Oh my how things have changed. When I first started working as a real estate salesperson. Back then we called private sale adds, private for sale signs and hustled around the community talking to people looking for leads and referrals. The best effort was the face to face effort. That is still all part of it but the internet has changed the way we do business and if you have not learned internet marketing you will not be successful in real estate sales.

Do not be fooled by the old dog who does great and doesn\’t bother with the internet. With years of experience, contacts and referrals that old dog can still generate some cash flow. As a new person you do not have that benefit. You need to master internet marketing.

Now you should know I am an old dog. I\’ve been selling real estate for 35 years and I could\’ve said I\’m not going to bother with all this internet stuff. I\’m too old and can\’t be bothered. Fortunately I realized the value of the internet and have embraced it from day one.

The transition from off line bricks and mortar to on line has been game changing for many different industries and business. The real estate industry is no exception.

I just finished a 4 hour training session with a new sales associate that came to us from a large national franchise. This session was about real estate internet marketing. This franchise is a recruiting juggernaut . In just a few years they claim to have the most number of sales people in our area. I was surprised that my new sales associate hadn\’t even been taught the basics of real estate internet marketing. I made the comment \”How could they (the franchisee) expect you to make any money with out at least training in how to market online. Everyone accepts 80/90% of home buyers start their home search on line. As a new salesperson you can not rely on the MLS and Company website for business or lead generation. You are doomed from the get go if you do not develop your own individual real estate internet marketing strategy. That is a fact. Not an observation. The truth not an opinion.

I would like to give you an example of how effective and lucrative your marketing efforts can be. Here is a recent example of a sale I just made.

A member of the RCMP contacted me over the summer regarding some land we had listed on our website. I sent him some information by email, answered some questions and he said he would be in touch with me. Several months later he contacted me regarding selling his property because he had been unexpectedly transferred to British Columbia. They had a small horse farm with a lovely home on 39 acres. I listed it for $349,900. I took my photographs and sent them to our webmaster to build our website.

Next I did a key word search and discovered the 3 top searches were

Nova Scotia farms for sale

Nova Scotia farms

Nova Scotia horses for sale

I then wrote an article incorporating these three key phrases for the search engines to pick up. I included a link to our website. I have a couple of submission programs I use and submitted my article to about 50 different sites. (Step one completed) Note: This is one of the great benifits article writing gives you. The ability to promote and be picked up by the search engines.

Next I went on face book and found out that 138,000 people in Canada like horses and like Nova Scotia. I placed this add on their face book page with a link to our company face book page.

Hants Realty Ltd
Visit our Page and \’Like\’ us today! Follow us on Facebook to keep on top of all our great real estate listings in Nova Scotia.

Here are the results and costs for this add

1,341,535 impressions 876 clicks COST $283.50 for ten days.

Results with-in 3 weeks a prospect called having seen the listing on line. Purchased for $330,000. Closed Feb 1st. Gross commission $14,850.00

That is why you need to learn real estate internet marketing.

Thank you for reading my article.

Larry Matthews

Author Bio: Larry Matthews is a recognized expert in Nova Scotia real estate. He is licensed as a real estate broker, real estate appraiser and mortgage broker. The Nova Scotia Legislature has passed a resolution recognizing Larry and his wife Peggy for the success of their company Hants Realty Limited. The Municipality of East Hants awarded Hants Realty Limited with a certificate of recognition for providing 25 yrs of quality service to the residents of East Hants. Larry is an author,photographer,artist and publisher. http://www.easthants.com http://www.larrymatthews.com

Category: Real Estate
Keywords: real estate internet marketing,internet marketing,marketing real estate,larry matthews,larrymatthews