Greg Afarian's Blog - Real Estate, Technology, Economy

Don't worry, Social Media is a FAD!

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:28:35 -0500

It's depressing how Real Estate agents and professionals around here (New England) know so little about the importance of social media. It was obvious today after we went door to door promoting our class on Twitter & Facebook to offices, owner brokers, and managers that something is clearly missing. I went to over 15 offices in the Andover, North Andover, MA area speaking to agents, giving hand outs, and even sent out over 500 e-mails to Realtors.

One office which has over 70 agents said to me "they have a good handle on their social media sites". What does that mean? I know for a FACT not one of them are using Twitter and the ones that are on Facebook are clearly not using it how it should be used. Just because you have a username and profile doesn't mean you're using social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, ActiveRain, Zipvo, Flickr)!

The small minority that are, I congratulate you! Good work, I'm sure it is paying off! The days of putting an ad in the newspapers, magazines, direct mail, billboards, park benches, buses, and radio are GONE! Does your local paper have to go out of business for you to realize that? Over 85% of search starts on-line, doesn't that mean anything?

Is it only about CE Credits? (we know that answer is YES) So, what is wrong with that picture? What does CBR,CIPS,CRB,CRS,e-Pro,GRI,PMN,RECS,SRES mean to someone searching for Real Estate on-line anyways?

More details available at ZIPVO.com

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

RE BarCamp Boston 6-12-2009

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:02:21 -0500

RE BarCamp is coming to Boston

RE Bar Camp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.

A real estate "unconference". Agenda is set that morning. Come learn all about blogging, video, social media marketing, Twitter, Facebook, prospecting, SEO, and more. YOU help set the agenda! The event ROCKS!

What a Great Price! FREE

With it seeming like the price of everything is going up RE BarCamp was created to bring PASSIONATE people in Technology and Real Estate knowledge to any Real Estate professional that is eager to learn.

This FREE One-Day Event is a must attend! With BarCamps spreading to all different parts of the country it has never been easier for Real Estate professionals to participate. There are BarCamps in Los Angles, Phoenix, Portland, Denver, Philly, Boston, San Francisco and other areas....

Did I mention REBarCamp is FREE? The costs for the event are shared by sponsors who contribute a flat fee of $250 each . The money from sponsorship helps to pay for renting the meeting space, providing lunch, and giving registered attendee an REBarCamp shirt.

This is the Venue, we are planning a cook-out, and an after party event!

For more videos on what RE BarCamp please click HERE , please let me know if I can answer any questions.

To REGISTER click HERE

What is Twitter?

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:01:11 -0600

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service.

It enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets.

These tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them.

Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends.

What is RE BarCamp?

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:02:30 -0600

RE BarCamp is a One-Day event where passionate real estate industry experts come together to share their knowledge on a peer to peer basis. Sessions evolve based on whatever topic one wants to share and whoever wants to learn.

Upcoming Barcamps

April 2 - Los Angeles | April 23 - Portland | April 23 - Phoenix | May 22 - Denver | Date TBA - Boston

RAPV's Social Media Class on Facebook

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:23:14 -0600

Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley's class on social media presented by ZIPVO / James Shiner and Greg Afarian. 1st session is about Facebook.

Learn how to create an account on Facbook, add friends, send messages, update your status, upload pictures / video, add a link, join groups, creating pages, and lots more.

Let me know if you have any questions, Thanks Greg

My Mac Experience Follow up

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:46:46 -0600

A few months ago my PC died and I bought a MacBook. Not only is the Mac going to improve your productivity but, it will make life a lot easier.

Getting over the learning curve isn't too bad, like anything else it takes a few weeks to get use to but, once you do you'll never look back.

Please feel free to ask any questions or comments you may have. If your business depends on your computer then, you have to ask yourself an important question. "Am I serious about my business NOT to invest in something that will help me"?

This is a brief video showing why the Mac is such a great computer.

Anyone thinking of buying a new computer should seriously consider buying a Mac.

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

Choose Your Weapon.... Are yours working for you?

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:35:29 -0600

Choosing your weapons to go to battle / war can be an important decision whether you survive or not. The same compariosn can be made with the weapons you have while on the streets and in the trenches trying to generate business.

