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Hit Router 'Whiteboard Explanation'

Kelan and I take you through the ActiveRain Hit Router. Watch as I explain how we are going to increase your business and get the traffic looking in your market to your website.

IMPORTANT NOTE

The "Hit Router" will ONLY show up on your pages when LOGGED OUT of ActiveRain.

Update

How To Setup Your Own Click Campaign

Hit Router How To Opt Out

Do you care what I'm doing and thinking? (I can not for the life of me imagine why) If you do, you can find me on some of these places........but remember, if you are offended by anything you see or hear, I didn't force you to follow me!!:

Posted by Bob Stewart - ActiveRain on 10/29/2008 12:55 AM

Comments (241)

Listing Router in the ActiveRain Channel

listing router

Originally posted at: ActiveBob.....It's always Raining!: Hit Router 'Whiteboard Explanation'

241 Comments on Hit Router 'Whiteboard Explanation'

OCT

2008

Make sure to check out Jeff's post explaining Listing Router as well.

Hello Bob! I will check into it and see what it is all about!

WOW Bob,

You weren't joking, this is big! I can't wait to see what happens and I really look forward to the chance to build my business even more!

Awesome. Now how do I get the shirt? Can I babysit when you are in Southern CA?

At last - the "game changer" you mentioned! Now I will actually watch the video.

I think I get it - and it is an amazing feature!

How will you make sure there isn't any click fraud? What if I just keep clicking on the link on my page that someone is paying for in order to earn more money for myself?

That is a big problem with pay per click. Google has some technology to address this and bans people who get caught.

By the way, where's my Localism shirt, dude?

Hey Bob, this sounds pretty neat. It's a lot to wrap my head around...

When will we be able to see it?

Tim,

You will be banned from ActiveRain.

Our developers will have some monitoring in place to curb click fraud. We will also take a very progressive stance on monitoring it. Through IP addresses we are able to determine who is doing what.

Will click fraud ever happen? It's certainly possible.....will we have SEVERE punishment if someone is caught, YES.

Wow Bob – what a concept. When is all of this scheduled to start? Can we set up our markets today?

Your Raleigh Realtors

P.S. - your little one has gotten big compared to your photos!

Jason,

Contact Claire about your Localism shirt.

Stephanie,

It will be live late tonight. Brad will also have some tutorials up a little later today so you can see a little bit more before it goes live.

Great Job, Bob!....We need to include Kelan at more of speaking events! He's a natural!

Hell yeah! You really are a Think Tank. Love it. When? Rock on!

Could you send Kelan over to explain it to me again, please?

Thank you Kelan, very good focus and presentation. This looks like the best thing to come out of AR to really help the bottom line, which is not so good lately...... Thanks, Bob!

Elaine,

I think my dad did a pretty good job the first time.

(although I would have added something about how much more money everyone is going to be making)

Bob It sounds awesome of course but inquiring minds want to know...how does the traffic get distributed if they come from a re-blog...sorry I had to ask:)

Quite an announcement! Have to chew on this one for awhile... Now... how do we get these tshirts? :-)

Bob - It looks like a very interesting feature, and something that can help to capture what would have been lost traffic. Thanks for mentioning my name during the video so many times! I will get in touch with Claire about the shirt - just had to give you a hard time.

Thanks for the inventive and totally cool innovation! We'll be getting set up asap!

Kelan,

He did, but I just want to see your cutieness in person. Auntie Mana and Auntie Elaine will take you to the California beach while our blogs are home making money.

Kelan did a fine job of explaining this :) Am off to check out other Video's and Blogs...so it's to be online this evening ?

Hi Bob - this was a great visual explanation of how this is anticipated to work. And I'm glad you clarified Tim's question about someone just clicking to run up accounts.

How does this work if there are multiple AR members from the same area, all paying whatever the fee is?

Thanks,
Ann

Bob,

Interesting! Kelan held my attention, you lost me at times! Does anyone actually receive money, or is it just a credit account type thing??? Oh, and by the way, what about that contest??? Rout that!!! Thanks, Joe, The Plumber

Hey, Bob & Kelan. This sounds great. Can my competitors come in and take over my territory or must we share?

Also, I have a q for any one to answer. Will this actually help our IDX site's SEO? I heard that Google is going to alter their algorithm to include the "who you know" factor. Thinking when they do, my individual site can better compete with the good ol' boys!

Bob, Great Idea. Kelan is a cutie and a great kid. I know how difficult it can be to keep one eye on him while concentrating on what you are doing. You guys did a great job.

Hi Bob - In some of the major markets where you may have 10-20 agents all willing to pay for traffic to their IDX sites, how will Listing Router determine whose site to send the traffic to? If someone reading Missy's blog in Ann Arbor enters "Search for Homes in Las Vegas" and there are 15 Las Vegas agents participating in Listing Router, who gets that traffic?

Thanks Bob. Look forward to seeing it in action.

Now, if we try it out will someone be charged for it?

I want to try it but don't want someone being charged for me just cruising the site.

BOB,

interesting, but I have a question??? Can you set a limit on what you are willing to spend for traffic each month. I mean we all have budgets right? With pay per click things I've used before I had a budget... X per day, X per month... will we be able to set this up on a budget?

Awesome! Cannot wait.

Bob- Sounds intriguing. Will you be sending out more information about how we secure our free areas and what is involved in signing up?

Sorry Guys, I stepped out for a minute. There are some great questions here. I'll be right back to answer them one at a time!

Wow. I'm blown away.

I can't see this as being anything but a win/win. I'm really looking forward to it being implemented.

John Novak,

If three people are buying clicks in Seattle, click one will go to the first person that set up the campaign, click two will go the second person, click three will go to the third person and click four will go back to the first person......and it will keep going like that until one of those three hits their cap (which they set) and then it would route between the remaining two people.

If there were ten, it would work in a similar fashion.

Fran,

Currently it is only set up for credits that can be used to buy traffic from others. We understand that for someone like you, you may accrue a high number of credits and never buy traffic from anyone else. We are working on things that members can use their credits to purchase. ActiveRain shirts, third party services......stuff like that.

