Looking for a new gig? Now is the perfect time to set up stealth interviews at NAR Midyear.

Check out these new job postings:

Director of Account Management

Account Manager

Outside Sales Executive

VP, Broker Sales

Don’t forget to tell them you found them on the Vendor Alley Jobs Board!

There’s a lot of brouhaha over amendments to the MLS Policy Statement 7.57 outlined in the report and recommendations of the MLS Technology and Emerging Issues Advisory Board (say that five times fast). Overall the issues revolve around what types of services should an MLS provider, should well, provide. And should they “profit” from those services. As you can imagine this has caught everyones attention.

Recently Cathy Holefelder, president of CMLS (Council of MLS) drafted a letter with recommendations to the committee from the CMLS board of directors. You can find the letter and other information at the CMLS website. I think these recommendations, as you can imagine, are well thought out.

But another entity has jumped in to the frey with their own letter to the committee. Bob Moline, President and Chief Operating Officer of HomeServices of America. Here’s the money shot…

“We have no doubt, based on proposals and communications of others of which you are, no doubt, aware, that some want to use the fees and dues collected by MLSs and Associations to actively market public-facing sites. Such expenditures–and the public facing websites themselves–would put MLSs and Associations in competition with many of their broker-members, specifically their larger broker-members.

Therefore, we strongly suggest that the proposed new language on advertsing specifically exclude the use of MLS of Association dues or fees to market public-facing website.“

[emphasis mine]

If you can’t promote a site, then what’s the point?

To me this letter is pretty transparent. HomeServices represents some of the largest brokers of the country. HomeServices doesn’t have any responsibility to “enable Participants and Subscribers to better their clients, customers and the public” (as it states in the Handbook on Multiple Listing Policy).

Balancing the needs of brokers of all sizes is one of the biggest challenges MLS providers face on a day to day basis. HomeServices heavy handed approach shows a lack of understanding of the clear benefits MLS public facing websites, and other services provided by MLS providers. These services give all members, not just the biggest, the chance to succeed.

The drama in DC is just beginning….

Zillow Employees Chomp Down on Annual Saltine Challenge

“The saltine cracker is a relatively harmless snack, great for topping soups or settling an upset stomach. Although eating one saltine at a time is nothing extraordinary, eating several in the span of a minute is surprisingly difficult. Zillow employees, however, are undaunted by such a challenge.”

You can’t make this shit up.

Good analysis from Brian Boero at 1000watt Consulting. Go read it, it’s really smart. I agree with him on most points. But just one quibble.

Brian Boero:

Thoughts on the Trulia/Market Leader deal

“Interesting energy

This is admittedly fuzzy, but both of these companies have suffered from something I will simply call “bad vibes” in the industry (yeah, I know, incisive analysis!).

I’ve been in this business since 1997. And you hear things. Opinions. Rumors. Rants. And I’ve heard more of these types of things about Market Leader over the years than just about any other company. I’m not certain it was ever justified, but it was in the air.

Trulia has been dogged by this too. Some in the industry fear Zillow. Some resent Realtor.com. But a lot of people I know always felt suspicious of Trulia. I think part of this was taken care of pre-IPO, and it seems to be getting better, but, again, it’s there.

Of course, a few bad vibes didn’t stop either of these companies from getting where they are today, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out.”

I’m not exactly sure what Brian is talking about here. If people have been suspicious of Trulia I think its because they’ve kept things closer to the chest, whereas Zillow has pounded its chest like a gorilla. In regards to Market Leader, maybe the “bad vibes” that Brian speaks of is due to the multiple pivots Market Leader has made over the years. Nobody likes changes, but good leaders like Ian Morris and his team deserve kudos for keeping their company relevant.

Bad vibes indeed.

The end is nigh…

I’ve been contacted by a company (very reputable, not W&R Studios) who is looking to hire an Account Executive/Manager in the next 30 days. Salary is in the 100K range. They need someone strong with good people skills but also good industry product knowledge and project management skills.

If you’re interested, email me

VP, Broker Sales

We are looking for an exceptional leader for our VP, Broker Sales position. This role is responsible for generating overall revenue and profitability goals for National Accounts and large Franchises, leading a highly visible and motivated team of Regional Sales Directors, Business Consultants and Account Executives across the U.S. and continued development and strong satisfaction results of key broker relationships. Daily responsibilities include leading a team with direct responsibility for broker sales in the online real estate market, as well as establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with internal sales and support organizations. Our ideal candidate has vast experience coaching/training, providing team leadership to dynamic enterprise sales organizations in previous technology organizations.

