Home : Blogs : Todd Murphy : Todd's Blog

After a month sabbatical from Active Rain.

Today was the first time in over four weeks that I logged on to Active Rain. I stopped participating on Active Rain because it was becoming monotonous for me - and it was taking far too much time away from result producing activities.

As real estate agents, I think we're fooling ourselves if we think we can spend an inordinate amount of time on the web and expect our sales to improve. So what did I learn after a month of not being on Active Rain?

1. Business takes place on the street, not at home or your office.

2. The real estate business is about B2B (belly to belly). You must get out and talk to people everyday. You may make hundreds of friends online, but offline is where you will grow your business.

3. The internet is not the ultimate place to find buyers.

4. There are many businesses that can be built online - real estate is not one of them.

Posted by Todd Murphy on 09/28/2007 01:11 PM

Comments (14)

taking off from active rain, active rain and wasting time, active rain results

Post is included in group: Flat Fee & Discount Brokers

14 Comments on After a month sabbatical from Active Rain.

SEP

2007

Maybe not for you Todd, but the rest of us are in the 21st Century now and you will find that probably 90% of buyers begin their search on line by now. Ultimately if you do not have a strong internet business you will not have a business. As for AR - for me it is about learning, sharing and Google placement.

Gee. Works for me.

All of my buyers have come from the Internet since 1995. We have sold about $480,000,000 worth of real estate from Internet sales.

But, hey. I agree. I believe that all agents should hit the raod, especially agents in MD and VA.

I must respectfully disagree! My online GCI is over 30K right now. I manage my time by allowing myself only 3 hours a day for web development, 1-2 for phone prospecting (sphere), 5 for appointments and another 2 for paperwork. I go to the doggie park at night to get away from my office, otherwise I will still be working. That's where I meet people B2B :)

I am rating this one a 5. All of our prospecting styles are different and what works for one, will not work for another! I would have flagged this one for a feature but we can no longer do that :(

Todd, I'm sorry that you feel the way you do. It is true that it is absolutely necessary to log off the computer and get out into the real world meeting people and working in the business.

However, that being said, the majority of my business comes from the Internet. Since I started blogging outside and inside of AR (just 3 months on AR), I have had 1 direct from AR listing appointment, several potential buyers, several potential referrals from other agents, and learned an incredible amount about the business, marketing, etc. from some of the very best agents here on AR.

Consistency is the key.

Well poo! Thanks for pointing that out Lenn - all Central Florida agents should indeed re-start farming immediately!

The internet has become the single most important business dource for me over the past couple of years. You do have to choose the right time and amount of time spent online though.

Wow, your comments surprise me because I have had tremendous success getting buyers and listing from the internet blogs and web pages. As the NAR says 80% of people check the internet first but perhaps not in your area.

Todd,

It's good to hear different points of view on how to market and where the results are coming from. Internet can be a great source for leads as long as the plans is carefully crafted and executed. The same can be said about non-Internet marketing. It'll work with the right plan, as it's doing for you.

Holy cow, Batman! You guys are great. Thanks for the comments. I LOVE reading different points of view.

I think you to have strike a good balance. Networking behind a computer can make you lazy and you tend to forget how to network face-to-face. If people solely rely on the computer their missing out on a big piece of the puzzle. IMHO

My goal is the coming months is to get from behind my computer and start live networking again. I miss people. *lol*

LOL Todd, Holy Cow Batman :)

I think you could succeed but perhaps your market has not grasped internet marketing. Just put it in your schedule to post to your blog one or two hours a week. Every post is sticky, unlike an open house :)

OCT

2007

Todd,

A very interesting post. While I might want to disagree as I have had very good response from my Internet marketing efforts, I do recognize that blogging on ActiveRain can consume minutes possibly better spent.

Thanks for your view.

Tom

PS Very interesting to note that "blogging" and "ActiveRain" are flagged by spellchecker.

MAR

2008

Todd,

This is an interesting topic. I recently attended a real estate course that encouraged blogging. I wasn't sure about it at first but decided to give it a try. I have been active on the blog for several months. I have found it to be a great source of SHARING. I have not seen how it generates leads or new business but have notice the movement up in the search engine. I have to agree with the others that most of my business comes from the internet. I have a great ratio of closed sales from my internet clients. They have direction on what & where they want in a home which make the process wonderful. I also believe that you should not base your business growth on just internet. Name recognition is so important in our business and to get the outside world to know you it's important to make a presence. Making a presence being up close and personal is the key you must be out daily passing out those cards and meeting and greeting.

JUN

2008

Todd, I do think meeting people face to face is important. However, if you are not receiving any direct business from blogging you have to consider this when deciding where to spend your time. At RE/MAX Realty Group we have some very useful tools to capture leads online. My approach has been a combination of face to face interactions and the internet. Thanks for sharing your opinion.

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?