As you know, I teach real estate technology courses nationwide.  I am a Senior Instructor for the Council of Residential Specialist’s CRS 206 two day technology course, and I recently taught the 206 in Atlanta.  We had a full house, a great group, and lots of learning took place, as usual.

It is always a thrill to hear from students who use the tools we cover in the course, and I want to share one email I got from a student in the Atlanta course.  She’s Maura Carey Neill, CRS, a partner in the Gebhardt Group of RE/MAX Greater Atlanta.  You can see their #1 Expert Web site here.  Note how they have customized the site as well as taking advantage of #1 Expert’s standard features.

Here’s Maura’s note letting me know how she’s using one of the free programs we covered in class:

“Hi, Allen!

“I was in your CRS Technology class in Atlanta this summer. Just wanted to thank you again for introducing me to Issuu.com.  What a great tool!  Just thought I’d pass along to you a few things I’ve created so that you can see what a great influence/instructor you are (as if you didn’t already know)!

“You can see a brochure I did for my team here, and here’s a brochure I created for a nonprofit that I’m on the Board for.  There’s still a learning curve, but it’s a really great tool and it’s fun technology to use.

“Thanks again.  I hope you’re doing well, catching lots of fish and enjoying your cultural outings with Miss Ellie.  I hope to take another course with you soon!”

A good testimonial to the CRS 206, real estate’s best course if you want to know what tech tools to use and how to use them!

One final point: here’s Maura’s signture from her email.  I hope you, too, are using your signature as a marketing piece.  Note how she incorporates her Web site, blog and how to reach her on three social networks:

Maura Carey Neill, ABR, CRS, MA
REALTOR Partner - The Gebhardt Group
RE/MAX Greater Atlanta
10220 Medlock Bridge Road
Duluth, Georgia 30097

770-355-3438 (cell)
678-301-4350 (e-fax)
maura@gebhardtgroup.com (email)
www.GebhardtGroup.com (website)
www.NorthAtlantaRealtyBlog.com.com (blog)
Licensed in the state of Georgia.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mauraneill
Twitter: www.twitter.com/mauraneill
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/mauraneill

Summing up, it made my day to get Marua’s email and to see how the course is paying benefits for her!

It’s a great day here on the lake in Reston…hope it’s a great day wherever you are, too!

A few quick things tonight:

eGrips For iPhone

eGrips

I was looking for a case for my new iPhone.  One CyberStar(r) suggested that I really didn’t need a case, since the iPhone is so thin.  What I needed was eGrips silicone grips that minimize losing hold of the iPhone.  He was right!  Got ‘em, applied ‘em and love ‘em.  $14.95 From eGrips Technology.

CyberStar(r) Leigh Brown

Great Use For Issuu.com

CyberStar(r) Leigh Brown learned what you can do by putting your publications on Issuu.com at our CyberStar(r) Summit.  Read my Active Rain article on what she created and how Issuu.com works here.

Annie Proulx

Nothing To Do With Real Estate

Man/woman does not live by real estate alone!  I don’t…I love to fish, travel, read, etc.  I’m reading a marvelous collection of short stories by one of our best living writers, Annie Proulx.  Love to read?  Beg, borrow or steal her latest, “Fine Just The Way It Is,” her third collection of Wyoming stores.  How I wish I could write like her!

It’s a great day here on the lake in Reston…hope it’s a great day wherever you are, too!

I just finished teaching the CRS 206 course in Columbia, SC.  As usual, we covered a number of today’s best tech tools, tools that meet the needs of today’s consumers.  One of the tools I demonstrated was Issuu.com.  You can visit it here.

 Issuu is a free upload site…but one with a difference.  Files saved in PDF format, such as PowerPoint, Excel, Word files and more saved as PDF’s, can be shown on Issuu as ebooks, emagazines or more.  It is a simple process: create your document or presentation, save it as a PDF, go to Issuu.com and click on "Upload."  Couldn’t be easier, and the results are really amazing.

I have posted a number of presentations to Issuu and will continue to do so.  You can see the slides I did for my presentation for the Texas Assn. of REALTORS(r) here.  CyberStar(tm) James Nellis of the Nellis Group here in Northern Virginia has a number of presentations on Issuu including their listing presentation, eflyers and more.

If you use PowerPoint, use Issuu as a point of difference for showing your presentations in a very "with it" way…you’ll be glad you did!