HomeGain, an online real estate marketing company, today announced the creation of a blogging network for its real estate agent customers.
The company is offering blogs to real estate agents that use its Source4Sellers marketing system. Source4Sellers is a lead-generation tool that allows agents to post profiles and contact information that can be viewed by consumers who use the site’s automated home-value tool.
"Normally HomeGain is viewed as selling leads," said Louis Cammarosano, HomeGain general manager. "The agent now is going to get all of the traffic that comes to the home values (pages)."
Agents’ profiles are displayed based on the area in which users are searching for home values, and consumers have the option to contact agents directly from the home values pages.
HomeGain’s blogging network joins the list: ActiveRain, Point2, Realtor.com and RealTown are among the sites that offer industry-focused blog networks.
And sites like Trulia and Zillow allow real estate agents to create personal profiles and to engage in online discussions with consumers.
The blogs for HomeGain’s agent customers offer one more way for agents to connect with prospective buyers and sellers, Cammarosano said. While some real estate blogs feature more agent-to-agent communication, "this (network) is designed to get the agent to blog directly with the consumer."
There are plans to add an online map to show the location of HomeGain agent bloggers, and HomeGain’s business model allows its agent customers to claim leads from a specified ZIP code area.
There are also plans to provide visitor metrics to agents based on traffic to the blog sites and other consumer activity at the HomeGain site, Cammarosano said.
Consumers can access the blogging network through the HomeGain corporate blog, through the main Web site, or by accessing the home-valuation tool.
HomeGain is a subsidiary of Classified Ventures, a company focused on online advertising opportunities that was formed by five media companies.
***
What’s your opinion? Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor.
