Once you have vacation and second home buyers visiting your site on a repeat basis, your next task is to get them to give you their contact information so that you can get to the next level. This is critical with this group, as they are usually not in a hurry. You need to initiate and maintain communications in order to be the Realtor® of choice when they're ready to buy. First you need to build trust:
You don't build informational trust by being stingy. Provide lots of free and easily-accessible information on your site. There is still room for friendly ways to get their contact information. I provide sold property statistics by area right on the site. However, I've developed that information into a report that goes back several years. It's too big for the site, and they realize that. By offering it as an auto-response email report, I get the majority of my leads.
I also offer a report about negotiating in my market. I state that this is information that isn't appropriate for public display, as my buyers might suffer in their deals. Selecting the report for email delivery is logical to them, and they do so. It may seem silly to some, as anyone can request it, but this does work. And these methods offer something extra for that contact info. They don't feel compelled to give it for what is considered basic area information.
You don't need that many offerings on your site if they are valuable information. You only need that contact information once. That's why I deliver a link to all the special reports in one auto-response email. They shouldn't have to ask more than once, since I've achieved my goal with the first request.
