Home : Blogs : Kathy McGraw, Riverside County CA Real Estate : Kathy McGraw's Real Estate and Life Blog

Virtual Open House.....It's Over and I would say a rousing Success :)

The other day I posted the final step we were doing to make this a reality Virtual Open House....A Real Estate Win-Win for Everyone including clients....:) and now the Results are in. For those of you that might not know , this idea was a Marketing Contest Entry from Misty Lackie CEO Go Smart Solutions .

This is the page that Misty and Candice developed that stayed up all week until the actual time of the Virtual Open House . I have to tell you I was very nervous.....yes, nervous. I felt like I was giving a Party, and was afraid no one would show up. Especially after my experiences on Friday, the day before the event.

On Friday I passed out the fliers. I first went by the Agency that gave me the referral, to show them what I was doing. And from there I hit all the Companies in our area. Amazing......I was literally shocked at some of the reactions.....especially from the Manager of one of the largest Franchises in this area. This person not only was rude, but also couldn't seem to grasp the idea of something new.....something different. Boy am I glad I never went to work for them :) :)

Virtual Open House

Anyway, the basic response was "Oh.....Ok" and with that I was sure the idea didn't pass my " 3 second Gray Bin rule" I use for all Marketing......"How many seconds can it survive before being thrown in the Trash?"

At another Franchise I was really taken back by a comment on using the Internet (after I mentioned seeing a banner of theirs saying they are on the net).......one of the Agents commented "well over 70% of Buyers use the Internet".........Duh!!!!! Were these guys really just learning this??? So much for that Franchise.....

OK, so off I went with my fliers hoping to catch just one of those Agents that actually understand the Internet and its Opportunities.....

That was Friday. Now to Saturday. I held the Physical Open House from 12-2.........One person came...and I pulled weeds in the garden there for my 2 hours. Ok, now it's getting time for the Virtual Open....and gosh what if no one comes? So I called my son, my brother, a client, the seller, the sellers' friend, and a friend or two. Please come by and see this house.......Yep I sure wasn't above begging!!!!

5 O'clock....the magic hour....I was pretty nervous working with the MEEBO Chat program as I didn't know how it worked. I got signed in, and poof here came a chat....Ok, that's good. But then here came another one.....and I had to find that window. What I will say is that someone with an ADD Personality would do very well with this :)

So here's the results:

127 people visited our Open House- Most were in the first hour 106, and the last half hour only had a couple....the rest were in-between
Misty provided snacks......we had cokes and chips and dips.....Misty put them on the bottom right hand corner of the page..... A feedback I got was that when they clicked on the snack they would have liked for it to do something ......
I couldn't see what Ricardo was doing in his part of the "House" as the chats are private- and his page had his chat and information, but not mine.......
No calls were received- Actually I was glad .....
The time went pretty quickly- Trying to keep up with the chats and following the people it showed came in made the time go quickly. It also helped that Misty, and someone else from her Company stayed on the Chat the whole time with me to help with any technical difficulties...

Would I do this again..In a heartbeat!!!!!! Reminds me of the Wright Brothers and the Airplane.....if they had given up where would we be today. I know this is a great idea, some areas may not be as ready for Internet Marketing as others.....but if you live in an area that is Developing I say go for it :) :)

***Anything is Possible if you just believe***

*** Thank you Misty, Candis, and Steve for all your Support, and Thanks to all of you from Active Rain that helped support this idea. Then last but not least a big Thank You to Ricardo Bueno - Mortgage Broker, who gave up several hours of his time to participate in this, our first Virtual Open House......

By: Kathy McGraw - CELLing Realty

DISCLAIMER: Neither I nor CELLing Realty are responsible for the accuracy or content from anyone other than myself. The opinions expressed in my Blog by The Activerain Network and it's members and anyone providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of Kathy McGraw and/or CELLing Realty.

Posted by Kathy McGraw, Riverside County CA Real Estate on 04/06/2008 04:20 PM

Comments (54)

virtual open house, go smart solutions, marketing

Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: The Art Of Marketing You
Post is included in group: e-PRO Internet Technology
Post is included in group: POSITIVE ATTITUDE for the Weary Soul
Post is included in group: SO CAL Pass Area Communities and other Interests

54 Comments on Virtual Open House.....It's Over and I would say a rousing Success :)

APR

2008

Hi Kathy

What a nice property, I hope it sells fast.

