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The principles of real estate investment are as ancient as the idea of private land ownership. Old-timer savvy investors used to joke that the beauty of buying land was that god wasn’t planning to make more of it. Therefore, its value could only go up. However, real estate on the internet, or the space occupied by businesses or private citizens in the worldwide web, is seemingly infinite. Anyone can acquire ‘digital estate’ and own a new dot-com or a personal website. Citizens can practically create land at will, and its value is completely unbound from the classic notion of prime location, which remains tied to physical geography. Since digital estate (for lack of a better noun) is virtual, investors interested in identifying and acquiring prime assets that are likely to increase their value in the near future have had to write a new rulebook.
Shrewd investors are incorporating successful online ventures into their overall business structures, and says one such patron, Ouissam Youssef, co-founder of Valnet Inc., “We see the web as a galaxy of virtual properties.” Finding web properties which offer both increasing and enduring value is no mean feat, but with sufficient understanding of the principles and knowledge of the market, it’s possible to triumph.
Though many of today’s venture capitalists aim to buy low and quickly sell high for maximum profits with little to no business involvement, Youssef advocates more close and long-standing arrangements. “We chose to build our market share and digital estate by investing in companies that have a proven track record in a hot niche, and that share our values.” Digital estates acquired under these principles are naturally provided with greater care to maximize potential now and in the future, and just as ‘brick and mortar’ real estate gains worth through the expertise of developers, so too does digital estate benefit from the expertise of industry specialists.
Success stories abound though with the industry as a whole linked to some of the original dot-com ventures of the early internet years, practical investors may be wary of jumping the gun. A few substantial motivations, however, should be considered.
Digital estate offers the merit of low overheads, and with the success of cloud services running these platforms requires less technical know-how leaving proprietors free to invest creativity and business expertise for greater success.
Growing a good business is often easier than building one from the ground up, and smart investors purchase promising digital estate with an eye to expand and develop performance. Many web businesses already have strong teams and effective strategies in place that need little more than active support and constructive expertise to mature.
The internet is a limitless realm, and happily, you can’t make the mistake of buying in the wrong area. Web business ventures stand and fall by the effort and initiative afforded them and careful investment in refurbishment, marketing, research, and development will always result in the elevation of the digital estate.
Embracing the niche market of entertainment and lifestyle, Valnet has shown success in online publishing with content-driven properties generating over a billion monthly pageviews. Recognizing the fragmentation of media and the evolution of communication has allowed a shift away from mainstream media to the lithe and fluid web where each of us is free to choose only the content which appeals to our personal tastes. Organizations serving such tastes offer a virtual city filled with the most beautiful and profitable buildings, each with their own unique charm. Comments Youssef, “An impossibility in real estate investment, but therein lies the exciting edge of digital estate.”
Online real estate is easy to come by, but owning a successful web property requires a lot more effort and know-how than one might imagine. Of course, if you choose and manage your property well, just as in the ‘real’ world your digital estate provides numerous avenues for income and successful business development.
By Jennifer Klostermann
