Tara Jones- Atlanta, GA

So hands down, the number one reason to use video online is to increase your SEO results. But what about using video outside of the web? Take your imagination to this place if you haven't already. I'm talking about engaging your client personally with video.

Here's how:

1.) The Out of Town Client- What a personal touch to grab a camera and take a walk through a home for a buyer that may be out of town. This is an excellent way to not only show the client you care about their search but also that you are tech savvy and up to par with today's technological standards. It's one way to go above and beyond as an agent.

2.) The Inspection- We all know that inspections can be time consuming but are monumentally important. What if a client can't be on site for the whole inspection or even part of the inspection? Or what if one member of the party can't be on site? Offering to video the property inspection is another way to show you are a hands-on, top notch agent.

3.) The Preparation- We all know every seller out there doesn't know the best way to market their homes for sale. So why not arm them with videos to show them what you would love to tell them? OK, so one of these is going to be self-serving but it's a product I believe in whole-heartedly. The Seller's Video Connector is an inexpensive, 10-video DVD that you can present to the seller to get their home ready for the market. Video, used in this way, will set you apart from the competition and will ultimately make your job easier by selling your listings.

Topics like cleanliness, curb appeal and staging are addressed in an entertaining and easy to understand format. This information will set you apart from your competition and provides you with a great leave behind listing tool. A tool that your client will find invaluable to create the perfect environment to sell their home quickly.

Get more listings, sell more listings, make more money!

Make the Connection Today with

The Seller’s Video Connector.

TheVideoConnector.Com

The Importance of Real Estate Video- Part 2

-Implementation-

So now that you have the stats on why video is important and how it will help your business, now let’s talk practical implementation.

Video does not and should not be expensive. The whole point is to fertilize your site with video to help in the SEO results, provide content for consumers and show that you are up on the changing technological times, therefore, giving the perception of being tech savvy...something consumers are actively searching for in their real estate agents.

Coldwell Banker recently did it on the national level with Coldwell Banker On Location by hiring out several productions companies as well as asking agents to provide content themselves. Their work earned them a Inman Innovator nomination as well as recent accolades from Greg Jarboe, author of “You Tube and Video Marketing”.

The point is, when you implement video, you get noticed.

Doing it Yourself:

Video can easily be done yourself cost effectively and with an air of professionalism. Last year, we did an eight part video tutorial on how to shoot, edit, upload and distribute your video exclusively for Active Rain members. It is still posted in my blog archives and contains great information on producing top-notch real estate video yourself.

You can also have professionals, like ourselves and other throughout the country, come in and teach agents how to use video. This class is normally a nominal charge per agent and provides golden information on shooting, editing and uploading video.

Hiring a Professional:

Due to the demand of real estate video, hundreds of businesses have popped up specializing in this area. Some are better than others and we’ll let each agent come to their own conclusion. But what you should know is that the cost should not rake you over the coals.

On the surface, video appears to be an expensive marketing tool. But the ‘legs’ it provides reaches far beyond any other form of medium making it the most cost effective tool you can own. Print marketing has it’s place but it can only be used in that way. Video can transformed to be on your website, on other company’s websites, in an e-mail, in a blog, on Facebook, in links on Twitter and LinkedIn, in a marketing report, on television, etc. So look at the benefit compared to the cost and I think you will realize video is the best option out there when speaking of marketing, especially on the web.

Different forms of video content:

There are a number of things you can add on your site. The most common:

A video home tour

But think outside the box with a community profile, agent/broker profile, marketing report, consumer tips, video business cards, etc. Maybe show consumers what you do on a typical Saturday or work day. Take them inside your world so they get a better understanding of who you are and why you are the best choice for their business.

Remember, video does much more than improve your SEO results. It shows the consumer you are an agent who is current in the marketing of today. And that consumer perception is invaluable to your business.

The Importance of Real Estate Video My Series: Part I

So what a surprise? The owner of a video production company specializing in real estate video is going to tell me why it's important to have video on my site. Before you go there, read on.

There’s more to video than just production. The more people using video in the real estate world, the better. Why? It elevates the industry as a whole and here’s how:

The more video on real estate sites, the more powerful the SEO results

The more powerful the SEO results, the more people viewing the sites

The more people viewing the sites, the more chances for you to gain a customer

The more chances for you to gain a customer, the more chances you have to make transactions

Transactions = money

Money = a stimulated economy and a stimulated industry

So before you look at the beginning and end and say, “Did she really just say real estate videos will help stimulate the economy???” Look at the facts:

Vital Video Stats:

• Websites with video sustained a visitor more than twice as long than those without
• Websites with video top the Google search results
• People watch 100 million videos per day on YouTube
• Web users are now downloading 8 Billion videos per month!
• Nearly 74% of online users watch videos
• More than 67% of online users watch video advertisements
• 65,000 videos are uploaded daily to YouTube
• Over 70% of the US population now has high-speed Internet making online videos mainstream
• There are over 108 million online video users today

*By 2010, that figure is expected to climb to 157 million users

*By 2012, 190 million...that’s 88% of the entire online audience

• 68% of Internet users have downloaded video in the last month

Now, let’s bring it home with a real world example:

• Online retail website grew by 4% last year. But the number of visitors to retail websites who watched videos on that site grew by 40%. Nearly half of those retailers said they plan on increasing their online video for the following year.

What it means to the average small business owners:

• Online video ads are now exceeding television ads dollar per dollar. In 2009 video ads attracted $0.17 per hour viewed, compared to $0.13 for TV. showing that business owners see more value in placing video online than on TV.
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