As video continues to develop as a dominant force in the future of online marketing and communication, many agents face the difficult question of how to use video when they do not have the time, money, or technical expertise to produce full-featured videos for their listings.

Since we’re always on the lookout for good examples of how to use practical tips and tools to overcome obstacles and build your real estate business, we couldn’t resist sharing this great example of how to create videos without using actual video footage, as demonstrated by Mike Walker of Ohio.

At first glance, Mike’s approach seems very straightforward: He takes photos of his listings and creates slide shows which can then be exported to video for YouTube.com and other video sharing sites. The devil, however, is really in the details with Mike’s videos.

He employs five small, but effective techniques to make his videos more entertaining and more effective at communicating essential information:

1. Mike uses a special effect / transition in the video to draw the eye into or across the photo– typically called the “Ken Burns” effect, this motion keeps the photos from sitting idle in the video

2. Mike incorporates some music to the photos; you could also record audio of yourself talking about attributes of the property (or do both)

3. In YouTube, Mike wisely titles every video with the property address as well as a contact phone number. This way, his contact information TRAVELS with the video, wherever it may be embedded or shared!

4. Inside of each video, Mike makes sure to include the address of his website– this way, individual videos become magnets for traffic back to his site, even if the video is embedded in other pages

5. You’ll notice that Mike uses the same videos for his “Available” and “Just Sold” properties. When a property he’s sold is no longer on the market, he can easily change the text above the video to “Just Sold” to showcase past listings he’s successfully brought to market

If you think video is out of range for you, think again. This is an excellent, low-cost, low-overhead model for increasing prospect engagement on your own website.

Check out more examples here:
http://www.showmethekeys.com

Thanks again, Mike, for agreeing to share your technique with our subscribers!

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Whether you’re using magnetic signs or a full car wrap, here’s a trick you can use to maximize your vehicle’s advertising potential.

You may have noticed that most of the conversations you have related to your vehicle advertising happen at gas stations. It makes sense– you stop to fill up, and as you’re waiting for the pump to top off the tank, you strike up a conversation with the person across the way. Before you know it, you’re handing out a business card.

In order to increase the number of these “meet and greet” opportunities, try filling your tank at two or three different gas stations. Rather than fill it up at your usual stop, find gas stations along the main roads of your local market, and put a few gallons in at a time. Choose relatively busy gas stations, but avoid hitting them at peak hours (when people are in a rush to get to work, for example). A late lunch hour isn’t a bad time to try it out. Also consider cruising gas stations on weekends (provided you’re not at an open house).

One of the easiest ways to get a conversation going at the pump is simply to ask, “How have you liked your [MAKE/MODEL]?” Some car owners are enthusiastic fans of their brands, and they like to talk about their vehicles. Subarus, Mini Coopers, and Prius drivers are especially open to sharing their opinion.

Keep your cards handy and be positive. Happy “accidents” happen. (By the way: rear ending a prospect’s car is never a good idea!)

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If you’re guilty of distracted driving, now there’s a mobile app that might just save your life. From the website:

DriveSafe.ly is a mobile application that reads text (SMS) messages and emails aloud in real time and automatically responds without drivers touching the mobile phone. DriveSafe.ly is the solution to texting while driving.

According to the company behind DriveSafe.ly, the app’s features include:

• Reads your text messages and emails out loud in real time
• Hands Free – No need to touch the phone while driving
• One-touch activation – no complicated setup
• Bluetooth and radio transmitter compatible
• Reads text message shorthand (lol, brb)
• Optional customizable auto-responder

Test drive the DriveSafe.ly app yourself here:
http://www.drivesafe.ly/

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One of the greatest challenge you face as you build your real estate business is coming up with new ideas to differentiate yourself and create meaningful relationships with clients. Breakthrough ideas can keep you top-of-mind with clients. How do you reinvent your skills and services in ways that attract new listing agreements? How will you tell a new story to sell an old home?

What holds people back in the pursuit of the new idea is often the habit of thinking too small. We are often our own worst critics, choosing only to work in the narrow space of “what makes sense” and “what is reasonable.” This “color in the lines” mentality cuts us off from amazing ideas. We’re quick to say, “That’s impossible” when an idea seems absurd.

Resist this temptation. Explore the “impossible” ideas. Sure, they may seem impossible at first, but they might just lead you down a path you would have never discovered had you not suspended your inner critic and explored a “crazy” concept.

