| More and more people are turning to the | | | | A person searches on a keyword or phrase |
| Internet to find local resources. At the top | | | | like, "Evanston Illinois Real Estate."2. As |
| of the list is the search for real estate and | | | | an advertiser you bid for ad positioning on |
| agents.The experts predict the next wave of | | | | that term (1st, 2nd, 3rd position, etc). |
| the Internet will be local marketing. | | | | Obviously you bid on terms that are relevant |
| Currently the real estate industry is leading | | | | to your business and would be used by |
| the way with estimated online marketing | | | | potential real estate buyers in your area. |
| expenditures exceeding $1 billions for 2005. | | | | There is no limit to the number of keywords |
| That amount is expected to grow substantially | | | | or phrases that you can bid on.3. When the |
| over the next few years.There are those | | | | search results appear your ad is displayed at |
| realtors who have figured out how to | | | | the top or right hand side of the page. These |
| successfully market online, and are reaping | | | | ads are often referred to as "Sponsored" |
| the rewards. What are those rewards? A | | | | links. If a person clicks on your ad and goes |
| source of new customers at a much lower cost | | | | to your site, you pay a price per click that |
| per acquisition. As a realtor here are some | | | | you designated. The appeal of PPC is that you |
| facts that you simply can't ignore:More then | | | | control your costs by specifying a cost per |
| half (56 percent) of all consumers now use | | | | click and a daily expenditure. In addition, |
| the Internet when buying real estate, which | | | | you are only paying for performance. You |
| is up from 28 percent in 2000. When asked | | | | only pay when there is a click to your |
| where they first learned about the home they | | | | site.What makes PPC so appealing is the fact |
| purchased, 24% of buyers identified the | | | | that it is so targeted. If you select the |
| Internet. That is an increase from 15% in | | | | right terms to bid on, you end up with |
| 2004.Buyers who initially do their research | | | | prospects coming to your site that are |
| online tend to be better informed. Equipped | | | | actively pursuing your services. That is the |
| with their knowledge gathered from the | | | | primarily reason it is much more |
| Internet, they spend significantly less time | | | | cost-effective than offline advertising.I |
| with their realtor, and preview fewer houses | | | | recently set up a PPC campaign for a realtor |
| then traditional buyers. In other words, you | | | | in my area. It took a couple of hours. The |
| get an ideal buyer that requires less of your | | | | Google ads went live immediately, and the |
| time and resources in making a purchase.What | | | | Yahoo ads started two days later. In about a |
| is required to profit on the Internet?In | | | | week I got a call from the Realtor. She |
| addition to having a functional and effective | | | | said, "I don't know what you did, but we are |
| web site, realtors need to aggressively | | | | suddenly swamped with leads." It is that |
| market their business on the Internet. You | | | | simple if done right.Fred Waters is |
| must have a presence where your customers are | | | | co-founder of the Local Online Marketing |
| searching.One of the most effective methods | | | | Association, where you can get the Free |
| for marketing online is Pay Per Click | | | | Ebook, " The Indispensable Guide to Local |
| advertising. The two major players of PPC | | | | Online Marketing." Learn how your real estate |
| are Google and Yahoo. It works as follows:1. | | | | business can profit on the Internet. |