Putting our Realtor 2.0 Money where our Mouth is.
By: David Gibbons Director of Community Relations | February 26, 2008
I recently celebrated my 2nd Z-anniversary. After two years in constant discussion with homeowners, agents and brokers I’ve formed a few opinions about the future of real estate.
- Is the real estate game changing? Yeah, I think it is!
- Are Realtors part of that picture? Absolutely! Local expertise and hard work are essential to buying and selling homes!
So, what’s changing? The revolution in real estate is that people want to play a new role in their transactions. Buyers want to search for the homes they’re interested in online. Sellers want to be involved in marketing their home. Owners want to track their home’s value. Consumers are asking smarter questions. The revolution in real estate is about empowering customers with knowledge, information and service. Realtors who understand this phenomenon are capitalizing on it. Let’s call them Realtor 2.0. It’s much more than a niche; it’s a response to a revolution in customer thinking. Realtor 2.0 is swapping fridge magnets for blogs and it’s working. They’ve stopped buying leads and they’ve started receiving them - for free - by helping consumers in online communities.
At Zillow we’re meeting consumers’ need for information and Zestimates are just one example. We’re committed to introducing consumers to agents who can answer their questions. When we launched there weren’t too many Realtor 2.0’s to be found. Today, more than 100K agents have created profiles on Zillow. 40K agents now have blogs on the Active Rain website so it’s not a stretch to imagine that there could be well over 100K real estate blogs today. Many Realtors generate most of their business through social media marketing.
In 2008 we are increasing our bet on Realtor 2.0 and I’m excited to announce that the Bloodhound Blog Unchained conference will be brought to you by Zillow. Bloodhound blog is read daily by thousands of real estate professionals and is arguably the most influential blog read by real estate insiders. The blog’s written by Realtor 2.0 for Realtor 2.0. From May 18th to 20th the bloodhounds are hosting a conference that will distill the best practices for profiting from the revolution in social media and real estate. BHBU is also possibly the only Mortgage 2.0 conference of the year with a separate track dedicated to loan officers and mortgage brokers. If social media is part of your marketing plan for 2008 I recommend that you get to Phoenix for this event. Conferences are a great networking opportunity but I’m convinced that you will leave BHBU with much more. Click here for more information. I look forward to seeing you - in Phoenix in May - and helping consumers on the web and on Zillow.
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Real Estate, Zillow
Comments
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agentgenius.com- national real estate opinion column » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: Zillow Partners w/UnChained - Bloodhoundblog on February 26, 2008 1:50 pm
[...] Zillow’s David Gibbons in the release: In 2008 we are increasing our bet on Realtor 2.0 and I’m excited to [...]
Mike Farmer on February 26, 2008 2:03 pm
Smart move. I am dying because I can’t be there.
David Gibbons on February 26, 2008 2:13 pm
You will be missed, Mike.
Zillow.com announces its sponsorship of BloodhoundBlog Unchained | BloodhoundBlog: Real estate marketing and technology blog | Realtors and real estate, mortgages, lending, investments on February 26, 2008 2:14 pm
[...] Zillow.com is announcing that they will be the premier sponsor of the BloodhoundBlog Unchained Social Media Marketing Conference to be held May 18-20 in [...]
Greg Swann on February 26, 2008 3:04 pm
Thanks, David. Don’t know if you listened to Brian Brady on RealEstateRadioUSA.com, but “What would David Gibbons do?” was featured content.
Brad Coy on February 26, 2008 3:09 pm
Great move indeed David. Looking forward to seeing you guys at Unchained in May. This should be a great jump off point for Social Media in Real Estate as practiced by thought leaders in the trade.
Whatever on February 26, 2008 3:43 pm
>From May 18th to 20th the bloodhounds are hosting a conference. . .
Except for the bloodhounds that were sent an invite - to pay to attend the conference.
Putting our Realtor 2.0 Money where our Mouth is. | The Long List of Odysseus Medal Nominees | Realtors and real estate, mortgages, lending, investments on February 26, 2008 7:31 pm
[...] Putting our Realtor 2.0 Money where our Mouth is., by David Gibbons. [...]
Why is Zillow.com sponsoring BloodhoundBlog Unchained? Discover the answer to that question for yourself by diving for Black Pearls — and win a link on our sidebar or even an Unchained scholarship | BloodhoundBlog: Real estate marketing and technolo on February 26, 2008 8:24 pm
[...] is Zillow.com the premier sponsor of BloodhoundBlog Unchained? They can speak for themselves (as they have), but my thinking all along was that they expected that we could put them in front of the kind of [...]
Thomas Johnson on February 26, 2008 10:02 pm
David: Happy 2nd Z Day! and many more…
David G from Zillow.com on February 27, 2008 9:53 am
Thanks Thomas!
Helping Agents Understand and Benefit from the Online World - 4RealzEd & Reachd Training | Zillow® Blog on February 27, 2008 12:32 pm
[...] David G from Zillow.com: Thanks Thomas!… [...]
Innocence Lost on February 27, 2008 12:57 pm
[...] attention. However, news flash to self, TJ and the horn rimmed glasses girl are dating. Yeah. Full on dating. They go out together in public. They see movies together. They’re going to prom [...]
Active Rain and Move.com, Bloodhound Unchained and Zillow, Inman News and… at The XBroker on February 27, 2008 8:07 pm
[...] what has to be one of the oddest couplings in recent memory, The Bloodhound crew has announced that Zillow will be the primary sponsor for the Bloodhound Unchained conference in Phoenix May [...]
There is no Mortgage 2.0 | Mortgage Industry Blog on February 27, 2008 11:14 pm
[...] site and you’ll see discussion forums, wikis, user contributed data on properties, and even a blog of their own. Zillow wants to enter the mortgage space, and they may end up representing mortgage 2.0 as well as [...]
Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice on March 2, 2008 11:32 am
Thanks…I am now a firm beleiver in the consumer wanting to take more responsibilty in their own real estate search. Having a stagnate site is not going to get it done for most. Giving your consumer the tools to learng about what agents know and talk about at meetings, caravaning etc. is what consumers now want. I have a blog here in Santa Barbara called Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice and am getting many compliments on the service it provides. Thanks for the post.
Zillow Unchained on March 3, 2008 12:46 pm
[...] Zillow Blog announced its sponsorship of Unchained, a new blogging/social marketing event run by Greg Swann of Bloodhound Blog. [...]
Samantha on April 26, 2008 3:13 pm
I have been watching Santa Barbara Real Estate closely as I’m an investor. I’d had the feeling for a long time that homes in Santa Barbara and surrounding area would see sales picking up in 08 and I still feel that way. I’d be willing to bet that this summer will see sales go up quite a bit. I hope so too because I have three homes I want to sell.
Brad Coy on June 27, 2008 12:01 am
coming full circle David. I was just listening to your interview on RERUSA and plugged in a vanity search for myself..
that brought me back here. Just wanted to say thanks again to Zillow for the support in helping get Bloodhound Unchained done right. The event was a great success and it was a pleasure to meet you.
Take care,
Brad