Twenty years ago the only way to share what you knew with a broad audience was to publish a book, write a magazine or newspaper article, or get on a radio or TV broadcast. In each case the barrier was that some "gatekeeper" (a publisher, editor, producer etc.) had to understand your material well enough to be convinced that there was value in what you had to say before they would put time, money and other resources to work giving you access to an audience.
The effect of this was that information was highly isolated. When I was doing a thesis at that time, I spent weeks looking at catalogues of articles with relevant source material, then the task was to obtain and search through massive amounts of material on Microfiche film rolls. A lot of wonderful expertise was never shared on Microfiche, and what information was shared was often hard to find. The net effect was tremendous inefficiency as we failed to transfer knowledge effectively. Mot innovation was through local solutions that had little effect in solving similar problems elsewhere.
Then came the Internet, and suddenly anyone could publish to a worldwide audience, as we do each time we write a blog post here at ActiveRain.
So, how has this affected the sharing of knowledge?
I am in steep learning curve again because I am in the first year of my new career a realtor. I can ask questions at a staff meeting or training session and draw on the collective experience of perhaps a dozen people. The information I get is very valuable, because it relates to our local market.
For most of my questions, though, I go to a worldwide staffroom populated by more than 130,000 real estate professionals. I use the search feature on ActiveRain to look for answer to problems, and I always find a rich resource in previous blog discussions.
When I post questions in my own blog, I find that AR members are tremendouly responsive, and it's not unusual to get half a dozen replies within 5 minutes. The replies will always provide a range of opinions, which is a richer resource than drawing on any one person's knowledge.
In a way, the Internet has become not only a great repository of human knowledge, but a very effective way to facilitate the discourse needed for human knowledge to develop more rapidly and more completely than has ever been possible before.
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Former educator and commercial website designer now working with Century 21 in the beautiful Quinte region in southern Ontario, Canada. My "Internet Advantage" service is described in my profile.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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Not only is a knowledge base being created through the Blogoshpere that everyone who knows how to use a computer can tap into - you get the added benefit of being able to sell your knowledge to others which is tailor made for the Real Estate Business. Like other professions our value is directly related to what we know and how well we can convey and use that knowledge for good purposes. Unlike Law or Medicine where there can not always be complete transparancy in Real Estate transparancy is the key to getting people to trust you. Once people like you and trust you they will buy anything from you. Rob Basichis
I'm not a lawyer nor a doctor, yet moat consumers buy from people they like and trust regardless of what is being presented. Finally, transparancy in Real Estate means what to you and how is that the key to getting people to trust you? Is your primary criteria to purchase anything based upon transparency or the best available solution to your wants or needs?
Bob, I have to agree with you one hundred percent. My business and my attitude have changed for the better because of blogging. I get so much information on a daily basis that I never would have been exposed to otherwise. I soak up all that I can and look forward to the time I spend on it each day. Thanks for sharing!
Bob, you've hit the nail on the head. As more and more people become actively involved in sites like AR, they can expand their knowledge base exponentially and make themselves more valuable to everyone they meet. I just wished that everybody that I know in real estate would take advantage of it....
Bob,
You are so correct. Research used to be an isolated experience in a dark room in a library. Now when someone is working on discovering information they are part of a larger community. I feel so connected with other people in the middle of the night through blogging.
At a sales meeting the other day I realized that I have better connections with people online than I do with most of the folks in my company -- about 500. That is pretty sad, but it is my reality because I seem to be most productive from home.
The internet has allowed us to tap into the incredible collective wealth of knowledge in a way that was previously impossible. When needing new information, I generally begin with a query on both Google and Searchme.com regardless of the subject of interest at the time. Your observation about the "gatekeeper" is right on the money.
Bob..How right you are the Internet and especially..ActiveRain is a wealth of knowledge for Realtors..I have been in the business for 24 years and have still learned many creative,SEO,SEM,technology,photography and so many other fascinating things everyday ..the knowledge here is endless..Great blog..Thank you...:0)
Bob, I so enjoyed your overall explanation of blogging benefits. I have been reading many blogs, but have yet ventured out to write my own. Perhaps I m uncertain of the process, perhaps I am uncertain what to write about, perhaps I have not explored enough of the social media networking advantages, and perhaps I am just overloaded! Your blog is so true, though, and helps remind me of the importance of social media and sites like AR, AND that I need to get on the ball! There is so much to learn, share, and benefit from. Thanks for the reminder!
Hi Bob,
Good luck with your real estate career. And kudos to you for taking on the Web 2.0 when you are crazy busy with courses in your 2 year articling period. Have you started posting to Localism.com yet? Take pictures of the different neighbourhoods in Belleville and load them on. You will soon become the community expert. Put your profile on www.hotfrog.ca It gets lots of Google juice. Also are you on Linkedin?
Zina,
You need to go into your profile and get your company, etc. on it. All you have is your name when you add a comment and no one can go to your website? How will people find you? If you are going to blog you need a blog site from Google, Yahoo, Wordpress. They are all free or you can pay for one through AR. Then just start writing.
Bob, Welcome to the world of real estate. Best of luck with the new career. I too am learning more about the blog world every day and pick up great tips through AR. Still slow to post my own blogs but I know I have to get better at it. Thanks for giving me some inspiration.
I remember microfiche! I do think the problem with our easy access to loads of info now, is that much of it can be wrong. That's why I like ActiveRain - the level of professionalism is so high. You've found a great resource to help build your business!
AR and blogging is a great source of information. I personally wish the site had forums as well, as I believe that is a better medium for asking questions then blogs.
Blogging is a way to build relationships and learn more about the business. Not a day goes by that I dont learn something valuable on AR.