Tools and equipment are not a luxury when it comes to showing customers your serious about what your going to do to help them get their offer accepted / house sold.

To beat your competitors these ideas must be taken seriously other wise you'll just be a casualty of war.

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

As the Housing Market Goes, So Does the Economy (Global Economy that is)

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:15:30 -0600

There was once a popular saying in this country in the mid 60's "As GM Goes, So Does the Nation". Well, that saying is no longer valid and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what turns the economy today. The current housing and credit crisis has "crippled" the global economy. It is no surprise to me that this incredible amount of greed and excess has all but destroyed any economic growth for the foreseeable future.

With that said, today the Senate proposed a $789 BILLION stimulus (spending) package that was very disappointing. The housing industry / new homeowners were not taken into consideration with this package.

"Home buyers who hoped for a $15,000 tax credit to buy a new home, as promised by the Senate, will be disappointed. A proposed $35 billion credit to support home sales was jettisoned in favor of a more modest $2 billion to $3 billion provision. The proposal would eliminate the repayment requirement in an existing tax credit for first-time home buyers, and raise the credit to $8,000 from $7,500. Congressional aides cautioned Wednesday that the credit's size was still subject to negotiation." - WSJ.com http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123436825805373367.html

What a joke! Is it me, or do all of these politicians (ALL of them) not understand that the housing market controls everything today? Buying a home affects a number of people. Whether it's the REALTOR®, bank, painter, plumber, construction company, Home Depot, Sears, Best Buy, etc, it all begins and ends with the housing industry.

Today was a great example that politicians are indeed out of touch with reality. I was actually starting to believe that if they pasted a tax credit for a new home and perhaps created this other bill to offer lower interest rates on 30 year fixed mortgages that this could be the "silver bullet" that lead us out of this painful problem we have. Creating temporary jobs for infrastructure issues and giving money to failing companies is not going to create the type of meaningful jobs that our country is in dire need of. It's like fighting a fire with a garden hose.

The way out of this mess is to create jobs by lowering taxes on business and individuals and to cut excess spending. Innovation and productivity is what creates low unemployment and low inflation. We are a country of innovators & entrepreneurs, the GREATEST country in the world! The industrial revolution is over, but innovation is alive and strong which continues in the United States. Our Government needs to realize that you can't tax or spend your way into prosperity. The way out is to allow businesses to help out by creating jobs.

Bring back the pride of home ownership, "The American Dream" that has been tarnished. Without this, we are clearly heading in the wrong direction. That's why I believe "As the Housing Market Goes, So Does the Economy"!

Social Media / Are You Ready For Change?

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:14:23 -0600

Going down to Carolyn Chodat's office today, Classic Properties, in Medway, MA, speaking about video and social media.

@ZipvoGreg talks alittle more about embracing social media and a post by @Ines wrote for AgentGenius.com about the "F" word (fear).

http://agentgenius.com/?p=9933

Interview with Patrick Harding a Realtor in Andover about a success story with using social media and Facebook.

Enjoy, Greg

View this video on ZIPVO.com.

(Image Thanks to Bernice Ross)

Embracing Social Media

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:56:30 -0600

Embracing social media is a must in today's Real Estate Market. These free and effective tools will help you be found in search and improve your productivity. There are many effective and free tools like activerain.com www.twitter.com Facebook.com Z IPVO.com and other sites will help a Real Estate professional in building their social media presence.

Since 85% of all intitial search starts online any REALTOR® that doesn't embrace this technology will see that traditional print media is out, and this new media is in. The Internet and social media revolution is here to stay. Embracing this technology is a must and Agents that don't change will be left behind.

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

RE BarCamp NYC 2009

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:03:13 -0600

RE BarCamp at Inman in NYC 2009

RE BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.

This video is some of the material that was covered, enjoy :-)

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

Is Your Computer Equiptment an Asset or a Liability?

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:25:54 -0600

Is Your Computer Equipment an Asset or a Liability? This has been a question of mine for quit sometime, and for me it was a LIABILITY! As a former PC owner I would have numerous problems on a daily basis. Whether it was opening or sending an e-mail or pulling up web pages, it always seemed to take alot longer to do just about EVERYTHING!

