Hi "Seeds Of Wisdom" forum, I need your help with my marketing plan for neighborhood websites. This is my first post on this forum (and anywhere about this topic) but I see many familiar names and deep thinkers. Instead of posting to the others boards, I decided to start here.

I'm the webmaster for my own neighborhood website and it has had such a positive impact on our community that I decided to turn it into a product. I did some research by looking at companies like CommunityPlace.com, ConnectingNeighbors.com, and NHFind.com and determined that neighborhoods wanted these sites and Realtors are willing to sponsor them.

I've developed a great product (website and email system) that blows the competition away. Now the hard part... marketing it.

WHO DO I MARKET THIS PRODUCT TO???

So far I've chosen to market this to real estate agents since they are easy to find. The idea is that they will pay the bill and give these sites away to the best neighborhoods in their area. It is a branding type advertising expense to the Realtor since their message is on every webpage and email. By marketing this way I don't have to find the good neighborhoods that have strong associations... the Realtors will know. A problem though is Realtors are very busy and constantly bombarded with offers.

Another marketing direction is to target the Homeowners Associations directly and get them interested in the site. They could pay for it themselves (most wouldn't) or I could help them find a sponsor. One of the problems is it is harder to identify a list of HOAs (much easier to find the Realtors).

A third direction is to target HOA management companies. They are also harder to find but may be worth the effort since they represent several neighborhoods. I'm sure I would have to give them a commission to get them to act (no problem). A similar case can be made for developers.

OBSTACLES

Neighborhoods should want and love these sites but it is not as easy as you would think. If a Realtor is on the board they may object to another Realtor being the sponsor. If the management company has this same idea they discourage it using fear of privacy and libel issues. They might be too busy. Might not understand it or see the benefit. Ego issues (Joe spent a lot of time making those animated GIFs and is happy with them).

Some of these problems can be overcome with marketing and a flexible product but I just wanted to point out that it is not a easy as it should be.

Oh yeah, some HOA boards don't meet often so getting approval can take awhile.

MARKETING PLAN

Here is where I need more help. I have Dan Kennedy's magnetic marketing course and have started with direct mail.

My first attempt was to about 600 Realtors with excellent websites (number1expert.com customers). The first letter got 100 to visit. Letter 2 flopped and only got 20 new visitors. A follow-up "Did you get my letters?" email got 100 new visitors. To date, 39% of that list at least made it to the demo site. Many seemed interested but I need a good system to convert them to customers. I did get a few sales.

My second attempt began on June 15th with a test mailing to 200 ePRO certified agents. Letter 1 got 19 to visit. 10 days later the follow-up email got 48 new visitors. So far 34%.

To see a sample website take a look at:
http://PlantersWalkHOA.com

My main website is:
http://HOAWebsites.com

So any ideas? How would you market this differently?

Thanks,
Rob Yaggie