Each e-PRO module has its own Listserv, an e-mail based discussion tool. You have been subscribed to the Listserv for Module 1, titled Module1Digest@eProNAR.com. You will receive a daily copy of the "Module1Digest" until you complete the course. Feel free to post to the list any questions you may have about the course, the material, or the technology. If you have the answer to someone else's posted question, don't hesitate to post your answer. Part of your e-PRO educational experience is learning how to benefit from participation in an online community.
At the push of a button, at the speed of light on a local phone call, all the information in the world is now available to anyone who has a personal computer and access to the Internet. Actually, the speed is estimated to be 30,000 miles per second in the U.S. and it is not all the information in the world, but the point is made…it is a miracle and it is changing the world faster than any previous technology.
The Industry Standard Magazine in its March 2001 issue reports these estimates:
Online Population
2000 - 128 Million (47% of total U.S. population)
2005 - 210 Million (74% of total U.S. population)
E-mail Sent Daily:
2000 - 9.7 Billion Messages
2005 - 34.6 Billion Messages
Are you ready for your 165 pieces of e-mail a day? If you intend to do business on the Internet, then yes, you want that many and more because every e-mail you receive from a prospect or client is an opportunity to send them an e-mail in reply, and every piece of e-mail is a marketing piece. This new and inexpensive method of marketing will dramatically shift the paradigm for those real estate professionals willing to take the challenge. It is like giving your business card to every person you encounter, at every encounter!
The Internet is the greatest meeting place in the world - "network of networks." Everyone with access to the Internet has the ability to communicate with everyone else on the Internet, and share information, ideas, business and much more. This creates a new channel of communication and a new marketing opportunity for the real estate professional; in fact, any professional seeking to develop stronger relationships with prospects, customers, clients, and referring agents (past, present and future).
The Internet is, first and foremost, a vehicle for communication. Real Estate is a business of people, a business of networks. Contact with people creates opportunity and the Internet allows us to reach more people more cost-effectively than ever before.
The skills required of real estate professionals will continue to change as technology changes the needs and expectations of the Connected Consumer. The e-PRO Certification and Community provide the resources necessary to compete in the business of real estate in a rapidly changing, technology-driven world.