Revstaffing Virtual Assistants provide the same services as on-site employees, without the added costs. Here are some of the tasks you might expect to delegate to a Virtual Assistant:

• Transaction Coordination
• Listing Coordination
• All Administrative Services
• Website Maintenance
• Accounting and Bookkeeping
• Branding Services
• Database Management
• Real Estate tool specific technical support
• Social media networking/blogging/account creation
• Writing, Editing, and Research Services

You may ask yourself, why not just hire an assistant? There are many benefits of hiring a VA over the traditional office assistant.
Virtual Assistants work from their home office and use their own equipment. You don’t have to pay for office space or equipment and this is especially beneficial if you don’t have a lot of space of your own.

Since Our Virtual Assistants are independent contractors you don’t have to worry about taxes, or pay health/life insurance and in addition, you don’t have to pay holidays, vacation time, or sick leave.

The relationship between you and your VA is based on a business agreement and you state the terms. You choose which tasks to delegate to the VA and which tasks to do yourself or to keep in-house.

A Virtual Assistant is an entrepreneur that has their own strengths, background, and areas of expertise. Although they work independently, a REVStaffing VA  is part of a team of virtual assistants available to provide services to our clients and they have access to our internal problem solving.

Need help trying to juggle all of those admin tasks and transactions? REVStaffing can gladly assist you with those tasks! Let REVStaffing help you to achieve your goals and increase your potential! Complete a complimentary needs analysis survey, send us an email, or call 855.REVS.VA1 today!

How Ranking for Keywords Has Changed

Optimizing your blog post to rank high in search engines used to be straightforward: pick your keyword and make sure you use it in the title and a few more times in the article. If you picked the right keyword (and if your blog was well-established and referenced), you were most likely to rank somewhere in top 10.

Keyword research has quietly changed over the past few years. First, search engines like Google have become much more sophisticated when it comes to understanding what “high-quality content” is. It’s not only about how well your article is optimized: it’s also how in-depth, useful, and comprehensive it is.

Second, the competition is growing: most bloggers know the basics of search engine optimization these days. It’s harder to stand out and get ranked.

Here’s how you can get ahead of your competitors.

#1: Include More Keywords

The days when you wrote one blog post per keyword are gone. Google (as well as your audience) now looks for more in-depth long-form content that features a varied vocabulary including synonyms, related phrases, and concepts.

The following tools will help you expand your keyword lists:

Seed Keywords helps you crowdsource your friends and followers into suggesting related keywords for you. The tool creates shareable mini-surveys for your followers to help you brainstorm more ways to search for your topic.

Soovle will generate keyword suggestions from multiple sources (Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube, Yahoo, Answers.com, and Bing), giving you a good overview of how people search for your keyword on different platforms.

Another tool that does the same (but supports fewer sources) is the Google Keyword Suggest Tool. It generates suggestions from Google, Bing, YouTube, and Amazon and it digs very deep, so you’ll get hundreds of phrases to work with.

If you’re looking to optimize your existing blog posts, use Serpstat to go through your site, pick the most powerful pages, and suggest a list of “missing keywords.” Essentially, these are words your competitors are ranking high for, but you’re not.

Connection Strength refers to the number of competitors that rank for the keyword that you don’t have on your page.

Now all you need to do is go back to your articles and optimize them for those missing keywords to increase your ranking.

An easy way to optimize existing content for new keywords is to add new sections (with subheadings) targeting those new words. This helps content get more comprehensive over time, which naturally results in more social media shares and backlinks.

#2: Refer to Notable People, Places, and Brands

One of the biggest changes in search engine optimization is Google’s focus on understanding entities. “Entities” are related notable people, places, organizations, brands, etc., which associate in some way with your keyword.

For the easiest way to demonstrate how entities help in ranking your content, read this awesome case study by Bill Slawski. Bill took a well-optimized piece and rewrote it the following way: first by making it much longer, and second by including notable events and people. The result was astounding. The article started to drive referral traffic from people linking to it, and return visits. And yes, better search rankings too!