Natalie,

There may be minimal SEO benefit from your customized banner but the traffic router will not provide SEO benefit to your site as the routing takes place behind the scenes and doesn't appear as a link of any kind of your site.

Marilyn,

Brad will have some posts up later today that take you through how to get everything set up once it is live late tonight.

I have a question to toss in the ring. What if no one from a specific area has paid for clicks to their site? Where will the visitor be directed when searching for listings in that area? (Did that make sense?)

You have to admit that we were good for not meanting it AT ALL before you prepared this (from the KWAA meeting). Glad I have a copy of you presenting it with another format.

Obvious question: how to budget and how to forecast how many leads we might get?

oh and good post, thanks for sharing...;-)

Very cool! I can't wait to get started!

Very cool stuff. When you IDX will we be able to just send them to a page on our sites such as a search page? I am just worried mine might not work for this...

Wow....amazing. I just read Rich's post and look forward to Brad's tutorials.

Candis,

We have a national company that is willing to buy excess inventory. The referring member will still receive credit just as they would if the traffic was being sent to another members IDX site.

Karen,

You will be able to determine your maximum budget. We are not sure how much traffic is going to be available in specific markets, so it may be that you do not use your entire budget. You will only be charged for what you use.

Shane,

Optimally, you would want to be able to send them to the SPECIFIC page on your site that has listings in the area they searched. If your site doesn't function in that manner, you will certainly convert a lower percentage of clicks to leads.

Bob I was thinking....we have what...5 or 6 of you that are overseeing everything re-blogs, features, training, fixing problems, traveling around, and monitoring, etc. Just to be the Devils Advocate how can you tell if someone starts "clicking away" for their own gain, in order to consequence them?

1) How does this affect the referrals that are already in place?

2) If someone opt's out what is the effect other than they won't be part of the IDX network, and a possible lead?

3) How is that $2 per click supposed to be paid....is it like the original ads where you paid upfront, or billing like localism sponsorship?

4) As was asked is there a way to limit the amout of clicks we're charged for?

Thanks.......looks like a lot of work was put into that...and am wondering how that will change the way people use this site.

Just when I think I "get" one thing here comes another. Baby steps, baby steps - Kelan is the teaching that class next.

'kay, sure - sign me up and I will figure it out. You guys are the best!!

Kathy,

The click fraud component will be monitored automatically by software built by our developers. It won't be something we have to check on, we will be alerted of suspicious clicking.

1. It doesn't. The referrals today should be clients you already know who need help in an area you don't service. This feature will affect people from the search engines who land on our site and don't match up to your market. Today, they leave and go back to google and search for something else to find listings. Now they will be able to search them from your post. If they are in your market, you send them to your IDX for free, if they are looking in someone else's market, you can get credit for sending them to someone else who is willing to pay for that traffic to their site.

2. If someone opts out, they won't be able to send traffic to others for credit. It only effects their ability to benefit from traffic that would otherwise leave their pages anyways.

3. The $2 is paid in this fashion. You give us your credit card and you say I want to have a campaign of $X. We pre-authorize your card for $X. At the end of the month, we see how much of $X you have used to drive traffic to your site and we charge the exact amount. So if you said I am willing to spend $50 but we could only get you 20 clicks, that would mean you only spent $40 and you would only be charged for $40.

4. Yes, you will be able to determine your budget.

Bob- Thanks for the detailed answers......I get it now. Have a good day :)

Will there be reports available so we can see what sites (or geographic locations) are sending traffic to us, and what sites we are sending traffic to? Also, will we be able to see how many searches are done per month for a particular city? That info would help in establishing monthly budgets.

John,

We plan on having some rather detailed reporting around this function. When it is released tomorrow it will not be there just yet.......as we won't have any data to show you where clicks are coming from and that sort of thing. One of the first pieces of reporting you will get is the ability to see which of your posts are sending traffic to others outside your market and getting you credit.

Once we start to amass data over the coming months, we will have some reporting functions to help members in determining how to best utilize the feature.

Thanks for that info Bob. Now for another question: Are there a certain number of "spots" per area, or can a limitless number of people buy clicks for that area? Also, you said that the national company will be buying "excess" inventory. Does this also mean that they will not be buying inventory for areas that AR members have paid for? Thanks for all the info and clarification.

By the way, Thank you for explaining all of this before making the change. :)

Bob, first of all: THANK YOU for yet another great feature!

I am starting to understand the idea of sending clicks out to other agents and receiving them if you participate in the program. How about the clicks within your own market? Will they come in from each particular blog?

This sounds like something pretty cool...my problem is going to be that I do not have an IDX set up for my site.

BTW: I've reblogged this post and the other one and featured them both to all my groups, so that all of my associates can benefit from this great new service. I will do the same with Brad's post as soon as it comes out.

Jeremy: I have X-site set up and for only $10 per month you can obtain IDX from our board. I'll see if I can get you a free X-site for a while. I'll call my rep right now.

Candis,

The national company will be allowed to purchase clicks in areas our members are paying for and they will be inserted on a round robin basis just like if there were 4 people buying clicks in one area.

Mirela,

Clicks in your own market, from your own blog will be sent to you for free. You will just need to tell us what your market covers once the feature is live and that traffic will be sent to you for free.

Stephanie,

Novel concept, huh? haha

Jeremy: My assistant will be on the phone with a la mode shortly and we'll see about getting you a freebie for the time being.

Wow I am amazed what a great idea. The more you can keep someone on your page the better. You guys are mini google gods of our industry :) Cant wait.

Bob- I just read your response to Candis' original question: So if I read this right....

1) If someone doesn't have an area, or opts out whoever lands on their blog will be redirected to the "National Company" is this the "National Company" that came on last year as a sponsor?

2) Let's just say you are an AR Member.....and opt out, but you are a member of that "National Company" now you might get the click of the person that read your blog in the first place? Is this what you're saying?

3) So my competition here in my town that isn't on Ar but pays that National Company could get the benefit from my blogging if I opt Out?

Bob: HOORAY!!! I guess my almost 600 blogs should help capture some leads...

Q: Do I have to go back to each one of my blogs and tie it in to the new system in order to garner the leads to my IDX?

No Kathy.

