Because technology and innovation have made significant advancements in western society, this has a resulted in new ways of living and working. One place where significant growth and change has taken place is at the office. People no longer use typewriters and sit on uncomfortable wooden chairs. The modern office has now become a home away from home.

Important changes in the office have centered on appearance, technology advancements, innovative office furniture, appearance, and implementing eco-friendly policies.

Technology: Because of advancements in technology, office spaces have become much smaller and simpler. Equipment is much smaller, lighter, and requires less power. More information is stored on computers so there less paper is required. Phones and faxes are often used together in one area and photocopying machines are smaller. This means that less area is required to house office equipment. Advancements in technology have also resulted in a blending of work space and support space. There is more teamwork taking place so offices are now designed to make it easier for employees to communicate with each other. The size of private workspaces has been reduced. Office chairs are now more ergonomic in order to reduce aches such as back pain. With new cost saving and longer lasting light bulbs, lighting has become more energy efficient. As well, office machines are now being built to minimize health risks.

Office Furniture: Environmentally friendly furniture, or Green Furniture, is becoming a very popular choice. Many office supply companies are now selling desks, chairs, cabinets, and other furniture made from wood that comes from sustainable forests. Bamboo is popular because it grows quickly. This type of furniture is usually made without using chemicals. This includes the paint and varnish applied to the furniture. There are also a number of companies selling office furniture that is made from recycled materials. Another popular choice is refurbished furniture. Eco-friendly companies obtain old office furniture, repair and clean them, and then resell them. This reduces the amount of waste going into landfills.

Appearance: Modern offices are much more personal. They are designed and built for comfort, boost employee morale, and impress customers and clients. The modern office tends to have more windows and lighting. Office furniture is more modern and chic. There is no longer a sterile and bland appearance. Paint color schemes and carpet are usually chosen to match the office furniture. There is a trend for open spacing. The height of cubicle walls is being reduced.

A Green Office: many offices are now implementing policies that will help protect the environment. Some green measures include: setting up recycling bins, using energy efficient computers, installing water coolers with biodegradable cups instead of drinking bottled water, purchasing recycled paper, storing more content on computers instead of constantly printing documents, purchasing refillable ink jets, using eco friendly kitchen utensils and dishes, using non toxic and environmentally friendly cleaners, using energy efficient light bulbs, reusing boxes, and purchasing refurbished electronics and other equipment. Employers may also offer a subsidy on public transit or start a carpool.

Health and Well Being Programs: Many employers offer ways for their employees to get healthy. This can include providing special exercise and relaxation programs such as yoga, keeping a couple of bikes nearby in case an employee wants to go for a bike ride during lunch break, setting up a room with exercise equipment such as a treadmill, and starting a walking or running club.

The modern office is much different than the traditional office. There is a trend of designing offices to accommodate changing lifestyles and make the work environment more enjoyable and healthier.



Rent Back Fast

When you place brochures from every mortgage company side by side, you can’t help but notice the similarities. Each piece mentions that they have every possible loan program available, proven & experienced professionals, fast & friendly service, a list of documents needed to process the loan, a promise of individualized attention and a commitment to professionally serve the client.

This is fine and dandy for consumers, but what about your brochure for real estate agents? If you’re giving to agents the same brochure you give to clients, does it help you stand out? Probably not - and even if you do have a separate brochure for agents, does it avoid the 3 most common mistakes?

Loan Officer Marketing: Brochure Mistake #1 - Feature-Driven Messages

This is the colossal mistake with most brochures. Here’s a quick list of features often mentioned in mortgage brochures; loan rates, APR, quality service, mortgage insurance, points, refinance, payments, purchase, full service, originate, retail, interest-only, option-only, ARMS, free quote, to name a few.

Features don’t tell the reader anything. Sometimes it only confuses them more about your service. When an agent reads your brochure, they’re reading it for one reason. They want to know, “What’s in it for them.” If you’ve been in sales for a length of time and have been a good student of it, you know that people are interested in hearing benefits, not features. But wait, there’s a twist.

If you sell widgets, your brochure follows an old school formula. It describes what the widget is (feature) and than tells the customer what the widget will do for them (benefits). Pretty simple, isn’t it?

But you’re in the mortgage business. Or better said, you’re in the service business. Wherein lies the caveat, when you sell a service, it’s invisible. You can’t touch, smell or see it. Even though describing the benefits an agent receives from using your services is helpful, it’s not enough.

If you want your brochure to make a difference, the kind of difference that gets noticed by agents, than describe the problems they have that you can solve for them.

It’s a strange phenomenon, but dreadfully true. Agents are more interested in reading about their problems than reading about the benefits of your services, or features for that matter.

Loan Officer Marketing: Brochure Mistake #2 - Use of Jargon

Jargon is like, “Swahili,” a confused, unintelligible language. It’s words that you understand, but leaves an agent clueless. Jargon comes across as obscure and pretentious. Instead, keep things in simpleton terms. Your brochure should focus on expression, not impression. Using buzzwords, stylish words or phrases can come off as pompous.

Jargon slows down or stops the reading process. Avoid it by writing your brochure in a casual voice, as if you’re having a conversation with the reader. In English class you were taught to write very formal, remember, your brochure isn’t a term paper, it’s an opportunity to persuade and shape one’s perception.

Make use of pictures to communicate, they’re only worth a thousand words. Agents understand with their eyes. Graphs, charts, photos, and pull quotes are examples of conveying or supporting key points.

Everyone’s brochure mentions good customer service. As an alternative, use a flow chart to demonstrate your service, and than support it with satisfied client testimonials.

