Introduction to Marketing Yourself online

Posted at 9:00 AM, Oct. 26, 2007

Lately, I've been getting a lot of questions from other agents in my office as far as what they need in order to market themselves online. There are some basics, but you do have to build on the basics to really establish an internet presence.

The Basics

1. An Email Address, that you check and reply to daily. While it would be ideal if you had a permanent email address that did not change regardless of who your internet provider is, when you are just getting started it's a matter of finding a service that you can and will use. So whatever you have available, whether you are an AOL user using your AOL address, or if you set up a free account on Yahoo or Hotmail... or if you want to go ahead and take that step and get a permanent email address (which I will talk about later), you need an email address that you provide to your prospects so that they can reach you and most importantly that you have access to check on a daily basis. Do not leave your prospects waiting for a response or they will find someone else who will respond faster.

2. A website. It's not enough to just have a website, you have to let people know that you have a website. You have to market your website, just like you market yourself (and I will discuss this more in-depth in future articles, as well). Having a website that you don't promote is like having business cards and never passing them out. That said, it's not enough to just have a website. Using the business card analogy, many people are handing out their business cards but they are forgetting to make sure their phone number is on the card. What I mean by this is that just as you would include your phone number on your business card as a call to action (ie. here is my business card please call me), you need to have a call to action on your website as well. It is not enough to just have your information, or even to have your information and a link to your local MLS where they can search for properties. The goal of your website is to bring you leads, and you need a way to get those leads, you need a call to action - some reason for people to let you know who they are and what they need.

Some key elements of your website (each of which I will discuss more in-depth in future articles) are:
1. A domain (this is what a user would type into their browser to find you. It is also what you would want to include on all of your marketing materials so that people know what to type).
2. Content: What do you put on your website to draw people in and keep them coming back, and most importantly to get them to let you know they are there. This is "putting your phone number on your business card".
3. Promotion: or "Handing out your business card". How do you let people know about your website. For starters, make sure it is on all marketing that you do, from your business cards to your name riders to your print ads.