Yesterday, I received a call from a reporter at the local CBS station, asking if I'd be willing to talk on camera about how I was marketing homes on YouTube.  She'd found one of my listings (one that had actually already sold), and wanted to do a report for the evening news on innovative real estate marketing techniques. 

I told her I had other listings (and one in particular) that I could showcase very easily.  My clients were motivated, and I've been marketing the home both traditionally and all over the Internet.  They had decluttered, super-cleaned, and staged their home, and the photos, slide shows, and video showed very well.  And the sellers were thrilled when I approached them about being interviewed for TV, and having their home featured on the news.

The reporter (Omadelle Nelson) and her camera man arrived at the seller's home just as the sun set yesterday and were able to get film of the sun setting on the McDowell Mountains that provided a majestic backdrop.  After all the preliminary small talk, my clients sat on their family room couch and answered questions about the market. 

• "Are you moving locally?"
• "Why did you choose your agent?"
• "What if your house doesn't sell in a year?"

The sellers were incredibly relaxed and came across wonderfully on camera.

Then, we moved into the living room, where Omadelle asked me a number of questions about using technology to market homes, and gave me a chance to talk about combining "hi-tech" methods, along with the more traditional routes (flyers, postcards, newspaper). I shared how use technology to market homes with still photos, slide shows, virtual tours, streaming video (uploaded to YouTube!), blogging, and on-line distribution of home listing information. 

I also expressed my opinion that photos and videos must be enticing to the potential buyer and not give them a reason to reject a home.  Omadelle confirmed that when she was buying a home that she did indeed discard home possibilities, based solely on the photo presentation.

And, we talked about the market and why my business has not been as impacted by the real estate market slowdown. I told her that my theory was that my Internet marketing focus had helped me tremendously, as it establishes credibility with my clients, helps buyers find homes, and gives seller a much wider audience in selling their property.  My clients had already told Omadelle that they selected me to list their home because of my technical expertise and ability to creatively tap into the Internet buyer market.

I asked Omadelle if they would be able to post the home's web site somewhere in the newscast, and she reminded me that this was a news program, not advertising.  Guess what!  The home's web site, posted under my for sale sign was shown, and the YouTube intro with the home's address were included. 

View the recorded TV broadcast.