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I CAN't get feedback from my audience

FriendlyVillain

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Hello everyone,

So, I finally started executing, after months of reading and doubting myself.

I have already built my MVP, but the problem is I can't find people to test it.

I've posted in Facebook groups where my target audience hangs out, and I've got a lot of good feedback on the idea. However, nobody actually tested it, so I can't tell if the execution is good or not, and I really need the feedback. Most of my subjects didn't have the time, so they were like "yeah, I'm gonna check it out later", so I reminded them when later came, but still no result. I've been trying for two weeks now, and the only improvement I came up with was a FAQ section.

My audience: Real Estate Agents a.k.a. Realtors
Problem I solve: The industry is plagued with low-quality agents. People constantly complain about the realtors, and the good agents suffer due to the overall negative reputation of the job.
Solution: I would allow agents to register on my website, where they could be rated by their clients. The idea is they could build online reputation over time, so when a client seeks a an agent, he would know he could go to my website and find a legit one.

So, do you have any suggestions as to how could I get them to test it?

P.S.
I target my country which is based in Europe, if that matters.
 
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Melissa Tucker

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Hi FriendlyVillain,

I signed up for the forum because I saw your post (and one other) and wanted to offer some support.

I'm not currently active - but I've had my real estate license since 2003 & have been active at different times over the years. Here's some feedback from my point of view.

Real Estate Agents don't need or want one more thing to do. Most aren't technical (or don't consider themselves technical). Many got into the business thinking it would be easy & fun and are now exhausted trying to run all aspects of their business. Many don't take a day off. They are running around and showing houses to people who end up buying from a Realtor who's hosting an open house. It's a hard business and many agents don't make that much money and they are time-poor.

If you want to stay in the review space, you might be able to offer reputation management...but even then, I don't see many agents taking you up on that. I honestly don't see you getting rich by asking Real Estate Agents to log into another site, then try and get their clients to leave them a review on your site. It's hard enough to get reviews on Google.

What do Real Estate Agents want? LEADS! The more qualified, the better! If you want to make money with Realtors - find a way to get them highly qualified leads.
 

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Hello everyone,

So, I finally started executing, after months of reading and doubting myself.

I have already built my MVP, but the problem is I can't find people to test it.

I've posted in Facebook groups where my target audience hangs out, and I've got a lot of good feedback on the idea. However, nobody actually tested it, so I can't tell if the execution is good or not, and I really need the feedback. Most of my subjects didn't have the time, so they were like "yeah, I'm gonna check it out later", so I reminded them when later came, but still no result. I've been trying for two weeks now, and the only improvement I came up with was a FAQ section.

My audience: Real Estate Agents a.k.a. Realtors
Problem I solve: The industry is plagued with low-quality agents. People constantly complain about the realtors, and the good agents suffer due to the overall negative reputation of the job.
Solution: I would allow agents to register on my website, where they could be rated by their clients. The idea is they could build online reputation over time, so when a client seeks a an agent, he would know he could go to my website and find a legit one.

So, do you have any suggestions as to how could I get them to test it?

P.S.
I target my country which is based in Europe, if that matters.

@Red
 

FriendlyVillain

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Hi FriendlyVillain,

I signed up for the forum because I saw your post (and one other) and wanted to offer some support.

I'm not currently active - but I've had my real estate license since 2003 & have been active at different times over the years. Here's some feedback from my point of view.

Real Estate Agents don't need or want one more thing to do. Most aren't technical (or don't consider themselves technical). Many got into the business thinking it would be easy & fun and are now exhausted trying to run all aspects of their business. Many don't take a day off. They are running around and showing houses to people who end up buying from a Realtor who's hosting an open house. It's a hard business and many agents don't make that much money and they are time-poor.

If you want to stay in the review space, you might be able to offer reputation management...but even then, I don't see many agents taking you up on that. I honestly don't see you getting rich by asking Real Estate Agents to log into another site, then try and get their clients to leave them a review on your site. It's hard enough to get reviews on Google.

What do Real Estate Agents want? LEADS! The more qualified, the better! If you want to make money with Realtors - find a way to get them highly qualified leads.

