Technology Transactions10 Years Later: Early Online Lessons Still Hold Value
It was 10 years ago this month that something new appeared
online: the original Real Estate Center on AOL was
introduced, an area devoted to all things real estate.
The AOL area was not the first real estate hub online --
Prodigy, CompuServe, Delphi, and GEnie already had real estate
features and they were each vastly larger than AOL.
As I recall, AOL back then had just 120,000 members. It
operated from a single building in Tysons Corner, VA, a few
miles outside Washington, D.C. Lunch with company head Steve
Case meant a short walk to the little deli a few doors away in
a building that housed the headquarters of the Ringling Bros.
and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
But it didn"t take long for the Real Estate Center to grow --
unique visits soon topped seven figures at a time when both
the Internet and AOL were far smaller than today.
The Internet very quickly showed its power, as local
booksellers, travel agents, and stockbrokers could all attest.
Might the same thing happen in real estate?
After a decade of IPOs, private placements, curious
accounting, and endless streams of blaring news releases we
have the same answer today as we did then: Real estate is a
localized commodity and real estate brokerage will not be
replaced by online sites.
AOL succeeded because it was positioned as a medium and a
marketplace; not as a competitor for the broker"s dollar. The
idea was to sell memberships, collect monthly fees, and build
an audience that would attract advertisers to produce another
income stream. Brokers, lenders, and consumers were equally
welcome to share a platform.
The Real Estate Center offered mortgage information from more
than 100 lenders, a library with shareware and text materials,
and a classified area with homes for sale nationwide. But most
importantly, the Center featured a series of non-
commercial message boards that typically held 60,000
questions-and-answers at any time.
Who answered consumer questions? A group of brokers, lawyers,
lenders, home inspectors, financial planners, and others who
essentially provided a kind of "pro bono" work online. The
result was credibility, solid content, enormous volumes of
traffic, and what NetGuide magazine described as the
best real estate resource online, "bar none." ("Surreal
Estate," April, 1995)
Many of today"s online efforts were started by people who
originally began with the Real Estate Center and the
principles which made the Center successful remain in place
today:
*Technology is not a substitute for being there. The
Internet has value in terms of research, communication, leads
and marketing, but consumers want the experience of physically
visiting real estate and dealing with people who have local
expertise.
*Avoid gatekeeping. Instead, foster interchange, create a
community, and become the place to be.
*Believable, engaging, and "actionable" content that will
keep sites fresh and visitors coming back is a major key to
online success.
*While technology is evolving at a furious pace, people are
largely unchanged in terms of their interests, abilities, and
the amount of time available to them each day. Use technology
-- but keep things simple and accessible.
*Be respectful. As the expression goes, no one has a
monopoly on good ideas. Welcome everyone -- including people
with whom you disagree.
*Be helpful. The Internet does not mean the end of courtesy
or grace. To the extent possible, try to assist others.
*Recognize the benefits -- and limits -- of online
technology. There is a value to Internet real estate sites,
but only so much can flow through a modem.
*Recognize your limits. There are some questions which are
unanswerable because a sufficient number of facts are simply
unavailable.
*Respond to e-mail several times a day -- seven days a
week.
* Build a community. Do your job well and the people who
use your services will become your advocates and marketers.
For more articles by Peter G. Miller, please press here.