Money well spent?

[audiokat]

I am a new Realtor (about 4 mopnths). During the first 4 months I sold about 4 houses. Most of them were my friends and I find myself out of leads. I am making the transition from a full time job and basically have about $4k in my acct to last me till I figure this thing out. I used to make about 30k a year so that gives you an idea of how long that will last. I think with budgeting I could make it last for 3 months.

The question.

Should I horde my money and hope that I happen upon some leads to get me through the tough time or should I spend some of it try and generate something.

Next Question:

If I'm to spend some of it what on?

Web Site
Newspaper Ad
Park Bench etc..

My mind tells me the web site is the best way to go. But how long do the search engines take to start working? How many qualified leads do some of you get a month?

Last question:

Do any of you know of some hot shot web site people? What type of money should I expect to spend for a web site for this type of industry.


That's allot to digest. Thanks for the help all.

Thanks,

Steve Mabee
Exit Kelly Can Realty Associates d/b/a
Exit Kelly Commercial Realty Associates d/b/a E-KCRA
Nashville TN Realtor

[HHI Golf Guy]

My mind tells me the web site is the best way to go. But how long do the search engines take to start working? How many qualified leads do some of you get a month?

Depending upon the web competition in your market and the capabilities of your SEO person, for a new domain it takes 2-4 months to get top 10 rankings in MSN, 6-8 months in Yahoo, and 9-15 months in Google.

Since Google drives of 50% of search engine traffic at this time, it is the key to generating leads in your market.

How many leads? That depends upon your search engine ranking, optimizing for the correct spread of keywords, and the demand for homes in your market.

You also need to keep in mind that some agents consider every email inquiry a "lead". In my opinion, those are prospects. A "lead" is when you successfully make contact with that inquiry and qualify that they are indeed active buyers of real estate. You may want to also consider making sure they have qualified for a loan or have cash in hand before they are considered a lead.

You also need to keep in mind that the typical internet homebuyer is looking to purchase a home in a 6-9 month time frame, not immediately. That is why it is EXTREMELY important to have a consistent and organized follow up / drip email campaign in place. This keeps them active and engaged during the 6-9 month time frame, and affords you the chance to keep your name in the forefront until they are actually ready to buy.

Do any of you know of some hot shot web site people? What type of money should I expect to spend for a web site for this type of industry.

I'm not a hot shot. But I am a specialist in real estate web marketing (and print media marketing). Depending upon your market my fees for a web site and SEO will cost you between $15k and $30k for the first year.

But unless you are flush with cash and a good marketing plan I suggest that all new agents avoid SEO / custom design fees until they have become more established in their markets.

That's right - it's the anti-sales pitch.

Here's what you should do for the web in your first year:

1. Go to your local high school / trade school / community college and find a student to design your site. Talk to teachers or put an ad up on a bulletin board looking for a graphic designer and web designer. Just make sure that iw will be easy for you to update and add pages. If you don't know how, read up about it on the web or buy "HTML for Dummies". You can get a great looking site for the cost of beer and pizza money.

2. Go to GoDaddy.com and buy yourself a domain name. Register it for at least 5 years. Remember, don't use the word "Realtor" as part of your domain name.

3. Find an inexpensive web hosting company. Lunarpages and WebHost4Life both earn my seal of approval, and it will only cost you $4.95 - $7.95 a month for their basic hosting plans. You don't need their more advanced plans.

4. Use your local MLS feed for your listings. You do not need a custom IDX feed at this point in time. You need to spend your money wisely.

5. Add some content to your web pages. Write as little as possible about yourself. Write about the real estate in your area, and what it's like to live and work there. Start with 5-10 pages (or more). Try to add 1-2 pages every month. **IMPORTANT** Don't copy material from other sources. It's not only against the law, but it can lead to search engine penalties. Take your time and do it right. There are no shortcuts here.

6. Once you get your core web site up and running, put your web address on EVERYTHING. Heck, use vinyl letters and put it on the windows of your SUV. When you run a print media piece, your web address should be the first item in your ad - not buried at the bottom.

7. Use the internet and read everything you can about successful web marketing - not just real estate web maketing.

8. Search the internet for places to acquire links to your own web site. Find the most popular Nashville sites in your area and consider purchasing a link or two to your own site. The links from Nashville sites are not for SEO purposes. They are to drive potential buyers to your web site.

Read this forum and other SEO forums regarding link building and link exchanges. Your goal should be to build 15-20 quality links per month. Quality links trump quantity links every time.

