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Are You a Realtor or Webmaster?

Blogging

I would say that I am both. A large percentage of my business comes from the internet. Sarasota, Florida is a large second home market so we get a lot of internet traffic from out of town buyers. As a result, we have a competitive arena for capturing buyers online. Therefore, I spend a lot of time working on my website, blogging and building links. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I hate it.

I will have my anti-social days where I sit in front of the computer and can't be bothered with dealing with the general public. That comes from all of the phone calls and emails from people in other cities asking, "what about this listing?" or "what do you think of this neighborhood." Don't get me wrong, I love the activity. However, sometimes it is draining.

Then I have other days where I don't even want to turn on a computer. Don't talk to me about building links, adding content, or playing on Facebook. I just want to talk to people in person and work with a buyer or a seller.

Every now and then I have to remind myself that I am a Realtor first. I will actually have a hot buyer and are more concerned with writing a good blog post. That is stupid and fortunately I catch myself being stupid.

Just curious - how many of you spend a large part of your week writing in Active Rain or similar blog, building back links, adding content to your website or any other online business activities?

Marc Rasmussen selling Sarasota real estate. Visit www.LuxurySarasotaRealEstate.com.

Posted by Marc Rasmussen - Sarasota Real Estate on 10/15/2009 06:01 AM

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84 Comments on Are You a Realtor or Webmaster?

OCT

Hey Marc, I think to be successful you have to be both realtor and webmaster. You described my daily activities.

Try to spend my early, early morning hours online, with the rest of the day focused on my "real job"!

In today's market I tgink we have to wera many many hats. Webmaster is one of them. Im not that technical but with Active Rain I can rank!

Marc - All of the above. The webmaster role is something I would prefer to delegate.

Becoming more and more on the web but I have to be out often or I would go crazy!!

I am like you I am back and forth.

Seems I can get hung up on one site FB or Twitter and or Blogging.

I try to do 3-4 posts on my outside blog weekly, that is a priority.

I can't get 10 here, just can't make myself do it.

SEO is a never ending battle, to stay on top of. Most of the time I just write, make sure my anchor text and title tags are right and forget about it.

My outside blog is PR 4. It has been that way since about 6 months when I launched it. I would like to get it higher. But, I have a high bounce rate.

See I get frustrated too.

I too am pasionate about technology and getting links to my 4 or 5 websites everywhere I see a place to register them.

As a result I get about 60% of myu business from the Internet. Including Clients of other Agents who prefer to do their serching on my sites because they better than others in my area.

It can be time consuming unless I time-block x amount of minutes each day or week to it and force myself away the rest of the time. I have often considered finding an IT person virtually to do it every day for a low wage but have not taken the time to find one I trust.

We certainly cannot ignore what has become the primary resource for real estate searches and need to find a way to achieve a happy balance.

I am open to suggestions for someone to do the web posting for me...

Online presence is so crucial now as print advertising is pretty much dead. The good news is that it is very affordable to increase your online visibility. It just takes time...

I am BOTH, no doubt. I love the social media world, and since the X,Y generation are our NEW buyers, I knew I had to be on the high tech train or be left in the dust. And most of my biz comes from the Internet... usually filtering one way or another through ActiveRain.

We MUST be both Realtors and Webmaster today... or get out of this business.

I love the people part of my career and I love sharing my impressions and experiences in my blog! For the rest of it I have a business partner who likes the tech part! I cannot be all things to all people so I concentrate on what I'm good at!

you hit it right on the head. i think we sometimes substitute our internet activities for actual income generating actitivies. the thing we should keep in mind is that the internet is only one of the our many fields where we should be planting our seeds.

Marc: Let's just say that I could have wrote your post! Every line resonated with me ... I know I need to spend more time out in the world connecting with people .... Internet is great ... and I need a better balance.

Marc, your exactly right. With the large amount of stimulus money going to expand access to the internet, we had better realize more than ever, real estate is a technology driven business.

Hey Marc , I love the internet marketing aspect and love doing it, I am lucky enough to have a partner that loves dealing with the public side so it makes for a great team.

Marc:

I agree I am both too. Yes, more and more of my business is coming from the web.

