CityTourVideo.com

Vacation Rental Website Roundup

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:52:12 -0800

Here is a list of vacation rental websites where you can advertise your house rental and, in many instances, collect payments. Please note that the Alexa Internet rankings are a measure of total traffic to the site and are subject to change - these were the results for 12/15/2010.

VRBO - A HomeAway Company (#3,888 Alexa U.S. rank)

Homeaway (#5,520 Alexa U.S. rank)

airbnb (#9,438 Alexa U.S. rank)

VacationRentals.com (#20,210 Alexa U.S. rank)

Vacapedia (#260,088 Alexa U.S. rank)

Always on Vacaction (#49,993 Alexa U.S. rank)

CyberRentals (#88,320 Alexa U.S. rank)

Find Rentals (#96,239 Alexa U.S. rank)

Great Rentals - A HomeAway Company (#101,922 Alexa U.S. rank)

rentalo.com (#128,583 Alexa U.S. rank)

Vacation Rentals 411 (#150,325 Alexa U.S. rank)

Beach House (#165,392 Alexa U.S. rank)

If you have used these sites to market your property, please share your experience:

Are any exclusive and don't allow you to sign up with other sites?

What sites have the greatest user satisfaction?

Which sites get the best results? Best results for the money?

What are the best regional/specialty sites?

What other sites would you add to this list? Why?

Which sites let you embed video?

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Yahoo! Video Gives Videographers Das Boot!

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:08:55 -0800

Looks like Yahoo! Video is 'tacking' - a sailing term used to describe a boat that changes direction in order to better use the wind. I just received a short email announcing that starting today, upload functionality was removed. Users have until March 14, 2011 to retrieve videos from the site. It's not terribly surprising since Yahoo! acquired Vancouver, British Columbia-based Flickr in March 2005 and added a video player in April 2008, effectively creating two competing free-to-the-public video players in the Yahoo! family of companies.

What is surprising is that Yahoo! seems intent on competing with Hulu with network-style programming. It isn't clear what their business model will look like but small, independent production companies like Look Ma! will not be part of the program. I'm not saddened by the news - Yahoo! video has produced few views for my videos compared with the LookMa YouTube Channel and Daily Motion. In fact, I've been uploading my real estate videos to Flickr (#34 U.S. Alexa rank) on a paid basis for about a year now and have seen much higher views there than on Yahoo! video. For this reason, I see little negative impact from this news on my clients. Perhaps Yahoo! will even pour some marketing dollars into Flickr Video and drive more eyeballs our way?!

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Promote Video | Learn Video | Create Video

*****************************

Here's the email I received:

Dear Yahoo! Video user,

After careful consideration, we will be removing all general user-generated content upload capability and user-uploaded video from Yahoo! Video. As a result, your videos, user profiles, ratings, favorites, and playlists will no longer be available after March 14, 2011. User video content from Yahoo! Video that remains embedded on third party sites will no longer be playable after March 14, 2011.

Available on your profile page is a software utility that will allow you to download the videos you have uploaded to Yahoo! Video to your computer through March 14, 2011. You can find your profile by clicking on the 'My Video' tab or going to http://video.yahoo.com/mypage.

Once you download your videos, you may choose to upload them to another site such as Flickr, which now allows video uploads. You can find out more here: http://www.flickr.com/explore/video.

Thanks for your understanding and thanks for being a part of Yahoo! Video.

If you have any questions about this change, please visit our FAQ section, or contact Customer Care.

The Yahoo! Video Team

*******************************************************************

Here's the Yahoo! FAQ response to "What is Yahoo! Video?":

Yahoo! Video is your Internet video entertainment experience, bringing you streaming video and audio content from the leaders in entertainment, sports, and news. You can watch exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage from your favorite reality shows. You can follow your favorite sports throughout the season and tune in to the network news, when you want to watch it.

Because Yahoo! Video is browser-based, it automatically launches and plays your content through a process called streaming. This makes it easier for you to enjoy your content because there are no software downloads to get started, as long as you have a current web browser and current media player software installed.

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Benefits of Listing Your House with Mary Robbins

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 21:46:48 -0800

As if you needed another reason? Here's her marketing muscle:

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

To stage or not to stage

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:53:44 -0700

The 2010 RESA (Real Estate Staging Association) reports that houses that are marketed without staging, removed from the market and then reintroduced with staging spend a significantly lower amount of time on the market. However, the study makes no mention of whether the houses were put back on the market at the same price or a lower price. I would think that most houses that get reintroduced to the market have a lower price than earlier listed. Could that be a factor in the shorter market times?

Honestly, I believe under the right market conditions, staging is a
major benefit to selling a home quickly. People are visual and seeing a
cluttered house detracts from visualizing their new home. Maybe it even
reminds them of their old, cluttered home - the one they no longer want
to live in. And as for empty homes, they're lonely and uninviting.