Google pays special attention to entities when trying to understand how concise and useful your content is. Google has had years to learn to understand entities, concepts, and their relationships.

Google pays close attention to entities and how they relate to your content.

Google’s Knowledge Graph is an entity graph. Search for any notable name you’re aware of to see how Google structures and relates entities.

To research related entities, use your own common sense. Chances are you already know a lot about your content’s topic. Next, search Google. In some cases, Google suggests related concepts while you’re still typing your query.

Google uses entities to verify how concise and useful your content is.

Run content that ranks well through an entity extractor. Pick a few in-depth articles on your topics and run the content through AlchemyAPI (alternative tools: TextRazor and Open Calais). AlchemyAPI extracts entities from the content using color-coding to markup sentiment.

Run several long-form articles on your topic through AlchemyAPI and you’ll have a solid list of related entities.

#3: Answer Niche Questions

Another area Google focuses heavily on days is measuring the ability of content to answer popular niche questions. You might have noticed Google’s “quick answer boxes” each time you type a question

Is your content answering popular niche questions?

It’s important to make question research part of your keyword research each time you’re writing a blog post.

The aforementioned Serpstat does question-focused keyword research, too. There’s no visualization, but it returns unique results, which are free.

This is a whole list of content ideas for you to use!

Answer The Public is a cool tool for content inspiration and question-focused keyword research. Type any word into Answer The Public to see a visualization of various types of questions people ask using that word.

The question modifiers are: which, who, what, when, why, how, are, and where.

Answer The Public is great for content inspiration.

Another trick is to research niche questions using Twitter Advanced Search. The search won’t deliver as many content-worthy results, it will help you research and use natural language (which is something Google is focusing on as well, especially for mobile search).

To find questions on Twitter, search any keyword with a question mark placed one space away, like this: “keyword?” This filters Twitter search results to those containing a question.

You can search Twitter for updates containing questions.

You can use Cyfe to monitor and archive the Twitter search results.

Cyfe searchable Twitter search archives can provide inspiration when you’re stuck.

Conclusion

Keyword research has evolved, and it’s definitely more complicated. At the same time, though, it’s also more diverse. It encourages you to create in-depth content and works wonders for inspiration.

What do you think? Are there any unique keyword research tools you’d like to share?

Need help staying in contact with all the leads that will soon be coming your way? REVStaffing can gladly assist you with those tasks! Let REVStaffing help you to achieve your goals and increase your potential! Complete a complimentary needs analysis survey, send us an email, or call 855.REVS.VA1 today!

A virtual assistant is an employee who supports various business operations from a remote location. Startups can use VAs to help with inbox management, social media content, online customer support, and basically any task that doesn’t require them to show up in person.

Some VAs specialize in a specific task or industry. For example, there are VAs that focus specifically on marketing, and others that work only in the tech industry. More specialized VAs often cost a bit more since they offer a more focused skillset. However, there are also general VAs who can handle a variety of tasks and work with businesses in a wide array of industries.

Virtual assistants have been around since the 1980’s, when organizations like ABSSI and Home Secretaries popped up to support moms looking for work-from-home jobs. However, the niche really took off when home internet usage became more ubiquitous around the world.

And it’s still growing today. In fact, Gartner, Inc. predicts that about a quarter of digital workers will use a VA on a daily basis by 2021. If your small business has yet to jump into this growing trend, here are some of the main reasons why it may be time to reconsider.

They Put Processes in Place

Inefficiencies cost businesses between 20 and 30 percent of their revenue each year. Often, these inefficiencies are a result of not having processes in place. Processes can be anything from canned responses in Gmail to automated invoicing.

Many business owners don’t take the time to set up these processes because they’re so busy working on their day-to-day operations. Hiring a VA gives you a way to set up these processes without having to focus on them yourself. Give your VA a list of processes you’d like to set up or hire someone with experience setting up business processes so they can identify inefficiencies on their own. This can actually make your business more efficient even when your VA isn’t on the clock.

