Browsing the blog archives for August, 2006

The Importance of Great Pictures II

News, Real-Estate

We recently produced a video for Artem August of Re/Max Crest Westside.  This is Artems first listing with us and we would like to wish him great success. 

We spoke briefly with his Artem’s seller during the video shoot.   His seller stated that when browsing for real estate on the Internet, he would pass over the listings that didn’t have good photos.  I believe that the minimum requirement for any real estate listing would be good-quality editted photos.  There is an expectation that there will be, at the very least, something for potential buyers to look at.  Take full advantage of this opportunity to captivate your audience with high-quality content.

Here is Artem’s video for 2305 – 1228 Marinaside Crescent

The Importance of Great Pictures

News, Real-Estate

I spent the past holiday Monday shooting a video for Paul Isaacs (www.westvancouverrealestate.ca) on Bowen Island.  The property was spectacular!  It had 3 open floors, was beautifully decorated and had the best view of the water and mountains I have ever seen.  This would be an ideal vacation property for anyone from West Van, just 20 minutes by ferry.

I spoke at length with the owner of the property and found out she is an artist and photographer as well.  I asked her how she chose Paul.  She told me that she found his website while searching online for a realtor in West Vancouver and choose Paul for her listing because he had the best pictures!  She realized that properties on Bowen greatly benefit from exposure on the Internet and wanted to find someone who could best represent her property.  We have provided Paul’s pictures for 3 of his more recent listings.  The quality of the content is a direct reflection upon the agent and will affect one’s ability to attract new listings.

 Here is the link to 1273 Miller Road on Bowen Island:

View vOpenhouse Video

Realtor.com and MLS.ca, They’re Great and could be better!

Real-Estate

I am going to try to keep this post as un-technical as possible.  But hey, when your start talking about Google and PageRank I think most people start to tune out.

First off I have more experience with http://www.mls.ca/ so I will be using this as an example, but a brief glance at realtor.com suggests that they likely suffer from the same problem.

So here it goes, from what I have been noticing MLS.ca generally forces all links off of their listings pages to be masked through a redirector page.  For an example, I have chosen a listing by Susan Man that we worked with her on.  In her MLS listing, the links to her own site plus the links to all external websites have been changed to look like

http://www.mls.ca/redirect.aspx?r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.prompton.com&t=org

I believe that the reason for this is so that MLS.ca can keep statistics about what people click on, the problem is that they force Google and other search engines to view pages the same way, which goes against Google’s Website Design Guidelines. MLS.ca should allow Google and other search engines to view all links transparently.  It would help the online presence of the real-estate community as a whole.  It would also allow MLS.ca to easily remove some of the extra hits Google makes from MLS’s already slow servers.  I wouldn’t go so far as to say that doing this would speed up MLS.ca, but it would be a step in the right direction. 

P.S. My assumption that this is not already being done comes from the fact that I was searching through MLS.ca listings pages using googles stored cache, try typing “cache:” and then a website address into google to see what I mean.


I would like to add something more, I am not talking about MLS.ca giving its listing data away to third parties.  I understand the reasoning behind not doing that.   I am only talking about them having a system that allows Google Page Rank to be calculated effectivly for the sites linked to from MLS.ca, this would increase the pagerank of all the realtors on MLS  

Enhancing Your DVD

Helpful Tips

This is more or less a continuation of Marketing with DVD’s, a previous blog from a few days ago.  Essentially, everyone has the option of including additional content on their DVD’s.  For example, we are currently adding an ABOUT US section to future DVD’s for one of our clients.  We create a small movie and/or menu screens that reveal more information about yourself or your company.  What else can be added to a DVD?  The type of content that can be included is endless.  Here are some examples:

-a compilation of video tours
-biography
-DVD slide show
-about us
-additional video content such as an Agent Introduction

Listing Tips and Suggestions

Helpful Tips

To any of our clients that read this blog, I have a few tips. 

  • Whenever you are preparing listing descriptions that are going ot be viewable online write VIDEO TOUR, VIEW MY VIDEO directly in the description.  The more people you can help direct to your video the more people will see your brand.  This will help people to remember your name and the property they viewed.  This also helps drive traffic to your website.
     
  • Video is on the leading edge when it comes to Internet technology.  Multimedia tour or virtual tour may mean a javascript image gallery or a panoramic tour, a far inferior method of showcasing a property.  I have heard so many complaints about 3D tours and distortion.  Some people won’t click on a VIRTUAL TOUR link because they dislike the 360 degree tours.   Streaming video is, by far, the best way to showcase your listings.  I like to describe it as a music video for your home.  Make certain, that you are telling potential buyers that you are using the best technology, the most captivating technology in use today, the OPENHOUSE VIDEO TOUR!!!
  • There is such a curiosity factor about streaming video on the Interenet, that it is extremely beneficial to anyone using our services to include the link in all your promotional material including print ads!  We called our company Video Openhouse because essentially, we are providing an open house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The likelyhood of someone reading your print ad and actually visiting your website has increased substantially by including a link to your video.  Now is the time to capitalize on the curiosity factor that is associated with video on the Internet!

Home Owner Driven

News

It has finally happened.  Our videos are getting seen enough that the home owners are asking the agents to provide their listing with a tour.  We shot a condo on Alberni Street and the owner had put an offer on Troy Mitchell’s house in Dunbar.  The owner saw the video we produced, thought the video was a great sales tool and made sure that we gave his condo the same treatment.  The condo is quite amazing, overlooking Coal Harbour.  Please check out the video.  It’s for our newest client, Stephen Burke of Sutton Group West Coast Realty.

Marketing With DVD’s

Helpful Tips

I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked, “What am I supposed to do with this?”  The DVD is a mystery to most of our clients.  Some have immediately found an application.  Doug Williams for instance, asked us to have the DVD prepared prior to his open house.  He played the DVD during the open house for the guests.  We actually had 3 of our clients mention that they saw our video for Doug being played at the agents open. 

How do I suggest that they be used:

1)  Obviously at the Open House ->  Great music, entertainment value, setting the mood.  It can set a realtor apart from all the others.  A great idea would be to give copies away to interested parties.  Potential buyers can play the video in the convenience of their own home.

2)  Keepsakes – Give them to the seller.  A DVD of the home that they used to live in.  The homeowner will keep the DVD forever.  It will sit with their other DVD’s proudly displaying your contact information and branding.  Forget the branded pens, refrigerator magnets and message pads,  if you want something that they will keep around with your name on it try our Video Openhouse DVD’s!

3)  Listing Presentations – As part of your presentation to a potential customer, play the DVD for them.  Make a powerful statement and tell them that you use video as part of your plan to market their home. 

 

We encourage all our clients to freely copy and distribute their DVD’s as they see fit.  If you would like instructions on how to copy your DVD, we would be glad to help.

Here is Doug William’s video for his Coach House in Shaugnessey.