Talking real estate and social media with Rory, Steve, and Dave
August 25, 2008 | 2 Comments
A few weeks ago, I met Jonathan Bentz on, you guessed it, Twitter :-). Jonathan asked me if I would be interested in doing a podcast with Rory, Steve and Dave. The guys run a real estate coaching blog. Besides having an interesting blog, the guys are the founders of GetMyHomesValue.com. Their company was recently named the 16th fastest growing real-estate-related company by Inc. Magazine. You can check out GetMyHomesValue.com on Inc. Magazine.
They wanted to have me on as a special guest for a podcast about how agents should approach the national news about the real estate market, and to talk a little bit about social media. They seem like pretty cool guys, and you know me, I love to talk.
They not only recorded the audio, but even made an in-studio video out of it. Check it out:
Here’s one way you can use video in your real estate blog
August 14, 2008 | 9 Comments
Next month, I’ll be speaking at RE Blogworld. I’ll be speaking with Mike Price and Morgan Brown about using video in your real estate business. As most of you know, I do quite a bit of video here on the blog, but the way I use here it isn’t necessarily the same way I would use it in my real estate business.
One question I get from folks is, “how can I use video?” Well, the first thing I would say is– Don’t do video tours of your listings unless you are getting a professional to put it together. We tried doing our own listing tours in our brokerage, and it was a colossal waste of time and effort. The folks at REShows and MLBroadcast are able to put together a much better presentation of your listing using photos and music than you are able to make with video (unless you are a videographer).
So, if I shouldn’t do listing tours, what should I do?
Well, for starters, video is a great way to show people what a neighborhood is like. People can see houses through photos. Neighborhoods and points of interest are much more difficult, and you don’t usually find pictures of that type of thing in the MLS. Video might be perfect for showing folks around town.
Another great use of video is to expose people to the flavor of the area. When you are out and about going to community events, shoot some video. Give people a taste of what it is like to actually LIVE somewhere. People don’t just move into a house and become hermits. They move in and go to restaurants, they go to malls, they go to community events, they go to fairs. . .
My Example
Here is a little video I put together after our trip to the local Albemarle County fair. I took video, and I took a bunch of pictures. I put it to some music, and VOILA! We now have a video that we can share with customers and clients that shows them what the fair was like (and it also gives them a taste of the area):
From the time I sat down at the computer until I had a finished video, it took just over 1 hour. I try to shoot the type of video that doesn’t require a whole lot of editing. Keep it simple– that helps. It actually took longer to get the pictures ready than it did to get the video together. The end result is about 2 minutes long. I think that should be your target end time for just about anything you do. Going much longer than that can be tough on folks, unless it is really interesting.
So that’s just one example of how you might want to use video in your real estate business. There are plenty of others, and I hope to be able to share more examples of things we are doing in the future. If you have your own examples, or examples from others, let me know, I would love to share them with everyone!
What you can learn when I make a fool of myself
August 6, 2008 | 18 Comments
I recently went to the Albemarle County Fair with Kari, my brother Bryan, and my mother-in-law Patsy. We all like fairs, and one of the great things about living in an area that is as rural as ours is that during this time of year, there is a county fair close by just about every week.
One of the things I did while at the fair was try out this really interesting ladder game. Basically, it was a rope ladder strung out across an inflatable platform. At one end of the ladder was a bell. The object was to climb the ladder and ring the bell. Sounds simple. It is, except for the fact that the ladder is attached to one point at the end that rotates freely. This means that the ladder very easily flips over, knocking you off.
My brother went first. He didn’t make it. Being a brother, he challenged me, of course. I gave it a shot. Before I did, however, we asked the guy who was operating the game how many people actually do it. He promptly jumped on the ladder, climbed right up, and rung the bell. It looked pretty easy he did it.
So then, I got on. Here is the result:
How does this matter to you?
Aside from the fact that you probably got a good chuckle out of watching me repeatedly fall over, this whole experience relates to business as well.
When a lot of folks look at technology, they look at it like most folks would look at the ladder game– impossible. They watch others try and give up, or try and fail, and they think that it must be too hard for them, too. Then, someone comes along and makes it all look easy, and it gives them confidence. Enough confidence to try it out, at least.
So, they do what I did. They try to duplicate what they have seen others do, and maybe it doesn’t work out just right. Maybe they fall down a few times, and then they just give up.
Don’t just give up
The fact of the matter is, though, that I know the ladder can be climbed; just as I know that technology can benefit real estate professionals. I watched the carnival guy climb right up that ladder, and I have watched more than one real estate agent reap the benefits of things like blogging, twitter, Facebook, etc.
I am sure that the carnival guy didn’t climb that ladder on his first try. I couldn’t do it in four tries. But, if I could put in more time and effort, I’m sure I could do it. The same is true of technology.
Because one of the professed benefits of technology is that it will make your life easier, people expect it to be easy. That isn’t always true. It usually takes some combination of effort and time for you to really see the benefit of using any given technology. It certainly takes time for you to appreciate the benefits.
So, give it a try, and don’t give up on it. I mean really, what’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like your family is going to stand around with dozens of strangers and laugh at you. 
(If you want to see some of the photos from our fair experience, they are on my Flickr page.)
What is the Next Level For Your Blog?
June 7, 2008 | 6 Comments
On July 23rd, I’ll be participating in a panel discussion at Inman Bloggers Connect. The discussion is entitled, “Growing Pains: Taking Your Blog to the Next Level.” I am humbled to be on the panel with some really great people:
1:15 pm – 2:00 pm
Growing Pains: Take Your Blog to the Next Level
Going the distance and maintaining your blog.
