Market Leader is interesting, for somewhere between $249 and $399/mo they promise you a minimum of 100 visits to your website (they provide) and some good analytics and that's that. Aside from a widget they provide there is no way to incorporate anything this system does with what you may already be doing or want to do (internet marketing related) in the future. It's a turnkey PPC solution for realtors that operates with a standalone nature. With that said, you can manually add contacts to the back-end and apparently you can, with one click, add your listings to craigslist and they also have auto syndication of your listings to the major listing hubs like Trulia, MSNBC, oodle, homescene, justlisted.com and a few others. If only there was a way to incorporate the strengths of what Market Leader does with other valuable internet marketing strategies and platforms...but if you're getting good results from a system like this than perhaps it's a moot point(?).

Click to read the complete review of Market Leader at www.nofluffreviews.com

Read, write and comment on other reviews for real estate professionals here

Really cool news from the guys up at IDX Broker. If you're an existing IDX Broker customer you now have access to a brandable iPhone app for your clients to search for property and contact you directly from their iPhone...Oh and by the way it's FREE!. Links and banners offering one-click download service of the app are now available in the back-end of your IDX Broker system for you to post on your site. Here's a quick summary, photo's and a link to the video.

Feature summary:

• FREE! Add on
• Your branding
• Customize the color via color chooser / hex code
• Users need to enter your specific id code only once to be locked into your site
• Your featured listings are automatically featured
• Map search and all other search tools are available

Watch the IDX Broker iphone app video

Read a detailed review of IDX Broker IDX System

Read more about the IDX Broker iPhone app

Only five minutes into an agonizingly painful presentation from a Z57 "sales executive", I was left with that feeling you get when meeting with the Finance Manager on a used car lot..."how can I get out of this!". Well, I sucked it up and got through it and was left with some mixed feelings. The backend is fairly robust (though lacking some key features) and has a surprisingly strong email marketing capability, somewhat similar to
1parkplace.

The biggest problem is that you can't integrate their system into your existing site, you have to go with their website. Also, they say you can require registration based on content type (ie. pictues, virtual tours, etc.) though this ability was not demonstrated. Again, 1parkplace is the only other provider that provides this type of functionality.

Click to read the rest of the review for the Z57 IDX System for Realtors at www.nofluffreviews.com

Read, write and comment on other reviews for real estate professionals here

Review summary...

Nice looking system, well laid out with some nice features for getting listing data indexed. The custom subdomain feature is nice so you can achieve a more integrated look and feel and get mls listing data indexed. This requires more work, which is why it ends up being more expensive than other systems but you end up with a much more advanced solution when completed.

Review summary...

They offer a free IDX program, which is compelling, but it strips out their most interesting feature - the ability to connect with un-registered leads or visitors who wish to remain anonymous. Jump into their mid-level program which is still very affordable for this feature. I think this could be effective in generating leads from folks who would have not registered on your site in the first place, which is a good thing. The debate comes when evaluating the quality of those same "leads" in order to determine how beneficial this feature really is. But, regardless of how that debate unfolds, this is a feature that I would want on my site. Also, important to note that the middle of the road mark on look and feel is primarily due to the fact that you can't style the look and feel to match your site but besides that I found it simple, fast, elegant and intuitive with all sorts of cool features.

Review summary...

Very expensive and back office may not be as robust compared to others (need more time to evaluate). If you require a totally customized IDX for your project and have the resources to pay for it than they might be the right choice for you. They do offer an iFrame version as well. I've given them a middle of the road rating for lead quantity and quality because I can't personally confirm or deny the lead production results. And the lower rating of 2 stars for bottomline value is really a comparison measured against the cost of competing solutions not necessarily related to potential ROI. As with many other solutions, it has it's fair share of high praising clients so please weigh in and add your comments.

Review summary...

I have to say that I was extremely excited about this IDX System because of the powerful customization options built into the back-end. You can really make this system blend into your existing website from a look and feel standpoint and even use your own search forms as long as you use the right css commands to interact with their system - now they've added custom form building options built right into their system to make this even easier. The downside though is that the contact management portion of this IDX system is a little sub-par and in my view this creates extra work and/or cost for an agent to figure out which contact manager to use and how to connect it to their system. With the addition of some solid contact management abilities and a customizable user registration setting allowing for lead capture based on content type (ie. pictures or virtual tours), rather than just a certain number of searches or property views, this IDX system could be a clear front-runner. My experience in dealing with them so far has been fantastic, they are really a responsive and nice group people and that in itself should be valued highly.

Review summary...

A value and feature rich web2.0'ish IDX system with open ability to utilize RSS feeds of listing data (all listings) for seo benefit. The base IDX package is very elegant and extremely configurable and is connected to a decent CRM for lead and contact management. The fact that you get all this configurability and the RSS feeds and don't have to use their website or blog platform is key. Yes, it's an iFrame solution like the others but utilizing their source/iframe code allows for a NO scrollbar effect which creates a more integrated and seamless look. Integrating their RSS feeds can generate tasty seo juice as well. Overall, I like their system because it's very empowering as a user and they have minimized the amount of screen refreshes for simple tasks that are often repeated. It should be noted that I have received feedback pertaining to a lack of intuitiveness from less internet savvy home searchers.

Review summary...

Unfortunately this vendor hand-cuffs you to their proprietary blog platform in order to create and utilize the RSS feeds of the listing data for seo juice. Also the feeds are only created on the back end so your site visitors don't have an option of receiving listing updates via RSS (as opposed to email). The IDX system by itself is an iFrame solution only making it non-indexable to search engines unless you also go with one of their blogs which will set you back a few grand. Overall it's a good system but perhaps a little dated in it's front end appearance and lacks any ability to style it for a more integrated look to your existing website. It's ease of use and comprehensive set of back office features makes it effective for generating and managing leads.

Note: If you are into email marketing and want this ability integrated into your IDX system than you should take a serious look at this system. Comparatively speaking, it's fairly advanced with pre-built (but editable) drip email campaigns. It also has email blasting and quick email abilities that send each email out on a generic / professional email template which of course has your basic branding elements and links back to your site (a customized email template service is also available as an upgrade).

The Broker Tools:
Leads are automatically routed to the listing agent assuming the listing agent has a 1parkplace IDX account. Lead routing can also be done manually again assuming the agent also has a 1parkplace account, and the system includes useful reporting abilities to track lead / agent activity. An intranet upgrade is available as well.

How Comments can transform your site

• Increase members and visitors participation in your website.
• Gain valuable feedback on each of your static web pages
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• Google loves new and updated content. Let your visitors to do that for you, for FREE!

As the number of "twitter'ers" continues to grow so does it's importance to an effective internet marketing strategy for Realtors – the most recent numbers show that the microblogging service now attracts nearly 14 million visitors in the US alone (Nielsen Online, March ’08).  eMarketer takes a stab at that and estimates that there are currently about 6 million registered Twitter users, which equates to around 3.8 percent of people on the Internet.

Incorporating an easy way for your site visitors to "Tweet" a link to any or all pages of your real estate website sounds like a good idea right? We think so!

The "Tweet Me" plug-in is available for free with any of our optimized real estate websites using the popular open source content management system - Joomla!

Happy Tweeting! 

Thanks for visiting the new Verity Consulting Blog where the latest in practical internet marketing strategies for Realtors will be shared. This blog features the premier blogging tool for the popular Open Source Content Management System - Joomla!  It's packed with all the key blogging elements, is available as an addon to your static site without