What's missing from this list for personal websites is online advertising -- and there's a reason why.

Internet advertisers spent nearly $2 billion online in the past year, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. And while Internet ads may be attractive for products and services with a national distribution, because of the costs involved it rarely makes sense for a local broker to advertise a personal website on major search engines or portals.

Nicolaides approaches this problem by marketing his Number1Experts site across the Internet and in print outlets. In effect, his site serves as a hub for client websites.

"Traffic is achieved through banner ads, and that traffic is highly targeted," says Nicolaides.

"The Number1Experts banner only appears in places on the web that you would go to find a Realtor. We get approximately 500,000 views a month generating nearly 100,000 inquiries or leads," he says.

Other traffic comes from listing Number1Experts on leading real estate directories and major search engines, placing individual client websites on search engines, relocation networking among Number1Experts brokers, print ads, and local broker promotions.

Does it work?

"We surveyed our clients," says Nicolaides, "and the results were: the typical Number1Experts broker has 20 years experience in the business, has at least one assistant, does $20 million in sales per year, and sells around 1.5 homes per week."

Run the numbers for Best Image brokers and salespeople and you can see the importance of this clientele.

To put this figure in perspective, a real estate firm with sales of $1 billion annually would rank among the top 75 brokerages nationwide.

It may be that Nicolaides is a success in some measure not because of what he does, but because of what he doesn't do.

Asked if his firm sells, trades, or gives away individual broker names or information, Nicolaides answers with an emphatic "NO, never."

Asked if his sites capture visitor screen IDs for broker use, Nicolaides says, "We promote top brokers and agents and haven't made agreements with them to do anything else. I'm a big privacy nut so don't get me started."

Best Image Marketing creates sites both for brokers who represent sellers as well as those who represent purchasers. The firm expects to add an additional 500 sites in the coming year, including sites for commercial brokers.

Question Of The Week

Q We're interested in buying a home but the seller wants a 5 percent deposit. Can we make an offer with less earnest money?

A When a home is listed owners outline the terms and conditions under which the property will be made available for sale. Among those terms is a deposit amount acceptable to the owner.

When the property is marketed the broker representing the owner has an obligation to obtain the price and terms authorized by the listing agreement. However, a buyer may offer other terms, say a lower price, a requirement to paint the living room, or perhaps a smaller deposit.

When a would-be buyer makes an offer which does not meet the exact terms of the listing agreement, he or she has really made a counter-offer. The seller, in turn, can accept, reject, or counter the buyer's proposal.

Counter-offers are commonly made, but whether a counter-offer is a good idea in the case of a particular home is an open question.

If the property is in an area where demand is high, a seller may have a variety of offers from which to choose -- and a counter-offer may not be attractive when the competition is considered. Alternatively, if a home has sat on the market for months, a seller may be elated with a buyer's proposal.

For details regarding your local market and specific properties, please consult with brokers in your community.

Weekly Resource

A recent study by Computer Economics estimates that business losses from viruses, worms and Trojan horses amounted to $7.6 billion during the first six months of this year.