There has been a lot of discussion regarding the place of the “vendor” in Realtors’ marketing plans.
Eric Blackwell, a regular contributor on the Bloodhound Blog and who owns and operates the Southern Indiana Search Engine Optimization and Marketing Blog asked the question:
“To what extent is the third party site actually promoting themselves or are they honestly trying to facilitate the connection between client and REALTOR in the most expeditious way possible?…. It is possible IMO for a third party company to create advertising solutions that help REALTORS market homes in a way that spends less time marketing them and more time promoting the REALTOR. When you factor this criteria in, HomeGain quickly moves into spot Number 2 in terms of being a REALTOR friendly enterprise.“
The number one spot, according to Mr. Blackwell, of course belongs to services like Eric’s who build REALTOR’s marketing platforms directly for them.
What Mr. Blackwell is getting at in his article is that HomeGain, unlike some other vendors, exists solely to serve the REALTOR. HomeGain’s success is tied directly to the success of HomeGain’s REALTOR customers.
HomeGain is not conflicted by the need to satisfy third party advertisers. The message we relay to our REALTOR customers is “It is your show, we bring the audience.”
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I could not agree with you more on this Louis. What you guys do is very different. I was speaking with one of your contributors, Wayne Long, about this yesterday as he has been a long time fan and client of you guys. New agents can step right in to your program and start making money. That is what we call a win-win.
Good for you for noticing and thank you for contributing to Real Estate Industry Watch.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
That was one of the reasons I went with Homegain in the first place. I really applaud Homegains desire to build a Realtor Friendly program without taking advantage of us. Believe me, I have had my share of “Vendor” problems and there are many companies that will be blacklisted in my eHomes Realty Network site. I guess Homegain has a similar belief as I do. If you take care of your customers, your customers will take of you. I have always been of the mindset that my customers will take care of me if I give them exceptional, honest service. I feel Homegain has done this for me. After all, my sales are through the roof and Homegains BuyerLink program is a major part of our success. Vendor - No, Partner - Yes. If you question Homegains integrity or ethics, please call me and I will tell you my story. It’s a good story.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
@Ryan - I like Mitch am a fan because I know that HomeGain makes a big difference to me as well as others in the industry. I am also like Mitch in that I consider HomeGain a partner. As you said a win - win situation. Realtors have to determine who their partners are vs. third party vendors who are trying to take them down. It is time to do some sorting IMO.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
There has been lots of bashing the other third party vendors out there recently and I do find it refreshing that HomeGain is what it is with no deception or spin.
May 13th, 2008 at 7:13 am
It is important for people or entities to partner and work together for their mutual benefit.
IMHO there is starting to be too much bashing taking place on some blogs and forums.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Transparency is what keeps somebody like Homegain in business for the long haul.
Hopefully, the not so savvy ones drinking the green Kool-Aid figure out what’s really going on…
May 28th, 2008 at 3:57 pm