My idea is to eventually provide them with leads. However, initially they would have to register and have presence on the website, so I could start market it towards the public. In order for me to start market it, I need a good quantity of brokers having registered on the website. I appreciate the insight though, it made me think for the last couple of hours. Thank you! :praise:

I feel like I am missing an ingredient in this whole thing, but I really can't tell what. Maybe if I figure out how to generate leads for them right from the start, so it would become more attractive for them.

I am not doing this for the riches, but rather to just start with entrepreneurship. I'm doing it to learn, and it was the first idea which I liked and also solves a real problem of mine.
 
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Melissa Tucker

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My idea is to eventually provide them with leads. However, initially they would have to register and have presence on the website, so I could start market it towards the public. In order for me to start market it, I need a good quantity of brokers having registered on the website. I appreciate the insight though, it made me think for the last couple of hours. Thank you! :praise:

I feel like I am missing an ingredient in this whole thing, but I really can't tell what. Maybe if I figure out how to generate leads for them right from the start, so it would become more attractive for them.

I am not doing this for the riches, but rather to just start with entrepreneurship. I'm doing it to learn, and it was the first idea which I liked and also solves a real problem of mine.

What if you were to focus more on the people buying and selling vs the agents? Ask them what they like & don't like about the home buying/selling process. (If you're going after residential.) Give them the opportunity to leave reviews. They will give you all kinds of ideas about how to market to them. Then you'll have an audience, leads, and something to offer the agents. At that point, you'll have reviews and have created a product that you can charge agents for. I think you just might find problems that you can solve above and beyond real estate agents.

Good luck!
 

FriendlyVillain

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What if you were to focus more on the people buying and selling vs the agents? Ask them what they like & don't like about the home buying/selling process. (If you're going after residential.) Give them the opportunity to leave reviews. They will give you all kinds of ideas about how to market to them. Then you'll have an audience, leads, and something to offer the agents. At that point, you'll have reviews and have created a product that you can charge agents for. I think you just might find problems that you can solve above and beyond real estate agents.

Good luck!
If I did that, I would go away from the problem I try to solve. In my local area there are too many bad agents, and the good ones suffer from the negative reputation of the job. I want to help them differentiate themselves from the rest.

Also, I didn't fully get what you mean by @give them the opportunity to leave reviews". Reviews about the buying/selling process?
 

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I am not doing this for the riches, but rather to just start with entrepreneurship. I'm doing it to learn, and it was the first idea which I liked and also solves a real problem of mine.

If you're not all in with this why should anyone else be?

If you want to dip your toes in entrepreneurship, flip some stuff on ebay. Freelance. Do something that only involves learning to sell yourself and your goods. At least then if you quit or get bored you won't burn a bunch of bridges in the industry.

The market is giving you feedback. You have to learn to listen to what it's saying, even when it is silent.
 
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FriendlyVillain

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If you're not all in with this why should anyone else be?

If you want to dip your toes in entrepreneurship, flip some stuff on ebay. Freelance. Do something that only involves learning to sell yourself and your goods. At least then if you quit or get bored you won't burn a bunch of bridges in the industry.

The market is giving you feedback. You have to learn to listen to what it's saying, even when it is silent.
I'm all in, but what I am saying is that my abilities are limited, due to lack of knowledge. So I'm pretty much learning on the go.

I was waiting for somebody to tell me about "reading the silence". I've thought about that as well. However, I get confused, as a lot of people in my audience literally told me that "there is a need for something like this in the market". Everybody I asked from my audience kept telling me they liked the idea, so I think the silence says something else. I might be wrong about this one though, as I am a bit confused at exactly that point...
 

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Realtors don't see the benefit of using your service.

Be the middle man. Connect potential home owners with realtors. Get a cut of the transactions made for connecting them together.

Once you have a lot of happy home owners who keep referring others to you, you can tell realtors, "I'm the big shot now in real estate here. Register on my site so people will know about you. Membership to be on my site costs an arm and a leg, but you'll get people calling you."
 

FriendlyVillain

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Realtors don't see the benefit of using your service.

Be the middle man. Connect potential home owners with realtors. Get a cut of the transactions made for connecting them together.

