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Email Lists: Two-Way Networking, Marketing Tools
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Email Lists: Two-Way Networking, Marketing ToolsIf you use the Internet to search for deals, and you’re weary of wading through the same old listings on the same old sites in hope of finding something new, there’s a way to make the information you want come to you — join an email list. More than information sources, most email groups are interactive — meaning that you can communicate with all other members simultaneously. This makes the medium a powerful networking and marketing tool. There are many lists to choose from that deal with commercial real estate, but very few that specialize in retail real estate, which may signal an opportunity for those so inclined to start their own. We outline that farther down. Email lists — also known as email groups, newsgroups, forums, mailing lists or discussion groups — are organized by topic. When you subscribe to a list, your email address is simply added to the list of addresses to which posts will be sent and from which the list will accept new posts. Every message from other subscribers is sent to your email address, and every message you send to the list is copied to every address on the list. Probably the best feature of email lists is that they’re free, and you can subscribe to as many as you can tolerate, or unsubscribe at any time — that’s all handled by software, so nobody gets annoyed with you, at least on unmoderated lists. Some lists will let you subscribe in "digest" mode, which means you get one email a day, containing all the posts sent to the list since the last digest. This saves inbox space, but can be awkward when you’re trying to keep track of individual posts. There are several varieties of email lists, the main division being between the moderated — meaning the owner must read and approve each post before it’s distributed to the list — and the unmoderated list. And finally, there are lists that are better known as e-zines or electronic newsletters, to which subscribers can’t post at all. They just receive whatever the list owner sends. As an e-zine subscriber, you have no contact with other subscribers, so it’s not a good networking or prospecting tool, though some may be worth reading. While email lists are often called "newsgroups," it’s a misnomer. Newsgroups are what you find on Usenet, which is older than the Web, where 30,000 or more bulletin-board forums can be found with such arcane titles as alt.binaries.pictures.dogs or biz.entrepreneur, and so on. They can be accessed either through the newsreader function of an email client such as Outlook, or via the Web at Google.com, which bought the Usenet archives once hosted by Deja.com.
Start Your Own List?
The flip side of joining an email list is starting one. As a marketing tool, the email list is unsurpassed, and it can be done whether you have a Web site or not. Running an email list probably is the cheapest and easiest way to attract and keep potential customers, communicate with large numbers of people, and get your message out without committing the Internet sin of sins, spamming (sending unsolicited email). Before you decide to start a list, there are two main points to consider: What do you want your subscribers to receive, and how much work do you want to do? The least-work alternative is a list with open subscription and no moderation. All the owner has to do is promote the list however he wants and let it go the way it goes. The typical result is a list that generates at least 50 percent spam, so your subscribers will end up knowing at least as much about Internet porn and multi-level marketing scams as they do about the designated topic. Adding anti-spam rules is a good idea, but spammers usually ignore such rules and, when you kick them off the list they subscribe again with a new email address. This can be defeated in part by requiring new list members to be approved by the moderator, but that’s another time eater and it tends to discourage people from joining. The only way to eliminate spam completely is to run a moderated list, which means the list owner, or someone designated by the owner, will have to read every post and either approve it or delete it. If your list is popular, it could have several thousand subscribers eventually, and you will spend a lot of time moderating. But then, since those thousands of subscribers are available to read your messages anytime you have something to say, it may well be worth the time. The cost of setting up an email forum ranges from free to cheap, if you don’t include time spent reading and/or sending messages to the list. There’s a cost involved if you pay programmers to set it up in a proprietary format so it’s only accessible through your Web site, but it’s free if you do it through a more public venue such as Yahoo! — arguably the biggest list host on the Web since it acquired eGroups. A search at www.groups.yahoo.com, for example, found 165 email groups dedicated to commercial real estate. Most are small, local or company specific groups, but a healthy percentage look like they would serve a broad audience (you don’t know until you read the posts). In some cases, a group’s archives are public, which gives the prospective subscriber a chance to evaluate the list before joining.
