I hear what you're saying.  Sometimes sellers have egos too and just want to know that their home will get seen in the local paper by their neighbors and friends.  They want that celebrity status I guess.

Eventually, they'll catch on to the internet concept, but by then...who knows what technology we'll have available.  

Next time, ask them where they'd prefer you spend THEIR marketing dollars?  Where they'll get more bang for their buck.

We all know that the power of print advertising has been dwindling each year and can continue to try and explain this to the sellers. Unfortunately, most don't really care because that is "just the way it is done" to them. I find it easier to just go ahead and do it but I still explain this fact so that I can continue to help educate the public. It is similar to trying to explain to them the statistics on homes sold through open houses. Again, I still do open houses but they are made aware of the fact that it benefits my future business more than it will benefit the selling of their home.

Sounds like she doesn't own a computer....believe it or not there are still alot of people out there that don't, how do they survive?

Get the irrelevance of newsprint advertising out of the way at the beginning of the presentation.

Start your listing presentation with the rhetorical question:

When was the last time you watched black & white television?

Why would you?  We have HDTV today. A well developed web marketing strategy is HDTV to the B&W, grainy, low dpi world of newspaper advertising.

Why would you spend money on newsprint advertising? In fact ... if newsprint was free ... I wouldn't invest the time to place the advertising there ... the time is better spent marketing the same property online ... at least you have leverage of distribution, online persistence and tracking of your marketing.

Don't give in to requests for newsprint marketing - instead - ask the sellers where their bathroom is .... walk in ... open your wallet or purse and turn it upside down, shake it, then flush.

Michael Bean | Bean Group | New Hampshire

Great post Michael!

So let me see if I got that right...you get a good listing prospect, go thru your speil about great marketing and balk when your client asks about local advertising? So what its not cutting edge...you are not depriving them of your internet ad just augmenting it w newspaper...as for the analogy about TV, what if they dont watch TV at all?..I dont, I used to spend...make that waste hours a week flipping channels...Make sure you ask the right questions and don't blow your presentation by turning your prospect off with some wise crack rhetorical question.

Whats commision on 150K, 200K, 350K? how much to run a couple lines in local print? How much for a happy client? How much for a referal from a happy client that thinks you did EVERYTHING available to market their property?

I don't do Open Houses. I think they are a waste of money/time. I do run newspaper ads. People still read the newspaper. I get alot of calls/business from there.  Some people just want it. Why not give it to them. If the house is priced properly then you'll make your money back.

You have to give the market what it wants, even if it wants something that is not effective.  

That is, unless, you are effective at educating the market to the contrary.

Unless your credibility is very high, it can be less costly to give them what they want...