Free Promotion on OverseasCafe.com

If you are an agent and you want to promote your wares to the highly focussed audience of overseas property visitors you will find on the OverseasCafe.com website then there are a few things you can do to make sure people find you.

Firstly, get listed. It's free and at least you've got a foot in the door. Simply click the Register link and choose to list as an agent. Fill in your details and once you have been passed by Admin that's it, you've got a presence on the site.

Of course a presence on the site isn't everything, because there are hundreds of other agents there as well, you need to promote your Unique Selling Point (USP). To be seen you really need to have content on the site, preferably reasonably regularly. Content can be in the form of press release articles, news, advice or exhibition dates.

Press release articles include information on releases of new product, new phases coming on-line, promotions, price changes, etc. This information can be uploaded to the site directly from your account, simply log-in and click on Articles at the top of the page, then click on Add a News Article. Once the content has been passed by Admin your article will appear live on the site.

You can also present news articles to the site. These could involve details of changes to tax or legal rules, local news that would affect potential property buyers, etc. This information will have to be submitted by email to info@OverseasCafe.com. It will be uploaded with full credit to your company in the News section of the site.

If you have upcoming exhibitions or seminars around Ireland these can be promoted using the Exhibitions link at the top of your page when you are logged into the site. Once passed by Admin your exhibitions will appear live on the site.

Finally, you can upload property to the site for free. When logged in, click on Properties at the top of your screen and then on Add Property. This will allow you to upload your property details singly or in bulk.

All the above facilities are COMPLETELY FREE, but if you want to stand out from the crowd you will need to consider paying for some advertising on the site.

The cheapest method of promotion is to invest in some Premium Properties which appear at the top of all searches on the site. When logged in you can fund your account by following the Purchase Property Clicks link on the Properties page. Once you have funded your account you can change as many of your properties as you wish to Premium Properties (edit the properties and click on the Premium Property option, properties can be allocated and changed as you wish once funds have been assigned to the account). This will bring your properties to the top of any searches conducted on the site improving your visibility greatly. Remember to make the names of your properties representative of what you are selling, this will increase traffic greatly.

If you really want to be seen on the site and wish to brand your company on the Irish market then banner advertising comes highly recommended. Companies with banners on the site receive multiples of the amount of clicks as those who don't proving that, if people can't see your brand very obviously, they are less aware that you exist. When you have a presence they will associate it with other information and properties you have on the site which greatly increases the chance that they will visit your site and ultimately invest in a property or service with your company.

To upload banners to the site, log in and click on the Manage Banner Adverts link half way down your home page. Here you can upload banners to the site and dictate on what parts of the site you wish them to appear. It also allows you to calculate how many days the amount you propose to spend will last on the site for the pages you've specified. It is an extremely flexible system as you get to control exactly how much you spend and where you spend it.

When you are considering banner ads on the site remember that the more focussed they are the better they will perform. We recommend three step GIF adverts (these flash three consecutive banners of information to the potential audience, you can see examples of these on the site). These adverts can introduce the company and its logo on the first banner, a specific product or property on the second banner and the sales pitch on the third banner. It is a very efficient method of promoting your message to the highly focussed audience you will find on OverseasCafe.com.

You can also choose a package option, where we will suggest a range of ways in which your product can be promoted on the site and in its monthly newsletters. For full details of the packages available simply email info@OverseasCafe.com and we will forward details to you.

If you've problems with any of the above please feel free to contact info@OverseasCafe.com and we'll be glad to help you in any way we can.

www.OverseasCafe.com

Is Brazil Destined for Greatness?

Brazil is being highly spoken of as one of those legendary 'property hotspots', perhaps more so than any other country in the world at the moment. Is the information we are getting just 'spin' from agents and developers to get us interested in the next place they will make a large amount of money or is there some substance to what is going on there?

We decided we should send one of our intrepid reporters over there to see what all the fuss is about, you'll find the resultant article is extremely informational. Times overseas property writer, Gordon Miller, is the reporter who got the enviable job of travelling around this huge country and he was impressed where he didn't expect to be and unimpressed where he felt he would be. To read the article click here.

If you want to get your hands on a listing of Brazilian property you'll find it here.

For news articles on Brazil click here.

For news from Agents on what is new in Brazil click here.

For a full listing of agents selling property in Brazil click here.

Remember, if you want to be updated on any of the above categories all you need to do is log in to your account and use the 'Save Search' link at the top of each search page to be updated when anything new is loaded to that specific category. It couldn't be simpler.

Haven't got an account, then click here and register, you'll be able to save searches to have the site provide you with the information you need and you'll receive our highly acclaimed monthly newsletter.

If you want to be updated on what is happening in this blog just click on the Atom or RSS feed links at the bottom of the page and you'll be able to read this blog on your own RSS reader (you can get one free from google if you don't have one).

www.OverseasCafe.com

The Dreaded Inspection Visit

Love them or hate them, you just can't avoid the fact that inspection visits (IV's) exist. A lot of people wish they didn't, but then there is nothing to force them to go on one, and some people can actually find the 'property of their dreams' while on one. Ok, so not very many people do, but there are some out there who can put their 'dream home in the sun' down to an IV.

If you want a full run down on what an IV actually consists of you should visit our advisory article on the site (link). This gives you a third party view of what an IV consists of and what you can expect if you go on one.

Let's be honest, if you really want to get to know an area and are intending spending any length of time there in the long term, the least you can do is commit to flying there for a few days (or longer preferably) yourself. With the advent of low cost carriers it isn't going to burn too much of a hole in your pocket to visit (and if it does do you really want to buy there anyway?).

As the article states, if you're going to spend a considerable amount of money in an area then use an IV sparingly, when you know the area quite well, or you could well end up being pressurised into buying something you don't really want. At best you probably won't get to see as much property by as many different developers as you would wish and usually very few, if any, resales because the commission on them is far lower than it is on 'new build' or 'off-plan' purchases.

www.OverseasCafe.com