I have never found that making website visitors fill in a form to receive a "Free Report" for things like "7 Tips To Make Your Home Sell Faster" works at all. Anyone I know from previous years who offered these reports had no success and stopped. How about you?

Is anyone out there having any success whatsover offering this stuff now?

Has anyone offered Free Reports on their site, had no success, and removed them?

Please let me know of your experiences - maybe I am wrong and times have changed and people now line up for the darn things - I doubt it but would like to know

Doug I use classified ads as teasers which in turn drives local traffic to my web site e.g. Orangeville Home Owners
Don't Even Think About Buying Or Selling Real Estate Until Know Your Rights. Go To www.LivingInOrangeville.com
The idea is to market the reports to get people to your site, not the other way around. Hope this helps.

Thanks Michael,

I think you have hit the nail on the head. That is what I found in the past - that it is the conventional advertising of the reports that send folks to a site to retrieve the reports. I have never heard of anyone who offered Free Reports on their site, didn't advertise them in newspapers etc. and had any success with them. In my experience, visitors who "find" a Realtor's site on the internet (thru search engines etc.) have absolutely no interest in filling in a form to retrieve a Free Report. If they are looking for specifc info on the internet and arrive at a web site and that site will not provide the info without having to reveal who they are - they just move on to the next site that will.

There always seems to be website providers that "sell" Free Reports as a hot, must have item though.

Anyone else have any comments on Free Reports?

Nice topic! I wondered about the same thing myself. Can't wait to see if there's more input.

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Ruperto Elpusan Jr.
Bankers Realty
e-mail: Ruperto@FineHomesInLA.com
Beverly Hills-Malibu-Palos Verdes Real Estate
Torrance/South Bay Real Estate

Yes, guys - you are all so correct. When we all went "on the web" several
years ago, many folks thought they could stop advertising using conventional
means, only to find out no one made requests because no one knew how to "get
there from here". Working the web, even as wonderful as it is, simply added
to the list of expenses already incurred in the real estate business.
Without a "redirect" from another old-fashioned source that the public was
used to relying upon, agents blamed their web sites, and/or their web
master, for not making their web presence known. Hats off to Doug who has
gone above and beyond the call of duty for his clients, keeping them front
and center in all markets, as best as can be done. But it is still up to the
user to strategically "place the crumbs to create a pathway" back to their offerings on the web; to reports, newsletter requests or whatever else you offer. Carolyne
http://www.carolyne.com
http://www.mybackupbook.com

I can say for one as a client of Dougs and only having my site up for a week now he has gone way above his call of duty to help me get my site where it needs to be. He recieves around 10 + emails from me a day and never complains at all..when I know I have to be getting on his nerves.

I know a little about computers but NOT a Lot. He has given his advise and help protect me from making some bad choices.

I would recomend him to anyone I know..in fact I already have and I dont pass out recomendations freely.

As to advertising the web site the therory of build it and they will come is long gone you must promote your site with all forms of advertising that you do.Really everything in this business it all really boils down to follow up. 72% of people looking to buy and sell use the first person they come in contact with.

The web is a great way to be that first person.

We all must set goals for our business and try to reach them using whatever tools we need to to hit those figures

Another thing that you may want to consider is offering more than just FREE reports. For example I have an E-book guide for FSBO's with an affilaite link to the author's site. This does a number of things: allows me to put classifieds into the newspaper targeting FSBO's 2) addresses any seller that comes to my site that may be thinking about going FSBO 3) generates a small revenue 4) I offer a complete refund if they decide to list with me. Have a look at www.LivingInOrangeville.com Hope this helps...

IMHO, for the most part they are a waste of time and precious menu real estate. I have had several clients try them in numerous incarnations but never seen anything worthwhile.

I have seen several sites with the same reports and I suspect they are mostly purchased canned reports. Does anyone know who created and sells these reports?


Guide to your Hassle-Free home purchase
Finding the Best Agent for You
Get the home you have always wanted
14 Questions To Ask Your Realtor
When Selling a Home
What is a Real Estate Buyer's Agent?
97 Easy Ways To Make Your Home Sell Faster
10 Important Tips to Successful Real Estate Investing
29 Critical Things To Help A Home To Sell Quickly
A Few Points About Interest Rates
Showing Instructions for Sellers
What is the appraisal?
Seven Selling Mistakes You Don't Want to Make!
Moving Tips
5 Powerful Buying Strategies
Making the Move Easy on the Kids
How To Get Top Dollar In Any Market
Things You Should Know about Moving
Fixer Uppers How To Alleviate Stress in a New Environment
What is Your Credit Rating?
The 8 Deadly Mistakes to Avoid
What Is Your Credit Rating And What To Do About It!
How to Make Money in Real Estate Investing
How To Restore Your Credit Rating

Thanks,
Curt

[This message has been edited by Curt (edited 11-26-2004).]