If you opt out, no one can search for houses outside your market on your posts and we don't send any traffic away from you. You get a personal search banner at the top of your blog, posts, and profile that you can point to your own site. It doesn't give them the chance to search outside or inside your market, it's just a link to your website.

If you opt out you are not sending traffic anywhere!!

All of your questions can be answered by understanding that if you opt out, you are not sending traffic away from your posts.

Mirela,

No you don't have to go back. It will just appear at the top of your posts. What you will need to do is go in and set your settings up to capture traffic in your market, from your posts for free.

You will do this by letting us know every market you cover. When someone searches on your blog for a city you tell us you cover, that traffic will be sent to your IDX site for free.

You guys are great! Wonderful features!

Thanks again for clarifying. It all sounds pretty cool and seems beneficial for agents. Good luck with the release tomorrow!

Bob- I thought I was doing good till I read Candis' Question LOL :) Ok....I'm still reading and watching, thanks ......:)

Jeremy: Here is what you have to do to get a website for free for the next 3 weeks, so you can link it to IDX and take advantage of the system, in case you haven't found another way already:

just go to alamode.com and order the site for free for 3 weeks. If you keep it, it's very affordable (under $ 500 per year). Meanwhile you can figure out some other solution, but at least you'll be viable right away.

I hope this helps!

Wait a minute! I forgot-you are supposed to be my competitor...

Too late now: you've earned the title of "team member". My team!

I will implement it all tomorrow morning! What IDX info do I need in order to become viable pronto?

It's all rolling out tomorrow morning right?

Great video Bob, thanks very much:)

I'm so excited,

I just can't hide it!

I know, I know,

I want IT!

Hey Bob, I was just thinking. Can you take the blog button away again? Just for fun?

OK. Follow up question: Are markets determined by zip code, or by city, state?

Jennifer,

Markets are determined and searches are performed based on city, state.

Stephanie,

Be careful what you ask for :-)

Cool. Excited to really get a grasp of how it works and see it in action.

Bob...

So if I understand correctly, snd if there are 15 people in Ann Arbor the leads will be rotated?

roll it out, I'm ready for some more rain.

One of the first pieces of reporting you will get is the ability to see which of your posts are sending traffic to others outside your market and getting you credit.

I will be looking forward to this!

Richard,

Yes, if there are 15 people that want traffic in Ann Arbor, that traffic will be rotated between those 15. However, if one of them is Missy and Missy is getting traffic to her posts that want to search in Ann Arbor, Missy can set it up so that all searches on her own pages (for markets she covers, of which Ann Arbor is one) are sent to her IDX site for FREE, and no one else can buy that traffic.

The traffic that the 15 people are buying (in a round robin fashion) is traffic from other members that do not service Ann Arbor and are willing to send their traffic to someone else in exchange for credit back for that traffic.

Georgina,

I am looking forward to that reporting as well. I think it will really help our members understand what kind of posts consumers are finding right before they start looking for houses. This allows you to write those kinds of posts and make them specific to your area. We will certainly be highlighting some of the highest trafficked posts on the network and showing members how those posts drive traffic and the results for the person that wrote the post.

It should be very cool to help us look into consumer behavior as they get ready to start looking at homes. I was on the math team in high school so these sort of statistics are very cool to me. I am very excited.

I appreciate the time you put into explaining this exciting new feature. Thank you. Mike C

WidowMaker (Bob Stewart)...

I loooooooooooooooooooooove it. I see it. It's HUGE! :)

Now get that child out of the office before he grows up to be a geek :)

P.S. I know. I know. You missed me and remarks like that one :)

TLW...ROAR!

TLW,

I'm glad you like it :-) and yes, I missed you!!

Bob, I loved the video. Kelan did an awesome job. This is an excellent feature!!! You guys truly are cutting edge when it comes to thinking these things up. Very cool.

I would have rather have watched Kelan explain the whole thing, watching you talk for a 11 minutes is a darn long time. : -)

this sounds great, very good new feature, Im glad we will be a part of this, thanks

BB,

Thank you! We have some great minds here and collaborating with these guys on features doesn't even seem like work because it's so enjoyable.

Sandra,

Your support as always is appreciated.......hahahaa!! (Once he can talk, I'll be exploiting taking advantage of him to deliver the tough messages.

Roberto,

You are welcome!

I've been doing Pay per Click for 2 years, 42% of all my closings are from it. So this ROCKS !!

Thanks for explaining it first before we saw those banners and thought, WHAT???

I share my Pay Per Click site with 4 agents in Ann Arbor, we all have TEAMS and we get more leads than we can handle, so if anyone is concerned the round robin works great !!

Missy,

Yeah, launching with an explanation for our members is such a novel concept, right? haha. The only thing is that members can't get in and use the feature and give us that fantastic feedback we are so accustomed to. I'm sure tomorrow once everyone gets their hands on the thing that we will get lots of great feedback.

Oh, Bob

You know I love ya.....for you have those crazy eyes. lol

Sandra,

I thought it was the quick wit and the charm.......alas it's only my crazy eyes. :-(

Bob, I haven't been able to view the video yet, but I am excited anyway!!!! I just need to get it to open!

Bob.....oh, yeah, <<cough,cough>> that too...now have I sucked up enough? Still friends? : -)

Bob - I think your Kelan did a better job explaining than you did - just kidding! It's very interesting to say the least and I'm really excited about all this.

Seems like a great idea. So how does this help a commercial real estate agent who is not a Realtor and does not use IDX or any listing service that would be controlled by a Board of Realtors? I do have a website that has listings (and those listings are on Loopnet), but I'd rather not pay for a lot of traffic for home buyers to view my commercial real estate website.

It's great to have both visual and textual explanations, and in advance. I think I'll have more problems with the limitation of our board's IDX than with your side.

Bob,

This is very interesting concept. I will stay tuned for the next Blog. Thanks for thinking in "The Tank".

