Just last week, the California Association of Relators released its “2009 Survey of California Home Buyers”. In this survey, I took note of those home buyers surveyed who reported using the Internet as a tool in the home buying process.  They reported that the web sites they used were:

• Realtor.com (89%)
• Individual real estate company web sites (81%)
• Individual real estate agent web sites (66%)
• Zillow (55%)
• Yahoo! Real Estate (53%)

And…drumroll please:

• Craigslist (49%)

So those of you who haven’t started using craigslist as a tool in your marketing, what are you waiting for?  Sure, you can say craigslist only works in California (where the report data is from), but the Rainmakers Dan talks to are from all over the U.S. and not just California.

Perhaps what is holding you back is that you’ve never been on craigslist.  Go there right now – find the list for your city – and see what it’s all about.  You probably have something in your home (think attic, garage, basement, etc.)  that you need to sell.  Before you jump in putting one of your home listings on craigslist, go list an odd item for sale to get your feet wet with the free service.  Alternatively, you can browse the ads and you just might find something you just can’t live without.  Either way, go see what craigslist is all about and start putting it to work for you  to increase your business.

Let us know what your experience has been using craigslist.  And, if you don’t use craigslist in your marketing mix, let us know why you’ve chosen to leave it out.

The problem, the Rainmaker said, with marketing on a toothpaste budget is that “sooner rather than later you develop cavities and problems that cost far more to fix than buying a new tube of toothpaste would have prevented.”

Like the sign at my dentist’s office reads, “Only floss the teeth you want to keep.”

The same goes for marketing in today’s new real estate market.  What are Rainmakers doing about their marketing after minimizing their toothpaste budget since their market downturn?

Most Rainmakers I’ve talked with recently say three things:

1. First, they cut back dramatically (some even dropped out of marketing and lead generation entirely).
2. Next, they worked the “no cost” angles of social media for agent-to-agent referrals, craigslist and Backpage ads, YouTube video listings, cold-call phone prospecting, door knocking, buyer and seller webinars, sitting open houses, and even (“Don’t tell anybody.”) sitting duty desk for opportunity time.
3. Finally – and we hear this a lot lately as activity picks up – Rainmakers are “getting back into marketing.” Many have reduced their mailing frequency or cleaned their database or set a modest budget or targeted very specific niche customer segments – but nonetheless Rainmakers are back again aggressively lead generating and investing in their business to beat their competition to the new market.

What are you doing to take advantage of today’s market after marketing on a toothpaste budget?  I’d very much like to hear your comments!

According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project they report that on any given day about a tenth of internet users (9%) visit online classified sites, up from 4% in 2005.  The demographics of those most likely to use these online classified sites are those age 25-44, have an income of $50,000 or more, are college graduates and reside in urban/suburban areas.  What this says is that the visitors on online classified sites are savvy.  They want honest, solid information.

Are you on these sites providing invitations to home buying and selling seminars?  Are you showcasing your listings on these sites?  What other ways can you use these sites to generate leads?

What are you waiting for?  How are you using online classified to generate business?

Zac sat in on a popular workshop by national technology trainer Allen F. Hainge, and passed along a greeting.  Not to miss a blog opportunity, I asked Zac what he’s doing to generate short sale listings.  Zac BlackBerried back: “I have a short sale web page attached to my Real Pro web site as well as weekly blogging. Those that find me are coming thru Google.”  Knowing Zac, there was more to the story.  Next morning I had a note from Zac’s Marketing Manager, Jenny Pittam, sharing one of the most effective “cross linking” marketing campaigns using online and offline tools I’ve seen.  That’s when things got interesting.

Zac’s Results Speak For Themselves

In the first 6 months of 2009, Zac and his team have taken 12 short sale listings ($2,761,580 combined listing prices), 6 of those are pending lender approval of buyer offers at this time.  If (and when) all 12 listings close (positive thinking, short sales being short sales) Zac’s GCI from his short sale listing campaign will be about $82,855.  In addition, Zac has referred 4 sellers to out-of-his-area Realtors that have the potential for about $6,000 in referral income.  No wonder Zac is a RE/MAX Hall of Fame and Atlanta Board of Realtors Circle of Legends winner.

Short Sale Listings Campaign

Here’s how Zac and Jenny generate short sale listings.  First, they start with two principal websites: www.Zac.biz (Best Image) which is also reached from www.MLSInAtlanta.com and www.ZacSellsAtlanta.com (RealPro). Zac’s blog at blog.Zac.biz is hosted on the RealPro site.  As for short sales Jenny wrote, “the single most effective technique we use to generate short sale listing leads is utilizing our RealPro short sales stealth site at www.ShortSalesInAtlanta.com, which is also reached through the domain of www.SavingFamiliesFromForeclosure.com.”

