RealTown's RealTalk

"I'm glad to see that this thread has some legs. Agents need to hear real life examples of how an effective Web presence leads to CLOSINGS."

I too have read Lou's post with great interest and appreciate the comments from Dirk and Rich as well.

I too have disengaged myself from the traditional brick and mortar office and opted for a 'work from home' business model. I am not suffering any loss of business at all. I am not being fed by walk-in or call-in traffic to a brokerage --- which dropped to zero sometime in late 2006 anyway!

I pay dearly for SEO on a regular basis. It has taken a year for me to begin reaping the benefit of the work and expense. I can say now that it has been worth every penny! 80% of my 2008 transactions have come through my website and as a direct result of the SEO dollars I am spending. I said I pay 'dearly' for the SEO - yet - a full year of payments only amounts to the commission on one $140,000 transaction! A fair exchange in my opinion!

My website outperforms all of my competitors' websites with regard to Search Engine rankings. Most of those sites have been up and running for 10 years. Mine is only 2  years old. No, I don't spend a lot of time sitting around tweaking my website --- I pay someone else to do that. The beauty of the whole thing is that, as others have said, I don't even have to spend a lot of time driving people around --- they pretty much know what they want by the time we meet. I get a lot of local traffic on my site too. That is beginning to produce listing opportunities.

I have also found that the consumer doesn't care that I am not associated with some big national name --- they appreciate that they can get the service they want from me and nothing else really matters. In fact, several have said that the one thing they really enjoyed about working with me is that they never had to come in to an office and putz around. We meet in a casual atmosphere, everyone is comfortable, and we get down to business. It really is painless.

To the broker who said he didn't believe in the internet --- you better get with the program soon or get ready to retire!

Gary Nagle, Broker NC/SC

Plasma Realty

Fort Mill, SC 29708

www.fortmillhome.com

gary@fortmillhome.com