I am definetly both... and an EX I.T. guy for Lockheed Martin. I love real estate more but in order to have an edge, what you are doing with your website (links, SEO, blogging) is very important...

Now, here is a personal opinion...maybe somone can help me change my mind... but, i really dont see the great draw in regards to real estate for Facebook....

Your "real friends" and know what you do for a living...other people (prospects) just cant find you unless they look up your name. So, where's the google juice in Facebook? I do make friends with other Realtors, work on relationships etc...but as far as gaining new business from people doing searches...i just dont understand it.

someone convince me im wrong...

I guess you have to be both. I am trying to get deeper with SEO/SEM? Will probably try some online certification classes.

Definitely both. As much as I'd like most of my business to come from personal relationships, I don't have a large Sphere or personal contacts. Most of my clients are from out of state and find me on the internet (which is where people start looking). If you aren't spending time building your internet presence, you'd BETTER have a huge spere of influence to get you by.

Dave - I'm with you on your Facebook assessment. I'm also ex-Computer Science from the telecom industry. Coincidence, I'm sure, that we see it the same way. I thought the same of Twitter until I came up with the idea of giving my listings their own Twitter pages and having a "follow this listing" campaign. I guess the only argument against our Facebook position is - some benefit from linking other things to your facebook page - but why? So the public learns more about you personally? Still don't get it.

To the original post - absolutely, lots of time spent on internet activities - and I don't get nearly as much payback as you do, yet. I get some - but not enough yet. So I guess I need to do even MORE. But real clients in person do take up a lot of my time (thankfully.)

In today's market you definitely have to be both, plus another 20 hats to wear.

It is really important to do both now!!! My hope is to hire an assistant to do the $12.00 an hour computer work (admin, marketing, internet updates)...so I can free up my time!! I find myself spending 4-5 hours a day on this stuff and then I wonder where my day went?! All the best! Great Post!

I'm finding that more and more of my time is spent working the web.

Those who aren't doing both successfully will get left behind. I think the downturn has been a good excuse for many to not renew and retire. Many have thought that it's because of how bad everything is perceived to me, and that is alot of it, I understand that, but it is also because the business world is rapidly changing and many feel overwhelmed and not knowing what to do about it. I see it everyday.

The business is changing. All business is changing.

I spend an incredible amount of time on my computer-taking classes and working with coaches. The internet really has changed the face of real estate, and we have to be on top of it. Sometimes I do not want to turn my computer on either-then I get over it and on we go!

Dave #16 I just read your reply. I agree. In terms of generating real dollars in your pocket on the internet, Facebook takes a back seat, in my opinion. Google is everything. I find more business value in ActiveRain, Twitter, your own personal forum, and other blogs that are Google friendly. I have also not drank the koolaid on linkedin yet either. I don't want the entire world to see my life resume online, and that goes for Twitter also. Twitter for business is great, but those who feel compelled to tell us every minute detail of their daily lives is a bit strange and is also opening themselves up to all kinds of bad things. Telling us that you are at Starbucks waiting in line is of no importance to me and really, nobody cares, except for the shady guy who now knows you're not at home, and has your home address from all you have on the internet, and then proceeds to go rob you blind. You gave him the opportunity. I see that with Linkedin and have decided against using it at this point. I guess I should make this reply into a new post, lol.

Our industry is just like everyone elses - internet is a huge piece of the puzzel even in industries like medical! Our dependence on the internet has changed the world - not just real estate. But we are still people who thrive on relationships so sometimes we just need to unplug - I'm with you there are days if that phone rings one more time or if i have to have one more conversation about SEO, back links etc I WILL SCREAM!!! But i get over it after some much needed time away from the world of all things internet.

I've been hooked on Internet marketing since I put my first web site out in 1997. At the time there were very few agents embracing the web. I would get calls from people from all over the world telling me when they searched for Long Island real estate I was everywhere so they thought they'd better call me to help them buy or sell. Most of my business came from the web and that's what I focused on. Lately, however, it's been more challenging. With the latest changes in Google I've been bouncing all over the place for my major key words. I've learned though that time often brings me back to top positioning so I don't rush to change it too much.