On Friday my PC Died :-( (Blue Screen of Death) It was a blessing in disguise. It's something I've been wanting to replace now for a while and the decision was an easy one. Luckily, last week I saved my files on an external hard drive which if anyone hasn't done lately, I highly recommend so I minimized the loss which really made me feel good :-)

For all you Realtors out there, this video is a great example of what you can do if your shooting a video walk through, video blog, video testimonial, or community video. It's a great addition to your marketing material and you can then take that video an embed it to your local MLS, personal website, and other free sites like ActiveRain, Facebook, Twitter, and Zipvo to get your content out there by using social media. It's easy to do and sets you ahead of other agents! Have Fun, Happy Thanksgiving, Cheers ZipvoGreg

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

ActiveRain & Socal Media Success Story

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:28:57 -0500

ZIPVO was invited to speak at the Cape Cod and Islands Association of Realtors MLS in Yarmouth, MA. In attendence was about 40 agents and the class covered the following topic

The basics of digital video, including:
• The different types of digital video file for-
mats and hardware you’ll need
• How to take video using camcorders, digi-
tal cameras, or cell phones, and then get that
video onto your computer
• Tips and tricks to make your videos look
and sound great
• The differences between some of the most
popular video sharing websites
• How to upload your video to the Internet,
and then embed it in your website for en-
hanced online marketing
• How to uses other FREE sites and take ad-
vantage of social media as part of your mar-
keting efforts!

The following is a video clip talking about a social media & success stories. This is what an agent from the cape had to say about how she met buyers from Virginia Beach VIA ActiveRain! GREAT STUFF :-)

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

Zipvo at Keller Williams in Worcester, MA

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:02:03 -0500

Zipvo a leading Real Estate video / media social platform where Realtors can upload or create a video and embed them on their MLS listings is giving a class today at Keller Williams in Worcester, MA about social media and the use of video. ZIPVO's Presentation will cover topics ranging from real estate video to blogging to using Facebook to promote yourself and your listings. It will give your agents an overview on how to use social media in Real Estate.

If you are interested in having a social media class in your office or at your next association meeting please contact us for more details.

The American Dream, Is That Dream GONE?

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:37:52 -0500

As CNBC's colorful analyst Jim Cramer would say (if he's still alive), I am sitting here on the linoleum floor drinking cheap scotch wondering what the heck hit me. This has been a BRUTAL seven days stretch on Wall St. The cancer is now spreading to a global scare now as Asian and European Markets are plunging as well. The DOW closed today down 678 points to 8579. That's 5600 points or 40% below last years high of 14,198!

I have always been an optimist, and very bullish on the Markets but now I am really worried. I am angered by what is unfolding right before our eyes. What is most upsetting is that this was all cause by Wall Street GREED ridden hedge funds, crooked Mortgage Lenders, Banks, Brokers and dead beat homeowner want-a-bees with no money and no credit that wanted the "American Dream" like me and you. But, we have to ask ourselves was it that homeowners fault or is this a problem with the society we live in?

It would be clear to me that most America's want it all right now and don't want to put in the time or hard work that was once considered the "American Dream" to achieve our goals. Just look at the popular television programs people love. With shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Deal or No Deal, and even the Bachelor all have to do with instant gratification! Be a millionaire (if that million is still worth a million) INSTANTLY! or find your love and we will pay you. I am not sure of alot of things these days but, I feel we are losing our ways in this country.

What happened to the days you worked hard, saved money, and put down a good down payment to buy a home? My father didn't grow up in this (GREAT) country. He came here with $27 in his pocket, and didn't know a word of English but, he worked hard to get his little version of the "American Dream". Is that dream gone? It's time we Americans speak up and take control. I'm not sure what the right answer's are for the mess we are in but, one thing is for certain. We always hear if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't and I'm guessing that would be considered the same with buying a home.

So long story short, this too will pass and as our priest always says "health is wealth" and if you have that, everyday is a blessing. Markets will come and go but, at the end of the day if you have family, friends, and your health nothing else really should matter. Let's keep the American Dream alive!

ZIPVO @Florida Association of Realtors 92nd Trade Show

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:33:17 -0500

http://www.zipvo.com/ @Florida Association of Realtors 92nd Trade Show

A video blog from The Florida Association of Realtors 92nd Annual Realtor Show. Come visit our booth for a chance to win a free video Flip camera and a chance to check out http://www.zipvoplatinum.com/

Take Care, ZipvoGreg :-)

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

Is Your Association Really There to Help in These Tough Times?

