Are YOU using all of the tools you've invested in?

Recently while teaching a class I was discussing how I had just gotten a new listing which had been on the market for quite a while with a different agent.  I told the class that when I Googled the address only ONE listing came up... Homes&Land... NO Zillow, NO Trulia, NO Craigslist.  Just Homes & Land. 

Well, that little lesson about how the old days of just sticking it in MLS and it will get sold are GONE turned into a polite email from the publisher of Homes & Land.  It seems that many of her advertisers were in the class and called her up and said "you told us that our houses automatically go to all of those sites! What's the deal?"  

So here's "the deal" which will be promptly followed by "the lesson"  

After a lengthly phone call with the publisher AND her making a phone call to her programmers/techies, here's what you need to know:  

"The Deal" 

First and foremost, I was NOT talking bad about H&L. We advertise with them.  Have for as long as I can remember.  We get calls.  We get leads. Period.  

Secondly, their listings DO get "pushed" to 23 different websites, (including Zillow which up until January you could advertise for free on but now they charge if you go direct).  More precisely, the homes in the magazine AUTOMATICALLY go to those 23 sites UNLESS you specifically check a little box that tells them NOT to.  For your listings that aren't in the magazine, they do an MLS feed to the 23 different sites, but for these you have to check a little box that says you DO want them syndicated to the listings.  

"The Lesson"

KNOW YOUR TECHNOLOGY!!!  It amazes me how many agents are investing in tools and not using them to their fullest!  In this market of decreased commissions, decreased sales prices, and fewer buyers, we need all the help we can get!  If you are paying for leads, advertising, virtual assistant, voicemail, websites or ANYTHING else in your business, call up your representative or go through their online help/tutorials and make sure you're using all of the bells and whistles.  This other agent was paying for a service and missing one of the big benefits of it... the syndication to the 23 websites!  

The other lesson? Be mature enough to admit when you've made a mistake... I was scared to make the call to the publisher to clear up the situation, but as soon as I did and we discussed the situation, I felt a whole lot better not having that hanging over my head.  This is a small world... word gets around... both when you do the "right" thing and when you don't.  Your reputation is critical.  Swallow your pride and make that call... I'm glad I did!