Sorry,

Not interested

I am suprised you have not gotten more lookers on this before they said NO!! "FREE LEADS" scare Realtors, because they are never FREE!!

This sure sounds similar to the phone call I received. Not Interested!!!!
Treating people LOCALLY with dignity and respect is the only lead system I need (and through my AR buddies).

Gloria,

For three months they are completely free, after that it is $9.00 per month to be listed -thats it.  Any leads generated from your listing free.  I guess it depends how you look at it, is it $9.00 per month for unlimited leads? Or $9.00 to be listed in directory and free leads? Its all the same when you break it down -just $9.00 per month and no per lead charge.

Thank you for replying,

Lisa Scherzer

This is the old get if free for so many days, but first you have to put down your credit card number.  After 3 months of free they start to charge you.  Lastly you have to fight to get them them to cancel it. 

Rich

The reason we are offering it for free for 3 months (not standard 30 days) is to give you time to experience it.  If at any point you are unhappy, you can cancel. This is done through PayPal so cancelling is very simple.  You just hit "cancel".

Thank you,

Lisa Scherzer

Sorry Lisa but I don't think you're going to get a very good response on this post. I recommend Reading another Post that brought heavy conversation: http://activerain.com/blogsview/57023/RANT-Why-a-REALTOR.

I just think this will give you a good view of how Buying Leads is perceived.

Good Luck to you.

Jennifer,

Thank you for the article, it was very informative.  Wow, I've got a lot to overcome.... Although the author made many valid points, he forgot to mention that not all companies are the same. 

We do not charge hundreds or thousands of dollars -just $9.00 per month

We do not have long-term contracts -cancel at ANY time.

I knew when posting this it would not be perceived in the best light.  I have talked to several members of ActiveRain who have signed up already today and seem very pleased.  I am hoping I assist anyone else with any questions they may have.

I do want to say thank you for your comment, it was very insightful, and I will keep all of it in mind.

Lisa Scherzer

Thanks Lisa. I've been skeptical about using web generated leads just because i don't really trust where most of the get their information from... but I might just ahve to give yours a try.

I look forward to it, feel free to call me or go directly to the site.

Thank you,

Lisa Scherzer

Lisa,

Agents have for to long been taken advantage of and when we sign up for sites like this it wasn't long before we got the leads and so did the company. Then they sell your lead that you just called to 3 other agents in your neighborhood.

Best of luck

That will never happen here.  We have no interest in selling the leads whatsoever.  I realize this is common, but not a chance with this site.  The leads are really just a bonus for you, we do not have any interest in them at all. 

Lisa,

Thanks for the post. You have your work cut out for you. As you can see the skeptics abound. The past experiences have left a very bitter taste for lead aggregators. Far too few agents have had good experiences. Agents are looking for leads they can convert to closed sales within 30 to 45 days. For the leads that become a closed transaction, more often than not it has been cultivated for three to four months.

Lisa thanks for the blog. Keep up the great work

Ben

Thank you William & Ben,

Both comments were very nice and I appreciate all the advice I can get.   Maybe its time I post a blog about WHY I'm here and WHY I stand so firmly behind my product...   I'll keep hammering it out until I turn a few more skeptics into believers.  Thank you for reading my post and hopefully you had a chance to check out the website.

Lisa

Lisa

Hello,

Just checked and our tech was updating site, please try again, its all set.

Here is the link:

http://www.realestateagentsearch.info/agent_sign_up.htm

Thanks,

Lisa

Lisa

Oh --you didn't mention a set up fee costs of $10.00

Lisa,

The skeptics will hammer you here.  Why don't you offer 1-2 people the opportunity to be a "beta tester" so you can garner a testimonial from an Active Rain member?  I'll gladly try it out.

A lot of us have been told that blogging is the "magic pill" to all of our marketing worries so to acknowledge your service is to doubt the efficacy of the "magic pill".  Ergo, to enroll in a monthly directory for cost and get the subsequent leads benefit from that directory means they could be incorrect.

Does that make sense? 

I'll admit I'm a bit sceptical too.  Last week I got a call from a guy selling leads.  For a "mere" $250 a month, I could have any zip code I wanted (provided it was not taken).  $9.00 seems a lot better, but I love the idea of giving a couple people the Beta Tester arrangement. 

