Web Wise
Rules for Completing Your CE by Dec. 31:
1. Don't Panic! 2.Go to www.wra.org
It's December. Not just any December. It's December 2002, and the end of a real estate continuing education biennium.
Yikes! That means all licensed real estate agents in the state of Wisconsin need to complete the 12 required CE credits before December 31 to renew their license.
"What do I need? I think I took a couple classes already, but which ones? Gosh, how am I ever going to get this done? I better call the
WR..." screeeeech.
Wait just a minute. No need to pick up the phone, not even to find out what WRA CE courses you've taken-not even if you're a broker trying to figure out which agent in your office is in danger of not having license requirements completed.
Don't panic.
Here's the plan.
Agents:
The WRA has a great online tool that will make it easy for you to check your continuing education course history, as well as other WRA courses you've completed
myWRA Education. This Web site feature provides WRA members with a historical snapshot of their
WRA education, including which courses were taken, when they were completed, whether it was a passing score, and what courses are still needed.
It's a quick and convenient reminder of an agent's education needs. While using this feature please keep in mind:
- The WRA only maintains records of our own students, so courses completed with sources other than the WRA will not be listed.
- If you have not created an account for the WRA Web site, you will need to do that before you can access myWRA or any other secure area of the Web site.
Brokers:
Did you know that you are responsible to make sure that all your agents have completed the required CE for the biennium? If they don't renew their license on time and continue to list and sell ... well, it could get ugly. (See
our front page of this issue for related article on license
renewal.)
Again, don't panic! The WRA has thought of you too.
Our newest myWRA tools for brokers will help you deal with this management issue.
If you are the designated supervising broker in your office, you will see additional navigation for the broker when you
log in to myWRA. This feature allows brokers to track CE completion by individual or office. Of course only WRA courses will display. Log on today and check it out, or come to our exhibit booth at the Management Conference on December 12 and we will give you a demonstration.
Getting It Done
"I need CE before the end of the month. Help!"
No problem.
The WRA has three different ways that you can complete your continuing education requirements.
- Register for a live class
- CE 01-02 Video package
- CE 01-02 Self-Study package.
Live classes are filling up fast, so you may want to take advantage of the popular distance learning options. For a schedule of all remaining live classes, see the
online calendar or go to
www.wra.org/education/default.asp#CE
where you can also find more information about distance learning options.
Back to Inside This
Edition
Return to On-Line
Publications
Now You've Got a Digital Camera-Take A Look at After Shot
by stephen m. canale, crb, crs, gri, ram
Once you purchase a digital camera, the next question becomes "How can I use it to enhance my marketing?" Jasc software offers one extremely affordable solution, appropriately named After Shot.
While primarily targeted to consumers, After Shot provides at least three great features for the business user, and real estate agents in particular.
First and foremost, After Shot includes a very easy to use "stiching" tool which allows you to create extremely wide-angle and panoramic photographs. Because real estate agents are constantly faced with the need to photograph property features that even the most extreme wide-angle lens cannot capture, the ability to take a number of photographs and then quickly "stitch" them into one final image justifies
the price of this software to any serious real estate professional.
Using After Shot, the process of creating panoramic photographs is no more complicated than taking a number of overlapping pictures, placing them in order, and then letting After Shot take care of the rest. As an example, the following link will take you to a panoramic photograph that was actually created by stitching five smaller images together. This image is likely to be wider than your screen, but you can use your browser's scroll bar or arrow keys to pan the full image.
Go to www.canale.com/Aftershot/Deck-Full-View.jpg
for an example of a "stitched together" image. Such panoramic pictures can be very useful for both Internet marketing and print marketing
such as flyers and brochures.
Another strong feature that just about any businessperson will want to use on a regular basis is the the ability to quickly create Web page presentations. Once you have added titles and descriptions for your photographs, After Shot provides a number of templates that you can choose from in order to quickly, (and most importantly, easily) create attractive and professional marketing presentations.
Again, the following link will provide an example, and it took just moments to create:
www.canale.com/Aftershot/image001.htm.
Finally, After Shot will also enable you to create digital movies that are useful for both Internet-based presentations, as well as for distribution on either floppy disk or CD.
While After Shot does include a "Slide Show" feature, sharing these with others requires sending an "executable" slide show "player." Unfortunately, today's heightened security concerns will naturally make many recipients very hesitant to receive any executable programs via e-mail.
However, by creating a slide show using the movie feature, you can enhance your marketing, and do so without unnecessarily alarming any recipients. An example follows at:
www.canale.com/Aftershot/Thornhill.mov
NOTE: After Shot's digital movies are presented in Apple's QuickTime format and may require the downloading of the appropriate viewer from:
www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt/
While After Shot includes a number of other features that will likely be appreciated by both consumers and professionals alike, it is the ability to create panoramic photographs, Web-based presentations and self-running slide shows in Quicktime format that makes this software such reasonable investment for the professional user.
After Shot is available for a free 30-day evaluation, www.jasc.com/products/aftershot
and then can be purchased for just $45 from the JASC Web site. At that price, it's likely to be one of the most reasonable digital marketing tools you'll find.
Stephen M. Canale - GRB, CRS, GRI, RAM Training & Seminars in Technology, Sales & Marketing 734.481.9000 -
Stephen@Canale.com
Back to Inside This
Edition
Return to On-Line
Publications
Back to Top
|
