Okay, say you have an awesome Website that does a great job of showing all your listings, and for that matter all those within your entire MLS. During a pre-listing appointment, your democratic approach to giving "equal time" to all listings doesn't necessarily warm the cockles of your prospective seller's heart. That's because what every seller wants to know is "What are you going to do for ME?"

Now imagine how a prospective seller would feel if you could show her a comprehensive, full-featured Website dedicated just to their property with their property address as the URL. And, the best part is that this site will go "live" within just a few hours of her saying "do it!" By making the seller #1 they will likely make you #1 as well —here is how you do it.

(Almost) Instant Property Websites

PowerSites™ is a Web-based listing property Website service offered by AgencyLogic that lets you create a comprehensive listing Website in just minutes. Using just a Web browser you can create a listing property Website that includes the following features:

• Property address used as the site URL

• Property photos using up to 50 per site

• Slide show with titles and narrative

• Detailed property description with up to 5000 characters and a paragraph for each feature

• School reports and mapping added automatically

• Ability to add floor plans and links to virtual tours

• Ability to add custom neighborhood and area information

• Ability to add custom pages and links

• Ability to add downloadable documents and disclosures and track their download history

You can see many examples of existing PowerSites™ at the  AgencyLogic Website. They currently have six basic template designs to choose from, each of which can be customized to some extent. For $600.00 they will design a template unique to your own branding and/or one that matches the look and feel of your agent Website. For broker/owners that want to make this service available to their agents they have packages that will only allow the company branded template to be used.

It Only Costs if You Use It

It costs nothing to create a PowerSite™ prior to publishing it to the Web. This makes it ideal as a pre-listing tool. With just a few drive-by photos and descriptive text you can "Wow" the prospective seller by showing them their home's own dedicated Website.  NOTE: you will need an Internet connection to show them their site online using the PowerSite™ builder tool prior to publishing, or print it out.

Once the seller says "Go!" it is a simple matter of completing the final property details and hitting the "Submit" button. PowerSites™ will automatically register the property address domain and assign it to the site. Even though the site is built instantly by the system, It will take one to several hours for the Internet's "Name Servers" to recognize the new property address domain name. The site will not be found on the Net until that happens.

Currently individual PowerSites™ cost $99 which includes the domain name purchase and hosting for 6 months. Reduced costs per site/listing can be had if purchased in bulk.

Let Your VA Do It

According to the folks at AgencyLogic it only takes about 15 minutes to put together a bare-bones listing property site using one of their templates. If you want to create a more full-featured site you are looking at about 40 minutes to several hours depending upon how fancy you get. Being mindful of how much your time is worth, it is probably wise to hire a VA to build these for you. This way you can focus on the pre-listing presentation rather than the materials you will use to make it.

This is exactly what top-producer Ira Serkes with RE/MAX Executives and owner of the BerkeleyHomes.com Website does.  He has been using PowerSites™ for his pre-listing presentations for the past two years. However, he uses a VA to actually create them in just 30 minutes when it used to take him hours because of putting in so many extras. As for their ability to help close the listing, Ira says: "These PowerSites™ have given me a significant advantage over my competitors when the seller sees that my focus is on them and selling their property. Also, the fact that very few of my competitors bother to use something like PowerSites™ is a definite advantage when I'm going head-to-head with another agent." You can see one of Ira's PowerSites™ by going to http://www.1410HollySt.com.

Other Options

123MainStreet.com is another company that offers a similar listing Website service for about the same price. These sites however appear to include some content and features that are not entirely focused on the property being marketed (at least the demos I viewed - this was the case). For example they offer buyers and sellers reports or the ability to search for other property. This service appears to be more of an agent site with just one listing rather than a Website entirely dedicated and focused on just one home. This could dilute some of the positive impact that could be had during a pre-listing presentation.

Once again, one of the keys to success during a pre-listing presentation is to answer the question: "What's in it for me?" from the prospective seller's perspective. Using a Website dedicated to the marketing of just their property goes a long way to helping them feel like their benefit is #1 in your mind — which of course makes you numero-uno in theirs!

Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He's dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. You'll see his column on REALTOR® Magazine Online every month and in the magazine quarterly. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.russer.com

This article is reprinted in its entirety from the November 2005 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2005. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark and Ask Mr. Internet!™ is a trademark of RUSSER Communications.