Video Openhouse Tours – Now Even More Affordable

9 Jan, 2007
News, Site Updates

Have you looked at the price list on our website?  You may have noticed that we have made our Video Openhouse Tours even more affordable than before.  The starting price of our videos is only $159!  Imagine having your real estate video tours for all your properties – the mansion in Point Grey, the townhome in Burnaby, the bachelor apartment downtown.  Our video tours are even more accessible. 

Are you a realtor and interested in trying out our services for the first time?  For just $129, you will receive the full suite of our services:

  • Streaming Video Openhouse Tour
  • Web-Otimized Photos for your website and the mls
  • High-Resolution Photo Gallery
  • The Companion Video Openhouse Tour DVD

Call us today to book your first tour, at (604) 732-7070.  We are looking forward to producing your first video!

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/93/video-openhouse-tours-now-even-more-affordable/

Google Tools For Real Estate Professionals

Comments Off on Google Tools For Real Estate Professionals
8 Jan, 2007
Helpful Tips, Real-Estate, Technology

I had a friend forward some interesting information about Google’s new Tools For Real Estate Professionals webpage.  It seems that Google has increased interest in the real estate industry.  And they have some very impressive statistics support their cause.  They claim that “over 56% of all Internet searches on ‘real estate’ and related terms are conducted on Google … and the majority of those searchers are actively looking for listings or referrals to brokers and agents.” 

By providing a suite of useful tools for professionals in the real estate industry, is Google attempting to bolster their listing service, Google Base?  That would seem to be the case.  Recently, Google Base upgraded their interface and created tools to easily publish real estate listings.  Posting a listing on Google Base also ensures that the property will be indexed by their search engine.  Google’s listing service is a great tool, but it is a distant second in comparison to the free listings leader, craigslist.

Most of you will already be familiar with the tools:

Google AdWords – Cost-per-click keyword advertising for effective local lead generation

Google Maps – High performance mapping experience

Google Earth – Harnesses the power of 3D satellite imagery

Local Business Center – Submit business listings easily

SketchUp – A powerful tool for creating, presenting, and modifying 3D models

The Tools for Real Estate Professionals webpage failed to mention their other free products such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Online Spreadsheets and Picassa (photo organization).  By providing easy to use tools, Google will be able to attract more real estate listings, and ultimately create a better search experience for anyone looking for real estate.  But can they catch craigslist?

 

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/92/google-tools-for-real-estate-professionals/

Improved Video Openhouse Tours – Larger Video Size

Comments Off on Improved Video Openhouse Tours – Larger Video Size
7 Jan, 2007
Flash Video, Site Updates

Have you seen our new larger size video tours?  The larger size was being tested in December and is officially ready for the New Year.  All our new clients will receive the new size format and we will be phasing in the larger size for our existing customers over the next few weeks.

Here are some examples:

Robin Cameron, 3430 Anne MacDonald Way – video

Jane Heathcote, 2806 West 14th Avenue – video

Ken Leong, 1636 Stephens Street – video

Elizabeth McQueen – 115 – 1228 Marinaside Crescent – video

Jacquie Darmanin, 5 – 15168 36th Avenue – video

We are committed to continually improving our products and providing prompt, professional service.   If you have any suggestions how we can make our products and services better, we would be interested in hearing from you.

 

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/91/improved-video-openhouse-tours-larger-video-size/

Most Viewed Real Estate Videos – 2006

6 Jan, 2007
News

Here are the Top 5 Video Openhouse tours by number of views in 2006:

  1. 4716 Belmont Avenue – Andrew Hasman and Stephanie Corcoran 
    …
    4716 Belmont Avenue
    …
    video – gallery
    …
  2. 2054 West 15th Avenue – Doug Williams 
    …
    2054 West 15th Avenue
    …
    video – gallery
    …
  3. 201 – 1176 West 6th Avenue – Val Orchison
    …
    201 - 1176 West 6th Avenue
    …
    video – gallery
    …
  4. 12 Tamath Crescent – Andrew Hasman
    …
    12 Tamath Crescent
    …
    video – gallery
    …
  5. Bowser Beach House – Andrew Hasman
    …
    Bowser Beach House
    …
    video – gallery
    …

All of the videos listed above received well over 1000 unique views.  In all cases, the accompanying webpages for each video has been customized and branded to prominently display the realtors personal information, including name, phone number, email address, website and picture.  Our real estate videos promote listings AND agents.  Imagine your contact information and picture proudly displayed to over 1000+ unique viewers for the 2 minute duration of your video.  Still spending your advertising budget on newspaper ads?  Get a better return for your dollar by promoting yourself with Video Openhouse Tours!

