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Add one of These to your Camera Bag Next Time You Do a Photo Shoot at a Listing
I wrote about this technique recently in "Using Fisheye Lenses in Real Estate Photography". If you haven't tried using a fisheye lens when you photograph your listings, prepare to be impressed.
You'll need one of these:
I happen to like Canon products, but there are certainly other fisheye lenses out there. Ken Rockwell describes this lens as "far sharper" than any Nikon fisheye lens.
You'll also need DxO Optics Pro software. Optics Pro 7.0 is the latest incarnation of this astounding image rectification software. I don't know why more real estate photographers don't use DxO, but I see more and more folks experimenting with it.
DxO Optics Pro automatically corrects optical flaws in an image. It corrects lens distortion (making it perfect for working with fisheye images), removes noise and makes other beneficial adustments to your raw photos. DxO Optics Pro software is remarkably intuitive when it makes choices about what needs correcting in your photos.
Fisheye lenses are perfect for certain photography tasks. Let's say you want to highlight a tight space, like this roll-in shower lined with Italian marble tiles:
You need to go ultra-wide to get a shot like this. With a fisheye lens, you pull in a super wide field which you can then crop to produce the results you need.
Try a fisheye lens to get great detail shots of bedrooms, bathrooms and hallways.
These fisheye images (processed using DxO image rectification software) make bedrooms look expansive and luxurious. Here's another example:
Use fisheye lens shots to pull together a wide field into a single frame.
Need a listing agent who knows how to make your house look like this? Call us.
Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
Fisheye lenses have their place in real estate photography. Ten years ago, people were using fisheye photos to create 360-degree panoramic tours. But times have changed. Uncompressed fisheye shots make great interior panoramas, without the use of 360 degree software.
For these examples, I used a Canon 5D Mark II camera body with the f2.8 Canon 15mm Fisheye lens. All of the shots below were uncompressed using DxO software.
This ultrawide kitchen shot was purely an experiment, but it gives you an idea of the visual impact of a one-click interior panorama. [351 Old Fort Road, La Pointe, WI 54850, listed for sale by Madeline Island Realty]
Fisheye shots give a unique perspective to a space which might otherwise be difficult to communicate.
Fisheye photos work outdoors too. This ultrawide view adds sizzle and interest to what would otherwise be an ordinary picture.
There's no better way to turn a small space into a vast one. Fisheye lenses can make the impossible a reality. [2865 North Shore Road, La Pointe, WI 54850, listed for sale by Madeline Island Realty]
This shot is one of my favorites. How else could a photographer fit an entire art gallery into a single frame? [Bell Street Gallery on Madeline Island, photo courtesy of Madeline Island Realty]
Fisheye photo techniques aren't applicable to all situations, but they can be another tool in your arsenal when you're trying to do something remarkable with your listing photos.
Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
RealBird Webinar Yesterday "Learning to cook creatively with social media using the many RealBird ingredients"
We had a fabulous session yesterday morning with RealBird technology host Erich Ziebarth and RealBird President Gabriel Gross. The subject was incorporating RealBird tools into social media to achieve marketing success, and we spent a good amount of time on my favorite subjects, real estate photography.
[Facebook comments from Gabe Gross & Erich Ziebarth about Eric Kodner's participation in a RealBird webinar yesterday]
We also fielded lots of great questions from webinar attendees, ranging from questions about what kind of wide-angle lenses to choose, where to learn more about real estate photography and how to create slide shows and virtual tours.
We also discussed the many ways an agent can use RealBird single-property websites and virtual tours to promote their listings and to gather buyer leads.
One attendee told me she came away from our webinar with "a huge amount of valuable information in a short time". That's the purpose of these RealBird webinars, to give agents the tools they need to succeed and thrive. If you've missed out on RealBird webinars so far, it's not too late to take advantage of the tremendous value that the RealBird folks bring to real estate professionals.
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Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
I've Been Invited to Participate in a RealBird Webinar on "Incorporating RealBird Ingredients Into Your Social Media"
Tomorrow morning, I'll be joining the RealBird folks to co-host a webinar on the subject of "Learning to cook creatively with social media using the many RealBird ingredients". RealBird President Gabriel Gross was kind enough to ask me to participate as a guest speaker.
Friend Erich Ziebarth, with "Get Seen, Get Sold" will be heading up tomorow's webinar. If you haven't signed up for a RealBird webinar, it would be well worth your time to do so! Gabe, Zoltan and Erich pack these hour-long webinars with outstanding information on using RealBird tools to help take your real estate practice to the next level.
