Technology in RE
GEEKology – Without the Mythology
March 21, 2007 by Chris Schuld · 1 Comment
Technology, no one can doubt, is reshaping the real estate industry. We are in a Renaissance of redevelopment. Fortunately, all of this transformation has allowed me to observe from a distance and close-up the adaptations real estate agents and their owners are making to the industry’s great challenge of all…incorporating technology and the Internet into their business models in sustainable and profitable ways.
It is no longer about “we have a company website with IDX.” Today’s business development challenges must take the development much further, indeed, into the realm of consumer feasibility, consumer centricity, consumer capability…see the theme? It’s all about “them.”
Most of the real estate agents working in and around the market where I reside are out in front of their company owners when it comes to technology and the Internet applications. More importantly, it is not a necessary evil to top producing real estate agents, it is the nucleus of their business and future of their ROI.
GEEKology 101
Fundamental to Internet business development strategies are the answers to these questions:
- Does your Internet business model open brand new markets without buildings?
- Does your Internet strategy included the empowerment the consumer to interact?
- Does your Internet blueprint reduce or eliminate personnel and paperwork?
- Is your Internet Business model simply an expression of your bricks and mortar?
- Is there a value proposition in your model that extends recruiting opportunities
- Does your strategy include officeless agents working multiple markets?
In GEEKology 101 we return to the basis business fundamentals that address issues like market expansion, consumer services, streamlined, cost-effective, high-tech operations, reduction of fixed retail-like overhead, recruiting, borderless agents and
new business development strategies.
GEEKology at the Post Grad Level
While the real estate industry is grappling with IDX and VOW issues, owners can implement strategic business development strategies
that include paperless tools, cutting-edge online recruiting ideas like TakeOurTest.com
and market management models such as e-Partner.
REALonomics is about the exploration of owner-centric business models that can empower real estate company owners to reposition themsleves with technology and the Internet in order to manage the changes occurring within the industry.
We will soon move into the Post Grad Courses, beyond Web 2.0 and into frontiers we have yet to discover…call it Double Jeopardy, where the stakes will be even higher. This era is just around the corner. Owners who begin the transition toward empowering their organization with the tools to be more fluid will find themselves riding the crest of the profitability wave.
Related posts:
Millions of dollars are being spent by real estate companies developing websites that address shrinking vertical markets. The best websites used by real estate firms are typically consumer empowering, multi-market and they combine relocation, recruiting and business development into the mix. Great website models have to be great business models, first and foremost.