Freedomsoft 4: Should you buy the hype? (Quick and Dirty Review)

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After much ado, FreedomSoft 4 is finally here. If you’re somehow not familiar with FreedomSoft, you can read my earlier review of FreedomSoft 3 to get a good feel for what it is capable of doing for a Real Estate Wholesaler.
Before I go any further, I’ll let you know that for the first time ever (and ONLY FOR A FEW DAYS), you can try Freedomsoft 100% FREE without even giving your credit card information! So, there’s really no reason for you to keep reading. Just go over and get your free trial and start working some deals this week!

If you’re the type that would rather keep reading than doing, then here’s my first impressions of v4.

I had been looking forward to an update to FreedomSsoft for some time. As a current subscriber, I got early access to version 4, so was able to look around prior to the launch on 3/19/13.
Here are a few of my initial impressions:
It appears to be primarily a visual update. I found it to be easier to navigate than v3. The data in the Instant Leads and the Cash Buyers sections is much easier to read at a glance. There have been some updates to the Classroom section to reflect the new version. Really, my previous review still holds 90% true for version 4. It just feels like a fresher, easier to use version of the same thing. I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but I had been hoping for a much larger overhaul (or at least add on a basic iphone, ipad or android app). It does function much better in a mobile browser than version 3, but still no native app.
Bottom line is there is absolutely no barrier to getting your feet wet and giving it a spin with the new Free Trial, but don’t go in expecting the earth to be rocked off of it’s axis by any kind of profound updates. They are there, and you’ll notice the visuals the moment you try it out, but you still have to put some real elbow grease into building your business. Even though Preston Ely tends to make it sound like you just get a subscription, and sit back and watch the bucks flow in, it’s never that easy. You still have to go in and do the work (or preferably get someone to do it for you…) As an added bonus, the first 100 to sign up on 3/19 get the Freedomsoft Outsourcing Guide to help you find that someone to hand it off to. Oh, and one person out of the first 100 will get free coaching. Not a bad deal for trying something for free!

Disclaimer: I always try to be fair and honest in my reviews, and I do actually subscribe to this product; however, I do make a commission off of any sales made through this site. This obviously helps me to be able to afford to spend more time working on adding quality content to this site.

iPad USB Keyboard Quick Tip

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I recently got my first iPad (so watch out, the iPad quick-tips will probably be flying!) and as I started looking around, I quickly found out that the cheapest bluetooth keyboard I could find at a local retailer sells for around $49.99. Being the cheapskate that I can be sometimes, I wondered the obvious:

“Is there some way I can use one of the many USB full-size keyboards I’ve got laying around with my iPad instead of forking out a rather un-Godly sum for a cramped little piece of crap keyboard?”

Well, after a little web searching, I found out that it was indeed possible! All you need is the Apple Camera Connection Kit. One of the connectors in this kit is a 30 pin adapter with a USB port on it. Apple doesn’t officially support any USB accessories through this adapter other than digital cameras. This, however, doesn’t mean that they won’t work! It actually works great (see pic below). The only downside to this is that the adapter set costs $29.99, so it kind of lessens the savings, but for that price, you can also import pics from SD cards and USB cameras (and probably do a few other things if your iPad is Jailbroken…) I also tested this with my wireless keyboard at work. This is pretty cool because the receiver for that keyboard is minuscule, so it’s a pretty minimal setup.

You can even use it to control a lot of the iPad functions and scroll around the screen. This is a little detailed, so just check out the post over at OSXDaily

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Admittedly, this setup is way not cool when you’re sitting at a table at Starbucks, like I am now :-), but it does work great, and this is an excellent solution, even if you confine it’s use to the dark recesses of your home office. If you like to (or have to) type on the go, you’ll enjoy the near-desktop typing experience the USB keyboard provides. So, one more way you can enhance your Mobile Real Estate Investing experience!

Let me know if you decided to try this out and how you like it. I’d love to hear from you all.

The VA Search Begins, Part 1

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Yesterday I was at a small Ron LeGrand seminar (which I’ll get into more in a later post), and one of the things he was talking about was using virtual assistants (or VAs) to reduce the amount of time that you have to spend working in your business and increase the time you can spend enjoying life and working on your business, a la Michael Gerber’s E-Myth

I’ve been hearing people talking about using VAs since I read The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris back in 2008. In his book, Tim describes how much more he could get done by using the assistance of one of these VAs for as little as $4 per hour. Many of these VA’s are located in the Philippines, where $4 per hour is an excellent wage, and many people there speak great English. I’d always been intrigued by this idea of having someone, for such a low cost, take care of many of the trivial things that just suck your time but really don’t need to be done by you. I’d just never gotten around to really looking into it, but yesterday while I was sitting in the class with my iPad in hand, I decided that I’d waited long enough. If I was ever going to really make progress towards getting myself out of the mundane chores involved in my business and life in general, I had to start sometime.

The more I thought about it, the more that I realized that this is really a part of my Real Estate Business that I can’t live without any longer. This really is a pillar of the whole Mobile Investor lifestyle that I’m trying to create. Having someone that can do the behind the scenes work for you and free you up from having to sit behind a computer for hours on end is nearly essential to take your business to the next level.

Here’s a few things, off the top of my head that I thought of that I could immediately justify paying a VA for instead of doing it myself (some of these just plain wouldn’t get done if I had to do them myself):

  • Outbound calls to leads
  • Receive calls from leads to sort the prospects from the suspects and schedule follow up calls or meetings with me
  • Manage my lead generation websites
  • Misc data entry
  • Transcribe portions of educational podcasts and courses and convert to action items
  • Look up information on property leads / locate absentee owners
    • Odesk.com
    The premier VA service I’ve heard touted many times is ODesk.com. It’s not just a website that connects you with VAs, it’s pretty much an all-in-one VA location & management platform. When you’re in the hiring process, it allows you to view feedback from previous customers, see how much they have billed previous customers for what type of work, view how many hours they have billed through ODesk, etc. Once you hire a contractor, it allows you to monitor what they work on while they are on the clock for you, communicate with your VAs and even pay them through the site.

    All in all, it seemed like the perfect solution, so I decided to start my search there. I completed the obligatory sign up and profile update and proceeded to search for a VA to fill some basic needs such as outbound calls, etc. I found several that looked promising, so I posted a job describing what I was looking for. and sent a request for them to view my posting and respond. This morning, none of the candidates that I’d sent the posting to had responded, so I made the job public so that anyone interested could respond to the ad. As of now, I haven’t gotten any feedback, so maybe I just need to wait longer, or possibly revise my ad a little. I’ll give it until Tuesday probably before I change anything.

    Stay tuned for Part 2, and we’ll see how this whole VA thing turns out!

    Quick iPad tip (You can get Flash on iPad!)

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    I just discovered something that allows what I’d previously thought to be virtually impossible: using flash based websites (mostly REI Training Videos & membership sites) on the iPad. I knew that there had been a couple less than perfect attempts at this, but when I stumbled across this solution the other day, I couldn’t believe how perfectly it works.
    Here it is. It’s a browser called Puffin Browser, and you absolutely won’t believe how flawlessly it works. Start off with the Free version (linked to above) and try the Flash integration for 15 days. They even give you a special link to share with your friends (or blog readers :) to get extra time for free. After that, you can go pay for the full version (a whopping $2.99!) If you get frustrated by lack of Flash integration on your iPad, then this will be a Godsend for you.
    Here’s a couple screenshots for you:

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    In the picture above, you can see that it has the option to display a handy semi-transparent control pad over the screen. On the Left, there is (currently hidden) and option to display a little trackpad that helps you manipulate Flash controls. Extremely well thought out.
    Just hit the “Play in Fullscreen” button and here’s what you get:

    20130216-235818.jpg
    Congrats to whoever the dev is for Puffin Browser. You’ve done an awesome job. Looking forward to what else they’ll bring our way. Now if we could just get Apple to allow browser plugins… Seriously, Android has it, why can’t we?

    Alright, head over to try out Puffin Browser – Free Version now and then come back and let me know what you think in the comments…
    Looking forward to hearing from you!

    In the interest of full disclosure, I do get free Flash browsing time for every one of you that downloads the free version from my link. I also get about $0.15 each time one of you purchases the paid version through my link. Now that should make me rich!

    Real Estate Domain Names for Sale

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    Domain Names

    Photo credit: ivanpw

    Over the years I’ve collected a little assortment of Real Estate related domain names (I think I’ve got a bit of an addiction…).  As I’m trying to simplify things in my business and get back to a more manageable number of irons in the fire, I’ve decided to sell quite a few of the domains that I’m not using or aren’t generating real traffic.  Ideally I’d have the time to turn each one of them into the glowing, profitable site that it deserves to be, but I just don’t have the time. Anyway, if you’re looking for one or two domains for your business,  take a look and see if there are any that would work for you.http://mobilerei.com/real-estate-domains-for-sale

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