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Featured Client of the MonthMarch 2006: Max Chirkov, CENTURY 21 Myrtle Beach WebmasterMax Chirkov Website: http://www.c21myrtlebeach.com Contact Information: His History and His Start in the Industry
Max is married to his college sweetheart, Iryna, and they recently celebrated their 1-year anniversary. He graduated from the Institute of Economics and Management with a Bachelor of Science in Management. Max spent his first three years here in America, before returning to the Ukraine to marry, and eventually returning as a newlywed with Iryna to the Myrtle Beach community. In his current capacity with CENTURY 21 Coastal Lifestyles, which is located in North Myrtle Beach, Max serves in a variety of roles for the office including payroll, taxes, compiling commission reports, reporting to the various groups and committees, designs and maintenance of the company site as well as the individual agents sites – these are all part of his total responsibilities in his current role at the office. His Impression and Reflection on the Real Estate IndustryMax was able to share some interesting observations regarding the current Real Estate industry. “The real estate industry, and my first impression, seems to be that more and more consumers are certainly using the Internet here in the U.S. for everything imaginable. Many real estate agents do not realize what the Internet can do for their business. Everyone becomes equal, or in a true sense, the Internet equals the playing field, and you get a great opportunity to be placed at the top of your area, despite the amount of money you have to invest. You may not have the most unique personality, may not be the smartest, or even have largest amount of money that you have to invest. On the Internet, you only need to understand how it works, and that will help you come out on top! Everyone has the opportunity to be AS SUCCESSFUL as possible! I can compete with larger real estate companies, and be a strong competitor, despite my limitations in size and obvious resources. They can in turn hire smart people and certainly more of them, but on a one-on-one basis, I can be just as effective as they are. There are many, many opportunities out there for the medium to smaller-sized agents and companies, and the Internet allows every one of us to compete as equals.” His Office's Market - The Myrtle Beach CommunityMax and CENTURY 21 Coastal Lifestyles serves the Horry County communities of Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, Little River, Pawleys Island, Conway, Loris, and Surfside Beach. They also can provide services to other areas in North Carolina such as Calabash and Carolina Shores. Max Tells Why Advanced Access?“I like that Advanced Access looks at what actually the agent needs; along with total needs of the potential client or lead that is requesting information. Not just to get more customers or agents, but they try to keep in mind what the end-user needs, and that is the homebuyer or seller. Also, the community forums help clients to understand the entire Internet scenario, and what you can do to improve your Internet marketing. It educates people, and this “continuing education” helps to develop better strategies and better methods to make your Website look and function at a higher degree of efficiency. You need to educate agents on how to do things, they always go to education classes, but those classes sometimes only provide the minimum knowledge available. Being an Advanced Access client in not only to be a customer, but you also buy education in the real estate industry and learn how Internet resources can improve you business.” “When the Website that we currently use was bought, I was in the process of upgrading a former site that the company had previously used. My work was pretty basic, and at that time, we only had 24-agents. We were at that time, a small family business, that in only one year, we soon were getting over 300 leads in a month…it was unbelievable! In only two years of working with the Internet and realizing our true potential, we have expanded into four offices, employing over 100-agents, and also during this time have successfully expanded our Internet presence as well. Our involvement and complete trust with Advanced Access in the major reason that we have been able to expand so quickly and at the same time, so efficiently.” The Forums Are an Added Plus and a Wealth of Information“I exchange ideas and different marketing strategies. Most people usually don’t like to share their marketing strategies, but most of them have done it themselves to become successful. When they get that first “taste of success,” and start to ask even more questions, they also enjoy getting the “positive feedback” on what strategies and methods have worked for them. The Advanced Access forum is like a very friendly neighborhood that allows everyone to share their thoughts and ideas among a very close group of friends.” Advanced Access Allows Me Flexibility and Freedom“Yes, for a regular person who does not have a vast knowledge of Internet experience, the basic site contains all the vital elements that you need to get started. I had over 4,000 pages of info, and out of that only about 200 or so were pages that I developed myself – again, unique to our situation here in Myrtle Beach. The basic amount of start-up info that is provided to you is incredible. It is a very flexible site that allows you to use many of the features if you desire, but also allows you to insert or use various other systems or features that work well with the Advanced Access site that you yourself bring to the site from other sources.” The Final Word“I think now-a-days; Web Mastering is quite an expensive marketing tool! Many companies provide this type of service, but many are not too good. I have many people contact me out of state, and I always refer them to Advanced Access, because you can’t really go wrong. The Website is inexpensive, you can do much of the work yourself, and as a long-term investment, a private company is much more expensive and labor intensive. Your expectations are not always satisfied right-away, and this can be very frustrating. I’ve had to deal with some other template-based companies that other agents are currently using, and the first thing I noticed was that they were very severely limited in terms of flexibility. They were not able to do the things I can do and achieve with an Advanced Access Website, and they were more expensive, and not really as flexible and as easy to operate.” “I am also working on a Real Estate Directory (www.ibsteam.net/wsnlinks/) and it is a more of a hobby, but started because of my involvement with Advanced Access. By completing this project, I am certainly trying to get additional exposure in terms of quality links and targeted traffic, a directory that does much more -- more attractive, more available and more than just providing reciprocal links. The directory provides links to the MLS services, property listings, custom content page with information, custom graphics and direct links to internal pages of the agents’ Websites, including community pages, etc. In February of 2006, I attracted more than 150,000 unique site visitors, and some of the pages have third-party referrals. This directory is a free service, and can provide some additional value to those parties that are interested in this kind of resource, and again, has been largely due to my involvement and trust with Advanced Access. |
 
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Max Chirkov, (
(800) 335-1563 | 
