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Realtor Marketing on the Net: Some War Stories

First is a classic tale of a story submittedcolors were very important to me, and the
by a Real Estate Company with multiplesubject was just not up for discussion. This
offices that had contracted for a Web Site toinfuriated him. He did set things up under my
be developed. The Web Site development firmown domain, though'. However, strange as it
was an established company with goodmay seem, the name I'd picked out all along,
references in the Real Estate industry. Thehad just been taken by someone on the
site was developed to the satisfaction of theoutskirts of my trading area, just weeks
franchise owners and they sat backbefore I applied for it. Had I gotten it in
anticipating the results. Nine months laterthe first place, I would have it now. I'd
with thousands of supposed "hits" and veryused the name in other types of media, and a
few inquiries they began to examine the sitehuge franchise Realtor decided he would
that had been designed for them. They foundregister it, in case I ever wanted to "BUY"
that the site had never been submitted to theit back from him.A similar horror show took
search engines and that it was notplace with the ISPs --- their servers were
"keyworded" for the cities that theycontinually going down. Had to move four
serviced. They had not been getting thetimes before I found a compatible group of
detailed log reports which they should havepeople with whom I could work. AMAZING.
and had not had a search engine performanceEveryone wants to argue. Everyone is an
analysis  on  the  site.expert. They charge huge set up fees, and
people who are not "in the know", need to
When they confronted the Site Developersreally be careful about signing those kinds
they were told that changes in the industryof contracts. Some keep on charging my AMEX
were responsible for the poor performance andcards, sporadically, after months of no
the site had to be redesigned because ofcharges. Trying to get that rectified is
this. Of course this is ridiculous. Asanother  nightmare.
professionals they should have kept up with
industry changes. Not only that, they neverAll I want to do is sell real estate. I have
did submit the site to the search engines.spent the better part of the past year and a
To date, they had already paid more thanhalf "working" on the Net. Indeterminable
$75,000 for the site development andcosts  in  $$$,  and  much  more  in nerves.
administration. They were locked in. So, they
agreed to pay an additional $5,000. To
correct the problems caused by "industry
changes". Two and a half months later theirA true horror show, that finally is, in
redesigned site is coming up on the searchspite of itself, finally producing excellent
engines. It is still not key worded for theresults. Not lots, but I am good at weeding
cities they service and the correctionsand feeding. Response time is "everything",
continue.as you say on your site. I, for one, believe
this is absolutely business on the cutting
This story is not a unique one. Today, thereedge of the future, and we are now,
are middle school students who can develop afortunately, positioned to take advantage of
Web Site. This does not mean they fullythe way that business will be conducted from
understand the Internet and how it works. Ahere  on  in.
Web Site is a key business element that
requires knowledge of the business, sales andI have made some valuable new contacts in
marketing and all the facets of businessthe industry, we belong to three network
management. It also requires a broad-basedcommunities, and look forward to exceptional
knowledge  of  the  workings of the Internet.success from here on in. Our site was
written up in the Canadian Real Estate News
The greatest problem that we see is a lacknewspaper which is delivered to all real
of knowledge on the part of theestate offices across Canada. Many Realtors
businessperson who is considering a Web Sitemade contact as a result of that article,
for his business. Without an ability totoo.
evaluate the competency of a Web Site
Developer the businessperson is at a loss toI was at a meeting for the Real Estate
make a qualified judgment. There are manyCouncil of Ontario recently, and was informed
people who have developed numerous Web Sitesby the President that he'd just returned from
but there are few who have created sites,an Air Canada flight, on which he'd read an
which  produce  the  intended  results.article about my web success. Not realizing
he'd be seeing me, he didn't keep the
From a realtor in Tucson we hear that shearticle.  I  am  now trying to locate a copy.
