RealtorMarketingInfo Blog

I have a realtor friend that keeps asking me, “Jim, why do I need my own website that’s separate from my real estate agency’s site?”  He tells me that the firm’s website has his info on it and contains his listings.  So, he’s wondering why I keep pushing the personal realtor website.  He thinks it’s because I make websites for myself and others and am trying to drum up business for myself. 

 In reality, I believe that it’s so very important for a real estate agent to have their own website because it is one of the best means to gain new prospects and clients, to keep in touch with them, and to increase the sales of your listings.

Just think about how the internet has grown since the year 2000.  It’s like a wildfire out of control.  All those connected people!  Do you know anyone that isn’t online?  And studies show that people begin their house search with the internet these days.  You have to take advantage of that. 

The internet has changed.  Where once it was full of “here I am”, dotcom websites.  Now businesses have realized it as a marketing and advertising tool.  Realtors have come to this conclusion too. 

Where once they viewed the internet as what happened to the “travel agency” - putting them out of business.  Now more and more realtors are coming to the conclusion that the internet can aid and expand their business. 

The personal realtor website can be used to “mine” prospect’s personal information for follow-ups.  This can be automated with autoresponders and save the you time and money.  You can be interactive with your website visitors this way and by making FAQ pages that deal with specific topics, the visitor can have their questions answered without having to take up your time. 

The realtor can put up her listings in non-traditional ways that pre-sell the visitor on wanting to look at the property (and perhaps, pre-sell the deal).  This can be done with direct marketing sales pages.  This is the cheapest advertising I know of (less than $100/yr) and it makes you a 24/7 business without taking up your time.

I could go on and on about the benefits of having your own realtor website.  But, I think you get my point. 

You can make and change your website all by yourself, or hire someone to do it for you at a reasonable cost (I’d stay away from website designers that were educated in college though.  They’re the most expensive and the least effective.)  Either way, you can be involved in how the site looks and how effective it is.

If you plan on designing and making your own realtor website, you might want to look at: 4MakingYourOwnWebsite . 

Whatever your motives, your personal realtor website will help you expand your realty business if you think of it as a business tool and use it as such.  The dotcoms went broke because they just wanted to tell the world they are here.

In this modern age, a realtor isn’t the old fashioned “matchmaker” that they once were.  The modern real estate agent is a marketer.  Marketing is job number one.  You generate leads, capture customer information with follow-ups, and cultivate clients for life, not just the sale.

The smart real estate marketer focuses on the customer and not on their ego.  This should be the number one rule.  Marketers have long known that if you cater to the customer’s desires, dreams, and emotions, you will make the sale.  And if you cultivate the relationship with your customer, you will make sales again and again, plus get referrals that will lead to more sales.

In the early days of the internet and the dotcom explosion, many realtors that went online learned the hard lesson that the ”web” isn’t a simple platform where you put up a corporate looking website and expect people to flock to you.  They found that it isn’t a world where you mimic the old tv and print media advertising and expect results.  This is why so many of their dotcom sites failed.

These sites weren’t customer oriented and provided only a egotistical view of the realtor or the agency.  Visitors to these realtor websites were turned off, saying to themselves, “who cares”, then quickly clicking away.

Today the realtor realizes that the internet isn’t going to make real estate businesses go by the wayside as it has for so many travel agencies.  The buyer isn’t going online, finding a home they like, and clicking a “buy now” button.  The buyer still needs that local interaction with the real estate agent to view the listings and complete the sales. 

The potential client is searching for information.  They are also searching for someone who is interested in their needs and will aid them in their quest to sell or buy property.  They want this person to be concerned with them and follow through in a professional manner when helping them with their real estate dreams.

This sales process has both online and offline components.  These must be integrated together for the process to work smoothly and be of both benefit to the client and the agent.  Both components should be totally customer oriented. 

I surf the web often to observe the websites of realtors.  And I find that so many realtor websites are total turn-offs.  They seem to be “boasting” platforms instead of trying to aid the customer and make the process go smoothly. 