They Filter Communication

Not all of the emails, calls or live chat messages you receive are necessarily worth responding to. And some can simply receive a canned response or quick reply that doesn’t require your personal attention.

By hiring a VA to manage your inbox or other methods of communication, they can filter those messages that don’t require a thoughtful response. This allows you to really focus on those other messages, rather than constantly being overwhelmed with an overflowing inbox.

They Capture and Organize Data

Today’s businesses have access to more data than ever. Your data is essential for helping you make decisions about the future of your business. But too much of it can be overwhelming and distracting.

Additionally, collecting and organizing all of your data can be quite an undertaking. You can have your VA go over all of your web analytics and customer data to organize it and share it with you in digestible reports or updates. This allows you to more quickly access the information that’s pertinent to your business at a particular moment, without having to pour over all the minute details for hours on end.

They Complete Tedious Daily Tasks

Things like data entry and Internet research tend to be fairly time-consuming and don’t necessarily require attention from a high-level team member. But they’re still essential for your business. By giving these tasks to a VA, you can feel confident about the completion of those important items without taking significant time from your own day, while saving managers and specialized employees from focusing on them.

They Let You Focus on What You Do Best

Most entrepreneurs have a specialty. Maybe you develop software products or help other businesses develop marketing plans. But when you start a business, you also have to handle support tasks like bookkeeping and marketing. If you’re not good at these things, you may end up wasting a ton of time learning the ins and outs or struggling through trial and error.

Hiring a specialized VA allows you to outsource the items with which you struggle. You can trust that the tasks will be handled competently — maybe even better than you would have on your own. And it frees up a ton of your time to focus on things that you’re actually good at. It also gives you a better opportunity to work on growing your business, rather than getting stuck in the day-to-day operations. This can be especially helpful for solopreneurs or very small businesses where the owner needs to wear many hats at once.

If you need assistance contact us at Revstaffing or Call Today @ 855-738-7821 X700. Visit our website at www.RevStaffing.com.

Courtesy of Anita Campbell

Regular readers of our REVStaffing blog know that we focus a lot of time and energy on getting our clients successfully ramped up and firmly positioned in their use of social media. And while the needs differ from one client to the next, but the bottom line is always the same: We work hard to make you THE local expert.

If you’ve been holding off on getting started with social media, here’s our advice: Don’t wait any longer. Social media isn’t going away – it’s getting bigger. And it can be one of YOUR greatest marketing assets as you head into 2019…if you make it work for you.

The best part? Social media is, for the most part, free. Yes, there are fees associated with some things…and there are things for which you’ll probably want to pay a small monthly fee (like a public Active Rain account). But you don’t have to pay to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, and they’ve been proven time and time again to be among the best (free) marketing tools at your disposal.

There are a lot of myths surrounding the use of social media. These include the idea that social media is overwhelming, and you have to spend hours and hours every week keeping things up to date. Or you may have heard that it’s a waste of time, and doesn’t really generate results. A lot of people think that there’s no way of gauging your success.

We get it. Myths are generated when people are uncomfortable with something, and need excuses for not dispelling their discomfort by learning about the thing they fear. REVStaffing wants you to know that there’s nothing to fear in the prudent use of social media! The savvy and timely use of social media isn’t hard, especially with REVStaffing’s crew in your corner. You are in total control of when, where and how you use it. We do it all for you, and you reap the rewards.

Whether you’re already a REVStaffing client or considering becoming one, you know that we’re dedicated to helping you to grow and nurture your successful business. We encourage you to fill out our free needs analysis; we’ll be happy to discuss ALL of your unique business needs! And be sure to visit our website, and “like” us on Facebook.

Bookmark this page to return for regular updates. If you need assistance in the meantime, please contact us by email at info@revstaffing.com or phone at 855-738-7821, X700.

