Just as having a permanent office address enhances your professional image, having your own domain name on the Internet is just as important, especially to those who choose you to do business based on your ability to use technology and long before they ever set foot in your office. Whether you are part of an international brokerage or a sole proprietor, having your own domain name is an asset to your business.

What is a domain name? According to InterNIC, the major domain name registry for the Internet, a domain name is "simply a description of a computer's "location" on the Internet." Once you register a domain name, no one else can use that name. If your company name were Sally Sells Realty, your domain name might possibly be sallysells.com or sallysellsrealty.com. Your website address would be located at http://www.sallysells.com or http://www.sallysellsrealty.com, and your email address would possibly be sally_sells@sallysells.com, or sally@sallysellsrealty.com. Doesn't sally@sallysells.com seem more professional as an agent than sally@aol.com, who could be anyone and not even a businessperson?

The domain name then becomes the way a company or individual can make an unique identity on the Internet. InterNIC, the single entity responsible for the registration and administration of Internet domain names in .com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov domains is one of many domain organizations which can register a domain name for you. Partners may include companies such as All Domains, who can provide enhanced services. At the least you want to look for a certain level of service which may include customized billing support, one day registrations and modifications, and related support services such as registering your domain name with search engines so the world can find you. You will also be the first notified of any new registration technologies, policies or process changes. These services can also be provided by your web site developer for an additional charge.

The purpose of having a domain name is that your customers can find you immediately because your 'Net address is easy to remember. Sounds good, but what if you are associated with a large firm? Won't your customers find you easily enough? Why go to the extra trouble and expense? For the same reason you carry a cell phone, instead of letting all your messages go through the office switchboard - you want to be the first point of contact for all new and ongoing business. If you have ever lost a sale because you failed to get an important message, you know what can happen. You want to make sure your leads actually reach you.

Your brokerage firm may mean well, but they are not really in the same business you are. Your company's first job is to promote themselves to attract customers and to recruit new agents. As part of the team, you as an individual are not a priority, because the company is focused on the "big picture." If you scan many brokerage companies on the 'Net it is shocking to observe how many showcase only top agents or management and fail to post their own listings, which are the two reasons any consumer would ever take the time to visit. If you are on a company website, you are one of many faces, giving the consumer no reason to pick you over anyone else. That may work for mail order brides, but not for real estate agents. Worse, many companies thinking to attract sellers, only highlight their "Sold!" listings or don't even have their listings posted at all! Hello! What good does that do consumers? And this is on whom you are relying for your personal Internet marketing presence?

Your importance to the company is in obtaining listings and closing transactions. So self-promotion becomes your job, and your first priority. It baffles me how many agents continue to be convinced that having a presence on their company's web site is all the web promotion they need. Ask them are they doing any business on the web, and the answer will invariably be no. Yet, they will be the first to admit that the Internet is "here to stay." Hello, again!

What these agents fail to grasp is that web is like any other form of media. You have to work it, just as you do any other source of prospecting. How much easier it will be to show potential sellers and buyers how you do business by clicking on the Internet and going directly to your own site. Scan in photos of your listings and create some entrancing editorial. (Please don't "save time" by posting your MLS feature sheet. That is a marketing tool for other Realtors, not for customers, so take the time to create something attractive, user-friendly, detailed and informative and skip the Realtor-speak.) This gives you the opportunity to do things other Realtors aren't doing, like providing photos and links of schools, parks, and major employers. Post your picture, your bio, track record and your customer service ethic on your very own domain-named web site with a link to your company, and other related sites of interest. Then use your domain name-generated email to email updates, new listings, and news to your prospects, customers, and clients.

By freeing yourself from your company culture on the Internet, you become a standout. Put your domain name and email on all your promotional literature. You'll find having your own domain is even more convenient if you change agencies. You may choose to leave an agency but you never leave You, inc.! Because you mean business.

There is no time like the present. As of April 1st, domain name registration at InterNIC is dropping in price by more than 25%, to around $70, with a small yearly upkeep fee.

Published: March 27, 1998

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