This is often true in the offline world of real estate.  I remember my first experience with a real estate broker.  I was trying to find a competent realtor to sell my property.  Over and over I came across realtors that would sit down and begin telling me how they had been in business for ‘X’ number of years, had sold hundreds of houses, and had the best training in the field.  I could have cared less about their accomplishments.

What I was focused on was what could they do to help me sell my house.  What were their thoughts on how to advertise, where to advertise, and how to promote my sales to the community. 

Instead, these realtors broke the number one rule.  They didn’t listen to me as a customer.  They knew it all because of their vast training and experience.  They were top dogs in the field.  They proceeded to tell me that they knew how to do everything and I shouldn’t worry about anything.   This just left me in the dark wondering if my needs had any place in their world. 

You have to listen to your customers and supply them what they are asking for and want. Whether online or offline this should be the prime concern.  As a marketer, you will find a loyalty beyond belief is you place your clients and customer first and in the spotlight.

Will the rise in gas prices affect how you market your real estate business and listings?  Will the price of gas affect what properties buyers will be looking for?

I think anyone viewing the gas situation realizes that it affects every facet of our lives and businesses.  Real estate is no different.  But what kind of impact will the high cost of gas actually have? 

I’m no soothsayer but I can definitely seeing some basic effects.  First, I see buyers looking for housing within short driving distances of their office, schools, and shopping.  It may be harder to sell housing in the country where there is now a costly commute.  I think that’s a given, especially if the situation continues and gas prices rise. 

Housing within inexpensive driving distance will certainly affect the housing market.  This will be on the minds of your buyers for sure.  It will also make those homes more desirable. 

I also see a change in how real estate agents do business.  More time will be spent trying to do the daily routine from the office instead of wasting gas driving to clients, meetings, and viewing potential listings. 

Of course, you will still be showing listings, but you might find yourself grouping the listings you show close together to make the trip cost efficient.  This will happen naturally as the buyers begin to prefer housing within close driving distances.

Realtor websites will become more important.  Supplying virtual tours, links to MLS, finacial calculators, free updates by email of new listings, and other customer oriented functions through the website will take on greater importance.

Gas prices certainly will affect how real estate is marketed and housing sold in the coming months or years.  Your real estate business has most likely begun to take this into account.  If not, think about all the aspects of your business that gas prices figure into and begin to adjust.  It’s a sign of the future. 

I recently received an email from a young man named Scott.  He had read my posts on this blog and then checked out my RealtorMarketingInfo.com .  It was nice to know that someone had read the blog.

 Scott told me that he had recently become a real estate agent and was working for a national firm that had a great mentor program that was really helping him break into the business.  He already had three listings and felt he was well on his way to a real estate career.

Scott had talked to his mentor in the agency about some of the ideas that he had gotten by reading on my website and this blog.  His mentor explained to him that these ideas wouldn’t work with real estate in their community.  The mentor thought that the tried and true methods worked the best.  In fact, he said to Scott that the listing created its own marketing. 

That may be true.  Marketing in real estate is a two way street.  Generating leads and turning follow-ups into listings is one side, while selling the listing and aiding buyers is the other side. 

Marketing and advertising the listing is the least time consuming side of the real estate business.  Getting sellers to list with you is the hardest part of realtor marketing.  But aiding buyers is the most time consuming. 

I explained to Scott that using direct response marketing would save time and effort and allow him to use his time more efficiently.  I also explained that times are changing and the real estate agent should be willing to change with the times and utilize all that is available to him/her.

The truth is that in any business, it’s the “breakthroughs” to new marketing techniques or products that propels a small business into a multimillion dollar corporation.  A marketing method breakthrough exists in most businesses and real estate is no exception. 

You need to be unique.  You need to stand apart from the competition.  You need to look for new ways to package your services that appeals to your potential clientele.  This is the means to expanding your existing business and becoming the “top dog” of real estate in your area. 

Or, you might find an entirely new way to market real estate that works.  Not only works, but propels you to the lifestyle that you dreamed about when you decided upon real estate as a career.  The old ways are good and still work, but you have to look to the future too.