One-quarter of agents surveyed said they spent $250 to $500 per listing, one-fifth spent $500 to $1,000 and another quarter spent $1,000 or more per listing. And, almost one-fifth said their spending depended on the property.

So I have to ask….how much is your marketing costing you? And more importantly, are you getting the biggest bang for your buck? With most buyers turning to the Internet to begin their search for homes, it’s not surprising that many agents are now marketing their listings online. But with so many online marketing choices, it’s very easy to get distracted and end up with a fragmented marketing plan.

One great way to compliment your offline marketing efforts is with a single property Website solution, like MyMarketWare. After winning your listing, you likely begin gathering details and media (pictures/video/etc) about the property. Most agents will utilize the details and media on a listing brochure or flyer. Why not take the same details and media and put them to work for you online….as well as offline. So while you (or your assistant) are creating the listing brochure, open another window on your desktop and create a MarketWare listing site at the same time. This way you can easily copy and paste the property details from your brochure to the site. Make the most of your MarketWare site by adding keywords about the neighborhood, community, and/or city in your descriptions. The more detailed your site, the better chance your site will be found on search engines and listing aggregators.

More about MyMarketWare:

MyMarketWare offers single property Websites dedicated to one property. You can include up to 100 high resolution pictures, video, unlimited details, and your blog or Website. MyMarketWare sites also auto-populate census and community info, school info, maps, and links to over 70 area amenities based on the property address. You can even change the automatic settings for your RSS feed and SEO meta data. And MarketWare sites will only run you $39!

I have to say that you will not find another single property Website solution that incorporates this amount of great technology and content. AND once you create your MarketWare site, simply select all your syndication options and your site is automatically delivered to Google, Yahoo, Trulia, Homescape, Propsmart, Oodle, and more! Try it now, risk free. Only pay, when you publish to the Web. And you’ll notice that once you publish your MarketWare site…you will be indexed quickly (often within minutes) and found easily by those buyers you are trying to reach online!

What’s the point?

The point is….great marketing can be affordable and MyMarketWare is evidence of that! With it, you can quickly and easily create, syndicate, and market all your listings online.

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Now there are more reasons to love MyMarketWare with a newly expanded selection of franchise templates.  Our current collection of branded single property Website designs include:

Advance Realty, Alain Pinel, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Previews, Coldwell Banker Residential, Crye Leike, Empire, Envirian, ERA, Exit Realty, Frank Howard Allen, GMAC, Intero, Keller Willians, Long & Foster, Lyon, Pac Union, Prudential, Prudential Fine Homes, RE/MAX, RE/MAX Collection, Real Living, Realty Executives, Realty Experts, Sotheby’s, & Weichert.

If your franchise is not present, no worries. We also have several non-branded (classic) designs, as well as commercial headers. To brand a classic design, select your color and design preference and then add your company logo. 

To get started creating a single property showcase for your listing, click here. It’s free! Create a site and use it to win your next listing. Pay only when you publish a site and gain online exposure for your listing immediately!

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To learn how to add video to your MarketSite, watch this quick tutorial. Or follow these simple steps:

(1) Sign in to MyMarketWare and choose the site you wish to add video to.
(2) Select the “Media & Documents” tab.
(3) Select “PowerMedia Video, Blogs, Podcasts”.
(4) Click on the Video link.
(5) Add the embed code for your video to the “Video Source” Field
(6) Choose a link name and add a brief description.
(7) Save
(8) Now look under the “Existing Video Links” to choose your video and select the radio button under “Photo or Video” to place your video on the homepage of your MarketWare site.

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If you are already farming a specific neighborhood, or preparing to, I suggest trying a Neighborhood Newsletter. Whether you walk it or send it, neighborhood news is a great way to reach out and market to your farm. What better way to get connected with a neighborhood than to share what’s going on and take part in the action.

Getting started with a format: If you are working on a tight budget, I usually suggest starting with a Publisher template. You can easily customize a Publisher template by including your logo and brand, modifying the colors to match both, and even swapping out the banner image with your own design. If you have access to a graphics designer or other marketing specialist, you could always pay for a custom designed template that you can then reuse each week or month.

Content to include:  The basics: your contact info and picture, industry or market updates, featured listings, comparables, local events, weather, interviews, etc. To find out what’s going on in your area, visit local city Websites and blogs, check local papers and magazines, and visit local businesses. You’d be surprised how much info you can find on the bulletin board of your neighborhood Starbucks.  Start walking your neighborhood and introducing yourself to those you meet. Visit local parks and recreation areas and talk with parents. At home moms are a great wealth of information.  Also, drop by the local school offices, library and community center. All usually have monthly newsletters packed with local event dates and info for getting involved.

Leading the way:  Let your offline marketing lead consumers to your online marketing. Make sure that you highlight your real estate blog or Website in your neighborhood newsletter. You can also provide limited listing info in your newsletter (as a teaser), but then link to your blog or Website….or even a MarketSite. Hold a weekly or monthly contest. Provide a link to your blog/Website for your neighborhood readers to enter for a chance to win dinner at a local restaurant or wine from a local winery, etc. There are a great many ways here for you to tie in local business promotion, as well as to promote yourself as the local neighborhood expert. Be sure to print extra copies of your neighborhood newsletters for distribution at neighborhood businesses.