However, when the bubble is getting hot there is more demand than
supply. Staging isn't as important during this period since buyers are
in a feeding frenzy. However, staging still helps drive those multiple
offers and the price. When the market is down, you just want to get feet
on the floor.

Last comment and I'll shut up finally! But this is the most important
piece to all this. If you are selling in 2010, you are marketing on the
Internet where 90% of buyers do their research. That means they are
looking at pictures and videos of all the houses that meet their
requirements. If a house looks shoddy, they simply click to the next
one!

Of course, I have a vested interest in those pictures and videos looking
good...that's my business. But I also have a vested interest in helping
my clients - agents and sellers - to move their homes quickly. To
accomplish that, I prefer a staged home.

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Rizzle-Dizzle Listing Presentations

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:55:22 -0700

Stupid title but it got your attention, no?

If you are one of those agents sold on the benefits of staging, than this post is for you. If you're going to invest in staging a home right, make sure you get the most mileage by producing a home tour video. You will reach more buyers and your seller will love your marketing-savvy. And because your video lives on the Internet long after your listing sells, you continue to benefit and your ROI keeps going up-up-up!

But an even better tack is to highlight your staging and video marketing during the listing presentation to get the business. Are any of your competitors doing this? If they are, what's your counter-punch? Here's your counter-punch: free tech-savvy presentation materials (.ppt,.mov).

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

San Francisco Agents

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:08:22 -0800

I have filmed over half The City for CityTourVideo.com but I need to get these areas:

O SOMA/South Beach
O Russian Hill
O Downtown/Civic Center
O Inner Richmond
O Richmond SeaCliff
O USF/Panhandle
O Western Addition
O Alamo Square/NOPA
O Hayes Valley
O Inner Sunset
O Sunset
O Mission
O Potrero Hill
O Twin Peaks/Diamond Heights
O Bernal Heights
O Glen Park
O Excelsior/Outer Mission
O West Portal/Forest Hill
Mt. Davidson Park
O Ingleside/SFSU/CCSF
O Bayview
O Financial District

Are there any shots you feel should be in these videos?

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Listing property on Facebook

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:51:59 -0800

Sure, you can post your listings directly onto your personal Facebook profile but this can alienate your friends who are not in the market for a home. Here are a few other methods for marketing your new listings on Facebook (don't forget to trumpet this service in your listing presentations):

1. Create a Group or Fan Page and post your listings there. This is FREE but can take some time to populate with friends and fans. Video-YES

2. Widen your net and post your listing on the Facebook Marketplace. Facebook launched the marketplace in May 2007 but with few adopters, it retooled with the help of Craig Donato, CEO of Oodle.com. This new format launched recently, so the juice is concentrated for early adopters - there are few agents doing this and it's FREE! Video-NO

3. Create a Facebook Ad and target Facebook users by city, age, gender and education level. Choose a headline that is accurate, yet disarming, and a photo that shows off the best feature of the house in high detail. A buyer who clicks on this ad can be sent to any landing page you desire - the property or agent URL makes the most sense. However, you could also send it to one of your Facebook pages so the buyer can interact more easily with you. You could link to the listing video in your profile videos or link to your Facebook Marketplace listing. Cost is minimal - $1 can get you 5,000 impressions or more. Video-YES

For more advice like this, please join the Mimicc Real Estate Marketing Lab.

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller
Look Ma! and New Rulez Marketing

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

What is a green house agent?

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:46:52 -0800

There are two ethics being addressed with this question:

How is an agent personally green?
What does the agent know about green building and houses?

Question #2 is certainly more identifiable and measurable. NAR's Green Resource Council has a designation designed to help agents get knowledgeable about green housing issues and to subsequently market themselves as having said knowledge. Clearly there is value here both to the agent and the consumer. But what isn't as clear is to what extent a consumer is persuaded to work with a green agent based on 3rd party designations. There are certainly consumers out there who seek out green houses but do they really care about the green agent when their last agent proved capable and trustworthy? I don't know the answer but I suspect 'trustworthy' wins out over 'green' much of the time.

Question #1 is more interesting because it requires an agent to make sacrifices that put him/her at a competitive disadvantage to other agents. If you use your car less or stop altogether, you can't visit clients as much and we all know how important it is to be seen by our clients. If you go completely paperless, you stop doing direct mail and your competitors will be seen more often. And so the big question becomes, do consumers care that you lowered your carbon footprint? How would they even know unless you visited them more often or sent them direct mail?

This is issue is near and dear to my heart so I wanted to dedicate some brainstorming on how to best serve the consumer's green needs and how to overcome the competitive disadvantage that is created in personally going green.