Sincerely

Tom Braatz

What a novel idea! How cool can that be with 127 people...all out to see if this might work for them too!

Wow!! How exciting! I missed this contest and so now am off to read all the details so I can learn! Way to go!!!

Tom- That makes tow of us, and the Seller :) Thanks for the support .....

Mary- Oh yes, and especially after some of the reactions I got in person. I know this can be a great tool, and believe me it was nice sitting at home with a coffee, and fuzzy slippers doing an Open House :)

Jo-Yes, check with Misty or Candis.....amazing how easy it was to do after they did the initial work of setting everything up on their site.

Kathy...I flagged this to be featured. Hope it is. I think it is such a positive post and will hopefully inspire a number of us to try this type of marketing. Even me.

Thanks,

Kathleen

Kathleen- Thanks......it is a good thing to try New Ideas.....we just never know which one might be the winner for us, and for our clients :)

Kathy, I have to talk with you about this. I think it looks interesting. I have been off running the last few days and have to get caught back up here at AR. Is the Meebo thing where the tour actually was posted? I don't understand why agents are so resistant to new things? THEY may actually learn something new!

Kathy,
Congratulations and you were so brave to try this. I have to look into this, it sounds like like something I should try.

Kathy..this is really a cool idea and your response was fabulous! What kind of questions did they ask? boy any affiliate who helps sponser an Open House would love the cost of that menu!

Kathy - It was fun doing this with you. I must say that you are a great sport and have a fun, open minded personality. I thought it was neat that you were okay with me putting up virtual snacks at the last minute. It was fun!

Kathy - Congratulations! What an awesome idea you've seen come to light.

Do you have a break down of how many "visitors" were real estate agents vs. potential buyers? I'm also interested in the types of questions you received.

Kathy, What a wonderful idea, it's nothing I've heard of yet but went so well for you it may have just started a new trend. Congratulations and I'm thrilled it worked out so well!

Very - very interesting..... What about if you click on the virtual snacks and get put into a $20 Starbucks card raffle? Something to get more folks to the site?

Kathy!

Congratulations!

This was a success!

...I am sorry I missed it, - when is the next one?

Don't be suprised by people who look at you cross-eyed when you are at the cutting edge! Just keep cutting!

Steve

Audrey-Hi there.....oh I think you and Maria would do quite well with this.....we Marketing it in both the traditional way (see other Posts) and online. Misty and Candis put it together pretty cool....their company was fast....and heck they were so good with their communication that I never felt alone. I think their communication was a big part of my comfort level :) Click on Misty's link and ask her any questions, or ask here.....and hopefully she'll read and answer :)

Cynthia-Brave, me LOL ......no I just like to try new ideas :) One of my biggest fears in life is living in a box!!!!

Joan-Yea....I would have loved to be the sponsor for those snacks LOL :) :) Anyway, I think Ricardo had a few different kinds of questions, and me nothing significant. But think of this.....would you rather go to an Open House and get 1-5 people, or sit home and get the same amount.......but save your gas, etc. Yes, I don't believe it will work for everything, but it sure is a great tool........and for me that is interesting in opening an office overseas later....this would be perfect :)

Misty- Why Thank you.....I sure want to say the same for you!!!! I couldn't believe you actually went in there and put the snacks up - it was so perfect. Now look at this feedback....maybe we could really put something behind the snacks.....I like that idea. Oh, and hey feel free to answer any of these questions you see here.....:)

Debbie-Now we don't have a breakdown....Misty and I talked about next time having a more accurate tracking system....step on up Misty....it's your expertise :)

KATHY, I'm a little confused on how it works. So what kind of a chat did you use? I read the intial post but not quite sure how you did it. What kinds of comments did you get?

Kathy, wow! This is totally cutting edge! This may be one new trick this old dog wants to learn!

Carole-Can you imagine how this could work for your Feng Shui....I can. I can see you posting pictures, and doing a whole thing, customized.....yep I see it working very well as long as the people that are setting it up are good at communicating and work as a team for a win-win :)

Hi James- Yes, someone had mentioned the Gift Card before and I told Misty no.....but your idea is great....to put the gift card behind the snacks and someone that clicks on it can win the card. I like that idea....it's fun :) But could we find a way to make those cokes real....that is what I would have liked!

