I have to say, I advertise and market my head off. I guess I'm fortunate, I work for a company that pays for it.

But there are a lot of advertising resources out there that are also priced just right for me - they are free! And I take full advantage of them. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I honestly think there's a chance that free Internet advertising is going to be a thing of the past very soon. (I hope I'm wrong, but ...) When something is too good to be true, you know ... ?

I advertise in various newspapers, and I very rarely get a call. It's a bit discouraging. But I have had the experience of getting calls from newspaper ads months later. People have a habit of holding on to what they are interested in - sometimes for a very long time. It's almost like they don't really want the property to be available when they finally do call. Or maybe they have to get up the nerve to call. Or maybe they figure if it's for sale for so long, maybe the price went down by now. Who knows.

There is a good part about this, though - oh, yes. It generated a phone call. It didn't seem to be worth it at the time the money was spent, but it eventually generated a phone call. And that opens the door to other opportunities.

But I must say that when I post an ad through something like craigslist.org, for example, I get immediate results, if I'm going to get any at all. Maybe it's because they don't really have to talk to me. It's an email. They don't feel they're imposing, if I get to answer at my leisure(?) Am I reading too much into this? Well, they're just thoughts, I mean I need to try and analyze the nature of the buyer. After all, I'll be talking to him at some point - I hope!

So. To go on, when I do get that inquiry email, I tell all ... almost. I always try to leave something out. Something that they'll want to know. Like the price, maybe. Although that's a rather annoying thing to leave out. If it were up to me, I'd tell them everything about it right away. And wouldn't it be nice if they answered with a "Thank you, it's exactly what I'm looking for, and I'll be in touch very soon!"

Well, that's doesn't happen too much, so I try to get the "ping-pong email table" going. The more I communicate, the more likely they'll pick up the phone and communicate with me directly instead of through that cyberspace net.

So, advertising might not always equal sales, this is true. But no advertising surely equals no sales.

Until next time, comments are welcome, and questions, too!