Myrtle Beach Real Estate by Mirela

I would appreciate your input so much!   It is so important to share success stories about advertising.   I look forward to your comments!

I guess my thought would be how many of those leads are you converting? If they aren't quality leads then I'd move on. It's the return on investment which matters. Not just staying busy answering leads.

-Colleen

Hey!  It's great to see someone from the Myrtle Beach area...can't wait to drag my camper down again this year from the Ft. Bragg/Fayetteville, NC area.

These are great questions...I, too, am looking at my budget and believe it or not I have never done an advertising campaign on realtor.com...wouldn't even know how.

Got any pointers?

I think if you're thinking about it then you should. When you could say no i don't need it then you don't.

Sounds simple doesn't it?

Does anyone really believe the "hit" totals on each listing on REALTOR.com?  If those numbers were accurate the houses should be flying off the shelf if 80% of the buyers truly shop there.  Most of their leads don't turn into listings or sales.  Just free info gathering.  My best return on investment is direct mail post cards.  A combination of sphere of influence data base, past clients, geographical target market area, and Just Listed/Just Sold.  The same $1,000 spent on a print ad or REALTOR.com upgrade will buy over 2000 direct mail pieces including postage. This has been a great advertising return on investment for me for over 18 years now.

I've already renewed for 2008 and wish I hadn't.  I just don't get much from realtor.com.  I'm anxious to see what others have to say.  I much prefer the free advertising and it seems to me that there's much available in zillow, trulia, etc.

Thank you, C.J. for your insightful advice!  Our area doesn't fare as well with that vehicle, unfortunately.  It did very well for me in the Sacramento, CA, market. 

Hi Mirela,

I am not very happy with Realtor.com. I have been using their enhanced showcase for the last two years at a monthly cost of $75 dollars. I recently changed companies and my new company has a corporate program in place with Realtor.com that includes the enhanced showcase for every listing. I contacted Realtor.com to cancel my subscription since all my listings are now shown under the corporate program and they refused. I am presently paying Realtor.com $75 a month for the next 5 months without any ROI.

Manny Reynaldo - www.2bocahomes.com

Jan,

You will need to buy a featured listing ad for your area.  Your Realtor.com rep will try to sell you the most expensive zip code, but most potential buyers will just spell out the name of the city; few use zip codes.  Find all the zip codes for your city; then get into your Realto.com control panel and click on "purchase a featured listing, and enter all the zip codes.  Find the cheapest one, and buy it.  You will be blown away by the activity your Realtor.com postings will garner.  You just have to edit your listings and make them enticing; add lots of pictures, streming text, a good headline, and then just watch the leads come in. 

Using my technique I saved about $ 3,000.  If you implement this, please let me know how it works for you.

Manny, I think you should copy your Realtor.com rep with these comments, along with the promise that you'll blog more about Realtor.com's modus operandi.  That shoud promptly stop your "bleeding"... 

Never underestimate the power of "bad press"...  I learnt that while doing volunteer work for an environmental group in CA.  They were trying to put a toxic waste facility in the middle of town, right next to an elementary school.  Yeah, we stopped them.  "Bad Press" sure helped...

Let me know how well this will work for you.  With the saved $ 375 you and significant other can go on a cruise...

 

Armando,

I like your reasoning.  If I apply that to my personal life, that could really get me into trouble...

Thanks for that cute, decision making strategy!

Colleen,

Internet leads are like fish: they go bad quickly.  The Realtor's response time should be only a few minutes, not hours, and definitely not days...

If you respond promptly, follow up dilligently, qualify them properly, you'll convert most of them.  My conversion ratio is through the roof, and that's my modus operandi. 

Good luck!

 

Jeffery,

I hope all these comments will answer some of your questions.  Feel free to contact me; I'll be happy to fill in the blanks, if there are still pieces missing.

Say "Hi" next time you're at the beach. 

They have and I most certainly will.  I hope to make spring bike week again this year...have been coming downt here since I was a kid....

Take care and if you ever have anything coming to Ft. Bragg / Fayetteville let me know!

Thanks, Jeffery! 

Have a great Bike Week in 2008!

 

I dumped Realtor.com.  I did not feel that I was getting my moneys worth.

Just like Realtor.com use Internet marketing approach of course it is measurable right  from the get go and fast.

As many have pointed out -- it is all about the quality of the leads and how many of those turn into closed transactions.  I would guess it iwll be different depending on the area you service. I will be back to read what others have to say. Good luck to you in 2008!

The only reason I never signed up with Realtor.com many years ago, was that before I made my final decision, I made some calls.  Infact, a lot of calls.  I spent several hours online looking for people who used the site on the search engines.  I found none easily.  Then I went back to the site and took down the names of those who were featured and began to talk with them about their experience. No one knew I had called anyone else.  But without exception, their responses were all the same.  You can guess what they said.  I didn't sign up.

I would stay away from newspaper. Work your SOI. I don't know about realtor.com. I've never used their services and I don't know if I ever will. I wouldn't use homes and land. Our company uses the real estate book but only becuae they have a good internet program.

Thank you Joan, Gary and Vicky!  I really appreciate you helping me save my money! 

What good advertising vehicles do you use?  I would love to get some great ideas here, as I am getting ready to roll my 2008 plan. 

I look forward to hearing from you on what actually WORKS !

How about concentrating on your frineds and family, giving them stuff of value. I am the wrong person to ask about this stuff, cause I despise giving lots of money into marketing and advertising.

Lola, thank you so much for your input!  Wow!  You sure are dilligent.

I am very much interested in finding out what you put your advertising dollars into.  Please, do share!

Thank you very much!

I have found ONE interesting thing about having the showcase package on realtor.com. If you put in the headline that shows up on the main landing page, something about foreclosures, and you can direct them to your website and have them land on a foreclosure page, you get decent leads that way.. I know for sure where these people came from because I only use one domain name per listing so tracking is quite simple. I'm not saying THAT is worth the 1000's of dollars they charge up front, but you can get leads and convert them into sales..  

I too went for the pitch, and I had a lot of listings so I had to pay more...My traffic count showed tons of hits, but no sales...They squealed like stuck pigs when I refused to renew...So, I guess a certain kind of home might do better, but all of mine were in the 220k to 460k, got not one showing, not one inquiry...I say that kind of marketing results speak for themselves...

Thank you Pam!  How do you like the Internet presence of the Homes & Land?

I have had an account w/ Realtor.com for years, 8 maybe and haven't gotten anything out of it to speak of. It's not the featured page you are doing but my immediate thought on Realtor.com is "drop it"   I have had my website www.patricia4realestate.com up and running for 8 years, the same amount of time and that is where I get 90% of my leads....serious leads that lead to closings.    We always think we're going to lose something by not doing the same thing over each year. But...if you look back and see what if anything you have gotten directly from this and then decide.  If it's 0  then don't renew is my thought.

 

Good Luck,

Patricia Aulson/Hampton NH Real Estate 

Thank you Mike for your input!  I guess the only reason my Realtor.com gets results is because I pay the extra bucks to list my properties at the top of the page for my market.  It's called featured listing, and it actually works for me, but you are right, it works much better for the lower priced properties!

 

Patricia, thank you for that advice! 

What do you do to your website to make it so successful?  Please share!

Any tips on your particular follow up?  Your results are impressive.

The only thing I have coming out of newspaper ads is name recognition. I advertise in a local paper and then the people I see at my daughter's school, or at the gym say "I saw your ad" Haven't had any leads yet, but I am one of several agents in that particular paper. it is almost more like a realtor newspaper. SOI has been my bread and butter so far

Joel, that's fascinating!  Wow!  That's a great idea!  Thank you!

Wow!  I'm learning a lot here!  Please keep it coming! 

Sally, athanks for sharing!

REALTOR.com just takes the product of our labor, and as our own trade group, sells it back to us, on top of the hundreds of dollars we spend a year on membership.  I don't think their hit count is reflective of true interest in the property, and their dominance of real estate on the web is diminishing.  Zillow, Trulia, etc. are gaining ground and offer better listing options for free, with much better pricing on enhanced listings.

Where should you put your marketing time and energy?  Ensuring that your website is getting traffic (findable) and that it captures visitor information when they get there.  And of course, blogging.  Focus on your unique market and specialties, and leverage that sphere -- don't spend tons of money fighting for recognition on the big stage.

I personally wouldn't voluntarily waste money on REALTOR.com.

Wow!  That's quite a diatribe!

Duly noted!  Where were you when I blew my $ 4,000 with them this year? 

Great ideas with Zillow and Trulia.  I am going to give them both a try ASAP.

Trent, I thank you so very much for your empassioned contribution here!  I think I speak for all of us.  Great comment!

This is really turning into a fantastic post, thanks to all of you!  For anyone reading this post: the comments are even better than the blog.  Thank you!

