Jay I also think this is a good idea, however the fact that old sites are grandfathered should be amended to sites that have been used and updated in the last six months. If someone is not using the site and has abandoned it, you will never clear them out of handshake with out some sort of purge.

The new fee is very reasonable and something that is free is often worth no more than the price you paid.

What constitutes "use" for those who are grandfathered in so that they can keep it free?

I have seen a great influx of agents in my area all of a suddne start using the standard site so they can post on Craigslist etc. Sometimes I wonder why I should pay

Quantity or Quality? I think the choice should be quality and P2 should prefer quality sites over the "175,000 members" marketing power. Sending an email once a month to verifiy a listing is an excellent solution to the problem of expired or sold listings. Wouldn't it also be a good idea to send such emails to dormant sites?

Since the market slowdown, there have been a whole lot of agents dropping out of the industry because they cannot survive it. As a result, there are probably a lot more dormant sites on P2. Demanding a license number on websites has helped, but is P2 monitoring current license numbers?

Hey All!

I feel that Point 2 deserves a "Standing Ovation" for making a good business decision at a cross roads in the market.

Gail is absolutely "right on" we need "quality" handshakes with partners who are serious about the business.  

How serious is someone about utilizing something that is "free", and maintaining and improving their sites.

THIS IS GREAT NEWS!

KUDOS TO POINT 2!

Let's hear it for quality!  I would consider this a next stage of growth.  Now that point2 has the huge memebr base, the great search engine rankings, and all the other criteria that make them great, they can now afford to pick the quality.  Quantity drove the growth, and now it's time for the company to "shed it's baby fat" so to speak and mature into a site that can say "Hey, we have tens of thousads of members, but they are now more than that, they are tens of thousands of GOOD members"  Congratulations on your turning point, and a special nod to Saul for taking Point2 into the next leg of it's journey.

"Now that point2 has the huge member base,"

"Signs of the times Market Conditions, making up for loss revenue"

I am all for charging for the standard sites, but rest assured one thing Point 2 membership of professional and premium has declined because of market conditions, in just one office we lost 200 Realtors alone, in the greater Orlando area the total loss is around 20%   so I wonder how many Point 2 members have pulled the plug during these down times?

Jay & Francy, glad to see you guys in the Desert Southwest are on top of things.  I have been telling people around here to get signed up to no avail.  Now that the sites aren't free, I think that the locals may finally sign up.  

I am really happy with my site, that is why I went Premium.  It  was the best decision I made when I switched to P2.  I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

Are you still picking Grapefruits, Oranges, or Lemons?

A year ago at the Fiesta Bowl (Boise State) I was able to haul back some righteous Grapefruits from a friends home in Mesa.

I am trying to grow (albeit small) a Grapefruit tree in my entry way to my home.

I don't think it should be free for even 6 months.  Give them 30 days, and if no activity on the site, it's automatically deleted.  $10 is nothing for a site like P2.  My 2¢!

I think there should be something posted on the online office to make people aware of the changed. I think p2 opnly sent e-mails out.

I agree with Gary who said:

Jay I also think this is a good idea, however the fact that old sites are grandfathered should be amended to sites that have been used and updated in the last six months. If someone is not using the site and has abandoned it, you will never clear them out of handshake with out some sort of purge.

I started a standard (free) site nearly a year ago but never did anything with it.  My plan was to make it a niche site but I got too busy to do anything with it.

My understanding was that P2 would simply eliminate any site that sat idle for a certain number (?) of days so I figured they would eliminate it... but they never did.  It is one of probably thousands just taking up space doing nothing.  I got the email saying it was grandfathered in but I would prefer that it be shut down.

Oh well.  Our Professional site continues to perform well for us.

I always thought P2 should offer a basic paid site that would include some features not found on the free site.  In addition to my pro site I have several standard sites that are niche or doorway Webs.  I would gladly make these pro sites if P2 were to offer a  multi-site discount but I was told they don't do that.

Where can I find this information on Point 2?  I just want to be able to direct my broker there so she can tell all the new agents who join the company.  I'm pretty sure she isn't aware of this news.

Here is the link....

http://nls.point2.com/Content/Join.asp

Well, I think part of the problem rests with P2 and their growing pains.  Some time back, probably about a year ago, I looked at the list of agents in our area and I informed P2 of the sites out there that I KNEW were no longer in the business at all or had changed companies and didn't bother to change their site to reflect same and suggested that the sites be disabled.  It took a long, long time but those sites finally disappeared.  I think that if we can make note of these that we KNOW are out of business and tell P2, then they can follow up and disable.  When I had an agent leave the business, I didn't even think about it for a long time but when I saw that he still had a site out there, I told P2 and the disabled it.  Maybe we should be helping them with the problem.