Building Traffic One Cross-Link At A Time

Next, Zac captures traffic from his Zac.biz home page using an “Avoid Foreclosure” button – placed in the paramount upper-left corner position – to a page featuring a cross link to the SavingFamiliesFromForeclosure.com stealth site. In addition, Zac blogs regularly on short sale subjects such as:

• “Becoming a Certified Distressed Property Expert” (June 15),
• “What are the 7 most common short sale pitfalls?” (April 23),
• “Foreclosure Prevention Community Workshop brought to you by the zac team” (April 15),
• “What are the most common mistakes that can prevent a short sale from happening?” (April 13),
• “How do I qualify for a financial hardship?” (April 10).

All the blogging and web content and cross-linked domains earns high placement in Google.

Advertising-Driven Traffic from craigslist

Into this funnel Zac drives more traffic with ads on craigslist that generate response for his Free Reports, which are printed reports sent to prospects by postal mail to get an accurate and all-important property address.

Report titles include:

• “Three Must-Have Qualifications for a Short Sale Homeowner,”
• “Foreclosure vs. Short Sale: Homeowner Consequences,” and
• “Options and Solutions for Homeowners in Foreclosure.”

Other craigslist ads feature a “We can help” theme or “Foreclosure Prevention Seminar” held in Zac’s office.  Zac and Jenny write, “The cross-linking between our homepage, our blog, and craigslist have all helped people find us through Google.”

Here’s the full text from another craigslist ad:

Worried about the possibility of foreclosure? There are options!

The zac team @ RE/MAX Greater Atlanta, American Real Estate University, foreclosure.com, and the Credit Law Group are presenting a special community workshop this Saturday, May 16th at 10 a.m. to explain the ins-and-outs of your mortgage company, how to seek help, and ultimately, how to avoid the damage that a foreclosure can cause to your family. You can read more here at www.SavingFamiliesFromForeclosure.com and sign-up online. You can also RSVP directly to Jenny by responding to this posting, emailing jenny@zac.biz, or calling 404.564.7250.

We are here to help and look forward to seeing our neighbors on Saturday. If you or someone you know cannot make it to this event, we will be hosting workshops on the third Saturday of every month.

The workshop will take place in our office located at 1057 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, 30306.

To add even more low-cost buzz, Zac includes the following P.S in his team e-mail signature:

P.S. Helping families avoid foreclosure while saving much of their credit is what I’m certified to do. Is someone you care about struggling to make their mortgage payments or needing to sell their home but can’t because it’s worth less than they paid? There are Options! Please visit www.SavingFamiliesFromForeclosure.com for a confidential consultation.

Nice work, Zac.  Cross-linking truly pays off.

Join the conversation!  What are you doing to generate short sale listings in the new market?

"The single most effective marketing I’m doing to generate business in today’s market is using direct response marketing on craigslist.”

– Chris Cassidy

Rainmaker Interview

To understand exactly how Rainmakers maximize their marketing using craigslist, RealEstateRainmaker.com turned to top agent Chris Cassidy with RE/MAX Encore in Wilmington, Massachusetts. Chris uses free ads on craigslist to drive traffic to his two websites – one branded website at www.ChrisCassidyRealEstate.com and one unbranded website at www.GetFreeRealEstateReports.com . Here is Chris’ highly effective – and very profitable – craigslist marketing strategy.

Lead-Capture Website is Foundation of Campaign

Chris said, “The key to my craigslist campaign is to have a good lead capture website.  My InfinityAgent sites have built-in drip campaigns and lead tracking, and a really robust back office.  They automatically populate my leads into Top Producer 8i, and I am working much harder now at lead follow-up (and continually overcoming call reluctance).”

Chris uses a library of 25-30 forwarding domains to land on various pages in these two sites. Different landing pages appeal to different prospects – and feature different calls to action and USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) or offers. By using different domains – some pointed to the same page, some to different pages – Chris tests and tracks his success. Here are some forwarding URL examples:

• www.GuaranteedHomeSaleOnline.com (goes to branded site; guaranteed sale)
• www.Save10KGuaranteed.com (Chris’ branded buyer USP)
• www.Free-MLS-Access.com (unbranded; IDX signup)
• www.FreeMassachusettsHomeSearch.com (goes to the same page as domain above, useful to use for tracking ad copy and results)
• www.CMA-For-Free.com (unbranded; over-the-net home evaluation offer)
• www.MassachusettsHomePrices.com (same page as above)
• www.MassachusettsHomeSalesInfo.com (yet another that goes to same page)
• www.MABuyerAgency.com (unbranded site; goes to the buyer reports page)
• www.MassBuyerAgency.com (same landing page as above)

How to Use Craigslist to Drive Traffic

To drive traffic to these lead-capture landing pages, Chris uses two sections in craigslist: “real estate for sale” and “real estate services.” “I do the standard ‘over the net home evaluation’ ads for sellers, and a bunch of variations on the ‘free MLS search’ ads for buyers,” Chris said.

