30 Mar 07 It’s Official…2.0 Means Free
Joel Burslem just posted about WellcomeMat’s newest release. Shortly thereafter, we received an email from a very brave soul that absolutely has to be posted right here on our blog:
“$30 per video, per month. Ok, sounds like Realtor.com has been talking to you guys and done some convincing. That is not Real Estate 2.0, that is 1.0. They are looking for ways to make it since all the new companies are coming out. Realtor.com has always nickeled and dimed Realtors for every single service and now you are involved. I am pulling for Zillow and Trulia. The heck with you and Realtor.com.”
Here is some clarification:
1) We did not complete a biz dev deal with Realtor.com. Rather, if agents/brokers wish (and many do) to submit their video tours to Realtor.com, we completed the process (except technological integration) for them to do so.
2) This person has been so brave as to both a) not identify him/herself, and b) to announce themselves as the authority of what “2.0″ means.
Here are some ideas to ponder regarding the full penetration of video into the real estate space.
1) If a website collects real estate video content for a long while without charging, what motivation do sellers have to take down property that is no longer available?
2) All of these free video sites (2.0 I guess?) will integrate, at some point, advertising into your videos, or within the experience. Would you still want to use them when this happens? And, where does this leave you…maybe uploading your content to a site where you can control the branding of your marketing materials?
3) Does video require support to make it into the mainstream of real estate? Our team happens to believe so.
In short, WellcomeMat doesn’t really care if you call us 2.0 or not. We do care to be around, healthy, growing, and supporting our customers the way they deserve to be supported in a couple years. Thanks for the feedback Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous!
Reader's Comments
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Get off these guys’ backs… they are on to something and you can trust me when I say it, they have nothing but their client(s) best interests in mind.
If WellcomeMat has no alliances with bigger realtor sites, they will go the way of the Buffalo, FAST!
Thirty bucks a video, come on, look at the saturation you are getting. For crying out loud Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous, do you expect these guys to feed their families corn flakes forever?
Personally, I dig the frosted ones… keep it up WM, the more tie in’s you have the quicker the industry will catch on to the outstanding services you offer.
Dave,
If they hire a videographer, the pricing is going to be discounted quite a bit. In short, we want everyone using the pros within our directory.
As a newbie (this is my first hour on this site) I had to comment on:
“1) We did not complete a biz dev deal with Realtor.com. Rather, if agents/brokers wish (and many do) to submit their video tours to Realtor.com, we completed the process (except technological integration) for them to do so.”
Any realtor with a “Featured Agent” account with realtor.com gets free (from them anyway) virtual tour uploads. Don’t be suprised when savvy agents bring up this point and refute that charge.
Otherwise looks good! I’m uplaoding a video right now as I write this and look forward to joining in your success.
David Swierczynski
Major Enterprises, Inc.
http://www.LookForHomesOnline.com
Thanks David. You are looking at the tip of the iceberg in terms of the product offering.
Also…The Mat is focused on all categories of real estate, not just for sale properties.