Most real estate agents don't realize -- or perhaps don’t remember -- that not long ago, there were many real estate portal startups, but all the ones that try to comply with each MLS’s (Multiple Listing Service)  and NAR’s (National Association of Realtors) rules failed -- except Realtor.com, of course. Trulia and Zillow can only dominate this space because they went around the MLSs, while the MLSs and NAR were putting all of their efforts into crowning Realtor.com as king.

The Problem

Most real estate agents rely on a website vendor like Agent BizzUp to host their IDX (Internet Data Exchange) website. But these vendors have to accept what is sometimes a 12-page contract agreement with each MLS (Multiple Listing Service) to provide this service. Some of the requirements of these contracts are counterproductive to the purpose of having an IDX website. For example:

• I know of at least one MLS that requires that any listing search on your website should produce less than 100 results.
• Many MLSs require exclusivity, which restricts you from having IDX feed from more than one MLS.
• Some MLSs will go as far as forcing you to add/remove certain design elements from your website.
• And then there are the fees. Some MLSs charge vendors as much as $10,000+ per month to license the data. One of the largest IDX vendors in the U.S. reported that their annual fees to MLSs are well over $1 million.

Other than these MLSs beating on their chest to show that they are the masters of listing data, there is little purpose to many of these requirements. Now, these requirements would be tolerable if all vendors were required to play by the same rules, but even that's not true. For example:

• Some MLSs just outright limit their members to 1-3 vendors and slam the door shut on every other vendor.
• Some MLSs set different requirements for different IDX websites.
• Remember those MLSs mentioned above that require exclusivity? Well, their listing data is available on Realtor.com, right alongside listing data from other MLSs.
• Even the fees that they charge to vendors are different; some MLSs will pick and choose who gets a pass from paying.

The Cause

While there's a lot of blame to go around, the fact remains that Trulia and Zillow have cornered the real estate market and have wedged themselves between brokers and home buyers.

Arguably, the first blow came from the MLSs and the National Association of Realtors. The situation is similar to the web technology field. Old companies with their traditional mindset and ways of doing things have always had a hard time transitioning to doing business online. New companies that start out as "web first" companies don't have to carry old baggage with them from a pre-online period. This is why, in the early 90s, Disney's go.com, Microsoft's msn.com, and countless other old media companies were unable to compete with Yahoo! Ironically, just a few years later, it's partly the same reason why Yahoo!, after hiring an old media CEO, was unable to compete with Google. It's also why newspapers could not compete with job portals like Monster.com and Craigslist. It's also why Walmart, Barnes and Noble, and many other businesses cannot compete with Amazon.com.

Now that MLSs are planning to develop their own real estate portals and lead generating sites, it’s easy to see how it will be a disastrous mistake that further rewards organizations that avoid MLSs altogether.

One thing should be made very clear -- this article is not talking about all MLSs. In fact, most MLSs are honest and fair companies that are superb at what they do and genuinely serve the needs of their clients.

The Solution

At Agent BizzUp, we've always believed that MLSs will continue to play a vital role in the future of real estate technology. But they should be doing more to aggregate the data that they possess on a level playing field, which is where their business primarily thrives. They should not be playing king makers. Take Google, for example -- their business model is to provide access to the world’s information without showing partiality to any one entity, no matter how deep its pockets may be. As a result of this, companies that provide great products and services, those that draw many users’ attention and mentions, will thrive.

We propose that all MLSs move to RETS (Real Estate Standards Transactions), simplify their requirements, and drop their IDX licensing fees. Some may view this as outrageous, but examine the possibility further and it becomes quite rational.

Some MLSs will complain that there is a cost to host and maintain the IDX service, but that simply should be part of the cost of doing business. Facebook profiles cost a lot more to host and maintain, but they could not pass that cost over to their user base without a justifiable uproar. RETS, when implemented properly, eliminate a lot of the maintenance and support issues. By making these changes, MLSs will be removing the hurdles agents have to jump over to be competitive, dissolving the advantages that Trulia and Zillow have gained from avoiding the MLSs for so many years.

What do you think, should MLSs be playing the role of king makers?

