RealTown's RealTalk

I have been very actively pursuing on-line marketing for my listings.  I currently am using Point2Agent (and I love it)   I also have been using Harmonhomes.com and Homes.com.  Those have not been bringing me any results for the last 6 months, so I'm looking for other options.

What on-line websites have you been using that are cost-effective and giving you any ROI ?

I am looking for any suggestions. I have not gotten any results from print media advertising. About 90% of my business comes from referrals, but I feel it is important to have as extensive exposure possible of my listings- especially with the reduced traffic of buyers.  I am in the Milwaukee area.

Trulia delivers more leads to agent web sites than any other real estate site on the Web.

I recently wrote a couple of blog posts about how to maximize your use of Trulia:

10 Ways to Use Trulia to Enhance Your Online Presence

3 Ways to Get Noticed by Consumers on Trulia

Frances Flynn Thorsen
Community Manager
Trulia.com

I am having a lot of GRIEF over what is happening with my listings. I am focused on getting listings and am now running about 40 listings totalling around $10,000,000 in value. I have discovered that syndication via Point2 and possibly KWLS my listings are being used as "search bait" for Zillow and other sites. I think there is a huge problem with the handshake listings on Point2. When I search on the address of my listings, websites from Brokers as far as 100 miles away show up high in the search. One of these showed more than 4,000 matches, but my listing did not show anywhere. Same thing with Zillow. I tried narrowing my search on Zillow after using my own listings to home in. My listing did not show in the search even after homing in on the neighborhood.

A few of the syndication targets do show me and my contact info, but others do not.

I work hard to land my listings and I do not feel that the data on them should be broadcast to every non-Real Estate company that wants to re-sell the traffic generated by them. I have no problem with other agents helping sell my listings, but I do greatly resent the abuse that I see with the syndication.

My main website at http://JohnMosier.com is a Joomla website. My other sites (http://PrescottsLandMan.com) are not templates but are hard coded in html and php.

Editor's Note
With the Point2 syndication system, you can elect to exclude any of the syndication destinations. If you feel your listings should not be syndicated to Zillow, you can opt-out Zillow. 

I am at the other end of the spectrum as a relatively new agent with currently no listings. I'm interested in developing a website where I can have community and neighborhood targeted web pages that will keep me "top-of-mind" with my current sphere of influence and also generate leads and referrals. Could anyone recommend and/or share their experiences about website hosting companies to help me decide which company might provide the best and most economical services for me? I am relatively tech-savvy, but have very little experience with website development.

Thanks,

Bill

Editor's Note
Sounds like the Point2 web solution would work for you --  Give it a try http://FreeWebsite.RealTown.comJohn

I have discovered that syndication via Point2 and possibly KWLS my listings are being used as "search bait" for Zillow and other sites. I think there is a huge problem with the handshake listings on Point2. When I search on the address of my listings, websites from Brokers as far as 100 miles away show up high in the search.

This point that John Mosier brings up bothers me too. Just last night I was searching around Google or Yahoo for a single property website I set up for a property, and there was a bunch of them using my domain name at the top of the search. I never did find mine. I guess I won't get any internet buyers from that type of marketing. Am I being greedy, should I just be looking at this as giving my client the best service possible?

Ronald T Lynds

Realtor, ABR, SRES

Keller Williams Realty

The Value Add Team-it's what we do.

C: (408) 472-2301

E: Ron@TheValueAddTeam.com

www.TheValueAddTeam.com

Julious Evans wrote:
Bill Burgin you will not find a better website for Todays Real Estate
Agent than InternetCrusade.Its <http://InternetCrusade.Its> who I have
my website with and I simply love it! You will not get better customer
service or bang for the buck than IC and its Point2Agent system.They
<http://system.They> are friendly,helpful and knowledgeable. I will
continue to give credit where it's due,and much praise to Saul and his
IC staff.
_____________________

Julious, just to clarify: Point2Agent web sites are published by
Point2Agent, which is a Canadian company entirely separate from
InternetCrusade. Recently InternetCrusade's Saul Klein also became CEO
of Point2Agent, but Point2Agent is still a separate company established
long before Saul assumed his position. So, giving "credit where it's
due," let's give the wonderful Point2Agent staff the praise they deserve.

Suzanne
--
Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner
http://www.SuzStephens.com
360-666-0881

Cheryl wrote: at the other end of the spectrum as a relatively new agent
with currently no listings. I'm interested in developing a website where
I can have community and neighborhood targeted web pages that will keep
me "top-of-mind" with my current sphere of influence and also generate
leads and referrals. Could anyone recommend and/or share their
experiences about website hosting companies to help me decide which
company might provide the best and most economical services for me?
___________________________________
 

Cheryl, in my opinion, a Web site is somewhat more suitable for
attracting NEW people to your SOI than for keeping you in touch with
your existing SOI. While I occasionally read about various
neighborhood/community web sites launched by various developers and used
by some agents, I've never heard of any overwhelmingly positive reports
about their effectiveness. (I'm sure open to hearing about them!).
 

Think about it this way: once a Web site has reached a good level of
traffic, it may bring hundreds, even thousands, of people into your SOI
every month, out-of-town people whom you might otherwise never meet
locally. Some of these people will register on your site and you can
then stay in touch with them using drip email. Some may even email or
call you.
 

I admit to being biased in favor of Point2Agent sites since I work on
them all the time but I do feel that Point2Agent provides some unique
benefits to new agents: You can start with a Standard site, free for the
first few months, then upgrade as your needs expand. You can use
"Handshake" listings to make it appear as if you have inventory even if
you don't actually have any listings, and you can use Point2's
syndication system to help drive traffic to even a brand-new web site.
 

--
Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Qualified Web Site Designer
http://www.SuzStephens.com
360-666-0881

John Mosier,

I have worked for many agents syndicating to Zillow with similar problems.

It seems Zillow, Yahoo, and others somehow don't have a good way to easily search for houses. I found that sometimes you had to search by zip code, or the town they had on file based on a geo-coding was different than the town you and I would know it by.

Also, it's amazing to me that many of these big sites still have problems with city spellings, such as Saint Paul, Minnesota, which many people type in as "St. Paul" instead.

Overall, I've always liked Point2 websites - the ability to CHOOSE who you syndicate too is great. The challenge I see for agents is managing client expectations when the savvy client can't find their house on Zillow or similar.

To be fair, there plenty of other great real estate website companies out there as well - Real Pro Systems, Success Websites, and Number 1 Expert, just to name a few.

Sean Goerss
Realtor, St. Paul, MN
www.BarbGoerss.com
www.TopAgentTechTools.com
www.RealEstateTechnologyExperts.com