Most REALTORS® are afraid of technology because they will freeze when they see words like .jpeg, HTML, wiki and ping. Ping… what the heck is a ping? If you are in this category then don’t give up yet. Technology is changing our business very rapidly and the ones who adapt will be in it for the long haul. Secretaries need to be retrained every five years or will not have the same skill set in order to keep up with the work load of a fast paced environment. Real estate is no different. In most cases it is more competitive. Blogging is a new way to drive people to your real estate website, increase loyalty with consumers, and give the author the ability to create the tone and dialogue for its readers. Since a blog is a website journal that is written in reverse chronological order then the most recent post appear at the top. Bloggers are gaining more credibility as time passes on as long as the content is timely, useful, and recurs on a regular basis. Most bloggers rely on posting text and pictures to the site. Text is ancient history, pictures were last year, podcasting is today, and video is the future. Ready to be different. Use video.
Most think that you need some sort of background in computer science to create a video blog. On the contrary it is extremely easy. If you need help then just ask a fourth grader. Below are the 11 steps to get started today.
Go to www.RealTownBlogs.com and create a user account.
- Read the entire FAQs page to begin setting up your blog (do not skip this, very important).
- Purchase a video camera for your laptop or PC. Logitech® Quick Cam Pro™ is available on their website www.Logitech.com, but you can buy them cheaper on www.Amazon.com. This camera is great if you want to use Skype (www.Skype.com) to connect with the world too.
- Install the software that comes with the packaging and plug the camera into your laptop.
- Begin filming video of anyone and save the video as a file on your computer. Important to create a separate file folder for your videos.
- Create a new account with YouTube at www.YouTube.com. This is a free service to upload videos but be sure to read the terms of use to make sure that you follow their guidelines.
- Upload the video you have created to YouTube and make any notes, tags, etc. so that people can find them easier on the video searches.
- Once the video has been uploaded, at the bottom of the screen you will see the sourcing code. Use the left mouse button on the anywhere on the code and on your keyboard press CTRL-A to select all. Next press CTRL-C on your keyboard to copy the code onto your clipboard.
- Go back to your blog on www.RealTownBlogs.com. Add a new entry on the left side of the screen and a new menu will appear. Be sure to follow the steps located on the FAQs page to know how the entry is organized.
- Click the source button at the top of the Entry Editor and then press CTRL-V to paste the code from YouTube.
- Click the source button again and then proceed to format your entry with text, style, and color.
As more and more real estate professionals use personal websites and other internet marketing strategies the more they will have to differentiate themselves from the competition. There is no doubt that video is the future of internet marketing. The goal is to have people spend more time on your site and once they feel comfortable with you the more likely they will give you their business. For an example of the first video blog for the St. Louis Downtown Loft Market please visit www.StLouisLoftSource.com.
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