Is the internet always the best way for a consumer to fiind us?

I read an article in the newspaper saying that people have hit a saturation point with purchasing over the Internet. I know I have been stung a few times with on line purchases that never materialized. And my on line purchases have not replaced the majority of my shopping.

But that article got me to thinking about something else. Maybe it is also time we REALTORS stop relying so heavily on the Internet to do our speaking for us and get in the face of our consumers a little more often and give them a chance to meet us. They may want know about us with out having to rely on the Internet. Maybe it is time to go back and re-implement some of the older methods of doing things, like creating a personal brochure and making sure that the people living in areas that we specialize in get to know us first hand and don't have surf the Internet to find us. We can't give up the Internet but we also can't totally replace our face time with it.

We have been focusing as an industry on the Internet for quite a while now with increasing our Internet presence as all important. It does seem as though with the Internet, everything we do in our real estate careers comes from the Internet. We must remind ourselves now and then that it surely doesn't. Yes, we must use the Internet to promote our selves and the properties we list, but not at the expense of being hidden away behind a computer screen just hoping to be found on-line.

I, like most of you reading this, have a great traditional and Internet marketing plan for marketing my properties that I list but maybe I have been neglecting some of the required face time in the communities that I specialize in.

There must be a tremendous number of folks that wouldn't feel comfortable hiring someone they have never met (except on the Internet ) to come into their homes and on the strength of our Internet marketing, trust us with their most valued asset. The younger generations don't own all the properties as yet.

While the Internet is an extremely valuable tool, being visible and present in the market place is still vitally important. The listing and selling of real estate hasn't changed so much that is has ceased to be a relationship business