U.S. ranked 17th in the world as information society. A Digital Divide?

The Real Estate Classified: A Digital Divide?: A Digital Divide? A   digital divide  is an   economic inequality   between groups, broadly construed, in terms of access to, use of, or kn...

A Digital Divide?

A Digital Divide?

A digital divide is an economic inequality between groups, broadly construed, in terms of access to, use of, or knowledge of information and communication technologies.  The U.S. is ranked 17th in the world as an information society.  look up ICT Development Index published by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union.


Our business works with many individuals who do not, yes, do not have an email address.  My last analysis read 70% without.  A large part of our customers are owners of property.  Before they learned about what we do they were very committed to placing ads into a print newspaper. 

I’m not quite sure if it’s that they don’t believe the internet is where everyone is or is it the fear of not knowing in itself?  I'm willing to bet that the closest they get to the internet is quite possibly through commercials on tv that end with dot com.  

When we inform them that today’s real estate consumers are using the internet and that the newspaper is not being purchased they either get it, have an idea or flat out don’t want to hear it.  $100-$225 were some quoted charges for newspaper classified ads.  The worst was $170 for three days.  Ouch.  
  Conceptualization of the digital divide is often as follows:
1.    Subjects of connectivity, or who connects: individuals, organizations, enterprises, schools, hospitals, countries, etc.
2.    Characteristics of connectivity, or which attributes: demographic and socio-economic variables, such as income, education, age, geographic location, etc.
3.    Means of connectivity, or connectivity to what: fixed or mobile, Internet or telephony, digital TV, etc.
4.    Intensity of connectivity, or how sophisticated the usage: mere access, retrieval, interactivity, innovative contributions.
5.    Purpose of connectivity, or why individuals and their cohorts are (not) connecting: reasons individuals are and are not online and uses of the Internet and ICTs.
 
When they learn how much we charge they are overjoyed, skeptical or pissed!  Many of those that we call who understand and use our service have been satisfied and have used us multiple times already!  Those who are skeptical request more information through the postal mail and some are just plain nasty!  These people just seem so angry. 

As a local, family business we consider our customers like our relatives, even the nasty ones.  We all have one don’t we?  Patience and understanding is the DNA of our staff and we will continue to try and educate as many property owners as possible until we get them all!   FM

Did spell check work on my introduction?

The Real Estate Classified: "My better late than never" introduction post: Probably would have been nice if I did this when I started a blog.  17 years online and never did a one so let's consider this to be &qu...

"My better late than never" introduction post

Probably would have been nice if I did this when I started a blog.  17 years online and never did a one so let's consider this to be "My better late than never" introduction post. TY

Hi, my name is Frank Musarra and I have been active in the real estate industry for over twenty years.  It was about 17 years ago when the Internet became a part of my real estate career and boy has it changed!

We still used thick, MLS books when the internet began because public access to real estate information on a local level was non existent.  How many times did I lend out the book against MLS rules?  I'll plead the fifth since today we can find thousands of real estate related web sites through a quick Google search!  

The web site that I help manage and maintain is called The Real Estate Classified.  We are helping real estate consumers connect through the buying, renting and selling of real estate property.  Our system is producing great visitation numbers as well as successfully marketing real estate property.  Repeat business does speak for something!

That Google search I referenced is one of many reasons why it is very difficult to advertise online.   Unless you have a monster marketing budget an online campaign could get costly.  Many of us on a local level will find it difficult to get results.  It's ok though, we've developed a strategy that I know many of you will make sense of.

Our digital marketing department has developed a strategy for local business promotion at a fraction of the cost to traditional ways.  We direct all marketing to a zip code.  Yes, there are different ways to accomplish this, for example; Val-Pak, local coupon magazines, post card/letter mailing, social media networks, and other ways to reach customers.  All are great but can they get to a NEW customer?  

Eventually I would agree but how much would that customer have to spend to get your ad money back?  If they move in a year your business lost money possibly.  We can guarantee that many of the consumers we reach will be moving into your business zip code.  How can we guarantee this?  

Easy, we satisfy owners of real estate property by placing property ads into the real estate classified for visitors to buy or rent.  Our strategy includes your business starting a relationship with customers before they move into your zip code.  We also have an option for you to stay connected once they do move in!

Our system is one of the best for targeting NEW customers.  We receive repeat business all the time and it feels great!  Give us the opportunity to promote your business and we'll read all about your success.

www.therealestateclassified.com for real estate needs

www.ownyourdigitalzipcode.com for marketing your local business

Do you believe that
"There are good people everywhere?"

