Everywhere you turn these days you see those funny letters: www.something.com. Yet, ask about the Internet and chances are you'll hear, "It's hard to explain," followed by a discourse on Web Sites, HTML language, search engines, bookmarks, IAPs, newsgroups, chat rooms, browsers, hyperlinks, e-mail... The list is mind boggling. But some enterprising local business people have managed to sort through the jargon and use the Internet to their advantage.
Harris Reiter, broker-owner of the Rocky Mountain Real Estate Group, uses the Internet successfully to market his home-based real estate business. A Realtor since 1979, Reiter began using the Internet as one of his main marketing tools about a year ago and it now accounts for approximately 65% of his business. Through the Internet, he's able to reach one of his prime target markets: computer-savvy, high-tech types looking for property in Evergreen. These people may be across town, across the country, or around the world.
Reiter understands that people often want real estate information before they're ready to talk to a Realtor. By accessing his Web site, potential buyers can get information on the area, can see pictures and descriptions of properties in a particular price range or neighborhood, and can even take a virtual tour of the homes that interest them by viewing full color photos of the interiors, all without leaving home. At the end, there is a form they can complete right on the computer to request additional information.
...For those of us who have yet to catch on to the wonders of cyberspace, it can be intimidating. But for those brave souls who've jumped right in, the Internet is a remarkable world of information, commerce, and entertainment right at their fingertips.
What makes a successful Web site?
Harris Reiter has had
success marketing on the internet, and offers these tips:
Be involved: don't leave
it up to someone else to make it work for you.
Colorado Serenity May, 1996