Real estate agents know that despite the onset of the digital age, the housing business is still all about people and relationships. Helping folks buy and sell their homes, one of the biggest decisions of their lives, requires building a lot of trust. But guess what? Real estate agents can build that trust through more than face-to-face interactions; they can build it through search engines. That’s right, by adding local events to their websites, agents can significantly increase their search engine visibility and ensure repeat visitors to their sites.

So how does it work, exactly? In a few ways. When real estate agents post local event listings on their websites, they show their engagement with a particular community, they use keywords that search engines pay attention to, and they engage with past and potential customers, which can help them bring in business. Let’s look at each of these three factors in more detail.

Local Events Show Engagement With the Local Community

Visitors to a real estate agent’s website don’t want to see someone who serves people throughout the state or, worse, the nation. They trust agents who are dialed in to their own communities. Real estate agents who know a lot about the places they serve can help customers land their dream houses and sell their homes for a good price. One excellent way agents can demonstrate this is to list local events on their websites. This shows that agents have a finger on the pulse of their communities, which in turn indicates that they will be more likely to be helpful to someone looking for real estate expertise in that area.

Regular Event Listings Up Search Engine Rankings

Search engines rely on complex algorithms to sift through vast seas of online material and return the results that will be most helpful to the user performing the search. While gaming the system is the subject of entire libraries, real estate agents should keep in mind the basics: keywords and update frequencies. Many people don’t know that some of the most powerful keywords are cities and states, because they increase the chances of a site being returned to a local searcher. And updating frequently tells the Web bots that your content is more likely to be current — and thus relevant. Since event listings require both location details and constant updating, they are ideal for catching a search engine’s notice.

Local Events Bring People Back

Even if someone isn’t looking for a house yet or has just bought one with a real estate agent’s help, keeping that person around is in an agent’s best interest. Such people may not only be a source of referrals; they might need a realtor’s help in the future. Giving them a reason to keep visiting the website keeps that particular agent fresh in their minds and reduces the chances they will go to someone else when the time to buy or sell rolls around.

Agent BizzUp's Event Manager makes it easy to add local events directly to your website. While many of our members are familiar with using this feature to list open houses, it's also a great way to list other events taking place in your community. Check out our Manage Event tutorial for assistance with adding events to your website.

Reality check …

A website is only as valuable as the amount of control that you have. So, gone is the illusion that you can rely on a real estate webmaster to "take care" of your online presence. And enter the current reality: what you get out of your website depends on what you put in.

Webmaster is a title that became prevalent in the mid-1990s, to identify an individual who was solely responsible for all the duties related to maintaining a website. Webmasters were considered gurus, because they provided a means for small- to mid-size businesses to get their presence online – something especially meaningful for company managers who had little or no knowledge about how websites were created and maintained.

Basically, webmasters offered the easiest way to "check" website off your to-do list.

The floodgates open

With the success of websites as a business tool, businesses drastically changed the way they approach their online presence. As a result, webmasters were flooded with more complicated requests, and websites required more frequent updates.

Many webmasters found themselves unable to fulfill this level of demand, and some of their skills didn’t keep up with rapidly changing technology. In the end, the concept of using a webmaster, whether an in-house employee or outside contractor, simply died.

Businesses that could afford it hired in-house web development teams to implement their online strategy, which grew to include not just websites but social media presence. But what happened to the rest of the small to mid-size businesses? A new industry was born to fill that void: Content Management Systems (CMS), also referred to as "Website Builders," "Web Presence Builders," "Template Websites” and so on.

Control is key

In the modern age of real estate websites, "control" is the most important factor that determines whether your website is effective or a bust.

Imagine for a moment, a person searches online for a real estate professional. What are they experiencing? Most likely, they are visiting many websites with the same stale, lifeless, yada, yada, yada content. Consequently, none of the agents on those websites stand out to them.

But when they reach your website, they see relevant content that is fresh and personal.

• They may see a picture of you with a new homeowner that you recently represented in the buying process.
• They may find a blog filled with helpful advice and a strong call-to-action.
• They may get to a landing page that exchanges a valuable offer for their contact and other information – helping you determine if they are qualified leads.

You become a real person to them. They are not hesitant to reach out to you because your website reflects your personality and human side. They know that you are easy to reach because your website is updated frequently. That's the advantage a website that you control will give you!

Take control

CMS technology helps you maintain the control you want over your website.