People are most comfortable shooting down ideas. But remember this: When someone says, “You’re dreaming… that’s ridiculous,” they may be saying: “Your idea scares me– it scares me because if you pull it off, I’ll be forced to learn something new. I’ll have to compete with you, and I won’t know where to begin.”

And if you find yourself saying, “I’d love to try it, but it’s just not realistic,” it could be that you’re afraid of chasing a dream you most desire. After all, chasing a dream means risking a lot.

Beware of practical. Explore the absurd now and again.

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Last year, I brought real estate pros and CEOs hundreds of tips, tactics, and mastermind attitudes to help them become more productive, reclaim wasted time, and make more money. The problem is, you probably missed most of them. Let’s fix that!

Dear Real Estate Professional: If you’ve been following my Free Help for Real Estate Agents Fan Page, or you’ve been one of the thousands of loyal subscribers to my Tuesday Tactics newsletter, you know I’m 100% dedicated to your success. Recently a broker in charge of several large offices wrote me the following: “Scott, I subscribed to your Tuesday Tactics newsletter last month and I love it. I know you guys have been publishing your newsletter for a while… How can I get my hands on the stuff I missed?” GREAT QUESTION. It got me thinking: Even if I had the time to put together a comprehensive archive of our actionable, tactical articles, who would have the time to absorb all of it at once? It’d be MASSIVE. Most agents would be so overwhelmed that they’d miss out on the very tools which would literally give them back hours of their life and put money in their pockets. That’s when lightning struck: Why not get my team together and highlight the BEST and BRIGHTEST tips and tools from 2009? I called up Eric, my editor in San Francisco, and pitched him the concept. He took that deep breath of “here we go again” that I’m used to hearing when I want to jump on a new idea. “Scott, let me get this straight—” he said. “On top of the new books and webinars we already have in production, you want us to add a brand new guide that highlights the cream of the crop from last year, too?” “Exactly,” I said. “And I want it hand picked. Only the most powerful stuff we published last year.” And that’s exactly what we’re doing. Be Among the First to Get Your Hands on a Limited Free Release of Our “Tuesday Tactics Top Tips of 2009” Guide This is no April Fools’ Day joke. On April 1st, we are releasing a limited number of FREE digital copies of this new guide EXCLUSIVELY to people who pre-register using the form below. You will ONLY receive the guide by registering in advance. To ensure you receive your guide, we highly recommend you register using your personal email address, not your office or company address. Certain company servers will automatically delete the notification as spam!

Don’t miss out! Fill out this form to pre-register now:

Have you ever found yourself falling short of your personal goals, and wondered why (again) you’ve failed to reach the milestones you’ve set for yourself? There’s a straightforward reason you may not be achieving what you set out to achieve:

You don’t pay yourself first.

The concept of paying yourself first isn’t new, but it’s often forgotten. It is the key to incrementally attaining positive results, and it goes like this:

1. Determine what your most goal is; you can’t work well until you know what you’re working towards.
2. Identify the time of day when you have the most focus and energy– for some it may be first thing in the morning, for others, it may be late at night when the world quiets down.
3. Match the tasks you must complete to reach your goal to the time when you have the most focus and energy. Set this time aside to work on what is most important to you.

A lot of us fall prey to wasting some of our most productive, high-energy time on tasks which require little of our bodies and brains. Do you really want to waste that first cup of coffee going through your e-mail and weeding out spam? It may seem like the natural time to tackle the task, but wouldn’t it be far better to brainstorm new marketing ideas as that caffeine is surging through your body?

Save the mundane, the easy, and the least interesting tasks for that time of day when you can sit back and utilize that half-a-brain-cell you’ve got left. If you’re trying to pay yourself after a long day, two glasses of wine, and cleaning the house, your returns will be severely limited.

Pay yourself first and you’ll get premium results!

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If you wanted to, you could probably spend every day for the next five years trying out new social media tools online.

But how many would really help you grow your real estate business?