What do you think? Feel free to respond here or join me in the Mimicc Real Estate Marketing Lab where we have dedicated a group to this topic.

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Survey says...ding-ding-ding!

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:32:04 -0800

I read a recent ActiveRain blog talking about the power of surveying your clients. It was rocking good advice! Not only does 'the survey' help the agent better service their clients, they can also be used to help the agent better spend her marketing dollars. And there is one more important benefit - she touches her past clients in a unique and reputation-building way! Here's an example of a survey result one of my client's experienced.

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

How Will Technology Change Real Estate Sales & Marketing in the Future?

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:56:55 -0800

It takes guts to predict the future...kudos Mike. I especially liked what you had to say about consumers demanding information tailored to their needs and not necessarily the needs of agents and their sellers. Zillow and Trulia embraced this from the beginning and gained significant market share from Realtor.com, whose monopoly on listing information gave them the first mover advantage, but who failed to react as quickly or as thoroughlyas they could have. Of course, Realtor.com's monopoly on the listing information may have been the reason for their slow reaction and a tactic required to deflect FTC attention. Anti-trust issues aside, the dominance of these 3 websites in the residential real estate space supports your point. Any real estate marketing company who fails to heed this lesson will find themselves struggling for relevency.

Via Mike Brown (Brown Ltd. Digital Marketing & Public Relations):

My last job in the tech world of IBM (wired) and Motorola (wireless) was future vision marketing manager before I "got off the plane" and applied what I learned about digital marketing and PR in real estate.

We looked out 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years to try and imagine what is possible with wired and wireless technology. Then we would go tell customers about it.

My method involved interviewing patent holding engineers, scientists, marketing gurus, and futurists.

But one of the most valuable sources I had was from the sales force. They told me what was working and would not work, what customers asked for and expected in the future, and they actually gave me requirements for developing future products and programs.

One of the things I realized early on was that I came up with maybe 20% of the good ideas. The rest came from others. That's where you come in. I've created a starter list below. Brainstorm! Let's create the idea of real estate marketing in the future together!

I would like to do that here, and share it with the Active Rain Community.

BASELINE

Here's what we know as a baseline for the real estate market today:

- Digital imagery (photos, renderings, visual tours) made a big difference and are here to stay.
- Social Networking and blogging leaped forward and will continue to grow.
- Email marketing is now full of pictures and is working great.
- Websites are including:
= Listings
= IDX integration
= Property locators
= Mapping
= Galleries and Slide Shows
= Some Facebook and blog integration
= Some Video (in the early adopter phase and will expand in this next year)
= Links to sites like Realtor.com, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, local community information like schools and shopping, etc., plus many others.
= Multiple languages in addition to English (Spanish, French)
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems (Early Adopters using & winning!)
- Electronic "Video" Billboards (just started)
- Newspapers/Media Company Advertising Media Buys Happening on Google (Early Adopters only)
- Direct Mail
- Radio
- TV
- Signs
- Events
- Telemarketing
- Marketing Measurement Systems to track media buys and campaigns (Early Adopters only)

So here's the question: What will the future of real estate marketing look like?

CURRENT TO 1 YEAR OUT
- Broker and Builder websites will integrate Social Networking technologies for easy sharing and interaction (Facebook, Google Buzz, Twitter, ShareThis, Digg, Delicious, Live, Stumbleupon, LinkedIn, Blogs, etc.)
- Content Marketing will expand
- Direct Mail will include more Newsletter Postcards (smart marketers)
- Email Marketing will include more news - less hype

1-5 YEARS OUT
The biggest change during this period for real estate pros isn't in the technology. The biggest change will come from you learning how to learn and adapt quicker. You're selling brick and mortar; but, you're going to be using tools to do it that evolve quickly. That means software. Your customers and companies will demand that you know this new way to interact - forcing you to change.
- Mobile enabled websites for advertising, listings, and sales interaction
= Images
= Mapping
= Video
= Social Networking between selling organization and customers
= GPS Enabled Listings
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems - more pervasive use and will center the effort of database marketing
- Newspaper/Websites and Media Buys Dominated by Google
- Content Marketing will become more layered so a buyer can get just the right amount of information they individually want rather than the seller, broker, or builder dictating the amount.
- Email marketing will add video
- Events will become more creative and integrated with other organizations
- Online & Mobile Chat & Texting
- Online Interactive Contracts & Documentation
- Smart Irrigation. Technology is cheap and easy today. Will become pervasive.
- Marketing Measurement Systems will link directly with CRM
= Google May Be the Integrator

5-10 YEARS OUT
- Will websites become media rich enough to satisfy a customer enough to buy online?
- Interactive Video Television and/or Web [not sure what the devices will be called at this point - interactive displays?] about Properties. You'll be able to select and "see" the systems work in a house.
- Smart Houses (I don't think the house will sell itself but you'll have to know about these systems to show them)
- Smart Irrigation Standard
- Exterior and Interior Wired and Wireless integration (Security, Power, Appliances, Entertainment, Info Systems)
- More Audio (Voice) enabled

Ideas? What do you think? Add your comments!