Loan Officer Marketing: Brochure Mistake #3 - Me-tooism Disease

Don’t take offense - most of us have this disease. You see what might be working for someone, so you copy it for yourself. It’s easy to grab the leading competitor’s brochure and copy some or all of it. Years ago for instance, rate sheets were a hot marketable brochure. You could distribute a few hundred and get a respectable response. Well, when you have hundreds of loan officers copying it, guess what happens? It wears out, but we keep using it.

Me-tooism isn’t worthwhile. Look at how much mail you’re still getting from other mortgage companies trying to get you to refinance. And they use the same formatted letter as everyone else. The letter specifically states, in bold print, how much you could be saving, and includes an advertised low rate. Sometimes it’s printed in the form of a fictitious check ready to be cashed.

Don’t be afraid to be different. It’s easy to use what others have and challenging to come up with originality. But it’s originality that can earn the biggest reward.

The Power of a Well-Crafted Brochure

Like a good movie plot, a well-crafted brochure sets the storyline in motion. It shapes an agent’s perception before you sit down with them - curtailing rejection and lessening resistance. It provokes thought in their mind, making you more memorable. And it helps you stand out and be noticed among a huge crowd.



Quick House Sale

As the largest alternative medical profession, it is now relatively common to find Chiropractors offices in various parts of the United States. More and more people these days are using the services of Chiropractors, as a solution for health issues unsolved by modern medical science. A Chiropractors office list today would reveal contact information of some 57,000 Chiropractors dispersed through various parts of the United States. Such information, while seemingly overwhelming and redundant, does in fact have many uses. All it takes is creativity to use this information to your advantage. This article presents you with three ways on how you can do so.

If you are currently looking for someone to engage in a joint practice, then a Chiropractors office list might well be very useful to you. For instance, you could be a doctor looking to establish a joint practice with a Chiropractor. What better way of doing this than consulting a Chiropractors office list? With a whole list of Chiropractors dispersed throughout the United States, you would now be in a better position to select the best person with whom you can establish your joint practice with. With such a wide selection of individuals to choose from, you would now be in a better position to source out your preferred business partner. As such, a Chiropractors office list provides you with the ability to make a wide range of inquiries before you arrive at your final decision.

Alternatively, with a Chiropractors office listing, you could start a small business from home by selling Chiropractic-related products such as seat supports, with an entire market of Chiropractors in the United States at your fingertips. With vital contact details such as telephone numbers and business addresses, you would be in a better position to strategize various marketing strategies in order to achieve sale of your product. For instance, you could send out promotional mailers on a regular basis offering discounts on the various Chiropractic-related products that you may be selling. The opportunities open to you are in fact, limitless. Better still, most listing companies provide frequent updates to their Chiropractors office listings. This would allow you to have a constantly updated list with which you would be able to make use of when growing your business.

Last but not least, at the very level of an average consumer, a Chiropractors office listing would provide you with many options to choose from as far as physical bodily discomforts are concerned. With a Chiropractors office list at your fingertips, you would now be able to locate the nearest Chiropractor near you should you require Chiropractic services. Regardless of whether you are at home or on vacation, you would appreciate the ability to locate the Chiropractor nearest to you. In fact, you save much money and time spent in discomfort in being able to do so.

The benefits of a Chiropractors office listing are by no means exhaustive. As with all things, it would require much creativity on your part in order to put such benefits to its optimal use.



Quick House Sale

Buying used furniture is a smart choice for many companies. The furniture typically sells for pennies on the dollar and can be found in like new condition. There are many different types and looks of office furniture but the budget usually determines the available choices.

Because offices are layed out in many different configurations, choosing the right type of furniture is imperative to utilizing the available space. Some furniture can hinder high traffic areas, and some just wastes a lot of space. There are offices that can barely fit 10 people because of the furniture layout. If the office only had different furniture, that was layed out properly, it would bepossible to comfortably fit 15 people and still have plenty of room to walk around.

Many people like the aesthetic appeal of case goods furniture. This is your standard desks, bookshelves, and file drawers. Case goods can look attractive but they only do well in private offices. Case good furniture typically offers very little privacy which is why it usually necessary to put them in an office that has a door. A lot of times a private office can be oversized and could comfortably fit 2-3 employees. The problem is that the lack of privacy makes this very unappealing to everyone involved.

A solution when buying used office furniture is to consider cubicles. Cubicles are like a self contained office. They can be stand alone, or connected to two or three other cubicles. The walls vary in height and can satisfy a call center with low walls, to an owner or manager with high walls. A private office that used to hold one employee, can now hold two or three employees thanks to cubicles. The walls of the cubicle help create an artificial private office.

A growing company can sometimes add employees without having to get a new office space. By changing just the furniture, it is possible to add up to 30% or more employees. This can save valuable capital dollars for the company wishing to expand in other directions.

The storage and efficiency of these cubicles make life very easy and organized. They typically come with overhead and below desk storage. The desk space is also a lot larger than most case good desks allowing more working space and the ability to not be cluttered. Cubicles also come with full power electricity wired into them. This allows for lights, computers, fax machines, copiers, and more to work just as effectively in a private office.

For those offices with big open spaces, cubicles are a must have to properly utilize the space effeciently. Thanks to the varying wall heights of cubicles, it is possible to create the perfect set-up depending on the situation. The ergonomic height selections allow for just enough privacy and just enough open space to not feel boxed in.

When you buy used cubes and case goods, you can save 70-80% off of the retail price. There are many companies who offer these good values around the country. Some companies will even come out to your office space and make a recommendation that will utilize the office space to the fullest extent. Most offices or parts of them will perform better with cubicles or case goods, but not both.



Passive Income