I had the worst luck 3 years ago with a lead generation co, that ended up costing $6000.00 . for the year and produced nothing but dead ends. In the end I focused on my sphere. Best to you and yours and I would love to hear from others that use this service.

You get what you pay for.

I've done the pay for leads thing, and ya you get leads, but are they of value.  How are the leads qualified? Is the information the lead provides validated in any way? (bad phone #'s, bad email addresses, etc.)   Is there a return for refund method for bad leads?

I just clicked on a few links of the site and found.... account suspended......and other errors.

Not a good way to start advertising a new service.

Sorry....not interested.

Lisa, it would seem that you have spammed all of the groups here on Active Rain. That does not put you in a very good light with the members.

Secondly, this appears to be a full fledged advertisement and that's really not what Active Rain is all about. My suggestion is that you redo your blog. Learn about the Community, get to know some bloggers and then if in fact you want to offer something, talk to the founders of AR before you do something like this.

There is a site that links for free to listing agent web sites.  REindex.com, The Site Engine.  They just link, so the traffic you get is truly yours and truly free.

Yes this is a bogus post selling your product in this community, why not get the people here posting as well, you know the people that call your office and ask for the top agent and then try to sell you their "oversupply" of pens with your name on it.  Free is FREE, not 9.00 beanskies a month. 

Sorry...nothing's free! BTY, I'm sure your pic is very flattering....

Hi Lisa,

What a great thing!  Is there a place for Home Stagers to be listed?!

VAL

Ho Hum, another bottom feeder trolling the Internet waters trying to catch 'leads' to sell to the unsuspecting.

Jim Lee, skeptic, no fan of any lead company

"Free Real Estate Leads"

Oops, well not exactly free is it. ;-)

"After 3 months, the cost is only 9.00 per county per month."

Oh, yeah, and "FREE" also charges a $10.00 setup fee.

"One time set up fee"

"There is a cost in setting up your listing(s)in our system. The one time fee is only 10.00."

These goobers started out with zero credability with me; it's now in the heavily minus column. ;-)

One more thing; you can't "Gain Access to MLS" for anyone; only members of that MLS can access the real MLS.

You might be able to scab off some IDX sites or screen scrape some legitimate listings but you cannot "Gain Access to MLS" for buyers.

Another deceptive advertisement

This part sounds familiar "Compare Local Real Estate Agents".

Lots of sites like HomeGain use this tactic to start a bidding war between agents to see who will do a deal for the least.

Please go away with your spam and deceptive advertising, this wish is really "FREE"

I have been burned by this before and the sad part is that it is most often the newer agents that don't have any money who end up signing up.  Personal prospecting is still the very best way to get leads and as in anything worth having, it takes some work BUT the leads are usually more reliable and trustworthy.

good luck if you go this route, but I will pass as well.

Don't you people sell something?  Stop yelling at her for advertising.  There is NOTHING wrong about advertising on Active Rain!

In response to all the recent responses I feel compelled to make one last statement.  I in no way tried to upset anyone.  I realize advertisements are not very welcomed but I thought I was promoting a great service.  To all those who were offended I apologize.

I will say however that all of us blog for the same reason.  Yes we may put them into long formal or funny "articles" but really all for the same purpose.  We may even create some friendships along the way.  I have been on this site for awhile now and have done some articles to help mortgage companies.  I was trying to be respectful and lay out the facts simply so not to waste anyone's time with eight paragraphs of wording. 

I still stand behind the service.  Its a win/win for everyone.  However, this may not be the right arena to advertise this.  I realize that many are quick to attack a lead company because of prior experiences and deserving bad reputations.  Thats exactly why we started this website, to change things for everyone.  We have had success in the mortgage lead business and changed the way our customers view internet leads (and that reputation is extremely tainted).

I thank all that have read my post, and those who have commented.  I hope I can still reach you to try this service in another form of advertising. 

To clear up any misconceptions this is exactly how it works:

$10.00  one-time set-up fee

$9.00 a month listing fee for the directory -this covers advertising and administrative costs

$0.00 Lead fee -period.

*3 months free listing in directory -to try it out, yes its a $10.00 risk, for three months...thats the "beta testing".

Again, I appreciate the views, the comments, and the opportunity. 

Lisa Scherzer

From the advice of a fellow Active Rain member I am adding a link to my blog about internet lead companies, I believe you will find it very thorough and provide more insight to the type of company we are.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/59083/Top-1-mistakes-When

Lisa

Lisa, Just curious -- don't think anyone has asked this question yet...forgive me if I missed it...

