Don't fight forces ; use them. - R. Buckminster Fuller ( 1895 - 1983 )
Are you fighting the forces of change by making the error of advertising'the way it has been done?' Or are you welcoming and using this change that snuck up on us over the last ten years or so? Where do you spend your advertising dollars? If you're like most real estate agents, you could be spending the least amount in the spot where your prospects are looking most often.
According to NAR, over eighty percent of all buyers look first at the internet. And while we haven't seen the result of any questionnaires, it is smart to believe that sellers look there too - if only to see who is doing the best job of presenting their lists. It's true that once your internet site is up and your prospect capture programs are in place, the cost of Internet advertising is extraordinarily low. But still...
Out of doors advertising, which is at least there for a longer period, and may function as a sort of subliminal message to prospects who see it often , gets $110 for each $6.70 spent on the web.
I know, agents are afraid of leaving behind the old strategies. They are afraid that if their faces don't show up in the sunday paper or the homes books, people will forget about them. But will they, when 80% begin looking on line instead of in those places? The way to find out, of course, is to trace where folk are coming from. You just might find that you don't need to spend all of the bucks you have been spending because that's the way'it's always been done.'
The majority of property sites I have visited are what I call'Chamber of Commerce' sites. All they do is sell the community. Because a domain gives you unlimited space in which to tell your story, it is a perfect spot to present those'reasons why.' Here you can talk about the special services you offer to buyers and sellers, promote your niche, and offer free articles that show your prospects that you know what you are doing.
I mostly tell agents to leave'the herd' behind if they want success. The beauty, of course, is that once your message is there you do not have to keep paying for it over and over again - and if you would like to add new articles, announce new lists, or merely modify your marketing message, you can do it yourself- at no cost beyond your own time. So think about this. Would it make more sense for you to cut back on some of those other forms of advertising and instead make sure that your net presence is the best that it can be? Go the additional distance to put selling copy on your website - and then track the results .
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