Friday, November 4, 2011

Attract More Clients

In today's challenging markets, the proper presentation of advertising has become increasingly more important. With 85% of home shoppers turning to the Internet before they pick up the phone it is now more important than ever to increase your reach online and deliver a lasting impression. Please allow me to introduce myself on behalf of Stamm 360 Virtual Tours, Houston, Clear Lake, and Galveston property marketing experts. Whether you are a listing agent or an owner of a local business large or small our services are just what you need to turn heads and make you look your very best. Our wide variety of services include state of the art interactive 360 virtual tours, professional photography services, powerful slideshow presentations, interactive 2d and 3d floor plan services, 3d walkthrough video presentations, colorful and vibrant listing flyers, panoramic sign riders, single property websites, listing syndication services, professional voice talent and so much more! Our virtual tour exposure engine is currently something that no other virtual tour company in Texas offers. Your real estate listings and virtual tours are distributed to over 100 portal sites worldwide. Listing syndication just makes sense. You know that when you generate more exposure for your listings, they are likely to sell faster and for more money. If you are a real estate agent or a business owner we can also show you how to make your website receive more traffic.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Are good photographs the key to selling your real estate property online?

You must have been familiar with the proverb “a picture's worth more than a thousand words”. Photos, when incorporated in websites or newspapers change the total worth of the news or the content as visitors or readers feel more interested in reading something when it is supported by an image. Similarly, if you have a real estate website and you want to boost the sales of your company online, you should integrate some good photographs that are professionally presented. If things look shabby and unprofessional, not only will the buyers find the property to be unappealing, but also associate you and your company with unprofessionalism. According to a Realtor's Association survey, it has been revealed that when it comes to the online features that most visitors consider, 85% of them cited pictures or images, 80% cited a Will you go for article exchange ?detailed representation of the real estate property and 55% cited virtual tours. As the real estate buyers begin to search and narrow down their search, the key enticing element is certainly real estate photographs. The listings that you have in your website might have to be visually enticing and also of superior quality. The size of the photo that is being used in your real estate website is very important. The shots should be large to display the details of the room easily be visible. On the other hand, while it should show the intricate details of the room, it must also be small enough so that it gets loaded within few seconds. It is often seen that online visitors waver away from the websites that have a high loading time. The internet users are usually accustomed with pictures getting clear within seconds and if your real estate website is not able to do that, you may lose traffic very soon. The second factor that you need to keep in mind is to maintain professionalism as much as possible when you put photographs on your real estate website. There are many good digital cameras that can perform this job well. You must invest your dollars in getting yourself a good digital camera and use the camera with wide angle lens. Get a hot shoe attachment as this will work best while shooting the pictures of your real estate photo. Now that you have the best camera to take your real estate photograph, you have to determine the purpose of adding the photo. Sometimes, staging rooms with the best things can often be helpful to grab the attention of the highest number of eyeballs but you must take care that you do not focus all attention to the furniture or the decoration of the house. Focus more on the architecture, design and space of the room. Remember that the front exterior shot is the most important featured image of your real estate website. Make sure that the exterior shot is strong enough so that it communicates in a better way to the online visitors and gives them a clear idea of what they're going to purchase. Therefore, real estate photography is of utmost importance if you have a website that caters to the needs of the prospective homebuyers. Follow the tips mentioned above so that you can grab the awareness of most online visitors and thereby boost profit. Reprinted with permission from Peter Harper

