PublicRealty.org - The first two months
Its been a little over two months since my first post about PublicRealty.org . Over the past couple months, I have been busy. Basically just promoting the site.
- I’ve ordered yard signs.
- Shipped some yard signs.
- Posted Signs at busy intersections
- Started cold calling owners and agents from the newspaper.
- I joined several Real Estate forums and social networks.
- Started working very hard on search engine optimization
With all this work, I have learned a couple lessons:
1) Don’t take other people’s opinions to seriously.
Just realize everyone else is an expert and you are a fool.
My conversations with other Realtors have been brutal. Some have been supportive and excited about the idea of free advertisement. Others talk to me as though I am a child that is way in over my head. I expected a certain amount of this, but I have been amazed at how negative people can be.
2) People are skeptical.
Just because I am offering something for free does not mean people will be interested. Some people have asked, “What is the catch?” or “Why are you doing this?” or “What are you getting out of this? I didn’t pay you anything.”
I understand. I am the first one to say, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” This attitude will change as time goes by, people talk and trust is built. I didn’t trust Craigslist at first either.
Just a few stats, I had ~500 unique visitors and listed 17 houses in the month of November. Most of the traffic were direct hits from Cities surrounding Springfield, MO. Apparently, the yard signs are working. Things will pick up once the search engine optimization has matured. Until then, I will keep working on the small things and allow the site to grow naturally.
Please spread the word in your surrounding area. Once people begin to trust the system, this site will be a valuable asset to owners and agents alike.
Tags: free real estate listings, internet marketing, real estate