League City Blog

Welcome to FirstTeach! Houston Texas Taking Technology to a new level!

As real estate information services move into the new millennium, the demand for new products and

services continues to grow. The real estate professional in this market faces new opportunities as well

as new challenges in dealing with this high-tech economy.

First American Title is on the cutting edge of this technology with Internet-based programs designed

to allow the real estate professional to quickly and efficiently communicate with the title company as

well as other entities involved in the entire transaction process.

In order to help our customers thrive in this new real estate market, First American Title is proud to

announce FirstTeach, a technology-training program designed for real estate professionals. More than

a point and click program, FirstTeach shows Realtors® how to apply technology to their daily

businesses.

From browsing the Internet to using contact management in MS Outlook, students will learn tips and

techniques that will enable them to get ahead in real estate.

All courses are taught by professionals with many years of both classroom and real-world experience.

Classes are conveniently held each month at First American Title escrow offices throughout the city. In

order to provide the maximum learning experience, training is provided hands-on, and seating is

limited to 10-15 students per class on a sign-up basis.

Don't let technology stand between you conducting business in today's technology. FirstTeach classes

are fun, fast-paced and filled with valuable information. Learn to apply today's tools as you build a

more profitable business for tomorrow. So sign up for a class with us, and see why FirstTeach may be

the last training you will need.

Seating is limited, so contact your First American Title sales representative today for the latest class

schedule and availability, including class times and locations.

A class in Microsoft Windows or equivalent experience is strongly recommended as a

prerequisite before a student enrolls in any FirstTeach class.

For the most up-to-date information, visit our website at www.firstteach.com.

Courses offered:

Windows Power Tips (WIND101)

This class will allow you to TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR PC! Students will learn how to set up a

bulletproof Real Estate filing system on their computers. They will learn how to create, rename and

delete file folders, and will learn how to rename, delete and recover files. They will also see how to

find files anywhere on the computer by using Windows Explorer.

Further, participants will learn tips on copying and pasting data from programs like Tempo into

programs like PowerPoint, Word or Excel. Learn how to customize the look and icons on the Desktop.

Students will also be shown useful techniques on uploading or emailing JPG photos.

See how to change the date and time on the computer, how to create and use a screen saver, how to

change your printer's settings and many learn many more tips. Gain more control of your business by

understanding how to master your computer. You will work much more efficiently than you ever

have.

Contact Management with Outlook (OUTL101)

This course focuses on the basic functions of e-mail, the best uses of e-mail in real estate, and

permission marketing with buyers and sellers. The course shows students how to send attachments

such as photos, and compares the different types of e-mail programs. Students will further learn how

to send e-mails to groups of people, send blind copies and create address books.

In addition, this class goes into greater depth on the use of the Outlook contacts, calendar, tasks and

notes. Students will be shown the principles of contact management, and will be taught techniques to

better mass-market themselves through e-mail. Students will learn how to better manage their e-mail

with folders. Finally, students will learn how to automatically move certain e-mails into sub-folders

through the use of rules.

Advanced Outlook (OUTL201)

This class is designed for agents who already have a pretty good grasp of the email features of

Outlook. We will review many of the email features, but it will primarily be handled as an instructorled

review. This is still a very useful session, and agents should pick up some good email tips.

The bulk of the class concentrates on the Contact Management capabilities of Outlook, and we will

relate most of what we cover to Real Estate Action Plans. Specifically, some of the topics we will

cover include:

• Creating and Managing Contacts

• Categorizing Contacts

• Group Emails with and without Distribution Lists

• Managing Emails as To-Do's

• Setting Calls, Appointments and To-Do's

• Setting Recurring Activities such as Birthdays and Anniversaries, with Reminders

• Creating Action Plans

• Creating Phone Logs

• Connecting all activities to the Contact Record

• Using the Outlook Today feature

If you are pretty good with Outlook, but want to take your contact management to the next step, this

class will impress you with all that Outlook has to offer.

Business Planning with Excel (EXCL101)

In this course, students get started with Excel, create, modify, print, and format worksheets, work

with basic formulas and functions, use multiple worksheets, enhance worksheets, use styles and

AutoFormats, and work with charts. In this class, students will look at industry-specific examples, such

as commission reports, projections and interest calculation tables.

Students also get to keep the Business Planning Spreadsheet that they develop during the class.