has been getting regular inquiries from the
Internet and has a client flying in fromThis from Bob Jurgensen in Manassas, VAI
Japan. After a year on line and withaverage about 3-5 requests a week for my
listings in and her own web site she has a"free relocation kits" and about 1 in 10 ever
regular flow of inquiries from around thecommunicates back in any form. Most do
country.provide phone numbers but few return calls
and I usually get voice mails. (Bob has
We continue to get e-mail from Realtorsstopped sending out the kits to every
around the country. There are many Realtorsrequest,  he  contacts  people  first  now)
who are just learning about the Internet and
making the adjustment from the "snail world".In spite of this seemingly poor rate of
At first it is hard to get accustomed to thereturn, I did sell 11 homes and almost $2
speed of the net. E-mail is transmitted toMillion in sales off the Internet in 2005. I
recipients in a matter of seconds. People whotracked my sales last year very carefully
have been active on the net for a while comebecause it was all new to me and I wanted to
to expect a response from others within 24know  what  works  and  what  doesn't.
hours. One is not surprised when a business
responds within hours to an e-mail. TheMy first contact was an Air Traffic
businesses that are seriously "doingController from Boston moving to this area
business" on the web often respond within an(Dulles) and we began a dialog. He came down
hour. So, for those of us who are justalone and I gave him a tour the day he
starting a to market our Realtor services oninterviewed for his new job. Then two weeks
the Internet, this concept of speed islater he returned with his family and we went
something we have to adjust to. Those of usout  to  do  some  serious  searching.
who do not make this adjustment will fall by
the wayside as more aggressive and attentiveRight after this family bought, he passed my
companies  give  customers a faster response.email address to another friend in Boston,
who visited my site and also requested a
Ouch! Three Web Designers and $$$ over 1relocation kit. Bingo... another sale a few
1/2  yearweeks later. Between these two guys I had a
referral from each and that's a total of 4
Signed up with a web master who had done asales in about 3 months. (A new ATC facility
nice, clean site for a nearby local Realtor.opened at Dulles recently and they had to
I did not know the right questions to ask, sostaff it so many are coming here from other
I signed up with him too. He was in theparts  of  country.)
northwest states. Turned out that he did
"cookie-cutter" sites, and didn't like it atThat's not all, this year these same two
all, when I had too many creative ideas. Hecontrollers have each sent me yet another
was a very nice "person" but did not,referral and one is coming in August to "take
absolutely did not, want to follow mythe tour", the other most likely in October.
instructions. Also, he told me I absolutelySo that's a total of 6 sales (hopefully) in
did  not  need  my  own  domain.less than two years off basically ONE HIT on
my  site.
After several months of begging, pleading,
and stamping my feet, because he never madeThere have been several others, mostly
any of the requested changes, such as markingmilitary and/or government employees. Not
listings SOLD, I couldn't deal with it allsure why, but I guess they use the I-net
any more. So, I switched to someone else whodaily. Coupled with the fact this area
came recommended. Although' his work was(DC-Northern VA) is a major gov't area, keeps
good, and delivered on time, he wasthem coming I guess. I seem to have the most
"extremely" expensive for any tiny littlesuccess  with  gov't  and  military  types.
thing done after the initial site was up and
running. Also, he decided that he had becomeSacramento Realtor had 15 Million in
a "consultant" and took it upon himself toInternet  Sourced  transactions
"run my life". Made changes to the site
without being asked, took it upon himself toDave Vandermyden, of Pacific Coast Realty,
"alter" my colors -- which are a major partis one of the top Realtors on the net. In
of my identity, without consulting with mehis second year on the Internet he originated
first, added links to places he thoughtmore than 15 million in transactions from the
should be on my site, and on and on it wentInternet. With four websites consisting of
for several weeks. When I stamped my feet,more than 130 pages he has dominated the
and insisted these things be removed, it tookSacramento market on the net. His activity
weeks  to  make  those  changes.includes referrals to a network of San
Francisco Realtors that uses to fill the
He also informed me that studies had beenneeds of inquiries he receives for that area.
done (this has been done in most forms ofDuring the first quarter of 99 Dave has
media for many years) saying that the onlyaveraged about 25 inquiries per week.Written
recognizable colours on the Net are red,for
white, and blue. Well, that's wonderful, but
part of my success over 17 years is due toBy  James  Christensen
being "different" which is also
"recognizable" by nature of not being likeReal Estate Expert and educator. Our
everyone  else.training site offers a valuable service to
individuals looking to get into the Real
My corporate identity and my corporateEstate industry.



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