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This year, as in the  past, I’m moderating several sessions at Real  Estate Connect.
If you’ve not yet registered, take the time to do so — it’s going to
be a great show. One of my sessions is titled "Building a killer brokerage in
a Web 2.0 world." I’m devoting this article to part of what that conversation will be about.

What is a ‘Web 2.0 world’?

We’ve
all read the O’Reilly manifesto. It’s deep, comprehensive and defines
how millions of people interact online. Most have no sense of what
folksonomy, long tail, open source, and Ruby on Rails are or mean.
Nevertheless, these things have changed the way they interact with each
other forever.

Perhaps it is simple curiosity that propels most
people into social engagement on the Web. Or the challenge of figuring
out something new. Or maybe it’s a desire to be part of a phenomenon.

Real estate people, on the other hand, are more practical. And at times stubborn. Maybe a bit too much for their own good.

But
let’s face it, some of what’s popular about Web 2.0, while arguably
cool, is a bit silly. I get Facebook. But then again, I’ve never
written on someone’s wall. What’s the point in that? And the notion
that I have more than 500 friends is a tad dishonest. And Twitter. Yes,
I have an account. But the volume of utter nonsense that streams into
it is deafening. And for most agents, Twitter’s a game that has no
measure of return on it.

So what is it about this quirky Web 2.0
that so many are drawn to? What, if any parts of it, can real estate
use to build that "killer brokerage"? We’re going to dig into this in
my session next week, but for now let’s get started on …

The road to killer

I’ve  isolated five elements of Web 2.0 that pertain to this endeavor. Nail these and  you’re good to go.

Design: Think
curb appeal. Picture that carefully manicured front lawn. And the
unencumbered path that points guests to the front door. That’s your
home page.

Web 2.0 design is an aesthetic that instinctively
creates purpose. It distills a sense of invitation to the site.
Specific colors transmit activity. Connectivity. Empowerment. Those
oranges, greens and blues throw off a ray of fun. Excitement. Youth.
It’s an appeal that invites and welcomes.

Real estate, however,
still clings to a Reagan-era palette tied to logos developed before
there was such a thing as research and marketing.

Web 2.0 design
is something that can take your worn-out broker brand and pop it with
freshness. If you think your marketplace will be confused by a logo and
design redo … ask Lennox Scott if it affected his company when he did
it 20 years ago. Better yet, I’ll do it for  you. He’s on the panel.

Navigation: You
may understand terms like "MLS." And "exclusive properties." The user,
however, does not. What does "exclusive" mean anyway? Does it mean I
need to be special to view it?

Web 2.0 navigation  is simple. Like one entry point to search. Not 10.

Like "Contact Me" offering a dozen
ways to make contact. Not one form where I get to tell you how to reach
me but you still don’t tell me how to reach you. A killer navigator
guides people down a clean and simple path. A killer brokerage is one
that does that online as well as offline.

Copy:
This is also simple in the Web 2.0 world. Unencumbered by saccharine
odes to the home and ham-handed hucksterism. It’s not long and winding,
whistling its own Dixie. And it never tries to take ownership of what
it can’t guarantee. You don’t get to tell me you’re my "Realtor for
life." You don’t own that right, just like Apple doesn’t own the right
to sell connectivity even though most of its products are built to
create it. They cannot guarantee connectivity. But they own "Twice as
Fast — Half the Price."

Killer copy. It’s short. To the point.
And tells it like it is without sap. And it takes ownership of only
those things you can own.

Content: Web 2.0
content is original. Meaningful. Opinionated. Fresh. And topical. If
your copy is written by others, and cloned over and over on hundreds of
sites … well that’s simply not killer. I’m sorry but I don’t believe
that a "Home Buyer’s Guide" should be the same for a site in Santa
Barbara and for one in Stockton.

Killer is real content. Written
by the people in your company. It taps the brains of your agents who
know the community better than any technology ever can. And it
leverages that knowledge. A killer brokerage deals with issues. And
isn’t afraid to publish content that is truthful. Like telling sellers
they will never sell their home if they price it too high. That’s
killer.

Conversation: Lets face it: Few of
us are mired in endless debate over the merits of Euripides and his
progressive portrayal of the intelligent woman versus those of
Aeschylus and Sophocles, his counterparts who together made up the
trilogy of great tragedians of classical Athens.

Most
conversation is simple. Sometimes even trivial. Regardless, people have
a dire need to converse. A killer brokerage gets itself in the center
of that conversation — especially if it’s about the community.
Brokerages have scripted a tragedy of their own these past 10 years by
distancing themselves from the conversation by virtue of Web 1.0. The
consumer went somewhere else. But they are still conversing. Trulia
Voices proves that. A killer brokerage should own the voices of its own
community.

A killer brokerage in a Web 2.0 world

A
killer brokerage is one that inspires oneness. Internally with its
independent agents and externally with its customers. It’s a culture.

Picture
the Yankees. A team of independent free agents. But when they put on
the pinstripes and step out onto the field they become one. Better than
many other teams. That’s what I mean by killer.

Building that killer brokerage in the Web 2.0 world also means it must be profitable. And it must borrow from the ethos of what lies at the heart of what real etate is  – service, community,  assistance and yes the godfather of all Web 1.0 practices some semblance of lead generation.

There is more to real estate Web 2.0 that some bright colors a cool design and an RSS feed. What that is, what it looks like and who is going to do it is what this session is about.

I will be
moderating this panel of killer people that includes: Guy Wolcott of
Sawbuck Realty; Henry Shao of Movoto Real Estate; Lennox Scott of John
L. Scott Real Estate and Matt Fagioli of Diamond Dwellings.

Come
join me. Take part in the conversation. Tell me who your favorite
ancient Greek playwright was. And get on the road to killer.

- Davison

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