Right now I'm looking for a new web provider, but want one that will really work for me from a SEO standpoint. So, do I spend way too much time on the computer? Ummm, yes!

I am both. A large part of my business does come from my internet presence. Working on web site is well worth the time spent.

There were 9 billion searches on Goo gle in August. How many of those are "re-searches" trying to get the search term that actually helps to find what they want? So many sites so many searches.

(I couldn't tell where your listings are, so I'll just link to your site from Sarasota, FL on REindex.com)

Since you're obviously well versed in the website aspect, I wondered if you might take a second to give a look at this http://www.firsthomeexperience.com/main/. The site is geared toward first time buyers and realtors mostly, but the info and easy to enter contests might be interesting to others.

Marc,

Great comments. For too long I was sick of all the "web Stuff" and believed it was a waste of time. Too many agents competing against companies for the same Google spots.

NO MORE! I now know the game and am having a terrific time playing.

I have quite a lot of trouble dividng my time appropriately. I usually set Internet goals, and then have not met them by Thursday--so Friday becomes a "catch up" day.

My business partner concentrates on all the web stuff except "the rain" and he spends his days working on the website etc. I spend most of my day with clients. You have to be good at both aspects or know how and when to delegate it out...

Marc,

I have to be honest. I do alot of webwork. I actually was a web designer prior to becoming an agent.

But to date, the bulk of my business still comes from the basics: SOI, personal referrals, past clients, open houses, just sold cards, just listed cards, sign calls.

Oh yes, we wear many hats as they say. I do what i have to on the computer but would rather have someone do it for me!

Patricia/Seacoast NH

Yeah, I'm both. I do our office web sites. Working on them is my fun. I do the RE stuff to make a living, but I play on my computer.
Leslie

It can be draining, but like anything, you get what you put into it. It seems impersonal to be in front of a computer when all you want to do is be personable with a person.

Marc,

I remember a post probably from this week stating that you should spend 60% of your time marketing your business so at times I feel like I am more of a writer than anything.

Both. And an interior decorator and.... but I love it. Wouldnt have it any other way!

I think it is necessary to be a little of both in today's business environment.

I do a lot of both but I admit to hiring an SEO company this year to help with the web site. My visitors are increasing, the blog seems to take care of itself SEO wise as long as you follow the basics, all information free from members here. Web sites are a little tougher to do.

I have been addicted to computers ever since Al Gore created the Internet. ( ha ha )

I incorporate my love of photography with my computer interest. After working in the Silicon Valley you cannot h computer and toilet elp become computer literate.

As a former computer science major in college, it has been very beneficial having spent all that time studying. The skills transfer to real estate, especially graphic design, HTML and Internet knowledge.

Almost every aspect of our lives now and in the future will involve computers unless you are an isolated mountain man.

What I love are the telemarketers that go through out ads and listings to get our numbers and then annoy us wiith call after call. I had 3 in one hour yesterday. Do they wonder why I just say "not interested" and hang up. According to them, since I am a business the do-not-call designation does not apply. If that is the case, why is is illegal to send unsolicited faxes to a business office. Oh well. My polite switch is off and now I just say, sorry, good-bye.

Guilty, I find myself in front of the computer more and more. The payoff is worth it. Social media is here to stay and our business is part of it.

Hi Marc -- I always try for lead generation first and I view my AR blogging as paying it forward, but I also have to focus on keeping the pipeline full as well. It's a never ending struggle, that's for sure.

I use to be in web design before starting my career in real estate. I feel that two knowledge from my webmaster days are helping me alot marketing my homes and myself online.

I am in the beginning stages of my career and am very new to the website but I figure I might as well spend as much time building my web pressence now in preparation for the time when I am too busy to do it at all. so to answer your question I put at least 2 hrs a day right now and am planning to taper that off very soon.

Hi Marc ~ I can definitely relate. I knew I was in trouble when I found myself wishing real estate would slow down so I would have more time to blog. Nuts! I spend hours at this every day and a bit of burnout creeps in here and there. On the other hand it does get me out and about going places and doing things (so I can blog about them!) that I never would have taken the time for before. But no question about it when real estate is busier keeping up online isn't easy.

