Internet Solutions 2003
Did Your Dot Com Dream Come True?
10-06-03
A couple years ago the big news was the Dot Com Bubble Bust when hundreds of online ventures went belly up, many of them very well funded ventures at that. Thousands of people in almost all walks of life learned that the Internet was no Easy Ticket to Success. People continue to learn that lesson every day. The Good News is that many agents have learned that there is a RIGHT WAY and a WRONG WAY and that makes all the difference. Know What Works Most real estate agents have not invested heavily in their Web strategy so when things do not work out as expected for an individual agent, there is no fanfare and no publicity. More often than not, a new template site is exchanged for the old one and nothing else changes. Eventually, the template site goes out of business but dozens more spring up. Our aim, with this weekly E-Newsletter, is to arm agents with the POWER of KNOWLEDGE. The Internet does hold out the opportunity for incredible success but to be successful, you need to understand what works and what does not.
First of all the Internet is NOT a place where hair-brained schemes can prosper although you will find all the hair-brained schemes you could possibly ask for online. As a real estate agent you have a valid service to offer and one that hundreds of people need each month. In order for you to succeed online you need a Website that enables you to compete in a very competitive market. You need a Web designer with a solid background in marketing as it applies to the Internet. Can you do this yourself? Yes, if you have a solid background in marketing as it applies to the Internet. Can your 17-year-old son or daughter do this? Yes again if the teenager is a marketing pro. Online vs Offline Behavior Marketing is the study of what makes people take the kind of action you want them to take. When you apply the principles of marketing to the Internet, marketing involves the study of what makes Web surfers take the kind of action you want them to take. Things are Different Online. Failure to recognize that difference is one of the main reasons why individual dot coms fail. |
All truly effective Dot Coms have similar characteristics. Starting with Web design, it is vital to create a site that downloads quickly and navigates easily. The Web’s main focus should be on those elements most likely to cause a visitor to contact you. What will cause visitors to your site to contact you? Buyers tend to click on links that showcase listings. Sellers tend to click on links that provide some kind of guidance about current market values. Sellers also like to see how an agent handles his or her current listings. GET INTERACTIVE Both
may click on pertinent information and both are more likely to
respond to interactive pages than to static pages. A static
page is a page of text. Your visitor can read it. An
interactive page let’s the visitor participate in some way.
For examples of Interactive Web Pages visit http://www.revalues.com GIVE YOURSELF EVERY CHANCE FOR SUCCESS If
you can budget for it, your chances for a Dot Com Success
increase greatly with a Custom Website, one that is designed
to get the results you want. Of course, a successful Custom
Website must begin with a PLAN and you can get a You see, a Website that does not focus on what you need, more than likely will not focus on your customers’ needs so nobody is happy and the Website is simply taking up space. You can do something about it if you choose
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Real estate agents work hard and I can certainly understand why most agents do not have the time to keep up with search engines and their role in Website promotion. However, ignorance is NOT bliss when it comes to search engines, it is a fatal error. The Search Engine of Yesterday A few years ago search engines were free and all you had to do was figure out how to get a good or a high enough ranking on each engine so your Website could be found by your prospects. Clever programmers figured out ways to submit Websites to the engines automatically making the submission process easy and inexpensive. Those were the Good Old Days but now things are different. Search Engines Today Some search engines are still free, that is you can submit your site to them and they will index it without charging you a fee. But you cannot submit automatically because they do not like that. In other words, automatic submission will not do you any good. You must submit by hand. Who is Free and Who is Not Many engines now charge a submission fee and offer paid advertising in a variety of ways. Yahoo wants $300 if you submit to their Directory and LookSmart has a similar offer. Google offers paid advertising as does Overture and several others. What all this means is that you need to budget for search engine placement and that is not necessarily a bad thing unless you do not have the budget. Without a budget for search engine placement you will need to slant your Website design to the needs and interests of your local market and use local promotion and Email marketing to bring you good results. Need a Consultation with an Internet Marketing expert? Call Noel Markham toll free at 888-814-5347 for a FREE 15 minute Consultation focusing on ways to make your Web Strategy more effective.
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