Dear Valued Subscriber
Welcome to the SAHometraders Newsletter for October. Let’s hope this signals an end to our winter blues and sets our spring days firmly in motion. Speaking of things coming to an end, Thabo Mbeki’s recent dismissal by the ANC has certainly set many a tongue wagging. With foreign investors already shy in a lacklustre world economy and wary of regional activities beyond our borders, it will be interesting to see how this latest political saga pans out. As we all know, the property market is often directly affected by the economy. The more optimistic South African consumers seem to believe that the market will bottom out towards the end of the year, so perhaps a change in the ship’s captain will steer us out of the economic storm and into more favourable waters. In the meantime, SAHometraders is determined to remain at the forefront on online property marketing, ensuring that your product commands the best possible exposure and market reach.
This newsletter contains:
- Updates on current activity,
- Information on our cutting-edge new features,
- Advice on technical issues.
At SAHometraders, our goal is to provide quality lead generation from our national site by meeting the demand for inventive forms of advertising with progressive online marketing ideas and state-of-the-art design features. If you have any queries regarding our various products or services, please don’t hesitate to contact us: sales@sahometraders.co.za
Yours in Online Marketing
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Click here to find out more about our
Marketing Services...
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| Subscriber Update |
Final Bell Tolls for PropertyGenie |
Last month, it was advised that PropertyGenie would implement a subscription fee system as of 1st September 2008. This has since been done and agencies were given a grace period in which to subscribe before their properties would no longer be listed on the site. Please be advised that as of 1st October 2008, a list of subscribers will be provided by PropertyGenie and those agencies who haven’t yet subscribed will no longer have their properties listed on the PG site through the SAHometraders feed. Anyone who still wishes to subscribe and has not yet done so should contact PropertyGenie directly.
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SAHometraders Still Serving Aces |
One of the reasons online marketing trumps print media has to do with the fact that it provides a level of fine-tuning and control, but also a degree of measurement and analysis that traditional advertising methods cannot match. Statistics compiled over the last 6 months show that SAHometraders averages 1.3 million page views, 125 000 unique visitors and 2500 enquiries each month. More and more agencies are realizing the value of online marketing as a viable and cost-effective method of advertising, especially when compared to the expense of print media options and their limited reach. The Internet is a global phenomenon, which vastly extends your target market reach and the fact that it can be accessed 24 hours a day 365 days a year translates into limitless exposure for your product. So if you haven’t already subscribed and would like to do so, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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The Art of Selling in a Tight Market |
| Always on the lookout for interesting articles and valuable information that would benefit our subscribers, we came across an excellent article on “Selling in Tough Times”. The author provides tips on how to stay focused, disciplined and optimistic, so that you can make quality sales in difficult times. Click here to read the full article.
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Take Full Advantage of the Back Office |
Did you know that there are a multitude of options available to you in the back office? Not only can you administer your listings, you can also send yourself enquiry reports on properties, rentals, farms, developments, commercial properties and businesses listed for sale on our various sites. This means that there is no need to wait on our weekly emails, as you can access this information at any time you want. In the name of making the back office experience as valuable and convenient as possible, you also have the option of creating and updating a contacts list, loading interesting news articles to your website, adding a business service list or managing your referral network. In tough times, it’s vital that we take full advantage of all the opportunities and innovations available to us.
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Stay Legally Informed |
C & A Friedlander Attorneys have provided an update on the Voetstoots Clause this month. “The court confirmed that as a general rule, where a buyer has an opportunity to inspect the property before buying it, and nevertheless buys it with its patent defects, he or she will have no recourse against the seller…” Click here to view the entire article.
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Welcome Aboard |
With crises affecting global markets, the ripple effect will no doubt have an impact on the South African property market, which is already under immense strain. In tough times, it’s vital that estate agents increase exposure and maximize their product reach. Multiple listing on the SAHometraders portal and affiliated sites provides extensive reach, but having your own website designed is the ultimate tool, allowing you to showcase your entire portfolio of property.
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SAHometraders would like to welcome the following new members on board:
- Find It KZN
- Acutts Milnerton
- Fish Eagle Estates
- Red Umbrella
- Remax First Choice
- Remax All Stars
- Nhlanamana Properties
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- Brad Norman Estates
- M Realty
- North West Property Sales
- Property 100 Commercial
- Robert Kernot Real Estate
- MKB Group
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| New Features |
Want Your Own Newsletter? |
Choosing to market your product online opens up a range of avenues for radical methods of promotion and advertising, from viral marketing, to RSS feeds, newsgroups, forums and affiliated partnerships. SAHometraders is offering subscribers the opportunity to have their own email newsletter designed and managed by us. This is an excellent way to increase exposure, as it will be mailed to your contacts database on a monthly basis, not only marketing your particular product or offering, but updating current and potential clients on any interesting developments or achievements. It is a well-known fact that buyers and sellers appreciate the personal touch when it comes to dealing with their home. If you are interested in this option, please contact sales@sahometraders.co.za.
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| Technical Issues |
Having Trouble Adding Images? |
Some of you may have experienced an error adding images to listings in the back office, where only one gallery image can be added at a time. This is likely due to a browser issue with Firefox 3. A browser is essentially a software application used to find and display web pages when accessing the Internet. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox are the two most popular browsers in use today and each has its advantages and disadvantages. When new versions are released, it often takes time before all the glitches and bugs have been identified and resolved. Our advice is not to upgrade to Firefox 3 just yet and if you are currently experiencing problems loading images then we suggest downgrading your browser to Firefox 2 using the following link |
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Not Receiving Enquiries? |
| There have been a few queries recently about the receipt of enquiries from SAHometraders. We suggest that you do regular checks of your reports in the back office to see whether you are receiving all of your enquiries. If the numbers don’t tally then it is possible that your email spam filters may be blocking our domains or email addresses. It’s advisable to do a check of your spam filters and if you don’t know how to do this then perhaps you should hire someone to do it for you. |
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Session Timeouts |
| If you are busy loading or editing listings in the back office and leave the page inactive for more than 30 minutes, this will cause a timeout and all the changes will be lost. Unfortunately, timeouts are necessary for security purposes, so be sure to save your changes before leaving the page for an extended period of time. |
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| Marketing Services |
National Site: SA Hometraders has over 600 subscribers, marketing 35000 properties for sale, 4000 rentals and a selection of farms, businesses and commercial developments.
Database of Contacts: This database consists of past and potential clients with whom you wish to remain in regular contact. Ideally, the list should be expanded and updated on an ongoing basis.
Product Range:
- List Management
- Monthly/Quarterly Newsletter
- Electronic Signatures
- Newsflashes
- Various SMS Options
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We would be happy to design an appropriate package to suit your particular needs. Should you be in the process of setting up a similar arrangement elsewhere, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a competitive option.
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