The other thing that gets to me is feeding the blog makes taking care of the big picture online a bit more difficult. I keep thinking I need to pull back and do some planning, some tweaking, etc. but I gotta write another post...

Liz

I spend lots of time using the internet to get my name out there. As you, much of my business comes from out of state.

Marc...

It's funny, because I consider myself to be a webmaster first ... probably because it consumes the bulk of my time!

Marc - Balance with this is difficult. I prefer to be out there in front of others, I like the interaction! But I look at my social media as prospecting and I know that I need to do that as well! It's tough to keep it all going! Looking forward to retirement in about 30 years... ; )

I try to balance it out because if I don't, then business drops off at a later time for lack of the online/webmaster type of work.

OCT

We all have to wear many hats I think -- it comes with the territory.

Right now, I am obsessed with my web=site.... but I will get over it!! and back to real work!

I'm more of a webmaster I guess. We need to do many tasks to be able to keep up with the online media changes and with our industry.

Bloggin" for me is part of my lead gen time.. .it assures me that I will have clients to see the rest of the time. . lead gen for me is followed religiously every day

Thanks for the post. I think as an e-Pro, it is very important to have an online presence for me. I do come from a technical background so have enjoyed using Point2Agent and adding relevant content to my website. We use Facebook to interact through our Fan Page which is our largest social media outlet and have related several deals to it. I agree, in this day in age...you have to be on top of your game if you want to generate quality leads as a realtor.

Diego Jaramillo
Keller Williams Realty - Houston
www.HoustonHeritage.com

I also get hung up on one site or another on certain days. Sometimes I get so sick of it, I take some days off.

I try to blog at least 1 or 2 a week and then comment 5-6 a day on Activerain. It gets overwhelming and then you can lose focus if you are actually busy selling real estate.

It's hard not to wish you could clone yourself!

I got into real estate because I was a web marketer. I do most of my own SEO and manage my online ad campaigns. I recently hired a great social media assistant. Her name is Ashley -- young and I would recommend her to those that need help in that area. www.themodernconnection.com

It's definitely a balancing act. Always remember to take great care of existing clients but never stop prospecting!

I am much more a Realtor & really need to improve my web skills. Hard to find enough hours in the day... I do get quite a bit of business from the web, though. :)

Hello Marc, doing both like many but seems that more and more time is necessary to stay on top and keep those leads coming in!

Search the Redding Ca MLS here now....

Rick

Marc - I agree, you have to be good at both skill sets to compete in today's real estate environment. Ranking high on Google is worth a lot of advertising dollars and it results in a lot of phone calls that we would not get otherwise.

It's important to be both. I time block my days, reviewing and adjusting quarterly. I'm finding that every quarter I'm adding more time to on-line activities (Active Rain, web site updating, Facebook, other social networking sites). If I give myself permission, and have a cut-off time I don't get sucked into spending my entire day online at the expense of picking up the phone and calling clients, sphere, etc.

I am learning to be a Web Master. It is the biggest and cheapest tool I have to get business.

Hi,

I think it's all about balance. It would be easy to sit all day and answer email, tweak a website or blog. The key is to determine where your business is coming from and make sure that you don't neglect other avenues of Buyer/Seller lead generation.

I'm definitely a business owner first and foremost. I'm always looking for ways to improve the business in terms of service and value to my clients, in addition to generating new business. It means spending time learning about industry trends, legislative activities, and technological advances; much of which I find out about on ActiveRain and other blogs. Some of my time is spent on website/blogging activities while other time is spent on more traditional "Realtor" activities. Whatever is most important at the time for the business is where I spend my time in a given day.

Definitely a must. Main reason I sign up for floor duty, not much ever happens and I get three hours of dedicated blog time.

Hi Michael - I spend all week building links, social media marketing, syndicating listings, etc. Of course, I am a Real Estate Virtual Assistant - wink, wink. Seriously, though, it's something that has to be done for any business who's market plan includes a web presence - including my own.

I spend typically 1 to 2 hours a day updating blogs, website... Nature of our business today.

It's a balancing act, but definitely a broker who blogs and not the other way around.