Beware, however: Real estate webmasters haven't gone away completely! There are some that are still peddling old fashion "custom" websites and will do whatever it takes to convince you to buy a pricey website; that offers a lot less than a template website, that gives you no control, and that will quickly become obsolete.

Do yourselves a favor, Realtors. Avoid all the gibberish talk and thousands of dollars for a "custom" websites from these real estate webmasters and get a website design that you control.

Every New Year feels like a whole new world, but that may be more true of 2015 than most. Recent innovations have opened up the field to new technologies and opportunities, so if you’re a real estate professional looking to ramp up your business, pay attention to these predictions.

1. More Innovations that Lead to Social Connection

The real estate market was always about people, and the Internet hasn’t changed that. What has changed in the digital era is how you reach those people who are so important to your business. While old-school approaches like lunch dates, referrals and phone calls are still crucial, of course, technology opens up a whole new world of ways to connect.

For instance, many apps allow you to analyze your area’s market data, showcase inventory, start conversations and generate leads, all by plugging your preexisting marketing plan into social media platforms. Other services help to automate your web presence by plugging your info into real estate portals, social media platforms and search engines so your potential clients can find you easily. And sites like LinkedIn make it easier to connect with referral partners than ever before.

2. Mobile Web Presence Will No Longer Be Optional

2015 is the Year of the Mobile, we predict. 2014 was all about the user experience, making sure that tablets and phones functioned efficiently as digital marketplaces in their own right, rather than just weak additions to the desktop or laptop. This year we will see more and more companies taking advantage of that fact, using readily accessible mobile devices to target new customers.

Of course, that necessitates a solid mobile presence. If you want to be at the top of the real estate game, you’ll need a fully adaptive design that responds beautifully to screens of any size. Those that do, not only give their clients and potential customers a leg up when conducting business, they’re able to target prospects who don’t have desktops or laptops at all.

3. Videos Will Drive a Lot of Sales

Videos are uniquely situated to improve your real estate presence online. In addition to the automatic engagement factor (since more people are willing to watch a video all the way through than read to the end of a document, these days), videos also educate and build trust, establishing you as someone who knows how to help.

That being the case, don’t skimp on video. Use it on any platform you can, including your own website as well as social media platforms. Video will be particularly hot on Facebook in the coming year, with the social media giant showing preference for native uploads rather than outside links. So whenever possible, create original content.

To view a simple and effective way to implementing videos into your real estate business, read our article: Host Online Virtual Showings With Video Chat Tools.

The real estate game is changing, but there’s no reason you can’t keep up with it. With an open mind, wisely chosen technology and respect for these 2015 predictions, you can outclass your competition and catch the attention of your ideal prospects. How do you plan on marketing your real estate business in 2015?

When you work in real estate, a quality website is a must. It’s your conduit between you and the people you work with, between homes and their new owners, between uncertain clients and the answers to their questions. No one needs to tell you that choosing your website is an important part of your business.

We might be living in a modern world, but real estate very much depends on old-fashioned relationships between agents and customers. Your clients choose real estate agents they feel they can trust to help them with one of the biggest financial and emotional decisions of their lives. If you are remote, seem cookie-cutter or spammy, or are misrepresented by those around you, potential clients may look elsewhere. Below are four reasons to avoid a website provided by a franchise, MLS or real estate portal.

You Lose One-on-One Relationships

Any time you’re lumped in with the rest, you lose your ability to stand out in a crowd. One-on-one relationships with your clients make them like you, feel well-served, and tell others about you. Even in the Internet age, with all the bells and whistles afforded by digital media, word-of-mouth referrals are still an extremely powerful marketing tool. All franchises and real estate portals have one thing in common -- they are all real estate consumer-facing products and are competing to gain a relationship with your customers. When you depend on these organizations to host your website, they can become a third wheel in your relationship with your customers, making it easy for your leads to be 1-click away from choosing another agent.

You Lack Control Over Your Web Presence

Similarly, you want to control your Web presence so that you can pursue your own business philosophy and adopt your own online aesthetic. Your own website allows you to do this, while adopting a piece of a provider’s platform doesn’t.

