I stopped doing all print ads 3 years ago. I still share a page in Homes and Land because its a more classy book. I use my sites to reveiew my listings,take a look www.neworleanscondos.net , use Craigs list, they are on all the local company sites as well as realtor.com. I also blog about them which is another great feature of active rain. Blog on. 

Eric,

Thanks, I have found in my studies online recently that alot of people have stopped doing Print-ads as well. I suspected it was the same most places but figured I would pose my question here and see how people feel here as well :)

Monica,

You might wnat to read my two blogs on stats one is nationwide and the other local 

It might answer some questions.

Monika with a K   

Monika,

I will gladly read your Blogs as soon as I hit send, Thanks for pointing me in the right direction for my answers. AR is so huge..I didn't eve know where to begin. I am so pleased with how helpful everyone has been to me :) Thank you for all the info you have pointed me in the direction of :)

Is till use print, but not in the local paper. I use the business rags.  Much better bang.

I also use internet and holy cow, emails.

and holy cow, emails.

LOL...This made me Giggle. E-MAIL??? Who would have thought of that?? :)

Call me.  I will give you the 1-2-3.

Shhhh - There are those here that would get all bent out of shape if I posted it.  AND I can't give away the farm to the other locals !!!

Rich,

LOL...so does that make me SPECIAL?? Won't the others get jealous??

There is an old saying:  Screw em if they cant take the joke.

Rich...

;) I can take a joke, thats all that matters. :) Hows the weather where right now? I have family in MI and they are miserable, thats why I LOVE FL..

I grew up in Chicago.  My wife gave me this great coat for Christams and I can't wear it.  It is too warm.  Only 45.  I'm sure I would love FLA, but Columbus suits me just fine.  Just cold enough

Rich,

LOL..Well at least she was thinking ahead :)

We use ppc international phrases, harmon homes online and print, luxury homes magazine and of course our blog with idx on every page avaialable next week just getting it sorted this week.

Teri, those are some new ones I have not seen before. Could you possibly link me? I guess I could search but was hoping you had a link handy :)

Print ads reach mostly local buyers and most local buyers have access to a local Realtor® contact that's already likely seen the property and screened it for their 'known' buyers.  As such, it's a stretch to see the print ad locally getting you as much ROI as other vehicles.  Better, I suspect, to have your listing posted on your website alongside your registration section and driving buyers from the web to that page (for a discussion about website registrations see my blog).  If you can secure keywords that deliver you viable buyer traffic to your web's registration page, every internet visitor will see your listed property.  If it works for them, great for you and your seller!  If it doesn't, the odds are they will register with your site, view the entire MLS listings (via your IDX display) and potentially find a different property that you can help them with buying.  Either way, you win!  If dealing with keywords and search engine marketing isn't your thing, there are folks out there that can do that for you (like HomeGain's BuyerLink if it's available in your town). 

Of course, don't forget about printing and mailing postcards of your listed property and distributing them to the homes in the neighborhood... amazing how many people want their friends to know about a great property available nearby!

Chris,

Thanks so much for that info, every little bit helps. I am not too savy when it comes to search engine marketing but I have a member of my team that is awesome at it. :) I will definitely check out your Blog!! Thanks for linking me :)

I'm doing print ads and am moving to mostly online marketing combined with farming. 

Monica, these are the same questions on my mind also. I have read here on Active about realtors spending a ton of dough on internet marketing and not getting much back from it. Im new so i really cant give an opinion, but since i have a very strong internet and computer background, im really hoping that the internet pans out.

One thing i did realize, if people are actually looking, in the market for a house, they will pick up the real estate papers, Harmon Homes  etc,. I remember before i became a realtor that that is exactly what i did, along with Realtor.com. (just to find out most listings were already sold). So i guess the absolute key to internet marketing is SEO.

Dave,

Thanks for your Input, I too am a New Realtor and if my Question Blogs can help others then That is more then I could hope for :)

Dee,

How did I miss your Post?? Let me know if you see a difference in your Leads as you transition to mainly Internet. :) I am curious to see how that goes.

Just yesterday i spoke to some realtors (one was succesful) about websites and if they had one etc....

The succesful realtor told me she gave up on it, she received NO business from it at all, it sort of discouraged me a bit, but then i thought, maybe she is not technically savvy, knows nothing about search engines optimization etc.

I asked her again about her old website, did she update it etc. Her answer?, i just called the website company and told them if anthing was ever wrong or what not....go figure.

When she left the room, a new realtor looked over at me and said her friend realtor has a website and gets leads off of it every week, deals that close too.....

i guess it go with the old saying, "you reap what you sow" put time in and get business back???

You have to get your stuff in front of your target market.  Always on the internet, and into print, if you are convinced they look.

Rich Kruse said he advertises in business rags.  I'm talking to one Monday regarding print advertising for 4 contiguous properties for development that I think my colleagues are not gleaning from the MLS.  Get my stuff in front of a targeted market.