Delivery options: Of course, printing and walking your farm is the greatest way to get to know your market area. Face to face meetings give you the opportunity to make real connections. However, mailing or sending your newsletters via email can also be very effective.

So, take a tip from Fred Rogers and make the most of this beautiful day! Start by taking a little time to create a neighborhood newsletter.  If done correctly and sent consistently, your newsletter will be an invaluable resource to your farm, connect your offline and online marketing, and coin you as the neighborhood expert. Not bad for a day’s work!

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(1) Start a real estate blog. Market your expertise, highlight listings, and develop a community online.

(2) Send eNewsletters to your sphere with market updates, community and neighborhood info, etc.

(3) Use recycled paper for print marketing.

(4) Avoid printing large quantities of collateral that goes out of date frequently.

(5) Laminate open house signs (remove shoes, turn off lights, etc.) so they can be reused time and again.

(6) Send thank-yous via email or flash animated eCards.

(7) Utilize social networks to share your message, brand, blog articles, transparency, etc. Try any or all of the following: ActiveRain, RealTown, Zolve, Inman, Facebook, Trulia Voices, LinkedIn, Twitter, FriendFeed, YouTube, MyBlogLog, etc.

(8) Become a paperless mobile agent with VREO Dashboard. Consider the referrals you can potentially obtain by providing great paperless service to your environmentally conscious clients.

(9) Reuse paper in your office. Consider adding a recycle bin next to your office printer and reuse paper for your own use (comps, prospecting, etc.).

(10) Refill ink cartridges. Just bring them to your local office supply store and they will refill them for you!

(11)  Become an EcoBroker. Obtain a special this special designation and educate others.

(12) Marketing your listings online with MyMarketWare! Create a Website dedicated to your listing and syndicate to Trulia, Google, Yahoo, Propsmart, Oodle, Craiglist and more!

BONUS: The Eco-Friendly Office

(1) Use a water service that will refill a large water jug vs. buying bulk water bottles.

(2) Caravan with others for Broker’s Tours. Save $ on gas and act more sustainably at the same time!

(3) Recycle old computers, mobile phones, printers, etc. Click here to learn more.

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I’m very in to dips and sauces. In fact, I‘ll take any opportunity to add a delicious side or topping to my meal. So you can understand how excited I was to learn about Comment Relish! Comment Relish is a WordPress plugin that will automatically email a message to a new commenter on your blog. Think of it as an auto “thank you”. When someone comments on your blog, he/she obviously has a vested interest or opinion in what you are saying. So naturally, I think it’s a very polite action to take. Here is an example of what I send to new commenters:

There are Relish Haters out there who will tell you that people hate auto responders, this looks like a desperate attempt to publicize your blog, and it does not create the best first impression.  Perhaps they experienced a blogger’s poorly created and uninspiring invitation to his/her blog community. I’m sure it happens. But there are plenty of probloggers out there that appreciate commenters and want to reach out to newbies with a simple “thank you…and come back again”.  If you are worried about sounding too “spammy” you could always set the auto email to be sent to you, customize if further, and then send it out. 

If you have used the original Comment Relish plugin and experienced a server load issue, you may be interested to know that there is a NEW Comment Relish Plugin.

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See more of my day with Max, the HomeGain Gorilla:

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The teacher in me still loves the smell of dry erase markers, new books, and of course peer learning. So, each month I will share a MyMarketWare user and his/her experience creating a MarketSite here at the blog. For the month of March, I’d like to introduce you to Ninah Hunter.  Ninah is a broker at C21 in Montrose, Colorado. This was her first time creating a single property Website for one of her listings. Click here to see her MarketSite.  Here’s a little more about Ninah and her MyMarketWare experience.

(1) How did you hear about MyMarketWare? (blog, social network, magazine, presentation, etc.)
Answer:  Through a blog (most likely yours) on ActiveRain.  I’d heard of this type of product through another company and made a trial version using both, and chose yours.

(2) Had you ever used a single property site solution? If so, which solution did you use?
Answer:  No, but I checked into another at Listing Domains.   I tried it out at the same time as yours, and decided to use yours.

(3) What type of property did you create a MarketSite for? (Residential Sale, Commercial Sale, Lease, etc.)
Answer:  It’s for a multi-family residential property (a tri-plex).

(4) Which features were most important to you? (Contact info, maps, pictures, RSS feed, etc.)
Answer:  Creating property specific domain name; pictures; link to virtual tour; ability to put in a video whenever I make one; mapping; and the extensive links to area and community information automatically created.

(6) Do you plan to create MarketSites for future listings?
Answer: Yes

NINAH’S MARKETSITE CONCLUSION:  Since creating this MarketSite, I’ve learned more about posting listings online.  My sellers were, in fact, impressed!!  And since I’m the broker, I have encouraged all my agents to start using MyMarketWare to market their listings more efficiently.

Thank you Ninah for sharing your experience! You definitely earned your MyMarketWare super star status!!! To learn more about Ninah, you can find her at ActiveRain blog.

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