By host on Thursday, June 12, 2008

Listing Solutions introduces the latest in online property advertising. The single property web sites are optimized for the search engines ensuring that you reach your target audience. Call us today at (904) 540-9962.

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By host on Monday, May 19, 2008

I have noticed a trend among Realtors over the last six months and I would appreciate your "professional" opinions. I am the Marketing Director for a web design and virtual tour company in Florida and I have noticed that more Realtors are inquiring about our services. It is no secret that is a buyer's market and with 80% of those buyers utilizing the internet, your internet presence is extremely important. So, my question is this: "Are you marketing your listings or yourself?" I have seen virtual tours that are full screen and virtual tours that are not. The tours that are full screen do a great job of showing the home. However, you don't see information regarding the Realtor, Listing Company or property information easily. The tours that are not full screen show more detailed information regarding those three areas, but the tour is obviously smaller. What...

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By host on Friday, May 02, 2008

There is no question that recent gas prices have cut in to all of our earnings. As I write this blog, gas prices are at $3.64 per gallon. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is an expense that none of us could have prepared for but, here we are. Wouldn’t it be great if your client purchased the first house that they saw? Wouldn’t it be great if customers called you and said, “I have narrowed my search down to a couple of homes?” It can happen more often than you think. 80% of current buyers utilize the internet when searching for a home. Why not order a virtual tour today? On a typical day, more than five million people are taking virtual tours in cyberspace, up from roughly two million in 2004. Nearly 90% of internet searchers used a real estate professional, compared to 79% of non-internet users. The statistics definitely support the fact that the internet has and continues to change the way real estate is bought and sold in the United States. A virtual tour allows your customer to sell themselves on the house,...

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By host on Wednesday, April 16, 2008

As the Marketing Director for a web design and virtual tour company, I see a lot of different marketing techniques and tools. When we first started Listing Solutions, Inc. we were primarily focused on providing virtual tours and custom web sites. Our business model has changed several times since then and one area that we immediately started to focus on was "elevated photography." I have a friend who owns a welding shop here in St. Augustine, Florida and he has developed an elevation pole that is both sturdy and portable, The Capole. I blogged about it a few months ago and was surprised at how many people were interested and actually responded. I have had home and business owners, Realtors® and virtual tour providers...

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By host on Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The difference between Listing Solutions and other companies.

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By host on Saturday, March 22, 2008

I am the Marketing Director for a virtual tour company in St. Augustine, Florida. Recently I have had several clients ask me about elevated photography. I started researching this field and found that there are a lot of different techniques used to accomplish this. There seems to be a lot of demand for this special photography and not that many providers. I tried to find a system that would fit into my budget and be mobile enough to be practical. That turned out to be a difficult task. Elevation poles are either too expensive or cumbersome to be practical. RC helicopters really caught my attention, but there were a lot of obstacles to this technique. First of all, the helicopters are several thousand dollars and then you have to learn how to fly the thing. After a couple of weeks of researching the helicopters I reluctantly gave up. The cost involved was too much and then there were the insurance and liability issues. It was fun being a kid for the two weeks. I was discussing my dilemma with a friend who owns and operates Capo Welding here in St. Augustine. He happens to be a photographer too. I showed him some pictures of a pole that I was considering and he told me that it didn't look sturdy enough to place a nice camera on. He was right. It looked like a telescopic pole used to clean a pool. We looked at a franchise opportunity and it was extremely expensive to buy in to. I thought to myself that maybe this isn't something that I want to pursue. Did I mention that my friend owns a welding company? J He told me that he would look into it and see if there was something that he could design for me. A couple of months passed and he invited me to come by the shop to take a look at a prototype that he had made. I was pleased with the design and functionality of this prototype. He said that he had some fine tuning to do and that he had to come up with a way to raise and lower the pole. If he was going to use a motor to extend and retract the pole, we would have to carry a battery around with us to operate the pole and that would cost us some mobility. There was also the base of the pole to consider and how he needed to make it sturdy and secure. I left his shop that day excited about the progress and started sharing the information with some of my clients. They were excited and ready to utilize this unique marketing strategy. A couple of weeks passed and my friend called me again. He told me that he wanted me to come by the shop and help sand down the legs of the elevation pole. (Nothing is free! J) When I got there I was surprised to see that he had everything measured, cut and even painted. It took me about an hour to perform the 15 minute task (my shop teacher would be very disappointed) and we were ready to assemble the pole. As we started putting it together, I was amazed at the detail and thought process that he had put into it. I told him about a conversation that I had with a virtual tour provider in another state. She said that she thought other virtual tour providers in the RTV network would be interested in hearing about our technology. So, I thought that I would take this opportunity to introduce my friend's latest invention to everyone. The pole extends to 27 feet and the camera is currently linked to the laptop via USB cords. This enables us to use the remote capture function and immediately see the shot that we have taken without retracting the pole to look at the camera. I am sure that we will eventually go to a wireless version. But for now, I have clients waiting and ready to schedule their aerial photography session. The pole weighs about 50 pounds and has a tripod base that is extremely secure. It features a hand crank that smoothly extends and retracts the pole. It has a pan and tilt head on the top, where the camera mounts to the pole. The elevation pole even has a name..."The Capole."  I should be utilizing this new tool as early as next week. I will post our progress and pitfalls on our virtual tour blog in the coming weeks. If this is an area that you have been considering, I encourage you to contact either Byron or myself. Best of luck to everyone this year.

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By host on Thursday, March 20, 2008

I have a colleague who sent me some information on a company named rssHugger. I followed her advice and checked out the site. It seems like a really good way to increase your internet presence. The site is very easy to read and has some good information about what their ideas and goals are. I signed up and you should check it out too. If you are interested in increasing viewers for your blog or building backlinks for search engine optimazation, give this site a look. I am the Marketing Director for a web design and virtual tour company and I appreciate innovative ideas that can help increase internet presence. Thanks Cheryl and thanks rssHugger.

                                                                                                                                       

Dave Hall    Marketing Director Listing Solutions, Inc. St. Augustine Virtual Tour Provider...

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By host on Friday, March 14, 2008

I am the Marketing Director for a virtual tour company in St. Augustine, Florida called Listing Solutions. I received a referral from a business partner last week. We have a deal worked out where he puts me in front of his clients, which are mostly Realtors. I met the Realtor at the location to take the pictures for the virtual tour. I asked him who had been doing his virtual tours and he told me that a good friend of his has a virtual tour company. It was not the response that I was hoping for. We chatted while I took the pictures and I found out that he has his own development company. I asked him if his friend had the ability to add floor plans to his virtual tours and he said no. I explained to him that we have the ability to add both 2D and 3D floor plans to his tours. We discussed aerial photography and I found out that he has a relationship with someone who produces very expensive aerial photos for him. I told him about our prices, which were significantly less than his friends and he seemed...

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By host on Saturday, February 02, 2008

It is no secret that we are in a tough market. Everyone can pick up a newspaper or tune in to their favorite news channel and get the gruesome details. This is a great opportunity for virtual tour providers. Why? Have you checked into local newspaper advertising lately? I am in a small market and the local newspaper here, charges around $56.00 for a four line advertisement, per week. Local television and radio advertisements are quite a bit more than that. How can we differentiate ourselves from these competitors, other than price? We can be the good news! We can talk about the statistics. According to a recent profile of home buyers and sellers conducted by the National Association of Realtors®, 80% of current buyers use the internet when searching for a home. We can talk about how we support their industry and promote them and their properties in a positive manner. Why would anyone in their right mind, pay someone to print negative advertisements and articles about them and their industry? It doesn’t make...

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