Internet Solutions 2003

Inconsistencies

Inconsistent marketing will empty your wallet without giving you anything worthwhile in return. Unfortunately it is easy to be inconsistent. Send out a newsletter to your geographic farm but only send it when you get a ROUND TUIT. Contact FSBOs when things get really desperate but fail to work out a truly effective FSBO strategy. Set up a Website that targets buyers and try to use it to increase your listings. Or, set up a Website that targets buyers but neglect search engine placement so that buyers never see the Web. I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. Effective marketing is consistent marketing. It is consistent in timing and consistent in its message.

INCONSISTENT TIMING

I can certainly understand the difficulties to getting a printed Newsletter out by postal mail with unwavering consistency. First, this task is time consuming to the max and second, budget inconsistencies can and often do preclude such costly marketing as direct mail. So GET WITH THE PROGRAM and start Email marketing today! You can have a sophisticated Email marketing program built right into your Website. This program will sort and store your Email database. It will also provide you with a monthly E-Newsletter that will go automatically to your database every thirty days. Now you will have timing consistency and the budget is minimal. Here’s how to set this up.

For as little as $50 a month you can join the Real Estate Marketing Library. Membership comes with a fantastic, interactive Website that helps you gather the database you need. The Web also comes with a monthly E-newsletter called The Real Estate Report that is automatically sent to your database every 30 days. Visit http://www.revalues.com to find out more and to sign up RISK FREE for 30 days.

If you prefer a custom Website you can still have the Monthly E-Newsletter component and you should. Visit http://www.revalues.com
/customwebplan.asp and let me know what markets you want to target with your Website and I will provide you with a FREE Custom Web Plan.

INCONSISTENT MESSAGE

If you wanted to target 1^st time home buyers would you concentrate your farming efforts on an area of affluent homeowners?

Probably not but thousands of agents who want to target homeowners for the purpose of increasing listings try to do this with a Website that targets buyers. Thousands more who do have a Website that targets buyers fail to get their site ranked on the major search engines where buyers are looking. These are examples of message inconsistency. You will waste a lot of marketing dollars if your Website is not in line with your goals. Here are some ways to combat Marketing Inconsistency.

One: Go with a custom Website designed by professionals who understand marketing, programming and real estate. We offer Custom Web design and are happy to provide agents with a FREE CUSTOM WEB DESIGN PLAN just for the asking. Here is the link again in case you missed it earlier. http://www.revalues.com
/customwebplan.asp. During the planning phase of a Custom Website, I find out exactly what markets you want to target and how the Web will be promoted. Then, I gear the design and the information on the Web to get the results you want.

Two: Choose a Web Wizard such as the Website that is a part of The Real Estate Marketing Library. With the Web Wizard you are assured that you have marketing elements that appeal to both buyers and sellers. As search engine submission is a part of membership in the Real Estate Marketing Library you are also assured that buyers looking for real estate in your area will be able to find your site online.

Other ways of going off on a tangent include such things as excessive self-focus, focusing on graphics instead of the Message and tapping into local or traditional marketing programs that do not target your audience.

And there is yet another type of inconsistent marketing that may be ruining your prospects for success. This is also known as going off on a tangent.

Going off on a Tangent

Going off on a tangent leads to inconsistencies. While writing this newsletter I got a phone call from an agent who wanted a Custom Web strategy designed to target sellers. We spent some time planning exactly what should be on the Website based on the agent’s goals and when we had a really solid plan in mind the agent mentioned a concern. This agent felt it would be vitally important to link to all the school Websites in the area and worried about the time it might take to get all those URLs.

"Why do you want to link to the schools?" I asked.

"I just think buyers are generally interested in that," the agent replied.

"But you want a Website that targets sellers," I reminded the agent, "and you do not intend to promote your site to out of area buyers." I pointed out that spending time and resources meeting the needs of buyers when you want to target sellers is going off on a tangent. The agent agreed and we went on with the process of setting up a truly effective and highly targeted Website.

How to Stay on Track

Focus! Inconsistencies and tangents are really just ways that people get out of focus. A simple way to keep yourself in focus is to subject all the marketing you do to a simple test.

One: Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes. If you are targeting buyers think about the typical questions and concerns that buyers have. If you are targeting sellers, think about their needs.

Two: From the perspective of your prospects subject all marketing to the question, "What is in it for me?" Look at every page on your Website and ask yourself who might be interested in that information---a buyer or a seller or both? In this way you can evaluate your Website and determine its slant. If it is the slant you want, perfect! If it is not the slant you want, it is time to make some changes.