 

I use Realtor.com and I love it. Enhanced showcase listing is the best investment you can make. If you use all the features, it works great! Just to mention 25 photos, virtual tour, video, custom description, headlines and scrolling text. The best Open House response comes from OpenHouse at Realtor.com.  Did you notice all great neighborhood and demographic info by Onboard LLC. which goes with enhanced listings? Have anyone ever shopped for Onboard's products? They are very expensive (and included in Showcase at Realtor.com!)

You should work with your account rep and negotiate the deals. These guys may be very good and cooperative. Featured listings in some areas are very expensive and not really efficient - then switch to more efficient ones. I usually buy only zip codes which are in or around my farming area and are less expensive. I also try to figure out how many spots are purchased by other realtors. There are usually 8 spots per zip code available. Only 4 of them are displayed at once. Obviously, you get more exposure if you have one of 4 or less featured spots. If all of 8 are busy, you get less exposure for the same dollar. AND - you are not married to one spot. You may negotiate and use your money for any of Realtor.com marketing features. Be creative and flexible and respond quickly.

One more thought. There is nothing free in this world.  I prefer to support the Realtors' site, not the sites which fight against Realtors. So far Realtor.com works well. With right management and our support it should lead the pack. Maybe things change and even if many years ago it was not that efficient, it works great now.  

I have switched over my entire advetising to the internet. I do have a capture site for Buyers which allows them to recieve daily or hourly emails. My site furnishes Buyers with the entire listing including the Address.

So all of my efforts are directed towards links to that web site. Blogs are by far the best for this. I can always tell when I have written a blog that is being followed by the number of signups on my web site a a day or so after.

I do not pay companies like Realtor.com There are just to many free sites out there that you can get the same results for.

When I get up in the morning I go to the coffee shop around 6:30 AM and that is when I search for the free sites. I do not set them up I forward them to my email account and review them in the evening after dinner.

Mirela,

I have not used that type of marketing.  I have found a great marketing site where I get my postcards from and it free.  The name is site is www.vistaprint.com. I get 100 postcards for free (I pay for shipping) and they are quality postcards that I create wuth their templates.  I mail them out to my target market , leave them in local businesses or hand them out.  The only thing I am spending is a little time.  There are some many ad companies that love to prey on Realtors.  I find that there is no one that can market you better than you if you take out a little time to market yourself.  Have a properous New Year:-)

Dwenda, I checked out Vistaprint. They do have some free products. Didn't see any free postcards though.

Thanks everybody for your comments.  I think I would stay away from the realtor.com ad.

I did not do enhanced listings this year. I have no return on the investiment. I had only been doing it for my sellers but just couldn't justify the price. They called me up after 2 months to come back. I told them only if it was 68% lower. Why 68% the rep asked. I told them aol dropped them and that was 68% of their traffic. He said he didn't know about that and offered my 250.00 off, I said no thank you.

All my marketing is internet, no paper or print media. I track every lead and closed deal so I know exactly where they are coming from. Realtor dot com has no Rate of Return for me since I began tracking in 2004.

 

I personally have never used R.com, but IMO it comes down to how much ROI you saw last year. Leads are great, and hits are great, but they mean squat if they don't equate to deposits in your account. The majority of my marketing is free and I do more business than 98% of the agents in my market, all off the leads I get online, referrals from my SOI, and listings from my expired efforts.

If I knew I'd get at least 2 deals a year, I wouldn't have a problem spending the $1K. Otherwise, I'll put my money and effort elsewhere.

I used R.com for a couple of years, same story as some others, a few leads, no sales. I get 90% of my new business from my personal websites. I do not pay for any other websites.

p.s. I also meant to mention that IMO your money could potentially be best spent investing in your own online presence, not R.com's. Internet exposure is the name of the game and the future of our business, and any money put into your SEO is money well spent for the future. R.com only makes you money as long as you're paying them, right?

Thanks for posting this blog.  Sounds like you got some valuable information regarding realtor.com

I just now checked my blog before going to bed, and I just can't believe what's happening here!  This was the best idea I've ever had - to ask you guys for help with advertising.  Wow!  You have been extraordinary!  I sure am glad I asked the question!

This is going to help all of us.  What great input!  The blog was the start of a great conversation.  I will have to get on here in the morning and address all the wonderful posts. 

Thank you all so very much for sharing your ideas and experiences!  It will make a world of difference to all of us!  Keep checking back, as some of the comments are most educational and will save us all a lot of money.

 

I did not renew with REALTOR.com,  I had 4 featured spots and received nothing, I was with them for over 6 years and had 1 lead, which still didn't produce a deal. I get more from zillow & craigs list. I to over spend , but am learning the hard way. 

I did not renew with Realtor.com for the same reason as many of the above commenters--no ROI--only a few calls from unqualified buyers.  A waste of time and money for me.  2008 will find me focusing on past clients and their referrals, increasing my Internet presence and reducing my print advertising.

Join the group "real estate rock stars" you'll learn exactly what you need to know to be successful.

What would happen if you stop advertising? 

Usually during a downturn in business it is the best time to gain market share.  Why?  Because most businesses will cut back on their advertising at the first hint of a slowdown.  In many ways the downturn is a self-fulfilling prophesy, isn't it?

Now, the current downturn in real estate is a funny thing.  So many folks got into real estate because it was easy money.  But they weren't truly dedicated professionals.  Many of them are out of the business now.  They never got beyond being order takers.

That's why true professionals will continue their marketing efforts.  Maybe with a few tweaks, but if you endure in the end you will prosper.  A farmer never will harvest a crop that was never planted.

Good luck!

I've been really successful with buying leads (10 closed transactions since May) and took out two buyers today from leads I purchased. One of those leads gave me a lead I'm taking out next Saturday (all 3 preapproved) and I'm taking out another relo next Wednesday.  It can be pricey and you can get some crap leads but if you know how to work them, they will work. I've also done some farming but not with direct mail - I've done door drops and VERY successful. I'm thinking of starting a new blog with my monthly ideas. Very cheap to do.

We are fortunate in our community of 80,000 we have 2 newspapers dedicated to real estate ads only that everyone reads 1/3 page 4 times a month full color runs me 900 bucks. I also have advertising on my car, farm 3000 homes monthly send out just listed and just sold around homes that I do just that. Also bus benches are big. Each one that I do has a different web address all aimed to the same web site, That way I can track each medium. They all pull some. Paying spotlight ads with google did not bring clients it brought more traffic but no clients. Other spotlight web ads were the same. It is all trial and error but needs to be tracked so as not to waste ad money.

There are so many places to advertise...I keep trying to figure out where NOT to.

Here is a WONDERFUL free (yep, FREE) resource that seems to work for the right properties

www.craigslist.com

It is free classifieds.  The only trouble is that it needs to be revisited about every 3 days to keep placement fresh.

Hope that helps.

Live good. Be happy.

-Mimi

I have in the past spent 2000 a year on realtor.com and sometimes more. I have not recieved back leads that have paid for it. However, it is one of the things I use for getting a listing.

If I were you I would chack out the five or six free ways to advertise and keep realtor.com to the six picture package

I've had realtor.com for 6 years now. I spend about 2700.00 a year on it. I can honestly say I've never gotten a good quality lead from it. 2008 I will not be renewing as I think realtor.com is a ripoff. I have several other websites which I've gotten tons of good leads. great post.

Geri Doyle

www.doyledevoe.com

www.newtoniowarealty.com

I'm astonished that nobody has brought up the use of IVR systems.  I've closed 8 deals in the last year that all originated from my IVR system.  The only trick is to call them back as soon as possible and to pay very close attention to your marketing digits so you know when they're calling from your listing or from your advertising.  I cross list all of my properties on the back of each listing's flyer so I multiply my exposure exponentially.  Best part is that I pay less than $30 per month.  My website of course contributes as well as the multitude of free Internet sites such as Craigslist, Trulia, etc. . .  Think about it, less than $400 per year with an amazing return.  Hmmm, no brainier!  You must have good scripts though and be good at them.  It's also a great way to get listings. . . maybe I should be writing my own blog about this stuff :)

I've been a Realtor.com subscriber for 6 years. Early on, I converted several leads into sales, which is why I have continued their service.

For the last two years, I've had a few 'P.O. Box zip code' featured homes. While it has doubled and tripled my hits, the leads have been sparse and sales have been zip. So no more, but we'll likely continue to maintain the enhanced listing feature as my partner has converted several leads from that. I'm focusing most of my efforts on organic search techniques and social networking.

Debra Drummond
http://MichiganMoves.com

I tried R.com years ago, when it was actually still owned by NAR.  At least I think it still was.  It's gone totally downhill since, and I don't even want to talk to them.  They are just another leach looking to take our money, our leads, and our hard work and sell it back to us.

