…done even attempted to add value to their brands/websites by capturing the contributions/knowledge of their agents. I fully realize that brokerages don’t see themselves as publishes (except of listings!), but it would just take one large brokerage to substantially change the game if they could build the right tools and incentives that would encourage their agents to build up the company’s site(s).
rsh hits on the fact that very few (if any) brokerages have…
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But … is there any real incentive to the agents to build up the broker’s site? Consider leads likely would be passed back down with a referral attached. Better to build up your own.
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I think Jonathan’s onto something there.
There is this weird tension between agents and brokers that I’m still trying to puzzle out. Their interests are aligned, but then again, they’re not. It’s a weird system, that’s for sure.
One thing about the large brokerages. There are some things I can’t talk about in detail, but I can vouch for the fact that there are some very smart, intelligent people working inside the big brokerages and franchise networks. They’re chafing at the bits wanting to do some of the things that the RE.net have been advocating for some time.
Alas and alack, an industry as big as real estate, with all of the moving parts, takes a while to turn. And the bigger the company, the slower the movement.
But once they get going… inertia is an interesting phenomenon. I’ll just say, “Don’t count the Big Boys out just yet…”
-rsh
PS: Thanks for the comment. 🙂
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At times, brokers and agents seem to be pretending to cooperate with each other, yet both hold on tight to their own self-interests.
One comment I hear regularly is that brokers are concerned with liability.
Another concern is ROI. “Building up the tools” means an investment in capital. Broker profit margins are thin.
An ROI case is in order. The first RE2.0 company that can back an ROI picture with data supporting revenue growth will break the pinata.
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Jonathan:
In many ways you’d be the target market for such a system. So here is how I would frame the next question: Is there some set of tools/websites that your brokerage could build that would convince you to do your internet marketing through them?
Since no one is really do a good job providing tools for agents to marketing themselves, I’d argue that such a system wouldn’t even have to be that complicated to get many agents to answer yes.
I’d also argue that the blood between most agents and their brokers isn’t so bad… and that many agents would at least give the system a try. At which point continued involvement by most agents would a simple case of “show me the leads.” If their time/efforts was producing leads that convert, then they would continue to participate.
Now, don’t take this the wrong way… This doesn’t mean I’m advocating most agents *should* use such a system instead of building up their own sites, just that many would if it was producing positive results.
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I am a Realtor in Florida. About a year ago, I redid all my companies web pages from a Realtors pont of view. We went from not being found on the search engines to the first pages for all our keywords. The SEO company that the owner was paying did not comprehend what we needd to be found for.
The results were more leads tp the office. These leads were given out to the agents, resulting in aditional income for them. I do not understand why someone would not want to help improve the business in the office.
Regards,
Larry
e-Pro realtor -
@Larry – because we are independent contractors and the business is ultimately our own. Take Jay Thompson as an example. He just started his own company. Any benefit that he derived by helping C21 if they had gone that route would now be counterproductive to his business today.
An Internet presence is more than just marketing. If done right, it is an asset. Why invest in the company’s asset with no ownership rights?
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At our Coldwell Banker franchise with 65 agents, our broker provides each agent with their own customizable, IDX web site with an integrated blog.
There is also added value to the collective brand and website by capturing the contributions/knowledge of their agents — by highlighting posts from agent blogs on the front of our company web site.
The company site still draws more traffic than any single agent web site, so this allows agents to get some traffic to their sites from the company site — and it allows the company to provide great information on their site, courtesy of the agents.
Company web site: http://www.cbfunkhouser.com
Sample agent web site (mine): http://www.scottprogers.com
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Nowadays it is very easy for an agent to get their own site up and running, you would be amazed how when a little effort is put forth the extra amount of leads you can generate per month and have most of them actually close a profitable deal.
If you don’t have the power of the internet working for you then you better find a new day job.
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