We’ve heard all the arguments about lead generation companies. It’s been debated on blogs, in real estate forums and at office meetings. I recently read a blog comment which likened a certain lead generation company to a drug dealer.

Pretty strong stuff.

I’m the little guy with a little office. Even though I work for a franchise, I can’t personally compete in my area with the big franchises or the public MLS when it comes to driving traffic to my IDX website. If you do a search using the most sought after search terms in my area, all the big franchises are right there on the top of the first page, along with HomeGain and a few other lead aggregators. They can afford to outspend me to get there.

Blogging does keep me competitive with the big guys. As far as long tail searches, my blog is all I need, and I can outmaneuver the best of them on that playing field. But being the competitive person that I am, I wanted anther tool in my arsenal. In 2005 I signed on to HomeGain’s BuyerLink. At that time I had 3 buyer’s agents and needed to keep them fed with a good supply of leads. HomeGain generated about 30% of our team income that first year by driving traffic to our IDX site. Continue reading this post

Toni Coursey has found her niche as a real estate agent in Arizona.

A paralegal for nearly 10 years she is skilled with contracts and negotiating. A real estate agent for six years, she’s personable, professional and tactical about her marketing practices.

“I knew coming into this industry that I would need to use technology to connect with people initially before a face-to-face opportunity,” stated Toni. “It was really a matter of trying a few marketing and lead generation programs to see what worked best for me.”

An AgentEvaluator™ member since June 2006, Toni closed five deals this year with one pending next month as a result of her HomeGain leads (to make a total of 31 closed homes in 2007), and had 18 active listings as of last month.

“At first, I was disappointed with the results Continue reading this post

You would think that after running businesses for my entire adult life (25 plus years), I would have this entire marketing thing down! Actually, I thought I did until about 2 years ago.

In all my businesses I always understood lead generation was a key component of success. However, in Real Estate things seemed different. When I first got in the business, I was doing what everyone else did. I spent a lot of money on print advertising and even more money on name recognition (billboards, buses, postcard mailings, etc.).

However, once I started my Internet programs, I started realizing something different. I noticed that for the amount of money I spent on media outlets, that same money would most likely get me more leads if I spent it on the Internet.

It was just one of those things that made me go “hmmm”. Continue reading this post

This year something significant took place that resulted in a huge increase in my business.

In fact, it became necessary for me to transition from being a “part-timer” into becoming a full-time REALTOR® in order to accommodate all my new clients!

Here’s how it happened.

Until recently, my business efforts were based primarily on what other agents were doing, and frankly, my business wasn’t growing like I wanted. I was doing a mediocre job at working Internet leads from a “so-so” website.

It wasn’t until I found Myers and HomeGain that my business started growing exponentially. This is all about the power of the Internet. Continue reading this post

Seven years after sending a potential Annapolis, MD client a proposal to help him sell his home, Mona LaCovey received a call to get started with the transaction!

Here’s how the story goes:

In 2000 Mr. Chatterton started planning to sell his home. He began his search for a real estate agent online, opting to use HomeGain’s Find a Realtor® service.

Mona LaCovey responded to Mr. Chatterton with a personalized proposal outlining her services and addressing his needs and questions.

Although Mr. Chatterton decided to not sell his home then, with his retirement in 2007, he remembered Mona and called her up. Continue reading this post