Pictures and Video "DO" Help Sell Real Estate

So is there a secret to selling Real Estate using photos and video?  I ran across Bob Sokoler’s post today called “What’s Helping Us To Sell Homes? Video!”  It’s nice to see those results are finally starting to come in.  Thanks Bob.

What is the benefit of ActiveRain Video using Mixpo, and why would anyone ever consider paying for something they think they can get elsewhere for FREE?  The truth is, YOU CAN’T!  Let’s address this often asked question. The following videos help explain why AR Video and Mixpo are different than other sites. 

Glenn Pingual – VP of Marketing at Mixpo, shares his points of view regarding Real Estate, Video, and the overall WEB 2.0 movement in the video arena.

Chris Calabro shares some of the AR/Mixpo features and benefits of the platform, and also how Mixpo is different than any other video editing and hosting sytem online.

This is what Bob Sokoler had to say about why Pictures and Video help him sell homes…

Since Mixpo is now one of our ActiveRain Vendors, this means you will get FULL support from US, your ActiveRain Team.  We’re here to help make sure you understand how it works and how to use it.  Since Video is now the hottest thing on the web, I’m proud and very excited that we can offer this.

If the price is an issue, consider this: If your video generated you just three leads, and one of those leads converted to a transaction or business opportunity, then wouldn’t the 29.00 cost be defrayed drastically?  One transaction a year would easily cover many years of subscribing to AR Video.  Remember that the price includes the service, the exclusive tools, the stock library, the secured editing platform, our cost to provide it, and oh yeah…..Me, the friendly techy supporty guy. (It will also include any upgrades and future enhancements.) What a deal!

Just call me if you have any questions, concerns, or just need help making sure that your investment into video yields a valued and positive return.

The iPhone and Real Estate

Did you know Apple sold 1,000,000 iPhones the first weekend they came out?  This is the $64,000 question. “Do I need an iPhone for Real Estate?” Now I could be bias and say yes just because I own one, but I’ll be neutral and just explain why I think you should investigate. There are many of us in the industry who have been looking for and waiting for a phone that does it all.  Is the iPhone it?  I had written this post over a year ago when the iPhone was announced.

So how do you pick the right tool, with the right carrier, and at the right price with minimal amounts of stress and anxiety? You Don’t, it’s not possible, but this information might shed some light on how specifically the iPhone might be helpful in your Real Estate Business and the Industry.

  These are some of the features I really like about iPhone:

         

Don’t buy one just “BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE HAS ONE!” but of course if you did, you’d be able to talk to everyone else for FREE. Hmmm….

You can even create your own iPhone Web Applications.

Social networking:  I like and use these apps and tools for connecting with others remotely:

                      

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Google Talk. WordPress, Typepad, LinkedIN, Google, Instant Messenger, Skype and Ebay.  All FREE applications you can download, then access on the iPhone when you travel.

Entertainment and Pleasure:  These “NEW” tech tools for iPhone are simply incredible  awesome:

                      

Pandora, Jott, Simplify, PayPal, AOL Radio, YellAir, Showtimes, Remote, Shazam, YouNote, Labyrinth, Puluwai.  All of these can be found at the iTunes store or on-line at the Apple iPhone Store.

Trulia just announced their new application for iPhone, a tool that can “Search For Homes” and look-up “Open Houses”.  There are literally thousands of FREE applications coming out daily for the iPhone.  Is this the 21st Century, WEB 2.0 tool we’ve all been looking and waiting for?

If you own an iPhone already, you can call me FREE – 24/7/365, and any other iPhone users that you may know.  This could be one of the greatest social media and networking tools in the industry in that it allows us to connect with others across the country on multiple platforms.  Phone, email, text, audio, video etc.  It could also save us thousands in phone bills.  A National Share Plan, of course this will only last as long as AT&T has the iPhone Service Plan exclusively. 

  I phone, do you?

TOP PHONES for Real Estate, What’s Your Vote?

Karen George – Goodbye to an Angel

In honor and dedication of another member, a friend, and part of our ActiveRain Family. Karen touched so many lives here including myself. She was a caring, sharing, wonderful person who we will all miss very deeply.

She will always be loved and remembered by our community and those that benefited so greatly from her contributions and her giving spirit. I am proposing we honor Karen George by creating an award to be given to a single member annually, on this day, that best represents Karen’s heart, spirit, generosity, and her love and zest for life.

