On many real estate mailing lists and online forums, a lot of the talk centers around optimizing your real estate website for high rankings in the search engines.

Yet as I go about my business and do in-depth marketing reviews of real estate websites for my clients, I consistently come across a much bigger and more important issue.

This is it: "Lack of salesmanship in print."

As a real estate professional, you are most likely an excellent salesperson. You have to be... or you don't eat.

If you are at a party, do you walk up to someone you know is looking to sell their home and introduce yourself by saying, "Hi, my name is Jane Doe. I am your number one source for Chicago real estate."?

Probably not.

Yet that is the very same approach I see on most real estate websites.

Instead, you would most likely begin by getting to know your prospect, asking him what is most important to him and then showing him exactly how you can deliver that.

It is what you do in any type of "presentation" when out prospecting for business.

"Transcribing" that interaction and editing it for your website is "salesmanship in print." You take your one-on-one sales skills and translate them into words on a page (or a website).

So let's revisit the party scenario and figure out a more effective way to introduce yourself... But let's change the picture.

Instead of the party scenario, imagine that you are sitting next to someone in a hotel lobby. The woman is on the verge of tears as she begins to tell you (a complete stranger) about how her company just transferred her to a new job across the country.

She has 30 days to sell her house or she will be forced to float two mortgages, which she can't afford...

What would you say to her?

You probably wouldn't start with your line about being the number one source for Chicago real estate would you?

What's the difference between the party scenario and your discussion in the hotel?

The first scenario is all about you. The focus is on you, You, YOU.

The second scenario begins with a different focus: your prospective client and her most pressing needs.

That is the profitable way to approach things, online and offline. Very simple, very profound. Very uncommon.

So go through your website today and ask yourself this question over and over:

"Is my focus on my prospective client and what THEY will get by working with me, or is the focus just on me?"

If the focus is on you too much of the time, you WILL lose your visitor. And that is something that even the best search engine rankings can never overcome.

Always be clear about your number one priority for your website:

To get your visitor to say, "That's for me! I want to work with YOU!"

And you don't do that by talking about YOU. You do it by focusing solely on other people's needs.