Once you have a lot of happy home owners who keep referring others to you, you can tell realtors, "I'm the big shot now in real estate here. Register on my site so people will know about you. Membership to be on my site costs an arm and a leg, but you'll get people calling you."
You might be right. Melissa and you both talk about the same thing pretty much. I am thinking of finding a way to supply them with quality leads, and incorporate that into my current idea.

I'm also not entirely sure if they don't get what the benefits are, as I may not be communicating them well. I also have the tendency to stick to whatever I've started, until I really see there is no way of achieving success, so I really can't tell right now what would be the best play.

P.S.
I just want to know why has my idea failed, so I don't repeat the same mistakes in the future.
 
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Xavier X

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@FriendlyVillain Your idea hasn't failed - until you give up on it.
Perhaps you haven't presented enough value to them, or just don't excite them enough.
If they like the idea, but it's not novel enough for them to take time out to try it, then try adding a spicy ingredient.

Not to mask the bad taste of what you're serving, but to get them to actually sit down and try it.

It could be something simple as offering a special site status to the first X people who try it and give feedback. Most people like validation ornaments on their internet persona. e.g a Facebook/twitter blue check mark. An "Epic Contributor" badge on TFF etc.
So offer an early bird badge status like "Pioneer Member :checkbox:" or "Verified Pioneer Realtor :check:" or "Most Awesome Pioneer Realtor in All of Europe :check:" or whatever.

Don't forget to add that check mark. People get tingly feelings for them now :).

Another way is the exclusivity route. Though you'll need a lot more finesse to pull it off.
Make it an invite-only sign up option at the very start. Then offer the first X realtors who give feedback the opportunity to invite ONLY realtors they know are good, to this new awesome platform.

Now they feel empowered to reward some admirable colleagues in the business. A little VIP pass they can hand out. Potential exponential growth, as the invitees can then invite others.

Think of how Google brought Gmail to the market. Everyone already had email, and Gmail wasn't particularly offering anything novel. They made it invite-only, suddenly many people wanted in. It's human nature.
Again, this approach is a lot more tricky, since you have zero brand recognition. However, it's worth a try, if all else fails.

Try Reddit as well. I don't know if European realtors are on reddit, but you can seek feedback in r/realtors or r/realestate.
 

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Hello everyone,

So, I finally started executing, after months of reading and doubting myself.

I have already built my MVP, but the problem is I can't find people to test it.

I've posted in Facebook groups where my target audience hangs out, and I've got a lot of good feedback on the idea. However, nobody actually tested it, so I can't tell if the execution is good or not, and I really need the feedback. Most of my subjects didn't have the time, so they were like "yeah, I'm gonna check it out later", so I reminded them when later came, but still no result. I've been trying for two weeks now, and the only improvement I came up with was a FAQ section.

My audience: Real Estate Agents a.k.a. Realtors
Problem I solve: The industry is plagued with low-quality agents. People constantly complain about the realtors, and the good agents suffer due to the overall negative reputation of the job.
Solution: I would allow agents to register on my website, where they could be rated by their clients. The idea is they could build online reputation over time, so when a client seeks a an agent, he would know he could go to my website and find a legit one.

So, do you have any suggestions as to how could I get them to test it?

P.S.
I target my country which is based in Europe, if that matters.

Why are you making something people don't care about?

You can't say "no one even checked out my site" and "I'm solving a problem" together. If you really solved a problem, people would be begging you for it. Your inbox would be full as the DM's of a hot chick on instagram.

Find one person who's looking for an agent and say this "There's this site that shows which agents are reputable" and if their eyes light up, it's go time. If they say "neat" then scrap the idea.

It doesn't matter if agents care or not in the long run. If the public cares, the agents will respond by caring as well.
 

FriendlyVillain

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Why are you making something people don't care about?

You can't say "no one even checked out my site" and "I'm solving a problem" together. If you really solved a problem, people would be begging you for it. Your inbox would be full as the DM's of a hot chick on instagram.

Find one person who's looking for an agent and say this "There's this site that shows which agents are reputable" and if their eyes light up, it's go time. If they say "neat" then scrap the idea.