INDUSTRY STATISTICS VS 360 VIRTUAL TOURS

As of August 2006, over half of American adult internet users (61%) have taken virtual tours of another location online. (2006 Pew Internet & American Life Study) On a typical day, more than six million people are taking virtual tours in cyberspace, up from roughly two million in 2004. (2006 Pew Internet & American Life Study) 79% of repeat buyers & 84% of first time buyers use the internet to search for a home. (2006 National Association of Realtors Survey) Images are one of the biggest reasons Internet marketing has become so popular. 54% of home buyers who are searching for their next home on realtor.com will not even look at a home unless there is a featured tour. (National Association of Realtors, January 2006) 96.2% of travelers use the Internet as a source of information when planning a trip 80% of internet shoppers say images are imperative when deciding to buy or use a company’s product or services. (2006 Pew Internet & American Life Study) A compelling use of virtual tour technology will keep visitors on your site, and will also keep them coming back. When the time comes, and the prospective buyer is ready to initiate contact, your sales person and web site, that have been most successful in “branding” and “bonding” with the potential buyer, can be assured an opportunity. In cyberspace, a site with a virtual tour and interactive media will receive 38% more views than a competitor’s site that is lacking media. (2006 Pew Internet & American Life Study) 80% of consumers search for information online. That means at least 60% of your marketing dollars should be spent optimizing your company online. The daily cost for print advertising varies between $66-$150 per day and has a shelf life averaging around 30 days. Print advertising has a limited market penetration based on your distribution and does not allow the consumer to interact or engage with the advertisement. While the cost of a virtual tour averages around 27 CENTS per day. With a shelf life of 365 days and WORLDWIDE penetration the cost to interact with your client is MUCH less. Home Buyers who used the Internet as a significant portion of their home-buying experience spent an average of two weeks with a Realtor® looking at homes, compared to those who did not use the internet, who spent an average of seven weeks looking for their home. (2008 RIS Media) 44% are searching after hours – websites ARE your 24-hour leasing center. (2008 Ellipse Group) Many apartment communities report that Internet Marketing is quickly becoming their number one source of traffic and leases. (2008 Ellipse Group) Internet marketing has the lowest cost per lease of any form of advertising. (2008 Ellipse Group) A 360 virtual tour is a great way to turn web site visitors into customers by installing confidence in your business or property. (2008 Ellipse Group) While only 15% of all hotel bookings are made over the Internet, 65% of all travel bookings are researched online. The Internet has become the top choice for consumers to investigate travel destinations, whether for business or leisure. (2007 Gomez Travel) 75% of those surveyed, visited 3-4 Hotel Web Sites before making their choice. (2007 Gomez Travel) The estimated Return on Investment (ROI) for Hotel Virtual Tours is less than 4 weeks. (2007 Gomez Travel) Hotel Virtual Tours increase on-line bookings by up to 85%. (2007 Gomez Travel) Unlike most other marketing tools, Hotel Virtual Tours continue to earn you revenue until you refurbish. (2007 Gomez Travel) Nearly three in four online travelers (73%) say a 360ยบ virtual tours would be “very useful” in helping them select a hotel that matches their preferences and expectations. (2006 VFM Interactive) A recent study conducted by Carlson showed that Radisson hotels that feature virtual tours on Radisson.com are averaging 52% more online revenues than those that do not. (2007 VFM Interactive).

Monday, September 19, 2011

A Million Reasons To Use 360 Virtual Tours

“A Million Reasons to Use STAMM 360 VIRTUAL TOURS & REAL ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHY…” From the Desk of Vernon Stamm, Owner Stamm 360 Virtual Tours & Real Estate Photography 5930 Spanish Oak, Houston, TX 77066
An Open Letter To All Real Estate Agents Who Are Sick And Tired of Throwing Away Money On Useless Advertising!! Dear Prospective Client, First, I am sure you are wondering why I included a “Million Dollar” bill with this letter. I did this for two very important reasons: 1. Obviously, I wanted to get your attention, because I have something very important to tell you and how better to draw attention than with a ‘Million dollar’ bill? 2. And secondly, since what I have to tell you can save you time and money, I thought using a million dollar bill as an “eye-catcher “ was appropriate. In today’s competitive real estate market, you simply cannot afford to waste your time and money on marketing services that take forever to get your listings online and in front of potential buyers. When it’s time to market your listings, you need results, not promises. That is why I am writing to you today; to explain the difference between my company and other virtual tour providers. Stamm 360 Virtual Tours & Real Estate Photography Is Your Answer For Online Marketing Of Your Listings! With Stamm 360 Virtual Tours & Real Estate Photography, you benefit from: 1. Personalized Service – We are a local company that only services local realtors. Let’s face it, you can use a lot of different virtual tour solutions to market your properties, but the question is, what kind of service are you going to receive? When your homeowner signs that listing agreement, the clock starts ticking. As a virtual tour professional I understand the importance of getting your listings, photographed, processed, and online as quickly as possible. After your scheduled virtual tour appointment, we will process your tour and have it online within 24 to 72 hours GUARANTEED! 2. The Best Technology - When I started this virtual tour company in January, 2011, I could have very easily chosen any processing software for your virtual tours. However, I chose to team up with Real Tour Vision, an innovative virtual tour software company that allows me to provide you with interactive virtual tours. Interactive virtual tours differ from other virtual tours, because they allow viewers to go from room to room without ever leaving the viewing area. Other tour software only allows drop-down menus or links to the side and bottom of the tour. I have always found that distracting, for the reason that you don’t use ‘drop-down menus’ in a true on-site visit of the property. Interactive virtual tours allow viewers to get a better feel for the true flow of the home. 3. Online Marketing - It is simply NOT enough to have a virtual tour of a property. What good does a virtual tour do for your property if no one ever sees it? Just posting the tour on your personal site limits the property's exposure to viewers that visit your site. Some virtual tour companies may lead you to believe that linking the tour to your website is the end of the process. We take it to the next level. When Stamm 360 Virtual Tours & Real Estate Photography completes the production of your virtual tour, we then add your customized banners, logos, property and contact information. The tour is then sent to Real Tour Vision servers for automatic internet distribution to national portal sites. We provide you with two links to your tour. One is branded with all of your contact information and displays key property information. The second link is completely unbranded and can be used on MLS/IDX websites. 4. Realtor.com® Distribution - If you provide us with an MLS number at the time of your order, your tour is automatically linked to active listings on www.homeseekers.com and www.homes.com free of charge. We can also link your tour to Realtor.com FREE of charge for Enhanced Realtors with Realtor.com (Showcase). If you are not enhanced, we can still link your tour to Realtor.com for a nominal $25 fee. When your tour is submitted to Realtor.com your tour is then also sent to www.move.com, www.homestore.com, MSN Home Advisor, AOL Real Estate, AND 30+ additional websites in the homestore.com network. The list goes on and on. But, don’t just take it from me. In fact there is nothing that I can say about my business, but our clients can’t say better: [TESTIMONIALS – MINIMUM 3… USE THE WHOLE NEXT PAGE IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH TESTIMONIALS MORE TESTIMONIALS = BETTER RESULTS] So, as you can see, as you drive around the area, it’s a pretty good chance that a lot of the listed homes you are passing are currently being marketed by Stamm 360 Virtual Tours & Real Estate Photography. When buyers are looking for a home in this area, they will be able to find those listings on the Internet, and take a full virtual tour of the property. And if you still have doubts that our virtual tour service is far superior to other virtual tour options, take it from a successful real estate agent from Eden Prairie, Minnesota who recently posted this comment on the real estate network, ActiveRain.com. ~ I am looking for my own home and find it so annoying to run into the slide-shows disguised as virtual tours. It is really a disservice to the homeowner as it is a cheap way to do it. I want to see a 360 to get an idea of the layout and traffic flow. I don't want to zoom into the fireplace that, you guessed it, is a fireplace. If I see it is a slide-show of pics already on the MLS, then I just close it and move on. ~ ~ Jennifer Kirby GRI, ABR, E-PRO, Exit Realty, Eden Prairie I would love the opportunity to talk with you in person and go over your different options for online marketing and virtual tours of your current and upcoming listings. Give me a call at (281)236-2375. Sincerely, Vernon G Stamm 5930 Spanish Oak Houston, TX 77066 http://www.stammfamilyphotographers.net (281)236-2375 PS – For a limited time only, I am offering 50% off all packages!!