Dear Mr. Internet:

I am so frustrated. My Website looks good, has great information and it seems to have a steady stream of visitors, yet I am not seeing nearly the level of online business that I would expect. What should I do?

Stuart Utley ABR, CRS, GRI, e-PRO, RECS, SRES
First Weber Group, Inc.
Middleton, WI 53562

Dear Stuart: That wall you are running into is the same one thousands of other online real estate professionals meet after they've had a Web presence up for a while. And it is a testimony to the fact that online marketing is different from the offline version we are so used to. However, it doesn't have to be more difficult —if you know how to execute the five critical steps to successful online marketing.

1. Target, Target, Target – just as location is the most important consideration in choosing real estate, targeting a specific online niche market is crucial to successfully connecting with viable prospects. When agents try to “speak” to everyone online, they end up talking to no one!

   The key here is to choose a highly specific niche you are passionate about (i.e. first time buyers, affluent sellers, high-tech buyer/sellers, engineers, waterfront property, etc.) and focus your entire online (Web and e-mail) marketing efforts on just them. This way your message will have the highest impact when received by prospects within that niche. Targeting like this is a case of “less is more”. There may not be as many prospects, but your chances of converting them to transactions is far greater than if you had no focus at all.

   (NOTE: once you are successful with one niche, create a Web site for another one —this way you can expand your entire market influence in an incremental yet powerful way.)

2. Give Them Value – once you have identified your target market —become them! That is, get into their head, see what is important to them (not you), ask them what would make them say “Wow!” if they found it on your site —then give it to them! Remember, people only care about “What's in it for me?”. Your job is to answer that with highly valuable unique content.

   Another way to come up with great ideas for targeted content is to have a rapid-fire brainstorming session with some of your associates whose job is to act like your target market. Just invite four or five of your associates whose opinion you can trust to a 20 minute session in a closed conference room setting (promise them pizza and beer/wine as an incentive!) Make sure the room contains a flip chart or white board to record generated ideas. The only ground rules are that no idea is to be judged or evaluated until the session is over. You can get things started by asking several specific questions, such as:

   "As (first time buyer -or whatever target market you are focusing on), what would make you go 'WOW!' if you saw it on my Web site?"

   "What are the most important things you need to learn about the real estate process?"

   "What are your biggest fears with respect to this process?"

   "What are your greatest hopes as an outcome of this process?"

   "What kinds of information do you want to see on a regular basis from me (your real estate professional)?"

   Have your friends respond as quickly a possible to each question while someone records the answers. Afterwards you filter the best ideas and incorporate them into your online marketing. This process really does work and you will be surprised at the quality and creativity of the ideas generated.

3. Differentiate Yourself – everything on your site should “say” that you are unique and the best for meeting your target market's needs. There are two effective methods that allow your target market to come to their own conclusions about this.

   The first is creating a targeted Unique Positioning Statement (UPS). An effective UPS is a single sentence that when read, heard, or seen by your target market, it causes them to immediately and viscerally a) recognize your value; b) perceive you are the best; c) want to contact you. Unfortunately there is no magic formula to come up with a great UPS, just a lot of creative thought and refinement. However, here is an example of a powerful one used by a REALTOR who specializes in working with engineers:

   "I know what engineers want because I've lived with one for 28 years!"

   Kind of says it all, doesn't it! Keep working on yours, it's worth gold when you get it nailed down.

   Another way to differentiate yourself is to create your own personal online "brand" which is a unique identification by which your target market will instantly recognize and associate the value of your services. Online branding is an involved process but well worth the effort. You can read more about it in the November, 2000 edition of Ask Mr. Internet!.

4. Engage Them -- your target market consists of real people —so "speak" to them that way, one-to-one like you were having a conversation with your best friend, in everything you do on the Web and e-mail. This is very powerful and includes the use of:

   •"First-person" Web copy using the word "you" often;

   •Attention-getting, emotionally evocative headlines, for example: "How You Can Avoid The 3 Deal-Killing Traps Of Home Inspections...";

   •Open-ended questions that encourage them to share their thoughts and concerns (via e-mail) as they consider their real estate needs (NOTE: this is referred to as a "Call To Interaction" and is covered in the April, 2001 edition of Ask Mr. Internet!);

   •Real stories (not testimonials per se) about other folks who have gone through the same process they are considering (you can publish the "story" of these people on your Web site to accomplish this —with their permission of course).

   The more you can create and maintain this kind of online "conversation" with them, the stronger your bonds with will grow.

5. Create Targeted Awareness -- once you have the first four steps in place, then focus on creating awareness. This can be done using search engine positioning; e-mail marketing campaigns, online newsletters, and traditional marketing (i.e. advertising, signs, flyers, etc.) that all point targeted prospects to your site.

Unfortunately, it is this last step that most agents focus on, ignoring the first four and then wondering why their online business is mediocre at best. Consistently successful online marketing is much more than having tons of "hits" on your Web site. It is a well thought-out and executed effort that begins with knowing who your market is, giving them the value want in a way that differentiates you from your competitors, creating relationship with them through engaging copy, and letting them know that you, and the value you offer, exist.

This is a very strategic approach to online marketing that when applied and continually refined, turns your wall of Net frustration into the door of Net success!

Mr. Internet's Tip 'O The Month

Never be in the dark about your Web site going dark again!

Server Rat is a free service that will check your site every 15 minutes and contact you via e-mail, AOL Messenger, or ICQ anytime it finds your site inaccessible or unacceptably slow.

In addition to showing your site uptime statistics, it also aggregates live statistics for all the Web sites it monitors --typically showing about 13% of all sites as down! Eventually they hope to provide statistics on your site's Network Latency (i.e. the time it takes for a packet of information to travel from your site to various geographically placed test sites) which is usually only available from services like Server Check Pro from NetMechanic.com that currently charges about $15 US per URL.

For most online real estate professionals however, Server Rat is a perfect (and free) solution to the "my site has been down how long?!" blues.

(A special thanks to Iggy Dybal - RE/MAX Best Associates for this month's ePOWER! TIP.)

Published: November 21, 2001

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Michael J. Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet®) is an internationally acclaimed speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry and small business. He is also the exclusive Internet columnist for REALTOR® Magazine, the architect of the revolutionary e-ProductivityTM system and leading voice for the use of Virtual Assistants in small business. You can subscribe to his free monthly leading-edge newsletter ePOWER NEWS by going to ePowerNews.com.