Listing Solutions

Welcome To The Latest In Online Marketing!

dave@listingsolutions.net — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:00:00 GMT

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.

I Need Your Opinion

dave@listingsolutions.net — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:00:00 GMT

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 is more important to you? After all, the decisions that we make as virtual tour providers are based off of your wants and needs. Would you rather have your image and contact information visible during the tour? Would you rather see the home in a full screen window? I enjoy reading all of your blogs and would really appreciate your opinion on this subject.

Dave Hall

Marketing Director

Listing Solutions, Inc.

(904) 540-9962

Order A Virtual Tour Today

http://www.listingsolutions.net

http://www.listingsolutions.netmailto:dave@listingsolutions.net

Save Gas Money! Order A Virtual Tour.

dave@listingsolutions.net — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:00:00 GMT

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, before you spend endless hours and precious money on gas. Listing Solutions is, a Certified Full Service Dealer with the world’s largest network of virtual tour providers, Realtourvision. We can get you the internet exposure that you need, to compete and be successful in today’s challenging market. Some of our most popular products include: 2D & 3D floor plans, single property websites, printable property flyers and elevated photography. We know that our value is created by the level of service and support that we offer to you and your company. Complete customer satisfaction is our goal and your continued success is our main priority. Allow us the opportunity to serve you on your next virtual tour and show you a difference…the Listing Solutions difference.

Dave Hall
Marketing Director
Listing Solutions, Inc.
St. Augustine Virtual Tour Provider
http://www.listingsolutions.net/
Order a Virtual Tour (904) 540-9962

Elevated Photography And The Capole

dave@listingsolutions.net — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:00:00 GMT

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 contact me about our project. So, here are some photographs of the Capole in action for those of you who have been so patient. The Capole is a little over 8 feet when it is collapsed and a little over 27 feet when fully extended. It is made out of aluminum which makes it extremely portable. It weighs a little over 50 pounds and can be carried on the shoulder with ease, for most people. The four legs that are attached to the base of the Capole extend, to further secure the elevation pole. We have placed a Manfrotto pan and tilt head at the top of the pole for complete control and added security for the camera. The camera is raised and lowered by the hand crank attached to the base of the pole. Currently, we are utilizing USB cables that allow us to use the remote capture function via a laptop. The pictures that are attached were taken with my friend's Nikon. Unfortunately, we didn't have the remote capture feature available to us on the day of the photos. So, these pictures were taken using an 11 second delay. He set the self timer and I cranked away. We were trying to get as high up as possible before the 11 second delay took the picture. I was very nervous about raising the pole as quickly as we were, while my friend's EXPENSIVE camera was attached to it. The Capole is very sturdy! We are working on a couple of accessories/attachments for the Capole. One attachment will allow you to place the wheel of your vehicle on a flat piece of metal and slide the pole into a sturdy sleeve. The other attachment will allow you to slide the Capole into a sturdy sleeve that is attached to your vehicle's trailer hitch. This attachment will get you another two feet in height. There is no denying that elevated photography is a unique way to take pictures. It can be the difference in effectively marketing real estate, business locations or events. This technique will differentiate you and your product from the competition. Contact us today to schedule your next elevation photography session or virtual tour.

Dave Hall
Marketing Director
Listing Solutions, Inc.
St. Augustine Virtual Tour Provider
http://www.listingsolutions.net/
Order a Virtual Tour 904-540-9962
Dave@listingsolutions.net

What Is Your Message?

dave@listingsolutions.net — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The difference between Listing Solutions and other companies.

Aerial Photography

dave@listingsolutions.net — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:00:00 GMT

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.

Dave Hall
Marketing Director
Listing Solutions, Inc.
St. Augustine Virtual Tour Provider
http://www.listingsolutions.net/
Order a Virtual Tour 904-540-9962
Info@listingsolutions.net

rssHugger Is A Free Site That Helps Build Back Links For Search Engine Optimization

dave@listingsolutions.net — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT

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
http://www.listingsolutions.net/
Order a Virtual Tour 904-540-9962
Info@listingsolutions.net

Who Knew?

dave@listingsolutions.net — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT

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 a little more open to learn more about our company and what we do. I think that the icing on the cake was our conversation regarding our distribution list. Our distribution list goes out to 85 more feeds than his friend's company. I told him about our participation with blogs and how it has helped our page ranking. By the time that I had finished taking the pictures, we had exchanged business cards and I believe that we will do business again together in the very near future. I followed up with him a few days after the virtual tour had been posted and he was happy and wanted a copy of the distribution list for his seller. I was prepared to let his friendship with another virtual tour provider prevent me from informing him of all of the tools that we have at our disposal. Who knew?

Dave Hall
Marketing Director
Listing Solutions, Inc.
St. Augustine Virtual Tour Provider
http://www.listingsolutions.net/
Order a Virtual Tour 904-540-9962
listingsolutions@comcast.net

St. Augustine Welcomes Listing Solutions Virtual Tours

dave@listingsolutions.net — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 06:00:00 GMT

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 sense to me either. I am new to the virtual tour industry.

However, I am and have been in the real estate market for several years. Realtors build their business the same way that we as virtual tour providers build ours, Business Partners and Referrals. I don’t have a business partner that speaks in a negative manner about me or my product. Why do they pay their hard earned money to people who do this? It is mostly in part to a lack of knowledge.

Most realtors don’t know how many places that Real Tour Vision sends their virtual tours to. We can effectively educate them on the benefits of using a Real Tour Vision Certified Full Service Dealer, while at the same time differentiating ourselves from some of their other choices. Statistically, WE ROCK! There are more people using the internet than ever before. We should focus on the positives and play more of a supporting role with our clients.

I “paint the picture” for a prospective realtor. I talk to them about the things that most of their customers are interested in: Confidence in the Realtor that they choose and results. I walk them through the scenario of giving a listing presentation and how impressive it is, to bring the virtual tour up during the initial visit. It shows a commitment on the Realtor’s part. The results part is easy. I live in Florida, where 67% of home buyers here come from outside of the state. That is an impossible market for someone to penetrate using local advertising and a yard sign. (They are looking for what I have. They just don’t know it yet). Finally, I share my experience with starting a new business and why I chose Real Tour Vision to be one of MY business partners.

I explain how I spent month after exhausting month, of researching my new endeavor and how Real Tour Vision has helped me achieve my goals. I tell them that Real Tour Vision has the largest dealer network in the industry and I tell them, “No Fisheye lens”! I let them know that I want to be one of their business partners. I explain how I bring value to them and that my success is dependent on their success. With the strength of the nation’s largest dealer network in the industry and the distribution partners that they have in place, it’s an easy choice. The only other question is, “would you like a 2D or 3D floor plan with your tour”?  Be the light in your market and leave the doom and gloom to those other guys. We at Listing Solutions, wish you all the very best of luck this year.

Dave Hall
Marketing Director
Listing Solutions, Inc.
St. Augustine Virtual Tour Provider
www.listingsolutions.net
Order a Virtual Tour 904-540-9962
listingsolutions@comcast.net