Be still, my beating checkbook....

Might have to split an ad with another agent.

I use both print ads and online ads, I believe the print ads are good for the local market, but the online ads will grab the out of state buyers

I just posted a blog (in my Active Rain account) about how I got a client from an $11 print ad.

Instead of running no ad, try running a tiny ad for cheap.

Frank 

Blog.Franklyrealty.com 

"Instead of running no ad, try running a tiny ad for cheap."

I have done that repetitively, and agree it can be productively.

"If you only get one sale..."

The best marketing tool for listings has always been and will always be the MLS. Good pictures, above average commission split and work the comments.

The internet is definitely the way to get new clients. I have 2 new buyers this weekend and my wife has 2 buyers this weekend and we got them off the internet.

Websites are the cheapest form of advertising there is. Don't pay a lot of money for someone to design it for you. Simple works and you can do it yourself. your point 2 site is a good start.

Remove all of the stuff on the home page about you and your friends. Add every single piece of local info that you can. Make new pages for every neighborhood and new pages for every aspect of your business.

80% of buyers start on the internet and 80% of them type "local town real estate" into their favorite search engine. The search engines then look for sites that have that local town in the content and in the meta tags.

Your meta title, or whatever P2A calls it, reads "Monica Hubert, Re/Max Premier Realty, Inc." No one is searching for that. Remove that and pick your areas like Ocala. My tile is "

<title>Outer Banks NC real estate sales and Corolla homes for sale - Duck and Nags Head real estate, condos, houses and realty for sale in North Carolina.</title>

I also use this for my meta description. All 4 of those towns come up on the first page for google and 2 of them are #1. Copy it with your towns instead of mine. Next write about those towns on your home page with the phrases ocala real estate and the other towns in sentence form.

Every page on your site needs to have unique meta tags for that page. When in doubt google your question with "SEO" and you will be surprised how much free information is out there. 2 years ago I knew nothing about this stuff now I am competing with the giant companies here.

Next get some links pointing to your site. This blog is a good place to get links to Outer Banks real estate or Ocala real estate. I just gave you and myself a link that includes keywords in the anchor text. Remember to google anchor text so you know what I am talking about. another good source for links are real estate directories and small business directories. Some require a backlink and and cost money.

This is a good start but remember to google any questions and then google everything that you read about. It will start to make sense.

To see what your competitors are doing go to their site, click on the view button at the top of your browser and then source. It will show you what the search engines see.

Good luck.

Since I am new to the industry I am reading a ton on information and everything I read tells me that 80% of buyers are using the Internet for their searches and 24% have found the home they purchased on the Internet.  This far outweighs the statistics for print ads.  So, Internet seems to be where to place your bets. However, sellers still have the impression that print ads are the way to go, even when they get the Internet thing they still point to a lack of print ads as the the reason a house didn't sell, so you need to gauge your client.  But to get the right exposure....Internet.  You should look into the research that NAR has done on the subject.

Monica,

In our market in Idaho print advertising has not worked in years.  We find people are using the internet or driving by signs.  I focus on full color knock out looking fliers and a powerful internet site.

Use just listed postcards.  It advertises the properties in the building/neighborhood and advertises your services.  It probably won't due much to sell the property, but will make the seller happy and potentially generate leads for you.  I don't know when the last time I heard about a buyer finding a property they purchased in print advertising.

I would have to say that the net would be the way to go because more and more people now a days are all about the net and less people us print ads to do business or search for potential business. I have noticed a huge difference in the ads I have placed on the net and other websites compared to the print ads. That is just my personal opinion, I hope it helps you.

I use a combination of print and internet as well.  I heavily utilize craigslist.  I love that site! 

My Broker in Charge said that she does not even like putting the flyers in the box next to the property listing because neighborhood kids use them for paper airplanes and customers use them to determine what they do not like about the house and you never have direct contact with the individuals who pick them up.

Brian- How many just listed cards are you sending out. 

I like to be able to maximize the number I send out I can get 5000 printed for around $ 250 Not 

I guess the lowest you can get postage to is .22 so to mail those would  $ 1100 with sorting the cards and already having the permit ect..  or full stamp is $ 1450 So to do those number you have to have a good listing. to get your money back and a good good list of 5000 to mail to.

5000 seems like a really large number... and don't get me wrong-- I'm the printer and list provider!  I'd take the business but question the efficacy....  My mental rule of thumb is to mail to those within 1/2 mile radius of the listing with edits for areas in that zone that are clearly different travel and/or commute paths.  Additional mailings to those in my personal database of clients that might know someone interested in that specific neighborhood.  Unless you're in a truly high density area, that usually means a mailing in the 2000 range, give or take....  Production costs for that quantity and mailing services with postage (at least at PsPrint) is under $800 and would be warranted for most listings.

whatever works for you stick with it