Those seem Craig Proctor's work - did you see them on Consulnet Success websites?

Doug,
I did not find them on Craig's site. I have seen them referenced on several sites with no credit to the source. Here are a few sites I have seen them at.
http://www.clearwaterhomes.com/Common/FreeReports.htm
http://www.whatsmyhomeworth.com/FreeReports.htm

Thanks,
Curt

Sorry, I don't know where they got them but several years ago a client gave me a whole package of "Special Reports" that she had received at a seminar - appearently with no copyright restrictions on them. I am sure that lots of these reports were passed around the continent since then (that was 6 years ago!) I didn't want to use them because I really didn't believe the "no copyright" thing but perhaps others are using them.

About once or twice a month we will receive an email requesting reports. To date, no one of those leads ever panned out.

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Visit the most comprehensive Las Vegas Real Estate , Summerlin Real Estate and Henderson Real Estate website online. Or look at pictures of my Parrot

My experience has been that it can draw an individual past the first page in order to read the report on the website on a later page. This allows you more time to sell to them. But I haven't tested getting someone to sign-up for it. I don't like it myself.

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Real Estate Website Content | Calgary Mortgage Broker | Alberta Mortgage Broker | Real Estate Website Developers

I would be interested to find out what those who don't believe free reports work use to generate their leads. I cannot see how offering free reports via 800 number or even a little space on your website could hurt. HOw much do they cost? usually little to nothing. As opposed to sending out blind postcards and big ads that cost a fortune, I think I will continue to use the reports and and integrate them into my other methods of advertising.

I use free reports and they work to an extent. I pay for classified ads at a couple local papers advertising my 800 hotline, about $1,500 per month. Buyer prospects like my free computerized listings report a lot, and next is my zero down payment. I pay for a transcription service so I don't have to try and transcribe incoherent messages; it's nice.

I put them on my database and send people postcards later. Some I call.

I was just talking to a business owner who has had very good success with his free reports. They generate a lot of interest in his services and keeps his names on people's minds. He is not in the real estate business but offers services for foreigners in the Czech Republic. It is a vote in favor of. Czech Republic Living Check it out.

"Free Reports" on whatever is just another way to get someone to raise their hand and say I want to buy or sell some real estate.

Mine captures their contact information for follow up just like my IVR 800#.

I've found the free reports are not a particularly effective lead generating tool.

I've found that I've used my website, not so much as to generate leads, but for a place to send leads for information on everything from downpayment programs, local information, loan information, "How I market a property" info, to hey, look at this virtual tour I bought. See all the great listings I have... I am somebody. I can sell your home too.

When I get a new listing I send a postcard to my sphere of influence and brag about it, they go and check it out, are impressed... then that tells them I'm still in business and business is good.

I send buyers there to search for properties and sellers there for a quick pre-view of the marketing plan they'll see at our appointment. They can also get a little background on me before our appointment.


www.gishgroup.com

Requiring that visitors do anything is usually a bad idea. Freedom reigns on the web, and that is what browsers are used to...

I'm very surprised to hear these comments! My clients have good success with Free Reports. Now of course this isn't what sells a house, or makes them become a client. Free reports are just a tool... a tool to entice someone to give you their email address for something of value; a free report.

A quick sampling of data:
8.44% of leads captured (on ireagent sites) are from the free reports request.

Now how many of these leads follow up and buy and sell a home with the agent they got the free report from? hard to say. I guess it comes down to NOT the free reports being viable, but how well do you stay on top of these leads and follow up with? If there's a CHANCE you may get one lead a year that ends up in a sale, why not offer them?

Also I would like to comment on the "requiring" visitors to register:
I always disliked that very much, and built all sites on the premise that we give you something for free, and hopefully you use us for your real estate needs. That worked very well for quite a while, and we constantly get comments on how nice that was and that is why they used that agent.

BUT... we have also started building sites for agents that require registration. We build these sites ALONG WITH totally free sites, and the amount of leads captured has tripled! If you are promoting both sites equally well, both your site will get good traffic, and those that will leave their information first, great, you got the "lead". If not, hopefully they back out and end up at your other site that does not require registration.

What we have found is people are not too put off by needing to register if they think the information they are seeking is valuable, like to search an online MLS. For most web surfers, this is not something they do all the time, and they do not know they "can" get this information without registering... they just landed on your site first which required registration.

Personally, I'm still torn on this issue: I like the not having to register, but my clients really like the leads it generates!

Hi Everyone! I’ve been meaning to join this forum for years and have finally taken the plunge. I’ve got to hand it to you Doug – this is an excellent forum!

I tried the free reports mixed with the 800 number call capture method when I was first starting out in real estate around 7 years ago. I found that it was really hard when it came to following up with the prospect and find the same holds true today. I also felt really slimy when following up with the leads having captured their numbers. I only tried it out for a few weeks.

I agree with Michael that it’s a great way to get people to your site but it can also be extremely expensive advertising in the local paper and the reach of the local paper is just that – local where the search engines are 24 hour non-stop international advertising campaigns that if you know what you’re doing cost very little if anything.

That said, the real reason I’ve never been a big fan of free reports is that if it’s set-up in such a way that the prospect has to enter all of their personal information into a form in order to get the report emailed to them, it’s going to be really difficult to get them to respond to your follow-up attempts. The agent is sending a report that doesn’t change from person to person and the prospect knows that and sees the agent as pushing their contact details out of them when they could have just clicked on a link without forking over their name, email address, etc. to view the report.

On the other hand, if you promote an instant email notification feature on your site where buyers can fill in what they’re looking for so that you as an agent can let them know when a match hits the market, they’re going to be much more willing to follow-up with you as you absolutely needed them to fork over their personal contact info because their information request is specific. In other words, what you send them will be different than what you’d send another prospect as opposed to the special report where it doesn’t change from person to person.

You only get one chance to make your first impression and a lead’s no good unless you can get them to respond to your follow-up. You have a much better chance at developing a trusting relationship with a prospect when they understand that they had to give you their contact info for a reason.

Welcome Russ - good to see you here!

Your valuable insights will be appreciated by all

"I found that it was really hard when it came to following up with the prospect and find the same holds true today. I also felt really slimy when following up with the leads having captured their numbers. I only tried it out for a few weeks."

I agree! Capturing their phone number without them knowing it... I've always found this under-handed and sneaky.

"You only get one chance to make your first impression and a lead’s no good unless you can get them to respond to your follow-up. You have a much better chance at developing a trusting relationship with a prospect when they understand that they had to give you their contact info for a reason."

I agree again! This is where an automatic email drip campaign system comes in so handy. Each campaign should have a unique set of letters designed to give the impression you are sending them personal emails. You give the impression of personal service, continuos follow-up, and you don't do anything until the person replys or contacts you.

I just can't stress enough... if you are going to do ANYTHING different for the new year, get yourself a good automatic email drip campaign system.

Thanks for the warm welcome Doug!

I agree with you as well Greg. It's so important to have automation as long as it still appears to be personalized; otherwise, it's so easy to burn yourself out dealing with all of the leads.

Yep Russ... anyone that tells me that a website generates too many worthless leads, or doesn't "get" qualitifed leads off the Interent, isn't using a good automatic drip follow-up email system. A good automatic follow-up system does all the work for you, for years if needed. Then you only follow up with the hot leads that reply or call you.

I like offering free reports both in my IVR system and on my website. True, the reports themselves do not sell homes, but it is an opportunity to give something of value. My reports are very informative, and valuable to prospects telling them the ins and outs of buying or selling real estate. It is important to look professional and offer something of value to the consumer. The reports do that in an inexpensive way. Also, you can capture the lead which then becomes a warm lead and you simply follow up as a customer service followup and ask if any of the ideas in the report made sense to them, and what has got them thinking about buying or selling real estate. I do not feel bad capturing their number and calling them back since they called my 800 number which costs me money, and therefore, I should be able to track and followup up with the caller. If you do this in a soft tone way, and with customer service in mind, the prospect usually has no problem. I simply use a script and say, "Hello, my name is ... with ... real estate. I am making a customer service call. I see you called my 24 Hour Real Estate Information Hotline about the ..., and I just wanted to followup up and confirm your address to make sure I send the report to the correct place."