March 2006

It's Spring break season and Mammoth is drawing huge crowds due to this year's great winter. We usually equate tourism dollars with profits for lodging, restaurants, shops, and recreation. However, there is another industry that can greatly profit from exposure and marketing to tourists - Real Estate. With the influx of vacationers, come those folks that are potential homebuyers or investors. How do these people select a realtor associate and brokerage where they will do business? Advertising, name exposure, and business marketing play a big role in the choice they will make. And current trends prove out that more and more people are researching their purchases and business associates through the Internet. According to Greta Dickson, this month's "Partnership Spotlight" celebrity, "I see only benefits from using the Internet to advertise - only pros, no cons." See more from Greta below - Deborah Bendinelli, Media Relations

According to Dickson, "More and more, the general population is moving into Internet oriented research. They are educated about the Internet and like to do their own [real estate] research first before contacting and settling on a realtor." She has found that her clients who have used the Internet for research have been serious about buying a vacation home or investment property when they contacted her because they already had a general knowledge of top prices, housing and property statistics, and her background and services as a realtor. Overall, these types of clients meant business and as Dickson pointed out - "they knew what's what" in the Mammoth Real Estate market. It can literally pay off to reach these buyers through Internet advertising.

Naturally, it made sense that Dickson chose to use technology and effective marketing tools to capture the attention of these serious buyers. Advertising on the local Mammoth tourism-based website, City Concierge, is the way she did it. Visitors, shoppers, and homebuyers use the City Concierge website for central guest reservation services, vacation planning, and product and services shopping. Thousands of people see Dickson's ad every day. Her interactive multimedia banner is an eye grabber on the site's front page. Designed by Dickson and created by the City Concierge team, the catchy user-friendly ad allows the website's visitor to "click" on her ad, which then links them directly to Dickson's own Real Estate website.

"Jefferson Lanz is a pleasure to work with. He gives me good guidance, and this guidance has lead to income," says Dickson. She feels that her ad's exposure has been an effective way to increase income and to draw attention to her services to many more people than by using print advertising alone.

Although Dickson places successful ads in the Real Estate Book, Mammoth Monthly Magazine, and other print media, she feels that using Internet advertising is a "good and effective blend" with the other media. Different people use different sources to shop for real estate and a realtor associate. One of the unique benefits of the Internet is that it has no geographical boundary - people can shop Dickson's business, see her properties, learn about her services, and contact her from anywhere in the world. She understands the changing technology within the Real Estate industry and the value of a type of marketing that knows no boundaries. Referrals and exposure are key to a realtor's successful marketing - advertising with a "link" from a popular, highly visited, and related website such as City Concierge to her realtor's website brings exposure, referrals, and results. Dickson knows this, uses this, and benefits from this. Savvy is as savvy does!

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS
Today's real estate agent must have an effective Web presence. Recent real estate advertising trends point out that 76% of buyers start their search online. However, as mentioned above, just having your business website alone isn't going to guarantee that people will find it and see it! You must do something different to gain effective exposure and get people to your site in the first place. Advertising your business on a popular, highly visited, and targeted website with a "link" or a lead gathering ad becomes the most effective source of exposure and referrals. Remember the old real estate slogan "location, location, location?" In marketing terms, especially with the Internet, that translates to "exposure, exposure, exposure." The City Concierge website averages higher "readership" than most other media- internet or print that services the Mammoth area, with no geographical boundaries. And we're now in the #1 position for many Mammoth keyword Internet searches. City Concierge has the expertise and proven record of accomplishment in using the Internet as a successful revenue building tool. Let us put the Internet to work for you!