Michael Estes Real Estate Agent - Real Estate Agent Website of the Month

"Great Solutions with Great Results"

Michael Estes decided to become a Real Estate Agent in 2001 after becoming disillusioned working for a tech company. Michael wanted to try and change things in real estate for the better - when buying his first home he thought it was complicated, stressful and hard, and he wanted to make the experience more fun and exciting.

Michael was not very happy with his first real estate website and decided to switch to Z57 in 2004. 6 months ago he started the BuyerLink traffic program and upgraded his website to a custom homepage, and hasn't looked back since - "Michael really listens to the ideas I present to him and is very aggressive when it comes to implementing them - this is what has made him so successful", said Tommy Zoss, his Account Manager.

We asked Michael to reveal how he achieved his great success:

Z57: How did you want to grow your business? Michael: Simple, I wanted to sell more homes and I wanted to generate more leads and clients. I wanted my agents to have the success I was having, but not waste as much time and money as I did. I knew that I needed to utilize as many types of advertising as I could afford, and knew that online marketing would be an interesting path to take - and I was right!

Z57: What were challenges existing in your business that you wanted to overcome? Michael: The biggest challenge for us was battling for position with the big real estate brokers, companies that have 1,000's of agents and millions of dollars to spend. How could we even begin to compete was the question and the challenge. This challenge was our biggest one but it led to others, like how can our website make us money? How can our website actually help serve our clients better? How can we drive interested prospects to the right places on our website? Two of my top selling agents were trying to figure out how the internet and our website could help with this. I asked Tommy, my account manager, about this a lot too. He listened and offered our team solutions - solutions that I could afford, but more importantly solutions that came with results.

Z57: What specific results have you experienced? Michael: The results have been very encouraging. We have received over 300 new leads in 4 months directly from my Z57 website. I personally have 4 sales and my team has another 4 total just from Z57 leads. But the more impressive figure is how many active clients we are working from just the Z57 leads - I have 28 either coming in town in the next months to view homes or search properties, my team has 10 or so. One of the best deals I have had was from an investor that found my website from BuyerLink - he ended up buying 4 houses with me last year!

Z57: What role did your Account Manager play in your success? Michael: The biggest role Tommy Zoss played was keeping me from changing website companies. One of my agents almost convinced me to try a different website provider. But Tommy listened and understood my frustrations, he recommended a few programs, and so far I have been nothing but satisfied. I will say that Tommy and I have developed a great business relationship and I know that he will be quick to respond when I need help.

Z57: What advice can you give to other Realtors with similar goals or challenges? Michael: The only advice I give to my agents I will pass along too - when your phone rings answer it, if you don't the next Realtor will! Pass out 10 business cards everyday to new people! Tell everyone you meet that you are a Realtor, and that you would love to help them if they ever need help! Treat everyone in business and personally the way you would like to be treated - these have all had a big impact in my life as a Realtor, along with the great results of my Z57 website.