Happy New Year! Here’s to 2008 being the year to take your business and personal life to the next level. The need for people to connect and exchange goods and services has been one of the constant themes of civilization. Now, the need for people to go online and search for real estate information will increase exponentially. The big question is not how technology will advance the real estate industry, but how it will be used.
2008 presents many challenges for the real estate industry and its irrevocable relationship with the Internet. How are you positioned to get your share of targeted real estate leads and internet marketing potential? Are you investing in old traditional training techniques of mailing postcards, fancy listing splash screens, and a clever tagline? You already know that marketing to your sphere of influence and past clients is essential. But what other business systems have you put in place for potential buyers or sellers?
How are you spending your education money and time? Now is the time to act.
Search engine optimization and online lead generation is a competitive game, and it’s getting more competitive every day. You’ve read the articles, you’ve seen it in the news, and you’ve read all the press releases. The largest real estate companies are investing most of their resources on the Internet. No more traditional training, marketing or old school ideas. Big corporations are pouring money into their internet business to compete in the interconnected society we live in. What are you doing now to improve your education and your online real estate lead generation business? That is your challenge in 2008 and beyond.
Like I said before, you can still build a very successful online real estate lead generation business. However, these days are numbered.
The Web is big, but it’s a finite resource. Well, more precisely, cyberspace is infinite, but people will only go so deep. Real estate websites that capture top search engine rankings get high-quality leads and massive lists of interested buyers and sellers. But, as more and more big-brand companies compete and figure out how to get high-ranking positions in search engines, they will slowly but surely elbow out the little guy. It is the nature of an industry to be “open” to early adopters at first and then slowly close to only those who can afford the large investment of time and money required to stay competitive. As more and more buyers and sellers use the Internet to search for real estate, the “traditional model of real estate agent marketing at night and on weekends” is fast dying out.
If you want to stay competitive in the period ahead, you’ll need to catch some of the internet action, and now is the time to establish your foothold. You CAN still create a successful online real estate lead generation business. You CAN still get top rankings in search engines. It’s not too late, but I guarantee if you wait, it will be soon.
More and more, I get calls from companies that sell real estate prospects. They realize that I am everywhere on the Internet. My sites rank very high organically for specific real estate search terms and CPCs. I also own the right places on other real estate portals that generate targeted traffic to my listings, my sites and yes…generate high quality, unique leads.
I just got a call from a company that sells real estate contacts. As published in my book, Internet Real Estate Agent: A Guide to Mastering Leads and Internet Real Estate Marketing, there are specific questions you need to ask to avoid wasting money and time. After going back and forth with the qualified sales representative, I was able to perfect the basics of how the program works.
This is how its main program works:
1. A person is watching TV, listening to the radio, or viewing an online banner ad. The ad asks the person to call a phone number for information about a real estate tax advantage and a commission refund if you buy or sell real estate.
2. Pay $60 a month for a zip code.
3. Pay a 19% referral fee at closing (this is split between the “parent company” and the client at closing).
4. Here’s the kicker… the clues are also given to 7 other agents.
This leading real estate sales business model is not new and many companies have a slight variation. Personally, I would never buy leads from this business model. I prefer to create my own exclusive lead systems.
These are some of the pitfalls with the mainstream real estate business model they are selling you.
1. Leads from TV, print, radio, or the Internet who rely on some form of incentive offer are often very low-quality leads. One of the incentive offers is a “commission rebate program.” Need I say more?
2. Why pay a monthly fee to compete for the lead? Why not get EXCLUSIVE leads that are not incentive leads? You can’t do every lead program on earth, so pick and choose how you spend your money and time.
3. I’m having a hard time paying someone a referral fee when I’m competing with other agents, given a low-quality lead and no personal relationship. That’s not a reference, it’s a clue. No relationship, no history and no commitment from the potential client to use me. I like to pay referral fees to agents who have personal relationships with their actual clients. When I get a referral call from another agent, they know the person who is referring me and I get the customer. That’s a real referral and you qualify for that great referral fee.
4. There are so many ways to generate leads. You must pick and choose the best ways to spend your time and money.
After reading Internet Real Estate Agent, you will not fall prey to bad internet business models. You may make a mistake or two, I do from time to time when I try something new, but these mistakes are quickly fixed. You’ll understand exactly how to improve your real estate website, what to know before you buy a real estate website, advanced concepts for Google AdWords, how to market your listings online for more leads, the changing broker/agent model, and much more. Find out how to set up your own internet real estate lead generation machine. Don’t depend on any one company for leads. Educate yourself and become independent!
The book will guide you through a wealth of information and facts, not hype, regarding internet real estate lead generation and internet marketing. It’s the lowest cost real estate training and education you’ll ever spend. It is about marketing and real estate leadership on the Internet. Keep this book by your side and use it as a reliable reference guide. Get started on your website and then move on to other areas of online lead generation and internet marketing. Once you’ve established your online real estate lead generation business, you’ll truly be running 24/7, putting the right message in front of the right people, at the right time.
Agents and brokers already know that they need to market to previous clients and their sphere, but it only takes you so far. They also know the urgent need to adopt the Internet. The value of traditional farming techniques is declining. The fact is that everyone is mailing something; everyone is doing longer open houses; and everyone is getting into the real estate business. But, hardly anyone is advertising online. Even fewer are doing it right. In fact, most agents and brokers trying to generate leads and market properties online are doing it all wrong. Don’t waste money and time buying leads from a company that sells false dreams of riches on the Internet. Take control of your business leadership systems and start implementing your plan today.
Here is a small sample from the book:
Marketing your listings to potential customers
The bulk of this book is about building a real business website, driving quality traffic to your website, and converting that traffic into leads. Now let’s focus on how to create more business by marketing your listing online. You’ve worked long and hard to get listed, now let’s leverage that listing to create more business. For most of the houses I’ve sold, buyers started by looking at the photos and details online and then contacted me for a private showing. If you market the property correctly, you will get potential clients. Using the list of marketing resources below, I calculated an average of over 2,500 views of specific properties for each listing. I get leads from highly qualified internet buyers and sellers when I market a property online. Think about that for a second. Online, people are looking for a specific house, in a specific area, in a specific school district, in a certain price range, etc… and my listings are showing up. That’s a lot of quality traffic, almost all of it was free.
I just read the other day about a CTO who sits on a major MLS board who said that the traditional business model of getting leads by holding open houses is all but dead. People use the Internet to research and contact an agent long before they enter the house. Based on my personal experience, I agree with this evaluation. Having spent many a Sunday working open houses, I find it very rare that someone walks in the door and says “I don’t have an agent.”
The following list of ideas will put you in a position to make more money with every listing you have. If you don’t have any listings or are new to real estate, I suggest you approach an agent in their office who has a listing and ask if you can advertise for him or her on the internet. Just make sure you abide by any local MLS rules you have…
So let’s toast to 2008 and enrich your level of internet real estate education and business income.
Happy New Year Greetings!