Here are the tools that I use every day to automate and run my business:
Screencast-O-Matic
We have a library of hundreds of internal videos, that can teach anyone to do anything in our business. Screencast-O-Matic is a very simple and very FREE online, screen capture/recording software. You can record up to 15 minutes of audio and video.
So if you are teaching someone, how to use Freedomsoft, for example. You can demonstrate how to pull a list, how to set up a direct mail campaign, etc. The video will be saved to the Screencast-O-Matic site. This becomes your training library. It’s there forever. If you have to fire anyone, and hire someone new, you already have a training video ready for them.
Freedomsoft
A powerful software for your real estate business. Here is a tutorial that outlines Freedomsoft’s features:
Freedomsoft: Real Estate Investor CRM
Dropbox
Dropbox is used for file and photo sharing. We have hundreds of files in our Dropbox. All of our photos, appraisals, purchase and sales agreements, HUDs, settlement statements, final profit shares, notes and mortgages, etc. are housed in Dropbox.
Basecamp
Basecamp is a great team collaboration tool. You won’t really benefit from this unless you have A LOT of projects going on. You can just use Freedomsoft if you only have a few projects going on at a time. You can give assignments to members of your team. You can also view what tasks have been completed, and what tasks each of your employees has on their plate.
Google Keep
This is a “Gotta have” for me. This is where I can quickly jot down ideas, notes, and to-do lists and share them with your team, all from your phone.
Google Cast
You can use Google cast to “Broadcast” your phone onto a T.V. This is VERY helpful for meetings.
Kolbe A Index
This is our secret weapon in the hiring process. The Kolbe profile measures people’s instincts. It DOES NOT measure I.Q., intelligence, motivation, personality type, etc. So if I give Person A and Person B the same project, they are going to attack it differently based on their instincts. This test has a 95% Test-retest match, which means it is highly accurate at any point in a person’s life. This tells us that people do not usually change.
The Kolbe index has 4 classifications:
Red – Fact Finder (45% of people)
Person will base their instincts off of THE PAST and off of the FACTS. This profile is great for a sales manager. They always have a ton of questions. What worked in the past? 45% of all people who take the Kolbe index test are initiating fact-finders.
Blue – Follow-through (5% of people)
This profile is usually good for Operations Manager or Executive Assistant. They will set up systems, and then follow through with them A-Z. They are the glue that will hold your team together and make sure everything moves smoothly. Help them create and document your systems.
Green – Quickstart (45% of people)
This is what I am. Person will base all their decisions on the future. These are usually your thinkers and your idea people. What could happen? What is the potential?
Yellow – Implementer (5% of people)
Your rehabbers and contractors are usually high-yellow. They are creative and are good at visualizations and constructing. High-yellows are also very “Hands-On.”
None of the Kolbe profiles are necessarily good or bad. But for example, if you hire an Acquisitions Manager, their Kolbe index will tell you HOW they are going to go about working. A high-green Acquisitions Manager will not care what worked or didn’t in the past. But, they will have a lot of ideas of how they are going to find deals moving forward. A high-red Acquisitions Manager will ask for a lot of data and a lot of information before they execute.
Infusionsoft
Infusionsoft is what is known as a Customer Relationship Management Software. I use Infusionsoft for some of our more “Exotic” and targeted funnels and email broadcasts. Also, I use Infusionsoft for all of our private lenders. This is especially helpful because Freeland is a 506c company, where we can use a lot of digital marketing. We can send certain videos and autoresponder sequences to different [categories of] people.
-Be Daring,
Josh