Get to know us

Hello Realtors®! 👋

I'm Jason, founder, and director of VS Marketing.

We're a small team of experienced web designers, developers, marketers, and copywriters. 

We help real estate agents, teams, and brokerages get websites that build business.

Personally, I'm a longtime digital marketing specialist, software engineer, web developer, intelligence analyst, and data nerd (over 20 years experience).  

I'm also a licensed real estate agent. 

Over the last two decades, I've built and sold services and tech companies. In total, I've started over a dozen businesses.

Some have worked out and some failed big-time (hint: avoid VC backers, folks!)

When I started my career, I worked for the US Intelligence Community in Maryland and Virginia. 

Over my 15 years there, I learned the value of critical thinking and how to analyze data to help me choose the best course of action for any business plan. 

I also learned that capturing customers using data and the right content bait is pretty much the same as capturing bad guys.

About a decade ago, after selling a software company my wife and I founded, friends and former colleagues kept contacting me to help them build websites, do SEO, and set up databases of prospects and clients they could market to. 

After doing this a few times as "one-offs" (and with more and more people coming out of the woodwork for the same stuff!), I formally started VS Marketing to help small businesses market as well as the "big guys" and gals through a focus on the most critical fundamentals (that are almost always overlooked!).

Shortly after forming the company, the first of (what would be many) dozens of Realtors® found their way to my door via a friend's referral. 

She wanted a simple, low-cost website with searchable home listings, so we built one for her. 

After a while, she asked me, "So, I never get ANY leads from my site? What's going wrong?!"

Having built hundreds of sites for other businesses and heard the same problems, I offered her an earful of info. 

For brevity's sake, I can sum it all up with this:

"You're not getting any leads because you just have a hosted website without all the other pieces you need to get people to your site from Google Search, social media, and other websites.

Plus, even if you did have people visiting your site, you don't have the persuasive copywriting (i.e., the words), compelling "lead magnets," calls-to-action, or conversion tools needed to get people to decide to contact you versus all the other agents out there in your market.

In a nutshell, that's why you're not getting any leads."

She immediately asked, "Can we meet, and you draw all this out for me on a whiteboard?!?!"

How Real Estate Clients Shop the Web Explained

I told her I'd be happy to meet, but asked her to let me explain it more simply in advance of our meeting:

People need houses, so they go to Zillow. It's just a fact.

When they find some homes they like and want to see, they go to Google and search for things like "Best real estate agent in Charleston" or "Top real estate agents near me."

About 7 out of every ten searchers pick one or more listings from the top of the first page of search results, click on their websites, and, within about 3 seconds, decide to either stay on the site or leave. 

The things that make them stay on the site and decide to contact the agent are, amongst other things, content offers (a.k.a. "lead magnets") such as:

• "A Free Guide to the Best Neighborhoods for Young Families in Tulsa"
• "Free list of St. Louis subdivisions near Great Schools top-rated Schools" 
• "A Complete Guide to Neighborhoods by Income Level"
• "A Guide to Nashville's New Construction Neighborhoods"
• "5 Things First-Time Homebuyers Can Do to Speed Up Mortgage Approval"
• 
  

While on the site, they quickly look for agent reviews or testimonials to see how recently the agent helped a client - and how it went.

If they see current positive reviews (and lots of past positive reviews), the web pages load quickly, there are no broken links, and they see multiple ways to reach out (and words that ask them to do so, a.k.a. "calls-to-action" or CTAs) such as click-to-call links, big friendly buttons, live chat, or well-placed contact forms, there's a good chance they connect. 

It's also necessary to have lots of other well-written, current content on the site that offers value - things such as guides and checklists:

• "The Home Buying Process Explained in 5 Steps"
• "Credit Report Dos and Donts When Buying a Home"
• "First Time Homebuyers Guide to a Great Deal"
• "How to Shop for a Mortgage"
• "How to Qualify for VA, FHA, and USDA Home Loans"
• 
  

These things keep them on the site and, most importantly, they subconsciously let the visitor know you:

1. Are credible and legitimate (i.e., your "authoritativeness")
2. Are a subject-matter expert (i.e., your "level of expertise")
3. Are trustworthy (no explanation needed on this one 😀)
4. 
   

All of this is part of what's called "Inbound Marketing." 

Simply put, this means using your website content, blogs, articles, social media, and emails to attract, engage, and convert leads.

The "a-ha" moment (not the great Norwegian synth-pop band, btw!)

Once I explained this to her, she went silent for a few seconds. 

She then exclaimed:

"Wow! I never stopped to think about it, but this makes soooooo much sense! I always stop on these kinds of websites when I'm looking for a plumber or lawyer! It's actually very obvious, but I don't think anyone in my industry gets it!"

I explained to her the "bigger picture" of how this kind of approach is a continuous process that, when put into place and kept up, will yield more business and new clients over the long term. 

I also did some "compare/contrast" with her, explaining how the real estate web design and digital marketing industry uses these self-same approaches to hook Realtors® into using their cookie-cutter, "iceberg" websites that claim to grow leads (but don't).

As I explained, I call them "iceberg" websites because all they're selling is the 15% of a website visitors see if they land on it.

The important stuff they don't do (as mentioned above) is the 85% that sits behind the scenes, or, in this metaphor, "under the water."

With an "iceberg" site, the web provider sells agents almost solely on looks and hollow "lip service" to things like SEO and content. 

They make out like bandits, of course. They build a great-looking "shell" of a site, charge a lot for it, then sit back and let the monthly fees roll in. 

It works so well because all of us equate beauty with quality. And that isn't good.

It's also why so many agents wash their hands of web marketing, thinking it doesn't work. 

As a result, they lose out on short-term business and even bigger long-term fortunes, falling behind other agents the entire time they're sitting there wondering, "why no leads?! I paid $4K for this site!!"

They have a terrible website and don't know it. 

Why We're Different

There's a formula for building a website that's set up to attract, convert, and engage.

Home buyers (and sellers too!) behave on the web just like other consumers looking for landscapers or home remodelers.

The digital marketing rules that make you successful selling custom-made handbags or dietary supplements on the web are the same for real estate.

We've spent the better part of the last decade helping agents and brokers choose the right recipe for their sites so they get more traffic, keep them on their sites, and convert them to buyer or seller clients.

Our formula is simple:

• Attractive website design with custom logo & icons
• Marketing-ready website structure (for Google Search)
• SEO content & technical configuration for search indexing
• High-converting, value-added "lead magnets"
• Persuasive copywriting & content
• Compelling CTAs, popups, and live chatbots

When a visitor lands on a site built by us, we guarantee you have a better chance of converting them.

Period.