by Rich Schiffer, e-PRO

(This article is part of a training series presented for real estate professionals, whether new to the industry or experienced, to help them discover, understand, and benefit from the tools that are available on-line.  For access to the full series, join the ActiveRain Technology Toolkit Training group.  If you have not yet joined the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, you may do so here.).

With nearly 84% of home buyers looking for their next home on the internet, there has been a big shift in what is considered effective use of advertising dollars.  (Remember, there is a difference between marketing and advertising) 

Today, internet advertising is often seen as much more effective than print advertising, for a few reasons: 

• The ad is distributed only to a targeted audience (Only people who want to see real estate ads, for example, as opposed to everyone who subscribes to the local paper)
• The cost to place an Internet ad is lower (often free),
• The content of the ad is more flexible (often including pictures, even video

 Newspapers across the nation are struggling with diminishing ad revenues, and a recent Journalism.org article had a paragraph titled,  "Advertising Woes--Real Estate is the Bleeding Edge"  (The article is all about the Economics of Newspapers in 2008, and is a very interesting read.)

Now, the question is this: 

How do I, as a Real Estate Agent,
with the limited budget and limited technical know-how that I have,
use this thing called "on-line advertising", and what will it cost me?

 
There are two methods you can promote your listings through online classifieds.

1. You can go to individual websites that offer a classified section, and enter the information directly through their website.
2. You can "syndicate" your listing to multiple sites at once through various vendors that provide the syndication service.

Each method has its place in your marketing plan, and should fit any marketing budget.

Individual websites can be a great source for very tightly targeted audiences, either targeted geographically, or needs-based.  Some examples include:

1. Craigs List (The "granddaddy" of community-specific classified ads.  Simple, free, and used by many, many consumers.  I once got a call on a property 20 minutes after I posted it on Craigslist.)
2. OnlyOpenHouses.com - (targeting homebuyers by advertising your open houses -
   Create a free account and begin listing unlimited open homes! Create a Free Account now.)
3. http://www.military.com  - (targeting relocating military families, for example)
4. http://www.4horseproperty.com  (targeting buyers of horse properties -- $30 for three months)
5. http://www.historicproperties.com   (Targeting older home lovers -- $50 for 3 months)
6. Social Networking sites (like Facebook, Myspace, and others).  Many of these networks offer a "marketplace" feature where you can post your listings at no charge, and have them "featured" for a nominal fee.  (More on social networks in a future post)

(As you can see, the more narrow your target audience, the more likely it is that the price will go up for the ad.)

How do I select which sites to advertise on?

1. Go to any search engine (www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, www.ask.com etc.)
2. Use the same search terms that your prospective buyer might use.  (Example, Golf Course Homes for Sale)
3. Visit the top sites and see if they offer a "place an ad" or "post a listing" link.
   (In the sample search, the #1 position site, www.golfcourserealty.com, says, "Placing ads on GolfCourseRealty.com is FREE & EASY. You can post as many ads as you want, and we encourage you to do so."
4. Do this for as many sites and search terms as you are inclined.  (Keep records of what sites you advertise on, because you will need to modify the ads if you have any price changes, or if the property sells.)

This can be a very time consuming process.

Services that "syndicate" your ad to multiple sites can save you a lot of time.  Here are a few of the ones I recommend:

• http://www.vflyer.com/ - great resource for creating property flyers. Very easy to use.  The flyers get syndicated to multiple sites, and can be distributed to your prospective buyers via email, as well.  (free for up to 5 active listings)
• http://www.backpage.com/ - post your classified here, and it will be fed to the online classified section of many newspapers.  (Free, with some paid upgrade features available)
• http://www.ubadoo.com/   Ubadoo.com is a new syndication service.  Like vflyer.com, above, they will syndicate your listings to multiple partner sites.  (Free till End of June, then $30 per month for 4 listings)  (If you sign up with Ubadoo.com, please email: rodfiore@comcast.net and let him know you found out about it in this article)
• Some website providers, like the point2agent system automatically syndicate your listings for you, and provide you with the cut-and-paste html code to post the ad onto sites like craigslist or into your own blog.  This is free for the first 6 months, then $9.99 per month after that for standard service, with premium levels available.  Check out my standard version for an idea of how the site functions.  (More about the point2agent system in a future post)

What sites do "syndication" services send the listing to?

The syndication services vary in what sites they export to, but for the most part, they will be sites with a lot of consumer traffic.  Zillow, Trulia, Google Base, Oodle, Backpage, Lycos, Vast, Hotpads, Olx, Geebo, Yahoo and DotHomes are among the most popular sites.

Here's one more creative place to post your listings:

http://www.ebay.com/ - if you haven't checked out the real estate auctions on ebay, you should. They have a very creative way to auction a property. (buyers bid on the amount of the earnest money - the winner of the auction agrees to enter into an agreement of sale for the property, with that amount of earnest money.)

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Rich Schiffer is a Licensed Real Estate Agent, a REALTOR, and a certified e-PRO, and a private consultant for real estate agents that need help catching up with today's technology.  Additional Technology ToolKit Training is also available in an Active Rain Group by that name.  Check it out.