Thank you Karen for sharing a piece of your life with us, and for teaching us the meaning of how special life really is. The greatest gift we can give to another is our time in which you were the master teacher. Karen George and her family will forever be in our hearts, our thoughts, and our prayers. Until we meet again, may we all be grateful for the one thing that can’t be taught, bought, or sold..LIFE! God Bless You.

August 23rd, 2008

 

Via Boise Idaho Real Estate – George Tallabas:

Karen George lost her battle with cancer today but she will never loose the love and respect hundreds of Active Rain members from across the country that were touched by this incredible woman have for her.

When I joined Active Rain in May of 2007 I was a lost little puppy. Karen is one of those that wrote some awesome blogs that helped me grow my presence on Google both with my Active Rain Profile and my own web site. 

When Karen was too sick last summer her husband Michael wrote a page for my site in an attempt to have it climb higher with the search engine rankings.  I did not expect this at all and told Michael it was not necessary. He did it anyway.  Many of you don’t know but even when Karen was very, very ill and could hardly sit up she would write blogs here on Active Rain in an attempt to help us with the great advice she always gave.

If you have not read Karen’s blogs I highly recommend you do.  99.9% of everything she wrote was to help you and I grow our business.  I read many of Karen’s blogs and put the recommendations into action which is one of the main reasons I have had so much success on the web.

Karen was a giver.  When Karen was well she heard of an elderly man that was confined to his home due to an illness.  Karen purchased this man a notebook computer with internet access so he could communicate with his family and friends.

This is the type of life Karen lived.  She was a “giver” and cared so very much about others. When she gave Karen never wanted anything in return.  She took many of my calls and patiently explained things to me in layman’s terms.  I hope we can all learn from Karen’s giving soul.  If someone needs help, lets reach out to them in a loving way just like Karen did and would want all of us to do. 

We lost an Angel on earth here today but the heaven’s are rejoicing and having a party.  Everyone throws a party when someone so special is coming to join them.

Thank you Karen for everything you did for me and for holding my hand when I didn’t understand.  Thank you for your incredible knowledge and your desire to help.

You will be missed and I can assure you that this world was a better place because you were part of it.  I will continue to pray for Michael and will do anything to help him.

I love you Karen, Thank you for everything but most of all for your beautiful soul!

An Ambulance, A Firetruck and Localism – What Do They Have In Common?

I had the chance to talk on the phone today with Paul Dunn from First Priority Financial out of Tucson Arizona.  He’s putting together a Podcast for Mortgage Brokers.  He’s also a member of TBWS of which I am good friends.  The topic for our upcoming Podcast is ActiveRain and Localism.  We explored some great ideas on how members and non members of ActiveRain will be able to best utilize a site like Localism.  One of the concepts/analogies we came up with was pretty good, as it relates to neighborhoods, communities and Localism.

 

Why is it that when an ambulance or firetruck stops on our street with the sirens blaring and the lights flashing, we always have to run outside to see what’s happening?  It seems like this is the only time we connect or get involved with meeting the neighbors and socializing with the community.  I admit it, somehow, I can manage hundreds of emails, phone calls, numerous comments on Blogs, respond to tweets, even read my fun-wall on Facebook, all in a single day, yet I have never met or found the time to talk to the neighbors just two doors down or even the ones across the street. 😦

 

Localism is all about being local.  It’s about getting out and connecting with the people in neighborhoods off-line so that we can bring back the content and  share it on-line with others.  Connecting with people is what makes a community so fun and exciting to be part of.  That’s why the ActiveRain Network is so vibrant and still growing.  It’s also turned out to be a great place to grow our business and relationships.  I think Localism will be is the “Golden Ticket” to getting into doors that we may have never considered in the past.  Seriously, imagine the possibilities…

 

The Localism Blog that you’ve worked so hard to create and establish, can now be the very tool that will open doors and opportunities for you to share, plus benefit both your business and your neighborhoods.  The content available in your community and maybe even on your own street is priceless.  Don’t wait to hear sirens and see flashing lights coming down your street to get out there and meet and greet your neighbors.  This is the best time to be proactive.  Use Localism to gather and share information.  Make it more than just another community website, make it a “NeighborPedia.”

 

So When was the last time you talked to your neighbors?  Do you know them?  When was the last neighborhood Block Party or BBQ?  Who recently brought you cookies or knocked on your door to borrow some flour?  See?  Are we really connecting to the off-line world as much as we should?  Shouldn’t they be on-line with us?  I think Localism is going to be one of the best ways to open doors, connect with people locally, provide valuable and useful content, and benefit from all your hours you’ve invested here. 