Subscribing, Unsubscribing
If you join a list and decide it’s not for you, unsubscribing is easy. Most forums include unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of every message that goes out. To subscribe to a group that’s featured on a Web site, such as dealmakers.net, Dealmakers.net or even Yahoo!, it’s a matter of clicking on a link and filling out a short form. In most cases, if you joined a list through a Web site you can unsubscribe at the same site. To subscribe or unsubscribe by email, you need the email address of the list (usually at the bottom of each message from the list). In most cases, you send an empty message to that address with either "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" as the subject (don’t include the quotation marks). Often, there’s a clickable email link at the end of each message to unsubscribe. If it doesn’t work, send a polite message to the list owner asking for help.
Open Forums
(Unmoderated posts, though there may be rules.) *To access a Yahoo! group, go to www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ followed by the group name.
1031propertiescom: Net leased and 1031 Exchange replacement properties.
AAARainmakers: Mortgage/RealEstate/Internet dealmaking and marketing, commercial and residential real estate and mortgage finance. Aardvarks_Commercial: Tips and tricks on marketing multifamily, mixed use, lots, acreage, industrial, office buildings and shopping centers, subdivisions, lining up builders, investors, REITs. Buyer-realestate: Buyers of commercial real estate investment, development or industrial property post buying parameters. Commercialfunding: For anyone involved in commercial financing. Commercial_Loans: For commercial real estate financing and creative alternative funding. Commercialmortgage: For anyone looking to finance commercial income producing properties. Commercialmortgages: Commercial mortgage financing, investing in joint ventures related to commercial real estate financing. Comrevalxchange: Aimed at the exchange of commercial real estate data, sales, theory and methods between appraisers, brokers, academicians and others. Hardmoney: To share sources and needs for hard money real estate loans for residential and commercial properties throughout the U.S. LeaseAdvisors: Advice group for landlords and tenants. Realestatebuysell: List for real estate packages priced over $10 million. Realestateinvest: Information and property listings in commercial real estate. RealEstateInvestorDaily: Posting of properties for sale, wanted, leasing, joint ventures, primary focus on commercial and investment properties. RealEstateLaw: An international real estate law discussion group.
RealEstateLink.net: An open list, bulletin-board style, on the Web, or by email. Go to www.realestatelink.net and click on "newsgroup." Recombroker: Commercial real estate investors, principals and brokers can post listings or interest to purchase or lease properties. Refinancing: Commercial real estate financing forum for investors, brokers, owners and others.
Moderated Forums
(Posting allowed, but posts are read and approved by a moderator.) 1031market: Listings and needs in commercial (usually NNN single tenant) properties suitable as replacement properties for 1031 exchanges.
CreditLease: Dedicated to the sale, leasing, exchange and financing of single tenant, net leased retail, office and industrial properties. Restricted membership. ReXn: Real estate exchangers’ networking and relocation services exchange HAVE listings, WANT listings. For general real estate exchange. dealmakers.net and Dealmakers.net: At www.dealmakers.net/subscription.asp you can sign up for any of 10 email forums. Posts can be read online at www.dealmakers.net/mail/index.html before you join. The forums are: 1. Commercial Real Estate; 2. Investment Real Estate; 3. Real Estate Finance; 4. Real Estate Appraisal; 5. Residential sales; 6. Internet & Real Estate; 7. NetBizForSale; 8. Property For Lease; 9. ESP (Entertainment & Specialty Projects); 10. TenantTip.
Newsletters, E-zines (No posting. Messages from the list owner only.) Ameriquotes Newsletter: Statistics on commercial transactions, a quote of the day, and news about the site itself. Go to www.ameriquotes.com.
Globe St. Newsblast: A daily summary of commercial real estate news. Go to www.globest.com.
Grid Alert: Periodic news items with links to the full text online. Go to www.gridsite.com.
IREIzine: A weekly e-zine from Institutional Real Estate Inc., which also prints publications including The Institutional Real Estate Letter. Go to www.irei.com.
Realcomm Advisory: A weekly newsletter discussing commercial real estate technology issues and strategies. Go to www.realcomm.com.
Realhound News: A monthly assortment of Internet sites, tips on products and services and Realhound software information. Go to www.realhound.com.
Recyber Mail List: This one’s a bit different. Anyone can join the list and receive mail, but you have to be a paid member of the Real Estate Cyberspace Society to send to the list. Go to www.recyber.com.
Reiscast: A weekly news bulletin and access to more of the site’s free content. Go to www.reis.com.
REITweek: A weekly e-zine from Institutional Real Estate Inc. Go to www.irei.com. |