Just the facts, Ma'am.

• The Internet is here to stay.
• The Internet will continue to have a profound effect on the real estate industry.
• Those agents who embrace the Internet and keep pace with its technology will prosper, and those who do not will fall by the wayside.

If you are a believer in these few indelible truths concerning the Internet, then read on: you about to uncover a wonderful new tool that will turn your web site into a Lean, Mean, Lead Generating Machine !

But First - Why DO Agents have Web Sites?

An informal survey revealed that a majority of agents nowadays create Web Sites mainly because they feel pressured into joining the "Internet Community". Understanding that a presence on the WWW is important, agents want to be viewed as technologically astute by their colleagues and consumers.

Surprisingly, only a small percentage of these on-line agents stated that they depended upon their Web Sites as the PRIMARY source of leads for their real estate business. Most saw their sites as mainly information centers. That is, as a place where consumers would go for real estate related facts. Almost as an afterthought, the agents HOPED that consumers would fill in the forms provided, thereby providing Email addresses and names. If a consumer took the time to fill in the form, then the agent had the all-important contact information necessary to begin building a client-agent relationship.

Up until now, the question of who would ultimately get that contact information was pretty much a matter of chance. Consumers surfed the web, gathering information from one agent's page or another, and moved on. A great deal of information was given out, with the accommodating agent receiving nothing in return. Web sites, which should help agents sell real estate, often just sat idly, failing to generate the contacts necessary to make sales.

That's all about to change.

Now, with SiteGuest, you can capture the names and email addresses of visitors to your web sites!

If you have the contact information for your web visitors, you can discover when they are ready to make a move, provide them with more information, and keep in touch until they are prepared to buy or sell. You can reach consumers BEFORE the competition does. In short, this product produces more leads, and more sales from your Web Site.

SiteGuest provides you with high quality leads because the consumers have already shown an active interest in your services by looking at your web sites.

How Does It Work?

All you do is add the SiteGuest code to your web site. When your home page loads, SiteGuest checks to see if the site is authorized to use the program. You become authorized by filling out the secure installation form.

Once the site is authorized, SiteGuest sends the visitors' names and Email addresses to your In Box. For some visitors, this process is completely transparent. For visitors who have checked off certain security options in their Netscape or Internet Explorer preferences, a box will pop up notifying them that they are revealing their address.

SiteGuest has tested compatible with modern versions of Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, America Online 4.0 and their companion mail programs.

Remember, the SiteGuest service delivers to you the NAMES and EMAIL addresses of visitors to your web site. It's Caller ID for the Internet! This is the service that every REALTOR on the net has been waiting for.

More importantly, it is a service that every on-line real estate agent should consider getting, because you can bet your competition is adding SiteGuest to their Web Site right now!

For interested agents, SiteGuest can be obtained by going to http://www.netifieds.com/siteguest/

Published: September 11, 1998

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