SEO Helps the Providers, Not You

Even if your MLS or franchise offers you your own dedicated website, you still cannot engage in SEO practices to help grow your online presence. Well, that’s not technically true. You can use good SEO tactics to boost rankings, but all of the benefits of your hard work will accrue to the provider. While cnames and forwarded domains make it possible for your website to look as though it is only dedicated to you, the search engine robots will see a very different picture. According to them, all your hard work is made in the name of your provider, so they’ll reward them while ignoring your site and, in turn, your online presence.

Consumers Prefer Local Sites

Customers want to know the person they’re working with lives in and is knowledgeable about their area, so they tend to avoid sweeping franchise websites or portals when they reach the late stages of browsing for homes. Plus, those websites can’t keep up with inventory as quickly, so customers will look for smaller ones that can.

Taking these reasons into consideration, it's obvious to see why franchises, MLSs and real estate portals have a keen interest in hosting real estate agents’ websites. They get the most benefits when they host your website. Some will go as far as providing you a website for "free."

While a website is more important than ever these days, you want to make sure you have the right website. Stick with these tips for a better chance to stand out, please your customers and grow your business.

Agent BizzUp provides a Web Presence Suite that allows you to have complete control of not only your website, but your entire web presence. Agent BizzUp is not a real estate consumer-facing product and has no interest in having a direct relationship with real estate clients. Therefore, our only goal is to help real estate agents succeed with their website.

Most savvy real estate professionals are eager to find new ways to save time, money, and differentiate themselves from other agents. If you're working with a long-distance client or a very busy one, video chat is a convenient way to virtually "show" a property. In fact, in recent months, some agents have reportedly sold listings to clients who've never set foot in the property before - as a result of video chat.

According to the National Association of Realtors, an estimated 92% of home buyers use the internet in some way in their home search process. Several years ago, we witness how large, high quality photos really made a big impact on viewing listings online. Then it was virtual tours and videos. So we can imagine how much of an impact real-time virtual tours and online open houses will have on viewing listings online. Prospective home buyers have already displayed that they'd rather spend more time online narrowing down their listings search.

There are many tools that can be used for hosting a virtual showing. The following is a list of video chat tools that most agents are already familiar with and are all FREE!:

• Google Hangout: You can turn any Google Hangout into a live video call with up to 10 clients. To start a video conference, first download the App to your device, then click to follow the instruction below that is relevant to your device:
  • Android instructions
  • iOS instructions
• Skype: Skype is the most widely used video chat software, with over 300 million users worldwide. While you can add up to 25 people to your video call when using your desktop or laptop, on mobile devices you can only host a 1-on-1 video chat. To start a video chat, first download the App to your device, then click to follow the instruction below that is relevant to your device:
  • Android instructions
  • iOS instructions
  • Windows Phone 8
  • BlackBerry 10
  • Windows desktop
  • Windows 8
  • Mac
• Apple Facetime: Facetime allow you to host 1-on-1 video chat for virtual showings. Click here to learn more about starting a Facetime video chat on iOS devices.

Setting up a video chat for a virtual showing with these tools is very easy. You can also make a recording of the live chat which can later be posted on your website.

This phenomenon will most likely continue to grow. As wearable devices like Google Glass and Apple Watch enters the market next year, hosting virtual showings will become more intuitive. Any real estate agent that start implementing this technology now, will have a "head-start" on their competitors.

Check out this video posted by Sarah Hill, of Veterans United, which demonstrate how Google Glass could be used for virtual home tours:

Have you hosted a virtual showing or an online open-house? If so, what are your thoughts?
 

Most real estate agents have heard of the term "landing pages", but what does this mean, really? Landing Page is a online marketing term that refers to a single web page that is setup to accomplish a specific goal. For example, if you want to use a web marketing platform to generate leads, a method that has proven to be very effective is utilizing a Landing Page. Why so? Well, here's what studies have revealed:

• 50% of website visitors do not go beyond the first page they enter.
• 55% of website visitors spend fewer than 15 seconds on a website.

You might wonder, "why don't I just direct all traffic to my main website, where visitors can navigate to whatever they're interested in?". In theory, that would make life a lot easier for you. But that's just not the way web users surf the internet. When a visitor enters your web page, they quickly scan over your content and photos, to determine if the page is relevant to what they're looking for. If they can't make that determination within 15 seconds, they simply leave. From a web user's point of view, it's easier to click the "back" button in their web browser and go to the next website on the list, then to navigate through your website to find what they're looking for.