Hi Mirela - try http://www.classifiedflyerads.com for effective online real estate advertising.  Your listings are syndicated to over 20 online directories and many listings make it to the 1st page of Google and other search engines.

Mirela -

I am not a big fan of Realtor.com at all!  However, it seems to be expected as the first level of coverage by clients with even a passing knowledge of the internet.   I do not use the Spotlight Ads or Featured Pages at all - only Showcase Homes, which, for our Team here in Chicago, runs $1,450/year.  No additional website either. 

A Showcase Homes subscription also allows you to post as many Visual and Video Home Tours as you would like - and not pay the $20/listing subscription fee.  This saved us about $840 last year.

I started with Realtor.com when it was only $300/year, about 7 years ago.   Until last year, they only let you load six photos - now, 25 - they have entered the '90's, 10 years late.

Beginning last year, with some help of the KW System, we commited most of our advertising dollars to the web, rather than print or direct mail media.  Online presence is targetable, measurable, and impactful to the right group of people (the younger ones!).  Also, according to the NAR Survey of Buyers and Sellers, 2007 - 84% of home buyers begin their search on the net - not from Open Houses, the local papers, Homes & Land, Harmon Homes, etc.  That's why the print media industry is hurting now - other big advertisers are finding this is true, and diverting their dollars to the web.

Other no or low cost sources of leads from the web - Craigslist.com, ListingDomains.com, Postlets.com, VisualTours.com,  our Team's main Web Center and Blog Center through Point2Homes, some SEO (which I will trim in  2008), a little Pay-Per-Click (but not too much - it can get out of hand quickly) and syndication (usually FREE) from these sources throughout the web.

There are a billion ways for us Realtors to spend money, and a billion companies that want us to spend it.  It is important to spend your money WISELY - THAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE.  Also, you have to convince your clients WITH CONFIDENCE that you will do what it takes to sell their homes, without a lot of unnecessary "gravy" that looks good, but doesn't achieve results.

Hope this helps!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2008 - Spend wisely next year!

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

Mirela- I believe that Realtor.com is a great advertising source. It appears that more and more consumers are using it to find homes. If it isn't the best site, it is growing. Other than my website, it's number two in buyer leads.

Ok, so I couldn't sleep thinking about this blog.   Wow!  What awesome ideas!  I can't wait to try it all!

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  My entire team thanks you!  Your advice is invaluable!  What great comments. 

The value of this blog is in the COMMENTS !

Mirela,

I highly recommend adding a virtual tour to realtor.com through www.realestateshows.com, cost is $25 per show. Fabulous returns so far in 2007, lots of calls.

My advice, use www.realestateshows.com - you will love it. Great value, great product. They should have an affiliate program - I would make money since I recommend them so often!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year!

All of my online expenditures have produced nominal results.  A personal website is important but Realtor.com has no ROI.  I now prefer to use the good old telephone and meet people "belly-to-belly".  Once you have your listing posted in MLS, it gets to Realtor.com.  I've been paying for Featured positioning for one zipcode and regret it.  I've gotten maybe 2 calls in 2007 but not from that Featured spot.  The stats are misleading and the service doesn't have a positive return.  

There are many places to post for free that will syndicate to Yahoo, Google, and many other places.  (Places to post your listing Far, Wide, and FREE) Create your own Craig's List ads from PostLets.  And even get free virtual tours created.  (But with poor photography, a virtual tour just makes it worse.)

Not everything new is better.  C. S. Lewis

Oh my, there is a lot to read here.  Realtor.com just called to renew my featured homes package.  It's a jagged little pill and I haven't made up my mind.

Seems like an unending battle.  You need to advertise to make money but need money to advertise.  What is your ROI?  I set my budget to spend $1 or less for every $3 I make.  Ask people how or where they heard about you and see where your money is best spent.

I have have just started using Realtor.com and received many leads on the rental listings.  I rented several that way.  But, I'm not receiving many inquiries on my homes for sale.  

I give most every advertising vehicle a one year ride sometimes less to see results. I cut Realtor.com loose after one year. Others I got rid of were the Verizon Yellow pages and Travelhost Magazine. All were big zeros for clients and sales.

I'm sure there have been others, but these come to mind as being non-productive for leads or sales. The best bang for zero bucks has been from Activerain and Localism writing for my blog. I have never sent out postcards or farmed an area. Now, I get referrals all the time and local recognition. I'm not into throwing my money away on calendars either. Good service and staying in touch with your SOI is key to success. I have been a Realtor a little over 4 years and it gets better every year. 

Good luck to you in 2008!!!!

Gary, you brought up a very interesting subject here:  the amount of money agents spend on advertising.  You are spending only 3.23% of the money coming in on advertising.  My figure is SUBSTANTIALLY higher.  I've never sat down to figure it out as a percentage of the money coming in, but that is a very good idea.  Without getting my paperwork out and crunching exact figures, I'm guesstimating that I'm spending at least around 15% on advertising, possibly more.  Am I doing something wrong here? 

I have to advertise for my entire team (I have 7 agents), and some of them are better than others.  I want to provide all of them with plenty of leads (that is the attraction to my firm:plenty of leads).   MY closing ratio is very high, so leads go a very long way with me (I close about 75%of the people I talk to), but not so with every agent I have. 

Maybe I need to figure out floor times again and stay on top of my agents' leads better by requesting more responsibility from them in dilligent follow up and follow through....  I spend way too much money on advertising, according to your figures - almost 500% more !!! 

I would love to hear from other agents what ratio they use for their advertising budget.  Am I unique here or are you just not spending enough? 

We track each and every lead.  What advertising vehicle brought them in, the property they called on, how long looking, qualified with lender, etc.  No stone goes unturned there.   Some of the folks here have better internet tracking than I do, and I will be taking steps to rectify that. 

This blog and the comments to it - well, mostly the comments - should be called Advertising 101 for Realtors and it should be a core education item.  I am thrilled by how much I've learnt here from all of you!  Some have given me some exceptinal ideas that I am "uber" excited to try.

For anyone else tuning in:  READ THE COMMENTS !!!

 

 

Craigslist has so far been my number one lead generator :) Im a very new agent and have tried a lot of different web sites and papers but Craigslist so far has been the best.  And its free!

So is Trulia and Zillow, and Zillow will pick up your listings directly off the MLS, so you don't have to spend time doing it.  I did not use them before this blog, but thanks to the reccomendatins received here, I went ahead and started and I am amazed that I did not use those tools before! 

To make more money this year, we need to spend less and be careful how our advertising dollars are spent.  My advice to you would be to go back and look at all your deals from 2007 and try to determine where the listing lead or buyer actually came from.   Hits on the webpage don't necessarily mean money in your pocket.  If you had a high percentage of deals that came from Realtor.com, then invest in this media, but if you find that your deals came from other sources, those should be where your 2008 dollars go.   I have determined that a high percentage of mine came from personal referrals and lawn signs - both inexpensive sources.   Good Luck!

In a word... NO!!!! All I ever got from Realtor.com was $19,000 poorer. I wish I had bought my kid the car she needs instead. :-( I now concentrate my efforts on SEO on AR & my blog.

I did not experience a single success from Realtor.con - measuring by converted leads.  In fact, ActiveRain has been my most productive online source of real live commission-paying clients.  I have not read everyone's comment here, but I'm sure someone has asked you how many leads from Realtor.com turned into commission dollars - If you think you'll get a good return on that $1000 investment, then go for it; if not, then don't.

OK, I'm back with a little info of my own. As for the advertising percentages you mentioned, I spend very little on paid for advertising. Probably less than the 3% mentioned above. My plan for 2008 is to take 10% of all income and put it back into marketing expense. That being said, in 2007, 17% of my new clients came from AR/Localism (FREE). 39% came from referrals and 22% came from personal contacts, so as you can see over 60% of my business came from personal or referral. I plan on working that avenue harder (because it costs me nothing) and increasing the amount I spend on some types of paid-for marketing (mostly branding), but my biggest change this year will be posting to Localism more consistently and continuing to develop my own website content.
 
I firmly believe in taking a percentage of gross income and investing it back into our businesses though. If you commit to spending 10% or 20% on marketing (now you have a marketing budget), then as your business increases, your advertising budget increases naturally. It's a domino effect. Same for salaries if you plan to hire people. Use percentages, then as business grows, so will your staff (IMO, the only reason to hire someone is because they're helping you grow your business. If you have any that aren't, it's time to cut them loose).
 
The thing is, there are far too many effective ways to market yourself online while spending little or no money, so if you have a marketing budget, either spend it on branding yourself, or save it for when you do have a large marketing expense you'd like to invest in, however, don't spend it just to be spending it. Throwing money away on a method that about 90% of your respondents have said offers little or no ROI doesn't make ANY sense. That money would be better spent on professional organizations that will help you network. I recently spent a large chunk joining a new association which has already helped me make several promising connections that will pay off in 2008. I see those dues as well-spent marketing dollars.
 
