Drawing sellers to a home-raffle site
A reader looks to gain exposure for her online real estate business.
Yvette Brown, New Start Concepts Management, Bronx, N.Y.
I started a small business that raffles houses online. How can I get exposure for the Web site?
By Christina Crapanzano, Fortune Small Business contributor
Dear Yvette: Before you attempt to direct more traffic to your Web site, you need to make sure it’s not a dead end. When FSB tried to write back to you using the contact information you provided on your page, the e-mail boomeranged back to us.
Randye Spina, the chief solutions officer at Affordable Marketing Solutions in Bridgeport, Conn., says it’s paramount to give customers access to you online. “As it stands, the site seems unfriendly – there’s no business address, your name isn’t there, and neither is your e-mail,” she says. “To the average consumer, this seems suspicious – even if you get hits, you won’t get inquiries or bids.”
According to Spina, you also need to beef up the information you provide on the site – since the concept of auctioning houses is relatively new, you should be thorough in explaining the process and the benefits.
“Some of your competitors’ sites give more background on how the concept works,” she says. Make sure your page answers the obvious questions: Why should I raffle my house? Why should I do this instead of going to a realtor?"
Once you’ve cleaned up your page, you’ll be ready to invite guests (think of it as a housewarming party). Todd Brabender, president of Spread The News Public Relations in Lawrence, Kan., says you can pursue publicity by approaching local media outlets. But before you contact them, be sure to have your selling points – the unique qualities of your business – ready.
“I always tell my clients, ‘It’s nice to have diamonds, but if you keep the diamonds in your pocket, no one knows you have diamonds,'” he says.
Spina says you should also investigate how easy it is for potential customers to find you. First, look at your organic ranking – where your site shows up in search engines when you don’t pay for services to boost your rank. Once you know where you stand, there’s a number of ways in which you can improve your placement. Spina suggests taking a look at your Web statistics and finding the keywords that are used most often to bring up your site (your Web hosting company should be able to guide you through this process). After you’ve learned these keywords, she says, use them – put the phrases all over your Web site, especially on your home page.
Another way to optimize your search-engine placement is to expand your list of meta tags, or phrases and words pertaining to your Web site’s subject matter. You can locate them by clicking “view,” then “source” on the menu bar when your site pops up. Search engines currently use tags such as “mortgage-free home” or “winning a property” to find your site. Spina also suggests adding “real estate” and “real estate bids” to the list.
“Remember, putting up a website is like opening a storefront,” she says. “It takes two steps – you have to get the customers into your store, and then give them the information the want when they get there.”
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From Rick, Adamstown, Maryland For anyone interested, there is now a book about home raffles titled, "The Home Raffle Book" and is located at http://www.thehomerafflebook.com. It's a must read for anyone conducting or participating in a home raffle and it includes a sample business plan.
From RaffleMansion If anyone is interested in putting their home up for raffle or would like to purchase tickets for a home raffle, I strongly urge you to check out http://www.rafflemansion.com
From Ron We recently were able to get our site up and running and are on our way to sell out. http://www.50DollarHomeRaffle.com We are raffling off a home in Coral Springs Florida to benifit a local charity who helps children with autism. It seems to be a win win for everyone. Check out our site. It can give you some ideas.
From THHF, Orlando, Florida Excellent point in evaluating the website, it must work and be fully completed before unveiling. We run a similar raffle website at RaffleKing.org operated by The Helpful Hands Foundation a 501 c 3 charity organization based in Orlando Florida.
From Crystal Williams, Bowie Maryland Even states that allow raffles have laws that aren't house raffle friendly. In Florida, for example, the statutes read that raffles cannot be canceled, tickets must be payment-optional, and there cannot be a minimum number of tickets for the drawing to be held.
All three of these are features of every house raffle I've seen, apparently to guard the house raffle host from loss in case they don't sell enough tickets.
Links to house raffle statutes for almost every state can be found at House Raffles: Are They Legal In Your State?
From Sheryl LaMotte, DeTour Village, MI I Have a feeling your going to be swamped with e-mails on this subject. I have a small resort in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan I would like to raffle off (it's been on the market for 3 years),considering our economy in this state. I'm finding more info on raffling with a "skills contest" (such as writing an essay)because the "game of chance" is not present there is no need for the state to be involved. Things are getting interesting…I agree with a website as a great selling tool. I built my site for my business (I'm a novice)and have learned many things through the 8 years of having the site. I agree and can prove the value of Meta Tags and Keywords on your site. If you pull up Caribou Lake, MI Moosehead Resort is very promenant on both google and MSN. Your advise for new webmasters/designers is excellent.
From Tyree Powell I have found that Fred is correct. In almost all states,(I haven't researched them all), home raffles are illegal without the help of non-profit organizations. Here's another site with more information: http://www.USAHomeRaffle.com
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Thank you for these interesting points, which we will take into account on our own house competition portal. The laws when it comes to house raffles differ from one country to another – for example in the UK we see far fewer charity property raffles organised than say in the US or Australia. Most of them tend to be run for profit – with a portion of proceeds donated to a good cause.