Recently, the I’d Rather Be Writing blog addressed the subject. They quoted Scott Abel, who put it perfectly: “In order to develop an active and engaged audience, you have to publish as much interesting and informative content as possible — as often as possible!” Scott noted the incredibly short shelf-lives of tweets and blog posts. The fact is, you have to keep publishing all the time:

“… Add to the mix the sheer volume of information on socially-enabled sites around the digital globe, and you’ll soon realize the best strategy for getting noticed is to publish as often as possible, 24 hours a day, especially if you are trying to reach a global audience.”

So how do you decide? First, you need to understand the difference in terms. A content creator is someone who identifies their audience’s needs, then moves to meet those needs by creating original and highly relevant content. This can be a listing blog, or it can be an informative narrative blog. When you create useful and valuable content, that content is not only absorbed and appreciated, but shared and re-shared – driving your readers right back to you.

A content curator is someone who sifts through the Web to find and deliver the most relevant content for their intended audience. A thoughtful content curator is more than just a broadcaster of information. In our marketplace, a content curator can regularly broadcast status updates – information about their market that’s useful and informative to their target audience.

The idea is to position yourself as a trusted resource online. Start by formulating a content strategy. Whether you are creating or curating, you can be sure that the content you share is valuable and useful to your intended audience.

When it’s time to choose your mode of operation, take your time and be open to the possibilities. Our social media specialists at REVStaffing can show you how you can expertly balance created content with curated content. Remember, the more you share ANY valuable content about your market, the faster your reputation as your market’s trusted adviser will grow.

REVStaffing‘s virtual assistants are professional users of a vast array of CRM tools. If you’re not yet a client, give us a call for a free needs analysis; we’ll be happy to discuss your unique social media needs! Be sure to visit our website, and “like” us on Facebook..

If you need assistance in the meantime, please contact us by email at info@revstaffing.com or phone at 855-738-7821, extension 700.

Before we can talk about generating leads on social media, let’s define exactly what we mean when we talk about leads. Leads are simply potential customers who have expressed some interest in your real estate business and have provided contact information you can use to follow up with more information. You can then pass these leads directly to your VA or engage with them using a tailored content marketing program.

Generating Leads
Why is it important to think about how to generate leads on social media? Consider that 90 percent of decision-makers say they never respond to cold calls. On the other hand, 76 percent of buyers are ready to have a conversation on social media.

If you’re not producing your sales team with a steady stream of potential new customers, you’re doing your business a disservice. And you’re doing yourself a disservice too. Because lead generation metrics are a key way to prove the value of your social marketing efforts. Perhaps the greatest benefit of lead generation using social media specifically is the ability to focus on highly qualified leads through advanced targeting. After all, marketing analysis shows that improving the quality of leads is the most significant goal for marketers, while simply increasing the quantity of leads comes in third. Recent studies show that 70% of leads are generated thru social media.

The benefits of using social media to generate quality leads will also lead to an increase in website traffic and brand awareness for your real estate business. If you need help with your social media marketing let REVStaffing help you to achieve your goals and increase your potential! Complete a complimentary needs analysis survey, send us an email, or call 855.REVS.VA1 today!

*info courtesy of https://blog.hootsuite.com

Your information isn’t safe! Hackers and data thieves constantly troll to steal information, and Realtors are vulnerable because they have access to, store, and maintain confidential personal and client records.  

It’s not just a desktop computer that can be breached.  In a world of technology, there are several areas exposed to hackers, such as a mobile phone, wi-fi, and cloud storage.

Here are ways to protect your information:

On the Cloud
Dropbox and Evernote are popular cloud services for storing files, but security isn’t tight.  

• Make sure you encrypt your private information.  
• Also, if you backup your files to the cloud, remember that even though you delete them on your computer or mobile device, they are still stored in your cloud account.  
• Completely delete the file by removing it from your backup cloud account.

On Social Media

• Limit the amount of personal information you share on social media.
• Check your privacy settings.
• Periodically take a look at your lists on friend connections online and remove the ones you don’t know well.