Point is ALWAYS track where your business is coming from and don't spend money on things that are making you nothing! (Staff included).

Dear m&m,

I just took the plunge to Featured Homes on Realtor.com. I've been focusing my marketing dollars on direct mailings. I live in a closed environment in the Sierra Nevada mtns. of California so the home sales and marketing are different from most markets. One thing I have noticed the last year though is that the top producers in this market were using Realtor.com Featured Home and Enhanced Listings. I'm going to give it a try along with a new slide show/visual tour supplier. There are many properties in our valley that you are almost ashamed to show - old singlewide mobile homes wiht walls and windows broken. We have to be creative when marketing to bring out the best in everything as our market doesn't sell itself. I agree with many of your other responses though: internet sites get a lot of hits but a small percentage of sales.

Robbin

We have not gotten anything for years from Realtor.com and this year we won't be renewing. There are so many other ways to spend money that works better.

So much good information here!  I've been on cloud 9 because of all your great ideas!  Keep them coming!  Please!

Mirela,

You do a great job of advertising.  Our office gets a lot of quality leads. 

Damon gets a fraction of the leads at his company.  Keep up the good work.

As has been noted, I believe that you try lots of avenues and then assess the best ROI. I have been using HOUSEVALUES.COM for 2 years, but the return has diminished. I personally think that marketing to your sphere is the best.

Jerry and I are heavily into BRANDING ourselves this year, and I wish I could tell you how well it's working, but the jury is still out since it's relatively new.

We just joined Keller Williams in July.  We did several large ads in our local paper which we got a lot of positive feedback from.  We "wrapped" our car with our face, logo and phone number.  We bought a MOVING TRUCK that is wrapped with our face, logo and phone number.  We just bought ($1800) a large ad that will sit in the entrance to Kroger Food Mart.  We're trying to "brand" ourselves all over town.

As far as Realtor.com:  we pay for the "enhancement" on our listings, but that's been as far as it goes.  I rarely EVER get an inquiry from Realtor.com (unfortunately).

Good luck to you.  I know it's difficult to know where to spend your advertising dollars, and we agents are hit up all over the place:  radio, television, publications...

 

I am not doing REALTOR.com because I have had almost no clients tell me they went there.  I am sure that is different in other communities.  On the other hand I am getting clients through Active Rain.  I have also pulled out from the real estate magazines.  I am getting much better results by advertising in community papers and sponsoring community activities.  I try to be where the flock of real estate agents are not.  I tend to get noticed better and more bang for the buck.  The sad thing is other agents are now following me and jumping in where ever I go.

check out www.multiplewebsitewervice.com

 

Ryan,

Your comments are fantastic!  Thank you so much!   Your analysis is great.

I've been in this business since 1988.  I'm one of the top producers in my market, yet it is amazing how much I still don't know. 

After working for Great Western (very long time ago), Prudential, Re/Max, I went to work for my then husband who was a successful developer.  When I left him, I also left my job.  I didn't know what to do, so I got a business license (I was already licensed as a broker) and opened my own firm.   I wrote many of my first deals on the dining room table of my rented condo (I left him the home).  The week when I sold a million dollars in real estate, I decided that it was time to move the files from under my bed and into an office.  Shortly thereafter I moved from writing the deals from my dining room table to writing them sitting on the boxes at my new office..  It still amazes me how cooperative people are when you genuinely care and take good care of them.  I wrote several million dollars in contracts before I had furnished my office and put a sign up. 

In June of this year I leased the office next to my office, because it became available and I knew that I eventually needed to grow.  I solidified a great deal with my landlord on a long term lease with an option on the building with a first right of refusal.  The building is on what we call "Real Estate Row", a street lined with mostly Real Estate Firms, Title Companies and Real Estate Attorney's offices.  I have been paying rent since then, but I have not moved in yet.  I needed the office long term. 

I carry a two page spread in the nr. 1 Real Estate publication here, The Real Estate Book, and have done so, since it became available.  I was always on page 5, and I wanted page 4 in order to have a strong two page presence.  I kept reminding my rep that I was interested in it.  When the market became soft, page 4 became available, and I took it.  The market is still soft, but I have a big presence.  It costs me over $ 1,050 per month for that spread and I also have the covers about 4 times a year.  

Out of almost 500 Real Estate Firms, we are in the top 100 here.  We have only a handful of people and we are competing with very large offices of 30-60 people, yet our figures are very good.   A lot of the large offices greatly dillute their leads and about 70+% of the agents haven't had a single sale this year (this was a statistic that came across my desk recently from a reliable source).  All my agents have produced this year.  The lead generation is key in this regard.

Sorry to ramble on here, I guess the points that I was trying to make are: 1. I always bite on more than I can chew;   2.  I always "Do It" then figure out just "how to";   3.  The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know!

Thanks a lot Ryan for your post!  The advice will not fall on deaf ears, I assure you!

 

Mirela, What a great post and comments! Thanks for spurring the discussion. I have found, with my clients, the advertising vehicles payoff varies. Just like real estate...it is LOCAL! So what works well for one might not for another and visa versa. So, there real measurement is: for the money you invested last year, what business can you track to it? And, can you get a better payoff by using other vehicles?  Smart thinking to be paying attention and tracking and knowing this market is not one to cut back on visibility, but it is one to be working smarter in!

I have never used realtor.com and will never use them as I can do the same thing that they can do for me and better for FREE here on Active Rain and also on my FREE website from Point2...

$1,000.00???? I am not sure I understand... are you asking if a grand is too much? Well put it this way. Most businesses spend about 10-18% or more on marketing based on gross revenues. If you get one sale earned resulting from this ad and let's say you average sale is in the neighborhood of $250,000 and you get one side of the commission or $7,500, you should have spent somewhere between $750.00 and $1,500.00 in marketing dollars just for that one deal!! It's a no-brainer!

Real estate agents had beter begin understanding the idea of running their operation as a BUSINESS very quickly or else they may find themselves out of work in 2008 and beyond.

But that'ts just my opinion. 

Colleen, great information. You obviously know what you're doing and we're similar in the sense that we both "JUST DO IT." Talking, planning and worrying don't do much for me, so I just go for it, but I'm also big on tracking it once I get it going and finding ways to tweak things and get more for my investment. Keep up the great work. It sounds like you're on the right track, building a strong business, and tweaking your marketing efforts, which is critical to us all. As soon as we stop tweaking things, we WILL get passed up. Have a fantastic 2008! I've really enjoyed this post!

Great topic. I will bookmark this post and keep referring to it. Thanks.

I'm not getting near the results from print advertising that I used to get.  This year I'm going to concentrate on the internet.  I heard on one of the financial news chanels a couple of months ago that Century 21 is going to cut its budget on print advertising and concentrate more on the internet.

I'm in a group called MLMGoldmine (NOT an MLM), and we teach others how to market online using free web2.0 technology like YouTube. 

We do have Realtors in our group who are applying what we teach. In fact, one of our members, who is a Realtor in Florida, recently used our techniques to attract 2 new qualified buyers for his homes, plus attract an investor who wants him to list 11 properties. And, this was using FREE advertising ;-) 

We have a 1 year membership that is less than what many people pay for 1 ad!

You can learn more about it by visiting my site right here: http://www.web20goldmine.com  

 Also, if you are looking for a way to supplement what you are currently doing, using a turn-key system where you can generate 6-10K right off the bat,  check-out my profile here on Active Rain. 

 Mari Ann

Great Tips For A Newbie.....

I find print advertising works at certain price points and with certain ad copy.  More often than not, though, it is money down the drain.

I am working on my first glossy newsletter with articles from affiliates (mortgage, home inspector, etc.) that will go to my base with different inserts with farm-specific sold/active information.  No other agent that I'm aware of does it, so I'll check back after the first issue and let everyone know how it goes. 

Does anyone else do newsletters?

SteamboatHomeSales.com 

Dear Mirela,

I've been walking in your shoes. I've been a Realtor here in USA, in Europe, I am a daughter of a builder and developer and a niece of one. I have been  briething real estate since I can remember.

I started this "crazy' thing a while ago. It required over 1 year of legal fees and programmers fees and all my savings and more, many sleepless nights, but now it's there finally.  Still "molding it" but alive.

If you want to take advantage of it you're welcome, if not, forgive me please for the "intrusion" on your blog.

What we are trying for the first time it's not a database (Realtor.com is not the only one of course) but a MLS that works Internationally. Same code of ethics studied from many attorneys from different countries that works in different countrie. Same tools, same business model. And it also works "State to State" in USA

Residential and commercial for sale and for rent.  We want to give the clients the possibility to ask "Their" local  Realtor to rent anywhere or buy anywhere,  without the hassles and risks involved with countries you don't know. you don't know the laws, the real prices, the language!!!  And... it does not cost for now.

