We are entering the era of the individual and the networked economy. In order for you and your business to stand out from the crowd, you need to be a leader.
In a tribal society, the Elders are the most respected and committed members of the community, the leaders, the sharers of wisdom, and the people to turn to for support and advice.
Following the amazing news that Property Tribes has grown 180% in the last three months (Alexa stats), we’re introducing two new levels of membership to help grow the forum and provide enhanced benefits for our members.
“Tribal Elders” and “Tribal Elders PowWow” are our two new levels of paid membership for those of you who want to lead the property community and signal your commitment to property, networking, and raising the visibility of your businesses through on and off-line networking.
Tribal Elders Yearly Membership Programme:
For an annual subscription of £60, you will access the following benefits:
FREE entry to all our networking events for the duration of one year, plus bring a guest FREE. (Value £240).
An exclusive Tribal Elders gathering after our networking event for deeper networking and relationship building.
Enhanced visibility for you and your business on the forum and at our events.
10% discount voucher off any of Nick's training events or consultancy services at socialmediagraffiti.com
BUY NOW £60
Tribal Elders Yearly Membership Programme PLUS Pow Wow:
For an annual subscription of £400, you will access the following benefits:
FREE entry to all our networking events for the duration of one year, plus bring a guest FREE. (Value £240).
An exclusive Tribal Elders gathering after our networking event for deeper networking and relationship building.
Enhanced visibility for you and your business on the forum and at our events.
10% discount voucher off any of Nick's training events or consultancy services at socialmediagraffiti.com
PLUS:
Discounted rates for sponsorship of Property Tribes.
A video "PowWow" interview (max. duration 10 minutes) filmed on HD with Vanessa to promote yourself or your business, which will be featured on Property Tribes. (See The Bookwright Interview). You will also have access to this video to use on your own website etc for your own promotion. (Value £450)
1 hour business consultation with Vanessa and Nick. (Value £240)
Leveraging of our network, social media platforms, and contacts to increase visibility and awareness of your business in the online community.
BUY NOW £400
Sample Video screenshot of Vanessa interviewing Tome Evans @thebookwright These programmes represent excellent value for money to give you access to very affordable networking and other benefits that will enhance your visibility in our network. They are designed to help you grow your business and brand on-line in a supportive, open, and collaborative community which has been built over the past five years on trust and ethical practices.
By aligning yourself with other like-minded people, you can use the momentum of the group to move yourself and your business forwards.
Whilst the normal Property Tribes membership remains free, by joining one of our paid programmes, you are making a commitment to yourself to become a leader in the property community. The programmes are for serious and committed people only who see the benefit of joining the “inner circle” of our community and benefitting from enhanced visibility and credibility in our network.
To celebrate the news that the Alexa statistics report that the Property Tribes forum has grown 180% in the last three months, we're introducing some exciting new initiatives and benefits for tribal members:
Special offer from Upad for tribal members:
We are delighted to report that the Property Tribes forum is now sponsored by the U.K.'s premier rental marketplace, http://www.upad.co.uk/. Upad are offering tribal members a special offer of buy one listing, get one listing free. (Go to the Property Tribes home page and click on the banner to take advantage of this). Your Upad listing will be distributed to over 100 portals for a one off cost of £59.00 until the property is let. The great news is that upad covers room lets as well as houses and flats, so do take advantage of this special offer. The upad site is a great resource for both Landlords and tenants, so do take a few moments to visit and see what it has to offer.
The sponsorship of the Property Tribes forum will allow us to invest in and improve the forum and develop it into an even better resource for members, so please do support upad if you have a house or flat to let out!
Our next tribal gathering (networking event) has been scheduled for Sunday 20th of September in Guildford. Please make a note in your diaries now not to miss the fastest expanding property networking event in the South East!
Entry is £10.00 and you can register and pay here.
On Property Tribes, we have a discussion on how to create the ultimate networking event. Please have your say here as to what you think makes for the ultimate networking experience.
