In this article let’s discuss setting up your office with printers, faxes, telephones and cell phones. What to get when and where.

My virtual assistant (va) always saves me a lot of time and frustration with software programs I do not know how to run, so I can do what I do well, which is wholesaling, birdogging and flipping houses. Along with playing, and having fun of course.

One example is the software Excel spreadsheet, which I have no idea on how to run. However, I need this for my financials and personal expense spreadsheets, which keeps all my finances and monthly expenses easy to read at a moments glance. The virtual assistant logs right on and sets up those charts and graphs for me lickety split, nothing to it!

Remember time is a business person’s greatest commodity. A va, when you can afford one, saves tons of time and money.

I have a Hewlett Packard or hp printer, fax, scanner, and copier. Mine is still an older ink jet. But I strongly recommend the laser style. Why? Laser is cheap to print, and does not smear. Well, in fact its a lot cheaper to print.

Likely it rains where you are at, unlike here in Las Vegas. Rain and moisture equals smearing. Laser may take a second or two to warm up but well worth the investment. Enough said on laser printers.

Paper. I buy the good kind at Sam’s Club. Why? Because I would rather spend a few dimes more on good paper that doesn’t jam.

It always happens. You are trying to get out the door to work or to see that motivated seller and need to print a contract. You must be on time demonstrating you are not some flake. But now you are held up trying to unjam paper from the printer.

No thanks to that cheapo paper, you saved a dime on.

The office phone.  Recently I began using Magic Jack for our general phone. So far it works very good.  Its $49.00 to buy it which pays for the first year of service as well. Then $19.95 per year there after. Much less expensive than using Ma Bell, Embark and more reliable than VOIP. Don’t have it? I’d say get it! :)

Your office fax, here is the priceless tip. I made thirty thousand dollars cash on a single wholesale flip when I received a fax that contained only these words in tiny print-on a large-blank-white-8.5×11- sheet of paper:

I need to sell my house, my number is xxx-xxx-xxxx.

I am serious as a heart attack that’s all it said. And yes I made exactly that amount.

The Lord works in funny ways sometimes, as I was able to pay off my daughters ten thousand dollar medical bill in one payment.

Maybe just because I had a fax, and it worked.

After that I was sold on always having a consistently working, and separate fax number. You should too irregardless of cost. So now I have Cox’s Cable as my consistent fax provider, and its like 15.00 per month.

I put my fax number, email, cell phone, and web address on all my advertising materials thereafter!

Lastly, yet equally important, the successful real estate investor needs a cell phone and s/he will put that number on all their advertising.

Oh, yes and ALWAYS answer your phone. I cannot begin to tell you how many deals I have gotten because the motivated seller calls other investors who do not answer. How do I know this, trust me I ask them!

Tags: , , , , , ,