I am wondering if anyone onthe board knows marketing. I wouldlike to write a letter to real estate companies and a few other companies that cater to expats to try to get a little bit of advertising. Every time I sit down to write the letter I have complete and total writer's block. My mother, a writer, said she would do it for me and that all I would have to do is write down my points but even that leads to frozen fingers. Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm a writer, too. I would echo your mother's advice.

But. Seriously. If you'd like a draft of it, let me know. I lured my wife to Italy on the basis that I'd make a start on a book. If she sees me at the keyboard doing something other than trawling the 'net, it might remove some of the pressure.

I worked in advertising for a dozen or so years. I left over three years ago, so I might be a little rusty, but I used to be good at my job.

Let me know if/how I can help.
Sara

I am just trying to come up with something to sell our site. I can supply site stats etc. but I need more. Basically, why someone should advertise with us.

According to Beppe Severgnini I should say I am the greatest, but since I am only partly American, I will say I have had good results with writing sales and promo letters and placing them.
Tell me what you want...

Christina,
I can offer you good news and bad news.

The good news:
1) I was a marketing major in college.
2)I have owned a real estate office for 15 years - which should make me more tuned in to what other offices might be looking for when spending their advertising euro.
3) I would be more than happy to help you come up with something.

The bad news:
1) I am a slow thinker. Sometimes an idea might not come to me for days, or weeks even. Most likely you need something before my brain gets into gear and the others here will be able to come up with something long before I do.

If you like, send me your ideas and what you have thus far and I'll see if anything pops up.

I am ALWAYS the one they come to in the office if a letter needs writing. My agents tell me it is because my writing skills are so profound. I say most of the time it is because they are merely too lazy to do it themselves.
Which brings up a thought.
There is a saying here in the real estate industry that 5% of the agents do 95% of the work......which breaks down to 95% of agents left over for the remainging 5% of the business. That makes for a lot of lazy real estate salespeople. ((I know - I have a couple of them at my office))
It has been my personal experience that pretty much the same holds true for Italian immobiliare agents. I have had a terrible time trying to find someone to work with me during my housing search all over Italy. I actually only had one even take the extra effort to look for something else for me after what they showed me was not satisfactory. I believe that was only because he had the house listed of a good friend of mine - who accompanied my on my showings. He wouldn't want his client to see he not diligently try to sell properties,eh.
That being said I assume that most OWNERS of the immobiliare companies are actually in the business to make money and that's who you want to target with your mailings. You could include as well any individual agent who had his own website as he/she would display a willingness to earn a dollar or two.

I think I would include, right now, somewhere prominent on your website a spot designated for Immobiliare companies. (((another banner perhaps))) Make it the most "stand out" link on your pages for now. That way when potential owners/agents get your letter and check out your site they will be pleased that they are getting "top billing" as it were. Offer to plpace their name on your site for free ---- but if they want a link --- well they will have to pay for that.

In the real estate market a ready, willing and able buyer is a commodity. Your site offers a captive audience made up of those commodities. If someone were to look at the demigraphics of your site they would find that you are primarily made up of people living in Italy AND those desiring to re-locate to Italy. What better audience could I ask for if I were looking to toot my horn?

Wow! It's amazing what a simple plea can result in. In six hours you got 4 people offering to help for free- that's a heck lot more than you would get if you put out a job ad.

I think one of the greatest things about advertizing on this site would be that you would reach the people who are still just thinking of making a move, who are still open to different locations etc. They come with an open mind, and are more than willing to look at any offer. Or "they". I should write WE!

quote:

...and a few other companies that cater to expats...

Christina,
Real estate companies are a great idea, after all, expats desire a place to live upon becoming an Expat.
Also, how about airline links?
Local tourism board links?
Rental car agency links?
Major hotel chain links?
Smaller agritourismo links? (If I had one of these, I'd want to be on expatsfromitaly.com!!)

These companies don't necessarily "cater" to expats, but expats sure will generate a big chunk of business for them...

What about contacting:

moving companies
attornys that assist with visas, etc.
language schools
apt. rental agencies

YES -- Sara's suggestion made me think of Commercialisti, especially those who can deal with income both U.S. and Italian. I could use one of those myself!

Hello Everyone!

I am sure that I could write something up if you still need, I am in sales here in the U.S.
The site is an easy sell because it is the only website the really serves a relatively large group of people. I would include testimonials. And maybe examples of what keywords will lead expats to the site.

Good luck and let me know!

Mellissa

quote:

Originally posted by Cristina:
Basically, why someone should advertise with us.

I also worked in Advertising (book publishing) and while in college, co-editor of newspaper and reporter... sure, it wasn't New York Times but the principles of getting advertisers was/is the same: Appeal to potential advertisers with NUMBERS, for internet site advertising, tell them--BRAG!!!/$ell--about the number of hits you get a day, or by weeks end; how many members (dif levels of membership), guests, etc. Inform them how many times Slowtrav has been mentioned in Magazines or Newspapers, and info about their readership #s. How many travelers, and where they frequent. If you know how to write code, query the percentage of viewers from dif parts of the globe. All this could be easily conversational, but a nicely done hand-out w/bullet points is a good idea to leave w/potential clients.

Cristina, Annika -- I am wondering if maybe my driving school would be interested in advertising. (probably not as it's a local Torino thing, but you never know - there are quite a few of us here now). Can you give me some details about what this would entail for them? Thanks!

quote:

Wow! It's amazing what a simple plea can result in. In six hours you got 4 people offering to help for free- that's a heck lot more than you would get if you put out a job ad.

Annika.. that's hysterical! See, Cristina, you're not as bad at marketing as you thought!

well, actually, LaDelf, Cri posted in June and it took me until NOW to get around to this....hmmmmm 5 months...not so good ...but maybe we can get a nice ad from these guys, and they are a FANTASTIC driving school (not that I have passed the test yet, but....hope springs eternal!)