Try this site as well.

http://www.realestate-agentsinfo.com/

Hey there is a free club for realtors in the LA Counties and San Fernando Valley - It would really help you out whether you are starting out or well seasoned- Tons of free information and tips to increase your monthly business, check it out:

PINNACLE CLUB

I'm no purveyor of Houseflash, but they DO have some good advice w. respect to driving qualified traffic to your website. The rest is up to you!

Although they try to debunk Search Engine Optimization, I read an article showing some company spends $100,000 for paid SEO marketing. WHOAH, thought the web was supposed to be enabling, and a low cost way to market yourself. As it turns out (at least for them) better to be proactively getting yourself listed well on the search engines. If they truly are paying that much, they MUST be getting an ROI that makes the bottom line happy, eh?


8 Easy ways to drive quality traffic to your Real Estate Website.

Having a website is by far one of the most cost-effective ways to promote yourself because you're not paying by the word.

Having said that, how do I get the qualified visitors to start coming to my site?

Is it through Search Engines? For a typical real estate site the answer is - not likely

Why Not?

Let me give you an example.

A search on Google for the words "Ottawa Real Estate" showed me the first 10 of 224,000 websites.

If you think there are 224,000 websites showing Ottawa Real Estate, think again. There are only around 1300 agents in Ottawa, most without their own website. If you think that anyone will look past the first few pages of these websites - they won't. The typical web surfer doesn't have the patience or time to do that. Many of these websites won't be Ottawa Real Estate sites, and many won't even be Real Estate sites, but they might have some combination of those words somewhere in their site, or they might have had at some time in the past.

The issue is that there are just too many finds on the words "Real Estate" on the web today. Just try searching for "Real Estate" on Google and you'll find close to 6 million sites.

To hope that your website will be in the first few pages of that list on a consistent basis is stretching the imagination. Even if it were to be there, a large proportion of visitors will likely be from around the world who are not looking for property in your locale, or perhaps not even looking for property at all.

Remember it's quality traffic you want, not the quantity, that's most important

So how do we get the proper traffic to our site?

It's easier than you might think. Try to do as many of the following as you can and you're guaranteed to get people coming to your site - and the people that count.

List at least your website address and if possible your email address on all your stationary, including business cards, letterhead, envelopes, handouts, flyers, feature sheets, mailers etc.

Include a signature block in every email that you send out including any automated response emails. A signature block contains your contact info, including phone number, email and website address listed at the bottom of your email message. This even includes your emails to friends and relatives.

List your web address in every voice mail or pager message.

Increase the value of every advertising dollar that you spend by directing people to your website in every ad. You can also save money on the individual ads as you won't need to put in as many words because they will see so much more info at your site. The plus is that you get them temporarily away from the newspaper and focused on you and all your available properties. This includes not only newsprint or flyer ads but even bench ads etc. Never place an ad anywhere without promoting your website!

List your website address in each and any of your listings in the Real Estate board multiple listing services. Get them off the main site and focused on you.

List your website address in each and every one of your listings that might show up in your agency's or office's property listings. Get them off the main site and focused on you.

List your website address, contact phone number and email address on every page of your website including on every listing page. That ensures that anytime anyone prints a listing from your site, your contact info is always included and immediately handy to the person holding the page. Note: That means your email address needs to be printed in full and not just a button or image to click on so clients will be able to read it on the paper.

Get listed on as many local news, community, or related businesses sites (such as mortgage brokers, home inspectors, lawyers, etc. or even friends' sites, as you can. Often this is free, although they might ask for a reciprical link. If they do, make sure to put any such links on a special links page, not on your home page.

Following each of the above will start to drive people to your website far faster than you might think.

Getting people to your own website puts the focus on you and that's exactly where it has to be for you to be successful.

