How it Works
Animoto allows real estate agents to combine high-quality images and short video clips with music to create beautiful slideshows. Best of all, Animoto is inexpensive and easy to use. You start by uploading photos and video clips, or sync Animoto to your Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, Photobook, or SmugMug account. Then, you choose music from Animoto’s large music library, type in the text you want included, and Animoto produces a beautiful video slideshow within minutes. If you aren’t satisfied with the result then Animoto makes it easy to resubmit the video until it meets your expectations. You will find this part somewhat addicting as you resubmit to see what new combination Animoto will come up with.

Create Featured Listing Videos
Imagine using high-quality photos complemented by rhythmic music to showcase a featured listing. Animoto offers an excellent way to make a seller’s listing available to a lot of different people. Agents even have the option of making a branded or unbranded video. An unbranded video is preferred when you want other real estate agents to make it available to their clients. This will increase the number of viewers and sell properties faster. If you choose to include your contact information, Animoto offers a customizable button that can be displayed at the end of the video to give viewers instant access to you.

Create Neighborhood Profile Videos
Animoto videos are the perfect way to introduce a neighborhood or community you serve. They give you the opportunity to show a large number of pictures in a short amount of time.  Writing neighborhood profile pages is a great way to educate your visitors, but taking it a step further and adding video is a  fantastic way to really engage your audience.

View the example Sonoma  neighborhood video at the top of this neighborhood profile page. We specialize in real estate WordPress add-ons and found Animoto to be a perfect fit with the neighborhood profile add-on template. Animoto videos have the potential to make your real estate site more appealing and hands-on than other sites.

Create an Agent Bio Profile Video
What better way to introduce and promote yourself as an agent then to show potential clients a personalized video of all you have to offer. This personal video could include the area you serve in, homes that you have sold, testimonials from clients, family images, hobbies, extracurricular activities, and more. A personalized video will allow potential clients to “connect” with you before they actually meet you in person, making it a great addition to your website. There is no substitute for writing a real estate agent bio, but adding the video touch adds that personal touch. View some of Animoto’s real estate videos and get your creative juices flowing.

Sharing your video with the World
Animoto videos can be viewed in HD from Animoto’s website, posted to a website or blog, shared on Facebook or YouTube, or burned onto a DVD. These videos are unbranded, meaning Animoto does not put their logo in the video or anywhere else, so your clients will never guess how easy it was to create this stunning presentation.

Animoto App
Animoto also lets you share videos on the go. With their Animoto mobile app, you’ll be able to create, share, and watch your videos everywhere you go. The app will easily let you share your videos via email, Facebook, Twitter, text, or save to your Camera Roll. Go Animoto!

With more and more people spending their free time on the Internet, real estate agents have the opportunity to look for creative ways to reach potential clients. Animoto offers real estate agents a creative and simple way to promote featured listings, the area in which they serve, and themselves. All it takes is a few clicks of the mouse and Animoto will add a great deal of spice and creativity to your real estate marketing campaign.

Step 1: Include Professional Experience
A well-rounded bio will inform clients about your skills, expertise, education (certificates, degrees, diplomas, classes taken, etc.), experience, and awards. You want to be careful not to bore your readers with too many facts, so if you find yourself with a long list, it is a good idea to only include the most important facts in your bio. Then, you can either provide a link to a more complete list of credentials, or list them at the bottom of the page.

Step 2: Provide a Personal Touch
Adding some insight into your personal life away from work is a good tool for connecting with clients. Include your family, pets, hobbies, or extracurricular activities. This is what will bring you down to earth as a real person. And, who knows when someone might contact you simply because you have something in common with them . On this same note, keep the details about yourself light and to the point, and certainly don’t get too detailed about your personal life.

Step 3: Link Yourself to the Real Estate Area
Be sure to include information about where you live or have lived, and how long you have been an agent in the area. This will demonstrate your knowledge of an area. On the other hand, you might be new to an area. In this case, be sure to mention why you moved to this area and some things that you love about it.

Step 4: A Bio is NOT an Advertisement
Keep your bio simple and honest—you don’t want it to come off as an advertisement (there is a time and place for that) because you will just turn clients away. Keep in mind that your bio should show how qualified you are, but also reveal you as a real hard-working person that can relate to someone’s wants and needs.