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http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/90/most-viewed-real-estate-videos-2006/

TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year: Our Clients

5 Jan, 2007
News

Did you hear the news?  I am Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.  And so are all our clients.  Essentially, we are part of the Web 2.0 revolution where the Internet allows us to collaborate and create communities.  If you blogged, added video to YouTube, contributed an article to Wikipedia or updated your website, then you have participated, perhaps unknowingly, in this incredible social experiment.  This new digital democracy has allowed small contributions from millions of people to become a powerrful force, breaking from the historical model where a few powerful people make the decisions that shape our collective destiny.  We are all directors, producers, composers, writers, artists and entrepeneurs and the Internet has given us the freedom, the vehicle to distribute our skills and knowledge. 

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/89/time-magazines-person-of-the-year-our-clients/

Website Tip – How To Increase Average Visit Length

4 Jan, 2007
Helpful Tips, News

Want to captivate your Internet audience and increase the average visit length to your website? I have some simple tips that might help you accomplish this goal.

  1. Provide High Quality Compelling Content – I don’t want to sound like a broken record but I cannot stress the importance of having great content. Video is in high demand on the Internet and is the single best method that I know to attract vistors to your website AND keep them longer! Great pictures are another way to add great content to any website.
  2. Great Titles and Snippets – If you blog, tempt the reader with captivating titles and eye-catching written content that will motivate someone to look further in to your website. Provide the first 2 sentences of an article with a link that will allow them to READ MORE…
  3. Engage Your Audience With Interactivity – I think the best examples of this on realtor websites are mortgage calculators, live chat and property listing serches. Provide more than just textual information by providing utility for the visitor. How much can I afford to borrow for a mortgage? Let’s compare prices for recently sold houses in this area. Essentially, to obtain the desired information, the user will need to interact with your website. You may find them coming back again and again.
  4. Create Communities – People want to interact with others who share similar interests. One of the Internet’s strengths is it’s ability to create communities. Forums, chatrooms, bulletin boards and blogs that allow comments all keep people returning to and staying at your site. Again, these examples all provide a common place to exchange information with others in your “community”.
  5. Provide Informational Resources – Les Twarog’s website (www.lestwarog.com) is a great example of a website that provides really useful information to anyone interested in condos in Vancouver. He has created a detailed list of all the buildings in the downtown core with individual links to information about each building. Information about each individual building consists of links to the buildings strata website, developers website, address, number of stories, number of units, photographs, map, and floorplans.

Essentially, create something of value for your visitor. You must keeep your design attractive and navigation easy-to-use, but it is the value that will keep visitors coming back and staying longer.

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/88/website-tip-how-to-increase-average-visit-length/

How Effective Is Your Website? Average Visit Length

3 Jan, 2007
News

I read an article in the Province last week. The article was titled, “Social Media Scrap For Space”. Essentially, it detailed the competion between social-networking and social media websites such as MySpace, YouTube, Google Video and Yahoo! Video Search. But it was the small chart on the bottom right hand side that caught my attention. It was a list of these social networking sites and their average visit length. Essentially, it is the amount of the time a visitor stays at a website.

It can be argued that average visit length is a better measurement of the effectiveness of a website than number of pages, hits or visitors. The length of time is fair evaluation of how captivated visitors are by the content on a particular website. How captivated are viewers of our videos? The average visit length to our website was 270 seconds in 2006. Since our videos are generally between 90 to 150 seconds in length, it is safe to conclude that the majority of our Video Openhouse Tours are being watched in their entirety! Essentially, as a realtor, you have the undivided attention of a potential buyer for 1 and a half to 2 and a half minutes! Your name, picture and contact information at the top of the page for the duration of a video. Video tours not only promote listings, they promote agents!

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/87/how-effective-is-your-website-average-visit-length/

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