I generally don’t get involved in causes. I don’t vote. I try not to step on toes. I truly think doing something trippy drippy nuts absurd is a more productive use of time then taking a real side or a position on anything.
But this MIBOR/NAR deal really has me going. I can no longer summon up that blissful apathy. And I’ve been scheming ways to get involved, to somehow help this situation along, basically getting senselessly fired up over something I can’t control…then came Greg’s last post.
From Greg’s last post
If you despise the NAR because it is technologically inept, you’re hating it for the wrong reasons. The right reason to detest the NAR, and to seek its extinction, is because it makes war upon the free market in order to expropriate unearned wealth for brokers.
Yeah, I’ve been feeling superficially pissed that the retechulously inept are making decisions that require some bit of tech-tidude. But really, this is about my right to innovate; to hack up what the competition is doing; to market freely in any ways I see fit just so long as nobody gets hurt in the process. After all, what’s going on with situations like Paula Henry’s is that they’re messing with what many of us (arguably the best of us) consider to be the best part about being a real estate agent—The fact that we’re truly independent business people with the right to roll as we see fit just so long as we abide by the code of ethics, some local regulations, and general golden rule style decency.
So how the frak does displaying property listing data, no matter what the source, become an issue for anyone other than the owner of the gosh darn property and the person they hire to complete the task? Answer: It doesn’t. It shouldn’t. Way to waste those NAR dues on something productive… This whole thing really is totally and completely absurd!
So, what’s a guy to do?
Well, if as Greg says, “we can obviate the NAR by supplanting it…”
Then…
I hereby pledge to replace their absurd game with my own, more effective absurd game!
My Renewed MO: To Show My Fellow Realtors how to generate lots more leads, more cheaply without Realtor.Com, IDX, or even a local board membership, than they can with them. And I invite Y’all to join in the fun. Because come on, Let’s Obviate these frakkers!
[End Prologue]
Did You Know Craigs List Traffic Is Cheaper, More Profitable, and Easier to Access Than Realtor.Com Traffic?
So, the real goal of this post is to show you how to create Craigs list ads that generate visits at to your website and real live business.
How To Create A Craig’s List Ad That Works
- Make sure you have a video of the property. (If you haven’t taken a video of the property, I might argue that you’re not playing fiduciary to your seller. Hmm..now there’s a new NAR regulation I might get behind—”Agent’s Must Use Every Tool At Their Disposal When Marketing A Property, Or Otherwise Disclosuse To The Seller Why They’re Not!”)
- Take a Screen Capture of The Video playing on the video service (i.e. Youtube) so that it can be saved as an image.
- FTP the image onto your server somewhere, or just upload it to flickr, wordpress etc and copy the image url.
- Fire up craigs list and make sure you include “WITH VIDEO” somewhere in the title. (For now, you’ll be pretty much the only real post “with video” on Craig’s List because embedding vids isn’t allowed.)
- Start the post with “SEE EVERY OTHER PROPERTY IN “X” AREA by Clicking Here” and make sure it links to your website somewhere.
- Then, hook up the image of the video and link it to the page on your website with the real video. (If you don’t know the html for the last 2 steps, just google “html insert image” or “html create link”—)
- Then cut and paste some basic info about the property, doesn’t really matter what. Once they see the “video” they’ll be pressing “play” and clicking through to your site, so mission is pretty much accomplished.
- Be sure to include any info about you and your brokerage that’ll keep you outta trouble with respect to local licensing laws & practices.
So there you have it, I’ve got a screenshot of the finished product below. Or you can peep this link: http://york.craigslist.org/reb/1176952779.html
Basically, this trick will cost very little and will get you insane return on time invested. Way better than Realtor.Com’s Enhanced Listing Scams, I promise!
Note: (If you’ve been embedding Postlets or VFlyer ads, consider stopping. It’s relatively ineffective. Just a thought: If it’s gonna be worth your while, anything you do online, should somehow divert traffic back to your own online assets…)
Scrunched Up Craig’s List Showcase Listing
Erica Ramus says:
Talk to me about the POSTLETS comment. What’s your view on Postlets? We’ve been doing them about 9 months with good results and do embed in Craigslist. Why is this better?
THANKS SO MUCH for all your help.
May 18, 2009 — 12:34 pm
Greg Swann says:
Ryan, good on ya. This is great stuff.