 Of course like every business we will have to make a profit at some point but we will keep it in the range of $10/15 a month. We will try badly!!!! We grow if our Realtors grow, that's it and we're here to stay.

If you're interested let me know and I will be happy to give you more details. My email is info@iesmls.com

My name is Manuela Moruzzi I am the founder of this and also the only one working on a Sunday during the holidays :-)

By the way have a wonderful 2008 everybody!

Thanks Mirela for having me as your guest. All the best! 

 

 

 

Realtor.com shows a low ROI if you only measure leads generated - much less converted...  It's waaaay too expensive for what you get, and I too detest that they are selling us back our own leads....  BUT they do have a LOT of traffic.  And traffic is good if you know what to do with eyeballs....  CAPTURE THEM!!!!

Many of my web site leads told me they first got to my web site after finding one of my listings at Realtor.com

How to use Realtor.com to generate traffic to your web site...  Add these words to the end of your showcase home remarks: 

<YOUR TAG LINE - VALUE PROPOSITION HERE>  CLICK MY PICTURE AT RIGHT TO SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS HOUSE." 

Then watch your web site stats to see how many visitors are being referred from Realtor.com 

As for best places to put your money.....  Direct mail is a good investment if you mail Sphere or geographic targets repeatedly.  Craigslist is FREE and can produce good traffic to your web site.  Other than that, I would invest in a top notch web site, like a Point2Agent web site, and GOOGLE SEO.

What do I know?  IAs a former webmaster and SEO guy, I was uniquely positioned to take advantage of online marketing opportunities in Real Estate.  In 2007 my own personal web site got about 2000 visitors a month, and produced 50 - 100 leads a month - mostly from natural Page 1 SERP at GOOGLE.  I had 2000 people on drip email - and got at least 2 deals a month from GOOGLE as near as I can tell.  Those deals from natural placement GOOGLE were essentailly FREE once the SEO work is in place...  Of course, if you cannot do your own SEO you might want to get a book or hire an SEO Coach. 

SEO Coaching vs PPC   SEO Coaching actually costs less than PPC in the long run, and leaves you with skills you can use for life.  If you just want somebody to do it for you then PPC is an option - but I find it a distant second for ROI.  On the plus side, PPC can work faster than SEO - but when you stop paying, the leads stop coming.  Not so with SEO!

Finally:  Consider Radio or TV. These mediums are expensive, but very powerful because they let you communicate more fully your personality and value proposition than static print.

Print is dead, long live the Web!       

For me. Featured Listings brought hits but no buyers. so won't do that again. I think Enhanced Listings are necessary, so I keep spending for that.

We've dropped all print advertising and gone to the web. 

I agree with Sharon on this one. Pay for enhanced listings.

If you are talking about listing exposure - I use "listing domains" for single property websites.  They will link the website to Realtor.com for only $20! (you know the thingy with the red twirling house) and this rocks - it advertises me and my listing on Realtor.com  The website itself is only $65 (hosted for a YEAR and a free sign rider with the website on it.  Listing Domains submits the website to the search engines and voila - cheap marketing that has worked well for me this past year!

Because there are sooooo many great posts here I will have to come back over and over again to stay on track.  I have a limited budget as well but now I see I have to get more of a presence on the web.  There is so much info available in this post.

Thx 

 WHAT AN AWESOME POST... I AM A NEW ACTIVERAINER AND GETTING MY FEET WET ON COMMENTING ON THESE MUST NEED TO KNOW  POST. NOW TO MIRELA; YOU POSE A VERY COMPLEX QUESTION WITH NO SIMPLE SOLUTION. A 1000K BUDGET CAN DO WONDERS  IF YOU ARE WILLING TO BOOTSTRAP.... THAT MEANS GET DOWN A ND DIRTY, USING INNOVATION, CREATIVITY AND OUT THE BOX THINKING.  THIS IS SO IMPORTANT WHEN YOU ARE MARKETING AS A REALTOR PROFESSIONAL. THERE ARE SO MANY MARKETING SHARKS OUT THERE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF US  LIKE THEY HAVE DONE FOR YEARS.    I AM  12 YRS IN THIS MARKETING GAME. WHAT WOULD I DO WITH 1000K AND WHAT HAVE I DONE OVER THE YEARS.   1. FIGURE OUT REALLY WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IN YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS. 2. KNOW YOUR MARKET SEGMENT WELL, SPEND YOUR MONEY THERE REACHING THAT GROUP. 3. GO  BOLD & BIG TO GET LOCAL MARKET EXPOSURE THAT SAYS  WHO IS SHE... LIKE BUS BENCH ADS... THEY WORK IF YOU DO THEM RIGHT. 4. USE NICHE MARKET MEDIAS... LIKE A WOMENS MAGAZINE...CHECK TO SEE IF YOU HAVE A SKIRT MAG IN YOUR AREA. WOMEN MAKE 85% OF BUYING DECISIONS. 5. OUT THE BOX MARKETING.... START ON YOUR RADIO SHOW OR BECOME A GUEST APPEARANCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE... THIS IS FREE AND ONE OF MY BEST  IS PAY ATTENTION A LOT OF ATTENTION TO YOUR PAST CLIENTS, BUILD A CLIENT FOR LIFE PROGRAM.... HOST A MOVIE DAY , AND WATCH THE REFERRALS OR HOST A COOK OUT IN THE SUMMER OR A EASTER EGG HUNT ETC... MAKE SURE YOU DEVELOP A NEWSLETTER AND CATER TO THEM EVERY QUARTER.   NOW LETS LOOK @ DOLLARS...  WITH 1000K MTH YOU CAN GET  A CONTRACT W A NICHE MARKET PAPER FOR SAY 210.00 OR SO GIVES YOU TIME TO GET PROSPECTS AND PAY IN 30 DAYS .  BENCH BUS ADS COST SAY 99.OO PER BENCH AND YOU GET AS MANY AS YOU WANT.. I PURCHASED 7 @ 99.OO  PAYABLE MTHLY...OH I GOT SO MUCH BUSINESS. REMEMBER RADIO APPEARANCES ..FREE. OF COURSE LOTS OF INTERNET MARKETING FOR THIS NEW AGE LIKE  SET UP ANOTHER BLOG FOR YOUR LOCAL MARKET SEE MY OTHER BLOG @ WWW.MYSOUTHCAROLINAREALESTATEBLOG.COM

REALESTSATEDIVA ADVISE... REMEMBER REALESTATE IS A LOCAL MARKET, GET THEM TO KNOW YOU AND LOVE YOU AND NEVER FORGET YOU PAST CLIENTS, YOU HAVE ALREADY PROVED YOURSELF TO THEM. HARNESS THAT RELATIONSHIP,MOST REALTORS DO THE ONCE AND DONE METHOD.. DON'T BE AFRAID TO THINK OUT THE BOX AND NEVER DO IT LIKE THE OTHERS, YOUR 1000K CAN ACT LIKE 10,000 !

 

 

 

 

 

 WHAT AN AWESOME POST... I AM A NEW ACTIVERAINER AND GETTING MY FEET WET ON COMMENTING ON THESE MUST NEED TO KNOW  POST. NOW TO MIRELA; YOU POSE A VERY COMPLEX QUESTION WITH NO SIMPLE SOLUTION. A 1000K BUDGET CAN DO WONDERS  IF YOU ARE WILLING TO BOOTSTRAP.... THAT MEANS GET DOWN A ND DIRTY, USING INNOVATION, CREATIVITY AND OUT THE BOX THINKING.  THIS IS SO IMPORTANT WHEN YOU ARE MARKETING AS A REALTOR PROFESSIONAL. THERE ARE SO MANY MARKETING SHARKS OUT THERE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF US  LIKE THEY HAVE DONE FOR YEARS.    I AM  12 YRS IN THIS MARKETING GAME. WHAT WOULD I DO WITH 1000K AND WHAT HAVE I DONE OVER THE YEARS.   1. FIGURE OUT REALLY WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IN YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS. 2. KNOW YOUR MARKET SEGMENT WELL, SPEND YOUR MONEY THERE REACHING THAT GROUP. 3. GO  BOLD & BIG TO GET LOCAL MARKET EXPOSURE THAT SAYS  WHO IS SHE... LIKE BUS BENCH ADS... THEY WORK IF YOU DO THEM RIGHT. 4. USE NICHE MARKET MEDIAS... LIKE A WOMENS MAGAZINE...CHECK TO SEE IF YOU HAVE A SKIRT MAG IN YOUR AREA. WOMEN MAKE 85% OF BUYING DECISIONS. 5. OUT THE BOX MARKETING.... START ON YOUR RADIO SHOW OR BECOME A GUEST APPEARANCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE... THIS IS FREE AND ONE OF MY BEST  IS PAY ATTENTION A LOT OF ATTENTION TO YOUR PAST CLIENTS, BUILD A CLIENT FOR LIFE PROGRAM.... HOST A MOVIE DAY , AND WATCH THE REFERRALS OR HOST A COOK OUT IN THE SUMMER OR A EASTER EGG HUNT ETC... MAKE SURE YOU DEVELOP A NEWSLETTER AND CATER TO THEM EVERY QUARTER.   NOW LETS LOOK @ DOLLARS...  WITH 1000K MTH YOU CAN GET  A CONTRACT W A NICHE MARKET PAPER FOR SAY 210.00 OR SO GIVES YOU TIME TO GET PROSPECTS AND PAY IN 30 DAYS .  BENCH BUS ADS COST SAY 99.OO PER BENCH AND YOU GET AS MANY AS YOU WANT.. I PURCHASED 7 @ 99.OO  PAYABLE MTHLY...OH I GOT SO MUCH BUSINESS. REMEMBER RADIO APPEARANCES ..FREE. OF COURSE LOTS OF INTERNET MARKETING FOR THIS NEW AGE LIKE  SET UP ANOTHER BLOG FOR YOUR LOCAL MARKET SEE MY OTHER BLOG @ WWW.MYSOUTHCAROLINAREALESTATEBLOG.COM

