ActiveBob.....It's always Raining!

(This one is long, but you may be glad you read the whole thing)

Over the next couple of months, I will be embarking on a project here at ActiveRain. Some of my time will be spent helping introduce our network, and the real estate industry to a new product. When Jon first approached me about doing this, my first response was...."I am not going to push a product on our members that sucks" (I'm pretty forward with Jon, I may have used a more choice word than "sucks"). Jon also reminded me that I'm not pushing it, I'm simply putting it in our members hands and asking for open and honest feedback.

I've been through Growth Leader and ladies and Gentlemen, it doesn't suck. In fact, just the opposite. It's very powerful.

So what is Growth Leader? (Here's the official version, I'll give you my version in the next paragraphs)

Growth Leader enables real estate agents seeking a competitive edge to generate a steady stream of prospects, and provides them with a powerful contact management solution that helps convert these prospects into clients.

• Integrated response-generating website that is search engine optimized with direct MLS integration.
• Powerful combination of TV, search engine & other real estate advertising to help you attract prospects looking for homes and real estate info in your area.
• Industry leading contact management solution with lead notification, automated follow-up, email, mobile access.
• Prospect monitoring tools that allow you to know what your prospects are thinking every step of the process, showing which ones are most active: how often they visit and which properties, prices and neighborhoods they're interested in.

Sounds like the next best thing since sliced bread, right? Well as Brian Brady would say, there is no 'magic purple pill', but Growth Leader is a powerful way to generate prospects and convert them to clients, and that folks, is the name of the game.

Growth leader has two parts. The first part is the integrated website and contact management solution called Vision. The second part is an advertising component that drives traffic to your site. Depending on your market, the cost of driving traffic will vary, but the traffic is exclusive to you and you control how much traffic you want your site to get.

Vision is powerful. The corporate speak above is not B.S.. The back-end monitoring of your prospect's and client's behavior gives you great insight into where they are at in the process. Every agent should have something like this on the back end of their home search site.

OK, enough about the product for right now, just believe me that it's great.......why would you believe me? Because Market Leader is going to let selected members demo the product in exchange for their feedback on the product.

This is where I come in. I'll be selecting and working with many of our members over the next 6 months and engaging them to use the product, give feedback, help develop best practices and CLOSE TRANSACTIONS (remember folks, that's the name of the game).

We have started the project and are in the beginning stages. Some members are up and running and some are in the provisioning stage getting ready to start. I want to get this product in the hands of members who will use it and implement it in their business plan, this will be the first criteria when selecting participants. I also want it in the hands of people who are going to write about it so that the word spreads. In order to achieve this, I will be selecting members that have consistently blogged on our network for an extended period of time. Since we are asking participants to write about the product once a week, I need to know that the members testing it are dedicated bloggers. A third component will be how many subscribers a member has. If all you do is blog about your listings and no one ever reads, sorry, but that isn't going to help spread the word.

Right now it's available in about 25 markets. There will be more coming and when they launch, I'll update this post. If you are interested in participating, please see if your market is below and leave a comment or respond to me directly via email (bob at activerain dot com). I will apologize in advance, because not everyone will be able to participate. If you are selected, I will send you additional information about what you will agree to do for me in order to get your hands on this great product for free for a few months.

Markets:

• Miami, FL - Southeast FL Regional MLS and Miami-Dade
  
• Phoenix, AZ - ARMLS
  
• Tallahassee, FL - Tallahassee Area MLS
  
• Atlanta, GA - Georgia MLS
  
• Boston, MA - MLS PIN (aka Bay State MLS)
  
• Houston, TX - Houston Assoc. of Realtors
  
• Portland, OR - RMLS
  
• San Diego, CA - Sandicor MLS
  
• Tampa, FL - Mid-Florida Regional
  
• Dallas, TX - North Texas R.E. Info Sys
  
• Jacksonville, FL - NE Florida MLS
  
• Orlando, FL - Mid-Florida Regional MLS
  
• Washington, DC - MRIS
  
• Austin, TX - ACTRIS - Austin BOR
  
• Fort Meyers, FL - Punta Gorda MLS (Now Mid-Florida MLS)
  
• Los Angeles, CA - Southern California MLS and Multi-Regional MLS
  
• Seattle, WA - NWMLS
  
• West Palm Beach, FL - RMLS Florida Regional
  
• Baltimore, MD - MRIS
  
• Chicago, IL - Midwest Real Estate Data

Please note that just because your specific city doesn't show up, doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to participate. If your MLS is represented, there's a pretty good chance you will be able to participate. Also, if your market is there, but you use a different MLS, contact me directly as there are some additional MLS's coming on board.

Make sure to check the box to receive updates if you comment as I will update the markets on this post as they come online and you will be notified that I have updated the post.

(this button below will direct you to a Market Leader Account Rep, not raise your hand to show interest in our marketing program)