Dave

Ok... I get it more after watching thanks! Here are my comments:

1. Can I borrow the hat for a picture?
2. Kelan does a really good job
3. Ummm not quite CommonCraft, but good job
4. Yay for Missy & Ann Arbor shout outs :)

Sam Trevino,

The first version of listing router is geared toward residential agents. Our other members will have to trust that we value their participation and we will be working toward solutions that add value to their bottom line. So in the beginning, it's not going to benefit a commerical agent but they will be able to direct traffic and receive credit from searches that occur because of their posts.(or they can opt out and have their own custom banner that they create)

Sharon,

haha, ....'in advance' is big for us. Maybe we are growing up a little bit, haha. I hope you can find something that works for your IDX site.

Dave,

You are welcome!

Kim,

1. Sorry, but my Seahawks hat is off limits!

2. He is a quick study. I hope to have him doing the videos by himself before his second birthday.

3. I could certainly learn a thing or two from CommonCraft

4. I have already been informed that I mispronounced Saline. Apparently it's sa-leen and not say-leen as I was saying it. Hey, I tried!

Does the person coming in from another persons blog that we have paid the $2.00 for have to sign in to get access to the IDX site or do we have to have a sign in screen at our site?

Wow! thanks for setting this up. I am so tired of getting "clicked on" in google searches on my pay-per-click ads from other businesses trying to solicit "me" and spend all my click money. Now, the clicks will be within ActiveRain and hopefully hidden from those evil solicitors!!!

Terry,

However your IDX site operates will be how they access it. Some sights can give people full access and never ask them to register. Some give them a look at a few listings then ask them to register. Some make people register right away.

We have been dealing with driving traffic to briorealty.com for a number of years and we found that letting them view a few properties, then asking them to register was the most effective. It's really up to how your own IDX site is handled.

Sandy,

I hope this is the case as well!!!

Kelan did a fabulous job and this is freaking awesome! I guess I won't get to go to bed early, as I will sit up and wait on it to go live!

Do we have to participate in the pay-per-click in order to get the local searches that come through our own pages? I think members should have the option to get the IDX traffic that their own posts generate without having to pay for incoming clicks.

John,

You will be able to save traffic in your local markets that comes in through your blog. If you have ten cities (or 100) in and around Vegas, you can direct anyone searching in those markets to your own site, for free. Traffic you send to other markets will get build you credits. If you never pay out of your own pocket for traffic, you can still use the credits you have accumulated for sending traffic to others to buy traffic back to your ten (or 100) markets.

So yes, you can participate even if you choose not to pay.

Alternately, you can send all traffic to your own site with the opt out option. Meaning you will get no credit and everyone will go to your site.

Interesting. Sounds almost like Google PPC. Payments and credits. Is there a budget ceiling to spend per month?

Gary,

It's very similar to Google PPC. The differentiating factor is that people will have already searched for some kind of real estate information that landed them on a blog on ActiveRain. In a perfect world, they will have gotten that crucial piece of information that leads them to know they CAN buy a house. That extra step will help filter out a lot of traffic that shouldn't be looking for homes.

There is no ceiling......however, we will only be able to deliver so many clicks. Of course, we will only be able to charge for what we can deliver. So if you want $1000 worth of clicks in Fort Worth and we can only deliver 30 clicks, you would only be charged $2.00 x 30 = $60. (minus your discount for how many points you have and minus your credits for traffic you have sent to others)

Bob, this is fantastic. I am really looking forward to it. Any idea exactly what time it will be functional?

Heather,

We are shooting for 12am Pacific time tonight. (3am Eastern Time)

Hi Bob, I can't wait to see this up and running.

Bob, Activerain just keeps on adding new stuff. Just when you think what else can happen you guys come up with something else. Kelan kept my attention. For a while I was worried about that marker in his mouth.

Bob - This looks very exciting! Cant wait to see how this works. Also still waiting for our tee shirts dude. lol Thanks again for all these cool new features you guys/girls are coming up with. I'll be sending along that localism update soon I hope. Coooool! Bob H.

looks great, Bob.....I'm looking forward to when it's all up and running....

Kelan is a real cutie!

Bob, thanks for the video. It was a lot easier to listen to you explain it and following what you were putting up on the board then trying to understand it from Rich's blog. I guess I am just a visual person.

I get it!!!!! soooooo, the more I Blog on Active Rain, the more information is avaialble to the google search engines and therefore more traffic will be driven to my website - right? One important key is that I need to be writting Blogs everyday with words pertinent to my marketplace and written in simple format. Please note that I am only 24 hours into ActiveRain. Bob - talk to me like a 2 year old!! Could my Blog have keywords that might attract likeminded people that I would want to work with as well as statements about RE? Does that make sense? Should I do daily Blogs pertaining to my listings? Please tell me I'm right - this stuff boggles my brain!!!

Sorry about doing this twice - I'm still learning!!! But anyway I think I get it!!!!! soooooo, the more I Blog on Active Rain, the more information is avaialble to the google search engines and therefore more traffic will be driven to my website - right? One important key is that I need to be writting Blogs everyday with words pertinent to my marketplace and written in simple format. Please note that I am only 24 hours into ActiveRain. Bob - talk to me like a 2 year old!! Could my Blog have keywords that might attract likeminded people that I would want to work with as well as statements about RE? Does that make sense? Should I do daily Blogs pertaining to my listings? Please tell me I'm right - this stuff boggles my brain!!!

sign me up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it safe to assume that visitors to our outside blogs will not be affected at all by this?

I am so looking forward to this!!! I think you guys are GENIUSSSS!!!

Hi Bob, Your explanation was way cool! Kelan made your presentation fun!!!! Thanks for creating this listing router---I'm excited about it!

Thanks Bob (and Kelan too--he is ONE cutie)! Three questions:

1. How much?

2. Where do I sign?

3. When does this start?

Mr. 'Think Tank' you are MUCH appreciated! Can't wait!

Debe in Charlotte

this is great - however - my IDX - is ruled by my MLS - and it does not allow this - so... they will have to be simply redirected to my site - great idea - great project - just wish my MLS was a little easier to work with...

D#mn, what an insanely great idea!

PS...Re Stephanie, and taking the blog button away, :-( You know, if you made that menu bar two rows high instead of only one, you could fit lots more items in. :-)

OK I think I see the value .. but I also think it could take a ton on managing on my part.. tell me this going to be easy..and not a land rush gone bust thing

Bob,. this looks great.. looking forward to see how it works.

