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Internet Marketing Solutions for Realtors®
In addition to our PhotoTour services, we also build Websites and provide listing information and property search solutions. Our Internet Marketing Solutions are a cost effective way to:
- showcase your active and sold listings (PhotoTours)
- provide you with a professional, content-rich Website (PhotoTour Websites)
- enable prospective Home Buyers to
search for active MLS listings on your Website (PhotoToursIDX)
- display
our PhotoTours on your Website branded with your contact information
(Featured PhotoTours)
1.
Pass the blush test. Home
Buyers and Sellers EXPECT you to have a
professional Website. When they say you don’t always get a second chance to make a good first impression, it’s
true –
especially online. The image
you convey and the listing information that you provide may determine
whether
you will be given an opportunity to represent a prospective Buyer
or
Seller. For example, a Home Owner will typically visit your Website BEFORE you deliver a listing presentation - assuming you have one. If you don’t have a Website, you'd better be prepared to do some fast talking! Your Website may
be the first and only opportunity you have to communicate with a
prospective
Buyer or Seller.
2.
Sell your listings. Professionally
photographed PhotoTours are an
extremely effective marketing tool.
PhotoTours not only enable you to showcase your listings on your
Website, in the MLS, on Realtor.com, etc., they also enable other
agents to
help you market your listings. Because
they can be branded with their contact information, other agents are
comfortable
sending a PhotoTour of your listing to their clients.
Unlike print advertising that has a very
limited shelf-life, PhotoTours work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week
until your listing has sold.
3.
Set yourself apart from your competition and secure
more listings. Sellers want to know
‘how’ you’re going to market their home.
They also want to be assured that you are the right agent to
list
their property. If PhotoTours are an
integral part of your overall marketing program, you’ll actually be
able to
show an owner how their home will be seen online by hundreds of
other
agents and thousands of prospective Buyers. In other words, PhotoTours not only help to sell homes, they can also be
instrumental in
securing new listings.
4.
Showcase your accomplishments.
Buyers and Sellers want to feel confident
that you have successfully represented other clients and that you’re
knowledgeable about the market. If your
Website does not adequately showcase what you’ve accomplished - in terms of active listings and prior sales - you could potentially fail to convince
someone that
you’re the right agent to market their property. Since
our PhotoTours are available online
indefinitely, you’ll always be able to showcase the listings that
you’ve closed
and the homes that you have helped people to buy.
5.
Deliver what Home Buyers find useful.
According the National Association of
Realtors®, when asked which Internet features Buyers considered very or
somewhat useful, 98% cited pictures, 84% cited detailed property
information,
92% cited virtual tours, and 78% cited interactive maps. According to CAR, "multiple
pictures/slide shows" continue to be the online feature with the
highest
rating. Homes with multiple photos are
viewed
on Realtor.com 3 times more often. Study
after study has found that when Buyers search for property online, a
picture
can be worth more than a thousand words.
PhotoTours can help you deliver every Internet feature that Home
Buyers
find useful.
6.
Get the best return for your marketing dollar. The Internet has forever changed the way that
consumers approach the home buying / selling process.
People often go online to educate themselves
at least 6 – 12 months before they’re ready to make a move. In spite of this trend, agents continue to
spend the majority of their advertising budget on traditional marketing channels such as newspapers and real estate magazines.
Many agents do this because ‘print media’ is what they understand best. It’s also what they believe
Sellers expect (e.g., Sellers like to see their home in print ads). Agents need to be able to educate their
clients about the fact that their marketing dollars are better spent promoting listings online.
7.
Provide Home Buyers with an unmatched level of
listing information. According the NAR, nationwide, over 90% of all Home
Buyers use the Internet to search for homes. Buyers want to
know what’s on the market. That means
listing information. If your Website
provides the best home search tools and the most complete listing
information
available (e.g., PhotoToursIDX & Featured PhotoTours),
people
visiting your Website will likely regard you and your Website as an
extremely
valuable source of local real estate information. Not
only will they continue to use your
Website to find out what’s on the market, it only stands to reason that
when
they need more information or they’re finally ready to actually start looking at
properties, you’ll be the one they call.
Who knows, they may even tell their friends about your Website
(i.e.,
you can’t buy that kind of ‘viral’ marketing).