Property Tribes is now on Facebook!
We have now started our own group on Facebook to increase the tribe's visibility. You can join us here.
In the Spotlight
We are currently in the process of introducing some new initiatives to make Property Tribes the most valuable property resource on the web.
One of these includes "In the Spotlight", where we interview key/active members of the community so that you can get to know them better.
The purpose of this is to raise awareness of what tribal members do, so that you know who to go to if you need a particular product, service, or some advice. We hope that one of the benefits of membership of the tribe is increased business transactions between the members.
Our first Spotlight feature is dedicated to our good friend and mortgage broker, Wasim Ahmed. You can read all about his personal property journey and strategy here.
If you would like to be featured in the Property Tribes Spotlight, please do get in touch. However, please note that this feature is only for active contributors to the community, not passive viewers.
It's one of the ways we are going to "give something back" to the members who contribute the most to the forum.
Coming soon in the Spotlight: Roberta Ward, Brian Heath, John Corey, Sally Asling .....
VideoBlog: Why we started Property Tribes
If you would like to know more about why we started the Property Tribes forum, and the benefits of membership, please view our latest video blog.
Property Tribes Twitter League
If you want to find all the most influential people in U.K. property, look no further than the Property Tribes Twitter League! John Corey is out there in the No. 1 position with over 11,000 followers! Coming soon: "Tribal Elders" programme
We are shortly going to be introducing a subscription programme for those of you who want to lead the property community and signal your commitment to property and networking by becoming a Tribal Elder.
For an annual subscription of £60, you will access the following benefits:
* FREE entry to all our networking events for the duration of one year, plus bring a guest FREE. (Value £240). * An exclusive Tribal Elders gathering after our networking event for deeper networking and relationship building. * Enhanced visibility for you and your business on the forum and at our events. * 20% discount voucher off any of Nick's training events. * A free copy of our new e-book "Social Media : Why you have to be there".
If you have any suggestions as to what other benefits you would like to see, please let us know.
On a beautiful sunny Spring morning, it's the perfect time to start thinking of Summer holidays!
What comes to mind when you think of the British seaside? Candy floss,
crazy golf and ballroom dancing? Cream teas, milkshakes, and fish and
chips? Sandcastles, buckets and spades, and paddling? Not to mention
the miles of beautiful and unspoiled coast of this island nation - from
sweeping sandy beaches to craggy cliffs. Wherever you are in England,
you are never more than 73 miles from the sea! It's ingrained in our
genetic make-up and culture!
The British seaside is a fairly recent invention. The classic
chalet-and-pier towns grew up during the 19th century, when it finally
occurred to someone that it might be nice to let workers in industrial
towns go on holiday. Their late flowering was in the 1950s and 60s,
before the advent of cheap travel abroad. In recent times, it's true to
say that some of their grandeur has faded. But it could be that the
current economic down-turn is just what is needed to breathe new life
back into our coastal resorts.
In December 2007, we saw what was happening in the property market and
wider economic climate, and we decided to diversify our portfolio to
hedge and spread risk. We started researching a U.K. holiday let that
had the potential to achieve year round occupancy. After much due
diligence, and a weekend stay in the area, we purchased our first
holiday let property "SeaBreeze"
at Camber Sands, East Sussex in April 2008. With a buy-to-let property
you have pure investment potential. However, imagine having the added
benefits thrown into the equation of being able to buy your retirement
home now, at today's prices, and have it funded by someone else as well
as having your own holiday home at a very low personal cost and with
generous tax advantages too (if your property is furnished). A high
occupancy holiday let also produces significant net cash flow, makes
perfect sense in the current economic climate, and enjoys many
financial and other benefits that traditional buy-to-lets don't.