Market Data Analysis with Excel (EXCL201)

Our advanced course will show agents how to extract market data from Tempo, and then how to sort,

subtotal by category, analyze and create graphs. Agents will also learn how to take farming (tax roll)

data from Tempo and bring that data into Excel. Afterward, that data can be saved and then imported

into Top Producer or Outlook. Prerequisite: Excel for Real Estate (EXCL101)

PowerPoint Listing Presentations (PPT101)

This course introduces students to Microsoft PowerPoint. Students create and edit presentations,

format text, and print presentations. Students also work with proofing tools and objects, use WordArt

and clip art, build slide shows, and play slide shows. The course is designed to show a real estate

professional the basic tools required for creating a digital listing presentation.

Word Flyer Basics (WRDF101)

Learn how to make professional flyers using Microsoft Word®. You only need to know the basics of

Word to turn out world-class work. In this class, you will learn the tricks to manipulate text and

images to create beautiful flyers in about 10 minutes. You will learn about borders and fancy text, as

well as how to create watermarks and backgrounds.

We will also show you how easily you can bring in all of the text and photos that you need from the

MLS, right into the flyer. Finally, you will learn how to print and email your flyers, including

instructions on how to create Adobe Acrobat® PDF files for your customers.

High Impact Email (HIE101)

Imagine sending your clients and prospects professional-quality, great-looking flyers with your logo,

your portrait and even pictures of your properties... but in an EMAIL. Don't think you can do it? You

CAN and it's EASY with High Impact Email 3.0.

High Impact Email (HIE) is a powerful email marketing tool that will allow you to send graphical email

messages that look and act like a web page with colors, pictures and hyperlinks. In this class,

students learn the basics of e-marketing with HTML email, and they learn how to add text and

graphics into easy to use, pre-designed e-mail templates.

Note: High Impact Email is a software package that costs $99, one time fee. It is installed on all of our

laptop computers in the class. You can purchase High Impact Email, or try it first, free for 30 days, by

going to www.templatezone.com.

Real Estate Publications with MS Publisher (PUBF102)

For students who own MS Publisher, or would like to purchase it, this class is a must. This course

covers the same topics as the MS Word Flyers class, and introduces students to the enhanced power

of a true, introductory desktop publishing application.

Some Publisher-specific features will be covered in this class, such as layout wizards, page guides, and

templates for other forms, such as brochures, announcements and calendars.

A class in Microsoft Word or equivalent experience is strongly recommended as a prerequisite before a

student enrolls in MS Publisher.

Digital Cameras in Real Estate (DIG101)

This course is great whether the student already owns a digital camera, or is thinking of buying one.

Students will learn the major features of digital cameras, and what to look for in buying a camera.

They will also learn tips on taking better pictures, learn about the different storage media, and how to

choose the correct resolution for the task, such as uploading images to HARMLS.

Further, students will learn how to transfer images to their computer, and how to crop, recolor and

resize these pictures using software. Finally, students will learn how to upload and download photos

and graphics to the Web, and they will get an introduction to the terminology and techniques of virtual

tours.

Students who already own a digital camera are encouraged to bring their camera to class!

Advanced Digital Imaging (DIG201)

Our Advanced class picks up where our first class leaves off. In this class, agents will be shown how

to download and use Picasa, from Google, and easy-to-use image editing and organization software.

Agents will learn how to import photos to their computer and catalog them for easy retrieval. Further,

they will learn basic editing techniques, such as cropping, sharpening, changing color or contrast and

lightening or darkening. Even special effects, such as black and white, sepia and color filters will be

examined.

Further, students will learn how to automatically resize and email their photos, all in one step. They

will create photo albums with slide shows that can be saved on their computer, on a CD or online. The

participants will be shown how easy it is to find a photo anywhere on their computer, using the built-in

search engine. Oh, yes! You will even be able to clean up "red eyes" with one click of the mouse. If

your photos are pretty good, but you want to do much more with them, don't miss Advanced Digital

Imaging!

Basic Tempo (TEMP101)

Don't let the word "Basic" fool you! This is a kicked-up version of the HAR course, and is a great class

for new agents, or for agents who want to use Tempo more. We spend a good amount of time on

search techniques, and students will learn some valuable pointers for creating effective searches.

We have discussions on how to best print and email from Tempo, and these are tips that everyone

needs to know. Agents will be given a short look at the different CMA capabilities of Tempo, and we

will go over the standard reports. They will be introduced to custom searches as well as custom

reports, and will be shown how to easily set up prospects with auto-notification.

