Relola – Finally a Search-site Created by Agents
[Note from editor: I left a few comments on Relola on my Inman Connect recap, and after an email dialogue with co-founder & CEO Heather Sittig, offered her the chance to tell her side of the story]
Relola is dedicated to the success of its members.
Agents are fed up. Done. Flat out frustrated. There is a major divide between public perception of the work they think agents do and the tireless work we know we do. While the masses may think agents make huge commissions for a few hours of paper pushing, we in the industry know this to be completely untrue. In order to clear things up, agents banded together to create Relola – a community of real estate related professionals who show off their hard work by sharing their hyper-local expertise with the world in the form of “Expert Insights”.
Relola is a listing portal built on the premise that agents are the experts, who have the deepest knowledge on homes for sale and it’s for that reason Relola will never have FSBOs or home value guesstimates.
Relola members define their market.
Hardworking agents are out in the field, touring new listings daily. We are literally walking troves of localized home content with no platform to share this knowledge beyond our sphere or farm. By answering 8 simple questions, Relola members are able to exponentially increase the reach of their expertise. Consumers searching in their market can now discover agents for their market insight next to listings they have actually been to. Relola has eliminated the “pay-per-zip” model (nobody works like that anyways) and made it simple to stand out in exactly the market you want to work. Whenever consumers request information about listings in that area, agents who have contributed previously are notified and invited to answer consumer questions. Agents can be discovered in as many zip codes as they want by simply providing Expert Insights for listings they’ve toured.
Relola members cast the widest net with the most lines in the water.
It can take an enormous amount of time, money, and considerable effort to build an effective blog. Agents are constantly being told to blog, tweet, like and share their way to new customers, but the reality is that agents are real estate professionals, not bloggers. Relola was designed from the ground up around our profession – and provides the most efficient and effective method to maximize return. With one-click, agents can now share their Insights with their network. Need more exposure? Boost that Insight on Facebook – define your audience and saturate your market with your brand.
The Relola profile page effectively becomes a dynamic, hyper-local, original content machine. 5 minutes and voila – the work is done and the reach is global.
Relola members are generous.
Relola’s dedication to sharing is core to our industry. Whether it’s raising money for local theater or donating time at a shelter, Relola recognizes that agents have always been committed to giving back. With Relola Cares, agents’ hard work directly contributes to building community by awarding Relola Cares points for every property they share their Expert Insights about. At the end of the year agents can “donate” their points to one of the many charitable organizations supported by the Relola Cares program. Relola will in turn make a donation to each of these charities. Relola is determined to make big change out of many small and generous acts.
Is Relola the Future of Real Estate? With Agents as it’s foundation we think the pieces are falling into place perfectly.
Bryn Kaufman
Posted at 19:22h, 23 FebruaryAwesome idea!
Is there a way to know how many people are searching Relola in my area?
Is there any way to tell how many questions are being asked in my area?
I am interested but would like to think if I spend the $99 per month to join there will be enough activity on Relola to make it worth it. Not sure how well known it is here in Honolulu?
Relola
Posted at 20:26h, 23 FebruaryBryn! Please email me and I will answer all of your questions. 😉 [email protected]
Drew Meyers
Posted at 22:58h, 23 FebruaryYour questions get at the heart of this issue. How do consumers find this, and what keeps them using it?
If there isn’t a massive chunk of potential buyers/sellers/homeowners using Relola in a specific geographic area, why would an agent pay money to add content to the platform when they could put the same content on their own site or on Zillow/Trulia/etc where there are proven buyers looking for information?
Relola
Posted at 09:38h, 24 FebruaryDrew – in areas where Relola is just gaining traction we have special discounts in place. Your readers can contact me directly to get the promo code for their region. When we all band together we can make incredible things happen.
Relola
Posted at 07:39h, 24 FebruaryHi Bryn,
It is hard to know how many people are searching in your area because we don’t require them to create accounts to search. . . with that said, I imagine that the number is low. We launched out of beta in November and have been focusing our advertising on some key markets including Miami, Denver, Charlotte, Austin, and the bay area. Hawaii is an ideal Relola market because of the number of out of area buyers, and any day now we will be targeting Honolulu and beyond.
I would love to have you join us in our quest to bring the best home search possible to Hawaii! Because I cannot promise remarkable results out of the gate, I want to offer you an opportunity to join us as a founding member at a reduced rate (we will never increase your membership dues). This way you can start building your presence on Relola. We will likely include your previews in our advertising so you will really get a leg up. Also, when the Hawaiian market discovers Relola you will be front and center.
