How Online Marketing Success Has Helped One Agent Live His Dream

By Mike Parker Print Article

RISMEDIA, May 15, 2009-Unless one has been beaten down by life, we all cling to dreams in the most private parts of our minds. These dreams can apply toward all segments of our existence, but rarely is it that after a certain age we find ourselves actually fulfilling work-related dreams that involve a wholesale relocation of our business to a place thousands of miles away that has been a beacon in those dreams. Douglas Fischer is doing it now, for the second time, and he is able to do it because he has cracked the code of how to succeed at selling property online. Doug is a Coldwell Banker agent in Palm Desert, California-an area especially hard hit by the events of the past year. His online marketing skills enabled him to sell 25 homes in the past year with prices ranging from $144K to $1,575K. He’s got seven houses in escrow right now in a wide variety of price ranges. Doug grew up in the State of Washington, where it rains often, and he dreamed of living in a place that was warm and sunny all the time. Seven years ago, he moved to Palm Desert and began his practice from scratch.

100% of his business comes from the Internet and it kept him safe

“Although this area is known as Palm Springs, it actually consists of a valley, the Coachella Valley, where you will find 8 different cites spread out over several hundred square miles,” Doug told me. “I live and work in the middle, Palm Desert, but I know and sell properties anywhere in the valley. I also sell investment properties and multi-family. I diversified on purpose so that I would have many possibilities at any time. I aimed my business at the Internet for the same reason. I now obtain 10-20 good leads per week, all with valid email addresses and phone numbers, from my website. These leads go into my database each week, which now numbers some 2,500 people who have visited my website and signed in. I stay in touch with these folks monthly with my newsletter: I actually send out three differently targeted newsletters once or twice each month to keep my name and business in front of these people. My website gives me leads looking to buy now and leads looking to buy later-maybe Palm Springs is in their dreams. Whatever the case, a number of these in my database turn into closings every month. I feel like I have sales stashed in my “Internet bank account” and that I can ride out any market issues because of it. I’ve built this safety net entirely through my website and the people who visit it.”

He designed his success and he gives constant value to his prospects to continue it

“I specifically set out creating the site to be lead generating in a way that was passive for the visitor. I run small line ads in classifieds to bring more people to my site. When they ask for a list of whatever I am offering, I capture their information if they choose to sign in and put them into my database of interested prospects. I also call them immediately, because they expect that. I have a 35-page packet I send out to prospects titled, “How to market your property in the 21st Century.” In it, I describe my online presence and success, with screenshots from my website. I get most of my listings that way. I believe that the number one reason that I do so well is that I offer hassle-free information, mostly current listings, NOT IDX, that is updated daily; and I am responsive to all inquiries, answering all email in minutes. I also offer to research properties that are bargain priced, and many people seem to be looking for that today. The 4-6 hours a week I spend on updating the site and following up are well worth the effort.”

Living the dream and moving his business 3,000 miles to the west

“We bought our condo in Hawaii, sight unseen (except online), and I will move my permanent residence there within the next six months, but I will continue to work in the desert for 1-2 more years. I will gradually phase myself out of handling the leads and share them with three other agents on a commission-split basis. I will continue to do all the online work, newsletters, lead follow-up etc., so that when I turn the lead over to one of my associates, it will be close to writing an offer or getting into contract. I can do all this online, from anywhere in the world, and that is how the Internet has allowed me to live out my dream: I am the business, and I can handle my business from anywhere there is a broadband connection and cell phone coverage. Meanwhile, I will also start working in Honolulu-virtually. I’ll use the same methods and techniques there that I use in the desert, and as business from Hawaii becomes more of the mix, I will start phasing myself out of the desert over the next year or two. My success in making the Internet work for me has empowered me in ways I can’t even begin to describe-sure, I am successful in my business, but it’s more than that, I’m able to live my life the way I want to without regard to geography. My buyers come from everywhere and I can handle them professionally anywhere. All those things are the power of the Internet! I can literally sit on the beach in Hawaii and carry on business with a buyer sitting in his living room in the frozen tundra somewhere; each of us connected to each other and fully functioning.”

Maybe you have a simpler dream

Perhaps you simply have a dream of tapping in to where 87% of residential real estate sales start (the Internet). Not many agents are as laser-focused on the Internet as Doug is, and many don’t have the technological knowhow to make it work for them. Maybe you harbor no Hawaiian dreams, maybe you just want to get your kids through college, or get in shape for the ability to live well when you retire. The power of the Internet can bring those things to you, as well. “I’m a client of CompassSearch,” Doug says, “and I love the total transparency of their work; having the ability to actually see what is being done for me behind the scenes. I also love the reporting tools and the ability they give me to monitor and adjust what I am doing on my site. While I’m very proud of my success and my efforts in making that happen, when someone goes to Google and types in “Palm Springs MLS,” they’ll find my site. That couldn’t happen without CompassSearch, and it is the first step in succeeding online: being found by Internet shoppers. All the work I do and all the good advice I get from the people at Compass wouldn’t matter if my site can’t be found. But it is found, and Internet shoppers found me 2,425 times in recent months, under 500 different real estate-related search terms. You can bet that Compass will be on my team in Honolulu, too.”

About the Author: Mike Parker (mparker@theblackwatercg.com) specializes in online marketing services for Realtors® and real estate professionals. To request a free review of your website to determine if it is set up properly to be effective click here and it will be evaluated free. NOTE: For the next 90 days (May, June, July of 2009), any new client will receive a FREE Professional website as part of their subscription for one year, built and set up to succeed, if needed. You can keep the one you have and harvest leads from the one we build for you, if you like. We’ll be happy to do everything in this article for you except sell homes to the leads you receive.

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