Are your marketing efforts helping you?

Over 70,000 hits and not 1 phone call! In February I ran an ad on REALTOR.com featuring my listing at 1026 Galt Street in Norfolk, Virginia. To my dismay I did not receive one phone call during the whole month the ad run inquiring to me about the listing. I knew going in my phone number would not be displayed as the point of contact with a featured listing versus a showcase listing enhancement. Thus, I placed my contact information in the description and as part of the header to try and get prospect calls.

Needless to say I have expended a lot of effort in trying to sell this home. Well I found out in a meeting on Thursday my efforts may not be helping me but it is surely helping others. Another real estate professional informed me she has done $30,000 in business from the ads I ran. She further added others have done good business off my ads as well. I'm happy to know my marketing efforts are working. However, I can whole-heartedly admit I wish my marketing efforts would help me out just a little bit.

I've only been in my present location since the beginning of this year, so it is totally awesome my advertising has generated so much business. I can say it is impressive. What would impress me even more if I could have at least one transaction from it all.

My focus now is realigning my marketing strategies so they work for me. I still have advertising bills to pay. I am not one of the fortunate ones who was able to capitalize off my marketing efforts. Here I was wondering what is so dreadfully wrong that I am not getting any calls direct to me.

I think if the tables were turned I would offer, hey I see you have not had any business and I've made a lot of money off your efforts how about I at least cover your advertising costs?" No such luck.

Thankfully I am technologically savvy enough to capitalize on most of the low or no cost advertising mediums. Now instead of praying for success from my advertising I guess I'm going to need to be more specific and say "success for me for my efforts."

Anyone who knows me probably realize I put my heart into my work. I am a hard and dedicated worker. However, since that meeting on Thursday morning I've been trying to find if there is any salt left in me for this entrepreneurship experiment.

I say experiment because some things work for a while then I run into a rock. I guess now I'm just staying prayerful and thankful. I am recalling the words to a gospel song which says "when you hit rock bottom remember God made that rock."

Okay. The best way to experience something is to go through it. I challenge you to take some words of advice from me: "As part of your marketing strategy to capture business, make sure your marketing efforts not only work they also work so you yourself reap some of the rewards!"

Be specific in your marketing design, efforts, and delivery. It can make the difference in you feeding yourself or someone else getting fed.

I've received my projected property assessment how about you?

Well, I received my property assessment in the mail within the last week. Based on a random inquiry with other homeowners I now realize I am not alone with a decline in the assessed value of my home. From a small sampling I have seen changes ranging from a few thousand dollars up to tens of thousands. In fact, the majority have been in the tens of thousands.

The upside is the amount of taxes they will have owing will diminish. However, the downside for those who are trying to sell their home in this market may have a tougher time getting their asking price.

Trust and believe the buyers are doing their research and going online to view the newer assessments. Yes, the information is available online already. They are using it as a useful tool when making offers.

Personally, I was hoping the new assessments would not be publicly published until July. Who am I? Without a doubt a person who did not have a hand in the decision to make the information public prior to the effective date. As a web developer I would have designed my application so the new information would not be available to everyone with a browser until 12:01 a.m. on the date it becomes effective. I’m sure some homeowners probably feel violated. They’ve had a hard enough struggle trying to get their homes sold in this market.
The buyers should be truly thankful. They are the ones who stand to gain the most by the lower assessments being published publicly ahead of time. Normally when the divide between common sense and book sense closes its gap it makes no sense at all. (That was original I hope you like that (smile)!).

In all fairness if the assessments were increasing I still would not want to see them published until they were actually effective. However, of course the seller would have the upper hand in this case. They would probably up the price because they would have the assessment to support it.

Unfortunately for quite a few I verbally surveyed they now owe more on the home than what it is assessed at. I sure hope this is not indicative of the whole population.

Here I was all optimistic the market would rebound and assessments would remain stable. How many people will decide to walk if they receive some really depressing news in regards to a large decline in their assessed value? I encourage everyone to check out the resources available to them via their lender and non-profits before giving up completely. Also, consider letting a real estate professional negotiate a short sell for your home prior to just walking away. Explore all your options to see which one works best for your situation.

Check out the Making Home Affordable website at MakingHomeAffordable.gov.

If you just want to vent call me. You can reach me direct at (757) 309-2763. If I'm hearing someone else's story and not available please feel free to leave me a message and I'll call you back.

If I were the lender I would be offering a stay and play option to the homeowners. My script would go something like: “Stay in your home, negotiate with us direct, let’s make a deal and we’ll give you a vacation packet to help relieve your stress on this very disappointing downturn. Don’t walk away it may end up being a lose-lose situation for everyone. We’re working aggressively to see how we can improve this situation and we have received the projected assessment as well because you escrow your taxes with us, the city has kindly furnished us a copy. We are not taking a wait and see approach we are being pro-active in trying to bring some normalcy to this situation. We as you hope your focus is to stay in your home and we will try and offer a work-around even it only needs to be temporary for a few years until the market rebounds.”

Yes - I've Limited Myself...

Today I changed the name of my blog once again. I changed it from Lynne's Lines - Hampton Roads Real Estate to Lynne's Lines - Hampton Roads Entrepreneur. I felt "Entrepreneur" better encompasses the goals and ambitions I have set for myself.
Additionally it does not limit me to one sector of the business market. It brings home a more personal approach to my business pursuits "Entrepreneurship". My focus and goals will be to establish multiple streams of income.

Somewhere along the way, like I did yesterday when I was out driving I took a detour. It is definitely time for me to get back on track. Part of the definition given on "Wikipedia" is: "Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to the type of personality who is willing to take upon herself or himself a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome.

Observers see them as being willing to accept a high level of personal, professional or financial risk to pursue opportunity."

I think this definition hits the nail on the head. I often attend business meetings, workshops, and seminars keeping up to date on what is happening in different areas of the local market. I spend a lot of time online reading, studying, and reviewing what others are doing to make their mark on the world.

My goal this week is to do get all the certifications and registrations in place to realize some of the business goals I want to achieve. I am a very energetic person who needs to stay active. I want to create my multiple streams of income rather than putting all my eggs in one basket that over the past year haven't had many eggs at all.

I can safely say I've put the wheels in motion, I'm just waiting for them to turn. Like a colleague said recently "A watched pot never boils." I need to let go and see what happens.

This week forward I'm going to concentrate on re-building my professional career. I have two degrees with honors and I am very business savvy. I have a solid foundation I just need to build upon it. There has been a reason for every season and I have learned a lot. I'm at the point where I realize I need to get back to basics of working a nine-to-five and earning a living. I want to retire one day. Maybe I can get back with one of the employment systems where I was previously vested and buy back my retirement options within the allotted time frame. I can honestly say I've expended everything over the past three years were at times I have been self-employed or underemployed to dual employed.

Now my mission is to embark on another career and see all the goodness life has to offer with being self-employed and gainfully employed. I did it before and the rewards all-around were great!