What makes a "good" Landing Page?

• Has a Call-to-Action: This is mandatory. The page must include a web form for visitors to complete or at least include a phone number.
• Promotes a small-set of products or services: This is not a page where you want to list all products or services that you offer. Preferably, you should use your Landing Page to only promote one product or service. This may be difficult for some real estate agents to grasp. Unlike traditional marketing where you cast a net wide enough to catch as much interest as possible, web marketing has to spark a user's interest in a brief moment. The good thing is that, most online marketing platforms allow you to target your campaign based on a user's interest.
• Specific to visitor's intent: The content of a Landing Page should deliver upon the expectations of a user. For example, if a visitor search for "high-rise condos in downtown" to find your Landing Page, the first text and photo they see above the fold should reflect this.
• Summarize your Brand's Story: A brief summary of who you are as a brand, what you stand for, and what you've got to offer should be included on your Landing Page. An easy way to accomplish this is with testimonials or a great tagline.
• No distractions: This page should not have any content that can distract users from their intent. Ideally, a Landing Page should not have a navigation menu, links to other pages, or any other element that visitors can interact with, except a Call-to-Action.
• A/B Tested: Don't make decisions on a hunch, use A/B Testing for every element on the page to decide what works.

When should I use a Landing Page?

• Real-Time Marketing (RTM): In traditional marketing, your goal is to distract users from what they were doing, e.g., TV commercials, direct mail, web banners, etc. RTM platforms like Twitter, allow you to draft along existing conversation topics. This present an opportunity for you to use your marketing materials to join existing conversations and not distract users from them. You can create Landing Pages that are optimized for specific conversation topics that will generate leads.
• Contextual and Pay-per-Click (PPC) Campaigns: Contextual and PPC advertising are based on keywords. Having a Landing Page that is clearly associated with the keywords that you select for your campaign will deliver higher conversions. Tip: keep your keywords list short and highly focus.
• Event-driven marketing (EDM): If you can anticipate a significant event that will impact your customers' circumstances, behavior, or state of mind, a good Landing Page that offers relevant information and solutions will be well received. Significant events can include: sudden change in market conditions, government laws, or even natural disasters. Studies have shown that the average response rate to EDM is 34%, compared to most other marketing response rate of 1%-4%.
• Emphasize an individual product or achievement: In general, because Landing Pages are highly focused on a single offer, they work well for highlighting an individual product or service. A Landing Page allows you to highlight achievements, and show how you differentiate from competitors for an individual offer. For example, as a real estate agent, you can setup a single property Landing Page, or a Landing Page for a community that you specialize in, or a Landing Page that demonstrate why and how you achieve a reward or designation.

When should I not use a Landing Page?

• Main Website: Landing Pages have very specific purposes and should not be used as your main website. You don't want to list a Landing Page on your business card or promote them in networking events.

Creating a Landing Page with Agent BizzUp

Agent BizzUp makes it easy to create Landing Pages. While you can setup separate accounts for each Landing Page, you can also use the following features, which are included with every plan, to accomplish this very effectively with a single account:

• Add-on Domain Names: Most of Agent BizzUp's website plans allow you to host additional domain names to your account. Add-on domain names can be 3rd level domains (e.g., anything.yourdomain.com) or parent domain names (e.g., yourdomain.com).
• Mini-website: Most Agent BizzUp members understand the value of using it's Web Presence Suite plans to build their main website. But a very underutilized feature is the Mini-Website feature, that's included with every plan. Every add-on domain name can be configured as a mini website (i.e. Landing Page).
• Lead Capture Forms: In addition to all the default forms included with your Agent BizzUp account, you can also create your own Lead Capture Forms. Since these forms can be customized with virtually any form fields that you desire, your Landing Page can include a Call-to-Action form that is very specific.
• Page Modules: Page Modules are content widgets that can be added to any page on your website, including Landing Pages. These Modules can be placed above or below your page's main content, or on a side column. You can add your own content modules or use built-in modules like: Featured Listings, Listings Search, Contact Card, RSS Feeds, Mortgage Rates, Upcoming Events, etc.

With all the advantages Landing Pages present, and the ease Agent BizzUp offers to create them, I can't think of any reason why a real estate agent would not use a separate Landing Page for every marketing campaign that they create, and for each service that they offer.