Bob -

Oh, how exciting! Most of the real estate agents aren't from corporate america/tech biz start-ups and don't understand whiteboards. I used to be in VoIP business development(sold/as bis dev, the first VOIP switch to Charter in St. Louis) so I hold whiteboarding near and dear to my heart. I quit. Got tired of travelling North America and my mom had been in the biz forever.

The fact that you brought your son in the mix(I'm wowed!). Keep up the good work. I can definitely relate.

That is Awesome! Bring on the leads! This is a just another great reason to write great content and drive people to your site. Another thing is that those that write content towards more popular areas will definitly generate more clicks. So it is good to write more than just to your small local market.

I've seen the video twice and read Jeff's blog. I have a ton of questions, well maybe 5 or so. Can we have a Q&A session? I am excited with the concept but I do want more info.

Kelan is cute. Were is my AR shirt ? Inever received one. This is exciting just need to see it in action.

This sounds exciting. I can't wait to see it roll out to the blogs. Thanks Bob!

IMPRESSIVE! Other than the blog posts, will there be any podcasts or Q&A sessions set up prior to fully launching this new functionality?

Many thanks,

Kerry Lucasse, ATLANTA HOME SEARCH TEAM -- ATLhomesearch.com

I'll have to watch the video later, but I just left a long comment on Rich's blog, about this. I definitely have to research it more because right now, it sounds like I'm expected to spend money, instead of being able to refer buyers to agent/bloggers I've already grown to trust. Is this taking away my ability to gain a referral fee? Because I DO NOT like spending money when I've already done the work to cover all the bases to avoid this. My time is the money I've invested in my business.

OCT

2008

Bob,

Thanks for the whiteboard explanation. It's been a long working day, so that helped after I read Jeff's post too.

What kind of keywords are people searching on A/R member's blogs that more often than not they are leaving??? Is it that more people seem to be searching for listings on A/R than other type of keyword content.

I understand wanting to garner more traffic for the members. I don't understand the "why most people are coming to a blog they don't really want to be on or is unrelated to them?"......Just looking for the why.

Bob-Thank you for that very good explaination of how listing router is going to work. I have been wanting to do PPC for a long time, just did not have the time to do all the correct keyword research and ads set up to test against each winner in order to get the most value out of our ads. This eliminates a lot of that work for me.

good explanation! this is exciting to be part of...it will be interesting to see what generates from it.

How I wish we had an
IDX site...our broker has said not in our lifetime....so will the benefit be greatly dimisished ?

Sally, I certainly don't know about Wisconsin, but here in Southern California all of the major MLSs offer a simple, free IDX solution to any member. It's usually either in the form of a little widget, or a page that can be "framed" on your own web site. It's available to any and all agents regardless of whether the broker is using it or not. You might check into that.

(Here's an example of a widget IDX search offered by MLS Alliance http://www.bobtaylorproperties.info/search-the-mls/ )

Misty Caulk is the new Joe the Plumber!

OK, tomorrow has arrived. Where's the sign up thingie?? :-)

Hi Bob - I guess I'm not understanding part of the response back to John Novak that you wrote:

<You will be able to save traffic in your local markets that comes in through your blog. If you have ten cities (or 100) in and around Vegas, you can direct anyone searching in those markets to your own site, for free. Traffic you send to other markets will get build you credits. If you never pay out of your own pocket for traffic, you can still use the credits you have accumulated for sending traffic to others to buy traffic back to your ten (or 100) markets.

So yes, you can participate even if you choose not to pay.

Alternately, you can send all traffic to your own site with the opt out option. Meaning you will get no credit and everyone will go to your site.>

When you said to him that we can direct traffic to our own sites for me - did you mean just by continuing to write posts, that's how we'd get the traffic for free?

And with your 'alternatively' response, are you referring to just doing our writing as we've been doing, with inks to our own IDX or other sites of our own?

Just trying to understand all the various responses to the different questions asked, especially those that John and Kathy asked.

Thanks,
Ann

Good morning Bob, I saw the MLS box on the very top of the main page before logging on but not anything more - are we still on to get this started today?

Your Raleigh Realtors

SO how do we sign up? And what if someone in your area buys ALL the sites?

Bob,

Thanks for the post. This is really great. Another plum for the Rainers.

Great concept.

I am sold.

Looking into it this week.

Sounds exciting, not sure how it all works, but I am willing to give it a try.

Wow, fantastic! I'm glad I got the email notice about this! Thank you.

Team work.....good job:)

This is awesome and should general more business for all of us. Questions . . . for those of us on Active Rain in the same market area who will all want to have those surrounding towns on our site also . . . how will that work?

Thanks,

Sheila

Bob, that was great. When can we start signing up for it?

How can this help a mortgage broker? I don't have listings but would like to be involved.

I understand it a little bit better now but I still can not get over the fact that anyone with less than 25,000 points will get NO DISCOUNT. If you are a heavy hitter with some 300,000 points, this will be a breeze. Thanks for the creativity but newbies needs a break too. What about reversing? Give newbies a BIGGER discount for participating :-)

I was soooo worried about the baby biting off the head of that marker (I think its a green marker)and than sucking on it continuously at the beginning of the blog, that I had to go play it again and listen without watching. But GREAT idea!

Sweet video Bob. I think you guys did come up with a great idea on this one. I would ask when it is going to be live, but I am sure that has been answered in the last 150 comments.

BTW: Nice to see the Hawks pride in the hat. Only 2 games out of 1st following the beat down of SF :)

Bob - ok, I'm game. When will it be set up?

I likey! I was concerned about click fraud and also statistics but you have answered those questions early on.

Kelan was a bit of a distraction cuz I was only wondering what he was going to be for halloween when he was in your arms :) I paid attention when he was out of site though! Too cute.

Bob, I have access to the listings in our area through my site even though it is not a true IDX. It is actually the IDX of my company but has a link on home page...can I still use it?

Bob~

Thanks to AR for this creation...I have asked all our Brokers at out Firm to review your "lesson" a couple of times. I Do have a question...since we are conservation/eco-friendly LAND Specialists...(as opposed to residential specialists) could the term at the top of the routing bar include homes and LAND...or just properties???...that way both residential and LAND brokers could win.

