Dear Move Inc Braintrust,
Okay, you get a great deal on one of the premier properties on the web. The real estate portal Realtor.com is yours to monetize. Yet you do such a poor job with it that the people whose name you have on it actively dislike you. Competitors are able to offer a free alternative that gets more press and accolades then you receive.
And it is costing you $758,000 in the third quarter.
You would think that any company with half a brain would start MOVE–ing in a new direction to maximize the asset, not further junk it up.
Listen carefully MOVE INC, and learn a very simple lesson. You run the name Realtor.com yet Realtors can not stand you. Don’t believe me, go to a conference and listen honestly to your clientele. They really do despise you.
In this day and age you are the 500 pound gorilla that everyone does their best to avoid. Sure they deal with you when the have to, but look closely and they are holding their noses.
Instead, find a way for the community to love you and their name. Do things that will drive support and you will find that profitability will follow. Doing your best to suck every possible penny out of the few that are stupid enough to buy your product is never a good long term strategy.
To further illustrate my point, Craigslist makes millions in profits a year giving away most of their inventory for free and a staff of 28.
As of 2009, Craigslist operates with a staff of 28 people.[2] Its sole source of revenue is paid job ads in select cities – $75 per ad for the San Francisco Bay Area; $25 per ad for New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Seattle, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Portland, Oregon – and paid broker apartment listings in New York City ($10 per ad).
Move, my advice to you is simple. Spend the rest of 2009 finding a way to have everyone in real estate, not just Realtors, to find a way TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU. Spend 2010 proving to them that you mean it.
I promise you that in 2011 you will be counting your profits with both hands and have a franchise that will have a profitable and enjoyable future.
Wishing you success,
Tom Royce
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Definitely not a fan of Move Inc.!!!
Well Tom, once again you have said it much better than I could have. Unfortunately the folks at Move, Inc. probably do not read blogs, and if they do hear about a post about them, they get all defensive and point fingers or snap at the very hands that feed them. Someone needs to introduce them to Web 2.0.