Author: Sara Bonert

Spring is finally here, and in Chicago, it is now safe to leave your house without risking frost bite.  So please come out and join us at some upcoming events where you can learn more about Zillow and Internet marketing so you can get the Spring selling season kicked off right!

Thursday, April 15 – We’ve been holding “Zillow power-hour” educational events across the country that have been very well received, and I am excited to now host them in my hometown of Chicago.  On April 15, there will be two sessions: one at 9:30 am and the other at 12:30 pm, where we’ll thoroughly go through the Zillow site.  By the end of the presentation, you’ll have a good answer to the phrase “…but, Zillow says…” whenever a client brings up the Zestimate.

We will also discuss:

• How Zestimates are calculated, its strength of accuracy and what you can do about it
• How to best leverage Zillow’s 10M+ monthly users to market yourself and your listings
• How to use your expertise on Zillow to gain clients for free
• How to dominate your ZIP codes on Zillow

…. and much more!

We’ll even provide breakfast or lunch, depending on the session you attend. Events will be held near O’Hare Airport, convenient to public transportation, major interstates, and there is parking available.

Register here for the 9:30 am breakfast class

Register here for the 12:30 pm lunch class

Monday, April 19 – Zillow has teamed up with ActiveRain to bring you RainCamp Chicago!  ActiveRain has offered RainCamps across the county, and I have yet to hear an agent say anything less than the day-long Internet marketing event was fantastic.

RainCamps are designed to bring you the most valuable tips, tools, ideas, and social media education and information that will empower you to take your business to the next level.  You’ll have an opportunity to walk away with some of the best proven practices to enhance and grow your business.  Effective strategies that can be implemented easily and immediately!

Register here for Chicago Raincamp

It will definitely be worth your time!

I look forward to seeing you at both of these events!

Yes, Zillow is known for Zestimates. But did you know, as a real estate professional, there are so many other ways you can be utilizing the site to enhance your marketing and social media efforts?  Join me this Monday, March 29th at Noon EST (9:00 am PST) for a webinar where we’ll discuss these opportunities.

We’ll start the webinar talking about Data. A lot of people ask where the data Zillow uses comes from, and how accurate it is – we’ll get you answers to both of these questions. We’ll also talk about data as it pertains to your listings.

The second part of the webinar will focus on how you can use Zillow to enhance your Social Media efforts. There will be tips such as optimizing your Zillow Profile for maximum exposure to Google.  Also, Zillow has some absolutely great content that you can embed on your website in the form of widgets, or charts and graphs that you can embed right into blog posts.

Zillow is one of the largest real estate Web sites with 9 million monthly visitors, so I want to make sure you are armed with information to use the site and are fully prepared when clients ask you questions it.

Please join me on a call, hosted by Brad Andersohn of Active Rain, this Monday at Noon EST (9:00am PST). Here is the link to RSVP.

… please stop by and meet Spencer Rascoff, the COO of Zillow. He’ll be hosting an educational event where real estate professionals can come learn more about Zestimate® home values and how to use Zillow in your business.

The event is free and coffee and light refreshments will be served.

Please click here to RSVP and learn more about the event.

What: Zillow A to Z: From Advertising to Zestimates, Learn How to Make Zillow Work for You

When: Thursday, February 25, 2010 from 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM (PT)

Where: Hilton San Francisco (Union Square) Room: Yosemite C on the Ballroom Level

Hope to see you there!

Dallas, TX RainCamp

What is RainCamp?  It is a full-day seminar for real estate professionals packed with ideas easily implemented in your strategies for social media, networking, blogging or overall business plan.  Zillow is proud to partner with ActiveRain to bring this event around the country to teach professionals about growing their online business in today’s modern-day real estate market.

If you are in Dallas on Tuesday, Feb 16, you should definitely register to attend the Dallas RainCamp. I recently attended the New York RainCamp, which was a packed house of more than 500 people who buzzed throughout the day about how much they were learning.

If you aren’t in the area, you can still follow what’s happening by following #raincamp on Twitter.  Wait for a RainCamp to come near you!

> Learn more about RainCamp

> Register for Dallas RainCamp

> Read RainCamp testimonials

Click here to view the embedded video.

Over the past year, we at Zillow have been working hard to create better ways for our users to connect with real estate professionals on the site. One of the broker partners we have been working closely with on this initiative is Weichert Realtors.

Above is a video interview with Mike Montsko, President of the Weichert Lead Network, who shares reasons why he is pleased with results on Zillow.

We see that Weichert is doing innovative things to get their sellers premium exposure on the site and when buyers reach out to them, they have a very organized and professional way to help get them the information they are seeking. Way to go, Weichart!