Baron Briefs

RealtyBaron made a strategic pivot in 2009 with the launch of not one, not two, but three web service APIs.   That decision paid off for us in 2010 in the form of three new strategic partnerships.   Our first partner implemented a pay-per-lead model using our Auction API to introduce consumers to agents.  Our second partner — a licensed broker — is using the same Auction API to introduce consumers to agents based on a referral fee at closing.  Our third partner is launching a real estate Q&A service using our Answers API.

Of those API uses,  the success of the pay-per-lead model was most surprising in 2010.  To be fair, it was the first and had time to undergo several iterations.  In fact, it was a downright rocky start last January when it first went live.  However, the pay-per-lead model had a strong finish.  Here’s a sampling of what agents said after paying for leads from our first partner in the final quarter:

• “It is nice to work with referral partners that make it a win win for everyone.”
• “It seemed like a serious lead. Yes, I liked the quick bid response and the quility [sic] of the lead seemed good.”
• “I am still new to this but I have been able to meet two excellent sellers in my market area. One resulted in a short sale listing and one meeting is today.”
• “The qualty of the leads are good. Better than any I used in the past. All the info wth the leads was correct.”

I expect an even better 2011 as we continue refine the process.

Happy new year!

In the spirit of “2007: year of the widget“, I released MyAgentRank™ over the weekend, a product that will take AgentRank™ to a new level. MyAgentRank™ is a “snippet” of HTML code that displays an agent’s AgentRank™ when inserted into their website or weblog. Visitors see the agent’s AgentRank™ in real-time plus a snapshot of the agent’s experience, sales, and endorsements. The visitor can click through to AgentRank.com for a detailed report of the agent’s track record. I’ll add the newest AgentRank™ components–Market Forecasts and Weblogs–to badges soon.

Ultimately, MyAgentRank™ is a lead generation tool for agents…albeit for their own website or weblog…by making a stronger case for visitors to complete a form or pick up the phone. Best of all, MyAgentRank™ allows the best agents to differentiate themselves from the competition because only a select group can display a “9″ or “10″ regardless of MyAgentRank™’s popularity.

To prevent gaming the system, MyAgentRank™ allows rankings to be flagged for review by staff. Community review is a new dimension for AgentRank™ which has been totally data-driven until now.

If you’re an agent, you can get your free MyAgentRank™ badge by completing the AgentRank™ setup.