Find out more on the Vendor Alley Job Board.

I sat in on the first one of these webinars that RET put on and was impressed.

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How to Increase Your Chances of Success with eCommerce
Reserve Your Seat Today!

Many MLSs are now considering offering additional products and services to their members.

Come to the RE Technology webinar on Wednesday, May 8th at 11:00 am PDT (2 pm Eastern, 1 pm Central) and learn how to increase your chances of non-dues revenue success with eCommerce.

Learn from Lauren Emery, CEO of IRES MLS, one of the first MLSs to offer eCommerce who will share her early experiences with eCommerce. Also, get a peek at RE Technology’s affordable solutions for eCommerce.

Click here to register now!

At this session you will learn:

What the fundamentals of eCommerce are and what does it take to be profitable
Discuss ways that you can make eCommerce a win/win for your subscribers and the MLS
How to avoid the “build it and they will come” trap
How to determine what products to sell and at what price
Identify ways to attract technology companies and valuable revenue sharing opportunities
How to entice subscribers to visit your store frequently and purchase often
Criteria you can use to evaluate which approach is right for you

Industry Panelists Include:

Lauren Emery, CEO of IRES MLS
Marilyn Wilson, Founding Partner of WAV Group.

Being a bit of a logo nerd what first got my attention to Storefront was their logo. I quickly grabbed a sticker from their table at the Startup Alley at the RealTech SF event. I just loved the typography. Then I met Tristan Pollock, the co-founder of Storefront. I complimented him on the logo and asked what they were all about. His response was short and sweet, “We are the marketplace for short term retail space.” You can watch the video below to get a better idea.

Imagine this scenario. You’re someone who is a big fashion maven. You blog, tweet, post, pin and bleed about fashion all day long. You become a taste maker and pretty soon you’ve got 30,000 followers. How do you turn that influence and passion in to a business?

With Storefront you can quickly find a space, fill it with your hand picked inventory, and boom, you’re in business! Sign up for a Square account, send a tweet, write a blog post and now your online followers are real life footsteps walking in to your…storefront. Maybe it’s open for a month? Or just a weekend. It’s the perfect solution for this maker, bespoke, gig-ecomony we find ourselves in.

I’m really impressed with the great ideas and talent that are entering our space. Best wishes to Tristan and his team at Storefront.

I got a call from Mark Thomas, CEO of Reesio, a new startup focused on the transaction management space. “I would like Vendor Alley to cover my real estate conference, if you do a write up I’ll give you a free pass to the show.” At first I was bit surprised he wasn’t asking me to exhibit (Cloud CMA). But, Mark didn’t know about Cloud CMA, he was just reaching out to real estate technology blogs for coverage. After learning more I told Mark that I also ran a real estate software company and thought it would be a good idea to exhibit. “Cool!” was his reply.

I was intrigued. Why would a vendor would host a conference? Sure many real estate vendors host a seminars, like the Max Pigman show at Realtor.com, but a conference with other vendors, speakers, the whole she-bang? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.

What Mark came to realize is that instead of coughing up a big check to Inman or someone else to become the “platinum sponsor”, if he put on the show himself, he could in effect control the event and become the platinum sponsor himself. In developer parlance, he “hacked” the whole notion of how and why you put on a real estate conference. Crazy? Crazy like a fox!

I’m told they sold 300 tickets, I think the average I heard was above $100 each. He had some great speakers including Paul Levine, COO of Trulia, Drew Uher of Homelight, and a “Start-Up Alley” with over 20 different new startups in the real estate tech space: Storefront, Cozy, Wigwamm, iManagerRent, GoREFI, just to name a few. Where the hell did they find these companies? I hadn’t heard of over half them. And some of them were super impressive!

Did I sell a lot of Cloud CMA? Not really. But I was super impressed by Mark and how he almost singlely handily put on a quality conference. And I was inspired by talking to some fresh new entreprenuers in the space.

Mark’s DIY work ethic was incredible and if he can bring that type of energy to Ressio, they might just have a shot.