[HomeGain Blog] The Failed Promise of Real Estate 2.0

J.Bentz. I now agree with you and make a distinc...

Louis Cammarosano — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:32:54 -0500

J.Bentz. I now agree with you and make a distinction that Web 2.0 for real estate is more of a benefit for individuals than coroporations

I agree that some forms of social media don̵...

J. Bentz — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:23:31 -0500

I agree that some forms of social media don’t work well for real estate, but I think there are too many people using the internet for information that real estate agents are foolish for not using things like blogs and the web as essential brand awareness tools. What’s the first thing a consumer is going to do after you contact them? Look you up on the web. The more of a presence you have online, the better off you will be.

Wow! Some serious blogging and deep Real Estate...

Ian Marshall — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:14:58 -0500

Wow! Some serious blogging and deep Real Estate conversations. I am glad to see other agents out here as passionate about lead generation and profitable business models.

Ian Marshall http://www.ianmarshall.com/

I am glad to post my views and points in this bl...

Tax Forclosures — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:20:53 -0500

I am glad to post my views and points in this blog, but I must say that webmaster of this blog has done a very great job to make his blog more informative and more discussable

That’s an amazing read with tons of great ...

Jayson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:51:27 -0500

That’s an amazing read with tons of great information and opinions. You addressed everything with great points. I’d have to agree that RE 2.0 isn’t for everyone – as you pointed out, real estate is personal. Buyers go online to find information and do research but they’ll never make a decision based on a strangers recommendation – it’s a face-to-face transaction and outside of straight investments, I think it always will be.

Alex it may well be the re 2.0 grows up with its...

Louis Cammarosano — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:09:52 -0500

Alex it may well be the re 2.0 grows up with its members. Or maybe not. My space is great to discover music and “hang out” but I still contend that the home buying transaction is a private matter and of course a grown up matter that may not require the collaboration and wisdom of the masses to effectuate, but will probably still require a real estate agent.

As the generation of MySpace addicted minds grow...

Alex Greben — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:24:55 -0500

As the generation of MySpace addicted minds grows and starts making money and buying homes. I think the 2.0 environment will have better luck. Trulia doesn’t have all the homes I really dont see why people had so much hope for it. They are very SEO savvy, I’ll give them that.

Hi Pete Thanks for stopping by.

I am a...

Louis Cammarosano — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:19:56 -0500

Hi Pete Thanks for stopping by.

I am a huge fan of Trulia Voices. Thanks for the link.

Listening to the Verve must bring you back to the late 90’s when you were at Lastminute.com

I spent almost the entire decade in London.

Louis, I imagine you’re just trying to sti...

Pete Flint from Trulia.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:46:58 -0500

Louis, I imagine you’re just trying to stir things up with this post. I’m all for the conversation, that’s part of what this web2.0 thing is all about. For more evidence on why social media and web2.0 is actually working watch this: http://www.truliablog.com/?p=356 and we have many more videos and examples if you want from the thousands of other consumers that are using the service ever day.

Pete

Thanks for your patience, Louis. This is a grea...

Brian Brady — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:21:21 -0500

Thanks for your patience, Louis. This is a great conversation, here.

One thing weblogging has taught me is that consumers like anonymity, regardless of Web 2.0 particpants’ claim that they love transparency.

As I’ve stated from the beginning, here, I use EVERY arrow in my quiver and would be remiss to recommened just one marketing channel to anyone.

You’ve stared something great, Louis

Brian At your request I defered responding to yo...

Louis Cammarosano — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:52:14 -0500

Brian At your request I defered responding to your question until we heard from a realtor. You asked “Why are REALTORS letting HG engage them with consumers without disclosing who they are?” Close to 5,000 agents let us do so for one simple reason-That is what the consumer wants. The realtors obviously would love to have the consumers name but the consumers at the stage of the game when the fill out the form are not yet willing to give up their contact details.

While the web is about transparency, sometimes, concerns for privacy trump the transparency.

Also Brian, one of the points that I made in the above blog post is a real estate transaction is more private that a conversation about one’s favorite movie or restaurant.

Margaret, I’m happy to hear that your blog...

Jeffrey Miller — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:04:00 -0500

Margaret, I’m happy to hear that your blog is paying off.

To answer your question, the original post addressed “Web 2.0” Real Estate Companies and their relatively non-existent business models, not the relative worth of blogging for Realtors. While part and parcel of the same thing, there is more to so-called “Web 2.0” than blogging and it is the supposed foundation upon which the next great real estate business will be founded.

