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Let
Their Power Work for You
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The power
that your prospects have online is their ability to
find the information they want for free.
This is one of the greatest obstacles for people
who sell information.
Go into any bookstore in the land and you’ll find
dozens of books teaching consumers how to buy or sell a
home on their own. But…they
have to pay for the book in the bookstore, while they can
find the same information online if they have the time to
search for it. And,
TIME is the key here.
Most people are in a hurry these days and do not
have time to spend hours researching online.
They want an easy way!
And, if your Website offers them an Easy Way, you
will be using their power to your advantage.
INFORMATION
BLOCKS
How do
people react when you put up barriers to information on
your Website? The
answer is that it depends on the information and on the
stumbling block or barrier.
Let’s say that you offer information for Web
visitors who put in their name and Email address on your
site. When
you do this, you are in essence making a slight charge for
the information. You
want their contact information in return for giving them
the information you have.
Now, if that information is “ How to Buy a Home
Under Market Value” you might get quite a few takers but
if the information is “27 Reasons to Choose a Realtor”
most folks will probably pass.
HO-HUM
INFORMATION
Lots of
template Websites come already loaded with information
that might have at one time been of interest to lots of
people but since it appears on too many Websites, it has
become Ho-Hum Information.
Why pay for something that everybody is offering?
Remember, requiring their name and Email is a form
of payment.
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Using
Information to Your Advantage |
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As
far as buyers are concerned, they are vitally
interested in having access to your MLS data, which
these days is provided through a good IDX solution.
Some sites charge the visitor by requesting that
they sign in with their name and Email address
before getting access to the information they want.
People can usually get around this by going
to another Website that offers free access or by
putting in a phony name and email address.
A good way to set up your IDX solution is to
have it programmed to encourage visitors to give you
their information. This is done with offers that
make sense.
OFFERS
THAT MAKE SENSE
It
makes sense to prospects that if they want to
receive Email notification of listings that meet
their needs, they are going to have to put in their
real name and Email address.
They also realize that if they want to use a
“Save Search” feature, which will save them a
tremendous amount of time, they will also have to
put in their correct information.
So, it makes sense to include these kinds of
offers in your IDX solution.
Want to see an example?
Visit http://www.sellrealestate.net
and click on the section, IDX SOLUTIONS.
You will find lots of information, examples
and ideas to use information to your advantage.
BE
CREATIVE WITH YOUR INFORMATION
Ask
yourself, “What kinds of information do people
want?” Lots
of people considering buying and/or selling in a
particular area want recent sales data.
A prospective FSBO wants information on the
best way to sell a home without an agent.
Someone whose home did not sell may want to
know why some homes do not sell, especially when the
market is hot. Should you provide this kind of information on your Website?
Why not?
The more helpful, useful and informative your
Website is, the more your prospects will want to
spend time there.
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Presentation
is Important |
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People
love and want information but they still do
not like to read much and will usually hurry away
from a page that contains too many words,
especially if the words are not broken up into
manageable chunks with appropriate headings and
subheadings to break the monotony.
INTERACTIVE
WEB PAGES
Information
can be crammed onto a page using small margins and
not much “white space,” but prospects will not
read it. Most
information can be presented in an interactive
format that engages the reader.
Interactive pages often ask questions and
thereby come close to duplicating the interaction
that occurs when you meet face to face with a
prospect in the real world.
To see examples of what I mean, go to http://www.sellrealestate.net
and in the section Tools and Surveys, click on
Lead Generation.
If you would like to have interactive Web
pages to help you engage with your prospects
online, click on http://www.sellrealestate.net/
FreeWebPlan.asp and give me an idea of the
kinds of prospects you want to attract.
KEEP
SCROLLING TO A MINIMUM
If
you are planning to provide information in a
straight expository fashion, consider breaking up
the content into small chunks rather than
presenting your visitors with a long, long page of
text.
USE
GRAPHICS, COLOR AND SHAPES
Break
the monotony of words on the page with Bold
Headings in a contrasting color.
Throw in a quote or important point
presented in a differing shape or a different
colored box.
Use animation sparingly but use it to draw
attention to an important concept in your text.
Throw in a banner ad promoting your
services but don’t put it where people expect to
see it. We have all trained our eyes to pass right by ads that appear
where we expect them.
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