Among the first places potential customers go to when searching for
Realtors are the brokers' and business web sites, right?
Not always.
One of the great things about the Internet is the community of sharing that abounds. Quite often, complete strangers will ask for recommendations on how to buy a new home, choose a REALTOR®, coordinate relocation, and more.
If you can provide them with the needed information, you've just showcased yourself as someone with needed answers (who just might be able to help out with the final house purchase!).
For a broad spectrum of topics, visit Yahoo! at http://messages.yahoo.com. Select the category "Business and Finance", and then choose "Real Estate." You'll see lots of questions concerning new home owners, how to sell your home, first time home buyer, and more.
Select "Home Buying tips." You'll see inquiries concerning what kinds of mortgage rate individuals should look for, the hidden costs to buying a house, etc. If you have some answers, emailing them to the poster with a followup "Please feel free to contact me should you have any more questions" will go a long way to making a positive impression.
Of equal interest is the message forum for "Residential Brokerage Profitability Tips".
Here, agents and brokers share their ideas for doing business. One topic discusses the Intellibiz package, another is from a mortgage broker looking for leads from realtors, and another discusses her role as being guide, counselor and "even a shoulder to cry on."
While the above is an excellent resource, at times you might want to concentrate upon community message boards. Where do you find those?
One good jumping-off location is Yahoo!'s local town system at http://local.yahoo.com. From there, you can navigate to different states, and possibly different communities within said states. Each community has a message board specifically for that region. If nobody has posted any question regarding real estate in that area, you could always post a note that offers to answer questions for home owners! Remember, general advertising is quite frowned upon in many areas of the Internet, but providing resources is always viewed as a valuable commodity.
Another good area in which to start would be your local state or community web site. For example, New Jersey has several excellent forums located at http://forums.nj.com. Just this past week, someone posted a request for REALTOR recommendations in Monmouth county. Because I was impressed by two agents in that area myself, I was able to refer others to this in this public
forum as a benefit to the community.
Still another site to investigate would be Forum One at http://www.forum1.com. This web site is a search engine for all the registered forums on the Internet.
Try searching for "California homes."
One response includes RegionOnline at http://www.regiononline.com. Not only does this target specific communities in California, it also provides you with the means to list your REALTOR firm for free as a real estate resource. If you come across a resource that differs from what you are searching, always take the time to take advantage of that.
The credo of the Internet is to share information. Think beyond your typical search engine ranking and business listing - going to where the customers congregate will almost always provide you with a means to make a great first impression.
Published: October 7, 1998
Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.
Editor's Note: This article reflects the opinions of Barbara Ling only and not necessarily the views of this or any other publication, organization or Website owner.
