Joe,
Please see my response to Piper regarding activity. To me, it seems like activity, but I’m sure a couple of years from now, I will probably laugh at that level.
Thanks for the photo tip. I’m sure it would be worthwhile for me to learn how to use it, but that’s pretty low on the list of priorities right now.
Also, my wife may call or write you soon to inquire about threats received from posting notices on doors, but I’ll leave that to her…thanks…
What kind of web pages are your investors using to advertise your business? It would be interesting to see the various designs. Post your URL if you could. Thanks.
I am new to this newsgroup. Reading everything and trying to learn. thanks, I’m learning alot. I can answer a question here. If you are interested in having your own webpage that advertises your real estate and/or company you can use a program called Frontpage 2000. With Frontpage you don’t need to learn webpage code(html). Once you get the hang the program its very easy.
Next you need to get a web server to place your webpage on. The free web page server I use is hypermart. http://hypermart.net
there are other free webservers too.
to name a few. Each free server has their terms of agreement, for example their advertisement placed somewhere on your webpage, or those annoying pop-ups which I’m not sure you would want but of course there are options to that. I think Hypermart charges $8 per month. If you are going to pay to place your webpage on a server make sure the server does not have alot of downtime.
Another problem with free servers is you end up with a long web address that no one could possibly remember and would take a long line on your business card and letterhead, so if you really want to look professional you could buy your own domain name (creonline.com is a domain name) It’s much easier to remember that address. The cost of that is around $70 for two years.
As far a posting a web page even though I would love to post my web page address, it is not realestate related so I want to post it here.
thanks and I hope this helps
just up and running today although still with a few glitches and not yet completed www.victorian-apt-rentals.com and soon to be up and running www.ibuymultiunits.com. the rentals site will offer phototours of the units, online applications, histories of the historic properties, cultural sites of the city etc. we plan to run a classified periodically in the local paper directing prospective tenants to the site.
the other site will be geared towards potential sellers, primarily tired landlords.
The biggest reason I use a web site is for VISIBILITY and to capture email addresses of people who want to “Stay Informed” about the real estate news and San Diego market conditions.
Read the book “Permission Marketing” . . . and you’ll discover the most effective way to use your web site. It’s a great book.
I use “Permission Marketing” to advertise myself as a real estate broker / advisor / investor.
Because real estate sites are the most competitive on the internet . . . the best way to advertise is off-line. Your web site should be on your envelopes, your letterhead, your business card and in all your ads.
Also, I send out monthly Press Releases about changing market conditions in real estate . . . and because I write them from a “news perspective” . . . I get FREE publicity. I use these Presss Releases to drive visitors to my web site for even more informtation.
I would suggest all serious real estate investors/players take the time to build a good web site. Over time, if done well, it will only add to your visibility and success.
It’s a long way from where I want it to be, but it’s great for obtaining buyers. It’s quickoffers.com and I’m more than willing to exchange links with anyone who’s interested. Thanks…
I forgot one very important thing. traffic! Getting people to your website. My counter tells me I get anywhere from 3000+ visitors per month. Ways to get visitors: business card, letterhead, word of mouth, advertising, online promotions, your e-mail signature file, link and banner exchanges, and search engine submissions, exchange links with others. (If people like your page enough, they will actually come to you and ask if you are interested in an exchange) You could post real estate information and/or how to’s, a mailing list so people will remember you or develop a trust. There are so many ways but it does involve work on your part. One comment about this, people, myself included, do not like what is called spam so I wouldnt use that to get your page noticed.
Hope this help
Elizabeth
I’m a Realtor in Denver CO. I’m assuming you do all/most of the different types of creative real estate referred to on this site. Has your real estate license hindered you in any way. How long have you done creative deals with your license and do you disclose on ALL your creative deals that you are licensed? Do you feel that you have much/any exposure to keeping your license by doing “creative deals”. Thanks for the info. appreciate your time on this response.
I put my website on letterhead, business cards, letters to prospects, ads on my car, online classified ads, banner exchange programs, etc. In addition about once a month I submit my site to about 40 search engines through Submitexpress.com.
Mostly the site is used for a marketing gimick. Hey, if you have a professional looking website you must be a serious business. Right? Maybe not, but it gives a great impression to prospects IMHO.
All ads placed in local papers, penny pinchers, ect. have our web address. Ads here are very reasonable, 70.00 per month for a 4 line ad in our major paper, so we usually run 2 or 3 ads at a time, all the time.
Our bandit signs have the address as well, and fortunately for me, it seems that there is no code against them. Not one that is enforced at least.
My business cards have the site listed on the front. I leave them everywhere I go. On counters, at pay phones, everywhere.
All of these things seem to get us a fair amount of traffic. I would say that on average, we get 5 to 10 buyers fill out forms on our site daily. Enough to enable you to keep a nice file of prospective T/B’s. Fewer sellers but it is always easier to find a buyer, right?
Jim,
The website address is shown in our “wanted” ads, house ads, biz cards, magnetics, riders on the for sale signs, voice mail, all correspondence etc. It’s not difficult to generate traffic. We average between 40 to 50 separate visits per day (250 hits).
We began advertising in March and have received over 70 buyer submissions and maybe 5 seller submissions. Maybe one out of five buyers is a good lead and we haven’t done any buys off the site yet. It’s just another tool and it’s easy to maintain once it’s up.
I will eventually use it to automate more of my processes by having apps and other forms available. Additionally, I will drive real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, investors, and every other contact I can imagine through that site.
So, the answer to the unasked question is “YES”, you should get one. Once you make that decision, I think you’ll be surprised at the number of ideas that will pop into your head on how to benefit from it.