As the year end is rapidly approaching it is time to take a look back at where the advertising money has gone and what kind of return we received for it, as well as look ahead at where the money should be directed in 2010 to attract more business. As a small real estate company we invested quite a bit of $$$$ on print advertising in 2009 and in all honesty the only thing it did was pacify some sellers of ours who didn't even sell anyway. On the other hand the little bit of money we spent on the internet advertising has generated close to 400 leads and has helped to build the pipelines of the 5 agents working here.
The option I am weighing is to totally eliminate print advertising except for spot ads, run at key times and geared to promote our websites and our web pages as opposed to 'advertising a listing', thereby driving more consumers to our various web sites and capturing more of the buying public overall. I can easily estimate that if we move our money from print to web we can probably attract an additional 800 leads next year minimum. How would I sell this new plan to our sellers? Simply put I would say this, "Mr and Mrs Seller, we've tried advertising "Listings" in various print publications in the past and have gotten un-favorable results. Our new strategy is designed to pull in 200% to 300% more buyers into our websites, where your home will be listed with complete details, photos and more.
Traditionally in the real estate business we have been taught the old adage, "Listers are Lasters", which simply meant if you have control most of the listings then you control most of the business. Although I am a Big Fan of Tradition and I do Love to Control my Own Share of Listings in this Business I am also a "Forward Thinker" and realize the explosiveness of the internet and all of its advantages. What I am proposing is to control Most of The Listings by Controlling Most of the Buyers. This will be accomplished by bombarding the web with a Web Presence Assault unheard of previously. Through our Two MainWeb Sites as well as our Special Pocono Lake Community Website and our various Blog Pages and Social Media not to mention our various Real Estate Networking Communities.
Our Motto is "Old Fashioned Hands on Service With To days Most Modern Technology" but our mantra for 2010 will be "We Control The Buyers Then We Control The Business"
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