Full Motion Video Tours: Recent Comments

Comment on How Long Should My Tour Be?

Fred Light — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:16:07 GMT

Ray:

I think the way you have to look at video is this: Video will (and should) never REPLACE photos. Buyers search online based on their criteria FIRST. Then they look at photos SECOND. It may be just quick browse/ click through to see if they have any additional interest. If they LIKE the photos, THEN they watch the video. And at that point, they ARE willing to wait a bit longer and sit through a longer video, scrutinizing things in far more detail. I find often times people watch the video several times - they want to suck up as much information and detail as they can to determine if it's something they're interested in. THEN, they either put it on their short list, call a realtor, or whatever and go see it in person. THEN you have an ultra serious customer, who pretty much knows EXACTLY what they're getting.

The mistake a lot of people make is thinking (or wishing) that video will REPLACE photos, and I don't think it ever will (or should!). Virtual tours (of any kind, really) should be called "MORE" - because that's what people are seeking when they get to that step - MORE. More info, more photos, more details. They're interested. GIVE THEM MORE!

That's why it puzzles me that so many realtors, in their virtual tours/slideshows, simply regurgitate EXACTLY what the buyer JUST saw two seconds ago in the MLS! Just because you're now zooming in and out on those exact same photos does NOT change the fact that you're not giving them anything MORE! They want additional photos, different angles, highlights, bigger photos, etc. Not just the same crap again in a different format set to cheesy music. I think a lot of buyers are now wary of downloading ANY virtual tours, because so many of them are just redundant and a complete waste of their time. It's a bit insulting I think.

Video will do what it's supposed to do... as long as you understand what it IS and what it ISN'T. I think if you look at video as the final step before a buyer makes an appointment for a personal visit, then I think they definitely DO want to see everything they can.

I generally get a bit bored watching video tours (and I watch a LOT of them!), but I can tell you, if I was actually interested in a particular home (as a buyer), I would watch that video and scrutinize and absorb every little detail. Probably would watch it several times. I think that's how most people view video.

Comment on More on Hand-Held Stabilizers

Jeff Jasper — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:43:19 GMT

I've really enjoyed the information!
You just may give me the courage to jump into this!

Jeff... Hey! Dive right in!... Ray

Comment on Make Your Sold Listings Work For You

David Bonyun — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:36:27 GMT

That idea is simple and makes a heck of a lot of marketing sense, assuming it will move down the search engine rankings over time and not take the place of your newer listings.

Great idea.

Comment on Hand-Held Stabilizer Comparison

Holly Sanders — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:34:39 GMT

Hi Ray!
>I really look forward to your On Line Video and Full Motion Tours

Comment on Creating Quality Video - Avoiding the Shakes

Ray Zukowski — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:43:59 GMT

Great article, lots of information all in one place. Keep up the good work.
Thanks,
Ray Zukowski

Comment on Uploading and Hosting Your Video

Ray Wood — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:51:49 GMT

When checking out the four examples of the video, notice how YouTube and Yahoo pro-actively encourage the viewer to leave your site and go to their sites. Google Video offers a link to their site. Wellcomemat highlights your video tour and even gives the viewer additional details about your listing without encouraging the viewer to leave your site.

Comment on Blog kickoff Article

Ray Wood — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:19:39 GMT

Hi Ray, thank you for you comments... your videos are stunning!

Our industry is sometimes a little slow to adopt new ideas. One reason might be the the fact 51 years is the average age for Realtors® in the US. It wasn't very long ago that many folks didn't even put pictures in their listings. Now it's rare to see a listing without multiple photos. Now, virtual tours are beginning to be standard fare for most top producers.

Maybe it will take some new folks in the ranks successfully using video to get the veteran's attention. I think a brand-new Realtor showing up with a strong video-based marketing plan could be pretty fomidable competition. We have some Realtor® in the group... Whaddya think?

Comment on Blog kickoff Article

Ray Zukowski — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:04:07 GMT

Hi Ray,
Looking forward to more of your updates and Realtor perspective on using video tours.
As a Wedding and Event videographer here along the Emerald Coast of N.W. Florida (near Destin), I have been getting calls from owners wanting video of their property.
My last project even included a website along with the photos and video: www.SouthernGloryOnTheBay.com
Over the past few months I have produced five home tours and all were purchase by owners. So far, I have not had a single Realtor show any interest in what I have available. All of them are using 360 tours or still pictures.
Why do you think owners see the value but not Realtors?
The few Realtors I have tried to show my samples to never called me back.
My prices start at $850.

Comment on Blog kickoff Article

Ray Wood — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:01:20 GMT

Hi Carolyn...

Thank you for your comment.

I think most of the problems with the stuttering and stopping on online videos is due to the playback of the video overrunning the downloaded file. When it does that the player runs out of video to show and stops until some more is available. YouTube uses Adobe's Macromedia Flash technology to display videos on your computer. If you click on the horizontal slider at the bottom of the picture and drag it back toward the beginning you should see a dark bar. That dark bar indicates how much of the file has been downloaded to you computer. As long as the little slider doesn't pass the RH end of the dark bar your video playback should be smooth.

You should have 300+ kbps or better to comfortably view stuff from YouTube and most Flash-Based sites. But... you can even use dialup speeds if you are patient and let the video file download before playing it. BTW... the video file goes to your temporary Internet files folder and you can save it an play it back later if you want to. Want to check your line speed? Here's a free test site that doesn't require you to enter you email address.

Also.... From the Youtube Help Screen..........

"

Help Center Home > Troubleshooting > Solving Video Player Issues

Why does the video keep stopping and starting while I'm watching it?

If a video doesn't play continuously, it may be due to your connection speed. You'll need a broadband connection with at least 500+Kbps for the best viewing experience.

Another possible reason for choppy video playback is that our servers are experiencing high traffic. If this is the case, there's not much you can do. However, we are continuously adding servers to keep up with demand and improve your experience on our site.

It's also possible that your video download speed is slow or inconsistent. In this case, you can try pausing the video until the entire stream is downloaded and then playing the video. Occasionally, an incomplete copy of a video can get stuck in your cache and never fully download. You can re-attempt the download by clearing your browser's cache. You'll find steps on how to do this listed here.

========end of Youtube Help Screen===============

Other video servers may or may not buffer the video while in "Pause Mode".

Let me know if you continue to have problems.

Comment on Blog kickoff Article

carolynn diakon — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 14:51:22 GMT

What am I doing wrong? I tried to look at several of your vidoes, and they keep stopping and starting.