 

ActiveRain is obviously the premier network to connect with other RE professionals, and granted, many of us do get leads that convert to business, but Localism will be the place to really connect with consumers, neighbors, business owners, targeted neighborhoods and communities.  I’m going across the street now to meet my neighbor, and then apologize for not doing it sooner.  I think a good portion of our time should be spent connecting with our local neighbors and communities off-line, then invite them into the WEB 2.0 world with us. Localism may very well be the tool that helps you do that.  🙂

 

An Ambulance, Firetruck and Localism? – They all get you out to meet the neighbors!  

So What Can You Do with ActiveRain Video?

Now that ActiveRain is integrating Video powered by Mixpo into our platform, I wanted to share some bullet points about some of the “New” Video features, benefits, and capabilities. There will be tutorials coming soon for those of you who are currently using AR Video. Then there are those of you who might be considering why you should. Here’s some “Key-Features” that every member should know regardless.

Comprehensive

The Video platform is a beginning-to-end platform that supports all phases of the on-line video ad processing from creation and distribution to optimization. There are some features and tools you won’t find on any other video hosting or editing site.

Implementation

You can access the platform on-line and incorporate it into your own Websites and Blogs. You can stay connected to your database of performance analytics. Your high-quality Video Ads embed easily into banner ads, directory profile pages, search landing pages, Blogs, Websites, and more.

Flexible

You can create a Video Ad template and then localize it to run in specific markets or geographic regions. Data-driven In the ActiveRain Video Dashboard, you can measure Video Ad performance. Track the number of impressions, conversions and views. See when viewers stop watching or interacting with your Video Ads. There are tools to show viewers’ geographic locations, the sites viewers visited before they displayed your Video Ad, keywords viewers typed to find your Video Ad, and more.

Dynamic

The ActiveRain Studio is where you create Video Ads. It is centered around a play-list where you assemble visual, audio, and overlay elements. After you publish a Video Ad to the Web, the elements remain separate. This means that you can return to the Studio at any time and optimize the Video Ad to improve its performance. Changes you make go live immediately everywhere the Video Ad Player is embedded. No more uploading or reloading to multiple sites. Auto-populate means one edit, one update!

Interactive

Through built-in interactivity, ActiveRain Video Ads generate leads and drive conversions. Each Video Ad automatically includes customizable calls to action and you can add interactive overlays and captions to promote special offers, direct viewers to your Web site, or link them to any Web location. NEW Forms have now been added that allow you to embed “Calls-To-Action” at any point in your video. Convert your viewers to leads, and leads to clients.

The Video Player

• Video Ads can be adjusted to different sizes to meet your site’s requirements and page layouts.

• High Definition, Volume Control, Links within Video, Inquiry and Email buttons, Full Screen Mode and Lead Capture capability.

• The player adapts to bandwidth so each viewer benefits from the optimal combination of speed and quality.

• Video files are built from XML play-lists in real-time. You can now add your video to Youtube with a single click.

The On-line Studio

• Create custom Templates that can be copied and used for specific Video Marketing Campaigns.

• The editing time-line gives you full control over Audio, Video, Overlays, Music, and Narrations.

• Add your Personal or Company Branding and Custom logos.

• Import professionally produced video files, assemble your own collection of photographs, slides, pictures, and audio files, or begin from our library of files. There are thousands of stock videos and photos to choose from.

• Customize Voice-overs, Captions, Logos, Music, Links, Sound Effects and more.

• Edit Video with the built in Extraction tool. Cut, re-cut, and edit out unwanted portions of video.

• Generate leads by adding interactive forms, overlays, and calls to action.

The Dashboard

• Charts and graphs show how effectively a Video is driving views and conversions. Video Analytics.

• The map panel in the Dashboard presents a worldwide picture of where views and conversions originate.

• Track the Web sites that referred viewers to your Videos and the key words they used to find them.

• Dashboard and Studio are integrated, this means when editing Video ads, all changes are real-time.

The Ad Rotator

• Create different versions of the same ad and compare performance.

• Easily optimize different versions using color, captions, interactive overlays, and voice-overs, then measure and compare responses.

• The different versions run simultaneously and are delivered randomly in the same player to exactly the same audience.

The SEO Features

• We syndicate each Video with the search engines (optional) to increase the Video’s organic exposure.

• Videos can be indexed by Google, AOL, Yahoo, Ask, MSN and others with a single click.

There are some great video hosting websites available on the web, the difference between them and AR Video was hopefully covered in this post. You owe it to yourself to explore, know the differences and challenges, and then make your own decisions based on your personal needs and the needs of your viewers. AR Video is just another optional tool for members, it’s not a requirement. Enjoy exploring all the possibilities!