To address your reply though, I’d like to point out that your blog is not really “free,” unless the content magically materializes by itself.

In many cases, the opportunity cost in developing and maintaining a blog (or engaging in any do-it-yourself exercise for that matter) may be more than the cost of effective 3rd party marketing programs.

A crude methodology for calculating the true ROI of any given do-it-yourself endeavor is quite easy really.

You must start by calculating your real cost:

1) Determine your desired income. 2) Divide by the hours you have to work to achieve it. 3) Multiply the result by your hours spent blogging.

This is your opportunity cost from which you can calculate your real ROI.

Ultimately, one must understand how best to leverage one’s time and expertise for the greatest payoff.

I’m sure you realize this and trust that you have already engaged in this mental exercise.

Either the result is a positive one for you or you have written off any net cost as a hobby expense, partially reimbursed by the real estate transactions that you can ascribe to your efforts.

I’m sure there are Realtors who are blogging quite successfully and many who do not have the time or talent to do so. I’m sure there are also Realtors that blog with no results but convince themselves otherwise because it helps them avoid the business of conducting real estate transactions.

Two other naysayers on Web 2.0

http://...

Louis Cammarosano — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:24:00 -0500

Two other naysayers on Web 2.0

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/7925/Why-Web-2.0-Isn%27t-Relevant-for-the-Masses…Yet?tickers=ebay,amzn

http://www.globaledge.co.uk/news/details/global-property-chief-attacks-web-2.0-rivals/18831

This post was too long-winded to hold my attenti...

Margaret Woda — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:58:43 -0500

This post was too long-winded to hold my attention, but I got the gist early on. Blogging doesn’t work… right? If that’s your conclusion, I have to disagree. Maybe it’s the new listings or buyer-clients that have put $$$ in my pocket after reading my blogs. And, unlike Homegain, it’s free! Seems like a good ROI to me.

Albert At HomeGain we agree -we have been moving...

Louis Cammarosano — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:15:58 -0600

Albert At HomeGain we agree -we have been moving away from the lead form in one of our S4S product and giving the consumer the option to fill out a form,call or email the agent with whatever comment or question they may have. The form is many respects limits communication between the consumer and agent. WIth our agent evaluator program we are sticking with the lead form as it is a product that requires uniformity on both sides-the agents compete with each other for the same lead and the consumer gets to compare the agent proposals.

Lou, you hit it on the head “Real estate i...

Albert Clark — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:53:03 -0600

Lou, you hit it on the head “Real estate is still a very personal and manual process that no amount of blogging is ever going to change” I agree! I would like to pontificate a position that we all regress to WEB 0.0, In working with agents who want to deliver exceptional value, many are getting back to the basics- being available when the consumer is ENGAGED not 20 min later…. to do that we have all sorts of technology ( and yes I do too) to lessen the time gap between interest and answers. NAR said the first responder gets the BIZ. I see agents who deploy our Talk NOW technology on their blogs but they try to promote he blog mainly on their website. Some do a great job of promotion in other ways and I read many of them myself. Realize that 95% of everyone an agent knows is NOT in a transaction mode, meaning they are probably NOT on the agent or brokers site, not exposed to the Blog. Before we move from WEB 0.0 to 1.0 ( eg: email) agents should reassess their ability to to respond quicker. Consumers do not want an auto responder that says “your message is very important and I will get back to you in 24 hours or less.. All they want is for a live body to answer a phone NOW, and not being required to fill out a 2 page lead gen form including shoe size- “I just want to know if the home has a pool…....”

Tom, You make a valid point. Web 2.0 for real e...

Louis Cammarosano — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:13:53 -0600

Tom, You make a valid point. Web 2.0 for real estate may not be working for many because they have yet to master web 1.0. What I am learning is that marketing methodologies are indeed changing and we need to pay close attention to what works and what doesn’t and embrace that which does and abandon that which does not.

I think a large point that is missing here is th...

Tom Townsend — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:05:54 -0600

I think a large point that is missing here is the resistance by Real Estate Professionals to even embrace the technological aspects of this. As a former VP of a National Internet based Real Estate firm, where I worked with a base of over 5o Brokers and some 500 agents, I can tell you that many need refresher training on simple every day things like email management let alone Web 2.0. The ones you see making the inroads are not afraid to jump in and learn. Many are set in their ways and still think that old ways of networking will suffice. The up coming generations of home buyers have been involved with technology from the start of their lives, many while still in the womb. Wake up and smell the coffee before it’s cold..cold grounds. Marketing is changing and will continue to evolve. Rich Media Content is what the NOW generation wants and it does apply to the home buying experience as well.