· Housing > Real Estate For Sale: Every property ad on craigslist links back to the property on Chris’ website (“CLICK HERE For More Information”) – where prospects can request free reports and other offers. He also embeds calls-to-action in every ad that link to landing pages to capture the leads.  One headline that is especially effective is "I’ll save you AT LEAST $10,000 on ANY home you buy."  Here’s a property ad example:

· Fantastic Lakefront Home!

· Services > Real Estate: In this section Chris rotates a collection of service ads. Chris uses established accounts that allow him to repost the ads with a couple clicks from his account page without re-writing them from scratch. “ I am constantly tweaking things. Right now I have two different craigslist accounts, one each for my branded and unbranded ads (and corresponding branded and unbranded follow-up emails).  With service ads, you are limited to three ads per day per email account. I am debating creating two more accounts for each (branded and unbranded), so that I could post ads morning, afternoon, and evening, in rotation.” Here are service ad examples (one is graphic, two are text only):

• Free Massachusetts Home Search
• Find Your Dream Home Today!
• Free Market Snapshot (Buyers or Sellers)

How to Avoid craigslist Clutter

As all craigslist visitors know, craigslist ads are posted chronologically, newest on top. Thus old ads soon “drop off” the first page as more ads arrive. We asked Chris what text or offer works best – or is the biggest bust – to beat the craigslist clutter?  Headline keywords?  Location?  Text vs HTML (graphics)? “I find any ad offering property searches pulls decent click-throughs,” Chris said. “I recently started changing all the headlines to provide variations of “Homes For Sale, From $3,500 Down” ($3,500 being based on a 3.5% FHA down payment and a $100K sale price, which is the very bottom end in my area). I am still testing text ads vs graphic ads, so I can’t answer which pulls better.  I only started the graphic ads a couple of weeks ago, and I am in the process of adding more.”

Tracking is Critical to Know What Works

How does Chris track multiple variations of an ad if he only has 2-3 domains? “I have a very precise and robust capability to do tracking with my sites.  I can add a tracking code to each domain. If I direct leads to www.FreeMassachusettsHomeSearch.com , I track the simple direct domain in one ad. In another ad I add a tracking code into the link that is hidden from the person seeing the link (although hovering the mouse over it would show it in the bottom of the browser).” Using this tracking system Chris can run unlimited ads linked to the same domain, yet track results for each one individually…and learn what works for different style ads, different ad copy. Also he can place the same ad in multiple locations, for example on BackPage (substituting “BackPage” for “craigslist” in the tracking code). Chris offered this example, where he uses a coded link from two different ads (“text” and “graphic” service ads, see above) to the same landing page:

• Coded link example of text ad: www.FreeMassachusettsHomeSearch.com?loca=craigslist&phra=FreeMassachusettsHomeSearch_Text
  
  
• Coded link example of graphic ad: www.FreeMassachusettsHomeSearch.com?loca=craigslist&phra=FreeMassachusettsHomeSearch_Graphic

$35,000 Question: How successful is this craigslist campaign?

“To give an example, I have a $420K listing right now that I got because of an ‘over-the-net home evaluation’ ad. When that sells, the couple will be buying a $1 million home with me.  The two deals combined will be worth somewhere between $30,000-$35,000 in commissions for me.  I also have a $245K listing right now that I got because I sold their brother-in-law’s townhouse two years ago — after he found me on craigslist through a similar ad.  I made $5,000 on that sale. Eventually I got another referral from that client that led to a second listing.  And this is all from FREE advertising/marketing — and it doesn’t count dozens of buyer leads that have been generated as well .”

Thanks for sharing, Chris! We welcome your comments and experiences using craigslist. Join the conversation with your comment.

Back Story:  14 Years in Both the Penthouse and the Outhouse

“I have been a full-time agent since 1995, and with RE/MAX since 1997.  I have attended several “marketing guru” conferences and coaching and grad programs.  I really embraced the direct response concepts, but to be 100% honest, I got to a point where I spent WAY too much money. I got sloppy. I practically ignored the ‘prospecting’ and ‘sales’ part of the business by not following up at all with the vast majority of the leads I generated.  I can only imagine the hundreds of thousands of dollars I left on the table. As a result I came very close to being out of business when the market turned in 2006-2007.

“Bottom line, when things get tough, you need to get back to basics.  I have both of the Real Estate Rainmaker books (and more importantly, I have read them, and refer to them often).  I also picked up Dirk Zeller’s book The Champion Real Estate Agent when it came out a couple of years ago, and I refer to it several times a week, to this day.

“I am happy to tell you that – after re-focusing and working to create a more balanced business for myself – that it is bearing fruit.  After bottoming out just a couple of years ago at the $1-$2 million mark (and that’s sales volume, not GCI), I am on track right now to do at least $5-$6 million in volume in 2009, and Lord willing, perhaps much more than that, given the number of buyers I am working with right now as well as my listing inventory.

“Thank you again for your interest in what I am doing.  And thank you for the two books you wrote. They have impacted my business tremendously as well.”

Christopher J Cassidy

REALTOR®, CBR