Here are our Top Ten reasons to invest in holiday lets this year:
1. Renaissance in the great British seaside holiday, led by
magazines like "Coast" and TV programmes like "A Place By The Sea" and
BBC's "Coast". There is a significant regeneration of traditional
seaside towns going on around the U.K. The seaside resort of Blackpool
is set to undergo a £220m transformation with new hotels, shops and
restaurants planned. Meanwhile the "Sea Change" government-backed
initiative led by CABE (the Commission for Architecture and the Built
Environment) aims to regenerate seafront resorts across the country
through a range of cultural, heritage and public space projects, with
the aim of boosting local tourism and contributing to wider economic
development. Dover and Torbay are two of the towns set to receive £4m
grants. The fire-ravaged Grand Pier pavilion in Weston-super-Mare is
set to be replaced with a futuristic £30 million development that will
open in Summer 2010.
2. The credit crunch is forcing families to holiday at home.
Research from the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has
revealed that twice as many Britons are planning to spend their
holidays in the UK this year compared with last as a result of the
economic downturn. The price-comparison website, travelsupermarket.com,
also reports a 50 per cent increase in inquiries about UK self-catering
holidays, and the property-finding agency, County Homesearch says that
rentals for holiday cottages have jumped by 30 per cent this January,
compared with 12 months ago.
3. The strength of the Euro and U.S. dollar, plus increased
costs of flights and airport taxes, makes a holiday abroad approx.
significantly more expensive. By the same token, it also makes a
holiday in the U.K. a very attractive proposition for tourists!
4. A new report by Halifax has revealed that Coastal areas are proving to be the most popular destinations
for internal migration across England and Wales. According to the Bank,
the attraction of living by the sea is proven by the fact that of the
20 local authorities (LAs) seeing the biggest increases in net internal
migration between 1997 and 2007, 80 per cent are coastal areas. This
suggests that whilst city living still proves popular, many only stay
for a limited number of years. Birmingham recorded both the highest
internal inflow (315,600) of people and the highest outflow of people
(403,600) between 1997 and 2007. The rise in people who are office
nomads, self-employed, free-lancers, consultants, web workers, just
knowledge workers in general, has led to changes in the ways people
work. The nature of their work means they can work from wherever they
want and coastal living has many lifestyle benefits. (N.B. We believe
that properties that offer space are going to be a big commodity in the
future, as many people will be working from home and will want a home
office. This again is why houses are always preferable to flats).
5. Pontins recently announced a £50m regeneration programme
for their holiday sites across the U.K. They will also be creating 2000
new jobs. With the credit crunch biting, it's compelling information to
know that Pontins believe in investing in U.K. holidays. With
investment comes growth, so up-graded Pontins sites will contribute to
the local micro economy and bring increased traffic to the area.
6. Coastal properties benefit from "coastal appreciation".
According to the Halifax, the average property price in 24 seaside
towns was at least 20% higher than the county average last year, and
these towns are expected to remain largely unaffected by the credit
crunch. The Halifax study also found that over the longer term there
were 18 coastal towns that saw increases in price of over 100% between
2002 and 2007.
This is because buyers of seaside properties in the UK tend to be older
and wealthier than others so do not need to borrow large amounts of
money to fund the purchase. The net inward migration and increasing
popularity of coastal towns will also support house price stability.
7. There are some attractive tax benefits to owning a U.K. holiday let.
With UK holiday lettings, you can realise a tax advantage if you make a
loss on your earnings from the property, and when you sell the property:
If you make a loss
Any loss can be offset against your other income, not just the property
income, reducing your overall tax bill. Or you can carry the loss
forward and offset it against future letting profits.
When you sell the property
You may be able to take advantage of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reliefs,
such as 'business asset roll-over relief'. For example, if you reinvest
within three years in another UK holiday letting property or certain
other assets costing the same as or more than you got for the property
you have sold, you may be able to defer payment of CGT until you
dispose of those new assets.
