Marty Frame, vice president of product strategy and development says that Realtor.com's new Marketing System will be rolling out next year and will include products and services for all agents, not just listing agents. In fact, he welcomes brokers and agents with VOWs or IDX solutions on their Web sites, which affords the opportunity to all MLS members to capture leads from listings.

"What we have coming is based on loud and clear feedback that the site currently doesn't allow specialization for buyer's agents, new agents, nor is it customizable for brokers," says Frame. "But the new products are all about customization, and offer an appropriate product for everyone in the business."

"Our product is Realtor.com," explains Frame. "more than anything else, and because there are so many ways of doing business, getting attached should not be a matter of buying a one-size-fits-all solution. You should buy for who you are, and your level, small broker or top agent, new agent, franchise or independent, multioffice. Those are all different conditions that effect the right marketing solution for you."

Frame is also pleased to eliminate the iLEAD page as the only way agents can be contacted from their listings.

"In terms of what is coming, agents once had to have an iLEAD Website in order to be found on their listings," says Frame. (Brokers office information is always posted on Realtor.com listings.) "We now know that a lot of agents have their own Web sites. While an iLEAD Website is important for people who don't want a custom home page, and it is the best mass-market Web page available, should we require it? No. Realtor.com is the asset we are the steward of. We know you have your own Web site and this is the best place to work with your clients. Getting you attached to Realtor.com is the most important thing we can do for you."

That means is you have a Web site with Best Image Marketing, Homes.com, HomeSeekers, Myers Websuite, or any other provider of your own choice, you can attach your favorite Web site to your listings for a small subscription fee.

While many critics of Homestore have said that brokers' virtual office Websites and IDX solutions would hurt Realtor.com, Frame maintains that the opposite is true, and that can be an advantage for a broker or agent who has a VOW or IDX solution already.

"We are a publisher, not a Web site vendor," clarifies Frame. "We are the largest real estate publisher online or off. What we have found is that consumers visit Realtor.com approximately three weeks before they visit broker sites. The Realtor.com audience is at the earliest stage of making a homebuying decision. The come to the Internet for what they can afford and where, and to make a set of decisions including who they are going to work with. They may even have a brand preference, but the fact is in the process of finding a home, the consumer is also going to find an agent and a company to work with - that's what you find when you find a listing.

"Our purpose is to let them get to know and show them a way to connect downstream to an agent and firm and start doing business inside that firm's virtual storefront," says Frame. "So the purpose is about customizing an advertising program to make the strongest brand impression."

In addition to a change in philosophy, Frame says that Realtor.com is reinvesting heavily in all of its products. "We are spending millions rebuilding in support of our new product strategy, the new Website, and the Web page personal product line (formerly known as iLEAD) and building new products to connect advertising to listings, and the billing and service infrastructure that goes along with this."

Published: November 14, 2002

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.