productivity » Technology Tools for Real Estate

In this final article on how real estate professionals can use technology to stay in sync, we’re looking at something a little different. Instead of focusing on contacts and calendars, we’re looking at how to synchronize documents across your various devices.

If you have multiple computers or if you have documents on your phone, it eventually happens: you need to review a document that’s on your other computer, or you’ve only got your phone with you but you need to send someone a copy of a document that’s on your laptop. No worries. And no more e-mailing files to yourself to make sure you have them all. Instead you can opt for one of the solutions below.

Dropbox is a service that synchronizes the files you choose across all your devices and also backs up your files to the cloud. It uses a single folder to sync files across all of your computers. Install the Dropox software on each computer you want to keep in sync and the software creates a Dropbox folder on each computer. Place a file in the Dropbox folder and that file is automatically synchronized across all computers, including your phone. Make a change on a file in the Dropbox and that change takes place across all of your computers. Everything stays perfectly in sync.

Dropbox also backs up your information. Every file placed in the Dropbox is also stored on the Web so that you can easily retrieve a document by logging on to your secure Dropbox website from any computer. Share files easily by giving colleagues or clients the link to the Internet version of the file. Also access files easily from your phone by using the mobile version of the Dropbox website.

The biggest drawback to Dropbox is that files you might normally store in My Documents or the Desktop don’t automatically sync. They have to be placed in the Dropbox folder for the synchronization and backup to take place. That means you have to change the way you organize the data on your computers in order to make use of Dropbox’s sync and backup features. You must either set your computer to save everything to the Dropbox or you must remember to drag every important file to the Dropbox when you create it.

The other organizational tools we’re reviewing, SugarSync, solves that problem. It also synchronizes and backs up the documents you choose across all your devices. Like Dropbox, it also lets you share files by sharing the permalink of the version that’s saved on the cloud. iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows Mobile apps let you sync and access files from your mobile phone.

Documents placed in the Magic Briefcase folder that SugarSync creates on your computer are synced across all of your devices. But in addition, SugarSync lets you back up currently existing folders such as My Documents, My Pictures, or Desktop. You don’t have to change the way you work; everything in your My Documents folder can be automatically backed up, if you set SugarSync to do it that way. SugarSync even saves the last five versions of an edited document so you can go back in time to a previous version if you need to.

Pricing for SugarSync starts at 30 GB of storage for $4.99 per month with the first 30 days free. Dropbox offers a 2 GB per month plan for free and a Pro 50 account (50 GB of storage) for $9.99 per month. Either service would be an excellent choice for solving your document synchronization challenges.

This article continues our series on how to keep your contacts and calendars in sync between your mobile device and your computer. In our first installment, we considered the challenges faced by real estate professionals and others who work away from their desks when it comes to keeping their data synchronized across multiple devices. We’ve considered how to work on the go with iPhones and a Mac. We’ve also looked at products and services offered by Google to keep mobile workers organized.

Today, we look at the BlackBerry and the options BlackBerry users have when it comes to getting synchronized.

The BlackBerry is the granddaddy of the synchronized smartphones, the first to use wireless technology to help busy people keep their handheld device in sync with their desktop computer. But being the first doesn’t necessarily make it the easiest to work with. In fact, depending on how you get your mail and what you’re trying to sync, you have quite a maze of possible solutions. I’ve attempted to summarize some of them below.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). If your brokerage gives you an e-mail account, they probably offer you Microsoft Outlook through what’s known as an exchange server. There’s probably an IT administrator and that person is responsible for setting up the software that lets you sync your BlackBerry and for making sure you have access to it. If you’re in this situation, you have automatic, over-the-air synchronization between your BlackBerry and Outlook. In many respects, this is the best of all possible worlds: you put out very little effort yet your e-mail, calendars and contacts all stay in sync.

BlackBerry Hosted E-mail. Because BES provides the easiest syncing solution, you may wish you could do it that way even though your organization doesn’t provide it. Enter the hosted e-mail solution. Purchase a personal, hosted e-mail account and you get many of the advantages of being connected to an enterprise server, including having your e-mail pushed out to your smartphone and automatic, over-the-air syncing. The cost is in the $10-$20 per month range. Thinkpost Communication and Exchange My Mail are two companies that offer individual e-mail hosting plans.

BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS). If your mail isn’t coming from a server at the office (or even if it is), BlackBerry can work with your mobile phone company to push your email to you through its BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS). BIS can accommodate up to ten e-mail addresses. These can be Internet e-mail accounts like Yahoo or Hotmail; or they can be POP and IMAP accounts that come from your Internet service provider; or they can be accounts that come from an exchange server. If your e-mail service allows it, BIS will automatically sync the e-mail between your phone and your desktop. Then use your USB cable to sync your calendar and other data between your phone and your desktop. Get more info here, or contact your Internet service provider.

Gmail. Google offers its own solutions to people who want to sync Google contacts, calendars or e-mail. If you use Gmail, get the Gmail Mobile App. Or better yet, download and install the Enchanced Gmail Plug-in on your BlackBerry. Then use Google Sync to synchronize your contacts and calendar wirelessly over the air.

In our previous post, we looked at syncing strategies for Mac and iPhones. The focus was on people who use iCal and Address Book as their primary place to store events and contacts.

Today it’s Google’s turn. If you use the Google Calendar, Google makes it easy to sync that calendar with your phone or desktop computer. And if you’re using Gmail, you probably have dozens of names and addresses in your contact list. Google sync handles that as well, helping you manage your contacts across all your devices.

