Let's be honest--there's a little bit of a penny-pincher in all of us.  In a down market, we're all looking for ways to get the best bang for our buck.

I wanted to share a trick that I’ve learned which can provide agents a big advantage in securing a listing for a very small investment.  We’ve probably all heard a lot about single-property websites and there is a definite advantage to having one.  Through a single-property website, an agent can demonstrate to an owner that they will showcase their home where it matters most—on the internet.  There are many other advantages to single-property websites, which I will not outline here.

You’ll see some providers charging $40-$50 for a single property website, however, you can create a very attractive site with a unique domain name for under $10.  Paying under $10 for a single-property website is a very good return on investment both for securing a listing and tracking marketing activities.  Here’s how you do it:

Register a domain name at www.GoDaddy.com (typically $9.99) (could be the address of the property or anything recognizable or distinguishing about the home).

Create a property profile for Free on vFlyer, Postlets or RealBird.

Note the URL where your listing is posted on vFlyer, Postlets or RealBird.

From your GoDaddy account panel, forward your domain using a 301 redirect to your URL you copied down from vFlyer, Postlets or RealBird. 

The bonus is that your listings will be syndicated to several other national listing websites.  Additionally, you can track how many visits you’ve received from your offline marketing using the unique domain you’ve selected.  You may also track offline lead generation by posting a sign rider with your catchy website domain. Not bad for 10 bucks and about 15-30 minutes of effort. 

If you've found this advice helpful don't forget to join my Real Estate Website Review Group and submit your website for some free marketing scrutiny!  

Realtors seem to have an affinity for motivational speakers and numbered lists with intriguing titles.  Thus, in honor of the annual Realtor Magazine List Issue, I present a list which won’t exactly make the PowerPoint presentation during Craig Proctor’s barnstorming tour.  Here are 5 ways to look busy in a down market (even though you’re not):

    1. Nothing says I’m important and too busy for you like a classic shot of a Realtor at the desk with a phone to their ear.  And even if you’re not busy, you can fake it by using the Popularity Dialer.  When the phone stops ringing on your floor time (if it hasn’t already), have the Popularity Dialer call you with a recorded voice of a nagging seller on the line.

    2. Hanging out at the wine & cheese broker open house.  Mingling with other Realtors doesn’t count as prospecting—unless you’re looking for a different kid of prospect…

    3. Taking a listing from a seller with unrealistic expectations.  Go ahead, tell them what they want to hear (their home is spectacular and worth far more than other homes in the neighborhood is selling for) to snag the listing.  They’ll always be convinced that they’re not getting any action on their home because of the ‘tough’ market and not because their home is ridiculously overpriced and drop the price eventually, right? 

    4. Coordinating an open house.  Sure, it might be fun to blow up and tie the balloons, but isn’t really a good investment of your time and money?  Do potential buyers actually go to open houses these days?  Does anyone get a good return on investment after paying for print advertising, posting open house signs and accounting for the opportunity cost of staring silently across the table at a perturbed seller for a couple of hours?  Tip: If the seller really starts looking angry, untie the balloon, suck in some air and rehearse your sales pitch with the sellers.  That will be sure to lighten the mood.

    5. Spending outrageous amounts of money on the ‘I’m #1’ print ad.  Sure everyone knows your face and clichéd tag line, but does anyone really go for the ‘Enough about you, let’s talk about me’ attitude? 

There you have it—5 Ways to Waste Your Time, but look productive doing it!

Don't forget to join the Real Estate Website Review Group to submit your website for advice or visit the Real Estate Web Critic website to nominate the Lame Real Estate Tag Line of the Week!