New Real Estate Community Site Launches – The Hip Roof
Today is the official launch of a brand new real estate education and community site designed to enhance agent productivity through social media – The Hip Roof.
The Hip Roof was created by Maya Paveza (@mayaREguru), award winning REALTOR in Delaware with Coldwell Banker Preferred and real estate social media butterfly! Maya has gained national acclaim for continuously redefining the role social media plays in her business.
I’ve know Maya online for some time and was very excited to see this new forum get off the ground with the assistance of a lot of great people in the industry including the one and only, Chris Brogan, president of Human Business Works.
I emailed Maya yesterday to interview her, and get the scoop on this new networking and learning opportunity for real estate professionals.
Q: Maya, how did you come up with the idea for The Hip Roof?
A: The idea for a real estate educational community is something I have been toying with since early 2009. I was a web developer and designer from 1993-2001, so my mind works in this sort of way, I am also very entrepreneurial in spirit. I loved the idea of creating a place where some of the community of experts I know via the social spaces, and from attending a variety of events, like Real Estate Connect, could interact and share their achievements and ideas with others. Where the new agent or the agent who has been working for 30 years could all come together and share and learn. A collaborative community if you will, where everyone can contribute as everyone has an area of expertise.
Q: What’s the general premise of the site?
A: The premise is that THR is a real estate educational community with a focus on social media.To allow people to grow and learn, to share successes and seek assistance from others. To remember that what we do is about customer service and finding new ways to do that better. To remind each other that humanity is much more important, especially in this day and age. To share expertise, to offer webinars to help agents better understand the social spaces, platforms, and a lot of basic business development and coaching too. Currently the membership gets three webinars a week, Sunday Night Open Forum, Experts Series Interview (kicking off 2/28 with Ben Kinney) and the Thursday “Hot Topic” learning webinar.
The most basic need I feel the site meets is to make education, coaching and training accessible and affordable to agents everywhere. We can’t always make it to New York or San Francisco for a Real Estate Connect, or a REBoot tour, especially with the current market conditions. I believe so deeply in this that we don’t want to turn anyone away – if someone wants to join but can’t afford it, I am working with a few partners to offer scholarships, it is that important to permit total access.
Q: Is it open to all agents nationwide?
A: Absolutely, real estate agents nationwide and worldwide – as long as they are licensed in whatever capacity in their municipality. But not just for agents, it is also for Brokers and owners – the category I call office leadership – they have their own private forum within The Hip Roof. Office Leadership will have different discussions needs from recruiting and retention to desk occupancy costs, and more. We also welcome our partners who we deal with on a daily basis, all of which have their own forums like the leadership does – lenders, title representatives, real estate attorneys and home inspectors. We don’t have a consumer facing side at this point, but there might be something coming soon to meet that need, a forum where consumers can ask questions and interact with the experts.
Q: I see you have no advertisers, will that change in the future? If not, do you have plans to monetize the site?
A: I want the agents and community to feel completely comfortable in sharing opinions and thoughts on technology, tools, platforms and vendors. I don’t anticipate that changing, which is why we do charge a membership fee, similar to the other Human Business Works communities although we are independent from the HBW family.
I don’t expect it will change, but the option has been reviewed. I think that if it comes down to advertising it will be advertisers that don’t directly market to agents, maybe on the consumer facing side – when and if that happens. I want to avoid agents having to feel like there is any undue influence on the information shared within the community, which is why I don’t want to permit advertising on the inside. To help create local experts everywhere, because there won’t be a “tour” or local events, if a local board or mls wants someone we will refer them to one of our area experts.
Q: What is the cost for a membership?
A: The introductory rate is $27/month for the life of the membership until 3/31 for agents. For Brokers/Office Leadership, the rate is introduced at $57/mo as well as Lending Partners, Title/Attorney and Home Inspectors until 3/31.
Q: When is your official “open for business day”?
