For myself, I try to boil things down to its simplest form. In that regard I view Web 2.0 as an offering of tools that do their best to break down the walls that developed when the Internet moved from an information sharing medium (what the web was intended for) to commerce (what it was never intended for).

This might also explain why there are so many security issues with the Internet. You don't need security when you are simply sharing info as was designed way back when.

To answer your question Doug, as it relates to agents, Web 2.0 allows you to step out in front of the templates, the boilerplates, the platitudes and pablum of old school websites and aggressively move to an environment of information sharing and dialog with your customers – similar to what we doing together right here.

I would move beyond those old website packages and towards something like a blog site that allowed me as an agent to post info about my neighborhoods and/or my listings in the same manner as I would talk about them to prospects on the phone or in person.

I would build a blog around each listing.
I would provide my seller with access to the blog so they can contribute to the conversation should they want.

I would include mapping. And local data content. Videos. The gamut.

I would make sure that my web presence and its content were designed in a manner by which they can be viewed on a smart phone browser. With 6 million iPhones sold and the new G3 coming out in July, there is an entirely new generation of home buyers coming who are mobile. This means you need a mobile search solution. And video. I would encourage you to reconsider your perception of youtube.

Granted this requires more work than what it takes when you operate an Advanced Access site. But if you do the work, if you commit to the new medium the way many agents now are, you will stand out.

Otherwise the real you may not come through or worse, the visitor might interpret that 1.0 presentation as who you really are; cheap, carbon copy and lazy.

Read what Sherry wrote above. There is a race right now to provide the best consumer experience online. Thanks to the design features, the tools, the applications, etc., of web 2.0, an agent can take part in that race and be as competitive as it gets.

Might I point you to these blogs here on 1000watt that detail some real life success stories built on 2.0 sensibilities.

http://www.1000wattblog.com/2008/01/walking-on-the.html
http://www.1000wattblog.com/2008/01/synchronicity-.html

All they need to do now is read the agents blog, watch their video or view their pics.

The story becomes pretty clear, very fast.

Web 2.0, in the hands of creative, the talented and the wise, can create miracles. Just ask Obama.

Rather take heart in the emerging new breed of broker who understands that knowledge-sharing, content production and distribution are a critical part of their real estate brokerage operational core competencies.

We are all media companies now.

And yes Marc, they're out there–listening, engaging and bridging the gap between the online and offline worlds they serve. I am but of a growing crowd. Direct your web 2.0 diatribes at us–heart and soul (we are listening).

It is a dilemma that will be with us for many years to come. Having spent the last five years in a marketing capacity of a large regional brokerage, I saw first hand how agents either got Web 2.0 apps or dismissed them as a waste of time. Sometimes you just can’t teach an old dog new tricks and I’m okay with that.

The things that get to me are when agents who have never used Web 2.0 apps discount the significance of said apps and question their mere existence in the real estate industry. Obviously agents are successfully leveraging Web 2.0 technologies and should be applauded because I really believe they will become the more successful agents as consumers demand the use of Web 2.0 apps when they want to buy or sell a home.

Derek Overbey
Roost.com
http://www.roost.com
http://blog.roost.com