mIn and NextMark Merger Yields More Robust Mailing List Industry Solution Provider
Marketing Information Network (mIn), a data card content and list research solutions provider, and NextMark Inc., a direct marketing tools and resources provider have merged to create a more powerful company in the marketplace.
The companies' existing businesses will be consolidated under a new business unit and retain the Marketing Information Network name. The newly created unit will manage front office operations (sales, service and support) for the products and services the companies provide the mailing list industry. They currently serve more than 400 clients.
By combining their resources, mIn and NextMark have created a valuable integrated solution that brings the best they offer individually together for the benefit of customers. Creating a complete solution for customers in today's marketplace is required. They want and need service providers that can help them accomplish all of their goals.
Sometimes companies have the capabilities and resources to become one-stop shops; sometimes they don't. Both mIn and NextMark recognized that the companies could be much stronger and more relevant in their market if they pooled their resources to provide improved products and services for their customers. The new company is certainly poised for future growth.
OCLC, Google Form Partnership
OCLC, a non-profit library service and research firm that provides services such as computer-based cataloging and library management, has partnered with Google to exchange data that will facilitate the discovery of library collections through Google search services.
OCLC member libraries that participate in the Google Book Search program (which makes the full text of more than one million books searchable) can share their WorldCat-derived MARC records with Google to help users more easily find library collections through Google. (OCLC's WorldCat is a network of library content and services).
Google will link from Google Book Search to WorldCat.org, which will drive traffic to library OPACs (online public access catalogs) and other library services. Google and OCLC will share data and links to digitized books. WorldCat metadata will be available to Google directly from OCLC or directly through member libraries that participate in the Google Book Search program.
It's so important that, with the wealth of information available online, library content doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Google and OCLC are making sure that doesn't happen. This alliance will make that valuable content even easier to find, and generate more interest in libraries both online and off.
OCLC is well-known for its support of the library system, so forming this partnership with Google only further demonstrates that commitment. The press release announcing this partnership notes that OCLC has already formed alliances with other entities to increase the prominence of libraries on the Web. It also notes that additional, similar alliances are yet to come. It would be more surprising if other partnerships weren't on the horizon for OCLC.
Custom Content/New Realtor Reality
A small news item in the papers this week was a real eye-opener: the Chicago Tribune has partnered with TiVo which will automatically record all the program recommendations of the Chicago Tribune's well-known television critic and make them immediately available to TiVo subscribers who participate in the service.
Think about the implications of this. We've been big boosters of what we call 3R systems (ratings, ranking and recommendations) for a long time. But here's another layer of value being added to a 3R system, in this case, television reviews. One of the main benefits of 3R systems is that they save users valuable time by filtering, synthesizing and suggesting courses of action. In this case, here's an application where users don't even have to review the reviews: they are immediately translated into a tangible result for the user. More time savings, more efficiency.
Spend a few quiet minutes pondering if there are value-added 3R opportunities in the markets you serve. I bet there are more than a few, and there is nothing inherently B2C about this concept.
Another news item worthy of note is that the U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with the National Association of Realtors (NAR). As part of the agreement, NAR has agreed to discontinue a number of anti-competitive practices designed to discourage the growth of online real estate brokerage services. Key among these practices was restricting online brokers from accessing all the listings in the local Multiple Listing Service databases controlled by the NAR.This is a game-changer for sites such as Zillow and Trulia, where the Champagne must still be flowing. Until now, these sites have had to employ all sorts of contorted techniques to get access to home listings. And when it comes to online real estate listings, success is all about having everything in one place. This settlement is probably not generating equal enthusiasm at Move, Inc., which has long operated the realtor.com site along with the NAR, and has, quite coincidentally I am sure, never faced any difficulty getting access to local Multiple Listing Service databases. Expect frenzied activity in the residential real estate data market as a result of this settlement.
Labels: chicago tribune, move inc., tivo, trulia, zillow
National Association of Realtors Launches New Site
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) this month launched a new web site focused on commercial real estate. The site contains a commercial property listing database that offers access to commercial property listings from all 50 states. It can be found at www.commercialsource.com, which was once the site for the Realtors Commercial Alliance's online convention.
The site, which is geared toward investors and consumers, contains the listing database, an online convention and trade show, industry news and events, research and articles. Basic listings can be uploaded by commercial information exchanges, multiple listing services and practitioners free of charge.
eProperty Data, a commercial information exchange services and solutions provider, will provide technical support for the new site. NAR recently acquired eProperty Data.
According to a news release announcing the launch, state and local real estate associations are interested in uploading their commercial listings onto the site.
The new site is apparently already gaining traction in the marketplace, but it will certainly take a while for this to become a prominent source in the industry. When the announcement of the launch was made, there was only one property listed for the entire state of Pennsylvania. At this point, the main competitors in this space, LoopNet and CoStar, don't have much to worry about. But of course, with the strong NAR name, that could certainly change over time.
CoStar Launches Listing Showcase
CoStar Group, a commercial real estate information/marketing solutions provider this month announced the launched CoStar Showcase, an online property marketing service. The new service will serve as a platform for commercial real estate professionals to showcase their available properties to a broad online audience.
CoStar.com boasts traffic of more than 1.3 million unique visitors each quarter; traffic which will potentially view the listings featured on CoStar Showcase. CoStar expects additional traffic to be driven by the major search engines.
Visitors to the CoStar Showcase don't have to register, and can search the for-lease and for-sale commercial property listings for free. Listings can be searched by location, available space, and rental rate or sale price range.
CoStar is only allowing listings from commercial real estate professionals to appear on the Showcase to ensure their quality and accuracy. Listings will include the listing broker's telephone number and email address.
Listing information is taken from CoStar's commercial property database, which the company expects will also help maintain the accuracy of the listings. This also makes posting listings an easy task, since text doesn't need to be keyed in and images have already been uploaded.
According to CoStar, the company has already signed more than $1 million in presale subscriptions for the Showcase, which includes subscriptions with more than 100 commercial brokerage firms in the U.S.
The launch of CoStar Showcase will undoubtedly increase CoStar's presence in the commercial real estate market and effectively convert the company into a one-stop shop for its already established customer base.
Because CoStar already has a vibrant database in this space, such a move really makes sense. Essentially, it's just another way to package the data. But such packaging can really benefit CoStar customers through a larger venue to reach potential real estate customers and generate more leads. So with not much legwork, CoStar is poised to help its customers solve their biggest problems.
In today's tight real estate market, real estate brokers really do need all the help they can get in marketing their properties. So the promise of reaching CoStar's 1.3 million quarterly site visitors will certainly appeal to many. The time could be just right for such a launch.