Real Estate Blog - Visual Tour --- wow! I didn't know you can do that! (Some money-making uses).

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Visual Tour --- wow! I didn't know you can do that! (Some money-making uses).

Visual Tour is one of the tools I use in my marketing because:

I get to control when I can take pictures. I still hire professional photographers from time to time, but I don't want to be so dependent on someone else and not be able to take pictures when I need to.
Once I create and upload the tour, Visual Tour will take care of uploading it to REALTOR.com
I get links to the tour, in different formats: branded, unbranded. And as soon as I send the tour to Visual Tour, I get an email with all the links I need to upload on my website, electronic flyers, emails, etc.
It's almost hassle free, and "even a cave man can do it."

Besides --- it's got a terrific market reach compared to other Virtual Tour providers.

So when the Visual Tour marketing rep came to visit, I wasn't inclined to sit in because I thought I knew enough to be dangerous. And besides, I had so much other stuff to do.

OTHER MONEY-MAKING USES OF VISUAL TOUR

When she started clicking on samples of things that various clients do using Visual Tour, my eyes got bigger and bigger, and ideas started swimming in my head. HA! Shows you how much I know!

From their website on www.VisualTour.com, here are some ways you can use the VisualTour Marketing System to increase your income. We're sure you can think of more!

	Show a Listing On The Internet Let's look beyond the capabilities of the "ordinary tour" and see how you can actually use YOUR sales skills to show your listings over the Internet instead of simply showing four or five scenes with short captions like your competitors provide using "ordinary" full-service tours. If a "me too" presentation isn't good enough for you, read on!
	Bullet-Proof Your Listing Presentations Would you like an advantage over your competition in your listing presentations? Would you like an ice breaker that would almost instantly make the seller comfortable with you and your capabilities? Well, now you have it....
	Enhance your CMA Presentation Ever had a seller that thought their house was worth far more than the comparables in the neighborhood? Ever wish you could just show them four or five listings that looked nicer than theirs that sold for far below what they wanted to list for? Well, now you can!
	Creating Neighborhood Tours Are you an expert on the neighborhoods in your area? Then why not use your expertise as a marketing advantage by creating VisualTours of your area?
	Work With Remote Buyers Do you think virtual tours are just for listing agents? Not anymore! Have you ever worked with buyers from out of your area? Have you ever wished that you could be the "remote eyes" for a buyer that was located far away?
	Open House Hand-Outs Have you ever wished that you had something to give potential buyers that come to your open house, something unique to take away with them that would help them remember all of the features of your listing AND your contact and branding information?
	Working With Developers Looking for a way to work with local residential developers? VisualTours with floor plans and Hot Spots may be just the ticket.
	Local Attractions and Events Do you have local events or attractions that may be of interest to people from out of your area? Would a virtual tour of a local event be of interest to the people in your local area and perhaps worthy of mention in your local paper? (can you say FREE advertising?)
	Personal Promotion Use virtual tours for personal promotion? You've got to be kidding! Think outside the box!
	Move-In Gift For Buyers Whether you're the listing agent or the buyer's agent, a virtual tour of the buyer's new home that they can share with their family and friends on CD or email is always a welcome, unique and lasting gift.
	FSBO Marketing Do you hate calling on For Sale By Owners (FSBOs)? What if you had a unique and

So I'm going to re-think what I can use Visual Tour for besides listings, and apply sone of these ideas.

Posted by Pacita Dimacali - e-PRO, SRES, CDPE, MBA East Bay, North CA real estate on 01/08/2009 04:29 AM

Comments (14)

Virtual Tours in the ActiveRain Channel

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Originally posted at: Pacita's Quick Bytes of Real Estate: Visual Tour --- wow! I didn't know you can do that! (Some money-making uses).

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14 Comments on Visual Tour --- wow! I didn't know you can do that! (Some money-making uses).