When NOT to use a Tripod for VIDEO

Happy Monday!! I couldn’t figure out why I was so tired this morning. WARNING! This is not my typical post on the AR Blog. (It’s NOT A TUTORIAL) LOL~ You might not even recognize ActiveBrad in this one, but it really does explain why I am so exhausted today. I learned a neat little tip this weekend about Video. “When NOT To use a Tripod!” I know that many of you have read my top 10 tips for video, and this goes against everything I ever told you, but really, you tell me where a Tripod in this video has a legitimate purpose.

I told Rich I was going to post this today jokingly, but then I thought about it, and felt you guys might enjoy watching the personal Crazy side of ActiveBrad. Here’s what happens at the Andersohn home on the last day of Summer, just before my kids all go back to school. This is the first video that I can honestly say would have been impossible to use a tripod. Seriously. I’m lucky I still have my flip video camera and that it’s still all in one piece. :-O

ActiveRain Launches "NEW" Video Interface

Well.  (Big Sigh w/Big Smile)  Today you will see a “new” icon on the edit tool bar when you go to create a new post, edit an existing post, or leave someone a comment.  When you click on the new icon, you’ll soon have one of two options  One: Click on it to seamlessly access your AR Video Dashboard.  Two: Be given an option to create an ActiveRain Video Account.  I have been waiting for this for months. FINALLY!!

Existing ActiveRain Video Subscribers:

You’ll now be able to bypass the log-in screen at Mixpo.com, and access the your video console directly.  Currently, if you click on the    video button/icon, it will take you to a screen where you’ll subscribe.  We will need you to update your information. (The site is secured)  Your current video account will remain the same.  Your videos and library will not be affected.  For the next week or so, you will still have to embed your videos the same way you have in the past, but once we get the user interface fully integrated, your video will now be just one click away.

New ActiveRain Video Subscribers:

New users, you will need to subscribe which is simple and takes less than a minute.  Just click on the    button/icon, and follow the instructions on the screen, it’s so easy a caveman could do it. lol~  Once you are activated, you’ll have easy access to all your video and marketing ad campaigns created on the ActiveRain Video dashboard.  We are completing the log-in and password interface now, I’m hoping it will be ready next week.

Video is one of the most powerful and viral tools on the Internet today, not only for Real Estate, but every business!  There’s no more guessing, we know where this technology is going.  Now that video will be indexed by search engines based on converting speech to text, I think this is a smart move, and I’m glad to see AR and our community getting more involved with this.  I’m in 100%! 

Getting to #1 on Google

This was the topic of discussion on a Webinar I attended last night with Mary McNight.  Known also as “REBlogGirl.”  She shared some of the following information and tidbits.  If you missed this, I took some notes to “pay it forward.”  Here’s some interesting concepts and tools that were presented.

 

Titled: The On-line Shock & Awe Campaign For Google

How do you get to #1 on Google?  This is relating to “Organic” position and not “Paid” position.  Organic meaning it shows up #1 on Google underneath the “Paid” sponsorships.  FREE is GOOD.  Nobody clicks on those top links anyway, or at least very few.  It was noted that 42% ofclicks go to the #1 Organic page.  Here’s the shocker, only 11% go to the #2 Link or page.  I think showing in both positions would be best.  🙂

Google searches sites and content for indexing by the following criteria and typically in this order:

Domain Names:
Be sure to include key tag words in the name.

Your Titles:
Same thing here, include relevant keywords and catchy search-able titles. 
*Most Important: Include Keywords for Google and Keywords for people.

Meta-tag Keywords:
Make sure that keywords are relevant, practical, and search-able.

Page Content:
This is what was referred to as Google Food, and that’s exactly what it is.  So Feed it.
Keywords through-out.  Adding Personality is important. Vary your keywords, use longer terms and mix them up. note: 500 words on the splash-page of a website is good.

Linking out to others:
Select power sites to link to.  Don’t always link to yourself and your own pages or posts.
Use an internal and external linking structure.

The Internal and External Link Structure
Use Links to 1 of your pages for every 2 links to other popular websites or Blogs. 
(I like to link to Google, Yahoo, and the other Big Dogs when I can…hint hint )

Registering Domain Names:
Tip: Be sure to register domain names for at least 5-10 years, if you do it one year
at a time, Google might not think you’re serious or going to be around very long.