Step 5: Do Some Research
Knowing what sounds good and what will catch your reader’s eye can be hard to figure out on your own, so take a look at what other agents have done. This will give you some great pointers on what works and what doesn’t work. It can also help you develop a good outline for your own bio.

Step 6: 10-minute brainstorm session
If you are writing your own bio, it might be a bit intimidating to get started, so it is best to just start writing, ignoring the spelling, grammar and sentence structure. You can write a list, make a mind map, or just fill up a page with your thoughts. The point is to narrow down what it is you want to cover in your bio, and get it put into words on the screen (or on paper).

Step 7: Just the Right Length
Your bio should not be too long or too short. Aim for two to three paragraphs, and about 250 to 300 words—any longer and your readers will lose interest.

Step 8: Proofread and Review
A bio is a great opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism, so your writing must be error-free. Spelling and grammar are a must! When you think it is perfect, follow these three steps: take a 12 to 24 hour break so you can look at it with a fresh mind, read it out loud to yourself, and then have a trusted friend, family member or colleague read it and give you feed back.

Step 9: Don’t Use too Much of a Good Thing
Exclamation points, italics, bold, and underlining are great tools to emphasize a point, but should be used sparingly. When used too much, they can have the opposite effect and distract the reader.

Step 10: End it Right
Be sure to include your contact information at the end of your bio. This gives your potential client immediate and easy access to all you have to offer.

Writing or maybe rewriting your real estate agent bio should be at the top of the list of “to dos.”  It is inexpensive and effective, but the best part is that you can use it over and over again—on your website, blog, in your listing presentation, brochures, Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other place where you have made your online presence known. Just make sure to review it every six months to keep it up to date. Once you’ve created a bio you will have a great tool that will help you bond with potential clients before you even meet them, making you a step ahead of competitors.

If you are in need of professional copy writing services for your agent biography or just need someone to proof your work, please feel free to contact us. We have the resources to help.

The Apple Card app offers many beautifully crafted letterpress designs to choose from so your card is sure to make a lasting impression. The process is rather simple. After taking the photo select your card design, type out your personal message, choose the recipient and send it on it’s way. Within days your client will have a personalized card in their hands and photo moment to treasure. All this done using your iPhone or iPod touch. The cost of each card is just $2.99 anywhere within the United States and $4.99 when sent to or from anywhere outside the U.S – postage included.

Take a few minutes to review the new Card app from Apple and you might find other great reasons to send a personal photo card to clients, friends and love ones. Remember, it’s the thought that counts. For other great ideas like this, visit our real estate marketing tips.

What is a QR code?
QR codes, or Quick Response Codes, are two-dimensional bar codes that are arranged in a pattern of squares and used to encode product information. When scanned by a smartphone camera, the user can be directed to any web page you specify, such as your website’s home page, a specific listings profile page, your contact information, a page with a video offering more information about you, etc. The benefit of this new technology is the person can easily scan the code and be directed to where they want to go, no need to enter a website address. QR codes allow agents to track how many times someone has clicked on their different codes. QR codes have already been used in a number of ways, including on direct mail pieces, business cards, movie posters and even signposts to provide visitor information about a city.

Some have estimated that around 1 billion people will own a smartphone by 2013. The more people start to realize just how convenient these handy codes are, the more they will become mainstream.

Marketing Potential
Agents can use QR codes in real estate marketing as an innovative tool because potentially it can simplify and accelerate the process of promoting homes for sellers and attracting buyers to listings while connecting them to the agent’s website. The simple design and size make it easy to integrate QR codes into real-life marketing tools. The following are just a few ideas of where to add your QR codes.

1. Flyers. Put a QR code on your listing flyers and send potential buyers to a YouTube video featuring you and the home they are interested in, a slide show of the home, or listing page with additional photos.

2. Lawn Signs. Similar to Flyers, a QR code on lawn signs give buyers instant access to virtual tours, property specifications, community information, and mortgage options by leading them to your website.

