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Certainly no other industry has embraced the Internet and the World Wide Web more quickly and with more significance than the real estate community.

Just one visit to IRED (the International Real Estate Directory), the pre-eminent real estate directory of broker and real estate related listings, provides enough content to make even the heartiest web surfer hyperventilate.

But eventhough real estate people are found throughout the 'net, there are now so many sites that the worthwhile ones often become lost. And because of the overall real estate presence, it is now virtually impossible to set yourself or your web effort apart from the others.

So what happened to create this logjam and how can this web obscurity for brokers be overcome?

Well, the answer to the first question is debatable, but nonetheless interesting. In my view, the real estate community, most notably through the NAR (National Association of Realtors), jumped directly into the technology of the web before realistically assessing the ability and willingness of their constituency to utilize it effectively. In other words, they committed an entire industry to operate their individual businesses (the agents and brokers) in a completely new manner and with a technology which continues to overwhelm the majority of agents.

Why did the NAR sell out its long-time relationships and old-time roots to embrace a technological approach which has proven a failure* to this point? They felt squeezed. They realized that their local real estate board and multiple listing monopolies of the past were dying quickly. Local brokers across the U.S. were overcoming their dependence on the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and demanding more from local boards and the NAR in exchange for their dues. And about this time came the arrival of the Internet and its graphical component, the World Wide Web. So instantly, competition was introduced to the equation, as the NAR faced an independent and uncontrollable medium for promoting real estate brokers and their listings.

Were the changes good? Yes and No. The end of the MLS monopolies certainly returned marketing decisions back to the brokers and the communities which were most affected. And interestingly enough, many of those brokers have chosen the route originally mapped outby the NAR. Using the RIN (Realtors Information Network) and other WWW sites to market properties and gain exposure.

But, the flipside is that many brokers were left to wander between the old ways and the new school. And unfortunately, most of them are still wandering. They wander between direct mail, open houses, web sites, farming, seminars, workshops, and virtually anything else in which they can envision a ray of hope.

And it is this wandering syndrome which causes obscurity for most brokers. They don't know where to go for the roadmap to success.

Many are convinced that the roadmap includes the Internet and WWW, and I believe they are right. But this leads us directly to our other question, how do I make myself and my products and services known and accepted on the Web? Well, part of the solution involves creating criteria which haven't existed until now. It hasn't existed previously because the technology is still too new and the scope of real estate sites on the Internet haven't been so overwhelming until now.

But, if you have an existing web site or contemplating one, answer these questions so you may increase your site's viability and chances for being successful:

* Based upon the admissions by NAR that they had spent over $12 Million on their RIN (Realtor Information Network) effort and were forced to realign the entire program through a new Joint Venture at www.realtor.com.