So now the major portals are putting you on an upgrade path to ‘help’ you become more successful. Well here is a news flash, they know all about your primal urges to be better than the agent across the street (your competitor).
They know that if your competitor buys a premium package that you will too, they tell your competitor to inform potential vendors of their “special listings”.
My advice is to stop, take a step back and look at what you are getting into and what you are getting for your hard earned dollar!
For an extra few thousand dollars you get some pathetic upgrades allow you to display your logo alongside listings, this is complete and utter rubbish and Real Estate Agents should reject these en-masse.
What you must do
1. You must have your listings with the two major portals – no questions asked.
2. You only need the basic package.
3. Spend the money you save on meaningless upgrades to educate potential vendors of the value of your ‘spread’ of Internet marketing.
4. Spend the remaining $’s on marketing your own site on search engines such as Google, Overture (Yahoo, MSN) and Sensis.
What you must not do
1. Get into a ridiculous cycle of competition.