It doesn't matter if agents care or not in the long run. If the public cares, the agents will respond by caring as well.
Actually, my DM's are full of people interested in the idea. Some of them wanted to meetup and discuss potential partnerships. My problem is I want them t sign up and tell me what do they like what do they dislike. Otherwise, they just check out the website, and tell me it looks good, and that's it. No one is willing to test the sign up.
 
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FriendlyVillain

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@FriendlyVillain Your idea hasn't failed - until you give up on it.
Perhaps you haven't presented enough value to them, or just don't excite them enough.
If they like the idea, but it's not novel enough for them to take time out to try it, then try adding a spicy ingredient.

Not to mask the bad taste of what you're serving, but to get them to actually sit down and try it.

It could be something simple as offering a special site status to the first X people who try it and give feedback. Most people like validation ornaments on their internet persona. e.g a Facebook/twitter blue check mark. An "Epic Contributor" badge on TFF etc.
So offer an early bird badge status like "Pioneer Member :checkbox:" or "Verified Pioneer Realtor :check:" or "Most Awesome Pioneer Realtor in All of Europe :check:" or whatever.

Don't forget to add that check mark. People get tingly feelings for them now :).

Another way is the exclusivity route. Though you'll need a lot more finesse to pull it off.
Make it an invite-only sign up option at the very start. Then offer the first X realtors who give feedback the opportunity to invite ONLY realtors they know are good, to this new awesome platform.

Now they feel empowered to reward some admirable colleagues in the business. A little VIP pass they can hand out. Potential exponential growth, as the invitees can then invite others.

Think of how Google brought Gmail to the market. Everyone already had email, and Gmail wasn't particularly offering anything novel. They made it invite-only, suddenly many people wanted in. It's human nature.
Again, this approach is a lot more tricky, since you have zero brand recognition. However, it's worth a try, if all else fails.

Try Reddit as well. I don't know if European realtors are on reddit, but you can seek feedback in r/realtors or r/realestate.
I will try the approaches you've suggested, thanks! Maybe add a 5-month free membership or something along those lines, but I do get your point.

I will update you on what happened!
 

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Maybe the problem of there being bad agents isn't the problem of the good agents, so they don't really care. The market has a way of filtering out bad service providers on its own.

You have a chicken and egg problem. You want people to sign up to your website but the value only comes once there's a lot of people using it.

One way to get an initial sign up is charge a lot for it, then offer it free or discounted to the first x people. Some people can't pass up a deal.

Seems to me like there isn't a lot of value, at least at this point, otherwise people would be signing up.

Real estate is a total numbers game. Most people only buy a house a couple times in their life, if ever. That's why the whole game is about generating leads. Find the new people entering the housing market as early as possible.

This is why everyone is using survey funnels and Facebook ads. Capture home buyers before they even start shopping for a home.

If you are dead set on this you might try calling a bunch of real estate agents. Take a week and survey 100 agents by cold calling and get straight from the horses mouth what they need most. Maybe you'll learn they need a review site or maybe you'll learn something else.

You might wait around a while for them to come to you. Going to them is actually within your control.
 

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Actually, my DM's are full of people interested in the idea. Some of them wanted to meetup and discuss potential partnerships. My problem is I want them t sign up and tell me what do they like what do they dislike. Otherwise, they just check out the website, and tell me it looks good, and that's it. No one is willing to test the sign up.

Then they aren’t that interested.

That’s why I love business. Talk means nothing and the truth comes out when it’s time to pull out the wallet.

It’s like dating. You can go on a date and they can say you’re a neat guy, but if she doesn’t wanna come home with you, it was just all talk and means nothing.

You need people to hand you their money to see if it’s real.
 
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Thanks, @Vigilante, I was out of town for the last week or two...

@FriendlyVillain , I'm a broker here in the states so I don't know if this input will help but....

As others have mentioned, it's just another thing for agents to do & we already have sites like Zillow & Trulia that serve that purpose -they may not be present in your European market.

Just like on every other site, ratings can be gamed/paid for/faked. You're absolutely right that most agents suck & yes, it's a problem... but I don't feel that this idea is the solution. What is? Hell if I know.

It would be great if there was a resource for quality agents but your idea already exists here in the states & it hasn't changed the game, to my knowledge: most agents still suck & it only gets worse as local area markets heat up.

