going and Danielle and I get along great. I have many job duties, so I am able to keep myself busy without getting bored. I also think that ADVANCED ACCESS has a very friendly atmosphere, and I have felt comfortable here since the day I started.”
Lito Felipe, Director of Accounting and Randi’s supervisor, comments on Randi’s performance. “We are very fortunate to work with Randi in the Billing Department. Randi learned her job very quickly and is never afraid to pitch in and work when needed. She is always willing to ask questions and has fantastic work habits. Randi is a self-starter who has a nice manner with our customers and fits in well with her colleagues. We are happy to have Randi on our team.”
In Randi’s spare time she enjoys hanging out with her friends, going shopping, spending time with her family, and going to Starbucks. She also enjoys reading, watching the movies she gets from Netflix, painting and cooking.
We are proud to have people like Randi Berggren on our ADVANCED ACCESS team.
Our ADVANCED ACCESS New Year’s Resolution for 2006
Here’s a resolution you can COUNT on….At ADVANCED ACCESS, we resolve to continue to bring you the most innovative products, services and affiliations for the real estate industry, and to back these products with reliable and efficient customer service. From all of us at ADVANCED ACCESS, we would like to thank you for your business and support, and wish you a happy, healthy, successful and productive New Year.
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