Web 2.0 & Real Estate Investing!

[fadi]

Lamar, very nice blog dude... keep up the good work

[Lamar]

Thanks Fadi! Your blog is so much better. Did you create it yourself?

[fadi]

Kind of... $2.99/month hosting at 1and1, using free WordPress blog with a nice template... they have hundreds of templates to choose from... I figured I wanted my own identity and domain name.

[fadi]

You know, the more I think about this topic, the more I think people are missing out on it...

Ignore the label "web 2.0" for a second because thats just a title... The reality is that businesses have moved to the Internet and will continue to do so.

Years ago, Yellow Pages were the best source for services. If you wanted to find something, you went to the yellow pages.

When the internet came about, and due to many limitations such as bandwidth, cost of computing, and ability to perform proper search the adoption was slow however, companies started moving to the web slowly...

At first, websites were just big brochures and business cards online... we went crazy with nifty images and graphics... the better looking the website was, the prouder we felt... but that was about it... some businesses were smart enough and added description of their services... Marketing departments were (and some still) behind the trend and continued to believe that marketing cannot be done online.

Those of you who got online in mid 90s may remember the virtual malls that were popping up all over... Some tried to take the physical implementation online... and obviously failed...

Then came google and similar search engines that solved the problem of location and categorizing business' services.

But the problem of content still existed... There was this notion that a website must contain pretty pictures, be designed certain way, and we ended up boxing the concept. Sadly, many still do the same today... Many of the websites are just that... a large useless brochure or business card...


With the higher adoption of computers due to speed and cost, the more opportunities there are... Today, Forums... social networking... Facebook, myspace.com, and blogspheres solved the second issue with websites... Websites are not just static pages...

People do not go to websites to look at pretty pictures... (porn does not count!)... We browse the web for information... We don't buy magazines and newspapers for the ads... we do for the articles...

Your choices are clear... join the new trend, or be left behind... We are in the Internet age, and it will continue to move in that direction... While we may not know what the next step is, we need to take the best guess and try to join it rather than resisted (it is a huge paradigm shift for some).

Start your own blog and write 5 to 10 posts a month... make it related to real estate... in a year or two or three from now, and if the bets are right... you will have a huge content that may attract audiance to come to your site and read for a while. Even if the content may not be relavant by then, the perception would still be there and you will be well established.

The term web2.0 refers to the new way people are using the web now a days with the social networking and blogging... it is about how we moved from the static content to more of dynamic content and how we are more and more moving online...

[peterv]

You may have jumped into real estate investing with one eye on your dreams and the other on your potential to become fabulously wealthy in a very short time.  While it’s true that it’s possible to become the richest person you know, the reality is that it will probably take time to happen.  Another reality you may not have considered is that as a real estate investor, you also wear another hat: professional marketer.  If you can’t devise a winning online and offline marketing effort, your dreams will be largely unrealized and your destiny will be held hostage by unfulfilled potential.
There are a number of offline marketing strategies you can employ to encourage possible buyers and sellers of residential real estate to contact you.  Some of the most common ones are:
•   Bandit signs
•   Radio & television ads
•   Brochures, flyers, and billboard signs
However, to turn the corner with your marketing, you can really ramp up your offline marketing strategies by establishing yourself as a noted real estate expert within your local community.  There are three great strategies for doing this:
•   Local media interviews – The best way of getting your name in front of News Directors and Program Directors is by issuing pertinent press releases.  They need to be well-written and they need to discuss newsworthy issues of importance to their viewers.  Once you’ve begun to establish yourself as an expert in your field your phone will ring more regularly.  These media appearances can increase your exposure and improve your name recognition which can result in increased investing deals because of your perceived status as an expert.  Many people with whom you’ll be trying to buy properties from or sell properties to will know your name – and be more willing to trust you – as a result of your prominence within your local community.
•   Seminars – Giving free seminars in a real estate-related niche can increase the size of your portfolio.  As a residential real estate investor, you could give a free seminar about topics as wide-ranging as “How to Sell Your House for Your Price in a Down Market” to “How to Buy a House with Bad Credit.”  The key here isn’t to directly market yourself.  Your goal is to come across much like a financial planner.  Show your clients what you know – and how you can help them – and they’ll gladly show you their money later on.
•   Public speaking – This may not seem like a natural offline marketing strategy, but it has potential you may not have considered.  Most people aren’t natural public speakers; if this identifies you, don’t despair.  Join your local Toastmasters club and learn the fine art of public speaking.  While you’re learning, you’ll be exposed to business and community leaders (many with cash) who would be prime candidates as potential investing partners or sources of private cash for long term investments or down payment and rehab funds.   
 