I think that you have to educate the consumer, first & foremost. They don't know how to qualify if an agent is good or bad & that's problematic. Maybe you can come up with something that helps educate the consumer? And by way of that, the crappy agents get choked out of business? I dunno man.... it's definitely a problem that needs a solution but I don't have that solution. I wish you luck.
 
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I definitely think there's a need for something like this. When house shopping or lease shopping, I've been extremely precarious about picking an agent. Especially when house selling, where your agent matters even more as a good one will get the house sold quickly and for a higher price while a bad one will not.

It seems like your biggest hurdle actually is getting the first realtors to sign up and be willing to get rated. No one wants to be there by themselves! Once you get enough on there to make it seem like it's not mostly empty, I think more and more agents would sign up.

Definitely sounds like you want to make it extremely minimal work for an agent to sign up for the site. Maybe even help them with the process. I would pick one town or city, and work on getting as many agents signed up as possible. Offer to do all the work in terms of getting them listed so they have to mostly just say Yes. Once you have traction in one town you can move onto another town close by, and so on and so forth in one state. Once you have a state well signed up, move to a neighboring state. Seems like a potential strategy.

Having a simple grading system for consumers will be really important. My two biggest things are if the agent listens to what I want and shows me what I want, and if the agent is knowledgeable about the area and houses.
 

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Why should they try your product? If you can answer that then you shouldn't have too hard of a time.
 
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Hello everyone,

So, I finally started executing, after months of reading and doubting myself.

I have already built my MVP, but the problem is I can't find people to test it.

I've posted in Facebook groups where my target audience hangs out, and I've got a lot of good feedback on the idea. However, nobody actually tested it, so I can't tell if the execution is good or not, and I really need the feedback. Most of my subjects didn't have the time, so they were like "yeah, I'm gonna check it out later", so I reminded them when later came, but still no result. I've been trying for two weeks now, and the only improvement I came up with was a FAQ section.

My audience: Real Estate Agents a.k.a. Realtors
Problem I solve: The industry is plagued with low-quality agents. People constantly complain about the realtors, and the good agents suffer due to the overall negative reputation of the job.
Solution: I would allow agents to register on my website, where they could be rated by their clients. The idea is they could build online reputation over time, so when a client seeks a an agent, he would know he could go to my website and find a legit one.

So, do you have any suggestions as to how could I get them to test it?

P.S.
I target my country which is based in Europe, if that matters.

So, like Zillow for another country? Do you have a multiple listing service in which you could obtain data feeds?

I would copy the Zillow model. If you don't have a multiple listing service then I would create one. There should be an MLS wherever there are agents because that's how they share data and information. The consumers want that information too. So, try to provide both sides with as much information as you can first. That will attract eyes onto the site. Then, you can offer high performing agents to pay to be featured on the site because you have established the website traffic.

Info, then traffic, then ask for money. You have to create and demonstrate the value first. It can't be "hey guys, I have a great idea, come check it out."
 

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Wow, such an input from you guys, I should have used this forum way earlier. I can't thank you enough!

GoodluckChuck - You are right about the chicken and egg problem. Defining it this way definitely clarifies my next steps. I will look up survey funnels for sure. So far, I've noticed that once I write a post in a real estate Facebook group, people are immediately hooked, so there is something in there, I just have to press the button right.

Johnny boy - They are, but I don't think I am pressing the buttons right. I have to pump up the value I think, and there are some great suggestions in this thread.

Red - There is no MLS here, and there is no website such as Zillow. There are some website which kind of get close to it, but they could've been done wayyyy better IMO. In terms of the faking reviews... it is a problem. I've attempted to solve it by allowing people to leave reviews, who have logged in via Facebook. On top of that, comments will be moderated - IP tracking and stuff like that, so this should minimise bad behaviour. My country is wayyy smaller than the states, and there are many problems in it- thus, opportunities. It's why I feel like it might work. It might not be the right solutions, but I feel like it will start things up (especially when the competition kicks in, as my website is a first for now).

