14 Nov 09 The Real Estate Video Report – What We’ve Learned
A few months ago, WellcomeMat conducted a survey in an effort to better understand both the challenges and benefits of using video marketing within the real estate vertical. Instead of just releasing the survey data, we unlocked our internal data and created the industry’s first “Real Estate Video Report.”
Download a copy of the industry’s first formal report on video and take a sneak peak into the future of real estate video.
What We’ve Learned…
At this point, we can definitively say that there has never been a more important time in the history of real estate video tours. Every single statistic points in the direction of greatness for full-motion real estate video:
- Over 2/3 of real estate agents have hired, or have considered hiring a video production team.
- 89% of agents that are using video believe that it helps them win listings over competing agents/brokers (view chart)
- 40% of real estate agents and brokers believe that consumers value video the most (out of photos, virtual tours/slideshows, floorplans and video) (view chart)
The number 1 thing keeping agents/brokers from using video is “Not enough knowledge.”
- 46% of agents/brokers answered “not enough knowledge” to the question, “what is the #1 largest hurdle facing real estate professionals in regards to the use of video?” (view chart)
Given these results, who will be the biggest winners in the boom time of real estate video?
- Those that are an information source for agents and brokers, even if they are doing their own videos, will win. The natural affect of DYI (do-it-yourself) video is a large amount of respect for what video pros do – be the person or team that offers encouragement/guidance to DYI agents/brokers and, when they are ready to hire someone, you’ll win the business.
- If we can be flexible with our product offerings, to meet the challenges of the present time and our customers’ expectations, we’ll win. 73% of agents and brokers said they would be more willing to hire video pros that deferred charges until closing, “even at a premium to an upfront payment?”
- Stick to our strengths and partner for the rest. There are 3 distinct portions of the real estate video production puzzle: gathering footage, post-production and web platform(s). Where are your efforts best spent?
In Conclusion…
WellcomeMat will continue casting a wide net. We will be a warm home for do-it-yourself agents, brokers and teams, whom will inevitably need professional help. And we will continue working most closely with production teams that position WellcomeMat as the video platform for their clients. Please enjoy our first Real Estate Video Report and the survey results. If you want to learn more about WellcomeMat or have questions, please be in touch.
Get your copy of the free report here today >
27 Oct 09 50 Real Estate People You Should Follow on Twitter
Roost recently announced their fourth installment of 50 real estate people you should follow on Twitter and they were kind enough to add me (@holaphil) to this month’s list. If you’re not familiar with Roost (shame on you!), they’re one of the leading residential real estate search engines online (i.e MLS, Trulia, Zillow, Yahoo, Google, etc.) and direct consumers to a hosted network of real estate broker and agent “IDX” websites. I’m a humble lightweight on a list that includes Brian Boero of 1000watt Consulting, Wendy Forsythe of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, the Corcoran Group and 46 others you should consider following.
These lists are fantastic, however I know it can be time consuming to follow a large group of Twitter users. Not to worry! Our intern Dora used this nifty little tool called TweepleML to put October’s entire batch of 50 into a list you can follow (literally) with one click of your mouse. You can try it out for yourself by clicking the button below.
BIG thanks to Derek Overbey, Roost’s Sr. Dir. of Marketing and Social Media for shining the light on so many fantastic real estate professionals!
22 Aug 08 Mobile Mat
This news was simply too exciting to withhold, so we’re not even going to try. We are proud to announce that WellcomeMat is now iPhone-ready BABY! Ok…ok…we’re almost entirely iPhone ready baby. The alpha version of our iPhone app is now live at www.WellcomeMat.com/iPhone. The way that it is coming together is as follows:
-We have converted about 1/5th of all our videos to H264 format (the only video format that iPhone’s will play). This means that your channel videos may not be showing up right now. If you are upset about this, please write Apple and tell them how lame it is that they are not yet supporting flash video, as they inevitably will have to and are just dragging their feet.