It’s all about visibilty, getting your nam...

Scott — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:14:39 -0600

It’s all about visibilty, getting your name out, and be reconconized. I see web 2.0 as just another trendy way to market oneself.

Teresa

You are correct, we are using w...

Louis Cammarosano — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:09:26 -0600

Teresa

You are correct, we are using web 2.0. And we are also using email, the internet, electricity etc. My point is not to discourage the use of things that might help one’s business, but to keep their utility in perspective. Indeed, my conclusion in the Case Against blogging is to give it a try and in the Failed Promise of Web 2.0, there is promise.

I like what I have not seen is an open mind regarding HomeGain. Most of what I read from bloggers is -don’t use it!

Currently our blog drives no revenue. However through conversation with you and others I am starting to see the potential in the exchange of ideas through our blog.

you are using web 2.0 right now. Interesting. S...

teresa boardman — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:38:28 -0600

you are using web 2.0 right now. Interesting. So many companies jumping on the band wagon.

Rich Thanks for the invitation. I am learning a ...

louis cammarosano — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:04:17 -0600

Rich Thanks for the invitation. I am learning a lot. I think you meant I should get on line more …

Louis – you really should get out more! I ...

Rich Jacobson — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:00:21 -0600

Louis – you really should get out more! I would be honored if you would consider joining the ActiveRain Network. We would welcome your voice. It’s only fair since several of our veteran members have contributed to your site. If you did, you would read testimonials daily from our members about business they have gained through their blogging efforts. As with several who have voiced their opinions here, blogging is simply one more marketing ‘hook’ in the proverbial consumer waters. Blogging is not, nor ever will be, the consumate ‘Purple Pill’ that solves the world’s woes or cures cancer. But it is an effective means of engaging readers, establishing a meaningful dialogue, and conveying a sense of your unique personality, perspective, and passion. But blogging IS working. More than you can imagine. But it’s not for everyone. Just like any form of effective marketing, it takes time, effort, and resources. But it DOES work!

Very insightful post Louis. I started blogging a...

Broker Bryant — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:14:32 -0600

Very insightful post Louis. I started blogging about 18 months ago with ActiveRain being my starting point. I actually found AR through a forum on our FAR website. I used that forum to answer questions for other REALTORS to hopefully help them with their business.

I started blogging with the same intent. I already had plenty of business so getting business from blogging was never my goal. However I have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of business I do get. In fact blogging is now my second most productive activity behind soliciting expired listings.

I was surprised because the Internet has always been geared more towards buyers that sellers. Most of my business from blogging has been sellers.

What works for me is “pushing” my blog at folks. Whenever a consumer contacts me the first thing I do is direct them to my blog site. I also include my url in all of my other advertising and have my blog fed into my websites.

What the blog does is give potential customer/clients a much better idea of who I ma and how I conduct my business than a website does.

It’s actually selling them on “me” before I ever get a change to even speak with them. For me that has been the biggest benefit.

I think a blog is a good addition to a marketing package IF the blogger has the time AND the personality to post regularly and to make it educational and entertaining. Being able to learn and smile at the same time is very appealing to folks.

To blog or not to blog really just depends on the individual. You can certainly make money from doing it but there are many things that will make you more money that are less time consuming. But blogging is fun!!! Licking and sticking a 500 piece mailer is not.

Web 2 as we now know it will not even exist 3 years from now. It’s a passing phase just like everything else. Hopefully it will evolve into something bigger and better.

Louis, while I don’t know many people who ...

Brian Block — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:09:10 -0600

Louis, while I don’t know many people who base their entire business plan upon blogging and Web 2.0, I do know plenty (and much more than just the 3 you mention) who are making actual $$ from their efforts, including me. I have had 5 or 6 clients meet with me in the last 2 weeks who never would have found me on the internet but for my blog. They feel like they know me already when we get together for the first time because they’ve read my work and seen my personality. As long as I don’t show up in a puke green polka dotted shirt and have crust hanging out of my nose and ears, these blog readers who show up for an appointment will work with me and not interview other Realtors.

It takes time, energy (but very little money) to make blogging work. It also takes some talent. Web 2.0 is not get-rich-quick or get-rich-easy, but it does fuel many success stories.