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Real Estate agents are a dime a dozen

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:54:26 -0800

This argument always reminds me of the little man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. Of course, buyers and sellers can find their way to 'home sweet home' without the help of a realtor. Real estate isn't rocket science. But then again, I could fix my car if I really wanted to buy the tools, read the manuals and tinker on weekends. My chances of fixing my car are much lower than the chances of my favorite mechanic being successful, but much higher than the chances of that mechanic who took this 16-year-old sucker so many years ago. And if I knew I was going to be racing other drivers next week for a prize, I might be even more inclined to hire the professional mechanic I trusted.

The fact is, there is a low barrier to entry into real estate and many inexperienced and just plain bad business people enter the profession every day looking for the easy buck. And this is bad for the unsuspecting consumer. But one could look at this another way...as being good for the well-armed consumer. Consumers with experienced real esate agents, who are truly representing their clients' best interests, have a competitive edge over consumers with bad representation or even no representation. Those consumers are more likely to get a good deal and less likely to get screwed by some unseen issue now or in the future. And this will always be true, whether you're talking real estate agents or auto mechanics.

So Mr. Consumer, go ahead and represent yourself. Go ahead and hire that charming new fella down the street who thinks 'due diligence' is some kind of book report to be crammed together the weekend before it's due. I'll beat you every time.

Eric Robbins

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

What makes a great real estate agent?

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:51:27 -0800

What makes a great real estate agent? Most agents think of themselves as great. On their webstes, they use terms like "exceptional service", "in your corner" or "knowledgeable and experienced." But most consumers don't believe these words, even if they are true. 80-90% of consumers choose to do business with their past agent or via a personal referral - a fact NAR surveys mimic year after year. And if the popularity of Yelp.com or Ebay is any indication, consumers are even willling to follow the advice of strangers on the Internet over direct propoganda.

So let's reengineer the question and ask...What do consumer's want in their agent? What do you think?

Eric Robbins

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

3 Fabulous Bay Area Hikes

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:10:41 -0800

Hank Perry, President of Empire Realty, takes incredible pictures on his adventures both near and far. He also has some good advice for local nature hikes.

Via Hank Perry:

Ok, we know it's finally raining in the Bay Area - so where can you go when you want to be outside, and you don't have much time?

Here are three top picks:

1. Mt Diablo State Park

a. enter off Diablo Road, south entrance. Just after the "gate" is a sign on the left with a walking trail called "Dan Cook Trail." Park anywhere nearby, walk up a single-track trail which is usually ok in wet conditions. You will see a stream with a bridge and you can continue to the right all the way to picnic areas near the public road. There are beautiful Oak and Buckeye trees along the way! Distance: as far as you want, but probably under 2 miles gives you the idea!

2. Shell Ridge recreation area

a. enter off the "Sutherland Road" entrance in Walnut Creek. Walk to the right and down a hill to a nice single track trail which winds its way up hills and through Oak trees. At this time of year in the evenings, you will see great horned owls beginning their family cycle. Distance: once you connect up with the Mt Diablo/Briones trail you have walked up and down for about 2 miles. One can either continue to the right on Mt Diablo/Briones, or turn around and go down (left) the same trail, or return roughly to where you began by using the wider Mt Diablo/Briones trail.

3. Pt Reyes National Seashore

a. After driving from Contra Costa County toward "Drake's Estero" (google maps picks it up) - you can find a number of walking trails that will either take you down to the divine Drake's beach, or you can choose the dry boardwalk walkways either at Limantour Beach or Abbott's lagoon. Various migratory birds abound, so be sure to take your parka and your binoculars!

Do you have other ideas? Let me know what your favorite hikes are - and get outside!

Hank

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Business Practices that Paid off in 2009

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:02:59 -0800

Here's an example of a Crescent City, CA agent who is using inexpensive 'thought leadership' marketing to produce results.

LookMa.net

CityTourVideo.com

Mimicc.net

Via Fran Gatti - Realtor®, RDCPro®, Crescent City CA Real Estate (RE/MAX Coastal Redwoods):

As we countdown to a new year and new decade I am reflecting on what has been effective in my business for the past year. I want to continue to do what works and gives me proven results and dump the rest.

Thankfully when it comes to my business, it is pretty easy to track what works and likewise, what doesn't.

My blogging efforts have had a huge return on investment in 2009 in many ways. My blogging efforts have established me as a local expert in my market, my market reports are widely read, I have been interviewed by my local newspaper, I have gained many clients through blogging and had three of my largest closings in 2009 directly attributed to my blog on Active Rain, so my AR blog gets to stay in my repertoire.