If, however, a visitor finds your Website deficient in the
listing
information department, you run the risk that they’ll move on to
another
Website. It’s that simple!
- Over
95% of consumers
who research real estate online are looking for listings.
- Eighty-nine
percent of
Home Buyers used the Internet to search for homes.
- The
Internet is
considered either 'Very Useful' or 'Useful' by 99% of Home Buyers,
versus 52%
for newspapers. 48% of Home Buyers
reported finding newspapers 'Not Useful'.
- 37%
of repeat Buyers
report that the first step taken during the home buying process was to
look
online for properties for sale (6 times more often than newspapers,
magazines,
or home buying guides combined).
- Home
Buyers were over
11 times more likely to find the home that they purchased online than
in a
print newspaper advertisement.
- 39%
of Home Buyers
first learned about the home they purchased through the Internet. 35% first learned about the home they
purchased
from a real estate professional.
- 40%
of Buyers use
Agent Websites during the home search process; 12% use newspaper
Websites; and
5% use magazine Websites.
- The
Internet is used 3
times more frequently than print newspaper advertisements or magazines.
- Home
Buyers are
typically referred to an agent through a friend, neighbor or relative
(43% of
the time). 18% of the time, they use the
agent who previously represented them. 8%
of the time, they find an agent on the Internet – 8 times
more often
than in a newspaper, Yellow Page or home book ad.
In spite of these facts, a significant number of real estate agents do not even have a Website. Often, an agent's Website does not include an MLS Search feature.
The question is: can you afford to under-deliver what Internet
Empowered
Consumers are looking for? We believe that you really don’t have a choice. You
either step up to the plate with a professional Internet marketing plan and a
content-rich
Website or, potentially, lose out to your competition. In today's market, if you
think that you can get by without a Website, chances are that you’re either in denial or ill-informed. If finances are the issue, then perhaps you’re in the wrong profession. Whatever the reason, not having a Website is likely to cause potential clients to question why!
That said, with respect to costs, we understand that these are difficult times. Our feeling is
that we’re in this together. As a local service provider, we try
to be flexible and affordable. In addition to monthly and annual
payment plans, we're willing to tailor our services to fit your budget.
Below is our current pricing. All of our Websites include a Basic version of PhotoToursIDX. Initially developed for the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors (click here), our MLS Property Search feature - PhotoToursIDX - is currently used by over 250 local real estate agents. Whether you have one listing or 10, Featured PhotoTours enable you to display all of our PhotoTours branded with your contact information. Featured PhotoTours and PhotoToursIDX are available as stand-alone products that can be added to any Website. Charges are either
Monthly or Annually. Additional examples of our work can be found on PhotoTourWebsites.
So, how much do our services really cost? We know that if we
told
you "nothing" that you probably wouldn’t believe us. So, how about:
"no more than what you’ve currently set for your marketing budget?"
It’s true! The reality is: you’re probably already spending more
money on print advertising than you should. What does $100 a
month in the News-Press get you? Not much. How much does it cost for a print ad
in one of the real estate magazines? By simply
reallocating a portion of your advertising expenditures to enhance your
online marketing presence, we guarantee that you’ll get a better return
on your advertising dollar. Correctly implemented, your Website
will more than pay for itself! So, what's the next step?
How about a phone call? We can get you up and running with a professional, content-rich Website within a matter of hours - not days or weeks. We're also willing to work with
your Website team - if you have one - to provide you with the most comprehensive listing information available anywhere. Whatever you need, we welcome the opportunity to work with you.
Product
Monthly
Annual
Setup Charge 9
Basic Agent Website w/ IDX 1
$30
$300
$150
IDX Agent Website w/ Active Listings & IDX 2
$50
$500
$150
Enhanced Agent Website w/ IDX & Featured PhotoTours 3
$70
$700
$150
Professional Agent Website w/ IDX & Featured PhotoTours 4
$70
$700
$750
Custom Agent Website w/ IDX & Featured PhotoTours 5
$70
$700
$2,500+
Featured PhotoTours 6
$50
$500
$150
PhotoToursIDX - Basic 7
$20
$200
$100
PhotoToursIDX - Enhanced 8
$40
$400
$100
Notes: