In my previous post on Internet disintermediation, I argued that real estate is primarily a relationship business, and that the only real estate professionals who should fear the Internet are those who really, really suck at the whole client relationship thing. For the rest of us, the Internet represents a big challenge, yes, but also a huge opportunity.
The Internet, in fact, is arguably the best relationship-building tool to enter the business in a long time, far better than carting pumpkins around at Thanksgiving, sending out fridge magnets, plastering our high school prom mugshots on shopping carts, or buying full-color ads in the local paper. The only better relationship-building tools I can think of than the Internet are the really personal, high-touch ones, such as taking clients out for a meal, calling them on the phone, or sending them birthday cards.
The Internet excels as a relationship-building tool for at least four reasons, which — tadah! — all begin with the letter “T”!
- Target
- Tracking
- Tweaking
- Timing
The main purpose of much of our advertising efforts in this industry is to lay the groundwork for potential client relationships. We want our prospective customers to see us in different contexts, to get to know us, to recognize our names and faces. When they drop by our open house, we want them to say, “Oh! You’re the dude that mails those helpful cards!” or, “Hey — I thought I recognized you. Aren’t you the Realtor that’s always advertising in the paper?” If we can establish at least an ephemeral relationship, we stand a better chance of getting the business. Consistent advertising in numerous settings increases our brand awareness.
And that’s precisely why the Internet is such a great tool. Let’s look at the three points above.
- Target: Advertising in the local newspaper reaches primarily a local audience — and that’s a good thing, because real estate is primarily a local business. But there are prospective clients out there who happen not to get or read the local paper. Perhaps they live across the country and are planning on moving. They’re not going to find you in the local paper, but they may well do so on the Internet. And if they do find you on the Internet, it’s often because they were specifically looking for real estate content. My logs show that though there are occasional visitors who randomly stumble on my site (such as a recent one who was searching on MSN for “how to balance your checkbook powerpoint“), most of them come by to learn more about real estate, for example “Alan Dalton Zillow NAR” and “November 2006 real estate market values Silicon Valley.” My presence on the Internet simultaneously reaches a broader, and yet a more focussed audience.
- Tracking: Quick! Tell me how many people read your ad in last Sunday’s paper! How long did they look at it? 30 seconds? 2 seconds? Was there a part of the ad that attracted their attention more than another? In the offline world, we have only very rough estimates of these metrics, like the circulation figures of the paper in which you advertised. With the right tools, on the Internet you can slice and dice your audience’s interest nearly any way you like. You’re getting a lot of readership for the articles you write on current market conditions? Keep cranking them out! Nobody’s reading your regular recipe contributions? Ditch ‘em!
- Tweaking: Do people respond better to an ad which describes your listing as, “Magnificent” or “Splendid?” Do they seem to prefer from-the-street photos, or inside ones? Even if you could easily get this information in the offline world, it would take you at least one advertising cycle to tweak the message accordingly. Online, once you get audience feedback, you can change your message in minutes.
- Timing: Once your ad has run in the local paper, that’s it! You’re not going to get much more exposure from that particular run. That’s probably a big reason for the enduring popularity of real estate advertising gimmicks like putting pictures on buses and sending out fridge magnets: these tools have a longer shelf life than newspaper advertising. The same is true on the Internet: unless you get sandboxed, search engines archive your content long after you’ve forgotten about it. An article you wrote 18 months ago might pop up as a top entry on somebody’s Google search today.
So there ya have it…the Internet is our friend, not our enemy. Far from cutting us out of the action, the Internet enables us to become better at building the relationships that are so critical to becoming successful.
Tags: Disintermediation, Real estate
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14 responses so far ↓
1 Lenny G // Nov 19, 2006 at 7:27 am
Prime Example: Four days ago a first time buyer with whom I had no contact, found a home utilizing the IDX on my website. She used the “Schedule a Showing” link from the property detail page to request a showing. I showed her the home and she was ready to place an offer. She stated that after learning more about me through my website and blog that she felt comfortable using my services as a buyer’s rep. She found the home but when it came time to take the next step, she trusted me, based on what she had learned about me ON THE WEB, to guide her through the process.
