RentLinx

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RentLinx had no marketing budget to reach its primary market of landlords. RentLinx' solution was to develop a white label product for landlord associations to market to their members for them.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Jeremy Schneider | Network Businesses | RentLinx

 RentLinx' market is landlords. But, how do you reach that market with no budget? In this segment, Jeremy Schneider, RentLinx' founder, describes how RentLinx giveaway marketing plan came to them by serendipity. Highlights include:

• RentLinx used to sell web sites to landlords. They approached rental associations to try to get more connections with landlords.
• Jamie Schmunk, a board member of one of these associations, suggested they create a product that the associations could market for free to their members.
• After some consideration, RentLinx created PartnerLinx, a white label apartment search solution that associations market to their members. When members input their data, they do so on the RentLinx site and have the opportunity to purchase value added services.
• Associations have accounted for all of RentLinx marketing and have earned RentLinx a nationwide connection with the National Real Estate Investors Association.

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Rental information is in too many places making it hard to locate. Three years ago, Jeremy Schneider decided to solve this problem by allowing rental agencies to list their information for free and tenants to search the listing for free on the RentLinx web site. RentLinx makes its money by selling value added services on top of this asset.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Jeremy Schneider | Network Businesses | RentLinx

RentLinx makes its money by connecting people to information about available rental properties in their market.  You might think this information would be easy to obtain. After all, don't papers have classified listings? Don't rental agencies have web sites? Well, as Jeremy Schneider, founder of RentLinx, explains in this segment, that's exactly the problem. Rental information is in too many places making it hard to locate.

Three years ago, Jeremy decided to solve this problem by allowing rental agencies to list their information for free and tenants to search the listing for free on the RentLinx web site. Landlords have one place to list, and tenants have one place to search. RentLinx makes its money by selling value-added services on top of this asset. Although RentLinx is still under $1 Million in revenue, it has demonstrated some impressive results:

• It currently lists over 400,000 available rental units. For a point of comparison, the state of Michigan has a total rental units inventory of 500,000, and the US an inventory of 30 Million.
• 15% of agencies listing rental properties purchase value added services. These services include giving the agency the ability to update its own web site from the RentLinx database and using the agency's own systems to automatically update its RentLinx listings.

The free services RentLinx offers might seem so attractive that agencies would just flock to list on the site on their own, but that's not how it happened. In Jeremy's next segment, he will describe how he used already existing professional associations to market RentLinx.