Have a question? Scroll down below to see if our "Frequently Asked Question" section provides an answer to your inquiry. If not, drop us a line using the form at the bottom of the page, and we'll respond to your message shortly.

Q:	What markets can I choose from?
A:	At this time, we offer eZines for six different real estate markets: Houston, Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, Bryan/College Station and Texas At-Large. Additional eZines may be provided for specific markets in Texas and nationally, in future. To inquire about additional market editions, contact us at info@realtyezine.com.
Q:	What forms of payment do you accept?
A:	For your convenience, we accept Visa and MasterCard. Credit card processing allows us to streamline our accounting services and keeps the Realty eZine subscription costs low. Our partner, Verisign, is one of the most widely-respected secure Internet transaction providers.
Q:	How should I introduce my clients and prospects to the eZine?
A:	You should let your prospects and clients know that you will be e-mailing them (automatically) a complimentary monthly newsletter with tips for maintaining, buying and selling homes. How you choose to tell them about the product is up to you. However, there is a tool on the site that you may use to send a personalized e-mail message inviting your prospects and clients to review a sample eZine and to "opt out" (or to unsubscribe) if they so choose. By giving your recipients the option to unsubscribe, you are respecting their time and the "sanctity" of their inbox. They appreciate the choice, so they're usually willing to review the content of the eZine to determine if it is worth receiving. More than 95% of current publishing agents' recipients have opted to continue subscribing.
Q:	What day of every month is the newsletter sent?
A:	The newsletter is distributed within 48 hours of the 25th of every month. This allows time for the local MLS organizations to release statistics about the prior month's property sales to us and other media. We review those local press releases and include relevant news about significant changes in the pace of the market or median prices in that month's edition.
Q:	What is the deadline for creating an account to be included in the next edition for publication?
A:	You should probably allow a few days to gather your e-mail addresses, digital photo and logo and to upload your information to the site. We are here to help you do that, but if your database, for example, has any corrupt data, it may take a day or two to sort out your records. However, your recipient list will receive the eZine as long as you create your record and add your email address list prior to the 10th of the month in question.
Q:	Can the Realtor's photo and contact information be changed when needed and at no additional cost?
A:	Absolutely. Once you have your username and password, you can change your photo, name, e-mail address, telephone numbers and web site address at any time by logging in to the site. There is no additional cost for any of these changes. You can also add or modify recipient email addresses at any time under the same conditions.
Q:	Can I put my logo on the newletter? It is a genie lamp logo and I could furnish it to you.
A:	Yes. We can put any logo in the space for the company logo at the bottom of the newsletter. If your company name does not already appear in the drop-down menu choices, email us at sales@realtyezine.com. Include an image of your logo, or a link to one on the Internet, and the correct spelling of your company name, and we will add it to your site.
Q:	I have a prospect list of 1,000 or so names. I want to email them introducing myself, let them know of the the monthly real estate newsletter & give the option of "opt out." Should I have them reply to me & take them off my list before I send the list to you or will they have the option to opt out each month on the newsletter?
A:	Each recipient has the "opt out" option at any time. The site also includes an "intro tool" so that you can show your recipients what the eZine will be like, and allow them to "opt out" at the very beginning. We have found that upwards of 90% of Realtors' recipients, on average, opt to receive the newsletter each month, often replying with personal "thank you" notes and other comments by e-mail after the issues are delivered.
Q:	I am not very proficient in the use of computer terminology. The person who is doing the data entry for my eZine data base wants to know what format needs to be used in order for this list to be uploaded?
A:	We use the CSV (or comma-separated value) format to upload your contact information. Don't worry if you don't know what that means. We have specific instructions on the site that show you how to export your address book information to a CSV file, and to upload it directly to the site. The process is actually very simple, and we're here to help you any time you need it.
Q:	Is there a printed version of this newsletter? For those clients that do not have an email address?
A:	You can print out the newsletter and send it by mail if you so choose. We do not offer a pre-printed version of the newsletter at this time because of the relative expense of printing and postage in comparison to inexpensive electronic marketing. We may, however, offer this service in future if a significant number of Realtors feel the expenses of printing and postage would be worth the monthly investment.
