I subscribe to Countrywide's monthly newsletter for Realtors because I find their articles informative and helpful for my business.
I received their monthly newsletter today, and found an article titled "Save Time and Simplify: Distribute Property Data Across Many Search Sites at Once"
I'm wondering - is there something new I should be aware of? What more ways do I have to spend my time on the computer instead of being out in front of clients.
But it got my attention, so I pressed on.
What I found wasn't amazing at all. In fact, thanks to Point2 Technologies, we're already doing it! Whew! What a time saver!
Here's the article in full:
"With the growing number of online search sites available to help market your listings — and the daunting task of entering property information at each one of those sites — it's not surprising that you may be looking for ways to simplify the process.
"Enter a new breed of Web tool designed to help you send out your listing data to many sites at once. Think of it as syndication for your property listings and a tool that could possibly help you gain more exposure, faster.
How It Works
"Companies like VflyerTM*, SubmitYourListings.com*, Point2 Technologies* and PostletsTM* allow you to enter text and photos for a property and submit that information to multiple sites within several minutes, with only a few clicks of the mouse.
"With the help of these listing "portals," you could feasibly showcase your properties on most of the major real estate search and classified sites — like Trulia*, Craigslist*, Google Base*, LiveDeal*, Propsmart*, HomeSeekers.com*, Yahoo! Real Estate* and Realestate.com* to name a few — quickly and easily.
"Most listing-service providers offer you a template for creating your property listing ads. Once you enter property information, the sites create virtual fliers that are then submitted and posted to real estate search engines and classified sites.
"To use most listing services, you'll need to set up an account, manually enter property information and upload your photos. SubmitYourListings.com will automatically import your data from your MLS, and other providers may also offer this option for a monthly fee.
How Much It Costs
"Postlets' basic service is free to use; its premium service, which offers larger photos and virtual tours, costs around $20 a month. Point2 and vFlyer also offer some limited free services for a small number of property ads (10 for vFlyer). Their premium subscriptions, which allow for more listings and service options, range from about $20 to $40 per month.
How to Choose
"Not all listing-service providers are created equal, so it's important to shop around. Find out exactly how many listings you get for your dollar and to which sites the service will submit your information. Browse through the samples of ads provided on the vendor Web sites to get a good feel for what's offered. Then choose the listing service that features the most professional and appropriate-looking ads for your business.
"Some services provide ways to buffer your e-mail address from the world of classified viewers. This might be helpful if you have privacy concerns. In addition, some listing services supply performance-tracking abilities, allowing you to view detailed information on the traffic your listings generate across the search engines.
"Keep in mind that these listing-service tools are new; most are available only in beta form. That means there are still technology — and user — kinks to work out. Even so, these services hold great potential to help you gain exposure, save time and simplify the promotion of your listings."
Fellow agents - even a mortgage giant such as Countrywide has taken notice. Kudos to Point2 for keeping us on the cutting edge and for helping making our marketing efforts that much easier. Is there any reason to go anywhere else? The way I see, for once in my life I made a decision that has the mot powerful impact on my business. (Okay, not for once, but I definitely made the right decision by joining Point2 technologies.)
If you haven’t already done so, I recommend you subscribe to Countrywide's newsletter and take advantage of everything they have to offer Realtors. Go online at http://realtors.countrywide.com/Realtor/Realtor.aspx.
* Countrywide is not responsible for the contents of, or products or services offered on, third party Web sites and provides links to such web sites solely for your convenience.