On Your Computer

• Don’t click on a suspicious link on a web page or email.  
• Also, make sure you use security software and keep it up to date.

On Your Phone
There is mobile malware that can hijack your phone, stealing your contact list and running up bill for more services.

• Protect yourself by only downloading  phone apps from reputable app stores, like the iTunes App Store, Google Play, and the Windows Store.

On the Web 

• Don’t respond to pop-up windows.
• Secure your home Wi-Fi network.
• Set your web browser to auto-update.

Online Shopping or Financial Transactions 

• Don’t shop online, log on to banking sites, or social networking sites on a public computer or public Wifi networks.   Anyone within Wifi range can access and steal your information.   
• Instead, install a personal virtual private network app on your phone or computer to protect your communications.

Use Two-Factor Authentication Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail offer two-factor authentication.  It’s basically an extra layer of security to shield your login in process from hackers.

Update, Update, Update Security software becomes less effective when it’s out of date. Make sure you are diligent with prompt software updates.

You’ve been hacked, now what?

1. The first thing you should do is reset your passwords.  Start with your email account because password resets for all your other accounts are usually sent to your email.  Once that’s done, reset passwords in you financial and critical accounts.
2. Search the help section of a website, such as Facebook, if you are blocked from accessing it.
3. Let your contacts know you’ve been hacked.
4. Report the hacking to the site.
5. Run a scan of your computer or mobile device using a trusted antivirus program.
6. In the case of identity theft, get a copy or your credit reports, file a fraud alert with the major credit bureaus, and monitor monthly statements for any more unusual activity.

There is no way to completely eliminate the risk of hack attacks and other cyber crimes.  However, taking action now to protect yourself can help reduce the damage down the road if you are targeted.

Need help protecting your real estate information? Give us a call at REVStaffing today at 855-738-7821, or visit our website at www.revstaffing.com.

If you want to find out how REVStaffing can help you with your real estate business, click here to schedule an appointment.

Video email is the one of the most powerful tools you can use to grow you Real Estate business. By using video email, you can differentiate yourself from other agents and personalize every message that you send.  Your contacts can see YOU instead of just reading words on a page. Just turn on your smartphone, tablet or webcam and your video can be created.  If you have yet to utilize video email, we have 10 ways to help you get started. 

10 Ways to use Video Email in Real Estate

1. Recruiting- You can make a video email introducing yourself and outlining what makes your team different.  You can also create a series of video emails to create a drip campaign to be sent out automatically every month.   
2. Weekly Updates – you can train, coach and motivate your team in a personalized video email.  You can use this video “meeting” to stay connected and keep everyone up to date on the latest news and business updates. 
3. Training – Good training helps make your team more productive. Video email allows you to send training and education information in a timely manner without having to assemble everyone in one location. 
4. Leads- There is no better way to differentiate yourself from your competition than presenting yourself “in person” to a prospect.  When a new lead comes in, you can send a video email and be in front of them right away.
5. Listings- You can announce a new listing with a video email and introduce the home.  Give a glimpse of the home and provide the link with the full MLS listing.
6. Closing Process- Take frequently asked questions and answer them in a short video so you can send it out to your buyers and sellers.  You can include preferred suppliers (mortgage, title, home inspections, insurance etc.) in your videos to help your clients in the home buying and selling process. 
7. Congratulating – Immediately after you close a transaction on the buyer’s side, send a quick personal video thanking the client and congratulating them.  You can include pictures of the home so they can share with their friends and family via email or through social media.  This is a win-win situation because you can congratulate your client and as they send it along, it is a great endorsement for you because your look, logo and website will be seen by everyone. 
8. Referrals – Your past clients can be your best resource.  Send a video email reminding them of your friendly face, local expertise and great service.  They might be in need of an agent again or perhaps a friend or family member is thinking of buying or selling.  Your past client can simply forward and your personalized video email will be a great resource. 
9. Thank you – We can’t express gratitude enough.  Just think how a video email can convey your sentiment and sincerity compared to a written email.  We have so many opportunities to thank people and now it can be sent immediately and personally through video email. 
10. Invitations – Use text to provide all the details like date, time and location of the event and then use video to personally invite and promise the value and benefits of attending.  You can also use video email after the event to share photos, videos and recap for attendees and non-attendees. 

