Christopher,

Thanks for your question. I am a virtual tour provider, so it is pretty easy for me to tell you how to create these. Your provider should give you a self-contained executable file (exe). You are going to burn file and a very simple autorun.inf file onto the cd. The autorun.inf simply tells the computer what file to run when the CD is placed in the CD drive. It is a text file, You need two lines of text:

[autorun]

OPEN=Name_of_Tour.exe

Of course, Name_of_tour.exe would be replaced by your tour's file name.

It is that easy! You can burn as many copies of the CD as you want. I try to teach my agents to do this without me as it saves them money, and it is a simple thing to do. I have heard of some virtual tour companies charging $40 for 10 CDs. At $4 each, that just seems like an unfair enrichment.

I would not try to do this with powerpoint or Windows Move Maker unless you want to spend a lot of time. Your virtual tour company should give you the exe file (I give it to my clients - it's part of what you are paying for when you purchase a virtual tour).

I hope this helps.

George

Maureen: CDs are so inexpensive these days. Plus the are likely to be kept or saved by whoever gets them.

Sam: Glad to read your Share A Tour is working so well. I agree: it is good exposure.

Bill & Barbara: Getting CDs into the hands of potential clients just makes sense. I think they are far more effective than a pen or key ring.

George

Cori,

The CD marketing makes you stand out from the others. Laser scribed CDs are neat. I use them, as well as white labels that I print on my color laser. I wouldn't hand them out without my name and phone number on them. Either way works ... just don't forget to label them.

George