Brokers and agents: Make something beautiful together

Marc IM’ed me a link to a photo an agent friend of his posted to Instagram.

A nice shot.

Marc’s question: “How would anyone find this – and if they did, what would they do with it?”

It got us talking.

We work with a lot of big brokers. Organizations with hundreds or even thousands of agents. Some of those agents are comfortable online and inclined to create content as part of their marketing mix.

The trouble is, most of them are scattering this content hither and yon like bits of bread thrown to pigeons across a playground.

A sprinkle on Twitter. Strips of crust on Facebook. A stale chunk on a personal blog no one reads. And a odds and ends flicked into newer spaces like Instagram.

None of this is organized. Little is consumed. ROI is dubious.

The brokers, for their part, struggle to offer a website experience that is meaningfully different from their competitors’. Something that goes beyond the listings every other broker has.

So… agents need a well-trafficked place to distribute their content in a coherent fashion; Brokers need content that takes them beyond the commodity IDX feed.

Seems like there’s a fit here.

Or not.

In reality – and we run into this all the time – agents are wary of contributing content to their company’s site for fear of some sort of competition. Or forfeiture of ownership. But many of these agents willingly cough up the goods on places like Trulia or Zillow, which leverage that content to whoop-ass on the content-poor broker’s site.

Crazy.

And the brokers? They often balk at the idea of aggregating and curating agent content. Too many legal issues. No staff to handle it. Too many politics involved.

Everyone loses.

Brokers can’t exploit the potential inherent in their sales force. Agents send their content into lonely corners of the web to float in suspended animation.

Agents, meet your broker. Online, she is your friend. Brokers, meet your agents. They are your content partners.

Make something beautiful together before it’s too late.