Just click on the link below to register for tomorrow's webinar:
[Friday, January 20 RealBird webinar with special guest Eric Kodner,"Learn to cook creatively with social media using RealBird"]
Join us Friday morning and see what RealBird can bring to your real estate practice! Again, you can register for the webinar here.
Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
Pacita Dimacali has contributed an excellent post on the topic of diversity and multiculturalism in the practice of real estate. This is a subject which is too often shrugged off as "politically correct" or "just another fair housing pitch". Pacita does a commendable job of explaining the value of diversity and the fact that attention to diversity issues is good business practice.
I teach the NAR "At Home With Diversity" course and I'll add that AHWD is a top-notch way to learn more about diversity issues and how to incorporate them into your business.
Diversity and multi-culturalism foster sensitivity and good business practices
Living in the Bay area of California gives us the opportunity to interact with so many nationalities and cultural origins. It becomes a challenge sometimes to know what behaviors are acceptable and what are not. Part of our business practice via diversity training is awareness of and respect for multi-cultural do's and don'ts.
May I shake your hand?
I always ask if it’s acceptable to shake hands -- some cultures frown upon men shaking women’s hands, and some simply prefer to refrain from shaking hands. The best advice is to ask, and by simply asking, one generates a measure of goodwill.
Lucky number when listing, writing offer
There is a large Asian population and many of us have certain superstitions. For example, the number “4” is considered very unlucky by the Chinese because of its association with death. The number “8” on the other hand is very lucky. So if we have a listing in the $400K range, we will insert the number 8, so the price could be $408K, $468K, $488K or something like that. Knowing who owns the property also make us write offers that may be attractive to that owner.
What NOT to include in staging
On one of my first listings for builder, I proposed staging the property which had a difficult floor plan.
When we were finished, I should have been immediately sensitized to what’s important to my client when he took off his shoes upon entry to view the completed project. He loved the staging, but requested that we remove any pictures/images of live creatures, any bottles (or image) of wine.
Turns out he is a devout Muslim and these are not proper in his religion. Furthermore, although he accepted my hand when I extended it, his preference is not to shake hands. Luckily, the house sold in less than two weeks, so he was very happy. I’ve sold a few more houses for him since then.
Knives are NOT good gifts
I have a Brazilian client --- fiery, strong personality. A book I read said that “letter openers, scissors or knives mean you wish to end a relationship.” Unless I want to piss her off, I won’t give her any of these things, not even as a closing gift. (And on a side note, according to feng shui principles, it’s not a good idea to give sharp objects like knives as a gift anyway.)
Food no-no?
One of my friends is Hindu, and she calls herself a Pescatarian. So whenever we get together, we dine on sushi. No steak houses for her!
I also have Jewish friends and clients. I was so careful about not offering them pork to eat, and then it turns out that some of them are unorthodox and will eat pork from time to time. One never knows unless one asks!
Yesterday, I took my Mexican handyman to lunch at a Chinese dim sum place. It was so interesting to watch his fascination at the dim sum carts. He told me he eats only Mexican food, so this type of food was new to him. Thankfully, he had no hesitation in eating anything I ordered. I was just glad I didn’t have to be careful in avoiding certain foods forbidden in his religion. I assumed --- correctly --- that he’s Catholic. And although it was Friday, we both ate red meat.
Resources
Here are books I refer to from time to time to keep me attuned to diversity --- and they’ve helped me not only when dealing with people in this business, but also when traveling abroad.
Diversity and multi-culturalism foster sensitivity and good business practices
Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
Top Posts of 2011 - Madeline Island Real Estate Blog by Broker Eric Kodner, Madeline Island Realty
Looking back over the year 2011, it's appropriate that we recap the year. As a part of that recap, I wanted to list what I considered to be our most thought-provoking (and most read) ActiveRain posts of the past year.
Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
RealBird Announces SEO Advantage in Google Video Search
The folks at RealBird have announced their video tours appear to receive preferential treatment in a Google Video search.
We've noticed the advantage in our own searches. Originally, only YouTube videos were showing up at or near the top of our Video searches, but it appears RealBird property videos are gaining on YouTube (or surpassing it) in a Google Video search. The RealBird property websites receive a thumbnail icon, which is displayed next to the search result.
RealBird keeps innovating and staying current, which is one of the reasons I recommend them consistently. Looks like Gabe and Zoltan have a winning formula going!
Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
"My Guru is Smarter Than Your Guru" - SEO Experts Disagree From Time to Time - Don't Believe Everything You Read or Hear
I read a recent post on ActiveRain where the author suggested something that would improve SEO. And midway through the string of comments, one commenter began disagreeing with the post, saying that someone she greatly admires who is a "superstar" said this SEO strategy is a bad idea.
This commenter wrote "I hang onto every word of his opinion" (referring to her "superstar"), and so she "immediately" took steps to follow his advice to the letter.
Look up the term "hero worship" on the Web. On one website, hero worship is defined as "raising a person to the level of a deity".
How about looking up "obeisance"? Or how about "cult following"?
Yes, ActiveRain members are out there searching for the ultimate SEO advice, the absolute truth about issues like duplicate content and whether or not to use heading tags in a blog post. And ActiveRain has no shortage of experts, real and self-proclaimed, who will be glad to tell you that their advice is sterling and all others are idiots.
I categorized this post under "Tips and Advice". So here's my advice. Don't belive everything you read or hear, whether it's on ActiveRain or anyplace else for that matter, at least not right away. Be a bit skeptical until you're able to verify that the source of that SEO information can truly walk on water.
A few weeks ago, I read an interesting AR post about how to insert H1 and H2 heading tags into a post. The author definitively stated that this was vitally important to SEO success. Commenters lined up to proclaim this information the Gospel.
The next day, another "guru" of my acquaintance who had read this post complained to me that the advice is "utterly worthless". He said "heading tags used to work, but now they accomplish nothing" and he pointed me to a couple of articles on the Web which support his opinion.
It's way too easy to become declared a guru around here. Since homes have gotten harder to sell, some agents have branched out into selling themselves as uber-geeks. And Rainers will often line up to bestow laurel wreaths upon these folks, sometimes without even doing their homework.
Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
More Outstanding Minnesota Economic News - Minnesota Unemployment Rate Drops Again in November
The good news just keeps on coming.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development reported that the State unemployment rate dropped again in November of 2011, to 5.9%. The current unemployment rate reflects a one-half percentage drop from the month of October.
Minnesota's jobless rate is now nearly three percentage points below the national average unemployment rate of 8.6%.
The November jobless report follows a reported $876 Million budget surplus for the current biennium.
Sooner or later, the pattern of good economic news in Minnesota should help to usher in a healthier recreational real estate market in neighboring Wisconsin.
Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
Why I Don't Like the Use of Buzzwords like "High Tech, High Touch" in Real Estate Agent Marketing
Google the search string "high tech high touch real estate" and you'll get hundreds and hundreds of results pointing to real estate agent and company websites which sell themselves using these buzzwords.
The phrase "high tech, high touch" was coined back in 1982 by John Naisbitt, the author of "Megatrends". At the time, everything Naisbitt wrote was considered part of a futuristic gold standard. His book made the New York Times bestseller list and he became considered a guru of sorts.
Supposedly, the original meaning of the phrase "high tech, high touch" was "the quality of embracing technology that recognizes us as human beings and rejecting technology that tends to dehumanize us".
Somewhere along the line, the phrase became one of the most overused (and misused) marketing terms in real estate agent marketing.
A considerable number of agents use the term to say "I have great technology skills, but I'm not a geek" or "I know how to use technology, but I still know how to relate to people. I'm warm and fuzzy". The phrase has become a disclaimer, a defensive statement, as if anyone who has technology skills must defend themselves against the argument that technology makes you unfeeling or cold or detached from human qualities.
Why some agents feel they need to apologize for having tech skills is beyond me, but it seems to pop up fairly often. Most bloggers know at least someone who has received a lecture about "don't rely on technology alone to help you succeed" and "don't forget the value of public contact". In reality, I have met very few real estate agents who have become androids simply because they possess technology skills.
So perhaps agents feel that they have to go on the defensive, reassuring the public that they're really just plain folks like everyone else. They pretend technology is a necessary evil, something that we're forced to do because the public demands information and we're just trying to give them what they want.
There's no need to apologize for your technology skills. The quote, "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent" applies here. If someone resents your skills, it's likely that individual is envious of those skills.
Contact Broker Eric Kodner with Wayzata Lakes Realty about Minneapolis and Saint Paul area properties, including Lake Minnetonka. We also sell Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Madeline Island properties. We know Minnesota and Madeline Island real estate!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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