Editor's Note: This is the follow-up to "The Web is No Substitute for Shoe Leather," published previously on Agent News.

If you are a new agent, you are already challenged by the difficulty of getting your business up and running. If you read my previous article, you already know that the Web is no substitute for shoe leather. You have to build a local foundation of business before you can hope to compete on the Internet. Once you have done that, you are ready to bring the building blocks of your business to the Web.

1. Go to HomeSeekers.com and get a web site from them to begin with. Tell them that Bill Koelzer sent you. Ask them to make some extra special META tags (tailored to your city) to put on your page to make it easier to find. See a sample.

You need to know what META tags are, so learn more about them at: http://www.searchenginewatch.com.

2. Go to http://www.searchenginewatch.com once again to learn how to get better found on the web. Or, go to http://www.advancedaccess.com and let them make you a website. Just like Homeseekers, through their Genstar Media Division, Advanced Access does a superior job of making and giving sites "findability" on the web through use of good META tags and other sophisticated techniques.

Why do you want to be found on the web? Because, right after hunting for homes, what buyers do next is hunt for a Realtor. The Realtor can help them find a home in their relocation city even before they arrive themselves.

To see a web site especially set up to appeal to such buyers go see Web Realtor Debbie Ferrari’s custom web site at: http://www.debbieferrari.com.

Note how often the word "you," (or a derivative) is used on her home page to establish empathy with the 150-per-day visitors (mostly buyers) who view Debbie's site. Last year Debbie sold $5 million just from buyer inquiries sent to her from her web site. But, unlike Debbie (22 years in realty), you will want to first practice the basics that I offer here before you can expect such results from your site.

3. Enroll in a class teaching Internet marketing for Realtors. Sadly, many local boards fall down on the job where Internet training is concerned. Since many are ignorant of the value of Internet marketing, they defer training that they ought to be doing internally to outside firms. Often, these outside firms, title companies, etc., spend most of the course time grinding their own axes. That is why I recommend paying your money and enrolling in a college night course or similar course in which the evening won't be spent listening to an advertorial by the trainer.

4. Go to Agent Tools or Web Promote and read all their stuff. Same with International Real Estate Digest. And WebSiteGarage.

Sign up for free e-mail headlines from Real Times and Agent News, which are full of how-to articles for you to learn more about Web marketing. Also, sign up for their free Newsletter. Real Times will put your picture and contact information at the top of a monthly newsletter for you to send out to your contacts. You will look like a 20-year pro.

Try http://www.dummies.com. Find more such sites yourself. Learn. Learn. Learn. Get in relationship with the technicians at your local Internet Service Provider firm so that they'll help you out more in your early web work.

With these suggestions, you ought to have a running start on a great Web site and Internet marketing.

Published: April 16, 1999

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

Editor's Note: This article reflects the opinions of Bill Koelzer only and not necessarily the views of this or any other publication, organization or Website owner.

Bill Koelzer is a Web marketing consultant to web-proficient agents nationwide. He is co-author, with Barbara Cox, Ph.D., of the Prentice-Hall books, Internet Marketing in Real Estate and Internet Marketing. Bill is also webmaster of Orange County Real Estate, among the most-awarded known Realtor® sites. Visit his website, Koelzer.com or e-mail him at .