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The Ultimate Guide to Email Security
By Andrew E.
How to protect your email account from getting hacked or phished
Equifax. Target. Uber. LinkedIn. Yahoo. If there is one thing we have all learned, it is that nothing is safe these days, these companies – and others – clearly cannot be counted on to safeguard you from the dangers of hackers. In 2016 alone over 4 billion data records were stolen across the world.
Your email account should be treated as one the most closely guarded personal effects in your life. What were to happen if your email account were compromised and all the escrow money or their social security numbers your client had entrusted to you vanished due to you clicking on a suspect email link? That is a scenario none of us want.
To help safeguard you, and the interests of those you represent, use these five stages of email password security to protect your email account.
Level #1: “Uh, duh.”
The first stage is all about covering the basic best practices of email security.
Don’t use password, abcedfg or 1234567 as your email password
The best thing you can do today is to not use the things like “password,” abcdefg or 1234567 as your email passwords. According to Betterbuys.com these types of passwords can take a hacker just 0.29 milliseconds to hack and compromise your account.
0.29 Milliseconds: The amount of time it takes a hacker to crack a generic password.
Don’t believe me? Betterbuys.com has this nifty tool you can use to test the strength of your password (don’t worry they don’t keep the passwords.)
“Estimating Password-Cracking Times” by BetterBuys
Use at least 12 characters when creating a password
The longer your password, the longer it takes hackers to crack your accounts and access sensitive information. On average, passwords with at least 12 characters can potentially take two centuries to crack.
Use Lowercase, Uppercase, numeric and special characters
Just how you construct, your password is just as important as a character count. The more thought you put into how your passwords are constructed, the more time it can take hackers to crack your account.
Level #2: “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.” – Lloyd Christmas
Even with a strong password, your chances of being compromised are still high. Hackers and phishers use a variety of programs and tactics to bilk people out of the personal information and other valuables (Mr. Robot anyone?)
At stage two it is about adding extra protection.
Use two-factor verification
The short version: When you use two-factor verification should someone have your password, they should not be able to login to your account(s) without first entering a security code sent via SMS text or through the use of an authentication app. The thinking behind this is “prove whom you say you are” especially if you are attempting to log in from a new phone or laptop.
Increase your phishing detection skills
Phishing occurs when a nefarious entity falsely represents themselves under the guise of being a legitimate company. Their end goal: tricking you into providing sensitive personal information, erroneously sending them money, and the list goes on.
To help you get better at recognizing fake websites and not giving up the proverbial farm, LifeHacker has some great tips, tricks, and tools you can use to protect you from phishing attempts.
Go here for more information on email verification and validation!
Level #3: “That’s interesting, man.” – The Dude
Proactively monitoring your email account can be a great tool for keeping yourself safe and it is easy to set up. At this stage, it is all about keeping yourself informed about what is going on with your account(s) and making sure nothing funny is going on.
Turn on recent event monitoring
If you use notification messages for any apps on your smartphone or tablet, recent event notifications work in a similar way. This type of security helps you to know the exact time, place, and device that was used each time to access your account. Each email provider has different ways of customizing this type of security, so check with your email provider which options are available. I use both email and text notifications for my Gmail account to make sure I am not potentially missing out on any suspicious activity.
Level #4: “I’m putting it in the vault.” – Jerry Seinfeld
With the new layers of security for your email account (and, hopefully, your other important accounts) it can feel overwhelming trying to manage all the new changes. Fortunately, there’s an app for that.
Invest in a password manager vault app
It may seem counterproductive to stage one, but, utilizing a highly encrypted third-party solution for managing all of your passwords can be a lifesaver both for your sanity and time. The concept is simple: enter your login credentials for an account and utilize this as your single source of truth for managing all your accounts including your email account.
There are a lot of great options out on the market. To help you pick the one that is the best fit for you, LifeHacker has put together a great article highlighting the top five options ranked by consumers (I use LastPass).
Level #5: “You will lose.” – Ivan Drago
This stage is not for the lighthearted. If you want to have the highest level of protection against hacking, then read on.
Invest in a YubiKey
A Yubikey is the ultimate last line of defense in email security. Yubikey is a small thumb drive about the size of a quarter, fits on your keychain, and acts as a physical password vault. Translation: if you do not stick the Yubikey into your device, you can not access your email account.