3. Magazine Advertising, Business Cards & Stationary. Consider linking the QR code to a video that starts by mentioning where the barcode was scanned, (i.e. Thanks for reading REALTOR(R) Magazine, etc) and then moves on to the information you want to convey. It could also connect clients to a website, Facebook page, blog, or Twitter account.

4. Direct Mail Pieces. In a mail campaign, using QR codes is a great way to connect with potential sellers. Send the viewer to a video tour of of yourself talking about the wonderful neighborhood area that they live in and the great opportunities available to sell a home fast using innovative marketing tools (such as QR codes!).

5. Your Vehicle. Similar to using a business card technique, provide a video that starts off by thanking the client for scanning the QR code and reiterating the need to have an agent willing to use the most innovative and effective marketing tools available.

How To Create QR Codes for Real Estate Marketing
Creating your own QR codes is simple and FREE. Follow our steps on How To Create QR Codes for Real Estate Marketing using Google’s free online service.

Thoughts
When used effectively, QR codes for real estate are an excellent way to engage your target audience. They are simple and inexpensive, making them easy to integrate into any current marketing tools already being used. Best of all, they can help Agents stay a step ahead of their competition. Hopefully this article has introduced you to enough to get you experimenting with this great marketing tool. Let us know if you have been using them successfully or how you plan to use them in the future.

Log Into or Create a Google Account
Sign in to your Google Account. Don’t have one, create one for free in less than 1 minute (How to Create a Google Account and Why you Should).

Creating Your QR Code
Visit Google’s URL Shortner service and simply enter the URL (web page link) that you want to send someone to when they scan your QR code. Google will create a shortened version of your website link and then list it below. You can then click the Details link located to the right and you will see a one-of-a-kind QR Code created just for your link. It’s really that simple and you can create as many QR codes that you need.

Testing Your New QR Code
Want to test your new QR code creation? If you have an Android or iPhone, simply search your App Store for “qr code scanner” and you will find plenty of free apps. One popular scanner is RedLaser – Barcode Scanner and QR Code Reader By Occipital. Some the benefits of marketing with QR codes is you can view basic visitor stats such as Country, Browser, and Platform. This can be helpful in determining if the effort and money you put into creating, managing and marketing these codes is worthwhile.

Stats Page

A survey by the California Association of Realtors reinforces the importance of Realtor Response time:

• 86% of leads felt that response time was “extremely important” when deciding on their real estate agent
• 31% of Internet home buyers expected their real estate agent to respond instantly to their online inquiry
• 96% of Internet home buyers expected a real estate agent to contact them within 4 hours of their online inquiry

Here is an online demo: www.WebtoPhoneLead.com
And, for a limited time, they are offering our clients a free trial: www.WebtoPhoneLead.com/trial

Some additional information from their website:

WebtoPhoneLead closes the gap between impulse and action to increase website sales. Talk to your website visitors during their peak interest instead of following up with a text or email. Your conversions will soar.

• WebtoPhoneLead leads increase conversions and profits.
• WebtoPhoneLead work during the weekend and after hours. No need to have a salesperson in a call center, behind a computer.
• Differentiate over your competition with a new, innovative lead type.
• Payment occurs only when the call lasts 30 seconds or more.
• Dynamically route calls to multiple offices or within an office or salespeople.
• Be first to connect to a lead if it is posted to several buyers.
• Automatic second and third attempts to dramatically increase conversions.

We would be interested to get some feedback on this product so contact us to let us know what you think!

One great way to promote your mobile IDX search, is to create a marketing page on your website to let visitors know how they can use this valuable tool to get more photos and property details on “any” active listing while on the go. Encourage them to bookmark your mobile search on their mobile device. Promote that they can enter any property address number or street name to quickly find more details. Include a link to view your mobile friendly search for visitors using a mobile device. Feel free to use the example text found at the end of this article and any images on this page to create your Mobile Search Marketing page.

Tip (Advanced): If you are comfortable editing code, you could add a detection script that would automatically detect and redirect visitors to the mobile friendly search when using their mobile device.

Suggestion 2

Add a Mobile IDX Search graphic to your side bar that would lead visitors to your mobile IDX marketing page.