If several agents in an area sign up with you -- Do they all get the same leads?  How are the leads assigned in this case?

I admit it -- I've done it -- signed up with a lead company -- one of the other agents in my office had signed up and persuaded me to sign up too...in a year -- only 1 of my leads actually purchased a home.  And yes, I was on the computer every day and/or night emailing and calling.  Then, I learned that they "assigned" the leads to lots of people in the area!  Those poor people were bombarded with emails and phone calls!!  No wonder, they didn't answer their phones or emails!!!

I don't want to waste my time or money on leads that are being sent to 3, 5, 10 agents.  It's just not good business.  If it's legitimate leads and the I'm the only agent getting those name, phone #'s and emails from your company, well, then I may consider it.   

OK, Lisa I signed up.  Would you link to my page when it's set up?

I think the fact that something fun to blog about should be fun and definitely worth ten bucks 

Judi,

Ok, to answer your questions:

1. Listing in the directory is by 1st come 1st serve, as long as you are still enrolled you will maintain your position in the directory.  When someone cancels, obviously the next would move up.

2. Leads will be distributed on rotation basis.  They would not be passed on to more than one agent at a time. 

3. The written leads from the website are mainly just a bonus.  The main focus is the directory.  When a customer is searching they will most likely call one of the realtors listed in their area or link to their websites directly for more information.

I hope this answers all of your questions, if I've missed something please feel free to call me or comment again.  I should also tell you that many counties have not been signed up for yet and first placement is available. 

Thanks,

Lisa

Lisa, thank you for your explanation.  hmmm, does sound interesting and tempting...will give it some consideration.

Judi, I hope that you do, thank you for the nice comment.

Sorry Lisa, I might be a bit slow, the rotation basis that you mention, Do you mean that a given lead will be given to one and only one agent, and the next lead given to the next agent, or will that one lead be "Rotated" over time to more than one agent?

Michael,

The first is correct, one lead given to one agent, then next lead to next agent and so on and so on.  Hope this helps.

Lisa

Nothing personal. But I AM NOT A FAN OF LEAD GENERATIONS AT ALL. Matter of fact,I am using one right now and I have yet to get a decent lead. But Lisa if you can sell me,I am willing to try. But can you get into more details like for instance. Is the leads exclusively to the agents? Are you bound to a contract? What kind of leads can you get? Seller,Buyer,both? And how many leads do you receive in a month. Please reply to this blog if you can. Thanks.

Lanre,

This is a previous response to a comment, I believe it should answer these same questions:

1. Listing in the directory is by 1st come 1st serve, as long as you are still enrolled you will maintain your position in the directory.  When someone cancels, obviously the next would move up.

2. Leads will be distributed on rotation basis.  They would not be passed on to more than one agent at a time. 

3. The written leads from the website are mainly just a bonus.  The main focus is the directory.  When a customer is searching they will most likely call one of the realtors listed in their area or link to their websites directly for more information.

4. No, there are no contracts at all, cancelling is easily done thru Paypal. (you don't even have to call us)

5. Leads are buyer & seller.

I hope this answers all of your questions, if I've missed something please feel free to call me or comment again.  I should also tell you that many counties have not been signed up for yet and first placement is available.  Thank you.

Wow, Lisa you have your work cut out for you!   Not so many nice comments.  I too have done the lead generation thing and got a few good leads but got tired of the no responses and getting credits yada yada...anyway no ones fault but my own, taking the "easy way"!

 Good luck with your site!

Maria Haun

Kind of like pulling teeth Lisa!  You might have gotten a better reception with full disclosure.  Or no response.

I will purchase nearly any lead that has no upfront cost and that does financially benefit the provider until I am compensated.    I will bet every Realtor in the country would sign up at least once.  So get the boss to rethink his or her business model, give up the penny ante charges and go for the big bucks.  Good Luck

Klaus,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you saying that you would rather pay a fee/commission out of closing? If so, then I understand what you mean by big bucks.  In order to do that the fee would have to be much higher (20-30 % of your fee) and we are not interested in taking anyone's commissions.  We are simply a directory.  For $9.00 a month you can have more visibility on the web and receive traffic from people calling from the directory.  The "paper" leads are simply a bonus.  We will then pass those on to the agents listed in the directory.