JAN

Great ideas for the visual tour - we put links to our yours and inventories in just about everything we email out and generates lots of traffic and is a strong piece of info to give sellers when showings are down.

thanks for the post, I'll check them out today and compare to my tour company...thanks. I currently use tourfactory.com

In this market do buyers still look at the virtual tours when making their decision or do they simply look at the price? I have used virtuals before and I know for sure that one house was sold because of it. But it is hard to tell how it helps in this market were everyone is looking for the bargain in the neighborhood.

I've been using Visual Tours since 2003 and really like doing them. I give most of my sellers a complimentary tour for listing with me unless they say they do not want one. I like a two step listing presentation, and will take lots of photos on the first visit to the property. On the second visit I show the sellers what their home will look like on the internet. I already have a CD version with an appealing exterior photo of their home on the printed label that I give to them after they view it on the laptop. I am a firm believer it is a very powerful listing presentation tool.

In the past five years I've only gotten one call from a potential buyer (because he viewed the tour and wanted more informaiton). However, lots of folks mention having watched the tours when they visit my open houses.

Very nice post and I think it is great. You really covered the abcs. I like the way you have laid it out. I am not so much on the visual tours but hey I cover a lot of the other based great post

I like to provide community tours on my website to help prospective clients become comfortable with the area. Of course I like to do all the other traditional stuff with tour. You have a couple of things on your list I had not thought of, thank you...

Hi Pacita:

Very nice post. I'm a firm believer in quality photos and visual tours.

ToulaRosebrock.com - DianeTurton.net

Pacita,

Great ideas as always Pacita....you are a bundle of energy!

Lori Cofer, Beasley Realty

You can also create holiday virtual tours by taking pictures of local holiday decorations or whatever and send the link to your e-SOI. I did one for Halloween and it was a hit.

JAN

Randall --- I am very happy with Visual Tour. Their support services and their creative arm truly help myh marketing efforts.

Michael --- buyers do like visual tours. On REALTOR.com, I try to post the maximum of 25 photos and a visual tour. That sets my listing apart. Per NAR, 84% of buyers turn to the internet, which homes do you think will capture the most attention? And 99% of consumers surveyed prefer listings with vitual tours and multiple photos.

Jim -- I used to upload the tours on business card sized CDs, then hand them out at open houses, give them to the seller so THEY can hand them out, include them as samples in my listing presentations, hand them out as business cards...so many uses. Love them! Turns out I can do other things, too, that I am going to work on --- SOON!

Charlie --- I can't take credit for the layout. A lot of the content is straight from Visual Tour's website. Why mess with perfection?

Mark --- treat idea! I am going to have to develop a community tour....and upload it on my website. The tech folks will help show me how to do it. Another way to enhance my website . Yey!

Toula --- the more info, the more pictures, the better. Isn't it wonderful that we have all these tools available to us?

Lori --- thanks. Glad someone appreciates it :)

Tom --- this is soooo easy to do. You take a series of pictures, then simply upload them. This program has a photo-stitching feature. And by the time you finish your tour, it looks like an expert videographer put it together.

There's a bit of learning curve, but the program also offers a tutorial. Save yourself a bit of angst. Follow the tour,step by step. It's really simple and fun.

Good luck!

Hi Pacita,

HEY, wait a minute! How come our tours aren't on their list?!? I'm just kidding, we're the new kids on the block.

But another idea that came from one of our users is doing a "We've Moved" tour for your buyers. That way the buyer sends it out to all their friends and family, and of course it has your info on it. It's a great was to get your name out without directly asking for referrals.

Just another idea.

: )

While VT is big and dominates, I personally don't like the quality of their tours when I last evaluated them, and their costs are higher. I have used iLookAbout.com, their quality is much higher and the tours (through independent distributors/photographers) were much better. True 360 degree tours.

Lately, I've started using MLBroadcast.com to create a podcast. For $30, it goes to iTunes and over 80 podcast directories, including page 1 on Google. I learned about it on AR.

JAN

Michael --- I have to check out your tours.

Chris --- what I like about Visual Tour is the total independence. I don't have to rely on anyone's availabillty. More than once, while I'm getting the listing and having the seller sign disclosures, I'm taking pictures. Later that day, I an presenting the visual tour link to my clients. And every single time, I make a huge and favorable impression. If they're happy, I'm happy.

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