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:25:10 -0500

After coming home from a week on the road and speaking to several hundreds (maybe thousands) of Realtors, I believe I have figured out what the major problem in our industry is and I believe I have figured out the flaw in the system.

I was speaking to one gentlemen about his association's Realtors (he is a board member) using "social media" in their marketing efforts. I explained to him there are many sites out there like ours ZIPVO.com that are FREE and easy to use for Realtors to help with their marketing efforts. He explained to me that "neither he nor his association really care what the Realtor does and it's up to them to figure out what works." (I guess he was talking about the sink or swim technique?) I was shocked! I explained to him, "your Realtors pay you hundreds in fees a year, don't you feel it's your obligation to help them out with these tools?" He just shrugged his shoulders, gave a sly smile, and walked off. I really was amazed and what I realized is that these are the people that are making decisions for the Real Estate Community. I'm guessing some of these people can't spell WWW and certainly don't know what a blog is.

So this is what I suggest. Let your association, board, CRS Chapter, office, ect know that there are tools out there that are free and effective that promote productivity which will save time and money. As a Realtor you deserve to be informed by your association and board of these changing tools to help you stay connected with a changing time on ways to market yourself and your listing. Speaking for myself, I would travel almost anywhere (assuming an audience of Realtors) to promote this exciting new social environment Real Estate has become. After all, you have to attend classes to renew your license, why not make social media part of the curriculum?

Day 2 of the Mass Association of Realtors Show in Worcester, MA

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:02:46 -0500

We are here today for day 2 at the Mass Association of Realtors Convention in Worcester, MA. Please feel free to come by our booth #201 to get a chance and see http://www.zipvoplatinum.com/

We have a show special going on, so come on by :-) with other give aways and FUN stuff....

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

ZIPVO.com at the Mass Association of Realtors Show DCU Center Booth 201

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:27:53 -0500

Come join http://www.zipvo.com/ for the Mass Association of Realtors Convention at the DCU Center 9/22 to 9/23. Please feel free to check us out at our booth @201 for your chance for a free http://www.zipvoplatinum.com/ Account to 1 lucky winner. Also, come by for a show special and your free Video Flip Camera with a sign up of Zipvo Platinum. Thanks ZIPVOGREG

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

ActiveRain, Twitter, Facebook, ZIPVO (Analytics, What's Really Working)

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:26:45 -0500

Now that I have all this information and social media sites working for me, where is my traffic / users coming from? This is a great question that most average people using the Internet probably are wondering about. Analytics are used to determine the flow and traffic information a site is getting.

Most people use Google Analytics for the general use of a domain www.zipvo.com but, what if I want to know how many views my Video for my listing 123mainst.com is getting or how long are people watching the video? Are my users finding me and who is coming to my site from where?

By using analytics your determining what is working and what isn't in your on-line marketing efforts. Your also going to be able to understand if your money spent on on-line advertising is actually working or if that ad is ineffective with hard DATA to prove it.

This is all get news for Real Estate and the Real Estate Community. Since content is KING and that content needs to have useful information like analytics explaining what i going on behind the sense, then Analytics must be the Queen to the King.

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

Do You Know Where Your Money Went?

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:08:12 -0500

HOLY S@#T! The stock market did what? If your like me and follow the stock market and bond market you might be scratching your head wondering what the HECK is going on with the Markets. The past 4 months have been nothing but pure torture for any investor. The fall of super giants like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brother, CountryWide, and AIG are now just casualties of the war. Hundred's of lenders have no gone under and the clouds are still looming on Washington Mutual, and others. To me, as a seasoned mortgage professional for the better part of more than a decade before starting my newest venture http://www.zipvo.com/ a few years back, the writing was on the walls.

Never have I heard about people that had NO Credit, No Income, NO Down Payment, and have 5 different banks fight over to getting that loan. So, look at where we have come since. This is really effecting us all NOW isn't it? As a homeowner, I am quite upset that my home value is dropping. As a stock investor I am even more upset watching those once profits go down the toilet! With all this and people in the media talking about a depression, I am thankful that we have alcohol to numb the severe pain.