Steve- Funny, but other than my son, and Mara (from here) I have no idea who was there....everyone was a number.....meeboguest87678..... When's the next one....today's Sunday, but I sure am going to be talking to Misty about this tomorrow :)

Marchel-We used the Free MEEBO Chat.....and the pages necessary for this were all on ClassifiedFlyerAds.com ........here is a mail Misty sent about the MEEBO part of the Virtual Open House:

Hi Ricardo, My name is Misty Lackie and I am helping Kathy with the pages for her virtual open. Candis forwarded me your contact info and I will set this up on the virtual open. Kathy mentioned that you already had a meebo account. Can you provide me with the widget code from your meebo account? I will then place that into a page that includes all of your contact information. On Kathy's main virtual open house page, we will then create a button that says "Talk to Lender" and that will take the visitor to your page a profile page of yours that will include your meebo chat and contact info. Thanks, Misty Lackie

and here is a small sampling of my chat with Misty during the Open.....several windows can be open at once...and I almost missed Mara Hawks because of this...Here are 2 snippets to show how the chat works:

18:56] kathymcgraw: that would be nice
[18:58] meeboguest792241: very, very cool. bravo! ciao for now.
[18:58] kathymcgraw: bye for now.....
[18:58] Meebo Message: meeboguest792241 has left your page

[17:39] kathymcgraw: wow this thing is for ADD tyope personalities
[17:39] Misty:
[17:39] Misty: Yeah
[17:40] kathymcgraw: So do I stay on this Meebo page the whole time?
[17:41] Misty: Yes - the meebo page keeps you logged into the chat.
[17:41] Misty: If you leave - your meebo status will

It was all set up for me....I just had to send a few things to Misty and Candis...then proof the work, then sign in a few minutes to 5 :)

There are a lot of good, free stats out there that would be useful for this. Google Analytics is one of them.

The main reason Kathy's virtual open did so well is because Kathy advertised it like crazy. She blogged about it, sent post cards, passed out fliers to companies the day before. She really did a lot of leg work and devoted a lot of her time to this. I strongly feel that in order for any virtual open to be successful it would require the kind of commitment that Kathy gave it.

It was no small task on Kathy's part and she really ran with it.

Misty- Maybe it was some work....but I like that kind of work....anything that is stimulating isn't really work . I do want to use this again....and want to talk to you about it. I have worked with many people and if this Open is any indication of how you guys work....well, I was impressed :)

Patricia- I could imagine in DC you have a bunch of people that would appreciate this type of technology :)

APR

2008

WooHoo! I just know you not only had fun...but made it fun so that you will keep on doing this wonderful Open House. Happy Selling!

Sally- yep....make it fun, and you're right I will do it again.

It's like I said before, it's all in good ol' fashioned hard work. It's committing that block of time and being there, available. And honestly, any good lender that commits to their REALTOR®'s on weekends (being available via phone or being there at their Open House) shouldn't have a problem committing the time.

To tell you the truth, the experience was fun! Like you I was a little worried at the attendance rate but once those couple of chats were up and running, conversations were developing, and time was flying. That time block from 5:00pm - 7:00pm went by really fast!

I think it's definitely worth a try a 2nd time around and once you've done it more than once, it'll be easier to set up and market. I would imagine that on the consumers end, the idea is great because you don't have to worry about being "sold" or solicited to. The meebo chats are private and you get answers to specific questions that you want without committing to anything.

So how do I get leads then?

Just be "you" and give people the information they're looking for. If it's what they want, they'll give you more information. (Kathy, that one gentleman gave me his email address).

So again, thank YOU Kathy for the invitation to participate! It was certainly worth the experience and I'm sure this is an opportunity!

Wow sounds very creative and on the edge. What a great idea to bring them to your house in a more comfortable way. Very cool idea!

Kathy - I find this very interesting. I did only scan the commmetns so forgive me if this has been asked & answered - of those people that came duirng the time block, were they mostly buyers - were they agents (of those you marketed too) or were they AR folks that wanted to check it out? Were you even able to tell what "type" of folks they were from the conversations? I was not able to check it out and would have liked to.

Wow Kathy...I missed the event...but I'm impressed with the success. Like you said it's so hard getting others in the office to try something new...I finally made them realize they needed a website but convincing them to market it is has become such a block wall idea to them...