Reading AR posts has given me so many new ideas to try; some have worked out really well.

Here's a few that gave me good results:

RealEstateShows.com virtual tours where I can post an unlimited amount of pictures

Single listing websites

youmail.com voicemail (if I forget my phone at home, I can listen to my voicemail's on my computer at work!)

Using Twitter

Using Facebook

Learning SEO (search engine optimization)

Adding postlets to my sidebar on my blog

How to beef up my AR profile

2009 was my first complete year at my new office, RE/MAX Coastal Redwoods. This move has proven to be extremely cost effective. I left a large, thriving office to go with a start up RE/MAX office. The owner at RE/MAX loves all the new marketing efforts that I learn about and is willing to invest with me in them. My office is, in my humble opinion, on the cutting edge of internet marketing in comparison to our competitors. I believe much of that has to do with what I learn from my fellow bloggers on Active Rain.

My office is ringing in the new decade with a bang with our first annual client appreciation event. It is going to be RE/MAX Coastal Redwoods way of showing our clients and the vendors and other professionals that we work with, how much we appreciate their efforts. I believe this is also a cutting edge effort as I am not aware of any other office in my market, including the office I worked at before RE/MAX, that does anything similar.

I expect 2010 to be an even better year than 2009 for me and my office. We are experimenting with signage and other new marketing efforts that will clearly show RE/MAX Coastal Redwoods is ahead of the competition. I will share these new efforts throughout the year and of course, give you feedback on what gives proven results.

As I continue to contemplate business practices that gave a good ROI for 2009 and where I would like to put my marketing dollars for the coming year and where I would like to expend my valuable time I allot to my business, I know this for sure, Active Rain has proven it gives back more than I give.

I would like to thank the Active Rain staff and some Active Rain members who have helped me in so many ways either directly or by providing consistently informative posts:

Active Brad
Broker Bryant
Missy Caulk
Marti Garaughty
Lenn Harley

God Bless all AR members in the coming year,

Fran

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.

Brought to you by Fran Gatti at
No one works harder for you!
Bus: 707-464-5400, Cell: 707-218-8162
Email: frangatti@remax.net
Website: Fran GattiHomes.com
My Blog: Fran's Blog
RCDPro®

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Video Marketing Success Story

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:38:14 -0800

I'm normally a pretty humble guy but I just had to report the news of a client's recent victory using Internet video. The client is Mary Robbins and yes, she is my mom. She was my first client when I started this business a year ago and has been a most patient guinea pig while I worked out my strategy for helping consumers and agents communicate more efficiently through the use of real estate videos. Together, our team has produced a city tour video, an interview video and a number of listing videos. All have seen a measure of success - from winning listing presentations to winning #1 keyword positions on YouTube. In fact, if you keyword "Danville CA" into Youtube.com today, you're going to see the very first video we did for her in the #1 spot.

Mom might not always have the #1 position, but the video continues to be useful to home buyers and watched by home buyers. And this is one of the major advantages to this marketing method - it lives on past the expiration date of most marketing campaigns. I realize that Internet video is new and intimidating. It is still in its infancy as a marketing tool but it's gaining big traction (statistics). Some of the most successful bloggers started posting entries 3 years ago when blogging was in its infancy and had great results because many real estate professionals shunned it for being too new and intimidating. Don't follow the crowd - lead it! Isn't that what your clients want?

So back to the news. After a year of pretty good results, Mary Robbins reports the first buyer representation she can attribute directly to a video. Her video, "391 Castle Crest Road Alamo," recently attracted a married couple to her Sunday open house. The couple said they visited the house after watching the video (not sure if it was the version on YouTube.com or Realtor.com) and really liked Mary's professionalism. They are now out looking for homes in the Alamo area $1M and up with...(drumroll please!)...Mary Robbins! Go mom!

Godspeed,

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller and CEO

LookMa.net

Mimicc.net

CityTourVideo.com

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Free Secrets of Successful Internet Video Marketing

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:43:18 -0800

A non-real estate client recently contacted me and asked why her self-produced videos were not getting the high viewership numbers that that the video she hired me for were getting. First off, I totally encourage my clients to produce their own videos - this is a numbers game and, unless you totally embarrass yourself, producing lots of videos can only help. However, you must create professional-grade videos as bookcovers for these videos, lest prospects and clients think you run a second-rate business. Put another way, self-produced videos look great in the video library section of your website but not on the front page.

