Confession Time.
As a relatively new real estate agent, I don't know how to develop a client base through face-to-face contact.
I mean, of course I know how to talk with real people from previous life experiences. But as a Realtor, most of my client conversations originate and develop right here, sitting in bed or at my desk, special brew of Eileen's tea by my side, typing on the computer.
History.
Realtor was on my “NEVER” list. The idea of scratching and clawing for clients was as appealing as spending the rest of my life in the dentist’s chair. I had been an appraiser and at the time of the Great Decision, was one of a team of two, building high-end custom homes in Flagstaff, Arizona. No doubt, Realtor made excellent business sense. And as things go, the Realtor who had sold a few of our homes was very interested in teaming up with me. Off to school, license in hand, I'm a Realtor!
Just a few months later, my seasoned partner dumped me. The idea of our team was apparently better than the reality.
At Scratch Bottom
I was devastated, scared, overwhelmed and depressed. Truly.
The building business had bottomed, and now I was exactly where I NEVER wanted to be: a new Realtor who had to start from scratch, the word scratch my reality, coupled with the word claw, what I needed to do in order to eek out a living at a time when the market was grinding to a halt.
Hope
In my overwhelming desperation, I turned to my one good friend, the computer. We have always been great companions. I started browsing Real Estate Sites late into the night. Something started to stir. A sense of excitement... purpose... a creative spark. I CAN DO THAT! No, I don't have connections here in Flagstaff, I don't have children whose parents I can meet through our activities, I don't have any real way of building a successful client base in these slow times... but I can build a website! And I can market that!
My New Identity
With a new sense of purpose driving me, I went at it with passion. I found a wonderful web company, Cevado Technologies. I love them deeply to this day. The inspiration and ideas for mysite came from above or beyond (depending on your beliefs), but my ideas and vision were certainly from a deeper source. I had no “realtor” source within. And the ideas kept coming, all hours of the day, waking me up at 4 AM when I grabbed my laptop and clicked, designed and wrote furiously until dawn.
The essence of the site was customized IDX searches linked to pretty pictures. Everything else was built around that. This was my New Identity, one I could market and sell. The result is www.TheFlagstaffWebsite.com.
Google Ads
The site was up. Glorious day. Glorious Week. Glorious Month. And - nothing happened. Of course. Nobody knew my masterpiece existed. When I began to spend money on Google pay- per-click, the world opened up. By refining ads, my site went from 5 unique visitors per month to over 2000 and counting.
Webversations.
So back to the original point of this article. Given that today, at least 84% of Buyers start on the web, almost all of my originating conversations are webversations – faceless, voiceless emails from potential buyers searching my site.
“Could you please send me more information on this listing?” From that piece of black and white, I know the price of the home and sometimes, the originating city of my potential client. But nothing more - no subtle body language clues; no clothes divulging deeper signs of their personality, (crocks or stilettos, baggy pants or a sundress, natural or doctor designed?)… I don’t know if they are casual or formal, serious or just browsing, southern or east coast, down to earth or high falutin.
I just know that they want more information, and the Webversation has begun. Now I have a chance.
Part II – Webversations to Closing – Miracles DO Happen. (coming next!)
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