REVStaffing is here to help you use video email in your Real Estate Business.  We are hosting a free open webinar on February 25, 2014 at 11:00 am cst titled  Using Bomb Bomb for your Real Estate Business. Click Here  to register. 

The REVStaffing team has experience creating successful email marketing campaigns for our clients.  Please call (855) 738-7821 or email us at info@revstaffing.com.

1. The fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 year age bracket.

2. Each month 40 million more women than men visit Twitter.

3. Twitter engagement for brands is 17 percent higher on weekends.

4. Tweets with image links get 2 times the engagement rate of those without.

5. Tweets with less than 100 characters get 17 percent more engagement.

6. Tweets with hashtags get two times more engagement.

7.  Your tweets have a 12 times higher chance of being retweeted if you ask for it, and 23 times higher if you actually spell out the word “retweet.”

8. Tweets that include links are 86 percent more likely to be retweeted.

9. Twitter users who use mobile devices are 181 percent more likely to be on Twitter during their commute so tweeting in the morning is a peak time. 

10. Afternoon is a prime time for click through rates while dinner time is the worst time.

If you are an experienced Twitter user or just starting out, consider these tips when trying to build your Real Estate business.   Contact your REVStaffing team and we can assist you with Twitter and all of your social media campaigns.   Please call (855) 738-7821 or email us at info@revstaffing.com.

Consider Personality:

Often, people considering a virtual assistant focus only on a candidate’s experience and skills. Without question, both of these things are important. However, how you will mesh with the person you hire will also dramatically influence your satisfaction. Think long and hard about the type of person you want. Do you think you will clash too much with someone just like you? Are you more passive and in need of a person to help get you going and push things forward? Do you want a compassionate, get-along-with-everyone person to interact with your clients? Are you hoping for a cut-and-dry, no-nonsense person to move smoothly past red tape? Choosing a VA with the right personality can help not only keep you happy but also ensure that your business runs smoothly.

Be Reasonable:

Ever heard of the folly of trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents? Realize that it applies to people as well. There are only so many hours in the day, and your VA only has two hands. If you give her too much work to complete on time, she will have a much harder time performing to your expectations. Likewise, she may become burnt out by your demands and decide to move on to a job with a more realistic workload. Do make the most of the time your VA commits to you, but don’t set her up to fail or expect her to be superwoman.

Don’t Go Cheap:

You really do get what you pay for, especially when it comes to the people you hire to help your business shine. Of course, it always makes sense to be budget conscious, but resist the urge to choose the cheapest VA simply because she is, well, cheap. Instead, make your selection based on the talent the VA will bring to the table, how well her skills match your needs, and how well you think you will work together. Remember, that your VA has to make a reasonable living wage and feel that the effort she puts into your projects is worth her time. If she does not, you are much more likely to get shoddy work in return or see cracks in her performance. At the very least, she will be unwilling to go the extra mile for you, and who needs that?

Seek Advice and Recommendations:

An experienced, talented VA, who is really into her job, has a wealth of experience and knowledge to share with you. If she’s just performing the tasks you’ve requested, are you fully tapping into her potential? Go ahead and ask her advice and input, actively seek suggestions, and cultivate a relationship in which she feels comfortable speaking up if she has ideas for your business. Your VA may be able to offer ideas and suggestions for making processes more efficient, saving time, getting more business, and improving both your reputation and your relationship with your clients.

REVStaffing virtual assistants dramatically boost client productivity. Take your next step towards better organization of your residential or commercial real estate business by sending us an email, or give us a call for a free needs analysis. We’ll be happy to discuss ALL of your unique business needs. Ask how we can give your business a LIFT!