Update 5 old Pages or Posts once a month:
Go into your older pages on your site or your Blog posts, and update with new
keywords and link structure updates. Don’t erase, just add.

 

 

What is a reciprocal link?
You link to me, I link to you. This is a great thing.  If you use Blogrolls, you can create an orphan page to link out to those sites. These “orphan” pages cannot be found or indexed by Google. You can also use “no follow” tags if you’re familiar how. To find out more, Click Here.

Duplicate Content:
If you’re going to duplicate content, be sure to create it first in the location you want to get the Google juice.  Wait 2-3 days and then you can duplicate it on other sites.  The first page gets the google worm bots.  Link back to your original from all the secondary pages, they should all point back to your original source. Learn more here.

 

Some Valuable Tips and Resource Sites

Get SEO for Firefox, Here’s the video on How and Why

Use Websitegrader.com

Get into as many directories as you can.  DMOZ.org and Joeant.com

SEODigger.com – Search Rankings

SEOBook.com – The Best Keywords Available

Know Your Site & What’s Going On

Use Google Tools to help you be #1 in their search engine.  Go to google.com, use the search box and type (Site:YourURL) and (Link:YourURL) to find out more about your own Webpage or Blog.  Be sure to try it with the (www) and without.  You’ll Get Different results.  Here’s other stuff Google offers as well.

These were my notes:  The overall message I came away with is that Being #1 in Google is everything, that is if you want to get the kind of new traffic and hits that generate leads and business.  The people who know you can find you, but can those who don’t? 

Thank you Mary for sharing this information and your time. See Mary’s Blog for details on any of these topics.

(Edit) A special thanks to Cyberstars, and to whoever sent me the invitation to join this event.  🙂

Social Media Marketing – A Webinar Series for Members

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to speak on a Blogging panel in Monterey, CA for CRS members. Specifically, I was asked to discuss ActiveRain and Localism. This all came about thanks to Pam Winterbauer who connected me with Mike Kelly, one of the panel moderators.

The guest speaker was Pat Kitano, from Domus consulting, also a fellow ActiveRain member. I’ve been following Pats Blog at Transparent Real Estate for quite some time now, and finally had the privilege of meeting him in person at the Inman Real Estate Connect in San Francisco.

During our break at CRS, I had the chance to talk to Pat in detail about what he’s doing with Domus and what I’ve been doing at ActiveRain. Ironically, our conversation led to something that I have wanted to do here since I joined AR, Training and Coaching via Web-conferences and Webinars.

Well, before the CRS meeting and lunch were over, Pat and I had come up with a plan that could benefit many new members here that are just getting into Social Media Marketing and WEB 2.0. Here’s what we have come up with for the upcoming Webinar Series.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Weekly Topics and Outline:

Preview	Social Media Marketing – Why an Online Presence is Critical to your Future Career in Real Estate
Week 1	Defining your Online Presence Strategy – Benchmarking
Week 2	First Practical Steps – Five Steps to Setting up your Social Network
Week 3	Understanding the Strict Protocols of Social Media and the Content You Deliver – Don’t Blow it!
Week 4	Defining the Social Media Space – What is Necessary and What is Fluff
Week 5	Setting up the Tools to Monitor the Social Media – FeedReaders, Social Bookmarking, Social News, Twitter
Week 6	First Steps in Participating in the Social Media – Your Network is Set Up and it’s Time to Leverage It
Week 7	Explaining Active Rain and Blogging – You’ll Soon Figure Out that the Blog will be your Central Marketing Tool
Week 8	The Online Land Grab – Get Your Name Out There – Five Online Services You Must Be On Before Your Competition
Week 9	How to Attract Online Traffic – How Search Engines Work and Why the Social Media is Quantum Leaps more Powerful than a Static Website
Week 10	The New Society – Changing your Sales and Marketing Strategies to Fit with your Online Presence – Retooling your Spammy Email Marketing to be Effective
Week 11	The Secret Nobody Knows – Mass Media is Converging with the Social Media – How to Position Yourself to Access Mass Media Traffic
Week 12	Your Newest Online Resume – Twitter and Friendfeed Strategies
Week 13	Putting it All Together – Integrating Your Offline Real Estate Practice with your Online Presence

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

I get a huge amount of emails and calls from members with these questions everyday, this is what motivated and inspired me to help provide a program like this. Since Pat has all the tools and pieces in place, he’s allowing me to join forces with him, and put this on at a minimal price for ActiveRain members ONLY. It will average out to about $12.00 per webinar which will run for 1 hour on Friday mornings at 9:00am pst. We have setup a registration page just for AR members.