Erica, the ideal Craigslist strategy is to be there at least once a day with something. Keep track of what pulls and what doesn’t and tweak and test constantly.
May 18, 2009 — 12:47 pm
Joe says:
"So how the frak does displaying property listing data, no matter what the source, become an issue for anyone other than the owner of the gosh darn property and the person they hire to complete the task? Answer: It doesn’t."
Actually, it does. Don’t get me wrong Ryan, I’m on your side (and everyone else’s) on this, but I can see the point (slightly) of the listing agent who lists a home then has the home marketed on someone else’s site without permission. However, where I stand on this, is if real estate agents cannot list a property on their site through an IDX feed, who will? Well, Trulia, Zillow, HomeGain, etc., will, giving them even more power than they already have.
~ Joe 🙂
May 18, 2009 — 12:38 pm
James Boyer says:
I agree with your feelings Ryan and Greg, but we do not have to get rid of NAR, just take it over from our local boards. Step forward and ask for a possition on one of the committees and put yourself in possition to help steer decisions and help to keep the tech and web brain dead Realtors off the committees.
Just my 2 cents,
Jim
May 18, 2009 — 12:46 pm
Ryan Hartman says:
Erica — Sorry, that mighta been a little rash. My point was that we should be trying to say something compelling with a link to divert people back into our own house (website.) But if it works, don’t stop. What I shoulda said was, throw a juicy link above and below that postlets embed code. Maybe something like: SEE LOTSA OTHER JUICY STUFF LIKE THIS HERE!
Joe — Thanks. I agree a little. Yes the listing agent should have a say (insofar as it’s defined by the listing contract.) But I’m not sure when a listing agent would not want info about the listing to not be out there, except in cases where the seller requests… Example?
May 18, 2009 — 12:48 pm
Mike Stefonick says:
Ryan,
You have lots of good idea’s. Can’t wait until you build something for me:-)
Stefonick from Hilton Head Island
May 18, 2009 — 12:55 pm
Joe says:
Joe — Thanks. I agree a little. Yes the listing agent should have a say (insofar as it’s defined by the listing contract.) But I’m not sure when a listing agent would not want info about the listing to not be out there, except in cases where the seller requests… Example?
Example? Well, let’s say Colleen and I who generally have 5 listings, and who are a little more tech-savvy than most, want to host a competitor’s listings (big office) of several hundred listings. Hmm, I could see the big office being a little offended by the little office finding clients for THEIR listings. Shouldn’t be an issue as the client’s needs should come first, but ya know how it goes in the real estate world! 🙁
“I don’t vote.”
Oh, and btw, ya need to start! 😉
May 18, 2009 — 1:20 pm
Erica Ramus says:
OKAY, love the whole idea. Thanks for the lead.
NAR is not the only problem. Problems start at the local level and move up … or maybe they start at the top and trickle down? Not sure. Either way, in my case I think NAR and my local leadership is whacked.
I have tried to get involved at a local level, but just get frustrated. What I find is a board of “I don’t wanna change or do anything different” attitudes every time I bring a new idea up. It’s maddening.
I’m a techie geek, and everyone else on the MLS committee seems committed to keeping the status quo, not forward thinking CHANGE.
May 18, 2009 — 1:47 pm
Don Reedy says:
Ryan > Yeah baby!!!
Joe > I actually think you’ve got this wrong, and agree with Ryan. If you list a home, your duty is to find, or help find, a buyer for it. If YOU find the buyer, we get into a dual agency situation. For me, untenable.
The only reason “Big Listing Company” wouldn’t want you to find them buyers is???????????????????????. The only reason I can think of is that they want a crack at the dual agency transaction. If that’s their beef, I say throw them on the BBQ and let’s roast the big guys.
May 18, 2009 — 1:53 pm
Joe says:
Joe > I actually think you’ve got this wrong, and agree with Ryan. If you list a home, your duty is to find, or help find, a buyer for it. If YOU find the buyer, we get into a dual agency situation. For me, untenable.
Don, We are on the same page. I agree 100% with you, but I can ‘understand’ why folks would not want their listings on other’s sites. Only selfish reasons, actually. Check my comment out again, as you’ll see I’m with ya, – it’s the real estate agents and brokers who feel threatened by us who know how to truly market a listing that are complaining.