There was a time that I was always an overly optimistic stock market investor. But now, I am really worried about the FED and their lack on action. Unlike past Fed Chairman's "Uncle Ben" Bernanke stated the other day in the Fed's NON ACTION at their FOMC Meeting that the risk of inflation out weighs the risk of a recession. WHAT? HELLO? ANYONE HOME? That will be great explaining to Mr. Smith that you have no value in your home, your 401K is worth nothing, you have NO MONEY, you can't find work, BUT, there is no inflation :-) Please spare me! If anyone remembers in 2003 the markets were under far less pressure and the then Fed Chairman "the Maestro" Allen Greenspan took rates down to 1%. Right now we are at 2%, WHY? Why is the government so eager to bail all these companies out and not give some relief back to the American public?

There are no clear and easy answers here. Many would say and I would have to agree if you allow the financial markets to fail as they are without government intervention we could have an even LARGER problem on our hands. It's just mind boggling that all these crappy sub prime loans have had such a big impact on us all. On the good note, a bottom is clearly marked when all the media and news is front and center with these issues as you would have seen in yesterday's front page of the New York Times or any major Newspaper. So maybe we have found a bottom? (I would have to say we have)

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=859005424

We are clearly in unprecedented times here. I am in no means a doom and gloomer but, the pain has become so severe I am really starting to wonder if happy days will come again? I will say one thing, it has been proven that over a long term period, no investment is ever better than your investment than in the stock market. However, you might get an ulcer or drop dead before you see that happen. Keep the Faith, this too will pass..... God Bless us all and God Bless America!

Video player comparison, is Youtube a good solution for my Listing?

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:10:04 -0500

I recently was speaking to some Realtors about video upload possibilities. The most common response is, oh yeah I just uploaded my video to http://www.youtube.com/

That always makes me cringe because it seems like it's such an ineffective way to effectively market your property. Not to mention the fact that it's ACTUALLY against their general terms of agreement to profit from doing so. Read Rule #4 and tell me what you think that means?

http://www.youtube.com/t/terms

YouTube states the following as RESTRICTIONS.... "use of the Website or its related services (such as the Embeddable Player), for the primary purpose of gaining advertising or subscription revenue"......

We all know that the chances of YouTube.com coming after Joe Smith Realtor is probably not going to happen but, do you really want the possibility of them biting into your 6% commission to happen after the fact? Other things that would worry me as a Realtor and Home Seller would be my beautiful listing / home next to the majority of inappropriate material on YouTube.com. Believe me, I LOVE YOUTUBE! I think the boys @YouTube (Chad and Steve) are AWESOME and are pioreers in social media. However, I question if it's a place to display Real Estate. Throw in the fact that there really isn't a great way to search for that material you just uploaded and I would be guessing you have a bigger problem instead of a solution for displaying you Real Estate Listing.

Is the quality what you demand? That should be the hope anyways right? I think it's pretty "clear" which quality is better for your Listing.... Tell me what you think.... These are EXACTLY the same video.... Please tell me if you notice the difference or which would be better for your $750,000 Listing?

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

To me the answer is CLEAR.... Although YouTube is an EXTREMELY powerful and popular social media platform, it's obviously not the best choice as a Real Estate Agent. Still the jury is not out about the idea to aimlessly send videos and content to any and all sites that will accept video. Not to mention sites like Trulia and Zillow even though they accept those feeds / content doesn't mean it will EVER take precedence over MLS content. I would say a better idea is to upload your video / content to a dedicated Real Estate Website that does video and does it well! :-) Do you http://www.zipvo.com/ ??????

The Next New Marketing Tool for Realtors is ALmost Here

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:53:15 -0500

ZIPVO Platinum Coming Soon....

Revolutionizing the way Real Estate is found, viewed, marketed, and searched on-line!

We are launching our “flagship” product called ZIPVO Platinum http://zipvoplatinum.com/ on September 10^th at HIGH NOON EST, LOL…. We are planning an “Exclusive Invitation Only” launch to people that have signed up @ ZIPVO Platinum with give aways and discounts including a FREE FLIP camera. Until our launch, we are announcing bits of info regarding ZIPVO Platinum with details at http://www.zipvo.com/Blog/ with the official launch and details following on September 10^th.