Before we dig into the pros and cons of using a Proprietary CMS (Content Management System), let's first establish, what is a Proprietary CMS? why do you need it? and what are your alternative options?

Content Management System's are web-based platforms that allows you to add, edit, and remove content from your website, without having any knowledge of html or web development. A Proprietary Content Management System, is a CMS that is developed and maintained by one company, and requires a licensing fee (usually built-in to the hosting fee).

Alternatives to Proprietary CMS:

• Open Source CMS:
  • Open source alternatives include the likes of WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
  • The majority of website providers using open source solutions are not actually software developers. While these providers may be very familiar with their favorite Open Source CMS, they are not directly involved in the development of the Open Source CMS itself.
• Custom CMS:
  • A Custom CMS is a CMS platform that you hire a software development company to build specifically for your business needs. Custom CMS can range anywhere from $50k - $2m+ to develop. With a Custom CMS, you are responsible for on-going development and maintenance, including security patches, bug fixes, software updates, and any new features that you require. Unless your company has an annual web hosting budget of over $1mil, this solution would not be ideal.
• No CMS (using a webmaster):
  • I can't imagine too many reasons why a company would not have a CMS platform for their website. Especially since, nowadays, there are so many options in the market, and the cost are significantly lower then ever before. But there are companies that are not using a CMS at all, so we bothered listing it as an alternative option. This requires of course, having a "webmaster" that makes all changes to your website pages. I guess, if your website only has about 5 pages, and serves no other purpose then an online business card, and you only need to make changes every couple years or so, maybe not having a CMS might be a good option.

Pros of using a Proprietary CMS:

1. Full service and all-inclusive. Most Proprietary CMSs include all the feature required to operate your web presence. The list of features will likely include: design management, page management, meta tag controls, CRM, analytics and reports, domain management, email and web hosting, mobile website design, social integration, email marketing, and possibly many other features. Since most Proprietary CMSs offer all-inclusive service plans, you will get all of these features for one monthly charge (some offer additional discounts if you pay yearly). When using a Proprietary CMS, you don't have to concern yourself with installing plug-ins, modules, or widgets, since all the features that you need are built-in. However, with most Proprietary CMSs you can still add modules or widgets that are not built-in.
2. Vertical. Some Proprietary CMSs cater to specific industries. These vertical Proprietary CMSs will include features that are more relevant and beneficial to the industry that they serve. For example, Agent BizzUp is a Proprietary CMS that is built specifically for real estate professionals. Agent BizzUp includes additional features like, listing management, IDX/MLS integration, lead generation, that are considered necessities to a real estate professional. If you are fortunate enough to be in an industry where there are vertical Proprietary CMSs that specializes in that industry, you would do yourself a disservice by not using one of these vertical Proprietary CMSs. Of course, with most open source CMSs, you can use plugins to add the necessary features, but they will never work as seamlessly as using a vertical Proprietary CMS. Bottom line is, use a vertical Proprietary CMS that specializes in your industry.
3. Better support. A big advantage to using a Proprietary CMS, is the fact that, the company that builds the software can offer better support for it. Unlike open source CMS, where the company that is hosting your website, have very limited knowledge of how the software was put together, and are not usually software developers that can fix issues with the CMS itself. Most Proprietary CMS providers will take the time to develop extensive documentation to support their entire software. With open source CMS, the base software may be well documented, but most 3rd party plugins will not be documented, and the ones that are, will be poorly documented and not have a standardized set of conventions. In other words, it will be a nightmare trying to figure out all the different pieces of an open source CMS.
4. Easier to use. Another big advantage with a Proprietary CMS is that they tend to be easier to use. The fact that one company designed the entire blueprint of all the components of the software, will result in a software that is intuitive, and have all of it's elements in all the correct places. One company controlling the user experience = better user experience.
5. Deeper integration. Proprietary CMS has a natural ecosystem that allows all the components of the software to work seamlessly.
6. Less expensive and quicker setup. Don't be fooled! While most open source CMSs are free to vendors, these vendors will charge you a fee to set it up, host it, and make necessary updates. The cost of simply hosting an open source CMS is usually about the same cost for an all-inclusive, full service plan from a Proprietary CMS provider. But with an open source CMS, you can expect to pay additional fees for integrating 3rd party features, regular updates, and with no guarantee that your custom configuration will continue to work in the future.

