Comments on: Number One Business Priority- Stable Phone # and e-mail http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/ Tips and Techniques for Real Estate Photography Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:42:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Jeremy Meier http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4937 Jeremy Meier Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:32:47 +0000 http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4937 Larry, Kudos on this one! I am a big proponent of keeping the info the same. Smart phones of the day make it far easier to keep in touch and on the ball when it comes to clients calling, emailing, etc... I too use the iPhone, and find it the perfect all in one device to get calls, respond to emails, and get form data that is sent to me from my website forms. Address directions, maps, you name it, they are all there! There are many choices for smart phones on the market, but the bottom line is they really make life on the go a lot easier! Larry, Kudos on this one! I am a big proponent of keeping the info the same. Smart phones of the day make it far easier to keep in touch and on the ball when it comes to clients calling, emailing, etc… I too use the iPhone, and find it the perfect all in one device to get calls, respond to emails, and get form data that is sent to me from my website forms. Address directions, maps, you name it, they are all there! There are many choices for smart phones on the market, but the bottom line is they really make life on the go a lot easier!

]]> By: Chad Jones http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4876 Chad Jones Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:15:21 +0000 http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4876 Another thing I do with Gmail is the use of the '+' sign. If you add myemail+food@gmail.com you can filter by the "food" part of the email and filter/flag appropriately. You can also use this technique to find out who gave out that email address or where you put it in a web form. So if you start getting spam from a source that has sent you email to that address, you will then know that the site where you used that '+food' tag shared your email and you can then start a complaint and black list the site. You can also then immediately modify that filter and move all email with '+food' to the trash and you'll never be bothered with that spam again. Smarter and Quicker solution to spam control. One side not on this. Sometimes web forms don't allow '+' signs so you cant use this technique all the time. Look at the GMail Help docs for the use of the '+' sign. This can also be done with your domain name hosting. Have a wild card email where you can have any mail sent to any address go to one mail box. *@myphoto.com, So you can have info@myphoto.com and then also yahoo@myphoto.com for your yahoo ID account stuff for instance. That way you can control what emails are given out and stop spammers and people/sites who share your email address quickly and know who did it right away. Another thing I do with Gmail is the use of the ‘+’ sign.
If you add myemail+food@gmail.com you can filter by the “food” part of the email and filter/flag appropriately. You can also use this technique to find out who gave out that email address or where you put it in a web form. So if you start getting spam from a source that has sent you email to that address, you will then know that the site where you used that ‘+food’ tag shared your email and you can then start a complaint and black list the site. You can also then immediately modify that filter and move all email with ‘+food’ to the trash and you’ll never be bothered with that spam again. Smarter and Quicker solution to spam control.
One side not on this. Sometimes web forms don’t allow ‘+’ signs so you cant use this technique all the time.

Look at the GMail Help docs for the use of the ‘+’ sign.

This can also be done with your domain name hosting. Have a wild card email where you can have any mail sent to any address go to one mail box. *@myphoto.com, So you can have info@myphoto.com and then also yahoo@myphoto.com for your yahoo ID account stuff for instance. That way you can control what emails are given out and stop spammers and people/sites who share your email address quickly and know who did it right away.

]]> By: Chad Jones http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4875 Chad Jones Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:03:48 +0000 http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4875 I have been an Microsoft Exchange 2000 and 2003 Server Administrator and really any type of email server administrator for over 8 years in a professional corporate capacity. I see what mistakes people make and where they go wrong everyday. I have been using Gmail since its beta days, about 4-5 years of use, and I'm still at only 29% used of over 6.6GB of email capacity. I also see the dumb mistake of Realtors and changing email addresses. It is the worst mistake one can make. You miss emails that should have gotten to you. You confuse the already confused people who can barely LOGIN to their email to check it. And you then expect everyone to be able to update address books or auto complete areas. Not all people update there address books. And the cost of reprinting and what not is a ridiculous way to just flush money down the drain and lose business. Its also tacky to have numbers in your email address. Sticking with your.name@gmail.com, cjones@gmail.com or chadj@gmail.com is the best most professional way of having an email. Easier to remeber if your name isnt something super long or very hard to spell. Let people see your name as much as possible. Your email is a Digital Business card if you think about it. Leave the fancy soccerplayer46@hotmail.com to your personal and family type email. Another stupid mistake is using your ISP's email service. This is like giving them the reins to keep you by your balls with their service. Then when you want to change from the horrible DSL you got from them, you have to lose your email address with them. I SAY NEVER use or give out an email address from your ISP. It is the worst mistake someone can make that is trying to run a business. I have been an Microsoft Exchange 2000 and 2003 Server Administrator and really any type of email server administrator for over 8 years in a professional corporate capacity. I see what mistakes people make and where they go wrong everyday.

