John Peckham, executive director of the Real Estate CyberSpace Society,
has released excerpts from the society's bimonthly member briefing, "Real Estate CyberSpace Alert." In three taped interviews with Stefan Swanepoel, Jody Lane, and George Blackburne, members received a dynamic update with tips on how to take advantage of the Internet as a profit-magnifier for real estate professionals.
In the lead interview, Stefan Swanepoel, president of U.S. Digital and co-author of the just-released "Real Estate Confronts Reality," explained how the total restructuring of his Internet communications company is geared to facilitate the interaction of Realtors with clients and other real estate service providers. He described the Realtor of tomorrow as a
professional more knowledgeable on a broader base of real estate, who works via the Internet instead of traveling physically. "It is time for the industry to get a wake-up call," he says. Unless real estate professionals cooperate with each other in using the Internet to enhance what they do, they and the industry as a while will lose business, Swanepoel says. He describes strategies to help practitioners position themselves as the future becomes reality.
In the second "CyberSpce Alert" briefing, Jody Lane, CEO of Realty Connection, a company for Realtors on the Web, expresses his strong opinion that "the Web is perfect to advertise what you do!" He describes the Realty Locator site in terms of its intention to help people find good Realtors, and he gives members pointers for avoiding the most common pitfalls associated with creating their own Web pages. Lane says he considers the Web a natural extension of traditional media, especially television. He briefs members on how to use the Internet to expand their reach and improve their
proficiency.
In a free-wheeling wrap-up briefing, George Blackburne, founder and owner of Blackburne & Browne Mortgage Company, describes such diverse strategies as "The Stockholm Effect" and the "Rat Goodie Theory of Marketing" and relates them to successful approaches in the real estate industry. His strategies make good models for any real estate professional interested in using the Internet to magnify effectiveness and profit.
Blackburne provides tips for maximizing visits to a real estate Web page and presents a hierarchy of ways for making money from those hits, including his unique strategies for "trading" e-mail and fax lists.
Creative, unconventional, and undoubtedly successful in his application of Internet techniques, Blackburne sums up his philosophy by saying, "The Internet is a tremendous tool. If you use it in a fun, personal way, it is a powerful tool to reach out and make long-term and profitable relationships."
The Real Estate CyberSpace Society provides information on real estate technology issues and strategies, as well as a common meeting ground for professionals from all aspects of the real estate industry.
Information regarding the full interviews in The Real Estate CyberSpace Alert and membership in the Real Estate CyberSpace Society is available
from society headquarters by calling (888) 344-0027.
Published: January 26, 1998
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