Often these tools sound good, but it’s hard to figure out how you can practically integrate them into your business. Well, I’d like to show you a free video messaging tool (TokBox.com) and a real-world example of an agent who used the technology to help him become the “fastest gun” as a buyer’s agent:

“How you can profit from the expanding 18-35 year old first time buyer market in literally just minutes after reading this.”

http://www.goodmorningrealestate.com/blog/36hours-3-text-messages-375k-purchase

Update:  We’ve found another free service, that is definitely worth your attention.  It’s similar to TokBox, but seems a little more robust.  The service is called “Paltalk” and allows you to add Video Chat to your site, forum or blog, by using “Paltalk’s Video Chat Widget.” If you’ve used Paltalk, please let us know what you think, and share your experience.

You can try Paltalk for free here: Free Trial of Paltalk

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If you walk out of a meeting without knowing what comes next and who’s in charge of handling it, you’ve just wasted your time.

A meeting is an expensive proposition– it monopolizes time for everyone involved. They disrupt the flow of an otherwise productive day. Calls and email go unanswered. If you’re going to have a meeting, you need to do so for a reason with a specific outcome in mind.

To ensure that your meetings are worth the cost, you need to institute one simple habit…

Never leave the meeting without asking:
“So what is the next action here?”

This simple 7-word question will help you prevent a meeting ending without a clear, actionable direction to pursue. Raise the issues at hand with the people who absolutely must be there, and conclude with your “next action” question. When you’ve answered the “next action” question, you’ll know what to expect and who to expect it from. Not only is this useful for your office meetings, but it can be invaluable to making sure client meetings are effective, too.

And yes, there are opportunities for less formal meetings… they’re called lunch!

(Credit due to David Allen’s classic book on productivity, “Getting Things Done”: Amazon.com)

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Is there someone in your life that makes you think: “I wish I met them sooner”?

Think of someone who you would probably miss if you didn’t hear from them for a long time. Someone who makes you marvel at how lucky you are that you met them.

Do any of your clients think of you this way?

If you’ve been at it for a long time, you probably have at least few clients that think of you this way.

They’re probably directly responsible for a lot of referrals, too. If you have clients that think of you this way, you will never have to worry about business. Your sellers will become your future buyers and together they’ll refer you more business than you can handle. Sounds like an admirable goal to shoot for, doesn’t it?

To be memorable, you should be indispensable. You must be someone who gives freely, someone who builds life-long bonds by enriching the lives of people with whom you have rapport.

So how do you do it?

1. Empathize with people. Imagine, as you’re listening to them, that they’re not describing their problems, questions, and dreams, but they’re describing your own. Make yourself the star of the movie of their life and be aware of how you would feel.

2. Be a part of the solution, even if you cannot solve the problem. Can you solve everybody’s problems? Of course not. But you might be able to help them to see a pathway through their problem. This might be in the form of questions that help them think something through. It could be a referral to someone who can help them with their problem. It could even be as simple as a list of good articles to consider.

3. Aim to counsel, don’t aim to please. An advisor is a true ally. A “yes man/woman” is completely forgettable (and untrustworthy). Risk short term rejection over a tough truth in order to grow a long term relationship.

4. Teach others how to teach themselves. Don’t just give answers. The more you can increase a client’s capacity to empower themselves, the more valuable your standing will be in their eyes. Think about it: Do you ever forget your mentors?

5. Give without anticipating return. If you’re running a little cost/benefit analysis in your head for every interaction, you’re not giving freely. Hesitancy, a stinginess of spirit, and an unwillingness to risk without reward will always cost you more than you think.

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Q: Is it still a good idea to add pleasant odors (cookies baking, cinnamon, fresh flowers) to a staged home for showings?

A: Not necessarily. Odors do matter, but assuming you know what “a nice smell” is to you buyers could be trouble.

If anything, the house should smell freshly cleaned, but not “chemical.” Your best bet is to focus on eliminating foul or dominant odors. If the house smells stuffy or “closed up” (you know, that “back of the closet with coats from 1974 smell”), concentrate on circulating fresh air first and foremost. Replacing air filters in forced heat/air systems is a good place to start.

The trouble with adding odors such as baking cookies or fresh coffee is one of preference. How do you know what sort of associations buyers will have with the smells you think are attractive? Floral scents may even set off allergies.

Not to mention, you may be adding a “good smell” in an effort to cover up a bad smell. We all know how well that works out.

Finally, many buyers are aware of the “sweet smell” tactic associated with open houses. While your intentions may be good, some savvy prospects may be thinking, “I wonder what that smell is supposed to distract us from?”

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