-Once we have completed all conversions, you will be able to send iPhone users (and soon all mobile users) to your WellcomeMat channel, or individual videos for viewing.
Example: property hunter pulls up to the curb of your newest listing. They love the house! So, they stroll up to the sign to get some contact info and BOOM! “View the video of this home at: http://www.wellcomemat.com/iphone/BostonVideoTours”
Disclaimer: this is the first version of our mobile solution(s). You’ll likely hit some snags. But, right here in the collective brain of Team WellcomeMat is a mobile video platform that is going to absolutely change the name of the local game. If you have any feedback/questions, as usual, get in touch already!
24 Jul 08 What You Need to Know About Local Video Distribution
When we talk about video, one of the hottest topics these days seems to be that of distribution. How do I get my content online and everywhere? What are the best tactics for distributing/syndicating content online? Before we address the ‘how’, we should first talk openly about the practices of many of the most popular video sites online. For a good while now, online video has been like the wild west. Shoot a video and post it to any and every site that will accept your content, a complete free for all! Things are changing, fast! We’ve talked about this before (see “The Egg Cracks“) but this story is bound to continue.
If you are focused on real estate and local video, you need this list!
Stopped Accepting Real Estate Video
- Vimeo
- Bliptv
- Crackle
- Pickle
Stopped Accepting User-Gen Content Altogether
- Brightcove
- Video Egg
- Mania TV
Publicly Stated Disinterest in Real Estate Video (Terms of Service, etc.)
- YouTube
- Viddler
- Yahoo Video
16 Jul 08 Friends don’t let friends ruin FACEBOOK
Is it just me or have you been getting bombarded by unnecessary Facebook promotions (groups, friends, etc.) recently?
I was speaking with a human friend this week about her evolving relationship with FACEBOOK. More specifically, how it’s changed from the early days to the behemoth it’s become today. Obviously she preferred the days of old, but that wasn’t the part of the conversation that tweaked my zanplat (that’s an “ear” for you humans). She, like me and countless other beings, had lost her emotional attachment to FB. I thought to myself, “OMG!… what have humans done to her FACEBOOK?”.
What’s my malfunction with Facebook? Well, ever since I signed up on Facebook, I’ve been getting friend requests from people I don’t know. Now that’s ok because this is in fact a ‘Face’ book (community of individuals) and likewise I have total control whether or not to accept the request. What’s bothering me is that some humanoids cannot overcome their desire to broadcast their services on FB: “HEY!!! YOU!!! HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?! YEAH THIS. MY NEW PRODUCT! YOU HAVE TO TRY IT OUT. SIGN UP TODAY! SERIOUSLY. IT’S AMAZING.” So amazing that I need them [insert annoying marketeer] to broadcast their service to me while I am simply trying to connect with like-minded peeps?
I think it’s a bad idea to market your service (so bluntly) on FACEBOOK, so much so that I’ve almost convinced the guys at WellcomeMat to pull down their WellcomeMat Video profile. You might disagree with me but deep down, you know I’m right. The site is 75% to space junk (MySpace) status already. So please… don’t cheapen facebook. Don’t post, ‘Thanks for the Ad’ to someones wall. If you have a product or service to sell, promote awareness of problem you’re trying to solve, not yourself or business.
24 Jun 08 Local Video to Reach $1.5 Billion by 2012
There has never been anything about WellcomeMat that didn’t seem worth it. Yes, it’s been a longer and extended shlog up a muddy mountain side than we originally thought; but, as Moms always says, “Christian…the joy is in the journey.” I’m here to say that we are more than enjoying our journey to local video glory. BUT, I also have to say that knowing that the local video market is projected to be a $1.5B market by 2012 makes this journey feel a bit more worthy!
If you are a local producer, and wondering where your next gig is going to come from, keep your chin up and keep shlogging up the hillside. We’re climbing a worthy mound!
