Explaining Web 2.0
Posted by Pat Kitano at 8/6/2007 12:18 AM 
Categories: Technology, New Business Models, social networking, Cool Web Tools, Social Media
Categories: Technology, New Business Models, social networking, Cool Web Tools, Social Media
Web 2.0 was a major topic at Inman Connect last week... I put together this article to explain Web 2.0 to the real estate community and how to use it (with lots of links).
What is Web 2.0 and how does one participate?
Web 2.0 is pushing (or rather, attracting) users to proactively interact with the online world as a public forum. Before Web 2.0, the real estate professional simply put up an agent website or sent out a flyer. Consumers, if interested, then began a private offline dialogue with the agent. All this activity was performed using desktop email and publishing products... and Microsoft was happy.
The concept of the "thin client" (also related to "internet appliance") started during the first dot.com boom posited that PC prices would approach $100 and all applications, and even the hard drive, would be housed online on application servers. It's happening... the cheapest laptops are $400 and dropping, and wifi is becoming ubiquitous... hard drives are still necessary as data repositories, but mostly for heavy media like mp3s and video. The last hurdle to virtual computing is pervasive broadband ... imagine when you can store your itunes on a distant server because you are always online.
Real estate agents continually face the Sisyphean challenge (myth about the guy forever rolling a rock up a mountain ) of keeping up to date with technology... they've finally figured out Microsoft Word and email applications, and now they must master a new set of online applications. All blogs and social network activities are performed on online services like Wordpress or LinkedIn, and the Google suite of online office tools now rivals Microsoft Office. New applications built on Google Gears and authoring tools like Ecto enable users to work offline so one really doesn't need PC installed applications any more.
Learning how to use Web 2.0 applications is not difficult, the challenge is to know which apps will help you develop your business.
Stage 2) The new applications of Web 2.0
User-generated content
(one-to-many broadcast... real estate marketing is done the same way)
Blogs, MySpace and YouTube contribute the voices and videos that spawned the sea change undermining the profits and traditional business models of journalism, media and porn industries, all of which owned content distribution during Web 1.0. Simply put, user content is brand new competition... and it's proven effective at attracting an audience.
Real estate marketing is nothing more than user-generated content. Proving you can express yourself online adds transparency to how you do business and the consumer will soon come to expect this from the most qualified agents.
Social networking
(one-to-few communication - real estate networking and referrals are done the same way)
To realize the benefits of networking online, just remember how much time and money (drive time, admission fee if any, and actual networking time) it takes to go to mixers and find anyone who might fit a potential business relationship. And to get through all that small talk. Yes, you'll still have to go to conferences and trade meetups, but eventually all social events will have their participant lists on display either in a LinkedIn, Facebook (note: the only two general social networks I find compelling) or even the invitation application like eVite. The advantage of social networking is in the pre-introduction - the ability to easily contact any other participant before the face to face event, usually via the network's email service, and introduce oneself in pre-formatted detail. If armed with a good industry network, there's bound to be a mutual friend that may bridge an introduction to real life familiarity or intimacy.
Physical networks are migrating online. The "old school" referral was done by phone ("call up Joe and tell him I sent you"), and even then one had to explain why one was calling... tension exists because the party being referred usually has to "sell" the introduction. The social network referral is more powerful because the introduction is made in context with the backgrounds of the participants... it's easier for them to figure out what is expected and how to make the introduction work for mutual benefit. That participative effort eases the uncertainty that can happen when both sides are trying to figure out the agendas during the all important first conversation.
Customer interaction > Lead generation
(One-to-one consultation - generating and closing leads)
Blogs (one to many), social networks (one to few) and other lead generation tools like Trulia Voices, Localism and Zillow that facilitate matches between agent and consumer eventually lead to a one-on-one conversation that ends in a closed sale. Why? The online society mirrors the same "old school" conventions of real estate marketing, networking and referrals, and special lead generation venues like mixers and Realtor marketing meetings. The internet makes the process of closing a deal more efficient, faster and easier... once the Web 2.0-ized system has been implemented.
Mashups
(Various data aggregated for business intelligence)
Before the advent of the internet age around 1994, data integration was considered the holy grail that would unleash business intelligence - useful data was hidden in siloes that couldn't talk with each other. Legions of database and data warehouse companies (Oracle, Sybase, Red Brick to name a few) together with systems integration and accounting firms (EDI, SAP, Price Waterhouse, etc.) and front end enterprise portals (Business Objects, Plumtree - Glenn Kelman's old company) set out to capture corporate dollars. With the internet, we all realized how dull these companies are...
Web 2.0 introduces a form of data aggregation - the combination of various data sets to elucidate patterns and trends - in the form of mashups. With the internet, data can be pulled from various online sources... data integration becomes less relevant when siloes of data can be presented and used adhoc. The best lists of mashups are housed at Programmable Web. Real estate professionals can now create their own mapping mashups with Google Maps and Zeemaps (couldn't do this six months ago...)