On another note: I have a home buyer seeking information from a real estate agent in Merced County, California.  This came today, April 1st.  Does anyone cover that area?  We don't have any agents signed up for that county yet. 

Hi Lisa,

I just visited your website and I am a little concern. When I checked out the area of Texas in which state I work in the page states "Under Construction".  So my question to you is:

1. If I pay you $10.00 setup fee and $9/month, wants my guarantee that I will receive any leads?

2. Where are the leads coming from?

I am new to Texas as well as being a Realtor, but the other lead generators have been out there for a while and I really don't want to waste my money on wishful thinking. I need to make deals nows. Don't get me wrong your offer is a great deal, I just want to make sure that I will be getting any leads at all, since that page is still "Under Construction"

Shayne

Shayne,

The reason it reads "under construction" is because we currently don't have any agents signed up in that area. 

We do not guarantee any amount of leads however, if you did sign up you would have 1st placement for your area.  This placement will never change as long as you are a member. 

I understand as a new agent you are concerned about throwing money all over the place, just remember  you can cancel anytime as we do not require any long-term commitments.

I appreciate you taking the time to do some more research and checking us out, please feel free to call me for more information as well. 

Shayne,

The reason it reads "under construction" is because we currently don't have any agents signed up in that area. 

We do not guarantee any amount of leads however, if you did sign up you would have 1st placement for your area.  This placement will never change as long as you are a member. 

I understand as a new agent you are concerned about throwing money all over the place, just remember  you can cancel anytime as we do not require any long-term commitments.

I appreciate you taking the time to do some more research and checking us out, please feel free to call me for more information as well. 

Thanks for replying Lisa, sounds like a great idea to be first. But thats leads to another question, how long has this website been up and running and what's the average number of leads per state are you getting? Are the leads mostly buyers or sellers?

Shayne,

This website is new, we have had success in the mortgage lead industry and decided to move into real estate as well.  Therefore at this time I am unable to give you stats.  However I can tell you we received leads while we had the site up without advertising before launching.  We expect the response to increase daily, weekly, monthly, etc.

Nothing is FREE

You asked about members in Merced County.  Here are the AR Real Estate Agent members there:

Featured Real Estate Agent: David Love,CRS,GRI,SRES Score: 3764 Merced, CA I have been selling Real Estate in Merced for 15 years. I am also a Full Service Mortgage Lender. My experience in both allows me to provide my clients with expert advice on each and every transaction

Featured Real Estate Agent: Gail Taylor Score: 863 Merced, CA I bring to you experience & expertise. Backed by a strong company and a strong office. " Enjoy the caliber of services I am known for extending to my clients."

Jessica Rattanasack - Real Estate Agent Score: 773 Merced, CA I value my clients time and will work hard to get things done quickly and efficiently. I am a dedicated agent that will get the job done. My passion is real estate. Building Clients for Life.

Candy Moreno - Real Estate Agent Score: 714 Los Banos, CA Being a highly motivated, determined individual who has an instinctive ability to satisfy the specific needs of each client, I would like to provide you with the highest levels of service available.

Trish Anderson - Real Estate Agent Score: 688 Merced, CA With 13 years of experience under my belt, and a top producer for 10 years, I will always continue my education because I never want to be the Realtor that cant answer a clients questions!

Mitch Boze GRI - Real Estate Agent Score: 635 Merced, CA IT'S NOT ABOUT ME, IT'S ABOUT YOU! You should expect that I have integrity, am honost and know my job, and I do. Real estate is about building trust in our relationship that benefits you and me.

Pete Huff - Real Estate Agent Score: 400 Merced, CA

Martin Ceja - Real Estate Agent Score: 200 Merced, CA

Mostly I agree with the comments above.  I wont pay for leads.  The best leads are the live leads that I get every Sunday at Open Houses.  (And the people that call or email me because of my AR blogs are great leads, too, BTW)

I do think you went a bit overboard with spamming each of the groups.  Most groups have posting guidelines.  Did you follow the guidelines for each group?  I kind of doubt it, since I read this post in a group intended for Weichert Realtors.  Please be a good citizen, and market your blogs appropriately.  Posting to the Realtors group, and any of the Marketing and Lead oriented groups, also, but the dog lovers group? perhaps you should have read some of the posts in the Blogging Ettiquette 101 group (one that is conspicuously absent from your list) before spamming the groups.    Try reading Marketing Your Blog: Categories, Tags and ActiveRain Groups for some helpful tips.  You may have a great service, with low fees to those who subscribe, but blasting the groups like that is a fast way to make a very poor first impression.