You may also pay less CGT when you sell a property you have used for UK
holiday letting, compared with other residential let property. This is
because a UK holiday letting property is treated as a business asset
for the purposes of 'taper relief', so the more favourable rates of
'business-asset taper relief' may apply to any capital gain you make on
the sale.
The amount by which the gain is reduced by taper relief will depend on
how long you have owned the property and how long you have used it for
qualifying holiday letting.
To understand the rules fully, and find out about other reliefs you may
qualify for, ask your professional adviser or Tax Office about CGT
reliefs on the sale of UK holiday lettings property.
8. In a recent survey, 52% of holiday makers said that the
number one priority for their choice of holiday was to be close to a
beach. If you have a coastal holiday let, close to a beach, you can be
assured of well above average occupancy in the coming years*. However,
also check for problems of flooding and coastal erosion before
purchasing a beach-side property.
9. There are lifestyle benefits to owning a holiday let.
These can be considerable, as the feeling of knowing you have a home
away from home to visit when you please is a very comforting emotion to
have. If you enjoy your home comforts even when on holiday, owning a
second home is a very positive lifestyle option and can increase your
enjoyment of regular holidays when you take them. You can take a break
when you like, and no need to plan! Not only that, but you can open
your second home up to family and friends if they need it and for many
it becomes a regular occasion to have large social gatherings there.
Even having a holiday home as a weekend getaway can be fun as you can
switch off completely from your working week and enjoy the relaxation
of knowing you're having fun and making some money through rental
cash-flow when the property is "working". Many people have cash in the
bank that is not earning them any interest. A holiday let property
purchase can give them a return on their money, an investment, and add
a new dimension to their lifestyle!
10. The advent of social media makes marketing to a global market easier than ever before.
We use Twitter, Facebook, ecademy, and related forums to create
visibility and awareness of our property in the market place - and it
works. High quality holiday lets benefit from repeat business and
referrals, so you only need to get a couple of seasons under your belt,
and then marketing engine will start to run itself!
We are pleased to report that our holiday let, SeaBreeze,
is almost fully booked for the month of April which is considered a
hard month to fill. We also have 6 weeks booked in the summer already!.
Please visit click here for an interesting discussion on holiday lets and how to get the most out of them.
Please visit the tax man for the details of the tax benefits of owning a holiday let. click here
Please have a look at Nick's video on achieving year round occupancy for holiday lets.
Successful implementation of "social media" is the interaction between people on the web using technology as a conduit.
One of the best tools at your disposal for this is video.
Video is an extremely powerful marketing tool to spread your message globally. It can be used in many different scenarios to:
Engage your customers (more than the written word) Connect with them at a deeper level Create interest in your products and services Make you stand out from the crowd Gain credibility in your field of expertise Personalise and give personality to your marketing messages Help build your personal brand on-line.
Some instances where we have used video very successfully ourselves:
Intro video to our ecademy profile Video “postcards” on particular subjects Video “breaking news” bursts
Embedded into email broadcasts/newletters Personal intro message on our website Video press release (which can be distributed via various platforms). Part of our social media campaigns
Very often, the same video can be used on a number of different platforms to increase visibility, awareness, and give more personal and engaging content to your marketing efforts, which in turn helps build your personal brand on-line.
People are choosing how they receive information, and the long sales letter with red writing, capitals, and highlighted text is becoming defunct. What can be more powerful than people actually being able to see you speaking? They connect with you on a much deeper level through observing your appearance, the way you speak, your body language, the value you give through your presentation and the way you present your opportunity. A video with a high production value can give you instant credibility and speaks volumes about you as a professional in your chosen field of expertise. You can share your passion easily and naturally through a video message.
However, a lot of people shy away from using video because they believe it is expensive, complicated, or they don’t understand how to produce a good quality video.
Introducing Video Burst: the cost-effective and easy way to create a quality video message for your business.
Being from a TV background, (Vanessa as a Producer/Director and Nick as a BBC trained cameraman), we recognised the importance of creating a quality video. Posting a “home movie” style video on YouTube simply doesn’t cut it in our book.
