Star Trib Print Ads

Less "Bang" for More Money? That'll Work

Selling real estate is all about marketing, and marketing includes advertising.

But there's no law saying where Realtors have to advertise, or how.

Over the last five years or so, the Star Trib's circulation --along with that of all major newspapers -- has dropped dramatically.

Meanwhile, the Strib's rates for its weekend open house directory, which practically require a magnifying glass to read, have gone up (I'd estimate by at least a third).

Hmm, think that that has something to do with newspapers' woes??

In all fairness, the world is inexorably moving online. Squeezing more out of the dwindling number of print advertisers just hastens things . . . .

Better Type in "Saint Louis Park"

On StarTrib.com: House w/ 20 BR's for $750k

After the finishing the immediately preceding post, a little voice in my head said: 'OK, the Star Trib print ads for housing might be circling the drain -- but maybe it's because the online section is where the action is.'

Unh-unh.

My first search for St. Louis Park open houses today in the (online) Star Trib homes section returned . . . zero hits.

It turns out that the search engine will only accept "Saint Louis Park."

Assuming you figure that out, the correct query returns four hits -- out of 37 St. Louis Park open houses that MLS says are being held today.

And one of those 37 is mine! -- at 4400 W. 25th St. in Fern Hill.

Apparently, the $60 I just paid for a microscopic mention in the (print) Star Trib Open House Directory today doesn't include a mention online.

Like I said, my advertising budget can be spent better elsewhere . . .

P.S.: in the course of poking around online, I ran a search on "55416," the zip code that covers the eastern half of St. Louis Park. One of the (three) hits was for 3816 Cedar Lake Place, which is listed for $749,900 and apparently has 20 bedrooms. As they say, "Better Hurry!"