That said, I want you to be successful and help you improve your self-produced videos. The secret to some of my successful videos is:

1. People need to easily find your video. Here's how I do that:

a. It must have a wide and targeted distribution - this is the equivalent of net-fishing and fly-fishing at the same time. Net fishing gets you bigger numbers but doesn't necessarily catch the kind of fish you want. With fly-fishing, you basically know which fish you are going to catch with which fly.

b. It must have a keyword-rich title blended with some mysteriousness and a call to action. Titles are weighted pretty heavily in the search algorithm and just as important, if not more important, to the keyword tags. It is more important that your title attract the search engines than it is to attract viewers, but both are important.

c. It must have a thought-provoking thumbnail photo (which acts as the book cover). This is the first picture a viewer sees while they are deciding if they are going to hit the play button.

d. It must have a description that tells you what's in the video and why you will want to watch it. Again, why should I hit the play button?

e. It must have thoughtful keyword tags that intuit your customers search terms. Think about the keywords you use in the video and what keywords YOU might use to look for a video like this one.

2. People need to like your video. No news here but your search ranking also depends on star ratings, comments and length of visit. You want a video that hints at, and follows through with, the concept of 'thought leadership', as defined by The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing, and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly, by David Meerman Scott. The video is not about you or your business - it is about what you do, how you do it differently than everyone else and how that benefits the viewer. Your video should solve a problem, reveal a process or entertain the viewers. Maybe all three at the same time! The point is, there is no room for your ego. People can smell it in the first 8 seconds of the video, which incidentally, is the average viewership time for a video and, ironically, the minimum time needed to score points in bull riding.

Eric Robbins

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Zillow Advice Section

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:23:32 -0700

I asked a few questions on Zillow Q&A. Here are the highlights from the 7 responses I got only 2 hours later. If you want to see the most current answers, go to my Zillow profile. I got 2 unique responders - an agent and a prospect.

***Category: Home Q&A***
How do you want to see a home online? Photo only? Fish-eye photo? Video walkthru? 360 degree views?

"most of my clients, even the young techno savvy ones, like regular photos (the fish eye ones are just plain creepy)"

"I also don't like fish-eye photos. They make it look like the realtor is trying to be deceptive, and they just are not visually apealling with all that curved distortion...I like being able to see the neighbors, the landscaping, and the condition of the public right of way...I do like to have a good scaled floor plan. It saves much time. If one doesn't have one, I'd likely sketch one myself when visiting."

***Category: School***
What are the best web sites for determining the right school district for home buyers?

"I always direct my buyers to the state schools website and they can compare test scores. student teacher ratios and demographics. I also recommend personal visits to schools."

Look Ma!

Eric Robbins, CEO and chief storyteller

Manager, MIMiC Group

Counselor, Blog Camp

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Internet Video & Bubba Gump Shrimp

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:40:17 -0700

Think of Internet Video as the golden arrow in your marketing quiver. It's not a replacement for the marketing methods that are working, but a way to make them work better. Remember Bubba's line from Forest Gump? "Shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it." A professionally-produced Internet video is equally as versatile. You can embed it on your web site home page, link it in your e-newsletters, post it on your blog, upload it to your social networks and share it with your various online groups and communities.

Internet video is a more expressive, entertaining and technologically-savvy way to touch your clients and prospects. A well-produced video, coupled with both a wide and targeted distribution strategy, can draw new clients to your website, newsletter and telephone. But more importantly, it can re-energize your past clients and most prolific referral sources. This seems especially worthwhile considering the number of agents that leave the business during these ebbs in the economic cycle. Who is going to service the clients they abandon? You!

Visit Look Ma! to see how Internet video can improve your marketing ROI. Or contact Look Ma!'s CEO and chief storyteller and let us help you tell your story. If you are located outside of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding resort communities, let us know of your interest and we'll do our best to help you find a quality Internet video company in your area.

Look Ma!

Eric Robbins, CEO and chief storyteller

Manager, MIMiC Group

Counselor, Blog Camp

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Blog Camp Month 3 - School Scores

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:14:34 -0800

Stop me if you've hear this one before: 'The top three topics that Internet real estate surfers search for are listings, neighborhoods/schools and mortgage rates - in that order'. This means folks are key wording things like 'Danville Homes For Sale', 'Danville CA schools' and 'California home loans'. If you want to get your blog entries picked up in the search results for these folks, you may want to focus your blog entries on these 3 topics and the keywords that get you there. You already know to blog about your new listings and when information changes such as price or terms. But what do you say about neighborhoods or school districts?

We covered neighborhoods in the last lesson so let's cover schools today. The first and easiest thing to do is to list the school scores. Listing the API base scores seems to be the most popular choice since it's a weighted average of different measurements, but you could also choose direct measures like STAR or SAT. Great Schools, School Digger, and City Data are a few of the third-party data sites for finding this information and are pretty easy to navigate but some don't offer raw scores, opting instead for their own formulas. The raw school data can be found at the state department of education. For California, go here. The raw data is tougher to navigate but is a direct source and thus more reliable.