The idea was inspired from when we had the privilege of working with Madonna. A few years ago, Vanessa was asked to produce and direct a “Video Junket” for the launch of Madonna’s new children’s book. This involved Vanessa setting up and directing a camera to record interviews with Madonna by international journalists. Each journalist used the same camera set up and was allocated a half hour slot to interview Madonna. This was an efficient and cost-effective way for everyone to get time with Madonna and it also allowed Madonna’s management to ensure the quality of the pictures and sound that were being recorded. They were in essence managing her “TV brand” and great emphasis was placed on the lighting to ensure that Madonna looked her best.
This is the same format we will be adopting for our “Video Burst” recordings.
We invite you to book a slot to record your video message, whatever you choose that to be.
You will have ten minutes “media coaching” beforehand with Vanessa to help you present your video to the best possible standard. Vanessa was a TV Presenter for eight years on MTV, and also a media coach for such artists as Ricky Martin and Dido, and she will share her tips with you gleaned from that experience to help you present your video to the best of your ability.
You will then have camera time with Nick to record your video message. This will be filmed in HD and widescreen with professional quality lighting and audio.
Following the recording of your “Video Burst”, you will be emailed a file of your video and an embed code, to embed it into websites, blogs etc.
All you need to do is book your “Video Burst”, then your time slot, prepare your message, and then turn up on the day to record it.
Introductory offer:
The cost for a 5 minute Video Burst is ONLY £99.00 ex VAT.
You will end up with a video that is shot in HD widescreen using professional lighting and wireless sound.
You can book more than one slot if you want to record additional messages. For instance, you could record a series of video blogs to broadcast.
The benefits of using our “Video Burst” are:
You use our professional equipment. You get to record a broadcast quality video at an inexpensive price. You end up with a video that you can use again and again.
Our next "Video Burst" recording day is Friday 27th March at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, Click here for a MAP
Book your “Video Burst” now!
ONLY £99.00 ex VAT
On purchase you will receive an e-book on what to do next, and how to use your video effectively.
Any questions? Contact Nick on 07918 684602 or e-mail Nick at nicktadd@mac.comClick here to book or read more ...
With the incredible news that 15% of all internet traffic globally is now attributed to social media, we have decided to broaden the scope of our property networking event this Sunday (15th March) to cover this amazing phenomenon that did not even exist three years ago.
Barack Obama was one of the first high profile people to harness the power of social media, and it helped him into the White House! On that basis, what could it do for you and your (property) business?
Nick will be giving an informal presentation on why normal methods of marketing are quickly becoming defunct, and why social media is a key strategy in spreading your message. He will be talking about blogging, micro blogging, creating contacts and turning them into a network, farming data, and using web tools to do this. Nick will be explaining in simple terms how you can use social media to create on-line visibility, awareness, and trust and a long "tail" of content that in effect establishes your personal brand on-line. We are now in the age of Google and Google never forgets, so you have an opportunity to start now to harness the power of social media to your benefit.
If you are new to the idea of social media, Nick's talk will make the perfect introduction for you to start thinking how you might utilise it.
We also have Paul Henley of Acorn Property Surveyors as our special guest to answer any questions you may have about how valuers are valuing property in the current challenging marketing conditions. He will also be giving his views on the future of the U.K. property market.
Our networking event is very different to most other property networking events. We run it like a "melting pot", with everyone contributing opinions, asking questions, putting up a problem to be solved, or putting forward a discussion topic. Some of the issues we have covered in the past include current financing and mortgage products, trends in the U.K. market, how people are addressing change in their property business, multi-lets, holiday lets, HMO's and much more.
We have built the reputation of our event on a non-sales agenda and we endeavour to always give real and authentic value to make it worth your while giving up part of your Sunday!
This is genuine 100% networking and people have time to network properly, as well as contributing to the forum format.
