Posted by: cotton in Overseas Property on Sep 10, 2008
Hi All,
It's a Nick here reporting from sunny Cyprus.
Web 2.0 is what I want to talk to you about. As the title suggests, the mere fact that I can talk to you whilst sitting here in Cyprus suggests that you cannot under estimate the power of the internet and, for this example, Web 2.0.
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it…
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is a living term describing changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aim to enhance creativity, information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web.
Web2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.
The term became notable after the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.[2][3] Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users utilize the Web. According to Tim O'Reilly:
What has this got to do with property you might be saying; Well an awful lot really.
Having been a landlord for over 5 years now I have recognized that my use of "the internet" for all aspects of the job has grown exponentially. From all aspects of business, B2B, Client management and/or information gathering, all has grown over the last few years using "the web".
I think what compounded my view was a video I watched the other day from a chap called Walt Mossberg (he writes the technology page for the Wall st Journal). This particular video was about the i-phone and why it is one of the most important inventions that has hit us. Not because it is a Mac product (and you all know my views on Mac vs. PC) but because of what it does.
This is worth a watch - 50 minute duration
Up until now any interaction with the web was done via a PC or Mac, there was no other way of getting to the information… until now.
You see until now, other than the PC, we only had phones that were modified to use the Internet; therefore, they were limited in what they could do. Now, with the advent of the i-phone, it is first designed as a computer that happens to make phone calls.
This is a major step forward, now we have x2 singularities that we can use to interact on the web. The importance of this cannot be underestimated.
Remember that the PC as we know it is only 30 years old and the Internet is only 10 years old (as users)… I would suggest younger than that as a mainstream item. Therefore, the way in which we use the web is still in its infancy… hence this broadcast on the use of web 2.0.
Q. How do we use this to utilize our world in property?
A. A number of ways… one of which is finding tenants.
We have just bought a number of houses in Basingstoke (some of which we passed onto our Clients, some of which we kept) our intentions is to multi-let some of the houses (they are x3 bed houses that have dining rooms, therefore, x4 bed rentals).
Most of you know we come from a TV background so video is second nature to us. What we have done is create a video "walk round" of one of the properties and post it on a number of tenant finding web sites. Because of the professional video this has brought in quite a few responses from potential tenants. In fact just to give you some figures on it, Gumtree's statistics told us that in the first 48hrs there were over 30 views of the video… YOU CANNOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF WHAT THIS CAN DO FOR YOU…. Remember that most of the site let you operate on them for free or if there is a cost it is small.
Clearly there are a number of ways to utilize the web an more importantly Web 2.0, what I have done in this broadcast is show you just one way.
Web networks are not just about facebook. (Social networking)
There are other more serious business sites out there. I use ecademy - click here - this is a business networking site that is fantastic. I have found numerous Clients plus learned a lot of new B2B skills. Again this is a business tool not a social network… yes you have to put time into it to make it work, but the more time you put into it today means the less time tomorrow.
Remember that with-in a few years most business will be done in an on-line environment, very little will be done off-line. You and your business, whether that be a landlord and/or any other business, will be in the gaze of all the web community. So if we draw back to the video I posted to find tenants it will be there in perpetuity and so will all the rest that I put up there… not only that but all the testimony from my tenants, therefore, when I look for tenants in the future they themselves can draw upon this wealth of information to make their decision.
In the mid-eighties when the mobile phone came into the mainstream I remember most people stating it would be a nuisance and disregarded it as a minor change to the way we are.
Now look, 20 years later most of us are lost without our phones… the same is going to happen with Web 2.0, however, the difference is not going to be 20 years, it's going to be more like 2 years.
Don't miss out.
One of the topics that we are going to be talking about at our next event on the 21st September is the use of Web 2.0 for landlords and portfolio builders.
I would like to invite you to that event - click here -
Vanessa (wife) and Michelle (property jedi) who are both very skilled advocates of Web 2.0 will be doing a specific presentation on its use.
Don't underestimate what you can achieve by working smart not hard.
Click here - to register or if you have any questions on what I been speaking about please e-mail me at nick.tadd@4wallsandaceiling.com.
Nick
