Patience comes to those who wait...

Instant gratification is something that most people in this country have become very used to. Most of us want everything done yesterday. We love our fast food joints, our premium coffee shop drive-throughs, and most anything else you can grab on the run. It seems that we've become accustomed to a lifestyle of getting what you want, when you want it, and how you want it, instantly.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands that some things in life take time, like buying a new condo. Making this type of investment can be nerveracking and a little daunting for the consumer. Salesmen and saleswoman sometimes expect that the moment someone shows interest in what he or she is selling, that lead will convert to a sale instantaneously. This, as most of you know, is not the case.

I'm the sales director for the largest and most visited new condo advertising website in the country, NewCondosOnline.com. We have a ton of traffic and our prices are a no-brainer for most developers and homebuilders - much cheaper than print media! It's our job to make sure that websites of the developments on our site get as much exposure on the internet as possible and that people are actually finding them! We're strictly a lead generation and advertising portal. We don't make commissions on sales that convert from our site.

Seems like every new condo, new townhome, new loft, new condo conversion, and condo/hotel development should be on our site, right? I think so but not everyone does. The idea of Internet advertising is still taking time to catch on in some parts of the country. I field calls all day from account executives, marketing directors, and developers across the country explaining our service and how we do what we do. I am extremely good at what I do as I have helped this company grow at an exceptional pace.

Our users who search on our site are sometimes ready to buy or simply gathering preliminary information. When a user contacts a development through our site, the agent hopefully who receives the weblead will contact the interested party instantaneously. The agent and developer have to know the following...if the lead doesn't close right away, it's OK! Patience. Patience. Patience. It takes on average 4-6 months for a weblead to close.

As an internet company, we can't stress this enough to agents and developers. If you're an agent, what you should focus on is webtraffic and the number of people viewing your add on our site and partner sites. If you're a developer and/or agent new to the internet and how it meshes with Real Estate, here are some basics. A development has a website so that people from all over the country and world can see your property. Web leads are not the same as foot traffic through your sales office. And, don't think these webleads will convert instaneously into a sale. Just be patient and offer your best service and the sales will come. 80% of all home buyers start their search on the Internet so the most important part of any marketing campaign needs to be focuses on driving quality traffic to your website.

Ok - it's St. Patrick's Day...go drink some Green Beer!