Original Post: http://www.houseflash.com/news/more.php?id=31_0_1_0_M

I offer Certified Continuing Education Courses in the state of Ohio. These are 2 hour seminars and they are free. They are certified by the State of Ohio and you do get 2 hours of CE. Some of my topics include "No Money Down Purchases", "Understanding a HUD-1 Settlement Statement" and "Understanding Credit". I am a lender in the state of Florida and a mortgage broker in the state of Ohio. I give REAL LIFE examples which truly helps the real estate agent when they are in the field. Please call me to register for my seminars. Please all me at 1-866-414-3021.

Khash Saghafi
President
Cardinal Banc&Mtg Corp.
Ohio MB4348
Florida CL0400266

Educational site for Real Estate Agents:

http://www.realestate-agentsinfo.com/


If others can succeed you can too.:-)

Good Luck!


PS
Any new ideas for the sites content improvement are welcome. Please [moderator edited] private message them to me [end edit] if you have any. Thank you!

Several months ago there was a topic listing the "do's and don'ts" for new real estate agents. It was a great list, so I consolidated all the ideas into one article for simplicity's sake. Hopefully, this can be of use to some of you who are just starting out:

http://www.realestateheadlines.net/2005/06/the_dos_and_don.html

Here's the info I would have loved to know when I started 4 months ago:

A) This is a business - it's not a job. If you have no business experience, you'd better get some quick. Very few people are going to help you. Heck, most will try to stop or misdirect you.

B) You're going to have to pay and pay and pay for licensing fees, designation fees, office fees, advertising, signs, office products, computers, gas, etc.

C) You will have no income for 6 months.

D) Getting prospective buyers and sellers is very difficult for a newbie.

E) You have to do the marketing of your listings and yourself differently than everyone else to get noticed.

If you can hold out that long with those roadbumps, this is a great business to be in. It's fun matching buyers up with their first house. Most newbies approach this as a job - that is their downfall.

F)Read through every lne of every thread in this forum - you'll catch up quickly.

Hello All,

I saw CaliforniaLicense.com on the list of online schools for California. I used their materials for my exam prep and could not have been more appalled by the quality they presented. The texts were very poorly written, often contradictory from page to page. I took the online exams, only because I had paid nearly 300 dollars for a set of classes.

I passed the California DRE exam on my first try last September but I had purchased two additional texts at Barnes and Nobles because I was so confused by the CaliforniaLicense.com books. What a relief it was to read something that made sense and was consistent.

Just an FYI for anyone thinking of using CaliforniaLicense.com.

Overland

The best class I went to was RealEstateTestPrep

just look at www.RealEstateTestPrep.com

check that out and let me know what you think.

Good tools for Real Estate Direct Mail

http://www.one2onemail.com
http://www.quantummail.com
http://www.realestatepostcardsonline.com

Nice Information for the new ones.

Check out theses links it might be useful for you:
http://www.cactuscountryproperty.com/buyer_seller_info.htm
http://www.cactuscountryproperty.com/real_estate.htm

Becoming a real estate agent does not necessarily involve buying a great deal of equipment, but there are some necessities that will be an advantage when trying to sell a property. A professional wardrobe is a must. Buyers are naturally skeptical of real estate agents anyway due to the large amounts of money involved in buying a home. Showing up in blue jeans and a sweater will do nothing but hurt your chances of making a sale. Plus, you will need a respectable car for the same reasons. Other essential equipment includes a cell phone and perhaps, though not necessary, a laptop. What has become near essential to the successful realtor is a pda to keep track of contacts and business appointments.

regards Monika

--------
Free Real Estate Guides

My best words of advice would be advertise, advertise,and did I mention advertise. Use small classified ads for free lists of properties. When I started using these my salary blue past six figures and I never worked more than 15 hours a week. Also focus on investors they buy more property, more often.

Oops - posted to wrong thread...deleted by moderator

I am not so certain I agree with this any more. I have been a salesman of some sort for a long time. I have always dressed very professionally. Lately, I have started to dress to match my clientele. I do not think dress slacks and a tie are right for everybody. I think it is very necessary for some. I also think nice jeans and a polo shirt will work for others. It wasn't until receltny that I started feeling this way. But, there are some people that I will dress casually with and it does not seem to hurt business...