pic to Video?

I placed this in another post but felt compelled to place it here as well.

 There are filmmakers and then again there are "Film-fakers."

I guess I come from an old-school mindset, which says; "The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of it's price!" Even Realtor.com said that, when asked, 73% of sellers would rather list with an agent that offered video instead of slideshows or panos. Stop and ask yourself, WHY

Flimmakers! Ignorance is your biggest competitor... or asset! In other words, the sellers, most agents and it seems some so-called filmmakers out there don't understand the difference, or the emotional impact between slideshows and real video, and how important emotional draw is in marketing; especially when it comes to marketing the sellers home. Which begs me to ask... Who is more important here, the agent or the seller? Forget agents for now, how serious do think the sellers are? We're not marketing 100.00 blenders, we're marketing multiple thousands and hundreds of thousand dollar homes, and the needs of the seller, simultaneously. Forget the dollar amount, the sellers have an emotional need to sell their home, but we shouldn't take that serious, right?  I guess most out there don't seem to take the seriousness of the sellers needs in mind. I mean those slideshows and panos are so effective, they dominate television today, right? I have yet to see how dominant Ken Burns slide shows and panos are when I turn on my TV or go to the theater, especially in marketing. Who, in their right mind, is gambling millions for a 30 sec. spot during the Super Bowl by playing a slideshow for it's emotional impact? I mean slideshows and panos are so cheap (in more ways than one), so why don't the real pros save money and use them. Call me stupid, but I think its because they're ineffective and don't work. Pros could save thousands by not buying expensive equipment and software. If this is the way to go, agents should just use the camera in their cell phone... those devices take pictures. How many Emmy awards are given to producers of slideshow compared to all of the rest. Not that we would qualify for that, but I hope you get my point. 

"Hey Doc! When we operate, lets not worry about gloves, masks, anesthesia... none of that, instead lets do everything on the cheap... I mean they won't know, right?" If you are an agent or a filmmaker, and this describes your marketing mindset, then yes... "Ignorance is your biggest asset!" Give sellers the choice between the two, sideshow/panos or real video and see which marketing format is in the most demand. At the very least, the most important client out there... "The Seller" is made aware of the difference and gets the chance to choose. Let's see... Professional Doc (presentation) or Cheap Doc (presentation)?

Agents, have you noticed how your commission percentages are going further and further down? How does that make you feel? If everybody is doing the same thing, especially since the marketing tools are practically free, don't you think sellers (potential listing clients) see nothing but a pile of oranges when they compare you to other agents? You're all the same! If its cheap everyone is using it! You all offer the same marketing plan... theirs little or no difference, and you won't do anything to make your plan different. It's like the sellers could juxtapose your head on another agent's body. So, since you wont create the difference, the sellers try to create the difference for you by asking you to what... "Will you lower your commission?" DO YOU HEAR THAT OFTEN? Don't you stop to wonder why you hear that so often?  When you're asked that, that's the sellers telling you, "I don't see enough of a difference between you and all the rest of the agents out there." So what else can sellers do to be motivated enough to make a decision to chose a particular agent? They'll go with the lowest bidder. When you decide to make a difference by revamping your marketing plans, contact a real filmmaker in your area, and both of you sit down and layout the plan. If you need help with creating marketing plans for everything from listing capture to client referrals contact me and I'll help you and your localvideographer. There are a lot of really good videographers out there and I am sure there is at least one on your area. They may have no experience with real estate marketing, but you do! Or, call me, I am a twenty-plus year RE vet and I know what it takes to get agency agreements signed, and how important that is to you. I am also an experienced videographer (12+ years) that can communicate with your videographer so you both are on the same page, and I have excellent tools for both of you to use that will get you plenty of signed agency agreements. Ultimately, you and your "Local" videographer can work together to make that difference. 

Separating the wheat from the chaff is as simple as; “Mr. & Mrs. Seller, we at Acme Realty focus on making the big deal for you… by concentrating on making a big difference to you; part of which you will see in our professional productions of your home, when it is distributed & syndicated across the World Wide Web! Everyone else uses ineffective moving picture slide shows and virtual tours, but we don't... would you like to know why?” 

Many on WM will recall the discussions on video is the new photo thus the idea in my mind became how to really implement that on a website in other words how to make a picture turn into a video player.  

This is what the Reliance Regions of Remax has done .....the listings main picture on Search Results pages i.e. there are 10 listings that get displayed when a buyer searches an area and when a listing has a Video Tour then a "Play" button is overlayed on top of the single picture on that results page making it look more like a video player.  

When this button is clicked to "play" then the video tour loads.  

For those videographers who have Remax agents in Reliance Regions this can become a real selling point for you.  

SO VIDEOGRAPHERS how do you tell if your local REMAX uses Reliance .....simply go to the local REMAX site and scroll to the bottom...if it says "Reliance Network" then you now have something that as a videographer you can use to sell the agents on full motion video for their listings....i.e. these agents can now add a video tour to their listing and that will generate a play button on their listing photo that makes their photo appears almost like a video player :) then when clicked the buyer gets to watch your video tour masterpiece.

Mark