For me as a broker, it is MY problem when an agent is no longer MY agent and there's a dormant site out there showing our company info and the agent is long gone.  I think brokers should have some say-so on removing those dormant sites.

I thought that members could accept or reject handshake of other websites as well as individual listings if they so choose? That imo would take care of how to handle the "dead sites"

Furthermore that leaves the decision regarding "quality" of listings to the website member as opposed to being "managed" by P2.

I love the features and enjoy the freedom to develop or underdevelop as suits me and my marketing goals/needs. Sometimes I do well at other times not so well nonetheless it has been a wonderful learning experience as I grow my business.

I have been on here less than a year and have gotten several legitimate prospects some of which have resulted in closings and still more closings pending.

Indeed $10 may be nothing however for those who are new to the business and trying to feel their way around, the complimentary website helps to launch their web presence as well as boost their business.

It didn't take me long to upgrade to professional after my signing on.

JMHO

I believe, with the standard sites, if you do not log in for 60 days an email is sent to you that the site will go 'dormant'.  It won't be deleted, you can still access and reactivate it but it's not 'seen' so to speak.  I know I had one that was dormant and I told them to delete it, they argued a little but I pointed out I would just start a new one...that the old one would already have been discounted by too many people.

I guess we aren't talking about it Jay 'cause we don't think it's a big deal.  :)

Cyd,

I haven't logged into the standard site I set up many months ago but haven't gotten any emails regarding it from P2 other than the occassional encouragement to upgrade to Professional.  I get new listings twice daily because of the non-used standard site.  I should call and get them to delete the site but just haven't taken the time to do it.  Shame on me - LOL

I notice that people sign up but do nothing with their site.  Now they can say I have a website but they don't utilize all the tools given to them by Point 2.  

Jay- Glad to see this as well.   Hopefully that will keep the handshake listings more current in the future and the listings will have more photos and information.  It is human nature to put more value on something we pay for, even if it is nominal. Point 2 is a great product and has great tools, if used!

I agree with the charge.  I found P2 via an invitation from another agent but never did anything with it.  I didn't understand it's capabilities.  I "found" P2 again quite a while later, revisited, established another Standard with a different domain, and shortly upgraded to Professional.  I had to ask P2 to take the first site down.  It was dormant for over a year, I think.  

I get handshake requests every day and can tell that the Agent has absolutely no intention of doing anything with the site.  I leave them on my "pending" for about a month and check back.  If they still haven't done any customization, I block them.  

If it's Free, it's for me! But, inflating the P2 member numbers doesn't really do anything.  

I also agree that there should be a purge.  I'd suggest annually for anyone who has not logged on in 12 months.

[Nate sez: Now that the sites aren't free, I think that the locals may finally sign up.]

I think that's exactly what will happen with all.

There's a peculiar perception that 'free' has no 'value'.

I had just upgraded our last free site to Pro last week, before I heard about the pricing change. I upgraded because there are a couple of functionality items that we needed for that site not offered via Standard (text messaging is one).

Hmm.  I guess they stopped it.  I had two sites that were pretty much unused.  I used to get emails stating that if I didn't log in that it would be considered dormant and non-functional.  At that point I would be instructed to contact point2 to reactivate it for use.    A couple of times I logged in just to keep them then I just told them, get rid of it, it would be of no use at that point.

They must have stopped the practice.

Heck, after 60 or 90 days if you can't figure out if the site is worth it or not then it should just be deleted.

Aw shucks, I'm late to the party.

Websites and listings of poor quality (neglected, out-of-date, etc.) are a prominent concern for us, and we are taking a number of measures (the $9.95 charge in particular) to take aim at quality control.

We do have measures in place for sending neglected sites into dormancy (not unrecoverable, but not being served), but if a dormant member logs in, we 'reset the clock' so that they have another set amount of time to work with their site (yes, I believe it is 90 days currently).  So this is where a lot of the neglect comes from (poor, neglected little websites, out there in the cold, dark internet, nobody to love them, never had a chance . . . :-))

Requiring a nominal fee to keep a Standard site active will help to address this, as will some more stringent quality control measures that we have coming down the pipe.

Other questions?  Please don't hesitate - I may be late to the party, but I can get a lampshade on my head in no time . . .

I think it's a good idea.  It will encourage people to either keep their site updated or let it go.  And the fee is a nominal one and well worth it.  Let's hope Point 2 will use the extra revenue to make the sites even more attractive and functional!