2 Kevin Boer, Three Oceans Real Estate // Nov 19, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Hi Lenny,
Great example! The web in general — and blogs in particular — is a great way for people to get to know us from a distance.
3 bmacgoo // Nov 19, 2006 at 1:47 pm
You are right on target. I have been using the internet more and more this year. A few months ago I found a marketing tool that has helped me increase my sales. Instead of sending people to your website and having them wade through many listings to get to that particular property they are interested in, take a look at http://www.smartstreets.net
They will design, almost instantly a website just for your listing. It is very reasonably priced and right now they are offering a free trial for your first listing. Can’t get much better than that. Like I said they have helped me with several sales. I am getting a lot of positive feedback from my buyers as well as the sellers who have gone into escrow a lot sooner than average.
4 Athol Kay // Nov 19, 2006 at 3:51 pm
If nothing else a putting out a good website shows that you’re at least half-way compentent at something to a prospective client. Hopefully that means it’s transferable to other real estate skills.
A website beats a business card / picture in a magazine hands down for depth of contact.
5 Ubertor Real Estate Blog » Carnival of Real Estate #19 // Nov 20, 2006 at 1:05 am
[...] Well, it is that time again… the 19th Carnival of Real Estate is here and we are pleased to be the host. Actually, I had no idea how many submissions came in for this. This weeks carnival had a ton of submissions making it quite hard to pick 10. (I know there are 11) I also included the day each blog started as I find it interesting to see that some of the most popular real estate blogs are actually quite new. It was a pleasure hosting the real estate carnival. Pat Kitano http://www.transparentre.com Real Estate Web 2.0 First Mover Advantage? So far, none Blog Started - August 3rd 2006 Zillow has been dissected so much recently that blog posts are popping up, notably from the BawldGuy and Carter’s Adventures (two fine blogs!), that just say No! Zillow is not worth discussing any more. I agree … we know that Zillow and their brethren AVMs - Cyberhomes, Reply!, eppraisal - are insufficient property valuation vehicles… we don’t need to see any more…(continue) Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net Buyers Who Don’t Want A Buyer’s Agent Blog Started - June 8th 2005 You see it all the time at open houses and elsewhere. People who desperately need buyer’s agents, but think of Buyer’s Agents in the same way they think of automobile sales folk, and that’s the complete opposite of the way it is. (continue) Douglas Heddings http://www.truegotham.com The Luxury Market: Is It Really All that Stable? Blog Started - April 1st 2006 I’m currently working with two high-end buyers, one couple in the $10-14 million range and another in the $20 million range. There is plenty of inventory to peruse at the $10-14 million range and less to see in the…. (continue) Joel Burslem http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com See How Your Site Stacks Up with Quantcast Blog Started - April 28th 2006 So just who is visiting online real estate sites? Finding good publicly available (free) metrics to measure the popularity of a web site is a challenging proposition. Technorati rankings rate the number of inbound links, but measure only the activity in publicly accessible… (continue) Jonathan Dalton jdalton.realtownblogs.com NAR and me … Blog Started - January 2006 Returning from my two-day sojourn down the rabbit hole and into bubble-land … In some respects my initial characterization of many real estate bubble proponents as being more interested in bluster than facts proved true … (continue) Liam Lavery http://www.zillowblog.com Craigslist Court Decision Blog Started - February 7th 2006 Tuesday, a federal district court in Chicago dismissed a suit charging that craigslist’s housing listings violated the Fair Housing Act. This is a very significant decision for online real estate services and users. (continue) Kyle Else toursheet.blogspot.com