Q:	I am opening a new brokerage office in Houston and I would like to offer this service to my agents. Do you offer any brokerage service where each agent can have a subaccount?
A:	In short, yes. We can customize the eZine for your office, and give each agent control over their own account.
Q:	Can you tell me how many users you have? I have been burned twice by enewsletter companies in Dallas. Thanks, Al (And how long have you been around?)
A:	Amy McGee began publishing the RealtyeZine newsletter in September of 2001. Ms. McGee is the President/CEO of City Pulse Public Relations, a firm that she launched after serving as the Communications and Marketing Director of the Houston Association of Realtors. As of June 2009, we publish to more than 30,000 recipients in Texas. RealtyeZine is built on a business model of slow, sustained growth and is wholly owned by City Pulse Public Relations. We are not a "flash-in-the-pan" dot-com business and we intend to continue providing our electronic publishing service indefinitely.
Q:	How do I edit an email address after I already put it in the system? PS, I sent this out yesterday, and I already had 6 customers email me back and thanked me for such great info!
A:	Once you are logged in, simply click on the pencil icon next to any of your recipient's e-mail addresses. This will take you to a screen where you can edit the recipient's name and e-mail address.
Q:	I notice that one of your markets is named Realtor's only. Is this a newsletter that can be used to send to other realtors for referrals and recruiting?
A:	No. The "Realtor's only" newsletter is one that we send occasionally to Realtors to remind them of the eZine service and to encourage them to sign up. We are able to keep our prices low by continuing to add Texas agents to our client roster. To use the eZine for referrals and recruiting, we encourage you to add your target agents to your eZine distribution list.
Q:	When a client receives a newsletter, what name appears in the sender box? The newsletters name, or mine?
A:	Excellent question. The "sender" is your name, and all replies to your newsletter go directly to you. Our publishing agents tell us that the monthly replies and "thank you" notes that they get after the eZine is published are among the most immediate and enjoyable benefits to using the service.
Q:	Will there ever be advertising or pop-ups from advertisers?
A:	No, no, absolutely no, and "over our dead bodies." We hate spam, intrusive advertising, and anything as odious as pop-up advertising. Yuck.
Q:	I would like to add a page with my own personal news, such as a picture and description of the "listing of the month", an article submitted by me, or whatever. Can I do that?
A:	Not at this time. We may offer that functionality at a future date.
Q:	0)Nice newsletter! Allowing realtors to customize part of it with an article and/or description of a new listing is important. 1) Does the customer receive the newsletter in viewable form in their email, or do they have to click on a link to get into their browser to see it? 2) Do you know of someone doing newsletters like this in Massachusetts (other than RealtyTimes). Thanks, Bob Filene
A:	Thanks for the compliments! Yes, the customer receives the newsletter in viewable form, no matter what e-mail client they use (i.e. Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL, etc.). They do NOT have to click on a link to see it -- that would vastly reduce the effectiveness of the newsletter and the number of people who actually read it. We aren't in Massachusets yet, but do intend to launch in markets outside of Texas some time in future. Stay tuned!
Q:	I too would sign up today, if you had a monthly or at least quarterly, payment option. I want to test it out first on a shorter term basis, although it looks good to me so far. Is that an option yet, now that we are in 2003?
A:	Our monthly subscription fee is currently $24.95, with an option to discontinue service whenever you like.
Q:	I am using a database program called "My Mail List Deluxe". Can your system handle an upload of email addresses from this program?
A:	Almost every email tool has a method to export your addresses to a file. Our system accepts the common file types of TAB (tab delimited) or CSV (comma seperated values). Do not worry if you are not sure what this means. Simply search in your email tool's help section or contact a customer service representative to ensure that you can export your addresses as one of the file types stated above. Alternatively, you can always cut and paste your emails into our system.
Q:	Won't my customers be irritated by a regular e-mail message from me?