Cons of using a Proprietary CMS:

1. Cannot be hosted by any other vendor. While this is true for all Proprietary CMSs, let's compare the alternative options:
   • Open source CMS: Open source CMSs may be readily available by many vendors, but there is a hidden truth about these services - in most cases they require proprietary components to function properly. For example, WordPress, at it's core is a great software for blogging (it was used in the past to host this blog until our needs changed, and we required deeper integration and better management tools). But with WordPress, to manage listings, IDX, CRM, and all other features that serve as the meat and potato of your real estate website management, other components are required. In most cases these components are proprietary, or at least their configurations are. There is rarely an instance where you can switch provider and not have to rebuild your website.
   • Custom CMS: In addition to the heavy upfront cost required (from $50k - $2m+), this type of setup can quickly become a dinosaur. You will end up having to carry that large dinosaur with you, everywhere you go. Since you essentially "own" this CMS, you are financially, strategically, and technically responsible for it's maintenance. Now if your annual Web Hosting budget is over $1mil, this might make sense. But if not, I would run as far away from the vendor who tries to convince you that a custom CMS is the way to go.
2. Source code not accessible. Most business owners that I know would call this a blessing. It's very important to note that, the source code we're referring to here is, the backend programming code that anyone without deep software programming knowledge, have no business accessing in the first place. However, HTML source codes in many cases, are accessible. Access to HTML source code allows you to integrate 3rd party widgets and modules, by simply copy and pasting codes that the 3rd party vendor provides you.
3. If vendor goes out of business, your web presence may be disrupted. This is true for any vendor that you choose, whether its a Proprietary CMS, open source CMS, or a custom CMS. That's why it's important to consider how long a vendor has been in business when choosing a CMS provider.
4. Product may be inadequate or may no longer be in development. This is especially true for Proprietary CMS providers that hire outside programmers to develop their product. But, with Proprietary CMS providers that have their own development team (or better yet, founded by software developers), the product tend to stay current or even ahead of the curve. Vertical Proprietary CMSs that are still in development, in most cases, will be far beyond what is available by other providers.

Should I use a Proprietary CMS?

Now that you understand the general pros and cons of using a Proprietary CMS, let's examine situations where a Proprietary CMS would be your best solution:

• If your industry has specific needs and there are vertical Proprietary CMS that serves those needs. For example: real estate professional websites may need listing, IDX, and lead management; medical professional websites may need HIPPA compliance. Yes!
• If you're a small or mid-size business with a limited budget, and don't have time or programming knowledge to setup and maintain an open source CMS yourself. Yes!
• If you want to get a full service website started as quickly as possible, with great support, and with minimal effort. Yes!

Agent BizzUp's Proprietary Content Management System

Agent BizzUp is an all-inclusive Proprietary CMS solution, that serves the needs of individual real estate agents and small and medium real estate brokerages. Agent BizzUp minimizes or eliminates the cons of using a Proprietary CMS by the following:

• Agent BizzUp is a vertical Proprietary CMS provider, that specializes in real estate web presence management.
• Agent BizzUp also offer custom designs and features, and support 3rd party template designs.
• Agent BizzUp has been in business for over 13 years.
• Agent BizzUp was founded by software programmers, and it's Proprietary CMS is in continuous development by an in-house development team.

While this article is meant to help you understand the pros and cons of using a Proprietary CMS, it's not meant to be an exhaustive view on the matter. We're interested to know, what form of CMS are you using? Have you done your own comparison, and what results did you find?

Recently, I was speaking to a potential member about setting up his website. He was mostly concerned about choosing a provider that offers reliable services. After assuring him several times that our hosting services are reliable, I was anxious to move on, and discuss other advantages of using our products and service. But it seem that he did not want to move pass that issue. He kept recalling the many issues he had with his previous vendor, and how their website and email services hurt his business. And as he kept on explaining numerous instances where he was negatively impact by either his website or email been down, I suddenly got it! I suddenly begin to empathize with him. Because I realize that I was having a conversation with a person who seem to have done everything right to grow his business. He researched and acknowledged that online marketing is essential to a real estate professional, and he knew that having a website is at the core of it all. But yet, his business end up suffering of no fault of his own. Simply because an irresponsible website provider took his money, and did not deliver on their promises. I try putting myself in his shoes, and realize that the reason he kept stressing the issue of reliability, is because he did not want to make the same mistake twice.

