Yet another website – promising the world!
I received this letter the other day (as I know a lot of others in this industry have done) from a company called “Get Leased” – now you have got to laugh! – they think that I would sign up !! – great bit of direct marketing??
Anyway their claim is interesting:
A new independent website specialising in commercial and residential properties for lease or rent. It is the only online marketplace designed to meet the specific needs of real estate agencies, property management companies and private landlords seeking tenants for premises.
Now I am all for competition – competition is healthy and ensures innovation is brought to the market as well as keeping costs at a market competitive rate. What I cannot understand is why people in this industry believe in what almost amounts to a “lemming like” behaviour that a new website somehow has to be another valuable place for their listings.
Lets look at this new websites offer:
- Do they have any viewers? – no! – they are not advertising either offline or online (try a Google search for commercial property or property for rent – after page 10 give up they don’t appear)
- Do they want to make money off of your company? – yes! -$100 per month for 50 listings, and then in multiples of 50 listings
- Does it represent value? – no! – how can it they have no audience and they charge $100 per month for 50 listings. Realestate.co.nz charges $200 per month for an unlimited number of listings – and has a regular audience of 270,000 unique visitors per month!
I am sorry but I get incensed when I see real estate offices sign up to these sites – an they are, just search on the site and you find companies advertising their listings – who do they think will see them!!
The web has become a massive, complex medium – every website, let alone a listing is like a single grain of sand on the beach – no body will find it unless it is part of a site that has an audience – 100 grains of sand are just that 100 grains of sand scattered on the beach.
Please – I know because you are reading this you will be smarter than to fall for this opportunistic business being offered through an anonymous letter, don’t believe that money you save from cutting back newspaper adverts should be spent of more websites – invest your money wisely and ask what can this marketing do and what will I get!
Updated 22 August
I have today received a follow up letter from Terry Kearns of Getleased. I have attached the letter here as a reference. Naturally and respectfully Terry takes me to task on a couple of my comments in my original post. I am keen to answer those issues and choose to detail them here in an open and transaprent manner to which others (inc Terry) can add their comments:
1. The letter is disappointed that I chose to use the phrase “opportunistic business” sighting that the website is the “result of many years working with real estate and the culmination of five years design and development work..” I stick to my opinion that the site is an opportunistic business; the judgment is that with the benefit of 5 years planning this website could have had a massive lead on the current key players in the market if it had launched 5 years ago. If the past 5 years have been spent on development, I would respectfully question the chosen technology provider as websites are today a commodity able to be developed in weeks rather than years. The whole realestate.co.nz website was a 4 months end-to-end project. I therefore submit that the site is an opportunistic development reflective of an ever growing proliferation of new websites starting for all types of real estate almost every other week.
2. The letter challenges the use of the phrase “anonymous letter” in the context of the letter I received. I concede that a better chosen word could have been “poorly targeted” as my name and company was clearly bought and used “unfiltered” from a mailing list as clearly we would be the last company likely to subscribe to getleased. The letter then goes on to imply that my comments were akin to an “overdone Nigerian scam” - these are the chosen word of the author, not my words – I certainly have a much higher regard and respect for competitors than to liken their tactics to such an illegal and immoral scam. I did (as you will see from the original post above) detail my respect for healthy competition.
3. As a final comment and one not addressed in the letter to me, but something I have noticed on the letterhead. The author uses the phrase “your independent website for commercial lease premises and residential rental properties” – I am confused – what is an independent website? – and by inference what is a website that is not independent?
Are not all websites independent, or is by some inference realestate.co.nz because it is owned by the real estate industry somehow not independent?
Anyway as ever I am always keen and open to discuss this matter through comments on this blog post – that way a fair and balanced opinion can be fostered as to the merits of one website vs another. I concede that there is much to be learned and innovative new entrants into a market can be a valuable addition to the customers in the market.
August 07 2008 11:11 am | Competitive activity and News
Terry Kearns on 25 Sep 2008 at 6:04 pm #
Alistair
My initial reaction to your rant in your REINZ Target blog was to give it the attention it deserved – i.e. to ignore it. But then I recognised you! I recalled my schooldays and the cowardly bully boy who would swagger across the field seeking out his next victim. I didn’t stand for bullying then – and I still don’t. You see, it’s all very well for you Alistair to have the use of your members’ millions to build and run a website. How hard can it be when you have that headstart. I admire Sam Morgan for building TradeMe on a shoestring and allowing it to grow organically. How it must now irk you to see his site become more than just a threat. TradeMe will remain a threat to RealEstate.co.nz but your site’s biggest liability is your utter arrogance. So far you’ve had two attempts at discrediting my GetLeased website to every REINZ member on your Target blog and I understand you’ve made direct contact with some of my clients in an attempt to have them remove their listings from GetLeased. By all means ‘continue to share your thoughts and observations with your customers who value it’ (as you say). But here’s an idea: how about checking out how many of your customers actually value your thoughts. I have!
Terry Kearns
Alistair Helm on 25 Sep 2008 at 8:39 pm #
Terry,
I thank you for commenting – I think it is important for other readers of this blog to be clear that you are the owner / publisher of the website of GetLeased to which this blog post is addressed.
I naturally take offense to being described as a bully and feel that some appropriate response is necessary for others to hear my views to your claims and for them to then add their comments should they so wish.
1. This blog is not “REINZ Target blog” – the website of realestate.co.nz is a commercial company. it is owned jointly between REINZ and Property Page (NZ) Ltd – a company owned by 6 of the large real estate companies – we are a wholly industry owned website business – we are not the REINZ.
2. This website began with the support of this industry as the then website of RealENZ in the early part of the 90′s. The industry chooses to use the site – there is no compulsion to use the site and the fees we charge being $200 per month per office are amongst the lowest in the market and yet we do not have all the offices in the country subscribing. That is why I judge I have the right to challenge competitors on matters of fact and advise my customers of the value of our site.
3. I too admire Sam Morgan, but please let us not ignore the fact that Trade Me is and never was a charity – yes it skillfully leveraged the e-bay model to build a community, just as Facebook and myspace does – all of these companies make money and make their innovative founders very wealthy.
4. I am not irked by Trade Me – I value and enjoy the challenge they present as a professional competitor.
5. I refute your claim that I have made direct contact with some of your clients in an attempt to remove their listings from your site. You are either mistaken or someone is maliciously spreading this story. The company of realestate.co.nz operates in a highly transparent and ethical manner – we inform customers of the value of our site and endeavour to recruit new customers, I never have and never would contact any of my customers and tell them what to do – that is for them to decide.
6. You clearly somehow believe that I have customers who do not value the realestate.co.nz website – if that were the case they have 2 options – they can tell me – I am an open and honest individual and over my 2 years in this role have met a large number of this industry. More importantly, every customer has a choice – we have no minimum subscription period – if someone does not value our site they simply tell us and stop subscribing tomorrow and can sign up with your site – that is their free choice. At this time we have 1,190 offices – that is the value this industry has in the service we offer. As a pointer of advice to you – a year ago we have 1,300 offices, we have lost customers due to office closures and have actually gained share in this market – this is a very tough industry at this time and costs are being examined very closely.
I wish you luck with your website – if you have a proposition that you can uniquely sell to this industry then I say go for it – communicate it to this industry and let them chose.
Terry Kearns on 25 Sep 2008 at 9:02 pm #
Many thanks for your best wishes Alistair. As an independent website specialising in providing cost-efficient listing for commercial and residential rental properties GetLeased offers a unique proposition to the real estate industry, particularly property managers who are not REINZ members. Kind regards, Terry Kearns