Where did the idea for Listing Village originate?
Real estate agents kept coming to me with a big problem: Their outdated and aggressive websites were turning away leads, prompting the leads to go to the big portal sites like Zillow where agents risked losing them to someone else. “We’re being forced to buy back our own leads” one agent told us, referring to programs like Zillow Premier Agent.
I heard this enough times until I realized these are challenges agents face on a national scale. So, I decided to build a scalable solution – a lead generating platform that gives an agent their own website with their own map where every listing points home buyers back to them. Their map is faster and more accurate than the big portals, and we equip the agent with an automated lead generation system backed by the power of Facebook and Google Analytics. Agents get this entire platform at only a 5th of what the leading alternatives cost, allowing for even new agents and emerging brokerages to afford the technology they need to be competitive on the market.
What hurdles did you initially encounter, and how did you overcome them?
One of the hurdles we encountered early on was educating agents on what their clients really want and have come to expect in this day and age. Agents were doing what they traditionally knew to do, which was to get as many leads as they could via aggressive lead capture systems on very slow and limited sites, prompting leads to either leave false information or go somewhere that would give them listing data for free. We give agents a safe, controlled environment where leads get fast and accurate data in a smooth user experience, resulting in more and better quality leads.
What do you hope to gain from the Spark! Program?
We’re excited to participate in this program and learn from the wealth of knowledge and experience the Venture Center and its affiliates have to offer. We look forward to the mentorship that will enable us to develop better growth strategies and help us focus on the right things.
Who is your favorite Entrepreneur?
Charles Morgan. He’s inspiring to me not only because of the big risks he took, but also in that he’s both coder and entrepreneur. He would tinker and code prototypes before he showed the ideas to anyone else. He had that instinct to jump in and validate the possibility rather than just dreaming about it or discussing it.
What is your favorite book and podcast, for fun or business?
Candide, by Voltaire. It challenges the idea of the pursuit of happiness and shows its flaws. Some people are plagued by the “I’ll be happy when…” mentality and never reach that point because those accomplishments and circumstances don’t satisfy.