What is pulling prospects to visit your web site? You have obvious -- strategic alliances with lenders, title reps, home inspectors, appraisers and attorneys. Here are ten ideas that aren't obvious.

1. Use balloons besides at open house. Print an action slogan on balloon along with your URL -- web site address. An action slogan is very important, otherwise people will not know what URL is for. When attending an outdoor event, like a fair, carry them, place them on your children’s arm so you can find them, and hand them out. Take balloons to kids baseball games or other sports. If traveling with balloons is difficult, call show’s event office and find out if there is going to be someone there with equipment for balloon blowing. When you get there, give them a few dollars to blow a few up for you. You can order all sizes and balloon shapes: http://www.gopromos.com/store/category.asp?CL=101A1276A1292

2. On brochures add an action request, such as "Search all area homes for sale anytime." Or change "anytime" to "24/7". If you don't have this on your brochures, go to an office supply store and pick up some colorful Avery labels, or maybe you have some hanging around office, and create them yourself. Also add your URL to that action request. Go ahead and use stickers for a lock box action request, "If this house doesn't fit your needs, visit [URL] for a complete search of other homes in this area".

3. Home-For-Sale Signage. Does your for sale front lawn or directional signs for open house have your web site address on them? If not, add them with along with an action request for all those not quite ready that are driving by, or for those that don't have time to stop at that particular time.

4. Community bulletin boards. Grocery stores, libraries, community centers. Post your business cards at minimum. Create tear off tabs small flyers that fit within their requirements with an action request and your URL.

There are two major items that get in way of this not happening. First, if you don't show them how you are different from other realtors and if you don't have a formalized conversion system.

The NAR news is good news if you are first contact. But what do you do if you aren't? What can you do is a more accurately way of asking? Agents know there is a wide difference between experience and competence. This doesn't really matter though, agents main target isn't selling to other agents.

The key is to create a marketing process that pushes you in front of line of other realtors.

The 2003 NAR report stated that 71 percent of buyers use Internet to gather information on buying a home yet only 6 percent use Internet to find an agent. This means that 65 percent of people visiting realty-type web sites and just there for information. The 2003 numbers are an increase from 41 percent and 3 percent in 2002. Keeping at this same growth rate, 2004 prediction would be 91 percent and 9 percent.

The Internet is fifth method to find agents. The first four are: referrals, repeat business, met agent at open house or office walk-in. The fifth with Internet were yard signs. The least effective at 1% were advertising trinkets and direct mail.

What type of Internet presence do you need in order to be first contact -- or part of nine percent in 2004? With Internet ever evolving trying to keep up creates a throw-up-the-arms frustration at times if you're not techie savvy or paying for someone else handing site.

There are four major keys for staying present and being in this nine percent: 1. Automatic database system 2. An informative, interacting, and evolving web site 3. Technology support for leveraging time 4. Newsletters, printed or e-delivered.