Web 2.0 simply stands for "interactive".  Often described as social media or social networking, the process is a 4-step one that might seem time consuming and a solid distance away from making a sale.  It is.  But you will find you have that time:  Gen X and Y buyers tend to start their process of searching for a new home a good 12 - 18 months ahead of when they actually want, or have, to move.

The National Association of Realtors, the NAR, has data to prove that the average age of all 2007 home buyers was 39 - i.e. the post Baby Boomer generation.  While boomers understand, enjoy and indeed prefer email as a way of keeping in touch with people, the Gen X and Y folks (those born after 1964) find email to be noisy and annoying.  They prefer social media, where they can drop in, opt out, participate, play and interact on their own terms, in their own time.  

How, then, does web 2.0 work for real estate?  How can modify standard social media tactics to fit a model of selling homes that has existed successfully until now for many years?

As I said, it's a 4-pronged approach:-

1. Publish

Information gets published.  This refers to the listing, but can also cover your expertise as a realtor and knowledge of the local area.  A blog, a lens on Squidoo, a series of articles, a profile posted on Trulia, Zillow and Linked-IN, even a recorded "chat" on BlogTalkRadio are all valid tactics here.

2.  Share

Sites like Facebook are ideal for sharing information because they allow for comments and discussion.  "Sharing" may sounds like a semantic spin on "selling" but really is a state of mind.  It's about making knowledge available to others, with your endorsement -- and the more you do it for other people, the more you can expect it done for you.  Consider, also, sites like Digg. Del.icio.us, StumbledUpon, Reddit, etc.

3.  Discuss

When you comment on someone else's blog post, you sign that comment with your name and your link. That is then called a "linkback" and it's the best way of improving your online "credibility" and "authority".  It usually encourages the author to come back and comment on your post.  Forums are a great place for this tactic, and for those of us in Real Estate there is no better place that ActiveRain. (and their sister site, Localism)  Groups on Facebook, Squidoo, Ning all create "watering holes" where like-minded folks gather to talk about topics of interest.

4.  Update

Keep your content fresh and then tell people about it.  The web (in 2.0 format) is remarkably efficient here - offering microblogs as a means of updating your "peeps" (your tribe of followers) on all the new information.  The best known of these micro-blogs is Twitter.  There's Plurk, and Pounce and for some, the RSS feeds seem to work well - but not for those of us dealing with the post 1964 gang.  Remember,they don't like email.. and for the most part, the RSS feeds tend to be delivered in a drip-email campaign.  (the way around this factor is to drop the RSS feed  into another "watering hole" like your page on Facebook, and your Squidoo lenses.

These 4 prongs form the basis of all the most successful web 2.0 marketing campaigns.  They work for internet marketers and they work - just as well - for us in the Real Estate space.