Online marketing strategies are like gifts that keep on giving because the overall costs are reduced.  This allows you to cast a wider net and increase the area in which you invest.  In addition, you’ll be able to build buyers lists and prequalify prospects without an investment of time, which is one of your most precious commodities. 
Effectively reaching potential clients with online strategies increasingly demands that you have a website of your own, in order to prescreen prospects, build buyers lists, and to gather other vital information.  None of these efforts mean a thing if you can’t figure out how to drive Internet traffic to your website.  Your online efforts will generally revolve around two basic strategies:
•   PPC – Pay Per Click campaigns are a good way of getting visitors to your real estate investing website.  However, if you don’t carefully analyze your target demographic and get crystal clear about which words and phrases you wish to bid on, your expenses could explode and you’ll have nothing to show for it.  Google and Yahoo have helpful analytic tools that can help you determine what words and phrases make the most sense for driving paid traffic to your website.  In addition, they also offer the ability to target traffic based upon geographic location of potential clients, so your ads would only be seen by those most likely to be good targets.
•   Organic placement – This form of marketing won’t cost you a penny, but the competition for top ranking can be fierce.  The key to achieving top ranking is by having content on your website that is relevant to the needs of your site’s visitors.  While SEO can play a role in your search engine rankings, you’ll have greater success by ensuring that your website has great content.  Resources related to real estate investing – articles and ebooks about wholesaling, short sales, rent to own, or whatever areas in which you concentrate, can gain you improved ranking by the search engines.  Concentrate on relevant, high quality written content and you’ll be rewarded with traffic.  The increased volume of traffic will mean you’ll gain more prospects, which will generally translate into more buyers and sellers for your residential properties.
While your online and offline marketing efforts will differ, in many cases you can tie them together for maximum effect.  For instance, any offline marketing materials will have physical contact information.  If you can include a catchy and memorable web address, you’ll increase your exposure to potential clients while reducing the legwork necessary to pre-sell them on doing business with you.
Marketing your real estate investing business may seem like a waste of time and effort, but by paying close attention to these efforts you can win over potential clients, increase the size of your portfolio, and move yourself closer to realizing your dreams.  If you’re not familiar with the marketing strategies you want to employ or you’re at all uncomfortable with your knowledge of specific real estate investing techniques, you should consider finding a good mentor that specializes in the type of investing in which you’re most interested.  Their experience and guidance can set your mind at ease and their wise counsel can help get you on your way.

[fadi]

Not exactly. 2.0 is about content rich sites, it is not about design at all. Blogging, forums, articles, communities ...etc.

[Nissan]

Hi
If your audience will be someone clueless from a technical standpoint, then you can use the Web 2.0 phrase and possibly dazzle them, but if its going to be the general public, where you might have technically savvy people reading, I'd avoid the phrase myself.

[jackson64]

Hello Friend,
Sounds kind of like the original internet ideas
I do a lot of design, not so much programming.  To me, web 2.0 is a new design style with more horizontal display of info and the length of a page isn't so much an issue any more.  It seems to also use lots of big fonts and shiny gradients. 
I like it!!!!

Interesting take on Web 2.0.  While I do partially agree with this, I really think the Web 2.0 spectrum is really bringing user-friendliness into light.  There's a lot more 'take-you-by-the-hand' kind of websites being developed with a Web 2.0 mindset.  In addition, new technologies like AJAX, JQuery, etc. allow people to do things that were not imaginable in the past.  That being said, I definitely believe that Web 2.0 is the way to go with REI.

[Lamar]

Haven't been on here in a while, but I think people are starting to see Web 2.0 in a different light.

In a nutshell... We're not talking just new fresh looks and designs for websites... We're talking new ways of marketing and leveraging the power of the internet.

There are so many ways to accomplish this.

Social Networking:

Sites like Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, etc... These are places where you can easily connect with other Investors. I have seen this first hand. For some reason, Twitter is rapidly growing and more and more people are signing up everyday. They even talked about it in the news, saying that some members in Congress are using it. lol I don't care too much for that, but all I know is if I want to find people who are like minded and have the same interests as I do, then I can easily do that in a matter of minutes.

Blogging:

If you haven't noticed, Wordpress is starting to become the go to blog platform. There are so many themes you can use and it can allow you to set up your site to publish your content fairly quickly. Blogging allows you to position yourself as an expert and build relationships with like minded individuals along with whomever your customer base is.

Tagging:

For those of you wondering what tagging is and why it is important, well put it this way... When you go to google and search for a particular keyword, you are usually able to find what you're looking for fairly quickly because of the way search engines are set up. Not only that, but people are beginning to TAG or "Categorize" their content.

Here's an example. I posted a review about a certain product I purchased. (We'll call it product XYZ) Now once I completed my review, I put the keyword, "Product XYZ" in the TAG section. Now when people search for Product XYZ, tagging will increase the chance of people looking at my review and educating them in their buying decision. Imagine doing something like this for your property websites.

This is purely Online Marketing. While there are more ways to market online, as well as using Web 2.0 methodology, you can't help but realize how powerful this is. Especially when combined with offline marketing. Finding Investors, marketing your property, advertising your business... Too Easy!

Hope that sums it up some,

J.Lamar Ferren
"New Breed" Investor

[Gold River]

I believe that just like the newest versions of Microsoft or the newest version of a number of mediums, there will be upgraded versions of the very basic beginings of Web 2.0

My understanding is that Web 2.0 refers to a single medium of communication, be it this forum, a real estate listing service, Blogs, Classifieds or online seminars.

As technology advances and capital is expended expounding the relationship between the way in which information is presented and used to advance to a new level of education and understanding.

There are actually new platforms being created beyond the Web 3.0 level!
Long hours of writing code and testing performance!

I am surprised by the poll though, just think if we were still operating our computers on the DOS operating system?

Would we really enjoy the original Windows 3.5 in 1993 I believe?

What would comunication be like if I were brousing the internet and typing this forum post on my Windows 95 operating system!

Wow, it's midnight and Windows 98 was just released at Comp USA!

Windows Millenium Edition?

Windows XP and XP Pro!

Windows Vista!

One of Our companies is at the forefront of technology exploring new visions and new platforms to bring information technologies into the 21st century and beyond!

Can we even believe there is still more to come in Web 2.0?
Not really, were way beyond that!!!!

[shortsaleguru81]

Web 2.0 does help with real estate advertising.

[ClevelandSlim]

Here is a very basic  video explaination of Web 2.0 ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

Hey that is a tight video!

All the best,
~Slim~

[pbr_201]

ebay is a best place for real estate sales and purchases. I tried there a lot of time

[RealEstateConsultant]

Web 2.0 = Online Collaboration.

Examples: Forums, Digg, Reddit.com, Squidoo, Google knol, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Blogs. All of these sites enable collaboration between users. By colloborating, you can impart your opinions, knowledge and expertise. In return you get business.