Something’s Fishy Blog Started - July 27th 2006 What is the best way to protect yourself from fishy real estate deals. How do you know that you’re not being taken advantage of when you get involved with a real estate transaction? The best answer might be to maintain a “buyer beware” mentality. (continue) Greg Tracy blueroof.wordpress.com What if Zillow Got Serious? Blog Started - July 20th 2006 It’s easy to criticize Zillow because their valuations are completely automated and who would believe a completely automated process? But what if Zillow decided to get serious about the accuracy of their Zestimates? (continue) Jim Cronin realestatetomato.typepad.com Who Are You Blogging For? Blog Started - June 16th 2006 A common question I hear is, who should I be blogging for? Or rather, who makes up the audience I am reaching out to with my blog? Let’s consider the potential audience that… (continue) Greg Swann http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog Realty Reality: How Jake, Jurij and Tatiana Pawlenko wove their way into our hearts . . . Blog Started - November 10th 2005 This is a shaggy dog story… It begins with Jake, the world’s most playful Yellow Labrador Retriever, and Jake is a thread running all through this tapestry. And that’s the way to think of it… (continue) Kevin Boer https://3oceansrealestate.com/blog Why the Internet will never disintermediate Realtors — Part 2: It builds, not erodes, the relationship Blog Started - August 28th 2006 In my previous post on Internet disintermediation, I argued that real estate is primarily a relationship business, and that the only real estate professionals who should fear the Internet are those who really, really suck at the whole… (continue) [...]
6 Tyler Sookochoff // Nov 20, 2006 at 12:10 pm
bmacgoo - I gather from your comments that you’re an agent yourself. Can you provide a link to your web site and some that smartstreets has done for you?
7 Carnivals and Relationships at Livium-the blog // Nov 20, 2006 at 4:20 pm
[...] One of the posts that caught my eye was Kevin Boer’s second installment of his Why the Internet will never Disintermediate Realtors series. This time around, Kevin suggests that, rather than diminishing or abolishing the importance of relationships, the Internet helps agents leverage their advertising to potentially create more relationships than was possible previously. [...]
8 Disintermediate Realtors (Not Happening) at condoDomain // Nov 25, 2006 at 8:19 am
[...] by way of 3 Oceans Real Estate… [...]
9 Disintermediate Realtors (Not Happening) at condoDomain // Nov 25, 2006 at 8:19 am
[...] by way of 3 Oceans Real Estate… [...]
10 When Bloggers Attack at Livium-the blog // Nov 27, 2006 at 10:21 am
[...] As I and others have noted, this is a great thing for agents, because it allows them to build relationships with a larger number of people at once than would otherwise be possible. [...]
11 A leisurely ride through the Carnival at Three Oceans Real Estate // Dec 4, 2006 at 10:45 pm
[...] Athol Kay practices the art of the obscure analogy. He argues that blogging is simply much more effective advertising than more traditional media. Couldn’t agree more! I’m going to have to do some serious thinking to come up with a similarly obscure analogy for my upcoming guest post on his blog! [...]
12 Everyone Can Benefit from Real Estate Technology– Part 1 | The Real Estate Zebra // Dec 5, 2006 at 12:36 pm
[...] With the Web 2.0 movement changing real estate, there is much talk about disintermediation and transparency. Kevin Boer thinks that agents will never be disintermediated, and I happen to agree. Then there is an entire blog dedicated to transparency in real estate. Transparency is a good thing. [...]
13 TRANSPARENT REAL ESTATE // Dec 29, 2006 at 11:23 pm
Carnival of Real Estate at Ubertor…
The Carnival of Real Estate is up at Ubertor . Fine work all! Dan Melson, SearchlightCrusade.Net Douglas Heddings, TrueGotham Joel Burslem, The Future of Real Estate Marketing Jonathan Dalton,…
14 Disintermediate Realtors (Not Happening) at Condo Blog // Feb 15, 2008 at 9:25 am
[...] by way of 3 Oceans Real Estate… [...]
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