HomeGain Evolves with Web 2.0

Posted by Pat Kitano on May 30, 2008

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HomeGain launched its blog back in the early days of February, 2008 in part to experiment with Louis’s premise that Web 2.0, or more specifically Real Estate 2.0, doesn’t have a revenue model.

Monday’s Financial Times weighs in with an article that mirrors this problem:

Despite the slow start to money-making by Web 2.0 companies, the trend towards more social online behaviour that it embodies is widely claimed by insiders to be of lasting significance.

“The capabilities that are coming with Web 2.0 are very profound,” said Devin Wenig, head of the markets division of Thomson Reuters. “The (Silicon) Valley is usually right, and it’s usually early.”

Pat Kitano is the Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Domus Consulting Group. Visit his blog, .

Web 2.0 may not be making money, but it is changing social online behavior.

In the four short months since the HomeGain launch, social media in its many forms—from micro-blogging Twitter to DIY social networks using Ning—have started to eclipse blogging. The new applications have created new paradigms for online expression and publishing; many bloggers acknowledge they blog less.

It’s no secret Web 2.0 evolution is moving too fast for the real estate industry.

So Louis steps in with a new HomeGain strategy to make Web 2.0 accessible to its clients:

  • Leverage the existing revenue and client base
  • Add the Web 2.0 features, like blogging, that are hitting adoption ramp up with Realtors.
  • By doing so, continue to provide a smorgasbord of marketing services for their clients

And the product is called Source4Sellers.

It’s an effective business model to create a one-stop shop that guides Realtors through Web 2.0, particularly during this disruptive time when sales are down and the rush of online marketing solutions is too confusing to keep up with.

It’s a model that will eventually be realized by other Web 2.0 plays like Active Rain and Zillow because agents will pay for this support.

Pat Kitano is the Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Domus Consulting Group. Visit his blog, transparent real estate.

Comments

Social networking is about connections. It is the 500,000 channel television set, without advertising. In its infancy, it is the future of communication with the consumer.

Traditional advertising won’t work in 10 years; endorsements by influencers will.

Seth Godin on why:
http://personallifemedia.com/guests/937-seth-godin

Rapper, Chamillionaire, on how:
http://zedomax.net/web20/how-chamillionaire-used-social-media-to-make-%E2%80%9Cridin%E2%80%9D-the-1-ringtone-of-all-time/

Posted on May 30, 2008 by Brian Brady

Thanks Brian
And HomeGain intends to be one of those influences…

Posted on May 30, 2008 by Louis Cammarosano

True, but a person can starve in 10 years. Don’t forget to grab a snack on the street :)

http://tinyurl.com/4bj4yt

Posted on May 30, 2008 by Joseph Ferrara

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A real estate blog by agents, brokers, industry experts, and people of HomeGain to connect the real estate community. Find advice, ideas, opinions and more by Realtors®, for Realtors®.

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