You’ll learn some great information and come away with the tools and knowledge to be a WEB 2.0 Social Media Marketing expert. This will be a great road map to managing your time more effectively on the WEB. Reasons you should consider this opportunity:

• It’s half price to all ActiveRain members

• You get recorded copies of ALL the webinars, even if you can’t make it to some

• It’s only one hour per week at an average of 12.00 per webinar

• You’ll receive online support, manuals, instructions etc.

• I’ll be one of your follow-up trainers and support consultants
• 90+ tutorials providing step-by-step instructions on the techniques of blogging and social media

I’m excited about joining Pat to provide these webinars to our members. They will become more popular as Industry Professionals try to gain the edge and obtain more knowledge about Social Media and Social Networking. With the cost of travel expenses, gas, hotel accommodations all going up, this only makes sense. Twelve bucks will barely get you three gallons of gas these days. This IS a great deal!

You can register below and join us this Friday for an online orientation. The Webinar series will start {EDIT} Friday – SEP. 5th @ 9:00am (see Pat’s Comment below) We’re not trying to sell you anything here, honestly, it’s just an awesome opportunity to bring education and value to the community and to our industry. This WEB 2.0 stuff and Social Media Marketing is not going away.

Come join us, you won’t regret it. :-))

Member Discount and Registration

Video Tutorial #2: The Basics of Shooting

What is the most important thing you need to know about the basics of shooting video? Is it content, style, length, quality, or just a free-for-all?  Tara Jones is on a roll as she shares the basics of shooting video.  This Video Post is a ReBlog of her article and Video on ActiveRain. 

As a video enthusiast myself, I follow Tara’s Blog closely and recommend you do the same. Video is the hottest thing in Real Estate right now. It’s viral, it’s growing, and it’s more powerful than just text or audio.  It is the “New Wave” of Internet marketing and Social Media Networking.

THIS IS A REBLOG TEST:

Via Tara Jones (Reel Productions TV):

Reel Tech TV Episode 2

So now that you know how to turn the camera on how do you know what to shoot?  It’s not as easy as you may think.  We’re going to walk you through a typical home tour with some photographer 101 basics.

First of all, try and find the focal point in the room.  Is it the stack stone fireplace?  The decorative hood over the range?  The unique spiral staircase?  Whatever the feature, try and showcase it first to grab the viewers’ attention.  The key to remember when creating a video home tour is giving them a “tease”.  You don’t want to show them every light switch and electrical outlet…you want them to come see the house in person so you can sell it to them!  With that in mind, keep it simple.  Just a one to three shots in the main rooms (we’ll get to what the main rooms are later) will do the trick.   

Second, NEVER shoot into windows.  Why?  No matter how powerful the light is in the room it can never overpower the sun.  That means whatever is inside will turn black (or extremely dark) and all you see are the windows.  Therefore, never set up an interview by a window (since you won’t see the person’s face) and try to avoid pans into the windows since you will completely throw the color off in the room.

Third, keep your shots steady.  Viewers can get sick watching a shaky video.  Have you ever seen Blair Witch project?  That photojournalistic technique is not recommended when selling real estate.  If you have a tripod, use it.  Try and find a flat surface where you can place your camera for pans or zooms (see below) so your shots will look more polished and professional.  Always try to begin with an establishing shot…a shot that shows the entire room before beginning a pan or zoom technique.

So what are pans and zooms?  Clearly stated, a pan is moving the camera from side to side and a zoom is closing the camera lens in on a particular object.  To accomplish a pan correctly make sure your camera is steady.  If you’re panning a room try and keep the “horizon line” (think about being on a boat) straight.  This means you want the floor to remain in the same spot throughout the shot.  Keep the same idea in mind when panning up and down, say, on a staircase.  The sides of the shot should remain consistent to keep a professional look and feel.

For zooms, don’t use it unless it’s necessary.  Just because you have a feature on your camera doesn’t mean you should use it!  Ask yourself these questions:  What am I zooming in on?  Why am I zooming in on this object?  Will it add any additional information to the viewer?  I once watched a video home tour where the photographer zoomed in on a plant.  Why?  Does the plant come with the house?  Do I need to know something additional about this plant that I didn’t get from the first shot?  Think about detail whenever using the zoom such as a decorative back splash or exquisite crown molding.  Anything that can not be picked up on the initial shot or pan of the room MAY require a zoom.   

Next video lesson:  Downloading your video onto the computer (Gulp!)

For more log on to ReelDwellings.TV