Please email me directly for a promo code for your area. [email protected]
Also – the Reloladex is our directory of professionals who help you move and maintain your lifestyle after you do so, such as mortgage brokers, insurance agents, window washers, dog walkers – you name it. Currently they can join for free and soon they will be able to give you kudos and additional exposure. Please spread the word in your circle.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 23:56h, 23 February“Relola is a listing portal”
If that’s true, that means competing directly with Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com – what is the strategy to get buyers to use your platform rather than what they are already using?
If incentives don’t align, products don’t work/grow. The incentives I see are as follows…
Agents:
Branding to consumers – with goal those consumers will actually transact.
Consumers:
Unique content about listings they can’t get elsewhere.
“More reach” is pretty much the marketing pitch we used at Zillow early on for home q&a, zillow advice, etc (and the same message Trulia used as well from what I can remember). It can work…IF you have the buyers/sellers/homeowners agents want to reach already. In Zillow’s case, we launched all those products/features after we already had millions of people looking up Zestimates on the site.
But my question still remains – where are the consumers going to come from to incentivize agents to keep adding content?
Drew Meyers
Posted at 00:01h, 24 FebruaryReach is also the same reason I’d argue agents should contribute local content to streetadvisor.com (a consulting client). But SA has 7+ years of unique content and SEO power playing in its favor (& existing consumer traffic).
Bryn Kaufman
Posted at 00:08h, 24 FebruaryExcellent question.
That is basically what I was thinking too. With my two questions I am trying to get a handle on how many potential leads are using it. If there are enough it could be a great platform to show off our expertise, but if very few are using it, then it might be a lot of time spent for nothing.
One option I could think of to solve this problem is to not charge the $99 per month yet, and allow agents to put their content on their website too. This way they feel like even if not a lot of people see it on Relola initially, at least they can use it on their website.
Once they have testimonials of Realtors getting clients from Relola, then $99 would be a small price to pay if you are getting good leads that turn into sales.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 00:18h, 24 FebruaryThe agents doing local marketing efforts with social are largely doing that in lieu of paying money for leads. I don’t see charging agents and expecting them to add content is going to work out very well.
As a massive content producer myself, I can certainly tell you I would never pay money to a site for the “right” to post a bunch of unique, valuable content that people can’t get elsewhere. I’d much rather put that on some domain name I control.
Relola
Posted at 09:37h, 24 FebruaryThe domain name that you control will never have the global reach that Relola does. Best to connect the two to increase your own presence. Relola has spent more money on SEO and SEM than any brokerage or individual agent will ever be able to afford. It’s simply not possible for an individual to get the reach that we have, which is why piggy backing on Relola is such a benefit to our agent members.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 09:42h, 24 FebruaryAgents don’t care about global reach. They care about buyers / sellers in their area. It would not be that hard for an agent or broker to outrank relola in their local market.
We’ll have to strongly disagree on this stance you’re taking on Seo.
Relola
Posted at 10:01h, 24 FebruaryOf course Agents don’t care about global reach for their local purposes, but global reach brings much more attention to their local market, and in turn many more eyes on them. Agents need to cast the widest net possible to catch the biggest and best fish, with Relola giving them an additional stream of eyeballs focused ultimately directly on their own site, they will have the greatest opportunity to work with the clients who really need their services.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 10:31h, 24 FebruaryIF you prove you have a sustainable source of consumer buyer traffic that comes organically & uses the site repeatedly for weeks or months, you may have an argument. That said, I still remain unconvinced the consumer usage will continue to increase, but please do prove me wrong.
If traffic growth is dependent on paid sources, then you’re simply arbitraging traffic… that’s a tough business to be in long term.
Relola
Posted at 11:13h, 24 FebruaryDrew, perhaps your predictions of failure are based on your own experience trying to get traction for your blog. . . I will say all this nay saying is typical when one encounters something truly new and disruptive. I find that negative nellies are rarely those that embrace and drive innovation. As an entrepreneur who works with the best and the brightest on the brink of what’s next, I am privileged to have a front row seat to what’s coming down the line. The true change makers are naturally curious, optimistic and collaborative. The agent members of Relola share these qualities. They are the future of real estate. The nay sayers on the sidelines may as well plan their retirement party.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 12:47h, 24 FebruaryI think the fact that I’m engaging in this dialogue is proof I’m curious. I’m curious about everything, in fact probably too curious. All I’m giving is my thoughts based on what I’ve seen work and not work over the past 10 years.
I assure you, many people are thinking the same thing I’m thinking & talking privately; they just won’t say anything publicly about it.
I give you honest feedback because I don’t want to see you or any other entrepreneur spend a bunch of time and money on products/strategies that don’t end up working. I self funded ohheyworld.com, it didn’t get traction, and it was a very expensive personal lesson…many many people along the way told me I was going down a path with serious obstacles in place & I didn’t listen/pivot fast enough.