Bob- This sounds fantastic! How will this look/work on peoples outside blogs? Thanks!

Lisa,

Please do watch and re-read. Any traffic routed through this feature will be people that never would have reached out to you. If you don't buy that.....then all you have to do is opt out. It's that simple.

Rebecca,

There are thousands and thousands of searchers every day that come to ActiveRain and leave after viewing one page. They do searches like: how to get qualified for a loan, steps to follow to get a home ready to list, finding a real estate agent to represent me. They do thousands of searches a day (without geographical indicators) that lead them to ActiveRain. If you are an agent in Seattle who has written about 'steps to follow to get a house ready to list' and the person is interested in the Austin TX market, they will hit your blog, get the info they want, see you are from Seattle and then leave your post never to be seen or heard from again. With the new listing router there is the chance they will start looking for homes in Austin, someone can buy that traffic from you and you get a credit to buy traffic looking in Seattle from someone who can not service it.

Bob,

QUESTION -

Are we allowed to offer our IDX site to those members here that we network together with - like mortgage peeps and stagers on their site so that when someone goes to their blogs and uses the "search" option they are directed to us?

Just thinking :)

Everyone,

You can go about setting up your markets and campaigns now if you want. I encourage you to go in and SET UP YOUR 'MY MARKET' component. This is very important so that you are saving traffic in your own markets from your posts FOR FREE.

You can set this up now. There are a number of tutorials on the main feature board at activerain.com from Brad Andersohn that take you through setting things up.

I look forward to understanding this better

Thanks Bob! You have my vote for the best explanation of this! :o)

Very powerful Bob. The only thing I would recommend is working with the City/State search box. When I tried it out, typed in "big bear lake, ca" it showed 0. Then a type in "big bear lake" and it showed up. Some people will get confused with that. Maybe having two boxes, one for city, other for state would clear that up. Otherwise, looks good so far. Thanks.

This is great! It will take a little getting used tyo to see how it all works, but overall sounds like a great idea!

Bob ~ Oh I see. When I checked it this morning the system was down. I will try it again.

Bob ~ Alright, I just set up "My Market". So when people go to my blog and search my area it goes to the IDX on my website. I went to some other A|R blogs and when I checked my area it went to Just Listed. Does this mean that nobody has set a campaign for my city yet?

WOW! I think this is amazing. Three some what related observations. 1. There is no way our son (14-months) would have been as cooperative... he would have shredded everything in sight... 2. I too call our son Bubba :) 3. I am a lefty too! ~Rita

Tyler,

Thank you! We just sent that over to the developer and you should see some improvement on that soon.

Ryan,

Yes, that means no one has set up a campaign for that area. If you were to go to your own posts and search your market (assuming you set something up for the city you search) you will be sent to your IDX site.

Rita,

Well your son has two more months.....mine is 16 months. But he is very chill.......a really good little boy, I am blessed! Great nickname! and lefty's rule!!!

This looks good, but I would think instead of doing another monetary deal, I thought it would be that that we could input ourlistings in a database or Activerain MLS like Zillow and when a person typed say Seattle it would pull up homes in seattle and personal branding for those agents who put their homes in the database.

Second is people with the top points in the area would be featured or say get 1 or two featured listings. I really think that AR has diminished the points system and not given people more reason or reward for being the top contributer. When a change comes it is purchased and not earned. I hope you guys start to gear more around the top point earners in each area, because the fact is they have been proven to be the biggest contributors.

Kudos on the opt out. I was starting to think My traffic and page were going to get hyjakked. AR needs to always respect the privacy and content people load on their own blog when it comes to integrating things and I think they have done a good job so far.

I, for one, am very excited at this new concept on AR. It really makes sense to direct traffic to the proper markets, and in the end, can only benefit us all. Thanks for all the behind the scenes work everyone does here at AR to improve the site.

Kelan is awesome. My two year old would have tried to take over the board and video. The program sounds awesome from your explanation.

Hi Bob.........great video! Finally a way to direct the potential leads to their desired location!

I've worked with a few lead generating sources in the past.......this should be a great tool both for ActiveRain members as well as folks looking for information!

This is exciting. I think this is a great way for us to get some more business.

Okay...I'm trying to understand.

Question

1. What if you work in an area where you service several small towns? My immediate market area covers about 10 small towns.

2. What if you already have your own IDX feed on your non-AR outside blog?

PS Kelan is so cute!

I am newbie...and barely getting my feet wet...I am looking forward to giving it all a go! And thanks for the explanation...

Lori Cofer, Beasley Realty

What about commercial? Can you do this for commercial specific properties.

Wow! This is exciting. I'm setting my market now. Thanks.

Hi Bob,

It was nice to meet you in Wolverine land (or Spartan land is more appropriate after sat. game)!

Jeff's blog post was cool & your white board fills in the gaps. Can't wait to get started.

A couple people have asked about being a loan officer, or not an agent and how they can utilize this. We will be posting in the coming days about how to utilize this from that perspective. There are quite a few ways I can think of off the top of my head and I know the other guys here have some additional thoughts, so look for a full post on that.

Monika,

If you work in an area and service several small towns, you will want to go in and secure that traffic from your own blog by setting up the 'my markets' component of listing router. You can lock up traffic to your own IDX site for as many cities (towns) as you service.

If you already have your own IDX solution on your non AR outside blog.......you can certainly keep it. Currently this pertains only to your posts on ActiveRain and allows you to benefit from sending traffic not looking in your market to someone willing to pay for that traffic (which gets you credit to purchase traffic from someone else who has someone on their blog looking in your market)

btw Monika, I tried to call you and left a message as well.

Kenneth,

We are not able to do it for commercial specific properties yet. While you could route traffic on your blog to your commercial listing site, the wording up top would say 'search for homes' so it would be misleading. We are working on some alternatives for those not directly in residential real estate.

Marian,

It was my pleasure meeting you as well! (Sad day for a Wolverine fan to have to watch them lose to State)

Ross,

The reason we went with this solution as it relates to your question of why we wouldn't "input ourlistings in a database or Activerain MLS like Zillow" is because we want consumers to see all the listings. IDX solutions for most markets encapsulate all the listings and give the consumer clicking through expecting to find everything for sale in the market the most complete picture.