14 Feb 08 Real Estate Video Unwrapped
posted by Christian Sterner
Long time WellcomeMat member, aerial video jockey, and Alaskan real estate agent Ray Wood has done a pretty amazing job with his new blog, Full-MotionVideoTours.net, which thoroughly documents the nitty gritty details of real estate video.
It’s rare to find a real estate video blog that is objective because most of them (including this one) are real estate video companies, helpless against the passion of their sites/companies/products. Go to Ray Wood’s blog, and you’ll find a well-done, objective source of information about real estate video. Great job Ray! Now, if you’d just crop that darn profile photo of yours on WellcomeMat…
14 Feb 08 Back to What?
posted by Christian Sterner
Joel Burslem put out a post the other day about a common opinion within the industry that 2.0 tools will have little, if any effect on the real estate industry:
“There’s a belief that the principles of real estate marketing 201 (social media, blogging, video, social networking, micro-blogging, etc.) are never going to supplant traditional marketing.”
Jonathan Dalton identifies this Wizard of Oz shoe tapping, please take me back to a more comfortable time mentality in his post, “The Fallacy of ‘Going Back to the Basics’ .” Back to basics? Back to huh? Let’s do this instead: let’s pretend the internet didn’t ever happen. This is definitely the way to go: bare with me. Let’s also pretend that the junk mail that we get-you know..the mail that you get and immediately realize how wasteful this country really is-holds more weight in the eyes of our customers then when they do a Google search for hyper local information and find a knowledgeable, local expert (blog/video), whom happens to be a real estate professional.
These back to basics (huh?) and off-line/dig your head into the sand notions immediately serve as the catalyst to The Question. I am referring to The Question that crosses every single real estate technologist’s mind from time to time (don’t lie…I know you have thought this too): what in the hell am I doing in this industry? Trust me, it’s only a fleeting moment before I remember why I am here, working on WellcomeMat during every waking moment of each day; but, holy ?!?&#!!?
Please note that, even though I would immediately re-allocate all off-line marketing dollars to the web, I am not suggesting that anyone else do the same. All I am saying is test the waters, mark a percentage of off-line money to online marketing initiatives and see what happens. There are a lot of off-line marketing methods that work, have worked, and will continue to work. I get that.
04 Dec 07 Don’t Be a Victim
posted by Christian Sterner
We are often asked “what’s going to happen to real estate?” Sometimes, this question means “hey..which way is the market going to go?” Other times, what we are being asked is “what is 2.0 doing to the industry?”
People tend to treat the real estate market like it’s some giant living in the woods somewhere. What’s the monster going to do? The answer to all of these questions is You Are Real Estate. 2.0 isn’t doing anything to real estate…it is real estate. Real estate will head in the exact direction that we as an industry push it.
They say that the true test of a man/woman is what they do when they get knocked down. The market has dealt a blow to just about everyone by now, but this is where winners take their stand. Lazy marketing, apathetic attitudes, and lame excuses (such as “the media is hurting my business!”) make you the victim. You are the local media that the national publications/news outlets can never beat. You are the local resource, and can shoot videos that highlight your knowledge of your territory. Be the media, be the change, be real estate. Don’t be a victim.
24 Nov 07 Sheep Wolf Shark Bait
One waits, one makes moves. One relies heavily on peripheral vision, one need only focus on what’s ahead. The most important thing to note about using video is that it is a real, tangible, competitive advantage. This is especially so when trying to win listings over agents that don’t use video. Brian Copeland’s statement says it all:
“I have a 100% listing rate. I’ve never lost a listing. In my first eight months of real estate (which was in 2006) I closed 62 homes without being with a builder or on a team. I know you guys looked silly walking the floor in space suits, but you truly are the new frontier. Thanks for making [video] accessible, easy, attractive and affordable!”
While we disagree entirely with the opinion that we “looked silly walking the floor in space suits,” and truly believed we looked like super heroes, we still think the world of Mr. Copeland.
Watch his interview with Team WellcomeMat in Vegas:
