Before & After —Extreme Web
Makeovers
Over the past several years I have written many articles on how to powerfully enhance your Web presence. Each one focused on a different aspect such as the importance of targeting, branding, differentiation, having your site "speak the language" of your visitors, etc. However, this is all academic unless you can see real results —especially when you can see how people have taken these ideas and applied them to produce a dramatically different (and much more effective) Website than what they had before. Here is what several of my students have accomplished as a result of applying these principles... His Name Is "Action" Joe Thyne with C-21 Team Wheatley in Harker Heights, TX is a rookie with just over 2 years in the business but with a "can do" attitude that is far beyond most people who have been in the business for many years. Like most people in the business, Joe's initial site was mostly an "image" based Website (i.e. it was mostly about him) that didn't really target or appeal to any special group. After going through a special 10-week coaching program he choose a target market for which he was passionate and was able to brand and differentiate himself in a very powerful and clever way. Click on the "Before" and "After" thumbnail pictures below to see the difference. For each one pretend to be the online consumer and ask yourself the following questions:
Believe it or not, this is the very same REALTOR! This dramatic redesign came about by providing Joe with a very structured approach to planning his new site from the standpoint of targeting his passion —military buyers. It is amazing how creative you can become when you focus on your passion! Be sure to click the "HOW TO" button on his home page, it shows how consistently his site "speaks" to the military buyer. Also, if you take a close look at the bottom of his new site you will find that it was designed with the help of a Virtual Assistant, and his "Joe Action" branding element was designed (for very little money) by a Virtual Consultant. "Action" should be Joe's middle name because he certainly took it when applying these principles. Upscale Downtown Patrick Lilly is a mega-producer Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy who specializes in Manhattan downtown properties, especially townhouses (once again, his passion). As you can see in the "Before" example, his original site does not address that specialty in a very compelling or differentiating way. After attending a special 3-day advanced workshop, Patrick was on fire with ideas and a structured approach to targeting his Manhattan townhouse niche.
In addition to helping differentiate Patrick as the "Townhouse Specialist" for all New York city, he has effectively branded his site with a custom logo that was designed by a Virtual Consultant (once again, for very little money). If you look at the lower left-hand corner of his home page you will see how this logo/branding element creates a distinctive style and feel. His attention to consistent branding will make it that much easier for him to sell his site (and book of business) when he is ready to retire. In essence, by taking this approach to site design he is building salable equity in his business every day he promotes it. Listings, Listings, Everywhere Joe DeLorenzo with RE/MAX of Princeton New Jersey accomplished something that very few REALTORS have ever done before. He created a Website totally devoted to acquiring listings, yet there isn't a single listing to be found on it! After attending one of my 3-day advanced workshops, Joe realized the power of focusing on a specific target market. He is a major listing agent so he decided to make that his niche. It should be noted that like Patrick Lilly above, Joe's "Before" site is still active and continues to serve as a general "catch-all" site.
Once you review Joe's SellMyHome101.com site it will become very clear why it generates new listings and listing referral business. This is a great example of the tremendous power of "speaking the language" of your target market. You Already Have It In You! At this point you are probably wondering how these folks suddenly got so creative. Let me assure you that I did not help them with their ideas. What I did do was provide them with a very structured approach to planning out a distinctive Website that serves a specific target market for which they are passionate. This served to unlock their inherent creativity after which they where flooded with ideas. By the way, I also showed them how to implement their ideas with the help of very talented yet affordable Virtual Consultants and Virtual Assistants. In every example above, this was key to getting the job done. We are all born creative —the secret to tapping into that creativity is to have a structured approach to: a) who you want to reach (i.e. your target market), b) what unique value you want to provide them, and c) how you differentiate yourself via branding. If you don't effectively differentiate yourself on the Web, you will most surely be lost in the "noise". By taking a structured approach to planning your site, you become the most noticeable and memorable voice in an otherwise dull cacophony of Web "me toos"! Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He's dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. You'll see his column on REALTOR® Magazine Online every month and in the magazine quarterly. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Web site at http://www.russer.com This article is reprinted in its entirety from the September 2004 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark and Ask Mr. Internet!™ is a trademark of RUSSER Communications. |
||||||||||||||||||