A: We soft-launched on Monday February 21, but our official “launch” is today! It is a living organism of sorts, the platform we are built upon is so dynamic, it is just amazing the things we can do with it, to grow it and expand. What is really exciting is that right now during the launch we are giving $5 for every paid membership that signs up until 3/2 to Daniel Rothamel’s Legal Defense Fund. Dan is a great guy, and he was in the new edition of Trust Agents, so he is a shining example of the goal of this site – to be a better agent, to serve your community, to share with others, to humanize business
Q: How did Chris Brogran hear about the project and get involved?
A: I met Chris in March of 2010 at a Trust Summit even in Wilmington DE, we have a mutual friend in Whitney Hoffman. She helped bring Chris, Julien Smith and Mitch Joel to that event. I wasn’t planning to go but decided last minute to buy a ticket. So serendipity, we met when a friend saw me arriving and called me into the coffee shop to meet the Governor. I honestly have to say I didn’t follow him on Twitter, had not read the book, and didn’t know much about him other than his name, I am like that with anyone, I want to meet people for who they genuinely are not what my mind might have created from reading about them or following them.
He is a good friend, more mentor often than anything else – always offering suggestions and a good kick in the backside when I needed it. This was a project I had been working on trying to create for a while, I believe I was most likely whining to Chris about my frustrations with progress on a variety of projects, purely for the friendly kick in the backside I needed and expected, when he suggested that his company Human Business Works could partner in the development of the site. An incredible offer, and after two previous partners had bailed, it was surreal to think it might finally become a reality. I think that for Chris it aligned nicely with some other projects HBW was working on, like 501MissionPlace.com and KitchenTableCompanies.com. Serendipity again. I really have the most amazing group of friends.
Q: What is your goal for this site? Your dream?
A: My goal has long been to create this site, so I now have to adjust my mindset to extended business planning and goal setting. This is the safe place for agents to interact and talk freely with each other without worrying about consumers reading about our day to day challenges. I want it to become the standard of excellence for real estate educational communities, to be the resource people think of when they want to learn something or ask a question. I think my dream is for the site to be everything that the member wants, it can grow and evolve as technologies change, platforms change, the business changes, it is completely dynamic and database driven so that is super easy.
Part of the dream of this site is to show my two daughters that anything is possible, and they should work hard and dream big. Be idealistic and be kind.
I would love to see it have a regular charitable cause, or some sort of benefit to the real estate community. I want it to make a difference in an agents life, to help someone gain access to all these wonderful resources, and affordable coaching. It really is about real estate agents by real estate agents, so I want everyone to feel that, and share in that sense of ownership.
My next dream has nothing to do with this site actually, I dream of being able to bring change to girls and women, to help bring back self-confidence and the #ownit mantra I have. Life is too short not to love every moment and feel great about who you are. My dream is to bring that message as far and wide as I can, by sharing my own story. That’s the next chapter after THR is running smoothly.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
A: I am so grateful for all the support from the RE.net community, there are so many amazing people out there, who have generously given of their time to help me build this community, when it truly is about the community. This is merely the beginning, I want to bring this to the far corners of every continent to make it accessible to everyone. I welcome anyone to join, and those that would like to contribute I would be happy to hear from them as well. There is always room for more people.
To find out more about The Hip Roof you can go to their site or contact Maya directly for more information.
If you have already signed up, I’d love your feedback on the site. Leave me a comment below!
Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News, @katielance
Chris | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
The site sounds really cool, however, IMHO, with all new sites I think there should be a free introductory period to allow agents to test it out and get to know it. I’m not paying $27 or even $17 for something I cannot try out first.
Just my thoughts!
Maya Paveza | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
Hi Chris,
I am in total agreement with you, we have had a few offers during soft-launch that included a free month, including as part of our sponsorship for a conference. I agree with you completely, which is why we have an introductory price and no contractual requirements. Unfortunately we must charge since we don’t have advertising on the site, otherwise it would be impossible to offer the community this product.
You can “peek” inside via: http://TheHipRoof.com/forum
But do hit me up via email or on twitter to further discuss.
Thanks so much!
