4 Excellent Tools I use to work more efficiently

Everyday presents a new challenge in real estate. Below are some excellent programs or websites I use to get my work done.

1. Google Desktop
If you’re like me, you have hundreds (maybe thousands) of files on your computer and finding the time to organize them is sometimes impossible. Well, when you need a file fast, but you’re not sure where to locate it, Google Desktop is an excellent utility. Google Desktop runs in the background on your computer and indexes all of your files. If they are text/Word documents, emails, websites or contacts Google will also index the contents of the file. This has been extremely helpful when I don’t remember the name of a file, but I remember what was written inside of it. It will even show you previews of your pictures and your emails right inside the search results.

2. Compete.com
If you like to see where your website or blog ranks in comparison to your competitors, Compete.com is THE place to check out.  You can type up to three domains to compare (more if you become a member) and they will return a comparison chart of traffic including: top search keywords driving traffic to your site, top referring sites, unique visitors, % monthly change and % yearly change. It’s a great way to brag. You can even embed the graph on your blog!

3. Twhirl
Twhirl (hard to type, not hard to say) is an excellent Twitter client for both Mac’s and PC’s. It allows you to have multiple Twitter accounts which is very handy for those of us that maintain personal and business Twitter accounts. Also, accessing your direct messages, mentions and public timelines are easy with Twhirl because they can be filtered all in one panel, unlike Tweet Deck where they open a new panel for each. I don’t need to have 10 panels opened up at once. I just need the DMs, replies and timeline to be filterable on one panel.

4. MobileMe
If you have an iPhone, MobileMe is a service provided by Apple, Inc. that allows your calendar, contacts, emails, photos and more to be synced across multiple computers and your iPhone over the air. You don’t need to plugin or even tell your phone to re-sync with your computer; it’s done automatically. The service is a bit pricey at $99 a year, but if you have the extra cash and an iPhone and a penchant to have all your information in sync, this is definitely the way to go. It even works with Microsoft Outlook!