Adding Internet marketing to your advertising budget isn't easy, because you'll most likely have to take away some money from another part of your marketing to devote to the Internet.

Web designer and planner, Bill Koelzer and co-author of Internet Marketing in Real Estate, Prentice-Hall, runs into this problem all the time with agents. He advises the following:

First, list this year's main ad budget categories. These might include: Newspaper ads, door hangers, direct mail to farm lists, business cards, letterhead, brochures, signs, flyers, photos, etc. Each category should have sub-heads, so under "Newspaper," you might have Los Angeles Times, The Register, Home Town Newspaper, etc., then under those you might have Business Card-sized ad; listing ads, classified ads, etc. Some costs can serve more than one purpose, if your newspaper also offers online classified advertising for example. Agents who buy ads in some homes magazines can also get or negotiate to have their homes and personal ads featured online.

Alongside each subhead you make two columns. In the first one, you write the dollar total of what you spent this year. In the second column you write what you think you ought to spend next year. When you are done, you have a basis for planning your promotional budget for the year - except for "Internet marketing."

You arrive at your Internet ad budget by first factoring in the "essentials" that you need in order to avoid losing market share to the growing number of Realtors® getting into web marketing.

The most effective listing service sites are the full priced deluxe editions with lead generation features, so budget for at least two to three of those. Weigh the sites that deliver the most traffic and have the most affordable tools, including email or pager notifications when you get a lead. Weigh how many of these tools you can get for the price, and then follow up by tracking the solid inquiries and closings you get for each category.

A custom site could run a minimum of $1000, with an additional $500 for changes you'll want your web site designer to make during the year. Be sure to include monthly charges from an ISP for hosting the site at about $40/month or $480/year.

What you want to spend is up to you, but some agents on the Internet spend as much as 25 percent to 75 percent of their marketing budget on the Internet, but that is a number that should relate proportionately to how much effort you plan to put toward working the Net. The higher the amount you spend the more prepared you need to be to cross-promote, develop niches, work the search engines on behalf of your sites or pay someone to do so, and to track your results. And most important of all - answer your emails.

The best sites will give you traffic reports so that you can track your leads and compare them to the results you get from your other Internet marketing as well as your off site leads. These should include breakdowns of which partner Web sites deliver what percentage of your leads. If you are not sure where an Internet lead came from, you can make a note to ask your buyer before closing.

Some sites may deliver leads indirectly. You may get a referral from another agent for example, based on your positioning on a Web site, or a directory. Referrals from friends, relatives and closed transactions can be as much as 37 percent of your business according to the N.A.R., but referrals from other agents who are relocating clients across the country, or who are licensed in several bordering states, should not be overlooked. Ask for referrals from agents on your Web site and be sure to publish your policy for paying referral fees.

Some Internet tools will be more successful later than sooner as consumers also find out about these sources. Early positioning may be key. An example of this is the Agent Locator directory on Realty Times in which positioning is offered on a first-come-first-serve basis, rather than alphabetically. Renewals allow the agents to retain or improve their positions.

Keep in mind not only how much Web sites cost, and how many leads, but other lead generation tools such as online newsletters and local banner ads in your online city, local chamber of commerce, or visitor guide. You can find out where these are by going to the search engines and keying in your city.

Published: June 16, 2000

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.