There is no need to search a property if it already is in a category, ie: search shopping centers by category not by key word.
Make sure you always place key words like the area and type of business in your subject line. Otherwise people won't find it using key word searches.
One of the most exciting parts of the search engine is the ability to search for almost anything using key words. However this means that in the placement of your information, you should recognize that if you do not place a key word in your subject line people just may not find you that way.
If you did not place the word donut in your subject line but only the words Tim Hortons for sale, then you could miss someone finding you. Hopefully the people searching would go through the business category and find you that way.
Whereas some databases in the world have fields for certain things, (we do also), when it comes to commercial real estate information, not all fields can be filled in because of the limited or confidential nature of selected information. For this reason, key words are very very useful to find things.
Generally speaking you only need four or five letters to search what you want. This is important to know because some people run out of space or short form their key words.
Key words can be a city or area, ie: Belle for belleville, lond for London, or flor for Florida. In the case of the USA for now however, I would search Haves or Wants for All in the USA. It can be a type of business, ie: resta for restaurants. The reason you use five letters in this case because the word rest would find resthomes as well and you would not be interested in that.
It can be for the word trade or equity for people who might consider trading their equity for something else.
It is important to realize that key words are really character strings, ie: hotels is a character string. So the word hotels (with an s) will not find hotel (without an s). So if you want to find hotels, you can search using the word hotel without an s. But don't forget to search motel as well. In order to solve this problem search otel that will find otel in hotel and otel in motel.
It make take your experience and knowledge in the business to help you select all the key words associated with what you are looking for. For instance searching for variety stores, some people use the word convenience, or grocer. To search flowers, search flow and florist. Each will find what you are looking for. But searching just one, will not ensure that you find everyone.
To find gas stations or gas bars, search the word gas.
To search campgrounds or trailer parks, search camp, ground, trailer, park, resort, etc.
To search for places Miss will find all the haves and wants in Mississauga. Scar will find all the properties in Scarbourough.
To search for power of sales search power or power of sale
There are categories for wants, but if you just wanted to see what buyers there are out there search the word want.
You do not search for plaza or strip centre to find them because we already have a category for them. The same is for apartments or industrial or commercial sites. There already are 12 categories to find things. Become familiar with the categories. Within categories you can do key word searching with your browser. Once you have list on your screen, in Netscape for example use edit then find.
Businesses are unique. If you search Ontario for Businesses you may find 200 of them and this list will grow to thousands. After your search for Ontario, Businesses, you can search the file that you have on your screen but this time use your browser! Yes, in Netscape you click on edit and then click on find. This way you will find all the pizza stores just in Ontario since you have the businesses file in Ontario on your screen.
So with these little tips in mind, you will be able to search through thousands of listings, billions of dollars of real estate and find things instantly.
Set an appointment for a showing today, and you have a chance to make money today. Without a showing today you don't make a penny.
Any questions and or suggestions do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely
Gary Nusca, CCIM