Maya
Eric | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
I agree with Chris. Frankly, I’d rather put up with banner ads than fork over $27 per month for unknown content. Realtors tend to be a frugal bunch when asked to sign up for another monthly charge. It’s an interesting endeavor and I wish you all the best.
MH for Movoto | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
Ditto to Eric and Chris. Advertising is all over the internet – we practically breathe it. A little more, at least at the beginning, won’t bother real estate agents – but paying for something they haven’t seen just might.
Love the look of the blog, and I wish you the very best in this exciting new endeavor!
Janine | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
I would hope for a trial period. In this type of market $27 a month for an unknown is asking a bit much. I’m sure those joining you initially are aware of your knowledge, but this is the first I’ve heard of you. Thanks!
Bob Wilson | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
The challenge is that there really isnt anything new to be learned behind a pay wall that cant be learned elsewhere online for free, and agents understand that.
Its just my own opinion, but I think many are growing tired of all the agent turned guru sites and offerings that are popping up like weeds.
Elli Davis | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
I agree with the previous posts. When a site like this doesn’t offer a free trial period, it looks suspicious. Especially if it’s a new site. I know it’s not easy to start a project like this, but this way you might be losing potential customers. Perhaps you should reconsider your attitude towards advertisement.
Pam | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
I fully agree with the rest. I can find a lot of the info I need on other sites including Realtor.org rather than pay a lot for the unknown. I’ll pass on this.
STLRealEstate | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
Sounds like a great concept to me, we are all trying to best figure out how to use social media to grow our businesses.
Nic Wirtz | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
The problem with relying entirely on advertising is that there are a number of programs available to block ads on sites. Advertising only is not sustainable and I’d prefer to pay, if the product provided is worth it, for the good sites like The Hip Roof can do.
Good luck to Maya and all who sail with her.
Sherrill Gooch | Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
Sounds and looks a lot like Active Rain, and there is a free version of that
Nicole H. | Mar 1, 2011 | Reply
I joined during the soft launch. I am also a member of Active Rain, Agent News Wire, and a few other free sites. This one is quite different. It’s centered around interacting with other agents who are currently active and I think a few are top in their market and heavily use alot of different tools and tend to be looked at as a resource.
Other than my necessary fees to practice, I am not paying for alot of outside things at the moment. The site offers alot for the small fee I am paying monthly. Today we had a webinar with a top producing agent. There are also a few discussions about social media and the different platforms that you can use to enhance yourself which is what I am mainly hoping to get out of it. Although there is a monthly charge involved, I figured for what I was previewed to be getting and there is no contractual obligation as mentioned, what have I got to lose? I’ve been around for 9 months now and where I work out of, I get alot of training on the “need to know” which is great, but I get to see how to operate and market on a whole other level and if I don’t see much of the value down the road, at least I can cancel w/o penalty.
Lois Ardito | Mar 1, 2011 | Reply
I understand some of the comments regarding “unknown” and “free trial offers” and even “there’s a lot of info out there for free”, but don’t make these statements without looking into Maya and the The Hip Roof concept first. Yes, there are may communities out there for all of us to learn from and get good info from but if your goal is to learn to promote yourself and your business in Social Media you go to the expert and Maya is the expert! Google her, find her on twitter and Facebook she’s an amazing professional and professional advice, education and discussion most often doesn’t come to us for free! Just sayin’
Pest Control Kansas City | Mar 1, 2011 | Reply
This is a much anticipated arrival. I first heard of Hip Roof months ago from a friend in Real Estate and he promised big things. Glad to see she is up and running.
Maya Paveza | Mar 1, 2011 | Reply
Hi All,
I am an agent, I do this all the time. I spent last year taking a 60% hit in my business to build my brand and bring this message to everyone I can. I spent money out of my pocket to help promote the true community and interaction.
I am an Agent, I am one of you – I am asked to buy SEO on a daily basis, I am asked to buy leads nearly as often.
The whole point behind this site is to give us a place safe from a variety of predators, where we can talk amongst ourselves, share our experiences without having to be censored.
We are not selling you anything other than learning, community and the hopes that we can all make each other better by bringing you the network I have built including many AMAZING people (like those at Inman I have met).
