Online Marketing - FSBO
So as you might have gathered, we’re going the FSBO route. Here’s some initial thoughts on the marketing resources we’re trying.
Craigslist - Initially I found it tough to find the category “real estate for sale”. I thought it was separate from housing for some strange reason. Once I got past my own blunder it was very smooth sailing. Pleasantly surprised that I could upload pictures; I’d never seen pictures in the listings I’d viewed before. Also great that listings allow HTML so the link to my website works. Happy that I can post without registering. The process clearly explained things like email address forwarding etc.
Kijiji - slicker than Craigslist in some ways (as it should be, having the resources of eBay at it’s disposal), but disappointing that links to my site aren’t allowed. Also some of the process was a little short on explanation compared to Craigslist. Great that you don’t have to register to post; their confirmation email does a good upsell message for that. Both Kijiji and Craigslist auto link to maps of the location which is a great touch.
ByTheOwner.com - I started our listing there yesterday, and it’s still not live. (Listings are dependent on real human beings for review.) Happy to see they ask for your website address and automatically link to it. I decided to adjust my listing tonight, and upload pictures to it. After the second one I noticed a $ icon by it. Hmm… am I supposed to pay for adding pictures? I joined the site since it is offering free listings for BC home sellers. Otherwise it would be a bit of a gamble in my opinion, since they seem new to the BC market. I just noticed signs around town for them in the last month or so. So it seems a fair trade for me to advertise their site and vice versa.
That’s enough for tonight. More to come.
Update: comments closed due to evil spammers.
Posted: August 28th, 2006 under Marketing.
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