I don't have any listings currently since I just got back into things & I prefer doing loans but I think something like this will limit some of the complaints about "no one comes to the open house - they're useless" Maybe I should start doing other people's open houses again

Ricardo- Hi there....a good recap, and it is nice when a Lender offers their services on a Saturday night....a win-win for any potential clients :) Hard work, or smart work......whatever it takes to help people with their Real Estate Needs is what it's all about :)

Karen- It sure feels good to be around people that appreciate new technology, and new ideas :)

Steve- One of the things we learned was to have a better tracing system (see Misty's comment). As it was we had no way to tell.......The majority of my marketing went to other Agents since they might have a buyer. But some of the Marketing both Internet and direct mail went to buyers. I could tell a couple people, but that's it. It went pretty fast, and I was trying to tract how long someone stayed on the site. We learned a few things that will benefit the next one........always changing, always improving :)

Lynette- Oh, I was out in your area with my fliers....don't ya just love it? I really am amazed at some of the Agents, and even the "Top Producers" they just don't seem to get it:) Oh well.....better for us in the long run.

So, you got no conversations going with anyone? Do you know who those 100+ people were? (one was me... curious...)

The problem I had when I did this last year is that EVERYONE in the room were realtors - from all over the country... all 'curious'!

NOT ONE WAS A BUYER. Ours was a bit more involved as the realtor was on video (live) on the site - we had high def video tours of the house as well as the entire neighborhood.

BUT NO BUYERS came. It was heavily advertised for two weeks in advance.

This is where I question whether this will work as the ONLY people that matter are BUYERS. If buyers don't embrace the idea, why bother? If buyers come and nobody asks questions, why not just have the tour available 24/7 like it already is?

I think it's a concept that has possibilities, but I'm just not sure how to make that happen. I will probably attempt it again this year, but for me - if buyers don't show, it's not worth the trouble (even though the agent CAN sit at home with bunny slippers on!)

Fred, I think you and Kathy are on to something BIG.

First, I think it is a matter of letting the BUYERS know of the event not just our peers. I would have loved to sit in my home, up in Chicago, and attend an open house here in Missouri. Not only to see the property, but to get to know the agent in a real time chat. Had I done that, I never would have ended up with the first agent we looked with.

Second, I think its a matter of EDUCATING our buyers. Here is a new tool, Mr & Mrs Buyer and here are the benefits of that tool. Won't you join me?

I would love to give this a try and hope Kathy gives us an update after her next one. Hope you will as well Fred.

(Sorry Kathy to jump in like this!)

Fred- Well, I'm glad you came by even if it was only out of curiosity....and any time I can do an Open House with my Bunny Slippers on....well I'm there :) :)

I have found that other Agents have buyers, and if they come I'm just as happy as if the Buyer found it directly. I think that's where you and I differ the most.....but in the end we both want the property to sell :)

Debbie- I see you're in Missouri.....do you believe in Destiny? I have been on the phone all morning re: a property in Missouri, and last night I found a new Active Rain member in Joplin......right about the area I need.....so see the Internet is meeting my needs, and that's what I care about......

Thank you for your comments, and I hope you do try this....as I said in Rural areas it wouldn't work as well if your target group is other people in the area. But if you are targeting people from other areas.....well, then :) Oh, and your comment was very appropriate....never feel you can't jump into anything on someones blog :)

Kathy - nice summary of this virtual open house which I do find completely intriguing! You say you didn't receive any actual phone calls, but I DID press that Call Me button.... and tapped my fingers, waiting, watching, anticipating... then just ate a lot more of those snacks in the bottom right corner. It was great that you never ran out! :-) I appreciate your pioneering spirit out west!

Mara - Just curious... after clicking the "call me" button, did you fill in your name & call back ph#, then press the "call now" confirmation button? Or did you notice this? We perhaps need to make it more noticable?

Kathy, that's fantastic. I can't believe so many people showed up. As for me, I was pooped out when I got home Saturday, so those numbers didn't even include me. Let us know if you get any prospects from it. Also, now you know how I feel when I go to real estate offices and do my marketing, it's not an easy task.

Candis, I did see those instructions and did follow all the steps. I must have overlooked something, but the fact that Kathy said she didn't get ANY phone calls, made me wonder if it was functioning. I was excited to try it, then felt disappointed... and ate more than my share of snacks after that. :-)

APR

2008

Unbelievable! What a great turnout for an open house. Perhaps I'll revisit the idea of doing them. I've always found them to be a waste of time (in my market).

