What Makes A Web Site A Money Maker, Part IV

In my previous 3 posts about what makes a Web site a money maker, I outlined a number of tasks that must be undertaken in order to have a productive site.  I received the following comment from AR'er Marko Nedelikovic:

"That is an excellent description. But then again it's one thing building a website another thing running it and the hardest part is implementing all the essential techniques in order to make it successful. I think that in order to this a lot of money, resources and time is needed."

I agree, Marko: creating a money-making Web site does indeed take a great deal of time and money.  The results, however, are worth it.  As mentioned in an earlier post, my CyberStars(r) averaged $115,400 in closed gross commissions alone from their Web sites according to a recent survey I did.

There are ways, of course, to reduce the amount of time and money needed to create a productive Web site.  Here are a few:

• Begin your quest for Web supremecy with a template site from a company such as Advanced Access.  By doing so, you get several hundred pages of pre-written content.  You get useful links, search engine optimization and more.  In other words, you save a lot of time and effort while gettting a lot in return.
  
  
• If you get a template site, of course, it will become much more productive if you customize it, if you make it into a site that reflects you and your personality.  Again, this requires time.  Your solution?  Hire a Virtual Assistant, someone who works on an hourly basis, to upgrade and write material for you.  Again, this relatively small investment pays off handsomely if you promote your site and followup on site leads.
  
  
• A Virtual Assistant is, of course, the answer to maintaining any site without spending your time doing so.

• A few of my CyberStars(r) choose to create site content by themselves.  This, of course, saves you money, but it is an investment in time.

In short, there are some ways to lessen the amount of time or money you spend on your site.  There is no denying, however, that it is an investment.  As someone who teaches thousands of agents nationwide, has analyzed hundreds of Web sites through my site evaluation service, I know for a fact that a deep, consumer-oriented personal Web site is the best, most cost effective marketing tool we have ever had in real estate.

Therefore, the development of your Web site, and the time and money it will take to do so, should be an important part of your business plan!

It's a great day here on the lake in Reston....hope it's a great day where you are, too!