I have been using Gmail since its beta days, about 4-5 years of use, and I’m still at only 29% used of over 6.6GB of email capacity. I also see the dumb mistake of Realtors and changing email addresses. It is the worst mistake one can make. You miss emails that should have gotten to you. You confuse the already confused people who can barely LOGIN to their email to check it. And you then expect everyone to be able to update address books or auto complete areas. Not all people update there address books. And the cost of reprinting and what not is a ridiculous way to just flush money down the drain and lose business.

Its also tacky to have numbers in your email address. Sticking with your.name@gmail.com, cjones@gmail.com or chadj@gmail.com is the best most professional way of having an email. Easier to remeber if your name isnt something super long or very hard to spell. Let people see your name as much as possible. Your email is a Digital Business card if you think about it. Leave the fancy soccerplayer46@hotmail.com to your personal and family type email.

Another stupid mistake is using your ISP’s email service. This is like giving them the reins to keep you by your balls with their service. Then when you want to change from the horrible DSL you got from them, you have to lose your email address with them. I SAY NEVER use or give out an email address from your ISP. It is the worst mistake someone can make that is trying to run a business.

]]> By: Jeff Kubacz http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4848 Jeff Kubacz Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:02:12 +0000 http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4848 Larry, I have been using Gmail for about 6 months. I created an account so I could use it for business purposes only. Gmail is very powerful and has lots of great features. Google also has a product similar to Adobe Acrobat that allows you to share documents online. The cost is FREE. I also use GOOGLE checkout for all my credit card transactions. This is the best deal in the market place as far as cost to me and acceptability to the client. Checkout and the client do all the work. I never see credit cards and do not have the liability that comes with gathering credit card data. Larry,

I have been using Gmail for about 6 months. I created an account so I could use it for business purposes only. Gmail is very powerful and has lots of great features. Google also has a product similar to Adobe Acrobat that allows you to share documents online. The cost is FREE. I also use GOOGLE checkout for all my credit card transactions. This is the best deal in the market place as far as cost to me and acceptability to the client. Checkout and the client do all the work. I never see credit cards and do not have the liability that comes with gathering credit card data.

]]> By: Alan Pinstein http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4843 Alan Pinstein Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:53:43 +0000 http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/04/14/number-one-business-priority-stable-phone-and-e-mail/#comment-4843 This is very true. I am glad you took the time to point it out. We strongly encourage all of our web site customers to get their own domains for this reason. It makes me sad whenever I get a support request to change their email from realtor12@hotmail.com to realtor12@gmail.com. Or even realtor12@company1.com to realtor12@company2.com. The agents have spent THOUSANDS of dollars on business cards, hand-outs, flyers, pens, magnets, etc that all become worthless the instant this happens. Sadly, it continues to be a common mistake. Also, I'd point out that technically it's IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), not MAP. But IMAP does rock, for exactly how Larry describes it. This is very true. I am glad you took the time to point it out. We strongly encourage all of our web site customers to get their own domains for this reason.

It makes me sad whenever I get a support request to change their email from realtor12@hotmail.com to realtor12@gmail.com. Or even realtor12@company1.com to realtor12@company2.com.

The agents have spent THOUSANDS of dollars on business cards, hand-outs, flyers, pens, magnets, etc that all become worthless the instant this happens.

Sadly, it continues to be a common mistake.

Also, I’d point out that technically it’s IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), not MAP. But IMAP does rock, for exactly how Larry describes it.

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