As a daily Facebook participant both personally and for business I find myself writing the following words more & more to my friends, "There are good people everywhere."  The last time I posted that it got me thinking about what that means to me.

With all the evil the last 12 years has produced for us it can become difficult sometimes to overcome things.  I think most of these posts find their way to the twenty/thirty year old's in my social network.  This group of young adults were 6-18yrs old during the 9-11 tragedy, grew up with a war, grew up with violence on tv, grew up with negative news all the time, grew up with the internet, the list goes on.  It's enough stress for any adult to overcome during that time, imagine the silent damage to children?

I say silent because they didn't talk about and neither did we, at least not that much with my children.  I played the "Be stronger card".  I think I explained that it was a cowardice act because all the people who died were killed for a belief in so selfish that it is evil.  What is sad for me is that I believe that the individuals who caused this dark time believed themselves that they were going to make the change they wanted.  That much selfishness I have no mercy for and without acting out angrily I attended the 2001 New Year's eve ball drop in NYC to show my solidarity and eliminate the fear from my kids world.  Bad people are developed not born.

Sorry for that, dug up some memories for a minute.  I usually post "There are good people everywhere" when someone acknowledges someone on Facebook for their good deed.  It is presented as a compliment first to the person who did the good deed.  Secondly made for the person who posted the acknowledgement to keep true to the spirit of the good deed.  Who knows, that position could be reversed one day where we can initiate the good deed for someone or some group.


I thank god that my entire life has been that of meeting good people much more than let's say "not so" good people.  I want to be believe that most people would consider themselves to be "good people" and good is, well, good.

Frank Musarra

ps If you are looking for available real estate or know of a friend or family member renting or selling a property please visit us at The Real Estate Classified

How much should a business have to pay for company branding?

This question has many answers and could get expensive quite quickly.  One of the difficult aspects of branding a business is the outlook itself.  Most business owners would like for an immediate return on their advertising dollar.  Who wouldn't right?

The most important aspect of a marketing campaign is to quantify what the return will be.  Let's use a print magazine campaign as an example.  Depending on the magazine the rates could run from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand for one magazine run.  I'm thinking that a larger company will invest in the thousand dollar ad while the small business owner would opt for the few hundred dollar ad.

The magazine reaches a certain demographic and the ad is mostly good for the day or so that consumers read it.  As many of today's consumer migrate online the print magazine loses its power.  I mean a tax write off is fine but why would a business invest in print advertising campaigns knowing their market is mostly online?

This brings me back to business branding.  As more and more consumers use the internet for information it becomes difficult for the business owner to configure a plan for internet marketing campaigning.  For the local business owner I would recommend online marketing on the local level.  What good is an online ad if it reaches a majority of consumers who will never use the business?  Good for a tax deduction but not good for business.

This is where our company may help.

We market & brand the local business to new consumers living & moving into their business district as they utilize The Real Estate Classified to find, rent or sell real estate property.  This is the most targeted style of marketing a local business owner can receive and for the first year it would cost $1 a day!

Click here to read & review our marketing campaign packages
Any questions are welcomed!

Help save your family and friends who you think are placing ads into print newspaper classifieds.

Each day I go to work around 8am.  My role is to get the office set for the girls, prepare our informational campaign for the day, check email, manage finances, develop strategic social media techniques and a few other tasks.

This week our customer service manager was on vacation which added answering the phones to my task list.  Our market is a bit tricky and the job of our customer service department is by no means easy, as I now know first hand.  One would think that convincing property owners that today's buyers and tenants are not purchasing a print newspaper would be easy?   Oh no, its like a twilight zone to tell you the truth.

So the other evening I receive a call from a property owner, guessing his age to be in the 70's.  He thought that he was calling the Star Ledger newspaper.  After explaining that we weren't the Star Ledger I tried to explain that we are just like the Star Ledger but we reach today's buyers and tenants who are online.

The gentleman was gracious enough to listen for a moment then he asked how much we charge?  I told him $49 until rented, he mumbled something at which time I asked him how much had he paid the Star Ledger?  $170 for a three day ad was his reply.

I asked if he would like to place his ad with us and he replied I have to think about it.

I wish that I was able to walk away from saving $120 on something that would solve a problem.  In this case it would have helped rent his empty apartment.

It is very frustrating for me to try and comprehend how many property owners don't want to recognize the fact that buyers and tenants are not buying a print newspaper.

Thank goodness for the gym!

http://www.therealestateclassified.com
Find, rent or sell real estate online