Mara-I was wondering about that Call me...cuz when I told you no one called and suggested we talk, well......I thought you would call :) Anyway, so now the mystery is solved. And what a great way to have feedback for the next time, and for everyones benefit that is thinking of doing one of these. Thanks for coming.....and I really appreciate you not having eaten all the snacks..... LOL :)

Candis- Thank you for following up....I love the feedback.

Tony-Could you imagine if we had that many people at a physical open house.

Joseph-I saved you for last because you have such a valid point......look at how you're treated every day!!!! There is no excuse for Office managers, Agents, Brokers, etc. to be rude. If you're busy then say so, and allow someone to meet with Agents if the Agents don't mind......how do you know what we want? I will write my Tuesday Truths on this..........and Joseph.....I truly am sorry that you have to go through this just to do your job.

Kathy~ It takes alot of courage to be one of the FIRST to try something new. But..sombody has to and before you know it, everybody is behind you !

If anyone else is interesting in having one of these virtual opens, please contact me through my AR profile

If we get enough interested Realtors or Brokers we may develop an easy way for you to create these.

What a novel concept, Kathy.

It is good to see new ideas using technology and cyberspace.

Doug- I guess I never looked at it like that.....I just think it's fun to do new things :)

Misty- Please do not tell me I have to have a certain amount of Agents that want to do this before I can do another one :)

Mark- If you like the idea, contact Misty (comment about yours) and she can hook you up....seriously I love new ideas, at least simple ones, and ones that make sense :)

APR

2008

Don't worry Kathy - you take priority :). We have only had 1 other person contact us so far. We are trying to get a better idea of how many would use something like this before proceeding in developing a system.

Misty- The one thing I learned as a new agent is everyone wants to sell something.....hey I even wasted my money on that horribly outdated, talking h.......I believe that a product for our Marketing....properly Marketed will get people. But if you build it only after people say they want it.....well someone else will beat you to it. You may not get more than a handful for quite a while......who knows, but who do you think that handful will remember.

I have a sign man in Florida, Joe Jefferies of Sign of the Times . Do we have graphic artists, and guys that make signs here.....absolutely. But 4 years ago, I found this guy on the Internet, and wrote him. I loved his personality, and he sent proofs back and forth....and I had a finished product rather quickly. OK, bottom line is I have recommended him to many people, they are happy with his work, and his personality is tops......all from a car sign I ordered as a Notary :)

Do good work, and the people that are happy with your product will tell others :) and vice versa..........

Kathy - I agree with you. I guess my previous post was a little mis-leading. We are actually going to develop something but while that is being done we are trying to get feedback from people who would use it and what they would like to see in it. The plan is to then use the people who provided feedback as our beta test team. Hopefully you will be willing to be the 1st in beta testing :).

OK, what is a beta test team? I saw that here on AR but have no idea what beta means :)

Hi Kathy - a beta test team is a group of people who are willing to test a new system and give their feedback. We will basically give you full run of the system and all of its feature before it is publicly launched.

Well now that sounds just fine......:) Count me in of course.....

APR

2008

Wow that sounds really cool, and it sounds like you had a fun and busy time.

Cool idea. It would have been interesting to add a live video feed, so that people could ask questions about the house and then also see it.

To whomever :) I did have a fun and busy time....and I am trying to think of how to add this to my other listings :)

Geoff- I had a live chat, and a Virtual tour.....they could see the house that way, is this what you mean? I think the concept is very similar.

APR

2008

Kathy, this was really cool. I enjoyed the post and reading through the comments. I've used Meebo on one of my other blogs, but honestly usually forget to sign in. It's so much better than simply asking people to comment on a blog post.

APR

2008

Lola- Hi, yes this was pretty interesting....and as i said I know it can work, and I am ready to do it for another listing :) Meebo was OK, but really hard to keep up when several people are on different chats at one time. Reminded me of one of those other Blog Sites I joined....confusing at times :)

APR

2008

Kathy,

As usual, you are awesome! Leave it to you to pioneer a new strategy and educate all of us in the process. Thanks for being you!

MAY

2008

Julie- And leave it to me to miss a friend for a whole month......thank you for visiting, and dang I feel bad for missing this....how are you?

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?