Like I’ve said before, anything is possible. I know that. Where there is a will there is a way. Just because I don’t think the strategy will work, doesn’t mean you have to or should listen to me.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 12:50h, 24 February“own experience trying to get traction for your blog”
I’ve honestly never cared who reads the blog, or how many people there are — and that’s precisely why people read it. The feedback I get from readers is they read it because I’m real and honest and I will say what most people won’t, and don’t write about every single product that comes to me looking for coverage.
Relola
Posted at 09:35h, 24 FebruaryBryn – agents will be able to put their content on their sites too in just a few weeks. We are creating an widget that will make it simple to showcase your insights and expertise on your own site. Also you Relola profile page does link directly to your own site, which provides a tremendous SEO boost to you site.
Relola
Posted at 09:33h, 24 FebruaryThe consumers are coming in droves. Because Relola promotes our agent members on multiple social media channels we are reaching a broad consumer audience. Our traffic is quadrupling week over week.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 10:10h, 24 FebruaryIs the traffic coming back repeatedly?
Relola
Posted at 10:21h, 24 Februaryyes indeed
Ben Kubic
Posted at 08:27h, 24 FebruaryHow much do you think buyers actually care about getting answers before going to the showing? The one thing I’ve heard over and over from buyers is that they love the process of going to see homes, and they’d rather see more than less on their search, especially because they perceive it as a “free” service the buyer’s agent is offering.
In my experience, most buyers would rather stop by as many places as possible on their tours rather than winnow down the list ahead of time.
Relola
Posted at 09:32h, 24 FebruaryBuyers, in particular millennials and gen x buyers, really want real time information about everything and complete transparency. Relola provides them just this. Our next application will allow them to get real time data via video and photos. . . this will come out in March. Buyers today are demanding instant satisfaction and will get what they want because ultimately we work for them. By providing this content agents are creating tremendous personal SEO and will rise to the top in Google search as a result.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 10:36h, 24 FebruaryI just did a search in Seattle, and clicked on a listing – https://www.relola.com/listing/4308239?tab=conversations
Same in San Fran – https://www.relola.com/listing/4354289?tab=conversations
No insights available. If that’s the case across the board, then there’s nothing here that’s not on every other agent/broker idx site in the market?
Who is going to leave all the unique content, and why? And who is going to totally trash crappy houses/listings in the conversations? Because that’s what consumers want…they want the local experts to weed out the crap they shouldn’t spend their time on. But my hunch is no agents will do that due to the very likely backlash from other professionals.
Jon Kolsky
Posted at 16:32h, 24 FebruaryWow- I was just on the site and it looks great. And I agree- buyers want to see listings in real time, buyers want accurate listing information, and right now (as much as Zillow says differently) buyers don’t get that with the Zillow. And as far as agents go- $99 is a far cry from what agents have to spend with Zillow. I really hope relola gains traction, and I will be rooting for relola.
Geordie Romer
Posted at 11:00h, 25 FebruaryI went to the site and am a little more than baffled. Many of the “how to” videos seem to be private or removed.
I also wonder how many MLS forbid writing comments about another agent’s listings. It seems like I might need to check each individual listing to see if “blogging is prohibited.”
As they always say, ideas are great but execution is everything.
Relola
Posted at 12:38h, 26 FebruaryHi Geordie! Sharing insights on Relola is in no way a violation of MLS rules anywhere. Believe me we have done our research. Because we are a syndicator of data that we share and allow pros to comment on on our site, nobody runs a fowl of any MLS. We have removed how to videos that were for the original beta version of the site. They are no longer relevant since subsequent releases have different feature sets. Execution is everything!!
Beth Incorvati
Posted at 14:25h, 27 FebruaryWhen I attend Inman Connect, I’m always interested in hanging out in Start Up Alley – I’m curious about the “latest and greatest”. What I often find, however, are solutions that declare themselves to be unique and different but are merely a redux of something long standing. Yawn. In January I was in NY and checked out Relola. I get it and I dig it. We live in an Amazon product review society; why shouldn’t we demonstrate our local market expertise by offering our professional impressions and insights around available inventory? It seems to me that this is a total win-win. Listing agents are getting additional property exposure and endorsements, I’m getting to fly my agent expert flag, and consumers are getting more information. No doubt this can be leveraged in a strategic and high-minded way; that’s key. Two things I’d like to add: I absolutely do care about global reach. My market is a destination for many from other countries. Second, listing agents need to chill out. You were hired to promote your listing fully and it’s a PRODUCT. Products get reviewed. The smart agents using Relola will craft narratives that are professional and pique interest. No one wants to hire a jerk, and we won’t act like one.