We are always mindful of our top contributors and try to balance driving as much traffic to the site with rewarding our top contributors with good placement. I think you'll see some tweaks in the coming weeks that bring back some of the luster of having the most points in your market. (Not to mention they get a discount if they want to buy traffic).

The opt out is available, but with the ability to SAVE traffic from your blog in your own market, I have yet to see a good reason why anyone would choose to opt out. Can you give me one? We put that option in there so people have complete freedom with their content. After looking at this from just about every angle we can think up, I still can't see why someone would choose to opt out. The traffic you are sending away would have left anyways.......except now you could possibly get credit from that traffic to purchase traffic back to your IDX site.

Bob, I believe you completely ignored Renee Burrows wondering:

What is Kelan going to be for Halloween?

P.S. thanks again from us visual learners!

Kelan is going to be a policeman, like his grandpa!

Great concept.

Looking forward to learning more.

Kevin

**Update**

In response to well-founded member concerns about people 'kicking the tires', testing Listing Router to insure that their campaigns are working correctly and being charged for such:

We've decided to make Listing Router FREE for the first two weeks (until November 11th 2008)

Anyone who has set-up a campaign and has been charged for clicks to be routed to their IDX sites will have their accounts credited back.

You will still receive credits for referring traffic out of your individual markets.

What this means is that there is virtually no risk involved in setting up your Listing Router Campaigns. So everyone go ahead and set-up your campaigns, kick the tires and otherwise have at it!!

Wow! That is awesome! Seeing it in action without risk is a plus.

And Kelan will do Grandpa proud!

Hi Bob,

Thanks I got your message and appreciate the call. When setting up the campaign... it is for only one town...correct? My town of Atkinson has a population of about 6,000 and Hampstead has 7,000...all 10 of my towns combined might have a population of 35-45 thousand. Would I need to put a credit card down on each town? I suppose if I worked in a big city it might not matter so much but what I'm understanding is that I need to do it for all of the towns I cover. Am I right?

Bob I just want to be clear please. If I setup free links in my listing router- they are only seen to viewers when Im offline. Is this also true if Im setting up a pay per click campaign? thank you for your response

Monika,

There are two separate setups:

one is to save traffic on your own posts to route to your IDX feed if they search in your markets. That is free and you only need add the towns and decide what URL to send them to.

The second setup is if you wish to purchase potential clicks from other member's blogs and posts who may be searching in your area. That one requires you to have a card on file, but that card is pre-approved once (assuming you set up all ten towns at once and not one at a time) and then charged at the end of the month depending on how many clicks we were able to route from other's posts to your IDX.

Did that make sense?

Stephen,

We only display the banner to people who are not logged in to ActiveRain. You can be logged in, and someone else could land on your page who was not logged in (a potential client from a google search maybe) and they would see the banner.

ok so If Im logged in, I couldnt see the link but others who are not logged in would see my listing router link and would be able to utilize the link to see active listings? correct? I initially understood that it wouldnt be able to be seen by viewers unless I was offline? thank you

I'm opting out of this. With just a little testing, I've found that if a client were to search for properties in your target area on your own blog page, they'll be kicked to the next person in the rotation, which essentially sends your potential leads to your competition. I think this is a HUGE oversight on the part of AR. When someone searches Destin, Florida on my blog page, I think they should sent to my IDX, not my competition's.

I really think that this is the "missing link"... AR will now be unstoppable.

Coldwell Banker United Realtors Destin,

You can lock up your own markets so that anyone searching on your content is sent to your own IDX feed. No competitors can take your own traffic if you want to save it. You just need to go to the 'listing router' tab on your my home page and define the 'my markets' section. That will send all the traffic you want in the towns you want to you.

Bob just one more question pls. If I select areas where I can cover with IDX listings, will other realtors be given the same opportunity in this area to cover the same areas as me in the listing router? thanks for your answers!

Stephen,

Sorry about that, I was doing some housecleaning and ended up logged in as someone else. Here is that answer again:

There are two components:

Free traffic from your own blog, posts, and profile: That traffic is exclusively yours if you define 'my markets' for us. We send all traffic in the markets you define from your posts to you.

Pay per click traffic: This is where you can opt to pay for traffic from someone else's blog who is telling us they don't cover that area. This traffic is split up between the members who are willing to pay for it. So if three people are willing to buy clicks for the city of 'Seattle' then all three will get sent traffic on a round robin basis. One for X, one for Y, one for Z, then a second click for X and so on........until one of those guys hits their budget, then only two would share that traffic.

Bob, did it but don't see anything...

Sounds like a GREAT win,win.

Cool Bob... can we set weekly or monthly maximums for this program?

Monthly maximums can be set.

See if I ever check the "Notify me of comments" on your posts ever again! :-O

Missy - AR loves you or how much did you pay AR? LOL.

Bob - Great info and I love the fact that AR acknowledge long-time member efforts and the fact that the traffic we generate from our own blogs to our own IDX is free. Thank you.

Brad - AR definitely stands behind it members given the number of questions and apprehension of overuse by others with the announcement of the 2 week free trial. Thanks so much....this is really an exciting time for everyone involved.

OCT

2008

I felt like I was back in high school! Actually it felt like you were right there in my livingroom......and the sidekick was all too cute..:-)

Excellent! Very easy to understand. And Bob, you were ok also! lol Nice work. A video is much easier to follow than following a detailed blog post. ;)

Hi Bob - thanks for the call yesterday, hope we can catch up at some point with better cell reception.

I saw in one of your comments above that this is free for 2 weeks. I just tried to go in and set mine up, and it's asking for a credit card. To try it for these 2 weeks, do I have to give a credit card? With the experience many of us have had with other vendors saying trials were free and asking for credit cards and then charging anyway, there are a few us a bit gun-shy.

Ann

Great presentation...we are interested. How can we get more info and how can we get the trial?

Ok, this is on the to do list for the next few days to accomplish. First I need to contact my webhost to get the idx set up properly...Glad to hear they put oil back in your plane so you could get home!