You might be skeptical, but I can personally attest that this is one of my top three best personal investments of 2017. After experiencing my email account being hacked this year, I swore never to let it happen again, thus stumbling upon Yubikey. You can also have multiple Yubikeys tied to your accounts, so, just like your keys, if it happens to get misplaced, you can use a spare until finding your primary one. There is a variety of Yubikey options, so choose the one that best fits your needs.
Hanna Holdings Invests in MoxiWorks
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE Hanna Holdings, the holding company of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, has become an investor in Moxi Works, Moxi Works recently announced. Howard Hanna has committed to providing growth capital and ensuring a future of technology for the company’s agents, as well as Moxi Works’ more than 50 other brokerage clients.
How [Not] to Write a Real Estate Agent Bio
By Maddie Jostol
It’s something you likely only update if you’re thinking about changing brokerages or you get a new website. If you’ve been in the game a while, but haven’t updated your bio – now is the time.
Your bio is your opportunity to tell someone who you are and what you’re about before you meet. It’s a first impression, in a way. The start of a new year is the perfect time to review your online presence and get those websites and LinkedIn profiles updated, so we’ve compiled a list of tips to help guide you to a winning agent bio.
Don’t sound like a robot – Make it human. Use language that reads similarly to how you would speak while remaining professional. Someone is reading your bio to get to know you, not to see a standard agent boilerplate. Start building a human connection when they read your bio.
Don’t write a novel – Keep it short and sweet. Provide the reader with just enough information to make them decide they want to work with you, without telling your entire life story. 200-350 words is plenty.
Don’t look like everybody else – Focus on unique expertise. Do you know a lot about housing for veterans? Do you speak a second language? Are you well-connected in a particular community? Play up your strengths and set yourself apart.
Don’t start from the beginning – Start with what makes you the best now, and then support that with your past experience.
Don’t be a stranger – Real estate is all about community. People take pride in where they live, so use that to your advantage. Talk about your local area as if you love it there and people will respond positively.
Don’t start with how many years you’ve been in the biz – “I’ve been in real estate for 25 years” doesn’t make me want to keep reading. Experience absolutely matters, but because of what you’ve accomplished and the service you provide your clients, not in the number of years. Not to mention, starting your bio this way will sound generic and unimaginative.
Don’t limit yourself to text – Try a video bio. Video gives you the opportunity to show your personality and resonate with viewers as a true consultant.
Don’t use gibberish – We’ve all seen those bios with so many designations following the author’s name that you can’t decipher it all. By all means, note your qualifications and don’t shy away from sharing your designations, just don’t make it look like your cat sat on the keyboard while you were typing. Include your professional experience in a thoughtful, selective way.
Don’t advertise – There’s a time and a place for advertising. Maybe they clicked on an ad to get to your website where they’re reading your bio. However, your bio is an opportunity for someone to get to know you. Sure, the end goal is to win a listing, but that’ll happen because they want to work with YOU.
Prominent Real Estate Company Invests in MoxiWorks Technology
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE January 18, 2018 – Pittsburgh, PA – Hanna Holdings, the holding company of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, has become an investor in Moxi Works, a Seattle-based real estate technology company. Howard Hanna has committed to providing growth capital and ensuring a future of cutting-edge technology for the company’s agents, as well as Moxi Works’ more than 50 other brokerage clients.
Hanna Holdings invests in Seattle real estate tech firm
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE Hanna Holdings, the holding company for Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, announced on Thursday it has invested in a Seattle-based real estate technology firm that provides a suite of tools to make agents more productive.
The O’Hara real estate company first partnered with Moxi Works in August 2013, becoming a customer of the Moxi Cloud platform offering tools and services to help real estate agents.
Moxi Works Adds PadStyler to Cloud Open Platform
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE Moxi Works has added PadStyler visual home staging experts to its Moxi Cloud open platform, the company recently announced.
How to Leverage Your Database for More Leads
By Maddie Jostol
In today’s competitive market, everybody is thirsty for more leads. Lead generation is becoming increasingly challenging and expensive and it’s tough to know what lead quality you’re going to get. The truth is, a jackpot of leads might be right under your nose. Yes… you might have a goldmine and not even know it! Your sphere of influence could be chock-full of leads – both those who are thinking about buying or selling, and those who have friends who are thinking about buying or selling.
Always be growing that sphere.
As an agent, your sphere is your book of business moving forward. Those relationships will only become more valuable as lead generation gets more competitive. A strong sphere of influence will give you an instant leg-up against other agents because it’s a base of relationships that powers your business. When you meet people at PTA meetings, holiday parties, and community events who could be clients down the road, you’re growing your sphere, and in turn, your business.