So you have nothing to lose and quite a bit to gain, especially as it is free to attend.
Date: Sunday 15th March 2009 Venue: Holiday Inn, Egerton Road, Guildford Time: 10.30 to 14.30. Please arrive any time after 10.00 a.m. for registration and early bird networking.
We went to an ecademy event in London last Thursday, and got massive value from it, so thought I would write a brief report*.
*Please note, I have no affiliate links or commission payments for new members to ecademy - its free to join anyway. I am just sharing in the spirit of reciprocity.
There were approx. 200 business owners there. The mood was very bouyant and positive with everyone I spoke to. The general opinion was that "this is what we have been waiting for" in terms of opportunity. WIth looming mass unemployment and the demise of those with a "serf" mentality (seeking a pay cheque at the end of each month), now is the time for small businesses and entrepreneurs to flourish.
Ecademy founder, Penny Power, gave a very inspiring speech about how business is changing, and moving on-line. She talked about how businesses and individuals will be judged in future on their "contribution currency" - in other words, how much value they add to other people's businesses, and their track record of doing so. The internet is making everything far more transparent.
On one hand, black hat tactics, scams, deceit and misdirection are far easier than ever to imagine and to scale. There are certainly people quietly banking millions as they lie and cheat their way forwards.
On the other hand, there's far bigger growth associated with transparency. When your Facebook profile shows years of real connections and outreach and help for your friends, it's a lot more likely you'll get that great job.
When your customer service policies delight rather than enrage, word of mouth more than pays your costs. When past investors blog about how successful and ethical you were, it's a lot easier to attract new investors.
The Net enlarges the public sphere and shrinks the private one. And black hats require the private sphere to exist and thrive. More light = more success for the ethical players.
In a competitive world, then, one with increasing light, the way to win is not to shave more corners or hide more behavior, because you're going against the grain, fighting the tide of increasing light. In fact, the opposite is true. Individuals and organizations that can compete on generosity and fairness repeatedly defeat those that only do it grudgingly.
Business networking can help increase your on-line profile and visibility, and therefore create trust.
It costs you nothing more than your time.
People can write testimonials for your services and you can start to build up an on-line profile of being an ethical trader. I believe that this is something that will become increasingly important in the years to come, so it is something you might like to consider, if you are not already doing it.
'The main speaker was Nigel Risner who gave an inspiring talk about setting goals and sticking to them. I really enjoyed his presentation - no "ra ra" - just really strong and challenging ideas of how to challenge yourself and your business on a daily basis. One of the most powerful things I got from this is something that we have been doing since the beginning of our portfolio but never (until now) put it into words. And that’s understanding the importance of routine. I have rattled on in the past about how important management is over acquisition but this gave it a more permanent title ... Routine.
Buying property takes but a few weeks. However, pre and post acquisition is the routine that can last for 25 years!. But routine is dull and to keep it from being tedious is where you can bank "contribution currency". I thoroughly enjoy contributing to "the pot" and in return I get to learn more and make solid and deeper business clients and relationships.
In conclusion, I found this meeting gave me a real kick start to 2009 and I met several positive and dynamic people who will contribute to my knowledge and success.
I was sent this by a friend of mine Barbara Gwyer, she knows I'm a Mac man and an advocate of Steve Jobs. It's a short video of Steve giving a presentation to Stanford University, he speaks about 3 points of which there is a lot of power.
Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs,
chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar
Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams.
Between the Romans and the Renaissance the world of "information" belonged to the Church, Feudal system, or the Monarchy.
Then came the Renaissance which included the most important invention until the turn of the 20th century... the printing press.
The only problem is that most people could not read!
But they learned how to and now we would be lost without books.
Then came Radio followed by TV and now we have the Internet. The thing is that most people now, much like the people who could not read, have got to learn to use the internet in the way that it is evolving, i.e giving to it.
We are the internet, without us putting the information there all we have is a bunch of wires and some hardware.