Some people will suggest using one of those cookie cutter real estate web companies for your web site. While agree that there are a few out there that are OK, most are a waste of money. Set yourself apart from the crowd with a nice, custom design. Trust me, some of these graphic arts students do AMAZING work.

At the end of one year, you can start thinking about paying someone for SEO services. In the long run, it will give you the best bang for your buck. In the short term, re is nothing that an ethical SEO expert can do to get your new domain name to the top of the Google organic listings in the first 9-15 months. Don't waste your money.

Now, where should you spend the rest of your money besides food and shelter? Do you know the biggest real estate feeder markets in your area? Do you know the time of year when the people from these feeder markets are likely to visit Nashville? If you know these answers, then you should advertise in publications in those feeder markets during the time these people are likely to visit your area.

Are golf properties big in your market? Then advertise in the golf section of the feeder market newspaper? Is your buyer demographic the white collar business person? Then advertise in the business section of that feeder market publication. Just keep asking yourself, "Where are my potential buyers coming from?"

My belief is that a new agent generally does not have the budget available to compete with established agents when trying to advertise in their own market.

As for the rest, keep doing what you're doing, but increase your sphere of influence. You did a great job by targeting family and friends to get sales. Keep networking yourself at local charitable and social functions and grow your list of contacts. Give 'em all a business card - with your web site address printed prominently on the card.

At the end of one year you will have an established domain presence, and if you followed my advice you will already have 200+ quality links pointing to your site. If you haven't done anything to get your site penalized by the search engines, you have built a nice platform where a competent SEO can get your site to move up quickly in the rankings.

If you want, look me up then and we'll talk about branding yourself, target buyer demographics, and how to get the most out of your web site and your print media advertising - as well as improving those search engine rankings.

[bmarchand]

Hmm, most the time they say you need at least 6 months liquid to jump into the business from a full time position in a different industry. It can be done with less than that (3 months, probably)

Have you tried going through expired listings, cold calling, etc? You can also have open houses (which attract a large number of people who are just looking and don't have a realtor already.) These things are free and can help you generate some buzz.

Hope my ideas help.

B.

[Chief Tutor]

The above post by HHI Golf Guy is right on the money. You could read 10 books and not have received better advise than the advise given above.

I love it when people in our industry are honest and to the point.

HHI, Thanks for taking the time to write this reply.

IT IS THE BEST ADVISE I HAVE SEEN....AND I COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF.

[JohnHoward]

I would like to add to the idea of having open houses. You may want to review some of your office listings, pick out several that are the most saleable and ask the listing agent if you can use their listing for an open house. An agent that is very busy may not have the time to have an open house on one of their listings. They may very much appreciate having another office agent have an open house on one of their properties. You have the chance to gain numerous leads and a possibility of making a sale.

[HHI Golf Guy]

The above post by HHI Golf Guy is right on the money. You could read 10 books and not have received better advise than the advise given above.

I love it when people in our industry are honest and to the point.

HHI, Thanks for taking the time to write this reply.

IT IS THE BEST ADVISE I HAVE SEEN....AND I COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF.

You're welcome, buddy.

I hate seeing agents - especially new agents - get ripped off by these "get rich quick" SEO and design companies and their unrealistic promises of (quick)success.

[audiokat]

This is all great. So even if it is a cheap site by a local. Do you believe this is the best way to spend my money first?

HHI Golf Guy: Thank you for spending so much time on that email. That is very helpful info.


Steve

[HHI Golf Guy]

This is all great. So even if it is a cheap site by a local. Do you believe this is the best way to spend my money first?

HHI Golf Guy: Thank you for spending so much time on that email. That is very helpful info.


Steve

You're welcome.

Yes - use that local talent - especially from students. Talk to their teachers first. They may set you up with a one-on-one meeting with one of their star pupils. There are a lot of talented graphic design students out there.

Remember that some of these students also have to submit working projects as part of their final grade. It's a great incentive to them to actually have their work utilized by a real business.

[OregonLO]

I can't really say much that hasn't already been said. They have put it the right way. Just keep talking to everyone you see and always be giving out business cards. Don't waste your money buying leads, they are a waste of time. I think most people have bought them (myself included) and they just don't work out well. I'm very good on the phone and good at closing people but the leads you buy on the internet aren't worth it. I find myself fighting with the lead company to get bad leads replaced than actually trying to close people on using me...

Good luck and just keep at it. Keep talking to friends and family, be sure to ask if they know anyone who is looking and that any help would be appreciated.

Stick with it!