Today’s Ask the Expert column features Cindy Fauth, global marketing manager for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
Q: How can I work the international crowd, without paying for it?
A: You don’t have to invest in expensive property portals to showcase listings to the world—you just need your listings to appear on realtor.com®. They’re already translated, and can be syndicated to more than 72 countries—and you don’t have to pay for it.
All U.S. listings on realtor.com automatically appear on realtor.com/international. And, through a newly formed global property network created by News Corp, REA Group and Move, those listings have the potential reach of 72 countries via 16 leading real estate sites.
Why is this important to you? First, because foreign interest in U.S. properties continues to increase, global clients typically spend more money, pay in cash more often, and refer more business than domestic clients, it creates a lucrative business pipeline for years to come.
Attracting global clients doesn’t have to be expensive, nor does it require intense marketing efforts. In fact, the new global property network created by News Corp, REA Group and Move makes it easier than ever. The network consists of 16 leading international real estate sites in Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India and the United States, as well as News Corp’s Mansion Global.
How do you access this international exposure? Translation to realtor.com/international, which attracts over 1 million views per month from countries all over the world, is already happening at no cost. To syndicate your U.S. listings to the 13 global in-market portals at no cost, create or log into your dashboard on listhub.com, and push the button—it really is that simple. We’d do it for you, but you own your listings and get to determine which sites they’re syndicated to.
As always, optimize your properties’ online presence by creating a content- and photo-rich listing. Make sure you (or your agents) are adding attributes to your listings such as property specifics (photos, total number of rooms, bathrooms, etc.), in addition to an address or other geographic-specific information to increase the discoverability of your listings.
Don’t buy something you’ve already paid for. The opportunity to be part of this global network is part of your NAR and MLS memberships, so while others may dazzle you with how they attract more traffic than an LA rush hour, you’ve already paid for it. You simply need to supplement it with a strong global marketing strategy. Visit nar.realtor/global for ideas, research and success stories from other agents and brokers.
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