I was thinking of educating the agent actually. This came from the fact that people who want to become agents have a high-chance of being trained in bad practices. So it becomes a vicious cycle, which has to be broken. Thus, supplying agents with high-quality materials, where they could learn the craft would be beneficial for the industry I believe. I could even start a podcast, having quality agents as my guests and just pumping value. Then you have articles, videos, etc... But I really need to get the business going so I could do that.

Tourmaline - Yes, I think that's my biggest problem right now- the site is rather empty. That's a good strategy, focusing on the place where I currently live and expanding outwards from there, and it seems like the only reasonable strategy for now. It would help me fill the site, so it would be easier to expand later on.

oku - Good agents have a hard time differentiating themselves, especially the new ones. Clients have a hard time finding a good agents, as the industry in my country is filled with bad practices. I connect the two groups.

DustinH - That's an idea for a later stage. I really don't have the technical skills to execute it, and I don't have the money to hire someone to do it for me. So I first need to get the business going, so I could start doing stuff like that. I need developers for sure!
 

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Red - There is no MLS here, and there is no website such as Zillow. There are some website which kind of get close to it, but they could've been done wayyyy better IMO.....

I was thinking of educating the agent actually. This came from the fact that people who want to become agents have a high-chance of being trained in bad practices. So it becomes a vicious cycle, which has to be broken.....

These are two different business opportunities. Pick one and go with it. Either create an MLS database that is reliable and easy to use for both agent and consumer, or become a real estate coach.

Sounds like you would rather be a real estate coach. What you're describing about educating the agent and helping them increase business success is what we call a coach.

Look up Tom Ferry. He has the biggest coaching organization in North America. Look up REBUS university. It is an online platform with real estate agent courses. Look up Ninja Selling. Look up a guy named Ricky Carruth. He has a large online following.

....but none of these guys make the amount of money that Zillow makes. Just to keep that in mind.
 
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FriendlyVillain

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Hey guys! Decided to update you a bit on what's been happening.

First of all, I procrastinated a bit, I must confess.

So, I started using Facebook groups for advertisement purposes. For one day I got 8 signups. Bear in mind, I am not skilled yet in copywriting, but I have a very good idea of what to do, thanks to @Lex DeVille's work in this forum (and outside).

I tried to instill the exclusivity element, so I told my audience the first 40 signups would be for free, afterwards the sign up would be closed for a period of time. The registered people could use the full functionality of the website. This lead to 8 sign-ups. I noticed most of them were real estate agency owners. It made me think... what if I could get the owners to sign the agents working for them. This would get me to 40 easily.

Since I have their emails, I'm thinking of coming up with a good offer to send to the owners, so they would ask of their agents to sign-up and use the site.

Do you guys have any suggestions?
 

Kid

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Hey guys! Decided to update you a bit on what's been happening.

First of all, I procrastinated a bit, I must confess.

So, I started using Facebook groups for advertisement purposes. For one day I got 8 signups. Bear in mind, I am not skilled yet in copywriting, but I have a very good idea of what to do, thanks to @Lex DeVille's work in this forum (and outside).

I tried to instill the exclusivity element, so I told my audience the first 40 signups would be for free, afterwards the sign up would be closed for a period of time. The registered people could use the full functionality of the website. This lead to 8 sign-ups. I noticed most of them his would get me to 40 easily.were real estate agency owners. It made me think... what if I could get the owners to sign the agents working for them. T

Since I have their emails, I'm thinking of coming up with a good offer to send to the owners, so they would ask of their agents to sign-up and use the site.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

Congrats!

Suggestion - maybe bring first customers to those 8 agency owners? If some deal would go through you could post first testimonial on your site/or in fb groups.
 
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FriendlyVillain

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Congrats!

Suggestion - maybe brings first customers to those 8 agency owners? If some deal would go through you could post first testimonial on your site/or in fb groups.

That's a good suggestion, it would help them see the potential. According to one of them, they have posted "exclusive posting", so I might try to find her customers.
 
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xmartel

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Canada, eh!
Haven't read all the replies, so someone may have said this already. But here is what I would do...

The realtors don't see the value in your offering yet because it's not driving leads. Once it's a site that is being used by consumers and driving leads, then they'll start to use it.

