It's a whole new ball game for Realtor.com.

With the brand name of Homestore conspicuously absent from Realtor.com's impressive trade show floor displays at the NAR convention last week, and with new Realtor.com management accessible to anyone who wanted to walk up and shake a hand, the new Realtor.com is determined to be the marketing brand of choice for Realtors.

The company unveiled an aggressive new game plan that includes unbundling products and services, connecting agents' favorite Web sites to Realtor.com listings (for a subscription fee) and pitching more woo to sellers and getting them more involved in the presentation of their listings on Realtor.com.

According to insiders, Realtor.com is the largest publisher of real estate data in the world, and it's no accident that the site attracts more real estate consumers than any other, say media reports. But previous business practices, which included extravagant payments to MLSs and brokers to acquire exclusive rights to listings, and the creation of proprietary, self-promoting Web products that alienated some rank-and-file NAR members, were among the reasons the company failed to turn a profit.

So, the company is changing its business model from listings aggregator to marketing medium. And that's as it should be. Realtor.com was always an advertising medium, but somehow, in the distorted world of Wall Street run by masters-of-the-universe egos, it was never called what it truly was. Advertising mediums have little appeal for venture capitalists and stock brokers, mainly because outrageous multiples can't be justified like they can for little understood technologies, which was proven by the subsequent punishment of "Internet" stocks such as Yahoo and AOL when their advertising revenues faltered in 1999 and 2000.

But the reality is that advertising mediums are good businesses, and there is rising evidence that advertising is on the comeback. Especially poised to benefit is any marketing company that utilizes the Internet, where display and enhancement of products such as listings makes a rich, educational experience for consumers. (Prediction: Don't be surprised to start reading reports very shortly of rising advertising revenues for the same companies that denied being in the advertising business only a few short years ago, including Homestore.)

Owning up to its true media nature may be the smartest thing Realtor.com management ever did, because now it can turn to the honest business of helping Realtors with their online success. Moreover, the site can share responsibility for success with the Realtor. That's right. The Realtor is just as responsible - after all, it is the Realtor who makes the decision on how the listing will be marketed, and with what, if any, enhancements.

Realtor.com's job is exposure, which it plans to provide through a continued relationship with AOL, and its relationships with Excite, the Wall Street Journal, Internet Broadcast Systems' television network sites in 39 local markets, and numerous real estate franchise and broker sites.

The only catch to the new plan is that Realtors will need a little educating to understand the difference in the new Realtor.com and why its offerings are more effective than what they can buy offline. Do they know that promoting a listing online is cheaper and more effective than in their local papers? Do they realize that they will have to work at getting their listings noticed online? And as for personal marketing, buying a Web site on Realtor.com no longer means passively waiting for the site to flip you leads. Now it will be up to you to make your marketing program work so that you generate your own leads. That requires a little skill - to blend personal marketing with property promotion - and Realtor.com says it aims to show Realtors how to do it.

According to Realtor.com's aggressive new unbundling of its products and services, it will begin at the listing presentation level. That's where Realtors will show their marketing know-how - with customized programs for each seller using tools and services they can get through Realtor.com. This is designed to get the seller involved. Instead of saying "Your listing will appear on Realtor.com," and moving on, the Realtor can say instead, "Here are some ways we can make your home stand out on Realtor.com. What would you prefer?"

Allan Dalton, president of Realtor.com, explains, "Sellers know that their homes are going to be in the MLS. They think having their homes on Realtor.com is the same as being in the MLS. We have to change that."

Along with more aggressive promotion of listing enhancement products such as virtual tours, Realtors will be able to use Realtor.com resources to enhance their own images with on and offline marketing tools. Realtor.com will become "where property and personal promotion meet."

So starting next year, Realtor.com will have a new Marketing System which allows Realtors to customize products which will impact their personal brands. The Marketing System elements will include online listing enhancements, personal Web sites, property marketing reports, a member directory, XLerator(TM) prospecting tool, Web site tools, Featured Homes(TM) display advertising, virtual tours, an implementation kit, e-mail marketing, contact manager software, and more.

The company says it will continue to acquire and present basic listings so that the site "continues to be the Internet's leading destination for real estate information."

Explains Dalton, "Homes aren't sold because of technology, they are sold because they are properly marketed by highly skilled Realtors.

He says that currently Realtor.com listings without the listing agent's personal information are under-represented to the 4 million monthly visitors. These visitors spend more than 30 minutes apiece on the site. Over 25 percent want to view homes with virtual tours, for example, yet less than 2 percent of homes on Realtor.com feature virtual tours. To improve the numbers, Realtor.com is aggressively adding approved virtual tour vendors, including self-service vendors such as Egg Solutions. With eight vendors total, Realtors have more choice in self-service or full-service virtual tours.

"Arming Realtors with a customizable Marketing System will help them attract more home buyers, help obtain more listings and increase their value in their respective marketplace," says Dalton.

Published: November 13, 2002

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.