Now you may think that I must be naive to work in the real estate website hosting business and not quickly understand the importance of reliable service. The truth is, system downtime is simply a non-issue at Agent BizzUp. We encounter so little downtime, and so little of our conversations with members is concerning this issue, that we sometime forget how dreadful it can be when a real estate agent's website or email is down. Now I'm not saying that our members' websites or emails never go down. But most of the time it's because of reasons that are outside of our control. For instance, a member may forget to renew his or her domain name. Or, a member may accidentally delete a page on their website (which of course we can quickly restore since we keep at least 14 days backup of our entire system). But the type of downtime where your website vendor just simply "screw up", rarely happens at Agent BizzUp. To complete this article, a staff from our tech team researched and discovered that the very last time that our system had even a slight hiccup was on Oct 7th, 2012.

After the conversation with the potential member (who is now a proud new member of Agent BizzUp), I recalled a story that I read a while back about a company named Palm Inc., who created the PalmPilot. PalmPilot, launched in the late 90s was the first product of it's kind. It was the world's premier PDA (personal digital assistant) device and it was revolutionary. This mobile device allowed you to connect to the internet, check your email, chat, etc. PDAs are now obsolete but remain the predecessor to our current smartphones and tablets. When smartphones first came on the scene, Palm's reaction was to add more bells and whistles to their product, and in doing so, they lost their identity. This is why at Agent BizzUp we don't compromise on the values that sets us apart from our competitors. While, it might be more exciting if we can say that, "we sell websites that looks hot even on Mars!" But that simply isn't what we do. Since 2001, our focus has been on delivering more reliability, more control for our members, more compatibility, easier to use, and better results.

For the past 3 years, I witness a slew of new real estate website vendors entering this space. Offering all the bells and whistles you could imagine. I have to admit that, Agent BizzUp has been guilty at times for putting too much emphasis on the list of features that are included with our website plans. But what I have noticed is that, many of our members who canceled their account and return to us, do so for primarily 2 reasons: 1: They miss the comfort of using a service that simply works, (almost) all the time. 2: They miss having control of their web presence.

As cliché as it may sound, that basically sums up the key advantages of using our services. Our promise to our members is to provide them a reliable platform that gives them complete control over their web presence. And we deliver!

If you're a regular reader of our blog, you'll know that we take matters like making our products intuitive, customizable, pleasant to use, and effective at delivering results, very serious. But what may not be as obvious is, how much we do in the background to ensure that our services are very reliable. Here's a few quick facts that our developers would like to share that demonstrate how serious we take reliability:

• Recently, we invested over $135k to increase our system response time, by just a few milliseconds.
• Our Design Engine still support Internet Explorer 7, although less then 0.3% of web users still use this browser, and almost all other website vendors only support as far back as Internet Explorer 9 (fyi, the current version of Internet Explorer is version 11).
• If any part of our system ever goes down, we employ software that will automatically detect the issue, and notify key members of our development team to start working on a solution within 10 minutes (and yes, even if it's 4:00am).

How important is reliability to your business? We'd like to know. Please feel free to share your experience in the comments section of this article.

As part of our continuing efforts to provide members of our real estate community the best tools and services to manage their web presence at the lowest prices, we are excited to announce that we’ve updated all of our plans and prices to better serve our members’ needs. Most of our Web Presence Suite plans now include more features, reduced prices, and/or additional discount for yearly billing plans.

Our new AgentStarter plan is only $5.99/mo and includes all of the following:

• Listing Manager and Listing Syndication.
• Website Builder with adaptive designs that feels natural in all popular browsers on desktops, smartphones, tablets and other devices.
• Our Built-in Contact Manager, which is the only CRM tool that you need to effectively capture leads from your website and manage the relationship with all your contacts.
• Marketing Tools to help you leverage your listing assets and drive traffic to your website and social networks.
• Built-in Contents and Modules so you can launch a complete website with very little effort.
• Integrated Analytics, Reliable Cloud Hosting and many more features to help you Control Your Web Presence.

Signup for a 90 Days Risk Free Trial today! You’ll see why so many real estate agents and brokers choose us over our higher priced competitors.