This article continues with Transcendent Web 2.0 - Stage 3) Collective intelligence - why the higher order of the internet is no longer about "data integration", it's about data transparency.
Technorati Tags: web 2.0, connectsf, social networking, mashups, user generated content, linkedin, facebook, lead generation, real estate marketing
Nice article! I am going to share this with my old school networking group and several Realtors in my office who are trying to get up to speed on this. Life is good! These tools make my life more interesting, help keep me up to date with my industry and are generating business relationships.
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>>>>Physical networks are migrating online. The "old school" referral was done by phone ("call up Joe and tell him I sent you"), and even then one had to explain why one was calling.<<<<<
Pat, your above quote really is dead on. Check out this link from the Inman blog:
http://blog.inman.com/inmanblog/2007/07/an-online-web-2.html#comment-76841612
I take "old school" to mean "majority". I can't believe all these great minds at Real Estate Connect seem to still be touting "Web3.0" I see the future being much more inclusive of traditional media as technology converges. "Media3.0" perhaps is more fitting.
(A Rose as sweet)...Frankly what we call it matters not, what is important is that the "Internet gurus" seem to be stuck in the "Internet mindset".
Social Apps are awesome though if http://www.OrlandoVideoHomes.com became a tier 1 channel display on TV set top boxes for consumers in the Orlando area, how would our social apps translate?
What is a "social application" once it is moved of the PC?
As the VideoHomes Network builds out our social application features we are asking ourselves this question. More to the point: How does an Internet entity cross over and reach out to the "old school"? This rather than ONLY creating new ways of inviting people over to our "Internet party".
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Pat - excellent post! I will be referencing this explanation and directing others to it. So many people are just starting to wake up to the changing internet and how to adapt to it let alone integrate Web 2.0 into their business. Thanks for your continuing education and sharing of information.
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Pat, I am a big fan...but I disagree with your web 2.0 mentality. Everything you have listed as web 2.0 has been around since 1995.
Myspace, Facebook = AOL
Wordpress/Blogger = AngelFire, Geocities
Trulia Voices, Zillow Q & A = Forums (nothing more)
Mashups = lazy developers (nothing more)
The list goes on and on...
In some cases, some of these "web 2.0" apps are slight improvements over the 1995 versions (to be expected) - in other cases, people simply glue as much useless junk on as they can - degrading the overall user experience.
IMHO...web 2.0 is just a catch phrase used to hype the sector (internet) once again...nothing "2.0" about it.
Good article though.
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I agree with your disagreement Dave... you can see the parallels in the evolution of the internet... it's just like basic history, ideas and concepts repeat themselves within the context of their era.
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This was an outstanding summary of the many facets we have been hearing about Web 2.0. You have made it easy for the novice to understand Web 2.0 from the embryonic stages of what will be a full term transparency (and or transformation) of how we will do business.
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I really appreciate the fact that someone is finally explaining to the internet novice exactly how beneficial (and mandatory) the internet is to the real estate industry! I own a web development company, and I'm surprised (appalled might be a better word) at how many professionals there are that don't utilize the internet for their business purposes.
You said that you feel that LinkedIn and Facebook are the only two general social networks you find compelling. I think I might have come across something the other day that might change your mind (or atleast add one more to your list)...it's a social network, similar to LinkedIn and Facebook (and I have profiles on both of them), except especially for the real estate industry. I set up an account to help build my real estate network, and I was also able to set up my own personal blog on there so other people in my network could see it. I've already gotten in contact with some people that have the same interests as me with my goals with real estate, and I'm excited to use their blog to get my ideas out there to more people! Check it out when you get a chance:
http://www.realedin.com
I'm interested to see if you'll be as excited about it as I am!
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One of the most useful "2.0" things my team has started to use is the Google 'documents'. Like you said it is basically an online version of Microsoft Office. You have your word processor (word), your spreadsheets (excel), and your presentations (power point). But unlike Office, you can access,edit, and share your documents anywhere at anytime.
Just one example of its usefulness is that of managing certain passwords and login IDs. We have created a doc with all of our passwords for real estate sites, marketing sites, our advertising accounts, idx, etc.
We then set it up so only our team members can access it. This has been a REAL time saver. (obviously really important private stuff you wouldn't want to use, but for the everyday low security stuff, it has worked great).
The other cool feature is that we can all edit and create a document using the 'collaborate' feature. This allows us to take an idea and all work on it from anywhere and at anytime.
Very cool.
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I agree about Google documents. I use these with my team to track clients, production, leads, and much more. I also really like Google Calendar for collaborating with my team. These are great tools. As bandwidth increases, these things will become more and more seamless. It won't be long. Also, easy to access on the IPhone.
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I love Google doc testimonials... I want Google to be the hub for daily workflow and other companies to follow in their lead to produce excellent complementary apps.
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Wow! Thought I was the only one that knew. The various lines of reasoning include all but one point. The google applications are very easy to learn and even easier to teach. As a team leader selling Ann">http://blog.team366.net">Ann Arbor Real Estate,
this make life easier and thus more productive.
Eric Pointer,Realtor
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