The basics of what we are feeling is that after MANY, MANY, months of development we have put together an AWESOME, POWERFUL, and EXPLOSIVE product to help the Real Estate Community conquer on-line marketing. Our tools will help Realtors market themselves and their listing effectively while increasing productivity by putting together an on-line marketing strategy that consumers (buyers and sellers) demand. All others that don’t embrace what is happening in Real Estate and Technology have to ask themselves are they serious about their marketing efforts? We feel that “official” print media / advertising is dead!

Register for your invite @ http://zipvoplatinum.com/

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

Save Your Gas Money and Time by using Video!

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:02:31 -0500

After reading Gloriabelle's blog about http://activerain.com/blogsview/663116/Is-it-Appropriate-to I began to realize that the joke I had with my partner @ZipvoJames about an idea to start a campaign to have agents advertise their listing as a "GREEN LISTING" could be a reality.

As a 14 year veteran in the mortgage business, I have always known the struggle it is as a Realtor to show properties all weekend long to clients, some of which may not be considerate of your time. I have always found it amazing that some Realtors would show 10, 15 or more homes a day. However, with the evolution of the Internet clearly a Realtor has to be more productive than before? With tools like Digital Pictures, PhotoVideos, Visual Tours, and Video Walk-Throughs wouldn't you think?

After recently getting back from my second Inman Connect Show, I know there are no more excuses. With companies like http://www.realestateshows.com/ http://www.zipvo.com/ http://activerain.com/ http://www.trulia.com/ & http://www.mlbroadcast.com/ never has it been easier for a Realtor to either do it themselves or pay someone a "modest" fee to do all the work for them and make their listing "social". A clear and strategic on-line strategy to show buyers and sellers that you use the interent to it's fullest has now become a MUST.

For this reason I had joked that all listing should do a "Green Listing" and had said Zipvo's Videos via Listing can be considered "GREEN" :-) With the ever higher demand of oil world wide, clearly higher fuel prices are here to stay. Okay, maybe you won't knock that list down to less than 5 but, you'll clearly 1, show buyers and sellers you use your Internet skills and have an edge over other agents and 2, get more buyers and sellers interested in you / your properties and, hopefully save time, money, and yes GAS :-)

Here is an example of what we call at Zipvo a Video Walk-Through. Now to all you critics that say.... "Well that's not a professional representation of the listing" or "That's not professional" or what have you... I say, pay some extra money and have it professional done from someone like http://www.nashuavideotours.com/ or use http://www.turnhere.com/ and http://www.wellcomemat.com/ to find a videoographer.

I personal feel that if you think your budget doesn't allow you to have a professionally shout video, you must start TODAY to learn to do it yourself, and after sometime you'll become pretty good at it. This should be a must in ALL properties under say $750,000 and if your property is more, I would be surprised if a seller of a million dollar property didn't demand this as a part of your On-Line Marketing Campaign / Strategy.

Now AGAIN, this isn't a professionally shout video but, why not to show a property or a potential town that someone is iterested in moving into...

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

And an example of a Community Video.....

More details available at ZIPVO.com.

With other Mobile tools like Trulia's iPhone App http://www.trulia.com/mobile/ and the fact that all listings on http://www.zipvo.com/ are iphone viewable, YES VIDEO http://www.zipvo.com/Blog/?a=blog&post=126 the possibilities are really endless and the thoughts of your listings "GOING GREEN" are real!

I think we all know asking a buyer to split fuel prices or pay for them clearly isn't a bad idea but, really are you going to loss a potential buyer in fears they might be offended? I think we all know the answer here and a REAL solution should be to embrace technology and use it for all it's worth. Video is "Real" and we all live in a "Video World" so, since it's here to stay shouldn't you be using use video to "Make Your Listings Green"?

Don't forget to check back at http://zipvoplatinum.com/ on September 10Th to even further this points and Revolutionize the way Realtors do Business!

Mashable Event in Boston / Real Estate Meets Web 2.0

Greg Afarian (ZIPVO) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:57:54 -0500

San Francisco may be on the radar as Tech Capital of the world but, Boston in our eyes should be considered the East Coast version of it. Recently ZIPVO attended a Popsignal Event, Tech Cocktail, and most recently this Mashable event which was a social networking and social media blog. This is an interview I had with Aaron from Stickam. Check it out :-)

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments, CHEERS Greg