The large listings services depend on amassing a large number of listings in order to attract viewers to their sites, where they can be introduced to other service providers such as lenders, movers, and inspectors. The listing is also a lead generator for the listing agent, who is often contacted directly from the listing by buyers. This quid-pro-quo system works well, but the fallacy is that only agents who have listings get exposure on some sites. What about the buyer's agent, the relocation specialist or the listing agent who is temporarily sold out of listings?

Because of the inherent need to aggregate as many listings as possible, the listings services have little use for promoting these agents over their traffic generators - the active listing agent. According to Realtor.com, the company's 1.3 million agent-represented homes are viewed an average of 200 plus times each. That's a lot of eyeballs to click through to moving services, school reports and other lead capture tools. Agents should be happy to pay to access that kind of qualified lead pool.

Would that mean that agents who don't have listings would be just as willing to pay for services that could result in leads? Of course they would. Some companies are saying yes, there is more than one way to market services to a Realtor than through their own listings. The result? They are signing up agents in droves for Web sites and lead generation tool upgrades.

Like most of the listings services, these companies are also Web site builders which specialize in lead generation and capture tools associated with the Web sites they build for you. In some cases they do the Web site design and hosting, and in others, they make sure your site (and theirs) gets found on search engines. The more you pay, the more services you get.

These companies have found that having listings isn't enough for the agent or the company who builds the agent's Web site - it's about lead capture. They have to provide a reason for the consumer to contact the agent, or they can kiss selling upgrades or renewals good-bye. Usually this is information that the consumer can request that will entail a special report that can only be generated by you, the agent - a customized school search and report, a market analysis, a property report, or a pre-qualification for a loan, among others.

Meet two companies with Web site marketing plans for Realtors that work whether you have listings to sell or not. Whether these companies' tools work for you or not depends on a number of factors - how effective their design is, how effective their site partners are, how much traffic they get, the "grade" of the Web site you purchase (which equals the number of lead generation/capture tools you pay for,) and whether you take the initiative to track your results.

Part II - Meet RealEstate.com

Published: June 13, 2000

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