Dear Mr. Internet:

My Web site has tons of great information and is attractively designed, yet in some ways it seems sterile.  How can I make my Web site more "personal" and provide a sense of warmth to its visitors?

Chris Wallace, ABR, CRS, GRI
Prudential Hodrick Realty
Williamsport, PA 17701

Dear Chris: Boy, did you ever hit the nail on the head for an issue that affects the vast majority of agent Web sites.  The fact is, no matter how terrific and valuable your site content happens to be, it will come off about as appealing as a hard drive until you find some way to "humanize" it.  In other words, give the people that visit your site a way to connect on an emotional level, rather than just the left-brain intellectual "here's great information" level.

The key to providing this kind of human connection on your site is remembering that people relate powerfully to stories about other people, especially people just like them...

The Power Of Stories

First of all, it is important to understand the distinction between a story and a testimonial.  While often effective for building credibility, testimonials still have an agenda attached to them (i.e. promoting your services), that limit their ability to create real human connection.  Stories about real people however, if properly crafted and positioned, have the ability to go right to the heart of your visitors and land their emotional anchor.  And in so doing, they effectively humanize your site in a way that is attractive, warm, and friendly.  This is a powerful and unique way to turn casual site visitors into solid client relationships.  And, how you get these stories can be as easy as conducting an interview...

Interviewing Your Way To Success

Here are the steps you take to providing powerful, heart-connecting stories that will be eagerly consumed by your site visitors:

1. Choose Your Subject Carefully -- Find a home-owning family, couple, or person within your service area that is consistent with your primary target market.  For example, if you specialize in first-time buyers, find a young family that just recently purchased their home (not necessarily through you), and has an interesting story to tell.  Keep in mind almost everyone has a "story" -- which doesn't have to be a world-shattering epic!  The questions you ask during the interview (see below) will help bring out the richness of even the most common happenstances.

2. Enroll Them -- Simply ask potential subjects (from your farm area perhaps) if they would like to have their interview posted on the community section of your Web site for a month (or whatever frequency you plan on using to change your stories) as a way for new visitors to the area to get a better feel for the people that live there.  You might be surprised as to how many people will feel flattered by your request!  Also ask if it would be alright to take a picture of them in front of their house to include as well.  Once you have their verbal permission, it is a good idea to have them sign a release form (which any good attorney or legal aid firm can give you) to keep you from running afoul of copyright and privacy laws.

3. Prepare Your Questions -- It's a good idea to write down the questions you plan on asking.  Also, your questions should reflect the appeal of your site's target market.  Taking our example of first-time buyers again, the following will give you an idea of the kinds of questions you could ask:  

   •What made you first think about buying in the ______________ neighborhood?

   •Now that you are here and settled in, what do you like most about this area?

   •What do your kids like most about living here?

   •What is the most unique and unusual thing that has happened since you moved here?

   •What are your thoughts about the community and the people that live here?

   •Tell me about the most interesting person or family you've met so far.

   •If another family asked you about moving to this area, what words of wisdom and advice would you offer?

   You notice how all the questions are open-ended?  They are designed to have your interview subject talk as much as possible.

4. Conduct The Interview -- Ideally, this is done in the home of the subject so they are as comfortable as possible.  Use a tape recorder (with their permission) so you don't have to interrupt the conversational flow by writing things down.

5. Edit The Final Product -- Have the tape transcribed, including your questions and comments.  Then just simply edit down to those responses that have the most interesting and emotionally connecting material.  At this point, most of your interview copy is completed.  The final step is to  write a short beginning paragraph that briefly describes your subjects (the parents, kids, pets, etc.) and leads into the interview.  Once this is done, send a copy to your subjects for final approval and signoff prior to posting it on your Web site.

Now this may seem like a bit of work, and it is if you do it all.  However, much of the process described above can be accomplished via an assistant, virtual or otherwise.  Once the procedure is set up, there is very little for you to do other than the actual interview —which is highly advisable. If your subjects are not your clients now, they probably will be eventually because of the special way you honored them.  By the way, it wouldn't hurt to give them a gift or token of appreciation after the interview is posted.  Not only are you likely to see their future business, but that of others they refer to you as well.

We all live in a world filled with great uncertainty and rapid change.  People are searching and craving for real human connection more than ever.  If you can provide that sense of "touch" in the otherwise anticeptic environment of the Web, you will have set yourself apart in a most profound and human way.  Yes, one that will provide additional business, but perhaps more importantly, give you a deeper sense of connection as well!

Mr. Internet's Tip O' The Month

Most of us are aware of the importance of using a signature at the end of each e-mail message.  However, what most people don't realize is that there is a way to enhance the effect of your signature by including a Vcard.

A Vcard is an Internet standard personal electronic business card in the form of a special, small text-based file that is attached to your outgoing e-mail messages.  While it typically contains all of your contact information, the real power of a Vcard is in the way this information is transferred.  Recipients who are using professional-level e-mail software like Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, etc. simply just open the Vcard attachment within your message to instantly transfer all of your contact information into their database.

A Vcard should be used as a complement to your signature, but not a replacement for it.  This is primarily because you can include marketing messages within your signature that are not allowed as part of the Vcard standard.  Since a Vcard is consists of your own contact record, you need to create one for yourself in your own e-mail contact database before you can start including it with your signatures for outgoing e-mail.

How to get your e-mail software to automatically include your Vcard with your signatures depends upon the e-mail software you use.  If you are currently using Outlook 2000 for your e-mail, just CLICK HERE to view an animated step-by-step demonstration on how to include your Vcard with any new signature you create within Outlook 2000 (this is a very cool demo!)

A final note:  As usual, AOL e-mail does not conform to Internet industry standards, which means Vcards do not work for AOL recipients.  Therefore it is advised to delete the Vcard attachment on messages that are to be sent to any AOL recipients.

Published: December 11, 2001

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

Michael J. Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet®) is an internationally acclaimed speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry and small business. He is also the exclusive Internet columnist for REALTOR® Magazine, the architect of the revolutionary e-ProductivityTM system and leading voice for the use of Virtual Assistants in small business. You can subscribe to his free monthly leading-edge newsletter ePOWER NEWS by going to ePowerNews.com.