Monday, February 9, 2009

The Power of Social Networking and Virtual Tours

Charm City Virtual Tours recently added an integrated Social Networking and Bookmarking tool to all virtual tours to provide maximum exposure for real estate listings. This new service is FREE with every virtual tour! With a single click, each virtual tour can be added to 14 of the most used Social Networking and Bookmarking sites:

Digg
LinkedIn
Delicious

Reddit
Facebook

StumbleUpon
FriendFeed

Technorati
Furl

Twitter
MySpace
Mixx
Backflip

Bebo






So what? What does this feature mean to you as a realtor? Virtual tours have just gone viral! Huh? This means you can easily obtain maximum exposure for your listings by simply adding it to any of the sites you currently belong to or sign up for, and so can your seller, and their friends, and anyone who views the tour!

Encourage your past and current clients to add you to their networks. Encourage them to add the tour to their network as well. Create groups for different areas - you might have one for Baltimore, Rockville, DC, Gaithersburg, etc. Use those groups to market properties to particular homeseekers, etc. Share your listings with other agents in your office or network. Spread the word and watch your listing exposure and hits increase! Best of all - all of these sites have FREE membership!

This screenshot from a recent property listing shows just how effective this type of marketing can be - out of 82 hits, almost 32% were from Social Networking and Bookmarking sites!











Try it and see what a difference it can make in the exposure of your listings!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Your Needs or Mine?

Last night, with all intentions of settling down to read a good book, I found myself instead thinking (once again) about the work I do and a recent conversation with another photographer who called me to vent. As with any business, there is often discussion with one’s peers, including the usual grumbling and griping, sharing of stories, etc. This particular discussion involved the photographer’s frustration with the realtor’s expectations for the photos. Apparently, about 2 hours after shooting the property, the realtor called the photographer in a panic and wanted to know how soon the pictures would be available as there was a deadline needing to be met, when the tour was going to be posted, how she could get the pictures to use in print materials, indicated several specific sizes were needed for print and online, wanted to know if a brochure was included, asked which and how many sites the tour would be syndicated to, etc., etc., etc. At the time I empathized with the photographer as the realtor’s questions (unknowingly) caused a great deal of stress.

Incidents like this jolt me back to my beginnings as an educator. A lack of knowledge or understanding often (but not always) indicates the failure to communicate and confirm that information has been received and understood. Regardless of one’s role as a teacher, student, realtor, salesperson, photographer, homeowner, buyer, lawyer or Indian chief it behooves all of us as professionals to clearly communicate with those we work and do business with if we want to be successful. Had the photographer discussed the particulars regarding photography services with the client/realtor prior to the shoot and asked relevant questions about her particular needs, much of the frustration and distress felt by both parties could have been completely avoided.

I can also empathize with the realtor in this situation – perhaps this was the first time she had hired a professional photographer for a listing, didn’t know which questions to ask, assumed the photographer would intuitively know what she wanted and needed and when, was feeling distressed herself because the printer and marketing department needed the photos ASAP, she wasn’t able to adequately answer the homeowner’s questions regarding the photography, or was stressed because she had a sick child at home. Regardless, communication and education about each other’s needs and expectations should occur prior to any service being agreed upon. Making the assumption that someone knows what is needed is a disservice and will most likely result in dissatisfaction between the parties.

As a photographer and business owner, the more I know about your needs the better I am able to serve you and meet or exceed your expectations. So let’s talk!