I take it as a huge compliment to be compared to Active Rain, but we don’t have an open blogging platform, I could open that but I respect Jon Washburn and the team at Active Rain (I am wearing my RainCamp shirt right now!).
I understand the need to visit and see, I had hoped the “sneak peek” of being able to see inside a bit might help. With no contract and teh introductory price I thought it might be worth a lot. To give you the value and such I didn’t have a free trial. I am not opposed to it, and after discussing with a few folks I did make one, so you can see the value and the power. We have only just begun… and introductory pricing ends on 3/31/2011.
So go to the signup page and sign up for the 7 day free trial, the system may require a credit card, but the membership expires after 7 days. If you elect to continue you must select the right renewal option or else you will not be able to use your same email address.
Trust me, I am tired of being sold to, of people thinking we have deep pockets. I made this, I dreamed this, because flying to NYC or San Francisco for RE Connect isn’t feasible for everyone, and I think this community will quickly prove the ROI for you.
For those of you who posted the lovely positive remarks, thank you so much. I am so honored to know so many amazing people, and look forward to meeting many more!!
To those who are skeptical – come on inside and judge for yourself. I apprecaite the candor and you taking the time to comment. You can’t improve if you can’t take the critcism. =)
Thanks!!!
Maya =)
aka @mayaREguru (a real estate guru, not social media guru)
Founder – TheHipRoof.com
Link: http://thehiproof.com/members/signup.php
Maya Paveza | Mar 1, 2011 | Reply
If I may add… this isn’t the right place for everyone.
For those that already know everything, who can find it all online by searching, who have the time to sit and hunt down information. This isn’t for you.
This site is for people who want to share, improve, grow, mastermind, find information in one place, who value their time too much to spend hours hunting around on google for the right information.
Some of the top agents in the country are part of this community.
You can’t be everything to everyone. So I am sure you all have absolutely fantastic resources! But before you judged… did you even look at the preview?
http://www.thehiproof.com/forum
If so – Thanks for reading and commenting! Inman is great isn’t it? You wouldn’t know about this or so much if they were not aggregating and disseminating information, by having it all in one easy place to find it… oh wait… what a concept.
There is tons of room for educational communities, to learn, to grow. We stop improving when we stop learning. =)
Jonathan Benya | Mar 2, 2011 | Reply
Congratulations on the launch, Maya! First chance I get I’m going to make sure I check it out, I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store at #THR!
Shantee | Mar 4, 2011 | Reply
As mentioned. This isn’t for everyone, and also you’re getting ALOT of different things all in ONE place. As I have also said in other replies elsewhere and to people I’ve spoken to directly, don’t JUST focus on the social media aspect. “The Hip Roof” is sooooo much more than that. I communicated with a colleague on there from Texas who had a GREAT suggestion and I went that route and found some excellent resources because of that communication there! I am somone who believes in masterminding and networking with colleagues outside of one’s office/broker brand. There are many ways to do it and many ways to miss the mark in that process. “The Hip Roof” is simply ONE of those ways to hit the target in that aspect. Venturing beyond and communicating with fellow agents in a forum where you’re encouraged to give as well as receive is going to help you see where you need to focus more or less in your business.
Bill Gillhespy | Mar 5, 2011 | Reply
Best wishes for the new site. As you know, there are many very well done sites available to the RE communiity. To charge for admission before you have proven your own sustainability or value strikes me as a little too much ! Best of luck !
JoJo | Mar 6, 2011 | Reply
Best wisshes on the new site.
“We are not selling you anything other than learning, community and the hopes that we can all make each other better by bringing you the network I have built including many AMAZING people”
I fail to understand the purpose though…All this information is already available on line for free… Some of the promises are puzzling. Blogging for experience? How will an experienced agent’s opinion or experience in Texas help a new agent in Ohio? Or the opposite. Mixing real estate nationwide like this is dangerous! Sounds like another sales pitch…
Greg | Mar 6, 2011 | Reply
Information on the internet is free… give it away, and generate revenue through ad space, or lose your readership.