Sometimes I'm really good about blogging to build up my main site. I haven't been good for a while because I've been too busy doing real estate. That happens and I just get back to the website/blogging activity when I can.

There have been times where I was addicted to my site although I think in the long-run it has benefitted me and that's why I get so busy.

I am definitely located in a seasonal area (Chicago suburbs) and usually spend more time on the website during the slower winter months.

You definitely have to be both.

With 90% of my business from the internet, I find myself being a Marketing professional and then a Real Estate agent. However, those that are just in the real estate business will find it more difficult to compete. As a team leader, I delegate and push other real estate money making activities to the agents on my team. I am the engine that provides the internet leads and do not expect the other agents to understand the methods...

OCT

I get what you're saying, but I don't think you should attempt to call yourself a "webmaster" unless you've at least setup your own self hosted website and you can control every aspect of your site, not just write a blog post...my dog can do that.

Well I think that nowadays you have to be a little bit of both. You must blog for business but when you get a 'live one', you have to put that NEED away and get to work. You can waste a trememdous amount of time if you're not careful.

Can the smart guy above have his dog do a 'guest spot' on my blog?

OCT

Seems we all have to be both and then some! I'm doing what i can to delegate the web stuff and try to post to my outside blog as much as possible. The problem is finding enough time in the day to go out and preview homes, meet with clients, keep up with the prospects in my pipeline and, and, and...

I too am both agent and webmaster. I spend at least 1 hr per day on website things, sometimes much more! It has been good for business as I am page one on Google for my search terms. It does sometimes get obsessive though, lol. I catch myself furiously building links and blogging and facebooking, tweeting, linking, whatever...balance is key. Some days I have it, some days I don't~

OCT

A Realtor must defintely be able to multi-tasks and versitle; but balance is key. Soak up those one-on-one moments with your clients... but also take a deep breath to communicate your experineces online. It ALL good!! Just keep everything in balance.

OCT

I really, really do not want to be a webmaster. I only want to do what I love--Real Estate.

The computer stuff can be time consuming Marc. However, it is (in the long run) well worth our time.

NOV

Very good post. I'm trying to figure that out myself. It's a challenge wearing all of these hats.

NOV

In college, a professor in one of my management classes said (to paraphrase), you can't wear all the hats all the time. Your business growth should include a plan that insures that you have quality of life, time with your family & friends, and spend the time networking to grow the business so you continue to ENJOY the business you're in.

In the beginning, you can be good at all the elements, you need to fill you time with something -- and he used be a cake baker as an example.

MNGT 101 --

Making Cakes (Core of the business - Tactical)
Marketing & Selling the Cakes ( Strategic )
The Business ( Management / Accounting / Administrative )

Over time, as we get popular, people realize our cakes are delicious, we get busier, make & sell more cakes,and grow, something falls by the way-side. We can't keep up with demand, sell the cakes, ring up the register, and run the business.

He said we can usually do TWO of these things well, but all three is difficult -- Time one of the big issues, BUT -- most importantly, we lose ourselves.

Usually, your quality of life goes down, as the business grows. Is that a fair trade-off? Over time, we begin feel like its just WORK and not fun anymore.

Well, like most of us in this biz, I'm a work-a-holic too, but I want to work to live, not live to work. Many start-up businesses fail due to lack of a good life plan, and a solid business plan that includes growth.

What's your time worth. A good business plan incorporates growth. In the beginning, doing it all may be economical and necessary. BUT, once you're established and secure, it isn't necessarily practical to try and do it all.

One of the wisest CEO's of an international public company, who I personally know and worked for, said once at an annual stock holders meeting, that he knew that he couldn't wear all the hats, so he surrounded himself with the skilled talent to help guide him and help LEAD the company into the future. He knew then that it wasn't wise for him to control every aspect of the business. Doing so would eventually suffocate it. He wasn't just referring to the senior officers. He called out in open forum the names of the administrative staff and managers and acknowledged their jobs and their importance to the company.

Hiring talent to help you with the blogging, social networking, personal branding, listing marketing, and marketing can be much less expensive than the loss of revenue that you would have realized from the leads you could lose if you ignore the active clients and face-to-face networking and your "pipe line" while you're doing these daily administrative tasks.

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