A good example of taking this data and compiling it into a relevant, compelling story is the recent blogpost of real estate professional Vicky Nagy of Empire Realty Associates in Danville, Californa CA. Vicky spent a lot of effort putting this story together so please don't plagiarize her post. In addition, you are relying on her accuracy which I'm confident is good, but common sense would dictate that you get your information from a direct source. This would be a good time to talk about attribution. Bloggers are journalists and should always cite their data sources. This is courteous to the data source provider and adds authority to your story. Plus if that data source is wrong, then its more likely to be perceived as their mistake and not yours. This is especially true for real estate agent bloggers whose words are being relied on to make big investment decisions. Quote an API false score of 950 instead of the actual score 850 and the new homeowner who relied on your information might get upset. A disclaimer might be good to add at the bottom of your post stating that the information you are providing is believed to be correct but that you make no warranties, etc. That said, I am not a lawyer and you should seek a lawyer's advice on adding any disclaimers. Ask your Broker - she or he has probably already paid a lawyer for this language.

Now that you've done the first blog - a list of local school scores - you have laid the foundation for a whole universe of satellite posts. One series would be individual school profiles talking about how they rank with the other schools, special programs, news, national merit scholarship winners, science/debate/math team awards, football/soccer score, etc. Another series could be about declining classroom sizes, new educational bonds, or even changes in the school lunch programs. There's been a lot of national news about soft drinks and junk food so it's on peoples' minds. Just make sure each blog post contains keywords such as the school name, district name, state, town, and some real estate terms like buy, sell, real estate, homes, houses, agent, Realtor, etc. While compelling content is important, keywords are king. And don't forget to add your own name and contact info at the end with a hyperlink to your web site so, you know, people can find you after reading your brilliant blog post!

Happy Blogging,

Eric Robbins

Manager, MIMiC Group

Counselor, Blog Camp

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Facebook Ads Better When Targeted

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:26:13 -0700

(Email to an Illinois real estate agent)

D,

You're Facebook ad popped up on my mother's profile page. Mom is a Realtor located in Danville, CA. I'm telling you this because I hate to see people spend their marketing dollars in an untargeted and wasteful manner. And I also don't like to see my mom's ads up-bid by poorly targeted ads. Then there's always the message it sends to prospective clients - that Facebook ads are not relevant and should be dismissed out of hand.

When I ran mom's Facebook ads, the 'ad manager' allowed me to target by city so mom's ads were not supposed to pop up on Kane County profile pages, but on Contra Costa pages. Anyway, just thought you should know.

Eric Robbins

Mimic Group
Blog Camp

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Blog Camp Month 2 - Identify Home Improvements

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:48:07 -0700

What better way to say 'I am a thought leader' than to show off your expertise in noticing valuable home improvements. You know which fix-me-ups improve value when you see them. And more importantly, you can identify areas where buyers can add value after their purchase! You get paid for your opinions when you earn a commission so why not put them to work helping your marketing efforts reach more eyeballs as well.

A top real estate professional friend of mine pointed out that a good agent is more that just a tour guide and that marketing your home improvement wisdom does not reveal the "great broker" traits like skillful negotiation, acting as a true fiduciary and real estate law knowledge. I agree but the conundrum is that 'great broker' traits are difficult to reveal in an entertaining way. If you agree with this opinion, then read on - I will offer a way to bridge this gap.

Start with your own home and act as if it was your most important client's house. Go room to room taking pictures of improvement items. Don't forget to disclaim that you are not an appraiser/contractor/etc. and that buyers should conduct their own independent investigations. When your done with your own home, do the same for a listing. Use your open house time to collect the data and during the slow times, write the blog. This actually gives you 2 blogs - one for the listing and one for the home improvements. Be careful not to point out any deficiencies with your listings unless this is part of your strategy to sell the home.

Call a contractor or appraiser you trust and get them in on the action. If you're buying a video blog, maybe the contractor/appraiser would chip in some dollars so they can use the video for their business as well. You get more marketing mileage out of two videos than just one. Plus you show that you are capable of bringing together the right people to help your clients, a skill of the 'great broker'. If you provide the bookends to the video and have the contractor narrate, then you can use that time to show your 'great broker' skills.

My disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and I recommend you seek qualified legal counsel when writing disclaimers. Since you're not an appraiser or contractor, you should avoid assigning values to these improvements and avoid making any sort of value statement like, "This will make the house sell!". Do a quick check with your state DRE or company legal counsel to confirm that this is okay. It's an important aside to note recently many agents have been ordering contract repairs for REO owners and when those repairs exceed $600, they are breaking the law because when a third party owns the property and an agent is acting on their behalf and orders repairs, a general contractor's license is required.