Google Sync uses push technology to keep your devices synchronized; update a phone number son your computer and the new info is pushed automatically to your other devices. Add an event to the calendar on your synced mobile phone and that change will be reflected automatically on your Google calendar.

Google Sync works with the Iphone, BlackBerry, Android and Windows Mobile phones, among others. The features vary, depending on what kind of phone you have, but the push technology works for most phones. You can also sync to Outlook on your PC or iCal and Address Book on your Mac

If you’re using Google Apps at your workplace, your system administrator has to enable syncing. Otherwise download the syncing software and get step-by-step instructions here for syncing Google to your phone. Or learn how to sync calendars and contacts to any device at the Google Sync Services website.

This is the second piece in our series on mobile computing and synchronization. Today’s post focuses on strategies and applications that work for Mac and iPhones (and by extension iPads and the iPod Touch).

Here’s the issue. You work on the go. You’re often out of the office and away from your desk. As you meet new people, you enter their contact information into your iPhone. Later, when you’re sitting at your computer, you want to send email to people you met earlier today. Wouldn’t it be great if you could enter their info one time on your phone and later be able to find it among your e-mail contacts on your computer?

Ditto for appointments. You set up a client meeting by e-mail while sitting at your computer. Or someone puts a meeting for you on a shared calendar. How does that appointment get onto your phone so you’re reminded of it while you’re out?

Below are several solutions that work with Macs and iPhones (and by extension iPads and the iPod Touch). Each one seems to address a different aspect of the problem, so experiment to see what works best for you.

Sync with iTunes. The simplest solution is to sync with iTunes. If you use iCal to keep your calendar on your Mac and Address Book to keep your contacts, these can be synced whenever you connect your iPhone to your computer.

Simply connect your iPhone to your computer with the cable provided. Click the “Info” tab and check off what you want to sync. You can sync the Address Book on the Mac, your Yahoo address book, your Google contacts, the iCal calendar on the Mac, Safari bookmarks, notes, and email account settings.

It’s the simple and it’s free, but you’ve always got to use that cable to sync.

Subscribe to MobileMe. MobileMe is Apple’s subscription service that syncs your mail, contacts, and calendars across all devices over the air automatically. Sync your Mac, your PC, and your iPhone; keep your Mac Mail, your Mac Address Book, iCal on the Mac and Microsoft Outlook all synchronized without having to push a button or connect a cable. And all data is backed up in the cloud so it can be restored even if you lose your iPhone.

MobileMe’s biggest drawback used to be that you had to use me.com (or mac.com) e-mail address. But now it lets you use e-mail forwarding to manage an existing e-mail address. MobileMe has had its share of challenges over the years, so proceed with caution. Subscription for an individual account is $99 per year with a 60-day free trial.

Sync with Spanning Sync 3. Spanning Sync 3 lets you sync iCal on your Mac with your Google calendar, and Address Book on your Mac with your Google contacts. Then you can use iTunes to synchronize your iPhone with your Mac.

For example, let’s say you run into an old friend at the mall and enter his contact info on your iPhone. When you use the cable to sync your iPhone with iTunes, your friend’s contact info will be added to the Address Book on your Mac. Then, when you synchronize your Mac with your Google account using Spanning Sync 3, your friend’s info will be added to your Google contacts.

It’s a two-step process, but it solves the problem. Purchase Spanning Sync 3 for $25 for a year or outright for $65.

Use the SaiSuke Calendar. Keep your iPhone and your Google calendar in sync with SaiSuke, a calendar management app for the iPhone. The SaiSuke calendar is full-featured, letting you maintain and color-code as many calendars as you wish. View your appointments as a list, or in day, week, month and even year format. Use the memo field to add a note to any calendar item. Sync manually or set it up for automatic wireless syncing so the calendar in your hand matches nicely with the one on your desktop.

There’s a free version that syncs only one way and only one week out, but lets you test the app before buying the full version. The full-featured version of SaiSuke is available at the iTunes App store for $9.99.

Prospecting is arguably the most important thing you do in a given day or week. Without some sort of prospecting, you can’t attract or hold onto clients and without clients, nothing else you’re doing in your professional life really matters. Prospecting is essential for your success and that’s especially true in a sluggish economy.

But what activities offer the best return and how much time should you spend doing them? Is social networking as effective as more traditional kinds of marketing? Can socialnetworking completely replace traditional marketing? Is an hour spent online engaged in social networking equivalent to, say, an hour spent doing volunteer work in the community in terms of the contacts you’ll make and the business those contacts will generate? How do you know?

A recent article in the New York Times Magazine highlights the growing number of people who use computer software and, increasingly, mobile phone applications, to track their activities. People are logging everything from their dieting and weight-loss activities to their moods, their health issues and even their sleep habits. Online and mobile productivity tools make it easy to track how you spend your time and how much social networking or marketing you’re engaged in.

If you’re already checking in throughout the day and noting where you are or what we’re doing on Twitter and Foursquare, it’s easy to add an application like BubbleTimer to the mix. BubbleTimer lets you log what you’ve been doing at 15 minutes intervals all day long. At the end of the day, you can have a clear picture of how you’ve spent your time and within a few weeks you’ll be able to spot your personal trends.

Compare the number of clients who found you online with, say, the number of hours you devoted to socialnetworking over a given period of time. Or consider the ways that the Internet and its never-ending stream of information cause you to waste time. What could you be doing instead?

Successful business owners monitor their activities and continually hone their marketing strategies and you should, too.