Advanced Tempo (TEMP201)

This class is the one that "kicks it up a notch or two". First, we will have a short review of some of the

Tempo Basics. But watch carefully, as you may learn some new tricks here! Then we will teach you

advanced techniques for creating really kicked-up custom searches as well as custom reports. You'll

learn how to download your Tempo results into Excel, and we will teach you some expert tricks on

how to email anything from Tempo to your customers.

You will also be shown all of the powerful features of Tempo mapping, and how to fully utilize mapping

for your customers. Students will learn more tips about the taxes features of Tempo, as well as how

to utilize the Days Back and Hot Sheets Reports. And of course, we will go over Prospects and

Automatic Email notification, and show you some more tips and techniques.

If you think you know Tempo pretty well, but you don't know it all, this is the class for you!

Blackberry Handheld Basics (BB101)

Many REALTORS® are already using a Blackberry device. This class will show student all of the major

functions of the Blackberry handheld, including the use of the address book, the calendar, the task list

and the memo pad. Students will further learn tips and techniques for adjusting their Blackberry

settings and will be shown various shortcuts.

They will also learn how to instant message other Blackberry users, and will discuss some of the addons

and accessories that are available for the Blackberry handheld. Finally, students will learn how to

synchronize their data with the computer.

Students who already own a Blackberry handheld are encouraged to bring it to class.

Palm Handheld Basics (PALM101) (To be discontinued in 2009)

This is the same basic course as our Blackberry course, except for Palm users.

Contact Management with ACT (ACT101)

A longtime favorite of many REALTORS®, ACT!® is one of the leading contact managers on the

market. In this class, students will learn how to view, store and retrieve their contact information, how

to start, stop and safely use ACT! as well as how to create and edit contact information.

They will also learn to schedule reminders, meetings and track activities, create documents, labels and

form letters, and will be introduced to the preparation of faxes and e-mail. Finally, students will learn

to access their daily, weekly and monthly calendars, as well as printing and viewing contact lists and

reports.

Advanced ACT (ACT201)

In our advanced ACT class, students learn how to customize the ACT environment, and really finetune

ACT for real estate. We show how to customize the fields in ACT and how to create new custom

fields. Further, we show students how to customize the look and feel of the ACT screen to make it

best work for them. We will spend time on the standard ACT reports, and the class will learn the

basics of creating their own custom reports. Participants will also learn about mailing labels, form

letters and how to create emails and email merges.

We will briefly review the basics of doing searches, and then we will explore some advanced search

methods. We will also provide a quick review of the calendar functions, and then look at some

advanced scheduling techniques, including setting up activity series. Students will also be shown how

to use the powerful Sales Opportunities tool, and will see what an asset this is for real estate listings.

We will have a discussion of synchronization via email, as well as synchronizing ACT with a handheld

device, and we will see how ACT works in a network environment.

Top Producer 8i (TP8101)

In this class we focus on building a strong foundation in TOP PRODUCER 8i. Learning the contact

management fundamentals of Top Producer dictates the future success of implementing this powerful

program. The following topics will be discussed in depth: Agent and Preferences setup, Adding and

editing new contacts, Generating correspondence for a contact(s), Scheduling events for contacts,

Searching for contacts, Emailing from within Top Producer and Action Plans are two advanced features

to which students are introduced.

Top Producer 8i Advanced (TP8201)

Our Advanced Top Producer will show agents how to build email and letter templates, create

sophisticated action plans, and manage email within Top Producer. We will show you how to direct

leads from your website into Top Producer. Students will also be shown how to set up listings and

closings, complete with their own plans. They will also see how to set up action plans that

automatically start up for Web leads. We will explore Top Producer for Handhelds, as well as Top

Connector, which allows users to bring their MLS listings directly into Top Producer. We will then work

with Top Producer's flyers, CMA's and Buyer/Seller packets.

Wyldfyre (WYLD101)

Learn how to use many of the features of Wyldfyre, and see how this program is a good companion

product to Tempo. See how to create CMA's and Buyer Tours with this robust software. Students will

further learn custom searches and reports, saved searches, flyers and cards and many other features.

We work around your schedule.

We offer classes all over the city, at a time and location that is convenient for you. Check out the

classes currently available by contacting your First American sales representative.

Then give your First American Title sales representative a call today...and let us help you through

technology!

For the most up-to-date information, visit our website at www.firstteach.com.

Or call me today 281-723-1982 kheinrich@firstam.com