Consumers can't start using it until realtors have profiles up.

It's a chicken and egg thing.

What I would do is compile a list of every realtor in your target market, and then input their details into your website for them. This will take you many hours. But it creates the content you need for consumers to start using it.

Also, a lot of bad realtors know they're bad and won't use your site no matter what. So you have to force them to be included by doing the data entry yourself anyway.

Once you do this, start driving traffic from people that need realtor services. Don't even spend time advertising to realtors. Once consumers start using it and leaving feedback and getting in contact with realtors via your site (generating leads), the realtors will naturally start engaging with it more because it's making them money.

I wouldn't even charge anything for leads at the start. Do everything for free to build some scale and get consumers and realtors engaged. Then once you're driving leads and have proven to realtors that your site has value, you can start charging. And they'll pay because they want those leads to keep coming in.
 

FriendlyVillain

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Haven't read all the replies, so someone may have said this already. But here is what I would do...

The realtors don't see the value in your offering yet because it's not driving leads. Once it's a site that is being used by consumers and driving leads, then they'll start to use it.

Consumers can't start using it until realtors have profiles up.

It's a chicken and egg thing.

What I would do is compile a list of every realtor in your target market, and then input their details into your website for them. This will take you many hours. But it creates the content you need for consumers to start using it.

Also, a lot of bad realtors know they're bad and won't use your site no matter what. So you have to force them to be included by doing the data entry yourself anyway.

Once you do this, start driving traffic from people that need realtor services. Don't even spend time advertising to realtors. Once consumers start using it and leaving feedback and getting in contact with realtors via your site (generating leads), the realtors will naturally start engaging with it more because it's making them money.

I wouldn't even charge anything for leads at the start. Do everything for free to build some scale and get consumers and realtors engaged. Then once you're driving leads and have proven to realtors that your site has value, you can start charging. And they'll pay because they want those leads to keep coming in.

I was actually thinking of doing exactly what you mentioned...

HOWEVER, I think I might get into legal trouble, as I would have not obtained any permission to create a profile for them (and using their information).

So far, one of the agency owners has posted A LOT of real estate postings on the website, which makes me happy.

I'm thinking of going to agency owners in my area and selling them the service. And yeah, I would definitely do it for free initially, to get them hooked and make them some money.
 

Kevin88660

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Hello everyone,

So, I finally started executing, after months of reading and doubting myself.

I have already built my MVP, but the problem is I can't find people to test it.

I've posted in Facebook groups where my target audience hangs out, and I've got a lot of good feedback on the idea. However, nobody actually tested it, so I can't tell if the execution is good or not, and I really need the feedback. Most of my subjects didn't have the time, so they were like "yeah, I'm gonna check it out later", so I reminded them when later came, but still no result. I've been trying for two weeks now, and the only improvement I came up with was a FAQ section.

My audience: Real Estate Agents a.k.a. Realtors
Problem I solve: The industry is plagued with low-quality agents. People constantly complain about the realtors, and the good agents suffer due to the overall negative reputation of the job.
Solution: I would allow agents to register on my website, where they could be rated by their clients. The idea is they could build online reputation over time, so when a client seeks a an agent, he would know he could go to my website and find a legit one.

So, do you have any suggestions as to how could I get them to test it?

P.S.
I target my country which is based in Europe, if that matters.
Im not a realtor. Im in the similar space as a financial advisor.

Right now what is popular now is the concept of a E shop. You can have A website updating the latest development on property investing. Then you can have a section on “asking a realtor”. It can be a instant messaging service where the prospect key in his questions in a text box and gets connected to the realtor’s WhatsApp. When the prospect develops further interest the realtor can ask for his or own contact.

It is more of a test on your ability to drive traffic to your website using social media and SOE skills.
 
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FriendlyVillain

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Have you tried Amazon mechanical turk, PickFu or SurveyMonkey audience?
No, but that's not a bad idea, thanks!

I got one more sign-up today, so in total I have about 10-12 people who have signed. I want to make them 40 and work with them for a while. I feel like my marketing sucks so far. The only thing I've done is to post in Facebook groups, where my target audience is active.

My next course of action is to find an active forum, and hopefully drive traffic from there.
 

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