Suggestion 3

Create a page on your site called Mobile and redirect it to your mobile IDX search page. Promote your customized link in printed material as well as in your other marketing (business cards, print ads, voicemail greeting, etc). Advertise that all someone needs to do is visit www.yourdomain.com/mobile and they can start their search when on the go.

Example Marketing Page

Feel free to copy and paste the content below for your own website. Be sure to right-click the image and save to your computer, then upload it to your own website.

Go Mobile! View Photos, Property Details and More

Have you ever wanted to see more photos or details on a home when you were right in front of it? Now you can. By using our mobile friendly search, you can enter the property address number or street name and instantly access photos, pricing, property description and more.

Just visit
www.yourdomain.com/mobile
(be sure to bookmark the site on your mobile device)

- Search all listings
- Search by MLS number, street number or street name
- Listings are updated daily
- View more photos than typically found on flyers
- Pin point property location on Google Maps
- Easily contact us if you have questions about a property

Twitter is a great way to send out short (140 characters or less), timely messages about what you are doing, reading, etc…that others may find interest in. Ideally, these messages will help you gain followers (people that want to read your messages) because they find value in your messages. The more followers you have, the more reach / opportunity you will have.

Examples
Let’s say a mortgage broker you were talking to just mentioned that rates dropped below 4% today…that may be something you want everyone to know, but don’t have time to call, email, and text every person you know. Simply post the message to Twitter and let them read it themselves…if they are interested.

What if you were talking to a potential seller that was in an area where houses rarely become available…you could break the news and tell people to contact you for an inside scoop.

Let’s say you just read an article or heard about something significant going on in a neighborhood you are familiar with…again…spread the word by linking to the article or if it hasn’t been written about, write it on your blog and let everyone know you posted it. Create the “buzz.”

These are just a few examples to get you thinking. Once you have the frame of mind to use Twitter, you will have many more ideas. Just search Google for something like “Twitter for real estate agents” and you can find many more examples.

Sure, you may not see much value in the beginning, but as you build your stream of Twitter messages (tweets) with valuable information, when people do stumble across your account, the likelihood of them “following” you will be increased. You can also increase your exposure by including a link to your Twitter account by placing some sort of Follow me or Twitter icon / link on your website, printed material and email signature. Everyone has their own way of communicating and staying in touch…give them as many options as possible to stay connected.

Twitter is free and it will only take a small effort to give it a try and see if it works for you. So what are you waiting for?
Go to Twitter now and sign up. Let us know if Twitter is working for you.

SmarterAgent has developed the ability to search publicly available MLS listings from a cell phone. Potential Buyers can locate properties by GPS, address, zip code, or city; see details including price, square footage, beds/baths, and taxes; map properties closest to them; even see pictures! Your branded information comes up with the listing so you get the call. Once the buyer has found a listing they are interested in, they can simply push a button and they will be connected with you so you can provide more information.

Visitors can download the service to their phone from your website and anytime they search for listings and request more information, all leads will go to you. If someone is using this service, they will probably contact you from the convenient application rather than trying to contact the listing agent shown on the yard sign. We’ve surpassed the talking house and moved into an era of communicating that is cutting edge.

If you would like assistance setting this service up on your website, please contact us and we can help you get it integrated. SmarterAgent typically charges $250 (one time set-up) and around $39.95/mo if paid annually. They have been known to offer specials, so check with us first.

SmarterAgent.com – Mobile Phone Real Estate Search Demo

You may also want to visit their website for more information regarding Real Estate searches on mobile phones

Basically anyone who has downloaded this free application can pull up a map, based on where they are standing (or driving) and it will display the typical information that you find on Zillow. This includes homes for sale (as well as the usual Zestimates, sold history, etc). If someone is out and about and sees a house for sale, they can simply click the app and it will automatically determine where they are standing (using GPS) and let them know what the listing price is for any homes around them, provided the agent took the time to get that information on Zillow. You can even see additonal photos that have been uploaded.

I would imagine savvy home sellers will know of this application as well and expect you to be keeping their listing data updated in Zillow so they get this additional exposure. For more information about this new application visit the following pages.

• Zillow’s New iPhone Application
• May 12th Update on Zillow’s iPhone Popularity
• Download the App