Building Websites for Other Agents

[Sam Dodd]

I have a question for you guys. Some of the agents in my office have taken note of how good my website is ranking(#1) and converting. One of the agents in my office said he would give me a 25% referral on any lead he closed that originated on the web if I would build and SEO his website to #2. He also stated he would fork out 2500 dollars to get the site going.
Ok so the question becomes do you think this is a good deal for me? Would you consider doing this for agents in your office? What legal issues do you see coming up?

[Micheal Pannell Realtor]

yeah but i would give him different keywords so he isnt fighting with you. if it is anything like dallas fort worth. there are hundreds of keywords to fight for. You dont want to make a mistake and give up the number one spot for your keywords.

[Tsena]

I would have to agree. If you are going to handle the seo for this agent, put in writing what search phrases you are going to go after so he is aware and there is no question. You don't want 6 months to go by and he is upset because his site is not #2 behind yours

[waynelong]

How will you keep up with the leads that he gets off the internet. After a while I could see him not wanting to pay you the referral. Wayne

[Deuce]

Why not just do another site for yourself instead...

[waynelong]

To me that is a good idea. I have 3 sites and I had a new agent join our team. I offered her the #3 site which is targeted to a specific area she wanted to concentrate on. I get paid a portion from the leads she gets off of it. She will manage it and build the content in it. I will continue to manage the rank building part of the site. I still own the site if she leaves or does not want to pay for referrals from it - it will revert back to me. It is a win - win.

[coastal]

Why share your success. I quit telling other Realtors in my town that I even have a website(s). Keep your secrets secret. Every agent you help get to the top will only steal a portion of your success. Don't brag, Don't tell them when you just sold 10 homes because of your website. Tell them "Print Media is where it's at" or "radio ads are the best bang for the buck"

No reason to let the whole world know why you are doing so well or how easy it really is to do.

[Ryan Ward]

For me, if I were going to build another website it would be the way that Wayne is handling it. You own it, they use it and you get 25%. You would be putting to much work into the SEO for it to disappear with the other agent when they leave. While I agree about not letting people know what you can obtain with internet marketing, let's face it - most agent and brokers don't or won't put the time and effort into building a website that will compete against someone who is dedicated to the cause the way that many people on this forum are. I still don't talk about - you never know when I might be talking to the next person who will put that effort in.

[waynelong]

most agent and brokers don't or won't put the time and effort into building a website that will compete against someone who is dedicated to the cause the way that many people on this forum are.

It does take a lot of time and effort and money. You have to be a true believer to be willing to put out the effort required!

Wayne

[u2man]

Hire an agent and take 50%. Tons of new agents will take a 50-50 split.