One of my potential members of The eHomes Realty Network asked me this question today and I thought it was something I should share on here for my fellow Active Rain members. I get this question asked a lot!
So how do we even figure this out? First we must look at what you need to create a successful Internet program. Here is the break down of what I use for our very successful Internet program.
Website - I'm a big believer in templated websites. There are many companies out there where you can get a site for under $50. We will use $50 as our number
IDX - A decent IDX system to add to your website can be bought for approximately $50 per month.
So basically for less than $100 per month you can have a good set up to capture leads. At Tropical Realty we spend $80 total for our IDX and Website.
CRM - There are many systems out there from $10 per month to $100+ per month. I'll use Top Producer as a benchmark and using their basic system $39.95 per month. Keep in mind that to start off you can easily use Microsoft Outlook to do most of what a CRM does. One difference between a good CRM and Outlook is automated drip emails. With that said, for over 6 years, before we automated with our 100MPH Marketing Software, we have run a very successful Internet program with just two emails per month to our entire database.
Marketing - This is where it's tough for me to give you a price because it really depends on your beliefs. As most of you know, I am a big believer in Pay Per Click. I have built a successful Brokerage using PPC and would never take it out of my marketing. Others believe SEO is the answer. SEO is great but can also be costly if you need to hire someone. Even if you don't, it's not a predictable business model so I'm going to stick with PPC for this business model.
PPC - $250-$500 per month. Personally if you are going to spend less than this amount, it's probably not worth spending the money. The average ppc is around $1 per click. Of course in some areas this is much higher and others worse. $500 spent would result in 500 clicks. A 10% capture would get you 50 leads per month which is the number that I give my Agents on a monthly basis for them to be successful. This year 50 leads per month has resulted in 1.5 sales per month per Agent in my office but more importantly has resulted in 8 different buyers per month per Agent. With this showing activity, we know that when the market comes back a little, we will average 4 sales per month per Agent which is my goal for each of my Agents.
Newsletter - I use Realty Times for $299 per year ($25 per month if broken down). There are many options out there, but I have found them to be one of the best and easiest to deal with.
The eHomes Realty Network (ok, just a little plug for me) $39.95 per month
These costs of course are the basics costs and they can be higher or lower depending on the factors. However, it will give you a little idea on what your monthly costs are if you choose to use the Internet the 100MPH Marketing way. I'm sure most of you know that my little brokerage is on track to hit 250 transactions this year using our systems.
So let's look at the summary:
Website and IDX = $100
CRM = $ 39.95
PPC = $500
Newsletter = $ 25
The Network = $39.95
Total $704.90
These are the facts Jack! If you want to be successful running your Internet program, these are the basic tools and costs you need to succeed. Of course when you start out, you can lower your PPC spending to $250 which of course won't get you the amount of leads I like per Agent on a monthly basis. However it does give you a chance to start at $454.90 per month. Don't join my Network and you can bring this down a little more but of course the goal of the Network is to save you money by saving you from making mistakes I have made in the past.
In the end, it's up to you if you really want to have a successful Internet program. This is the program that works for any Agent. Can Agents that understand all this do it less expensive using SEO and other online marketing programs? Sure! However, in my experience in dealing with my members, this is not the norm. The other factor that changes everything here is your ability to follow a lead conversion system that works. The numbers above are the costs to get the leads. If you can't convert them, then this number can seem very large, hence the purpose of the Network as part of your monthly costs. However if you spend this amount, and invest in your business, within 3 or 4 months you will start to see the benefits of consistancy and database building.
As always, I'm here to answer any questions and help anyone that needs help. I never charge for an initial consultation. I do them daily with many Agents. Some join the Network, and others don't. The ones that have been joining the Network have been proactive in building their Internet business. So far most of the ones who haven't joined, didn't make a commitment to be successful online.
Good luck and I hope this helps!
My total marketing budget is less than half of that. I dont do a PPC. I may need to I just dont. My web stats are over 5000 unique visitors per month. Not bad for half the budget. I do think that your numbers a re close though.
Hey Laura! That's an excellent amount of traffic which I'm assuming you are doing through SEO. How many monthly leads and sales do you get from your traffic? As I said in my blog, these numbers can easily be half to get started. They are also for someone that is just getting started and has no experience in getting their sites ranked high enough to get that much traffic or is not having the luck you are having. We just started doing SEO about three months ago and are getting ranked pretty high. However, almost all my leads are still coming from my PPC program. As I said, the PPC is predictable. I know that if I spend x amount on pay per click I will get y amount of leads which will result in z amount of sales. I haven't talked to anyone yet who is having that type of predictability from SEO....but I sure would like to hear that because I would love to double my leads and sales for free. Thanks for your comment!
Mitch, You are a sharing machine!!! Interesting to hear you are a fan of template sites. I am too. My business has always been geared more towards sellers but I'm working on changing that direction...I think. I keep going back and forth between increasing buyer activity or focusing more heavily on listing short sales and REOs. So many decisions and so little time!!!
Hey Bryant! Just think of how much I actually give my members! In reality, I've been teaching sales most of my life. Since 1996 I have been involved with the Internet and back then through 2000 worked with Radio stations throughout the US and Canada. Back then we didn't have templated sites. In fact, my first functional site cost me $950,000! Of course it did a ton of stuff that nobody was doing back then, but...you could build that same site now for about $30k.
I really don't understand why people spend $20k-$30k on sites when you can buy a good site that does the job for $50 a month. Knowing what I know about sites and after working with my SEO guy, Eric Blackwell, it is the only way to go...in my humble opinion of course! I was told the reason why everyone spent that amount of cash was to have SEO rankings. Eric, in three months, has me ranked in the top ten with all my landing pages.
The other major reason I like using a templated site is the ability for me, or one of my admin, to change things on instantly. When I had a webmaster, I had to get hold of him and have things added or changed when he could change them. Ok, so I think you get my drift!
That is my plan with my 100MPH Software, keep it simple so that any Agent can use it. We are getting close to launch...finally. We should have Florida launched in the beginning of November.
Let me know if you have any questions about buyers. That's pretty much all I do. We only carry 65 listings right now and all of them, well most of them, have come from our Internet leads. Have a great night!
Mitch,
Thanks for the post. I now see what needs to be done based upon your successes. Thanks.
What is the ehome realty network?
Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty PaloAlto Ca.
Hi Marcy!
The eHomes Realty Network is an education site where I teach Agents and Brokers how to succeed in Real Estate. I do this through several training manuals, email and phone consulting, webinars, questions and answer sections as well as marketing and business forums. We launched 3 months ago and just reached our 70th member yesterday. Much of what I teach is how to capture leads on the Internet, how to deal with phone calls from the Internet and how to convert Internet leads to sales.
One thing that makes me different is the fact that I also own a Real Estate brokerage where I have developed all these tools. My company, Tropical Realty, is the number 1 Buyer Brokerage in our county out of 500 offices. So I don't just talk the talk...I live it!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. You can read the benefits of being a member by clicking here.
I look forward to chatting with you. Have a great day!