REALESTSATEDIVA ADVISE... REMEMBER REALESTATE IS A LOCAL MARKET, GET THEM TO KNOW YOU AND LOVE YOU AND NEVER FORGET YOU PAST CLIENTS, YOU HAVE ALREADY PROVED YOURSELF TO THEM. HARNESS THAT RELATIONSHIP,MOST REALTORS DO THE ONCE AND DONE METHOD.. DON'T BE AFRAID TO THINK OUT THE BOX AND NEVER DO IT LIKE THE OTHERS, YOUR 1000K CAN ACT LIKE 10,000 !

 

 

 

 

 

For me Realtor.com featured homes hits the spot above everything else I have tried.

I think they are a little pricey but if its in the budget I'd rather have it than not have it.

We have dropped all other forms of advertising - we also track it and the internet is the best return - great clients , deals closed the others just took all my money too - Maggie and I could be driving new hot cars!!

Blogging is my favorite thing - it's work - but oh is the return sweet! good luck in 2008 - Keep you money and get blogging like crazy!! :-) 

What a Treasure Trove of great advertising ideas...

This post produced an extraordinary collaboration between the agents; the stuff that marketing research companies would pay good money for...

For those of you visiting, who read the post, do yourself a HUGE FAVOR:

READ THE COMMENTS!! 

...I know I will...  again...  and again...  and again...

I've already started trying some of the ideas presented here and I am so-o-o excited!

My fellow Rainers, you have been amazingly generous with your advice and I thank you so very much for it!  I have learnt a lot!  

I will return in the morning to address some of your great posts.  Again, thank you for sharing such knowledge and experience!

Wishing You HAPPY HOLIDAYS and Best Wishes for A GREAT YEAR 2008.

Tommy   New York Certified Home Inspector Long Island NY Nassau/Suffolk/Queens Home Inspections

I have to come back tomorrow and read the comments. 

I try to stay with on-line advertising opportunities combined with direct mail for farming.  I will do some print advertising, but find that on-line ads give me the most in return.

personally, I don't think Realtor.com is a great lead generating investment. There is no way of telling though how many of my listings sold to a buyer who saw my featured listing there and told their agent. I believe it is still a great marketing tool, but if you are looking for measurable direct return on investment, stick to the free stuff

I haven't received a single, not one, lead DIRECTLY from realtor.com. I have the featured listing package. Now, I'm not saying my customers haven't seen the property on realtor.com and come to me directly, but I've never received an contact through the site. I won't be renewing this year, just my $.02

Wow, the comments keep coming! Mirela, excellent job on presenting the topic and engaging everyone who comments. Not being an agent myself, this has given me a lot of insight into your world and the difficult choices you have to make

Thank you for keeping this Brainstorm going!

For those of you who still have Realtor.com Showcase and Featured Listings, please check out a couple of the comments here, and implement these great ideas.  I know I will. 

Some of the results achieved by correct advertising are not as "palpable" as a direct lead...  Whenever I feature a listing on Realtor.com, it does get more showings as a direct result of being more visible.  Buyers tell their agents about that property and it garners more activity.  That is also something to consider.

The other "angle" to consider is: some of your advertising caters to your Sellers in order to obtain more listings.  Sellers like the exposure we give them by employing the many and diverse advertising vehicles to make their properties stand out from the crowd; it helps us garner more listings.

I would love your thoughts on this!

I don't have experience as a R.com advertiser, however I have a lot of experience with The Real Estate Book (as a local publisher). And reading through all of the comments, this one stood out to me:

"Usually during a downturn in business it is the best time to gain market share.  Why?  Because most businesses will cut back on their advertising at the first hint of a slowdown.  In many ways the downturn is a self-fulfilling prophesy, isn't it?

Now, the current downturn in real estate is a funny thing.  So many folks got into real estate because it was easy money.  But they weren't truly dedicated professionals.  Many of them are out of the business now.  They never got beyond being order takers.

That's why true professionals will continue their marketing efforts.  Maybe with a few tweaks, but if you endure in the end you will prosper.  A farmer never will harvest a crop that was never planted."

I want to say that you hit the nail on the head. Many folks see this as a great opportunity to gain market share and I completely agree with you.

(shameless plug coming up! :) )

The great thing about advertising in The Real Estate Book is that you get outstanding internet exposure + local level presence in print + unlimited hosted virtual tours! It truly is an integrated marketing solution.

Best wishes to you all in 2008!

 

 

Samara,

Thank you for your "shameless plug"!  My 2 pg. spread at the front of the Real Estate Book for our area brings us more leads than anything else.  Your Internet program is outstanding!

I spend a lot of money with the Real Estate Book; all well worth it!  Please feel free to use my statement as TESTIMONIAL.

 

Thanks so much Mirela! I Am going to add it to my profile right now along with a link to your profile. :)

Samara,

I just realized that you are from Tulare.  I grew up in that area - went to Hoover high, Fresno city college and Fresno State University.  I love that area! 

I went back last year and I can't believe how much that area has grown.  I simply could not recognize Visalia; it's so modern and pretty.  You should have a ton of business.

Thank you for the link!  Keep in touch!

Happy New Year! 

Steve and Sharon,

My featured listings do garner a lot of activity on those homes I feature there.  I see a direct link between the amount of interest in the homes and their placement as fetured homes, by the amount of e-mails from prospects, along with increase phone calls from other agents whose buyers inquired about those featured homes.  I also garner more showings for those homes.  In a stagnant market like this, every little bit helps....

 Boy it seems that I am not the only one who feels that their association with Realtor.com has been a giant rip off. I too tried to get out of a featured listings contract and was told they won't even discuss cancelling it. I signed up for it when I first started in real estate at a minimal cost of $25.00 a month for my few listings and now I have 15 or so they upped me to $65.00 a month. I said yes to another year before really thinking it through carefully. I see the traffic reports but none of them have brought a single offer. I'm in a crunch for money and that $65.00 a month is just a bleeder that I can't afford. I saw in an earlier post that I should copy this bog to Realtor.com and see if they would re-think letting me cancel. How would I go about doing that? Just copy and paste the link?  Sorry if I sound dumb.

Thanks

During December, I re-evaluated every expense for real estate and discontinued all I could that did not show a sales derived from that method.  My results seem to be in line with other comments here.  My website and SEO bring more hits and sales than anything else.

 I just wanted to make the point that my problem with realtor.com is not anything that I am doing or not doing. I use all the tools, the scrolling text, headlines, the descriptive text, pictures, virtual tours..... I answer all leads  immediately and personally or if I can't do that right away by an auto response ( rarely) Most all of my business is generated and performed via the internet, email, or e-fax. The only time I am away from my computer ( I work from my home) is to go to closing, or to show property. Most of my listings are generated via my websites and contracts are e-faxed or emailed. I work in excess of 14 hrs.  a day. Why? Because I love it! If I am not working on a deal, searching for new ways to improve my main website,Lake Greenwood SC Real Estate or new ways to market myself and my listings I'm networking and socializing with all the nice, interesting, and smart people like all of you! So I almost never miss an opportunity to turn a lead into a client.

Sally 

Dear Sally,

No need to bother with copying and pasting.  Just e-mail your Realtor.com rep this entire blog.  Right underneath my blog, under the star for the feature blog, you will see a symbol for e-mailing (an envelope drawing).  Just click on that and it will take you to an e-mail dialogue that will allow you to e-mail this particular article to anyone.