Moderated by: Jeff Turner, President, RealEstateShows.com
Panelists:
Jim Cronin, Owner/Author, Real Estate Tomato
Dustin Luther, Founder, 4Realz.net Consulting
Nicole Nicolay, Co-Founder, Effektive Solutions, MyTechOpinion
Daniel Rothamel, Realtor, Strong Team REALTORS; Blogger, Real Estate Zebra
The Next Level?
The title got me to thinking, what exactly is the next level? I just wanted to share some of my initial thoughts with you here, and I’ll probably spend a bit more time addressing this topic as the event approaches.
The entire lineup for Bloggers Connect is fabulous, and I hope that I will see you there!
Will the Real Estate Industry Just Serve Up a Bunch of Meatball Sundaes?
May 29, 2008 | 1 Comment
While I has some free time last week, I did something that I love to do, but hadn’t done in a while– I read an actual, real-life, hardbound BOOK. Amazing!
The book that I chose to read was “Meatball Sundae” by Seth Godin. I’m going to skip the Seth Godin introduction, and just assume that you know who he is. If you don’t– you should. You can start by reading his blog.
“Meatball Sundae” is one of those books that went straight to my core. It is one of those books with concepts and examples that are so relevant and easy to understand that I read the whole book twice in one week.
Read the book. Seriously.
What is a Meatball Sundae?
I’m not going to explicate the entire book, but you should understand the basic idea behind what a Meatball Sundae is, especially if you are going to get anything out of the rest of this post.
Seth describes the Meatball Sundae:
A meatball sundae is the unfortunate result of mixing two good ideas.
The meatballs are the foundation, the things we need (and sometimes want). These are the commodities that so many businesses are built on.
The sundae toppings (hot fudge and the like) are the New Marketing, the social networks, Google, blogs and fancy stuff that make people all excited.
The challenge most organizations face: they try to mix them. They attempt to slap new marketing onto old and end up with nothing but a failed website.
The Real Estate Industry is Built Upon Meatballs
The practice of real estate as a profession is pretty old. NAR turns 100 years old this year. That is a long time. While a lot of things have changed over that time, the foundations of the real estate industry really haven’t. I hear agents say all the time that the industry really hasn’t changed in the last 40-50 years, its just that now we do more stuff electronically than we did before.
This is especially true when it comes to the public-facing side of the real estate industry. If you look at any real estate publication today, the marketing in that publication is going to look exactly the same as it did 50 years ago. Granted, the paper quality has changed, and maybe the design is up to date, but the same old messages are being touted everywhere. One of the criticisms of NAR’s REALTOR awareness campaign has been that the ads (television, print, radio), all feel stale. They all seem to be saying the same types of things over and over and over again.
The real estate industry has become very good at churning out the same old meatballs year after year, decade after decade.
The Real Estate Industry Also Loves the Taste of Toppings
Right now, there is a whole lot of emphasis being placed on the sundae toppings throughout the real estate industry. There is buzz about video, social networks, blogging, you name it. All of the new marketing tools that make up the sundae toppings are receiving all kinds of attention. Hey, why not, right? All of this stuff tastes good, and all of it seems very promising. After all, this is what the consumer wants, isn’t it?
Every new thing that comes out is being touted as being able to revolutionize the industry. But is this really true? Or is the industry just preparing to serve consumers a big ol’ nasty meatball sundae?
The Real Estate Industry Needs Ice Cream
Just as Seth points out in his book, if an organization is wants to be able to make use of the sundae topping that is new marketing, that same organization had better have ice cream to put it on, and not meat bal
Finally, Someone Making Heads or Tails of the Long Tail
April 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Gahlord Dewald over at Union Street Media is one smart dude. I got the chance to meet him at Inman Connect NYC. Since then, I have been reading his blog.
I would try to explain it to you, but Gahlord does a much better job that I ever could, so go read the post.
Interact With the Zebra Through Video Comments!
April 27, 2008 | 5 Comments
UPDATE– There seem to be some technical problems. Comments are being recorded, but not posted. I’ll let everyone know when things are working correctly.
I’ve had a Seesmic account for something like 6 months now. I really haven’t found it all that useful, until now.
Seesmic created a Wordpress plug-in that enables video comments on blog posts. SWEET!
This means that anyone with a webcam can now leave a video comment to any post. You don’t even need a Seesmic account, just a webcam. All you have to do is click on “leave a video comment” under the text comment box. Make sure that you still fill out all of the comment information. When the video window comes up, make sure you check “allow” so that you can record your video. You can even leave text AND video in the same comment.
So, if you have a webcam, and you feel so inclined, leave me a video comment. I love to interact with Zebra readers, and this is just one more way to make that happen.
(if you want to see the plug-in in action, check out the Trulia Blog)
BTW– I also added a comment threading plug-in that will allow you to reply to a specific comment. That will help on posts with multiple people commenting. Try it out!
Check Out REtech South
March 22, 2008 | 3 Comments
There is a new conference, or un-conference as the case may be, out there for the real estate industry. I’m excited about this one because it was organized from the ground up by a really nice guy that I had the pleasure of meeting at InmanConnect NYC.
His name is Matt Fagioli. I did an interview of Matt at InmanConnect NYC. Unfortunately, the video didn’t download properly, and I lost it. At that time, Matt mentioned to me that he wanted to get an event together in his area for people interested in technology and the real estate industry. Just a few weeks later, REtech South was born.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend, but if you are in the Atlanta area (or even if you’re not), RETech South is something you might want to consider. It is a one-day event, March 27th. The cost for registration is $99. Check out the website for more info. For a video intro to the what REtech South is all about, check it out:
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