A:	Our research shows that they won't. Fewer than 5 percent of our beta-testers' initial recipients opted to "unsubscribe." There are a number of important reasons why this is the case. According to Seth Godin, the author of the break-through marketing book "Permission Marketing," today's customers are willing to receive marketing messages only if they are personal, anticipated and relevant. The Realty eZine meets each of these three requirements. Our material is selectively researched and written for its relevance to your customers. Buyers, sellers and owners will all find something of value in each issue. That may be a short article about median price trends in your area or a tip for maintaining the value of a home. During early testing, a high number of recipients responded to their REALTORS® with notes thanking them for the eZine as a source of knowledge and information.
Q:	How much does it cost?
A:	We have purposefully made our service the lowest-cost, highest benefit service available to Realtors in Texas (and other states in future years). The monthly rate is $24.95. We are registered with PayPal, a safe, simple way for you to pay for online services through your major credit card or checking account and you can get signed up at any time, online, through a few simple steps. If you prefer to have us set up your recurring monthly charges on a Mastercard or Visa, please contact us at sales@realtyezine.com.
Q:	I'm not much of a computer whiz. Will this take a lot of my time?
A:	No. In fact, once you have accurately uploaded your personal information and your e-mail addresses, you don't have to do anything else. Each monthly edition of the eZine will be automatically delivered to your recipients by our servers. (You will also automatically receive a copy of each edition for your own review.) Of course, you have the option of adding or updating recipients' e-mail addresses at any time. The more e-mail addresses you add, the larger your distribution list becomes.
Q:	What if one of my customers tells me they don't want to receive the eZine?
A:	That's easy. You have total control over your recipient list. Log on to the site with your username and password and make the recipient's e-mail address inactive on your list. Once inactive, the e-mail address will no longer be included in your eZine publishing circulation. Furthermore, your customers can unsubscribe automatically by simply clicking on the "unsubscribe" button on the eZine itself. The next time you log in to the site, you will be able to determine if any recipients have elected to unsubscribe. By making the records inactive, instead of deleting them, we prevent the possibility of your forgetting that a prospect has unsubscribed and mistakenly re-adding their e-mail address to the database in future.
Q:	How many people can I send my eZine to?
A:	There are virtually no limits to how many recipients you can designate for your eZine. At our current server capacity, we limit subscribers to a list of 8,000 recipients. However, very few REALTORS® will create personal farming databases that are as large as 8,000. The providers of Realty eZine retain the right to introduce additional pricing structures and capacity limits to protect our servers and ensure consistent service for all subscribers.
Q:	When I upload my customers' e-mail addresses, does that give Realty eZine the right to use or share my e-mail distribution list?
A:	Absolutely not. Unless you request our assistance managing your account, you are the only person with access to your e-mail distribution list. We will not contact your client and customer database without your express consent, and we will not share, sell or otherwise grant access to your list to any third party. We firmly believe in the individual's right to privacy and the principles of permission (not interruption) marketing. We are anti-spam and will terminate the services of any subscriber using Realty eZine for spamming purposes.
Q:	Can't I buy a list of e-mail addresses to send my eZine to?
A:	Please do not. We are strictly anti-"spam"*, and we empower you, the agent to allow your clients and prospects to "opt-in" to our service. You shouldn't send your eZine to anyone who has not contacted you, met you or otherwise interacted with you in a way that would make your eZine a welcome, relevant service to them. Recipients are given an opportunity to complain to Realty eZine directly if they are receiving the eZine without their permission. "Repeat offenders" who disregard recipient requests to unsubscribe will be suspended from service indefinitely. "*Spam" is an industry term for "unsolicited commercial e-mail."
Q:	My computer skills are lacking at best. What does uploading my email list entail? I need step by step instructions!
A:	Step-by-step instructions are exactly what we give you. Once you log in, you will be able to view or download a list of instructions that show you how to export to a "CSV" or "comma separated value" file from your e-mail address book. From there, a special "wizard" on our site makes uploading your addresses a very clear, straightforward process. Our entire purpose is to help those agents with a lower level of computer skills continue to stay in touch with prospects who are a little more computer savvy. That means if you have any trouble at all, we will walk through every single step, over the telephone with you, personally. We've even been known to make "house calls" for those who need that extra little bit of support. Don't worry, though, it's easy!

 

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