RealtyTrac
Company: RealtyTrac, Irvine, CA
Company Description: Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest database of foreclosure, FSBO, resale & new construction properties, w/more than 1 million properties, tools & extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and supplies data to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Marketing Executive
Nomination Title: Rick Sharga, VP of Marketing Puts Real Estate Company on the Map
1. Tell the story about what this nominee achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
Under Rick Sharga’s supervision and brilliant marketing plan, RealtyTrac has
become the fastest growing online real estate marketplace — named the 53rd
fastest growing private company in the 2006 Inc. 500 and the 52nd fastest
growing North American technology company in the 2006 Deloitte Technology Fast
500. Consumers, investors and real estate professionals use RealtyTrac to
locate, evaluate, buy and sell properties. RealtyTrac is the only major real
estate Web site to feature foreclosure, auction, bank-owned, for-sale-by-
owner, resale, MLS and new construction properties.
Mr. Sharga has quickly transitioned RealtyTrac from a niche business to a well-
known and respected real estate resource. After joining the company in 2004,
his challenge was to increase traffic and membership to RealtyTrac’s Web
site. Within one year, Mr. Sharga’s marketing strategy doubled traffic to
RealtyTrac’s website, from 1 million to 2 million unique monthly visitors, and
traffic increased by another million in 2006. Additionally he introduced key
value-added products that allowed RealtyTrac to raise its monthly subscription
fee four times in three years — while doubling the number of subscribers over
the same period. His goal was to position RealtyTrac as THE source for real
estate information, specifically foreclosure data, which is an indicator of
the real estate market and overall economy.
Mr. Sharga’s strategy was to disseminate foreclosure data to the widest
possible audience. He began developing relationships with major Internet
portals in which RealtyTrac became the exclusive foreclosure data provider and
powered a foreclosure center within each of the portals’ real estate sections.
The portal relationships elevated the RealtyTrac brand by positioning it next
to well-known brands such as Yahoo! and MSN while exponentially increasing
traffic to RealtyTrac.
Once Web traffic started pouring in, Mr. Sharga focused on increasing
membership and adding value to the subscription service required for full
access to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure data. Comparable sales, loan history and
sales data were appended to the foreclosure data so that members could
evaluate the investment potential of properties. RealtyTrac’s most recent
innovation involves integrating mapping and aerial photography with
foreclosure property data. Consumers can now view photos of properties that
are in foreclosure — something never before thought practical.
Mr. Sharga also continued to execute on a substantial media relations program, making RealtyTrac’s data available to all journalists and analysts. In 2006, Mr. Sharga or RealtyTrac’s data was quoted or cited in more than 2,500
articles and broadcast news segments, including coverage on ABC World News Tonight, CNN’s Open House, NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News. RealtyTrac’s data was also cited in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, BusinessWeek, Fortune and Forbes, not to mention the hundreds of daily newspapers and business journals from around the county.
In 2006, RealtyTrac became the leading online marketplace for foreclosure
properties. The company publishes the country’s largest, most comprehensive
foreclosure database, with more than 1 million default, auction and bank-owned
homes from across the country and collects and aggregates foreclosure data
from nearly 2,500 counties covering more than 94 percent of U.S. households.
2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
Coverage sample
Newsweek
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17838307/site/newsweek/
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN2830885320070328
Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&sid=aEtwcRJfM01Y&refer=home
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17817904/
CNN Money
http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/26/real_estate/homeowners.reut/
Additional top tier coverage from ABC World News, Nightline, CNN Money, CNBC
Squawk Box, BusinessWeek, TIME, and more,
http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/PressCoverage.aspx
Awards:
http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/PressRelease.aspx?template=nonmemb_cm
2006 – Webby Honors
2006 – Ranked 53 on Inc. 500
2006 - Ranked 52 on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500
3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:
Rick brings more than 20 years of experience developing corporate and product
branding strategy for companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500
companies, including orchestrating international sales and marketing programs
for Fujitsu, Hitachi and Toshiba.
As spokesman for RealtyTrac, Rick has been quoted extensively in the media, in outlets such as the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, NBC Nightly News, CNN, CBS, CNBC, ABC World News Tonight and NPR. He is a sought-after industry speaker and has presented at, MBA Default Servicing Conference, the REO 5 Star Conferences, the Inman CONNECT Conferences and the NAREB conferences.