Keep that database up-to-date.
As you do your farming, add those people to your database. Those connections are valuable, but only if you have a fighting chance of keeping in touch with them. That’s what your database is for. When the database of contacts in your CRM is up-to-date, you’re able to nurture those contacts as a lead source. Your CRM should guide your daily work routine. Who do I need to follow up with today? Where did I leave off with so-and-so? Use your CRM as a point of reference.
Stay in contact.
When you have a solid, growing sphere of influence organized into a database, you can nurture those contacts for sustainable business growth. The beautiful thing about having a well-organized database is that you can segment your database to stay in contact with certain people. Have a charity golf event you’d like to invite a handful of past clients to? Segment your database by golfers so you don’t miss a beat. Staying in contact with your sphere of influence will lead to an increase in repeat and referral business. These are the highest quality leads an agent can ask for, so don’t let them fall through the cracks. If you’re a Moxi Engage user, subscribe to Moxi Insights for consumer data that notifies you when someone in your database is likely to buy or sell.
Stay top-of-mind.
When it comes to your database, your goal is to be each contact’s go-to person when it comes to real estate. When their neighbor mentions they might take a job in another state: you know a great real estate agent. Or when their friend mentions they’re considering buying an investment property in the next year: you know the perfect person to help. The vast majority of people end up working with the agent who reached out to them first. Your goal: always be there first. If you’re present when they’re just toying with the idea of selling their home, there’s no doubt you’ll be top of mind when they’re actually ready to start the process. Lead generation happens by default when you’re top-of-mind for your sphere of influence.
Don’t discount the value of those already in your database. Rethink how you look at lead generation and start with the people you already have a relationship with. Instead of purchasing leads and attempting to win over strangers (sure, we all need to do some of that), start with your sphere and leverage your database.
My Proudest Moment: The Moxi Fund’s Humble Beginnings
By JoDee Aspin, Database Developer at Moxi Works
I started working for Moxi Works in 2012. At the time, the Moxi Fund had existed, but wasn’t being treated as the priority I felt it should. There was about $4,000 sitting in the fund, mostly from donations that staff made over the years. No one was overseeing the fund or guiding it along to a prosperous future. Fortunately, that soon changed.
Mark Carlson, VP of Software Engineering, knew I had interest in the Windermere Foundation, which has always been extremely visible to Moxi Works since our founding roots are in the Windermere Real Estate brokerage. Because of that, Mark asked if I wanted to take control of it and as you can imagine, I jumped at the opportunity! In fact, it’s one of the reasons I said yes to taking the job at Moxi.
The fact that people on staff had donated money that was just sitting in a pot and not getting to the people it was intended for, bothered me to no end. Under the Executive Director of the Windermere Foundation’s guidance, I formed a team and we began troubleshooting ways to generate more donations to the Moxi Fund.
Initially our team included Tom Harnett, Jillian Igarashi and Jeff DeMelle. We determined that we really had two main goals, first, to continually promote awareness about the Moxi Fund within the organization, and second to generate enough interest that the entire staff thought of new ways to fundraise and help in growing the pot. I think we were all surprised at how quickly this took hold. We started to generate more and more interest and thus our funds began to grow little by little. It really kicked off once our CEO, York Baur got behind it (whom at the time had just joined Moxi Works). From that point on, there was only up. In fact, the Moxi Fund has raised more than $80,000 for charities in our community.
The Moxi Fund is a win for our entire company, and one that makes me proud of each person that gives to it, whether through volunteering for the Moxi Fund team, donating funds, or participating in the activities around it. More than that, it makes me proud to work for a company that promotes and fosters programs that give back to the wider community. So many took ownership and it was so lovely to see and be a part of. Today, because of logistics, I am no longer there with the team, in fact there are many new people involved, but my heart is there and always will be. The growth of the Moxi Fund is my proudest moment at the company (one of many I might add). Can’t wait to see how the Moxi Fund continues to grow in the years to come!
The Moxi Fund Made Moves in 2017
The Moxi Fund is an integral part of what we do here at Moxi Works. Our staff contributes directly to it from every paycheck. Since 2014, the Moxi Fund has raised over $80,000 for local Seattle charities benefitting children and families in need.