Ex: The Kitchen

Blog Count: 5+ posts per house

Happy Blogging,

Eric Robbins

Manager, MIMiC Group

Counselor, Blog Camp

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

MIMic Group 2008 2nd Quarter Survey Analysis

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:26:00 -0700

MIMic Group 2008 2nd Quarter Survey Analysis

I gathered some great data this quarter on homebuyer/seller technology tastes and what real estate agents are doing to leverage the internet. Here are a few trends I discovered...

Homebuyer/Seller Survey (100 surveys sent, 15% response rate)
1/3 of clients still look to local newspaper for real estate information
No one website had a majority of eyeballs but the Realtor's own web site and Google/Yahoo were mentioned most often.
Kind of real estate information interested in finding (in order of importance): Price comparisons, Neighborhood information, school information, available housing and mortgage calculators.
While most clients did not read real estate blogs, there was a good turnout on favorite blog subjects (in order of importance): Market Conditions, Neighborhood Reports, Home Improvement, Local building projects, and school reports. Same results as earlier, no?
Search Words, Social Networks (private)
How Brokers can improve service (private)

Agent Survey (100 surveys, 28% response rate)
Communicating with clients (in order of importance): email, voicemail, snail mail, text message, newsletter, Twitter.
Internet Marketing - 75% responded they spent 0-10% of their marketing budget on Internet.
Where do you list client properties, Qualified leads to deals (private)

The 'private' field is information I'm using to form a new real estate marketing business coming soon. Plus some data is sensitive and I am respectful. If you would like to participate in next quarter's anonymous survey and receive a full detail report, please join the MIMiC Group.

Happy Hunting,

Eric Robbins

Real Estate Professional

Leader, MIMiC Group

Counselor, Blog Camp

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Blog Camp Month 1 - Area Profiles

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:50:31 -0700

One of the best and easiest ways a real estate agent can start grabbing eyeballs with your blog is to blog about the individual neighborhoods contained within each city wherein you specialize. There are whole web sites devoted to this type of marketing (yelp, city search) yet these sites can fall short in capturing the in depth knowledge and history of the neighborhoods that a local real estate agent can.

This is where your 'thought leadership' can shine. You know the distance to the local grocer. You know what local restaurants are good and when the farmer's market runs. You know about the wild turkeys who visit local homeowners. Blog about these things and get pictures or video. Keep them short and to the point. Also, make them more usable for your viewers by hyperlinking to any relevant web sites available.

To get started, first post a blog listing of these categories.

Example: Best of Orinda, CA

Neighborhoods: Orinda Country Club, Castle Gate and Glorietta

Schools: School names, API scores, Harvard Review rankings

Public Transportation: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)

Business Parks: Shadelands (Walnut Creek), Bishop Ranch (San Ramon)

Farmers Market: Orinda

Food and Entertainment: Orinda Theatre, Casa Orinda, Serika

Shopping: Orinda Square, Safeway, Beverages and More

Recreation: Lafayette Reservoir, Briones Reservoir

Nearby Golf: Orinda Country Club, Tilden Park, Moraga Country Club (where are the driving ranges?)

Events: 4th of July Parade, Orinda Film Festival

Cool hotels: Lafayette Park Hotel and Spa

More?

Once you blog this list, it becomes a resource for you to create more blog posts! Each of these categories can be fleshed out by adding your unique experiences. Add some property value ranges to the 'neighborhoods', 'recreation' and 'golf' categories. This is where you get to prove your localism - your expertness. Choose words that reflect your local knowledge. Your chances of rising in the search rankings are greater when viewers use those search terms. And it's easier to rankrise on less popular but more relevant keywords.

Example: Briones Reservoir

Blog Count: 10+ posts

Happy Blogging,

Eric Robbins

Manager, MIMiC Group

Counselor, Blog Camp

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

Welcome to Blog Camp!

Eric Robbins (New Rulez Marketing, LLC) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:11:13 -0700

It's summer all year long at Blog Camp where campers and guest counselors meet to blog around the campfire.

Blog Camp is for real estate agents who need blogging ideas and some keywords to help you get started. These ideas can be used for your written, audio and video blogs! Blog Camp is broken out by months so you don't get overwhelmed. Feel free to go at your own pace and choose a monthly blog series about which you're passionate.

Guest counselors are welcome to sponsor a month as long as you remain on topic and mimic the subject line format (e.g. Month 12: Garden Tips).

See y'all around the campfire,

Eric Robbins

Counselor, Blog Camp

P.S. Don't forget to add a link to your website or Active Rain profile under your signature at the end of each blog post. This is critical to driving more traffic your way!

P.S.2. Be wary of libel: writing things that defame the character of a person or business and are untrue. Anyone can sue but you lower your chances by following this advice and playing nice!

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller