Master Technology for Business   |   Don’t be left behind

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This is a quick reminder that in the first week of March NFSTI will be running its “Expert Agent Report” to asset managers around the country.  This report highlights the Expert Agents from NFSTI in a professional, clean, direct presentation that you can see here.  In the March issue NFSTI will once again be including the “Achievements LeaderBoard” in this report.  Last month Don Sherwood and Dawn Penrod were the recipients of this award.  We were unable to include a 3rd leader since Dan Waterman was a leader but does not qualify due to his involvement in NFSTI.

Here is the simple way to climb your way to the top of the Achievements Leaderboard:

1. Understand what the Achievements are. Achievements are an award-based point system created to encourage a broad range of activity within the NFSTI website.  The awards are automatically awarded when the member meets the requirements outlined on the Achievements Home Page.  Only Premium and Expert Members can participate in the Achievements competition.
2. Activate as many Achievements as possible.  There are currently 13 Achievements available to members.  Each Achievement holds a unique point value.  By unlocking as many of the Achievements as possible, specifically the larger points, will move you to the top of the Leaderboard.
3. 3 Special Achievements.  There are 3 very special Achievements that require manual distribution by the administrator of NFSTI.  The reason these 3 Achievements are manually distributed is because they are reviewed manually for accuracy.  These 3 Achievements hold a very high points value.  They are:  BPO Master (5000 points), NFSTI Golden Feather (1000 points), and Top Secret Document Status (1000 points).It just so happens that these 3 Achievements also hold an incredible value in real life as well.
4. You cannot acquire an Achievement more than once.   Once you’ve achieved an Achievement then it’s time to move on to the next one.
5. There will be new Achievements created in the future.  Stay on your toes and don’t let the other members pass you up by missing newly created Achievements.  Be sure to check back once in a while on the main Achievements Home Page.  Members will also be alerted of any new Achievements on the Activity Stream.

Good luck to all of the members, and it’s never been a better time to get some FREE marketing face-time while being featured on our Expert Agent Report!

2011 The year that REO is predicted to overwhelm the nation.  With 2 1/2 years behind us, the Subprime Mortgage Meltdown has left its print on the REO industry with moratoria, freezes, shadow inventory, and policy change in record volume.  As a resilient market, the US real estate market is poised for the start of a comeback.  2010 turned out some impressive numbers in states like Arizona and California while Florida continued to feel the pain of it’s regional and state laws.

“Necessity is the Mother of Invention”

During the worst recession since the Great Depression the entrepreneurs of the world have been working overtime in their creative labs.   Incredible technology and efficiency has erupted through changes in marketing, automation, reporting, videography, and design.  Our generation has been privy to a slew of evolutions such as the explosion of social media and online digital marketing, improvements in smart phone technology (I, personally, operate on a Garminfone which is a fusion of phone, GPS, and Google Applications running on an Android platform), and BPO auto-fill to name a few of our industry’s leaps in efficiency.  Let’s be honest here, who would have believed me 5 years ago if I would have told them I had an Android phone – excluding the developers of Android and sci-fi fanatics?

“To Much to Handle”

Regardless of your technological proficiency it’s most likely that everyone reading this article has been completely overwhelmed with technology’s invasion into our everyday lives in the past 3-5 years.  Just 5 years ago it was acceptable to still operate your business under the notion that business could continue to prosper without the bells and whistles of online marketing strategies.  Heck, a hand-shake and a phone call was more effective that any other form of communication.  It still holds true that a hand-shake improves your odds of building a long-lasting business relationship, but when the media posts that staggering numbers of consumers reach for their iPhone or Android and jump on Facebook before ever considering who they do business with it is time to reconsider that strategy.

The overwhelming amount of change that is taking place – from Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, blogs, forums, instant message, Skype, and everything else under the High Speed Sun – is almost unbearable.  Having taken on a role of online digital marketing expert over 5 years ago I can say without a crack in my voice that I have been nothing short of short-circuiting in the last year in my attempts to harness in everything that is critical with the future of business while leaving behind the white noise of fly-by-nights like Google Buzz.  Let me reiterate at this point that THIS IS WHAT I DO FOR A LIVING….Full Time.   My sympathy goes out to the millions of entrepreneurs in the country, excuse me, the WORLD who have to think about their niche AND try to harness in these changes.  Quite frankly it’s grounds for pleading insanity.

“Taking over the REO Marketing Business”

While it’s a bold statement (some may even think of it as preposterous) I am staking claim on the highest bar ever set for REO Marketing Performance in history.  It has been somewhat of a no-brainer to be successful in the REO training and networking business between the years 2008 and 2010.  Let’s face it, everyone wanted the knowledge and getting new business was not all that difficult.  A new REO or Default Servicing training company was popping up faster than anyone could keep track of.  Fast-forward to now and you can see that the internet is a proverbial ghost town of these businesses.  The reasoning is simple:  It’s challenging now.  But, I am always ready for a good challenge and I feel more incredible about NFSTI than ever before.  Our training, our technology, and our ability to provide top-tier service to the masses is better than ever before.  Through fire we’ve been refined and the agents and brokers get to benefit from it.

We’ve taken the ability to leverage every type of technology mentioned in this article and stream it through one centralized location while simultaneously offering training, certification, marketing assistance, and lead development.  I’m not sure, but I think we have something great here.

Best of luck to everyone in 2011 and may the best entrepreneur win.

August Membership:

Membership showed a significant jump in August, 2010 most likely due to some email notices that were sent out regarding user log in information. Now that activity has ramped up to a significant level NFSTI will be launching a few projects that have been in development for a while.

The goal for NFSTI over the next few months is to increase the awareness of default servicing for those agents still looking to break into the niche while simultaneously offering training, networking, and insight for the most seasoned default servicing real estate professional.

DWE Web Design:

As you may have noticed we’re also promoting a new web development and social media integration service started by the founder of NFSTI. The purpose of this service is to improve on the amount of reach real estate agents have on potential clients. During the economic downturn we’ve realized the need for 2 things:

• Top search engine ranking for specific key words.
• Efficient customer capture and a strong ROI (return on investment).

The 2010 Five Star Conference

If you intend to attend the Five Star Conference in Dallas this September please get in touch with someone on the NFSTI team and let them know.  We have a growing group of members who enjoy meeting up and networking in groups.  Great success has been achieved by networking the REO conferences in tight-knit groups of like-minded professionals.  If you don’t know anyone on the NFSTI team yet, simply email Dan_Waterman@NFSTI.com and he’ll make sure that you get plugged in.