May 18, 2009 — 2:12 pm
Erica Ramus says:
Also, I am mainly a listing agent. I have 52 properties right now and my office total is about 100.
In my opinion, I don’t care WHERE the buyers come from, or if another buyer’s agent brings them in… whatever.
My job is to market my properties to the max, to give widest exposure. My sellers love it when they google an address (their house) and a bunch of hits come up, from realtor.com to postlets to trulia/zillow and craigslist.
My office has one person dedicated to submitting feeds to these sites, and syndicating them.
I don’t want inaccurate info out there–but if it’s accurate and you or anyone else BRINGS ME A BUYER then what is the problem?
I think this is a control issue.
NAR + local MLS like to CONTROL the data and they’re losing that element of control.
May 18, 2009 — 2:17 pm
Charles Richey says:
Given the behaivor various boards, it is time for new leadership. Leadership that has the best interests of its MEMBERS at the forefront, not the interests of the board.
May 18, 2009 — 3:15 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Given the behaivor various boards, it is time for new leadership. Leadership that has the best interests of its MEMBERS at the forefront, not the interests of the board.
Do you think that if I were in charge of the NAR that everyone else would be pleased? Can you name anyone who could achieve that feat? The NAR exists to commit crimes against consumers, and for that reason alone it must be destroyed. The Mafia cannot be reformed. But even ignoring that, one size never fits all. People never suffer coercion gladly. It’s not that NAR does not have its members interests at heart. Clearly the members who get the kickbacks from Realtor.com could not be better served. But the only way I will ever be happy with the NAR will be if it stops committing crimes against consumers and agents and stops requiring me to be a member in order to sell residential real estate. Making yourself a party to a criminal conspiracy will do nothing to stop the crime, but it may cause me to look at you quite a bit differently.
May 18, 2009 — 6:18 pm
Benjamin Ficker says:
In Portland OR we have an option to exclude the listing from IDX on the listing contract. Is that the same in AZ (where I will be moving in 2 weeks)? What about elsewhere? The only issue I have seen is when an agent makes commentary about the listing, i.e. the guy who does the foreclosure videos in San Diego. I have never heard anyone in our MLS complain otherwise.
May 18, 2009 — 6:51 pm
Daniel says:
This is a great post. Craigslist ranks 28 on alexa. That’s amazing. Any other site doesn’t even come close. That proves the amount of traffic coming to and from craigslist.
May 18, 2009 — 7:40 pm
Al Lorenz says:
Ryan,
So, could we “scrape” Trulia, Zillow, etc.? We wouldn’t be scraping the IDX. I’m probably just having dreams of civil disobedience.
May 18, 2009 — 8:00 pm
Ryan Hartman says:
Al,
You just anticipated my next post 🙂
Highlight Those Don’t Follow Links Folks and Click one of Those Pink Boxes For A Truli good Time…
May 18, 2009 — 8:51 pm
Brian Brady says:
“I hereby pledge to replace their absurd game with my own, more effective absurd game!”
That beats a kick in the balls. Nice work, Ryan
May 18, 2009 — 9:27 pm
Benjamin Ficker says:
BTW, you are quickly becoming one of my favorite writers on the web. Keep up the good work.
May 18, 2009 — 9:50 pm
Marlow Harris says:
Our local MLS is broker-owned and one does not need to be a member of the NAR to join. Because it’s broker-owned, we have much more autonomy than most MLS’s, and we make our own rules. That being said, I am a member of the NAR by choice, not by mandate, and I appreciate that being a member is what, by definition, makes me a “real estate professional”.
And note, displaying other agents listings on your site through an IDX contract is different that picking and choosing listings to advertise on your website or on Craigslist.
May 19, 2009 — 3:36 pm
Ryan Hartman says:
Benjamin / Brian — Thanks guys.
Marlow, I get the point about Craig’s list and others not being IDX..
But what I was getting at was that we don’t necessarily need IDX or perhaps membership with a local board to get by as far as our marketing efforts are concerned. If we devise workarounds…well, the absurd state of things can be…. worked around?
I think I’m really jealous of that broker owned mls by the way… Just so long as the brokers let all, or the majority of members somehow have some sorta say? (Not too good ole boy I’m hoping?)
May 20, 2009 — 3:49 am