Don't give up though.  If Brian Brady is willing to give you a try, then there may be hope.  I may give you a closer look after I hear what he has to say.

I strongly recommend you edit your initial post, and remove it from all but the most appropriate groups, before your post is forceably removed by the moderator of each group.  The last thing you want is for them to block you as an associate.  This is a big sandbox we are playing in here.  If you play nicely, we will all get along.

Cut and Pasted from your site:

 "9.00 PER MONTH

 NO LEAD FEE

 NO COMMISSION

 NO OTHER FEES (I added the bold for emphasis here)"

then later on the same page....

"One time set up fee

There is a cost in setting up your listing(s)in our system. The one time fee is only 10.00."

Please make up your mind..."No other fees" or "One-time set up fee."  They contradict each other.

Later, I learned that the $9 is per county.  For the area I cover that would be significant...5 maybe 6 counties.  The fact that you have no agents in Pennsylvania either makes me wonder what kind of consumer traffic you are generating.  Do you have any statistics on your site traffic, broken down by state or region?

I get phone calls from companies that want to sell leads. Before I do anything else, I ask them where they got my phone number. Most of the time, it's from AR. Then they will go on their spill to try to tell me how they only specifically sell this zip code to one or two agents. Quickly I interrupt them and say that I'm not interested. To my surprise, they sound rather "SURPRISED" when I say I'm not interested. They sound as if I'm not interested in making more money...... LOL.

Per Brian Brady, why dont you let a few AR agents try this out and let their success rave all over AR for you? I think it will be more credible.

Also, since your business model is to sell leads, I guess you wouldnt be more interested in providing this feature to each individual realtor client of yours to generate leads on their website for them. Rather than selling 10 leads to the same agents..... or however your lead selling method is.

Desiree Daniels

 I agree with you. NOTHING IS FREE. When it is,please let me know and I will be more than happy to take it. I use a so called Lead Generation service myself and it sucks. I am leaving this month. I wouldn't recommend the service to my worst enemy. And do you know about Talking House. And if so,would you recommend it to any other real estate agents?

Loreena Yeo

 I wish I would've did what you did when this so called Lead Generation system called me a while ago. By the way,have you heard about Talking House. And if so,would you recommend it to or to any other real estate agents?

do you have any stats by state or county on your leads?

Lanre -- I use Talking House.  Email me and I will discuss it with you.  This is not the appropriate place (off topic from original post)

nothing is free...i don't use lead generation companies because I don't actually know where the lead is coming from and if they are shared. I CREATE MY OWN LEADS

If you have to pay $9.00 in three months that is not exactly free!? How many leads are there? What source are they coming from. The advertisment needs a lot more detail!

In life nothing is free.  Someone always has to pay the cost somewhere down the line. I once tried to use a lead system it was a horrible experience.  It sounded great but it was a big disappointment.  Good luck trying to change people's attitude.

We are not a lead generation site, we are a directory site.  All leads generated are strictly a bonus.  We do not intend to make it a lead generation site.  However we are considering charging for leads since this seems to cause too much confusion.  Currently the leads are free and will remain free for those who sign up before this happens.

The $9.00 per month is a cost to cover advertising and maintaining the website.  As far as the leads we were hoping to just give those to realtors for free.  It does not seem that this is possible because the feedback reflects suspicion of some kind of catch.  I respect the apprehension but it is causing a great deal of confusion.  Unfortunately it seems the only way to remedy this is to put a price on the leads.  I am hoping this is not the final result but it may happen soon.

Those who have already signed up will not be affected.

Also, leads have been coming in and forwarded to those signed up.  Being a new website traffic is small right now but improving daily.

Lisa, you are missing the point.  FREE has nothing to do with the price of your leads but it has everything to do with a monthly charge.  FREE IS FREE, BTW, I have a lot for sale in Colts Neck NJ for $639,000 and the 4 bedroom house that sits on it is FREE.  Check it out http://peacefulhome.inColtsNeck.com

It's only Free for you Lisa, everyone else has to pay for the house.

Tim

You are too funny.

Sandra

Lisa at least you got a lot of response. Well if its free for 3 months, why not? Thanks for sharing.