ASK MR. INTERNET
Michael Russer answers your Internet marketing questions

Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an Internet speaker, trainer, author, and consultant. You'll see his column on REALTOR^® Magazine Online every month and in the magazine quarterly. Send your questions to help@askmrinternet.com.

A call to interaction
Tips to Get them Talking

Web visitors that become involved with your site are more likely to turn into clients.

DEAR MR. INTERNET:
What’s the best way to encourage my Web site visitors to start a dialogue with me that will lead to new business?
Garry McClanahan
Coldwell Banker Realty House
Morristown, Tenn.

DEAR GARRY:
One of the critical failings I see with most real estate Web sites is that they do a very poor job of encouraging the Internet Empowered Consumer to initiate a business-producing dialogue with the salesperson. The worst offenders provide only an e-mail address on one page of their sites. They seem to hope that the visitor will be magically compelled to contact them for "more information.” Other sites go as far as using forms to collect visitor data (in exchange for more information) or offering to answer questions from visitors via e-mail. Including these calls to action on the Web site is the right approach, but unfortunately, it doesn't go far enough.

A much more powerful approach is to include a "call to interaction" on nearly every page of your site. A call to interaction is designed to engage site visitors in a very personal way and motivate them to feel like they are part of the real estate process discussed in the text.

One of the most effective ways to get your visitors to interact with you is to ask open-ended questions that can’t be answered with a one or two word answer. Use words such as “how” and “why” and verbs such as “describe,” “image,” or “consider” to draw visitors into the process and get them thinking creatively about the topic you’re discussing and what it means to them. This interactive approach achieves two objectives.

1. It causes visitors to begin an internal brainstorming process about a real estate issue that worries or excites them and leads them to think of questions that are of real concern to them.

2. It prompts visitors to the conclusion that you are an expert source because you are responding to questions that have real meaning for them.

Every Web page and even every copy subsection on a page is a golden opportunity to invite—or better yet compel--your visitors to interact with you. You will get the IEC to do business with you only if a relationship exists. And interaction is the start of the relationship-building process.

Below is an example of Web copy--geared toward the first-time buyer--that incorporates this powerful tool.
_________________________________________________ Making an Offer That Wins The Home Of Your Dreams And Protects You From Costly Mistakes

Most people think that writing an offer on their dream home isn't much more than filling out a form and handing it to the listing salesperson with a deposit check . Nothing could be further from the truth! The first step to having a offer that gets you everything you want starts with research.

What the Seller Doesn’t Want You To Know!
Your ability to get the best price and terms for your new home greatly depends on how much you learn about the seller’s situation, such as motivation, schedule needs, settlement requirements, and about the property. Here are the four things you absolutely need to know before we even think about putting an offer together:

This process may seem a little daunting at first, but don’t worry. Doing the crucial research is where I excel. I can help you feel confident that you are getting the best home for your needs—while avoiding the potential disaster of a poorly written offer.

Here’s a great exercise for you: Imagine doing your own research on a property you just fell in love with. What questions and concerns come up? Take a moment to jot them down and e-mail them to me at offertips@seattle1sthomes.com. I promise I’ll get right back to you with ideas on how to alleviate them.

Once we’ve completed our research, the next step is to carefully craft the offer so the seller says "Yeah" instead of "Neigh", and you are completely protected.

_________________________________

The indented paragraph of this copy is the call to interaction. Notice how it uses active phrases such as “imagine” and “take a moment” to get the visitor to stop, think, and most importantly be drawn into the process the copy describes. The call to interaction and the copy that precedes it also build an emotional interest in the visitor with words such as “fell in love with.”

Creating successful interactions with your Web visitors is very similar to the way a dynamic speaker builds rapport with an audience. The speaker works the crowd, but tries to make contact with each person on a one-on-one basis and to get each participant involved and excited in the collaborative learning process. In text, you can try to achieve this same sense of informal contact by using a conversational tone. Instead of the formal “please feel free to contact me with questions,” the call to interaction suggests that the visitor “jot them down” and promises to “get right back.”

Examine your site's current copy, and see how well it engages and involves the visitor and how the copy might be improved. The call to interaction is not an easy concept to master, and it takes a bit of practice to achieve. However, this approach is so powerful that once you have it fully implemented, you’ll have to hire more people just to handle all the serious inquiries it will generate for you.