I'm all about sharing information for free. I liked the Redfin model. If it's all about the relationship, why force registration. When a prospect is ready for contact, he/she can initiate it.

Joanne: makes sense. But you know, I also see so many agent websites and blogs that fail to have contact information readily available on their websites. It's a shame not having an easy way for people to contact you. Of course I'm not saying this is you, just making a general observation.

I hope I have an easy way for site visitors to contact me. But you can be sure I will be making a ton of changes to my site and my thinking based on all the great info from RE word camp and the realtor rally.

I have to admit, I am now trying to determine when registration should be required. I definitely am on the side of lots of free info, but maybe there is an end point. For me it would probably be several days of searching, rather than 5 searches.

You can't force someone to sign up... if readers want to get information, they'll sign up. If not, they'll move on. Forced registrations will provide the highest number of leads. I've been running two systems side by side and the one with forced registrations provides a significantly higher number of leads than the one with registration after an X number of views.

I think realtors should experiment and see what works best for them. Curious to read Garron's take on the issue.

I like the way your measuring progress here by pegging two models against one another and tracking the results. You're using Diverse Solutions correct?

Great advice as always Irina!

Yes... 1 pp vs DS... Love the way DS looks, but 1PP seems to capture leads better. However, full results are not quite in yet. Stay tuned... :)

I recently started using the "Middle Way" after 5+ years of no registration. I've been pleased so far with the response. I think the keys are: decent traffic, great content, great search tools.

Might also be due to the natural evolution of the blog no? Either way, nice to be able to see a noticeable difference in the hybrid (asking for registration after a few searches).

Thanks for the feedback Geordie!

Users expect the internet to be free and resent being "captured." If the content is so valuable and compelling they want to subscribe. Copyblogger is the model.