MikeBolen.com

Blogs, MP3s, Drudge Report, Cable News, Cell Phones, Craigs List. How much longer can dead tree news possibly last in this digital information age? I say not long.  Craigs List has taken vitually all classified ad revenue. In just the 3rd quarter of 2007 newspaper ad sales declined 7.4% while online ads expanded 21%.

The Napa Valley Register had a published Sunday circulation of 20,200 in September 2004 by September of 2007 that number had dwindled to a mere 16,623 . The San Francisco Chronicle reported that daily circulation dropped 4.2% to 370,345 in just the 1st quarter of 2008.

Many sellers still ask about newspaper advertising and most often newspaper advertising is the only advertising sellers ask about. Interesting to note most sellers do not even receive the newspaper they inquire about us advertising in. Studies now show 89% of ALL buyers begin their search on the internet. RE/MAX.com see my 1st post on this blog is the number 1 real estate website in the world receiving three times the traffic of any other real estate website.

Here at the RE/MAX Napa Valley office RE/MAX Cornerstone located in downtown Napa on the corner of 1st and Main we pride ourselves on our unique internet marketing. Contact me Mike Bolen today at Mike@MikeBolen.com or 707-254-9999 and let’s discuss how to correctly market your property.  

We have all heard the news about the sheer volume of buyers and sellers who are now coming from the internet. The interesting news is how little market share even the top 10 real estate searches garner. Case and point:The Top 10 Internet Searches For Real Estate Sites 

1. REALTOR.com 1.56%
2. Remax 0.91%
3. Real Estate 0.47%
4. Apartments 0.40%
5. Homes for Sale 0.37%
6. Century 21 0.35%
7. Zillow.com 0.34%
8. Zillow 0.33%
9. Realtor 0.31%
10. For sale by owner 0.30%

Sourced from http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LATH09013122007-1.htm 

The great news for real estate companies is no one not even the National Association Of Realtors trade organization owns the market on the internet. The top 10 searches comprise a miniscule 5% of the market.  It is interesting to note how many commercial real estate buyers and sellers are now coming from the internet. It also demonstrates the enormous opportunity for commercial brokerages to grab a significant portion of the market.

I have personally guided my commercial real estate office away from print media and onto the internet. While we still utilize print we now spend more advertising dollars on the internet than any other advertising medium. Many if not most commercial sales professionals have been very slow to adopt an internet strategy unlike their residential colleagues. Today your commercial brokerage must have a dynamic and fresh internet strategy or you should look for a new broker who can advertise your property to a global market and find acquisitions that are “off market”.