There was a study done by Nokia:- What items do you have on your person at any one time?
The answer was quite predictable, Keys, Money and phone. It's the latter that is the most poignant.
Within 20 years of the mobile phone being part of culture we all can't do without them and yet the internet is only 10 ish years old. I think it is safe to say that within the next 10 years the internet will be part of our daily routine, by default.
Due to web 2.0 the internet is growing in capacity at a vast rate. Every half a second there is the entire Library of Congress being fired around "the cloud" and it is doubling in power every 2 years, by 2040 it will have the same processing power as the human brain!
We, as a global nation, have the power and the means to add to that... and thats web 2.0.
It's been a busy couple of weeks in the fast moving world of property,
that's for sure. With the Bank of England base rate and LIBOR rate
coming down, this is a positive sign that things are improving within
the financial markets, and that liquidity - which oils the wheels of
this particular market - is returning. It gives a strong indication of
which way rates are moving. There's still a long way to go though and
still a great deal of uncertainty. When it comes to Property 2.0, only
those who adapt their strategies to reflect this brave new world will
survive.
Bank of England Base Rate 3%
LIBOR rate 4.37% (as at 12/11/08)
Despite all this, we're still feeling very up-beat about property as an
investment, and our property business. We've been very busy putting the
finishing touches to our new website, 4 Walls TV. We've designed the
website to be completely compatible with Web 2.0 and to embrace new
technologies and processes. We've really had our minds blown by the
possibilities!
On that note, we've received a lot of emails from people asking us
exactly what Web 2.0 is, as it is a relatively new way of thinking on
how to interact with the web, both in terms of business and social
enterprises. Therefore, in this video broadcast, Nick explains why you
NEED to know about Web 2.0 and how the power of it can enhance your
(property) business.
If you have found this thought-provoking, please be under no illusion -
we have only scratched the surface in this video broadcast. There is so
much more you need to know to fully understand the benefits,
possibilities, and potential of Web 2.0.
The next 4wallsandaceiling.com property investment networking event will be taking place on Sunday 23rd November at the Holiday Inn, Egerton Road, Guildford from 10.30 to 14.00.
The theme of the event will be "Harnessing the Power of Web 2.0 to enhance your property business".
At a recent event, we did a presentation on this subject. One of our delegates, Nina Griffiths wrote afterwards:
"I feel like I have had my head buried in the sand, to pull it out and find someone shining a 2000 volt light in my eyes".
That is how people react when they understand the power of Web 2.0.
If you want to be a player in business in the years to come, we believe
that you need to start now, building on-line visibility, awareness, and
trust. Web 2.0 is all about transparency, trust, and reciprocity. That
is why it is vital to establish your brand, your reputation, and your
core values on-line NOW . You can do this by adding value, becoming an
"expert", offering professional opinion, and by being recommended by
others within your business and social communities! You can also align
yourself with like-minded people and businesses who share your values,
business philosophies and ethics.
An added benefit and by-product is that content generated by users of
social media now ranks highly in search engines, because it is
RELEVANT, because it has VALUE, because it is TIMELY, because it is
REAL.
For marketeers - SEO is dead! We'll be elaborating on that in a future broadcast.
Web 2.0 is like dropping a pebble in a pond. Business may not occur at
the point of entry, but as your "input" ripples outwards into
cyberspace. It takes a dramatic shift in thinking to fully understand
this. People like you, they want to get to know you, they "follow" you.
Maybe what we say resonates with you? There is no substitute for
off-line interaction, so come and chat to us and other property
investors at our next networking event.
We will be discussing Web 2.0 at our event on Sunday 23rd November, along with general property networking.
These programmes represent excellent value for money to give you access to very affordable networking and other benefits that will enhance your visibility in our network. They are designed to help you grow your business and brand on-line in a supportive, open, and collaborative community which has been built over the past five years on trust and ethical practices. 