Ok.. I'm still slow to all the technology, but I am plugging away. So with this comes a question Bob. What is an IDX site?

Ann,

I'll try to track you down today when I have a couple free minutes.

On the credit card thing, We never intended to have the free trial so the feature was designed to need a credit card. In this case, it is going to pre-authorize your card, and your account is going to look like it is running up dollar amounts (in AR, not on your card) but on the last day of the trial, we will wipe out all the data and start people at zero. On that last day, if you don't want to keep going, you will need to go in and remove your account.

I have the controls over the merchant account and I promise that if you are mischarged, I'm going to give you your money back. There is no hierarchy here and any one of us can make the decision and process your refund. It would be crazy to hold on to a few dollars, even a few hundred dollars and destroy years of good will and I wouldn't think of doing that.

Sheila,

I tried to call you after your email to me. I responded to your email and left my cell number.

Jeremy,

I'm glad they got that oil figured out too!!!

Valerie,

IDX stands for internet data exchange and it's a website that allows you to display listings from your entire MLS. That is the short version. You can search IDX on google and get more information than you would ever be able to consume.

Ann,

I'll try to track you down today when I have a couple free minutes.

Sheila,

I tried to call you after your email to me. I responded to your email and left my cell number.

Jeremy,

I'm glad they got that oil figured out too!!!

Valerie,

Hi Bob,

It took about 15 minutes to find an opening to your video post. Traffic must be huge.

My question - I have a website which features detailed IDX search results for my area. In addition, it has other information. The website is static. I also have a blog, which has a few IDX search results (I could add more) but the search results are not a detailed as the website. But, being a blog, is updated frequently. Which, in your opinion, would be the best destination for the routing? I can send you links to check out if you would like to see the sites.

Many thanks,

Michael

Bob - I think you guys have something good going here. It's a way to offer valuable leads to AR members and in addition fund you guys something for all that you have given to the AR community for free. ActiveRain gets some amazing traffic, so I think it is smart that your team is implementing things like the Listing Router that will allow your members to benefit from that traffic, but also help fund AR so you guys can continue to offer valuable services to your community.

MAN...Kelan is an awesome teacher!! I was so into his presentation that I did not want it to end. I was screaming "GO KELAN GO KELAN!" My husband came in the room with a strange look on his face...you know that look that says "You got some 'splaining' to do, Lizbeth!" As soon as he saw Kelan, I was totally off the hook. :-) GBU!

Michael,

I would say to go with the site that is going to convert visitors into leads. Ultimately you want people landing on your IDX site to convert into a prospect. The other thing I would say is look at as if you were the consumer. Does the static IDX site have updated listings.....and ALL the listings? If it does and the blog has only some listings, send them to the place they are going to see everything.

Misty,

"but also help fund AR so you guys can continue to offer valuable services to your community"

That is exactly right. It's a win-win for both us and our members. Really it's a 2x win for our members because we can take this revenue and continue to make exciting products for our members......like the one being released next week. The fun never stops! Thanks for your support!

Elizabeth,

You crack me up! Sorry I messed his presentation up.....he is a heavy little bugger and I couldn't hold him in that one arm any more. You'll see that at one point I change directions and I was going to switch arms.......then I realized I can't write with my right hand. It wasn't long after that I had to put him down :-(

Great video, thanks for the break down. I'm really excited about this!! The benefits just keep coming.

Nice explanation! And A GREAT helper that you have there.

OCT

2008

Thanks Bob - I appreciate the clarification.

Ann

Bob, can you call me when you get in? I think you know the number.

I was out for a couple of days and came back to this new feature. I am glad you did the video to explain it. I just set mine up.

Mahalo!!

OCT

2008

This is the most BORING!! (YAWN!!!!) presentation I have ever seen. You want to see something not boring?

here you go: ME!!!

(express written consent was given by my dad to advertise in the comment section of his post)

NOV

2008

OK...you guys just keep adding new great features! I think I have mine set up, but where do we enter our MAX budget, please?

NOV

2008

Wow. I am impressed. You guys put a lot of thought into this, and it is a better set up than ANY other program that I have heard of.

Thank you for thinking of us and for making this site EVEN Better. :)

NOV

2008

brilliant, just brilliant, how can anyone compete with you guys, keep up the work...we realize the amount of effort you put in on our behalf, thank you for keeping us cutting edge!

NOV

2008

Thanks guys for all the different ways we can learn about this new feature.

This is flippin brilliant...I get it...but I still need to do some research to figure out how to make it work. I have only been away from AR for a couple of months and soo much has happened...wow!!! Looking forward to all the great tools. BTW - Why has my outside blog disappeared and I cannot create a new one?

NOV

2008

So, how do we make this work for Canada?

DEC

Okay, you told me to sign up for my area this evening over the phone... I'm off to try and figure this out. Thanks for the tip.

Amber

DEC

Thanks for explaining the listing router...I haven't had a chance to look into this until now!!

DEC

Very informative, Still trying to absorb and digest many things, that was great!

JAN

Bob Do you have any other option other to opt out...ouch!! when you are not allowed to fram or link the multi-list?

I am going to contact ofur multi-list and talk with them about AR. You have other Pittsburgh west Penn Multi-list members and because we are unable to link to the multi-list are missing a great opportunity

JAN

Wow! What agreat explanation. I understans all this so much more. Hopefully, I'll retain it!

Thanks,

Cindy

Wow! What agreat explanation. I understans all this so much more. Hopefully, I'll retain it!

Thanks,

Cindy

JAN

Bob, this is SWEET! It makes perfect sense and I think it's ingenious how you set this up. It also explains the $.54 credit I found sitting in my coffers. LOL Off to read some more!

FEB

Sounds really great! Has anyone used it? What were the results?

Trish Giassa

MAR

Bob, we Real Estate Stagers and Redesigners could sure use a "Staging Listing Router"!

What do you say?

MAY

Hi,

I watched this white board video. Great job! I do appreciate you taking the time to write me and explain a little further. I just subscribed to the pay per click deal in my city. Hope it pays off!

Thanks again for all the relevant info! I do love Active Rain! so glad I found it!