Sally, you work too much!  Don't burn yourself out!  Are you taking regular vacatins?  I have a few agents in the office who regularly "over-work".  I watch them for signs of burn out, and I MAKE THEM TAKE VACATIONS.  I simply tell them to take 3 days off and go somewhere nice and STAY AWAY FROM THE PHONE AND THE COMPUTER.  They come back refreshed and produce a lot better after these madated breaks. 

 

Manuella,

An international MLS system is a great idea.  I am very interested in your service and I will contact you shortly. 

Thank you very much for letting me know about this most important service!

Thank you Svetlana, for your enthusiastic endorsal of Realtor.com.  We needed someone to express the opposing view.  Apparently a lot of the agents are very dissappointed with Realtor.com and it's lack of results coupled with high prices.  I work the Realtor.com landscape the same way you do.  A couple of the agents here have offered some very good ideas for Realtor.com usage you may want to check out.  I know I certainly will implement those and squeeze even more juice out of my Realtor.com service.

Happy New Year!

My company has a year-round marketing tool that we will be releasing within the next month called Simplify'Em. It's a web based property finance application that you can co-brand with, perhaps you would be a good candidate for our BETA Release.

And by the way, it's free.

Shoot me an e-mail if you are interested.

Niman, thank you!  I am always open to new things.  I would love to find out more about it! 

Thank you for sharing!

Happy New Year

Mirela,  Go to realestateclientreferrals.com/moreinfo.php

If you are advertising, marketing, or looking to grow your business, spend your money where you are guaranteed to get results.

Put your  money into client retention, showing appreciation and referral marketing .  Studies show that it's what gets the most bank for the buck. See my profile for details.

Thank you for the advice, Carlos!  Yes, that is very smart advice, as those are the easiest clients. 

Advertising is a multi tiered endeavor.  Strongly touch on regular business, referral business and new business.  Keep forging ahead!

Dear Real Estate Diva,

What a great name!  Great marketing with that one!

Thank you for your WONDERFUL ideas!  I love your understanding of what's important and building a lifelong relationship.  A multifaceted approach in marketing is certainly key. 

I sincerely appreciate your input!  I will look you up!  Stay in touch!

Again thank you for sharing such great ideas with us!

realtor.COM   is a business.

They don't have your best interests at heart.

I've heard and read hundred's of complaints saying they never gotten one good lead or one sale from it...This should speak for itself. realtor.com is just wrong. The very association we pay dues to does not need a website for prospective buyers to search for homes. We have our own wesbites which we mantain, update, and do the work ourselves (some pay others), in which buyers can search our websites.

realtor.ORG  is the website of the association we belong to. We already pay them. Don't donate to making their pockets any fatter then they already are.

 

If Realtor.com was never made, some other site would have filled the void and you'd be almost forced to pay them instead. Even with Realtor.com having such a dominant market share, other sites pop up all the time trying to get a piece of the pie zillow, trulia, homescape.com, househunt.com, etc. Realtor.com isn't the only game in town anymore and from the comments here it sounds like they are set to slip even further.

Thank you for your comment Carson! 

I know the concensus here is not favorable for Realtor.com, but my own experience with it has been very positive.  I am in the process of analyzing the performace of Realtor.com for 2007 and I can post the results here. 

Because of this blog, I will start using those other websites, which I have not tried before.   The comments received here were fantastic!

 

Thank you Joseph for that empassioned comment!  A lot of rainers feel the same way.

Not a fan of realtor.com .... but- in general we're experiencing the water-down effect of the internet. There are now so many real estate related websites that every internet based lead source is going through some serious soul-searching. My opinion is that many consumers have learned not to be too committed to internet based companies. They're now more apt to be cautious in such services. For agents it's all about being a good representative and earning the business when these potential clients come our way.

Realtor.com is one of the most active real-estate sites you need to see what your conversion rate is compared to some one else in your region , if every one has a low conversion rate then dump it , but if you are a exception in your region with a low conversion rate then you need to See what you are doing that is diffrent 

Chuck,

Never were truer words spoken.  I love your analysis!  Great comments!  Thank you!

These are great comments for someone who hasn't used Realtor.com yet (me!).  Thanks everyone!

Isn't AR the best source of information? 

Mark, you are smart for reading!   Thanks for the comment!

I just want all of you to know that I just garnered two more good listings today from my Realtor.com exposure. 

Is Realtor.com worth it?  When done correctly, it sure is! 

I want to thank those of you who shared the many other avenues for advertising!  I've already embarked on trying out ALL of your suggestions.  2008 will be a great year for my team, thanks to YOU!

Realtor.com has performed very well for us.  The lower price point does best, and the listings have to contain at least 6 pictures, a catchy title, and place the property as a featured listing, at the top of the page.

As a fairly new Real Estate Broker, this is a great thread to learn about different advertising and marketing techniques that people have employed to find leads. It sounds like realtor.com may not be a good choice considering all the other alternatives currently available.

 

 I have never been a fan or realtor.com, I believe it has really drop-ed off the last few years in popularity.. I would take out a full page ad in a magazine that focusing on your state and area! Drive traffic to your web page, offer special savings on purchasing real estate in your area! Good luck! Joe

I left a comment on 1/1, and asked if you were interested in trying our new marketing tool, and you said you were always open to trying new things.

I hope I can take you up on that offer!

We just put out a new WebTool called Simplify'em (www.simplifyem.com) and it's a property management tool for investors.

The cool thing about it is that we are letting real estate professional co-brand the product when they sign up as a partner (www.trexglobal.com/partner), so you get to share your own WebTool with your investors. Try it out and let me know what you think! 

Niman: I checked it out and it's too good to be true.  What's the catch?

I have questions, so if you don't mind, please call me.  I'd like to partner and put it on my website.  Thank you very much.  This is very helpful!

Joe:  Apparently the consensus is against Realtor.com, but I have to confess that it's garnered fairly good results for me, but only on highly edited ads that appear at the top of the page as a featured listing (expensive!).  Thank you for your input.  Your advice is very good!

Rony:  This is good, isn't it?  I'm glad I asked the question.  We sure have a great community here, don't we?

These products are free and our business model offers add-on paid premium services.

Current examples of add-on services are the printing of tax forms and reports on Depreciate'em and Defer'em.

The basic functionality in Simplify'em and RealTaxTips.com is entirely free.

Niman,

I spoke with Pankaj, who was most helpful.  Thank you very much for the info!  I love the site, and I am now a partner.  My investors and I thank you for the information!

I see that you've signed up as a Partner, Congrats! I'm sure your client will thank you!

Don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything! 

 

I would personally not put money with realtor.com. Have tried every product they have  about three  years ago> I fell that there are better ways to get qualifed leads to your site.Maybe a bait site such as a home search going to your website would be a better source for qualified trackable leads

Anne

Hi again Mirela,

our International MLS is growing, slow but steady. One little step at the time.

After all we have been in business for just about 3 months now and we are already working with : Florida, Italy, Nevada, Canada, NY, CT, California ... we recently had a realtor from Mexico . We are thinking to create a New Section about High End Properties.

If you'd like to have more info I will be able to assist you. info@iesmls.com or www.iesmls.com

Have a Great Day and Thank you for your interest! :-) 

Funny, the Realtor.com rep just called me yesterday.  They're coming to my area for a marketing seminar, and they were offerring 10% their featured homes product.  I only use the Enhanced Listing.  You should get into CraigsList.org, it's free advertising and great for capturing local buyers.

Only one word 'CRAIGSLIST' , I've had incredible response advertising my listings with this web-site, responses come to me in a few hours!!!

I'm so glad you're using that!  It's been very good for me as well.  I post all my realbird flyers there.

I send 2 postcards per month to my entire database. gotprint.com is amazing!!

Joe: You are an angel!  GotPrint.com is awesome!  Thank you so much for sharing!

I'm so thankful for all of the wonderful information that I get from my fellow AR. This is a great post.

Patty Ledford-Blue Ridge-Ga

www.LedfordProperties.com

Fantastic information here.

Patty and Greg:  Thank you!  I'm so glad this helps!

Internet leads are like fish: they go bad quickly.  The Realtor's response time should be only a few minutes, not hours, and definitely not days...

Good evening Mirela,

Ha!  Great analogy.  You're exactly right.  Faster is better.  In fact, I recommend the 15 Second Rule to my clients.  :)

Cordially,

Bruce

Thanks Bruce!  I'm glad you agree! 

You just have to edit your listings and make them enticing; add lots of pictures, streming text, a good headline, and then just watch the leads come in. 

Hi Mirela,

How is this year looking so far?  Are you still getting good results with R.com?

I just dropped it this month.  My AR and Localism have beat it for zero dollars.  Unbelievable!  I am on my 28-th AR lead for the year!

