While many REALTORS® simply sign up for a web page on the official web site of NAR, and do receive leads from their internet presence, there are always ways to generate even more leads; with just a little extra effort.

Here are some of the best tips for doing just that:

Print your e-mail and web page address on absolutely everything

More and more technologically sophisticated consumers will choose an agent who they feel will provide them with convenient service, and e-mail certainly satisfies that requirement.

Today's consumers are also looking for information, fast. Your web page not only provides information to the consumer, but it demonstrates that you are the kind of modern professional who is capable of servicing their needs with today's technology.

Creating this impression is vital in today's competitive business atmosphere.

However, if your e-mail and web page address is not on your business card, stationery, highlight sheets, yard signs and all of your other advertisements, then you are needlessly costing yourself business!

I've personally gone so far as to print my web address on my personal checks; and, why not? It doesn't cost any more, and yes, people do notice it.

Isn't standing out and making a good first impression half the battle?

Check your e-mail at least twice each day

Realize that the people who use e-mail regularly learn to rely on it. They expect a response, and soon! E-mail should be responded to with the same urgency as a voice mail message.

This is especially true on the web, since consumers will usually e-mail several agents from the Realtor.com web site - just as they would call on several ads from the newspaper. The agent who responds promptly is going to have a big edge on the rest!

Enhance your ads

A huge benefit of a Realtor.com homepage is the ability to make your ads stand out by adding additional photos (up to 5 more) and adding a customized advertising message on each of your listings.

While Realtor.com will automatically write an ad (based on the MLS data) and use one photograph (also from your MLS) why not make your listings stand out from the rest?

The big advantage here is that agents (your competition) who have not invested in a Realtor.com homepage cannot do this. Even more significant, most agents who have bought a homepage will not invest the few minutes it takes to enhance their listings!

So, here we have a no-cost way of increasing the chance that a buyer will respond to one of your listings, instead of one of your competitor's ads!

It will take you a few minutes to submit additional photos and customize the ads. But, once you have done it a few times, you will become quite efficient at this simple process.

Use your Realtor.com page to get more listings

Even better, show your sellers (and seller prospects) how your ads (with the extra photos and custom headline) are more likely to catch the buyer's interest. That's what they're hiring a professional for, isn't it?

You can either show them this demonstration on the Internet (with a notebook computer) or print one of your "enhanced" listings and several of your competition's.

Then, simply show these to the seller, just as you would display property highlight sheets. When they said that a picture is worth a thousand words, they might as well have been thinking of this!

Use only your Realtor.com e-mail address

Remember, your Realtor.com email address actually forwards to your real e-m ail account (or your fax number).

The great benefit here, is the ability to change your real e-mail account any time you want, and then simply tell the folks at Realtor.com to forward all e-mail to this new address. By doing this, you'll never have to worry about losing important business leads from consumers who have your "old" e-mail address.

This also means that you'll never have to throw away business cards and stationary just because your e-mail account changes. Your Realtor.com address is always current!

The other great value to using your Realtor.com e-mail address is that anyone, anywhere, will recognize that you are in the real estate business, just by virtue of your e-mail address.

Advanced tip: For those of you using an ISP for Internet access, be sure to configure your e-mail software to show your Realtor.com address in the "from" and "reply to" address fields. By doing so, even when you send outgoing e-mail only your Realtor.com address will be displayed to the recipient.

Use "descriptive" keywords in your Realtor.com personal slogan

The personal slogan that you write to accompany your name and photograph is extremely important. The Realtor.com search engine uses words from this slogan when buyers use the key word option from the "Realtor Yellow Pages" to search for an agent.

Thus, a slogan that says "Worlds number one real estate agent" isn't very likely to generate much additional business, as buyers probably aren't going to use any of these keywords in their search.

On the other hand, "Offering buyer's brokerage representation, specializing in new construction and vacant land" will result in your page being displayed to a buyer who uses any of these key words in their search!

It may not be as catchy, and but it will generate a lot more leads!

Make it easy for the consumer to reach you

Remember, we all want technology to make our lives easier, not more difficult. There is really no need to list all of your phone numbers, fax number and address on your homepage.

List one or two numbers at most. No one wants to call your office, your direct line, your home office, your cell phone and your pager just to find out that you're really unavailable! Most on-line leads are going to be received by e-mail, anyway.

Keep your homepage, and contact information simple.

Don't forget to add your voice greeting

If you've bought the SIMPLE Package, then you have the ability to add a voice greeting on your Realtor.com homepage, by simply placing a telephone call.

When you record your greeting, remember this: Your goal is to humanize the process and make the consumer more comfortable contacting you. A warm and friendly greeting is more important than what you actually say in the message!

Even so, let me make two other suggestions regarding exactly what you should say.

First, be sure to offer them something of value if they contact you - a free relocation kit is always a good idea, though there are lots of others.

Second, be sure to clearly state your specialty or market niche. Since the buyer is likely to view lots of agents, and even more property, it's unlikely that they will remember a fraction of what they read.

But, if you've clearly stated that you specialize in the "Old West Side" they are much more likely to remember this when they decide which agents to contact.

Be sure that the content of your page invites the consumer

Eliminate the clutter on your homepage information, and you're likely to get more leads. Few buyers will really want to read your entire resume, and wouldn't remember a fraction of it if they did.

Offer a free CMA, relocation package, local financing information, home buying checklist or even a good recipe for chocolate chip cookies - whatever you're most comfortable with.

You've got them there, staring at your homepage, now you need to entice them to actually reach out and touch you. Free information, that they perceive as valuable, is always a great tool for pushing them over the edge to initiate a contact.

Drive classified readers to your Realtor.com listings

Many readers of your printed and classified ads have Internet access, too. But, these people don't always call on every property that catches their interest! But, you can use your Realtor.com presence to increase the effectiveness of your classified advertising!

Why wouldn't a prospect respond to your classified ad? Imagine all of the prospects who might be reading your classified ad from a different time zone, or late at night, and don't want to bother you. There are also those who might not want to make a long distance call. Many readers may actually intend on calling, but just never get around to it. And, let's face it, some folks don't really like calling salespeople unless they're really sure they're interested in the product or service.

Thus, many printed ads come close to getting your phone ringing, but fall just short.

However, if you provide a simple sentence at the end of your printed advertisements, such as: "for more information visit REALTOR.com - MLS# 12345" you will encourage many buyers to take the next step.

Since the prospect can type the MLS number directly into the Realtor.com search engine, in this case the next step leads them directly to your listing on Realtor.com.

Once there, the prospect can now see the additional photos, read more information and even hear your voice message. All of this helps build greater desire, and that substantially increases the probability of them initiating contact!

And, isn't that exactly what you were hoping to achieve when you wrote the advertisement in the first place?

Simply having a homepage at Realtor.com will generate leads, and is better than not having an advertisement on the site. But, those who will take the time and invest just a little extra effort can substantially increase the effectiveness of their web presence, and the number of leads their investment generates.