Yard signs are the most obvious, yet underutilized selling tool in the Realtor's arsenal. If you are one of those Realtors who is still married to the gatekeeper business model in which all information about the home should be closely held, you may be missing real opportunities to expand your business. It begins with the ordinary yard sign.

The yard sign is your chance to show neighbors, seller's relatives, buyers and other sellers how you can really pull out the stops to market a home. By festooning the sign with sign riders, feature sheet holders, and email addresses, you make the sign come alive with enthusiasm and energy. Anyone who looks at such a busy sign will see a busy agent who is determined to sell this particular home.

Think about the curiosity factor. Wouldn't you be tempted to stop and look at a home that invites you to "Take One, Please?" By comparison, a sign with only a broker's name and a phone number looks exactly like what it is - an advertisement for the broker, not the home.

The purpose of your sign is to stimulate activity around the home. By making people stop, look and think about this home, you are expanding your customer base. Curious neighbors and Sunday drivers could be your next clients.

Your sign is a valuable piece of real estate, too. Is it making itself pay for its space? Here is a list of features you can add to your signage:

Sign riders - Having sign riders made can be expensive but they are worth their weight in gold.

Put your face on the sign. How many times have you heard people say, "I am terrible with names but I never forget a face!" By putting your face on all your advertising and publicity materials, including yard signs, you are providing the one common thread that will unify all of your advertising. Let the market know your face and they'll remember your name, too.

Update the status of your listing with additional riders that say "Contract Pending" or "Sold!" Make your sign riders more distinctive by varying those solid words with "Offer Pending" or "Too late!"

Feature sheet tubes - Many agents don't bother with these because they would rather get phone calls. Why do you want calls when what you really want are buyers? Fill a tube attachment with well-written feature sheets. Show buyers how easy it is to buy this home by including information on lenders, and directing the buyer to your Web site for "more information about this home."

If you are really dedicated, include a brief biography of yourself and your services and a few testimonials and staple one to each feature sheet. You could include some business cards, too. Why are bio sheets a good idea? The Web has proven that people want to obtain real estate information anonymously before they contact an agent. Second, if the prospect knows something about you, they will feel less intimated to call and ask more questions.

If the home is a "starter" home or ripe for the upscale first-time buyer market, include a sheet on the steps to buying a home so they can go home and get started with checking their credit, organizing their finances, and contacting lenders. Show several types of loans and the different loan rates that will buy this home and briefly explain what the differences are.

Web site/email address - Prominently feature your Web site address and email address on the sign. If the Internet has proved one thing (over 6 million visitors per month to the most trafficked home search site) it is, again, that many buyers like to obtain information anonymously before calling an agent. Reward your Web site visitor with access to interior photos and additional information about the home. Let them see your buying and selling tips, neighborhood information, school data, crime statistics, major employers in the area, and other information you may choose to include on your Web site. If you don't have a Web site, you can get a free Web page at HomeAdvisor.com and HomeSeekers.com. Be willing to pay more to customize the Web page, like including your listings. It's still a bargain.

Price/monthly payments. Putting the price on the sign doesn't work for all markets but it certainly does in many price ranges, particularly the first-time buyer, starter home, and move-up market. So, cut to the chase and put the price as well as a suggested monthly payment (based on current interest rates) on the sign. Put it again on the feature sheet. This accomplishes two things - it gives the nosy nuisances as well as real buyers the information they want. How many times have you seen a listing go up in a neighborhood and a week later, another home on the same block is listed by the same agent. Having the price also stimulates people who didn't realize they could afford the home to go home and take a pencil to their finances. Those are the ones who will give you a call. Again, you want the phone to ring, but do you really want callers who only want to know the price and nothing more? Save your time for the ones who are ready for the next step.

The above suggestions are designed to also take care of the friends, relatives and neighbors of the seller, who may range from just-plain-nosy to your next client. These are the people, aside from the seller, whom you most want to impress as they are part of your referral base and future customer base. How you treat the seller and what you do for the seller will be enthusiasically reported far and wide. Let them see you on site, replenishing the feature sheets at least three times a week until the home is closed. Let them visit the Web site for "inside" glimpses of the home and its features. Impress them with your marketing ability while simultaneously keeping the nosy nuisances out of your hair. Then, when the phone rings, you'll know it's a real prospect.

Talking house - Talking House is a tiny radio station that broadcasts a pre-recorded message about a listing, 24 hours a day. They sell for about $200 apiece and can be used over and over. The message can run up to three minutes and transmits for about 300 feet, according to the site. The advantage to this add-on is its uniqueness. Not many agents can afford a $200 gadget for every listing, even if it is reusable.

A great variation on this and for much less cost is to add audio to your Web site. Record a message to accompany digital photos of the home, neighborhood and their amenities. Your consumers can download the audio player that is compatible with your audio program and listen to you describe the interior of your home for sale.

Keep track. Remember to "track" the yard sign. Keep count of the number of feature sheets you give out. Note which ones disappear the quickest. That will tell you something useful about the kind of traffic the neighborhood gets. When you get emails about the home, reply by asking if they saw the sign, saw a classified ad, etc. and if that is how they got the email address. That will tell you how much buyers respond to the email feature of your marketing. When you get calls, ask them how they heard about the home or about you. Make a note of the caller and how they found you.

With these suggestions, your yard sign can more than pay for its place on your seller's lawn. Make sure that giving more information is your sign of the times.