The web is full of new ways to skin a cat.
Despite big promises, in the end the web can only accomplish a couple goals.
Build brand or build sales. A sale in your case is a lead because you cannot directly sell a home online.
There are plenty of mediums that promise the traffic and leads. Websites, Blogs, Social bookmarking, Social Networking, Group Blogs (like active rain), Video Blogging (like You Tube or more niche incarnations like Rexnet), Podcasts (a fancy word for a recording), RSS, Ajax and Mashups.
Do you want to know a secret?
These fancy mediums are really just the newest evolved versions of something that we are all intimately aware of. They are only just a website.
And a website either serves you or it doesn't.
How can a website serve you?
A website serves you by attracting you traffic that generates leads. Or it serves to brand your business.
Lets face it, being in the top ten for a heavy volume real estate term like San Diego Real Estate is priceless for not just the traffic but also for branding. Everytime a consumer types into Google " your market + real estate", there you are staring at them reminding them that you are tops. Most viewers make the assumption that since you are tops in Google you must be a top company. After all, your site is right next to all those other top reputation companies.
I call it the Bus Bench affect.
I know of an agent that worked a local condo area near where I used to live. This guy dotted the surrounding area with his mug and name on every bus bench. He mailed his post cards relentlessly into the targeted condos. He, by sheer will and persistence became a household name in a relatively short amount of time. He got a large share of that market.
Having a top ten position in Google, Yahoo or MSN is better than the bus bench affect.
The reason is that you not only get branding that would make Coca Cola proud, but you also get the traffic from that branding on the engine.
But better than that. If you are a good marketer, you not only establish your brand on just your website, you do so on your blog. And if you are really a player, you might have your place in You Tube and Google Video. There you are at Active Rain, or MyTypes.com. There you are in the directories. There you are. The consumer knows you. Now just ask for the sale.
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