I am on my 28-th AR lead for the year!

Amazing!!!  You must have set some kind of AR record.  If I was in Active Rain management, I would make this a featured post - for about a year.  :)

You already have plenty of advise, but for what it's worth, it all boils down to where you get the best results. We no longer do print advertising except during high season when we have lots of visitors here. Statistically, the numbers support a strong Internet presence. That's we focus our efforts.

This has been quite an interesting read.  Thanks so much for posting.

Not yet licensed:  I'm now on my thirty something lead from AR.  I've lost track at this point...  It's been extremely beneficial for me.  I post a lot of statistical information and Local information and I thought those were the blogs that garnered me the leads.   A lot of my leads came from those lifestyle posts where I air out my dirty laundry.  Go figure!  I guess being so flawed makes people relate to me better.  The investors I usually garner from the blogs where I discuss unique new ways to tackle our current market (out of the box thinking).  I hope this helps my fellow Rainers.

I agree with you!  They should make this post Featured...  Again!  It was actually featured and I tried editing it while they were in that transition and lost the star.  They haven't been able to put it back yet, for some reason.  Now that I think of it, I'll just flag it and see if they can put it back.  Thanks for the reminder!

 

I'm now on my thirty something lead from AR.  I've lost track at this point...  It's been extremely beneficial for me. 

Good evening Mirela,

That is absolutely stunning!  You certainly post with passion.  I would think your tremendous AR success testimonial would inspire many Active Rainers to start blogging with gusto!  :)

Cordially,

Bruce

I cancelled my Realtor.com because I felt of all my advertising dollars it ws the least productive.  I could think of a lot of places to spend $1000, but it would not be in Realtor.Com.

By the way what makes you think that throwing that type of money at an ad will sell a home in this market?  There are many free tools like Craigslist, Postlets, VFlyer, and blogging that are much more effective than paid ads.

If I remember correctly, Mirela cancelled her R.com advertising also.

I maybe able to add some sound advice....try contacting;

Krista Hansen

800.416.503 Ext.120

She works for a online marketing company that drives and attracts to yahoo, and some other major search engine sites. She called me yesterday and offered me "north carolina mortgage lender" as a key word search. Everytime someone goes to any of the 50 search engines  and type in "north carolina mortgage lender"they will find me w/in the top five EVERY TIME, 24/7 365, and it's GUARANTEED.

It is only $75/mo and a start up fee of $79.00. My keyword search averages about 98 searches a month, and it is well worth the expense.

I hope this helps.

JD

Josh I've tried that for about 6 months, but did not see much ROI, so I canceled it.  I hope it works better for you than it did for me.

Letting go of Realtor.com was painful indeed, since I did get a fairly decent return on it, especially for the lower priced listings.  They tried to offer it to me at half price, and it still did not make sense.  I'm using the money on Localism now and I'm watching the numbers. 

AR has done great for me.  Craigslist, the free site is awesome and has done extremely well for us.  My print advertising costs me a fortune, but I get a great return from it.  Myrtle Beach is a tourist destination and the Real Estate book, being small gets picked up and used quite a lot.  Most of our leads come from that single source of advertising, with the Internet leads in second place to that.

I encourage all of you to develop your outside AR blogs.  You can re-blog other members posts, anchor them with a great domain name and really appear to be much larger and significant than you really are.  The meta tags should attract the traffic and the way they have the outside blogs set up is so easy to access ALL the blogs.  It only takes 5 minutes to set up your outside blog. 

Check mine out!  I just set it up a couple of days ago.  The domain address cost me $.99 (yes, 99 cents!!!).  It's easy to remember and I will promote it on my my e-mail correspondence.

WWW.MyrtleBeachGuru.info

Let me know how you like it!  Let me know what you think about the AR outside blogs.  Great source of leads, I think!

Mirela, Here are some links to my site that has Real Physical Hallmark quality greeting cards sent for you.

It's an incredibly cost effective method of follow up and client appreciation.

Info movie here: www.SOCreferral.com/jrsuperstar

Free trial here: www.JohnRiding.com you actually get to send a couple of cards free just for visiting! Very cool marketing ideas. Send brownies or starbucks cards and never leave your office.

Let me know what you think.

John Riding

my referral generation tips blog

 

Send out cards...  I've been noticing them and actually have an appointment with Sue White, the local rep, just next week. 

I think you have a great opportunity here John.  I can't see how you can lose with these.  I love the idea.  Thank you for suggesting it!

What's the ROI on your investment?

Are these leads you're getting being converted into income producing ventures?

Do you need another business write off?

If you can answer these questions favorably for your situation, then, by all means, make the investment.

If not, it's time to consider a different avenue for your marketing dollars.

 

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I find some benefit to Realtor.com though I do try to keep the cost down in some of the ways I've seen recommended above.  It seems to garner the same results for less cost.

Mirela, I guess you don't need anybody more advise but when my phone quits ringing I start spending, I also track my marketing spending spree...

I'm bringing this back out for a friend.  I hope she reads all these valuable comments!

The domain address cost me $.99 (yes, 99 cents!!!). 

Good evening Mirela,

This is one of my favorite ActiveRain posts!

Quick question: How do you buy a domain name for 99 cents?  I need to buy another one soon.

Cordially,

Bruce

Bruce:  Just go to GoDaddy.com    The last time I bought .info domain names it was only .99cents per year. 

When you place your order, just make sure you click on "manual" renew, one year term, instead of 2 years (they'll charge you more for the second year). 

Get on there often; they constantly have special sales on various domain names. 

Tip:  If you hold your mouse over the various domain types, they will explain each one at length.  GoDaddy.com is the best place I've found for domain name purchases.

Excellent participation on this post. Thanks goes out to everyone for adding to the content in this thread. I've posted the link at a few forums related to this topic and wish you all greater success through taking action on all the great advice offerd here.

P.S. Don't forget to use; www.allthelistings.com www.backpage.com www.10realty.com in addition to Craigslist to post free listings.

Dan Auito

www.magicbullets.com

Dan: Thank you much for your outstanding contribution to this blog!

That would be the last place I would spend any money..unless you can demonstrate all the direct sales you gained from doing so in the past.

Mirela, ok so after reading all 183 comments, my $.02 worth. i am working with a lady now who found us on R.com. Closed one in May. We get a couple of deals a year so it definitely pays for itself. I agree with Sharon Simms about paying for the enhanced because our customers expect it. They actually go on R.com and check out the site. It did go up a lot last year because we have so many more listings now.

That said, I am not thrilled with them right now because we wanted to switch our account name and they wouldn't let us do it. Said we would have to close the account and open a new one which would change our rate. That's really bogus and it may cost them our business when it's time to renew. Changing an account name is a simple change on the data base. Principal with me means more than a couple of buyers. I can get those elsewhere.

We are using Homes & Land for print and they have an online function that allows us to put all our listings on there. Just curious why you prefer Real Estate Book to H&L - both have internet and print.

 

Sharon:  As you know I am a sucker for statistics.  As you might have guessed, I have always tracked my advertising.  When I worked for my ex who was a developer, I showed him that his ad in the paper cost him $1,200 per lead.  Incredible but true.  It took over a year of tracking to prove to him how worthless the paper advertising was.  The Homes & Land ad did very well for us, so when I opened my business that was my print advertising of choice. 

I gave the Real Estate Book a try just to see and I was amazed by the figures.  Within the year I had dropped Homes & Land altogether and doubled my Real Estate Book advertising.  For our area, being a tourist place, I think a lot of the visitors take it home with them because it's small and easy to put in a purse or a pocket.  Their Internet exposure is outstanding.  I load the ads and the pictures up on the Internet,  They are easy to work with, and have various other support tools - cards that go to the sellers, e-mails, etc.

Realtor.com offered to cut my price in half, trying to get me to stay.  Although I did see some results from them, it wasn't enough to substantiate the cost, even at 50% off.   We are on about 50 websites, page 4 & 5 of the Real Estate Book and we participate on 3 MLS Boards (not cheap!), but probably my best investment this year was the subscription to the Horry County Foreclosure Data collection service, which gives us weekly inside reports of everything foreclosing in Horry County.  Between that, AR and the Real Estate Book, we have become quite a force in this area. 

I have some really good agents who inspire me to push that advertising cart to the next level, in order to garner them the leads they need to continue their top notch performance... 

I weigh in on client retention, referral and personal contact. A certain amount of presence is necessary and I do enhance my listings on .Com...

Also evaluate how you look at the internet. Is it a means of driving business to you... do you get clients there? Or is it another means of showcasing (advertising) your properties that may result in offers only through a second agent? I aim at more the the latter and leave the first to others... percentages are way too low and I work referrals very hard with good results.

Mainly due to the extraordinary comments elicited, this blog has just been inducted into the Optimist Group's Hall of Fame.