The team here at Moxi that oversees the Moxi Fund, plans ingenious fundraisers and is responsible for the consistent growth and giving of the funds. Here’s a look at all the Moxi Fund was able to accomplish in 2017:
Pike Place Market Foundation
“Cut the Pie”
In May, several Moxians had the honor to attend the Pike Place Market Foundation’s “Cut the Pie” event! This event is held every year to distribute grant money—partly funded by the donations from Moxi employees—to deserving, impactful services in the market community. Our attendees were blown away by the depth of health care, housing, and nutritional services operate right next door to us, and all the recipients commented on how “now more than ever” these services are needed and how Pike Market Foundation is an invaluable resource to the needy.
Pike Place Giving Tree
The Pike Place Giving Tree is a favorite at Moxi Works. During a time when everyone is trying to budget for their own family’s vacations, feasts, and gifts, it’s even more important to not forget about those that need it more than we do around the holidays. We put up a tree in the office and hung tags for specific items a local family had asked for. Employees could grab a tag from the tree and come back with said item. We wrapped ‘em all up and delivered them to the folks at the Pike Place Market Foundation. They let us know that all these gifts went to a relocated family in Seattle to make them feel loved in their new home.
Community Service Day
Every year, all of Moxi Works closes its doors for an entire day to give back to the local community. In 2017, we volunteered at Ryther. Founded in 1885, Ryther is a nonprofit organization serving vulnerable children and their families. They serve children and youth who are struggling with mental illness, substance use, Autism, and/or trauma. Here’s a look at what we were able to accomplish as a Moxi team that day.
Moxi Races
Another way we like to raise money at Moxi Works is to race! And by race, we mean to an exciting destination like
Disney World or Washington D.C…basically the further it is, the better. We did two Moxi Races this year to encourage good health and raise money for the Moxi Fund. For each race, competitors contribute $25 to the Moxi Fund and logs their steps.
Race 1 stats: We had a grand total of 19,401,064.32 steps across all 5 teams that participated (9186.11 miles)
Race 2 stats: This race is currently still on. We are sitting at 14,229,135.36 steps across all 7 teams taking part this time around (6737.28 miles)
These races really are a win-win. We get to raise money for our beloved Moxi Fund, while at the same time doing something to better our health!
Pub Trivia
In 2017, we also did four pub trivia sessions. Because who doesn’t love trivia? Everyone who participates donates $5 to the Moxi Fund as entry to the competition. Every little bit helps!
Northwest Harvest
Moxi Works’ employees also donated 911 pounds of food to Northwest Harvest in 2017 – our biggest food donation yet!
Stay tuned for what the Moxi Fund is able to accomplish in 2018!
Key Aspects to Look for in a Brokerage Platform
By Maddie Jostol
Many technology companies are calling themselves a platform. It’s becoming a loosely used buzzword, but what makes a true platform is a technology that serves as the base for all of your technology solutions. It’s the hub of your company’s technology.
As a brokerage owner, what should you be looking for when considering a platform for your business? Below are a few of the key things you absolutely must consider when vetting these technologies.
Make sure it’s open
An open platform is quite different from a closed platform. What makes a platform “open” is an open API, which allows other technologies to plug into the platform, integrating and sharing data. Asking whether or not a platform is truly open is key to knowing what potential the technology has in integrating your business. A closed platform limits your ability to leverage data, and doesn’t help your agents run their business.
Find a reliable partner
When it comes to onboarding a platform for your brokerage, you’ll want to work with a provider who serves as a true technology partner. A platform is the technology backbone of your business, it isn’t just some add-on tool. Because of this, your platform provider should serve as a trusted advisor, guiding you to the strongest technology ecosystem that effectively runs your business.
The beauty of an open platform is that you can make it your own – our brokerage clients have varying technology ecosystems based on which integrated tool and service providers they’ve decided to provide to their brokerage. Work with people who can guide you through this process, selecting the best technology services for your business. This brings us to our next tip…
Own your data
Data is more powerful than you might think. What kind of data are we talking about? MLS data, consumer data, agent data, and more. All of it should live in your brokerage platform, where it’s accessible and useful. Data can power other tools, lend valuable insights, improve productivity, and more. It’s time for all brokerages to own their data.
The value of integration
Integration adds value to your business, smoothing operations and increasing productivity. Agents don’t have to switch back and forth between technologies, attempting to remember dozens of passwords. It also gets rid of manual data entry. When data is shared across your tools, including your MLS, it negates manual data entry and the inevitable errors that comes with it.
Selecting and onboarding an open platform for your business can feel complicated, but it’s vital to staying ahead in this competitive market. Your brokerage needs an integrated technology ecosystem that offers flexibility, connects your business, and helps you be more profitable.
To learn more about the Moxi Cloud open platform and what sets it apart, click here.
