Needing more ideas for your real estate video? Video is a great way to build your “trusted advisor” status, so here are a few more ideas to help you do just that. As a continuation of my series 10 Ideas for Real Estate Video, here we go with Part II which includes two more content ideas for your real estate video.

3.  Featured Business

Do a video featuring a favorite local business in your market area. You can do this by simply taking your camera to local restaurant, shop, or service provider in your town. Take shots of the scenery place of business, interview the owners or workers, and make mention why this is a favorite spot to do visit or do business. It is a great cross promotion tool, a great way to show off your neighborhoods to outsiders, and another way to show your area expertise. you can even consult with the business for them to offer special discounts and offers to your viewers.

4.  Highlight a Community Event

Show off a different side of yourself and your community. Highlight a special community charity you are involved in, or a special community event that speaks to you. If you are involved in something like Relay for Life, take along your camera and show highlights of the event, interview organizers and participants on why they are involved and show why it is important to you.

You could also take your camera along to special or unique festivals or parties that go on in your community. Whether it is a fall festival with pumpkin patches and scarecrows, or something that is unique to your community, show it off. It is another way to show how you are involved in your community,  show off why it is a great place to live, and again it helps to build your “trusted advisor” status.

Everyone loves a contest right? Since I’ve been talking about video a fair bit lately, I saw a contest for REALTORS from NAR that ties into video nicely. So you’ve been sharpening your video making skills lately, and making fantastic real estate videos, right? Well now you can put those skills into practice by entering the Win a Trip to New Orleans in the NARdiGras 2010 Video Contest.

All you have to do is submit a video that is 3 minutes or less, explaining why you should get an all-expenses paid trip to NARdiGras 2010, NAR’s annual conference and expo happening November 5-8. Looks like a fun contest and a pretty great prize as well. A few years ago I attended the NAR Conference & Expo in Vegas, had a blast, and met all sorts of industry greats.

Winner of the contest receives, full conference registration, round-trip airfare, hotel room for 3 nights, and $300 gift card for expenses. The winner’s video will also be displayed on the REALTORS® Conference & Expo home page.

Video submission deadline is August 15th, and the voting for the finalist happens August 23rd – September 13th. So get creative, show off you awesome video skills, plead your case, and be sure to include the phrase “NARdiGras 2010, the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in New Orleans.”

For more information on the contest and guidelines, check it out here.

Good Luck!

Image via Wikipedia

Video is becoming a popular tool in the real estate agent’s marketing plan. And why not? YouTube happens to be the worlds second most popular search engine. That is why it is a great idea to incorporate video into your real estate business. Not only do you get exposure on YouTube, videos make great content for your blog, real estate website, Facebook Pages, and more.

Many agents really want to start using video, but draw a blank as to what kind of topics to do real estate videos on. So here is my first installment of my 10 Ideas For Real Estate Video.

1.  Video Tour of Homes

One of the most obvious ways to use video for real estate is to do video tours of your listings. As a form of a virtual tour, simply take a video walk-through of the home. Take shots of the front and the surroundings on the street, then walk through the front door and take viewer through the home as if they were walking through it in person. This is something that can easily be done with your own camcorder if you have the right tools (a decent camcorder, a tripod, and simple editing software). If you are marketing a “high end” or luxury listing, or you just don’t have the time, then I recommend hiring a professional to make the video tours.

(No camcorder or budget for a professional? You can also make a video tour by stringing together still photos using such software as RealEstateShows, Animoto, and more.)

This is a great tool to use for buyers too! Take along your camera on showings to record the homes your buyers are viewing. Then you can email your videos afterward to remind your buyers about exactly what they have seen. Or you can send the videos to their far-away spouses or family members to take a look.

2.  Tour of Neighborhoods/Towns

Image by cobalt123 via Flickr

Build your trusted “local expert” status by taking a video tour of the neighborhoods and towns you serve. Show off the great neighborhood features, the local parks, favorite local hot spots and shopping. Highlight everything that makes that neighborhood unique and a great place to live. It is a great way to show those thinking of relocating to the area why they should move there.

Do you serve a selling area comprised of several distinct neighborhoods? Do a separate video for each of them. The more content you can provide, the better.

For an excellent way to do a call to action:  Invite your viewers and current residents to request that you highlight their favorite neighborhoods or parts of the area.

I am a real estate virtual assistant, and it is no secret that I run the business from my home office. Occasionally, my husband and young son let me venture outside of the home office for a day.  So when I saw that the RE BarCamp Philadelphia was happening May 27th, I jumped at the chance to fit it into my schedule. I was really looking forward to it. Heck, just getting out for a day sans diaper bag, is thrill in and of itself. So, last Thursday, I dropped the munchkin off at Grandma’s and headed to Philadelphia for a day to attend the RE BarCamp Philadelphia (or #rebcphl).

I was way excited to listen and learn, and to get the opportunity to meet many awesome real estate folks I see on my social media streams on a daily basis. And REBCPHL didn’t disappoint.

First of all, the venue, World Cafe Live, had to be the coolest I’ve ever been to for an event like this. It was a great atmosphere, a great casual setup, the music in between was fun, and lunch was great. Not a bad location at all. Since I’m little new to the area I didn’t know this place was there, but now it’s on my radar and I may be back for their many great musical acts.

I spent my time there observing, listening, learning and contributing where I could. Many of the sessions were on social media related topics, which of course has been the hottest topic over the last couple years. A couple of the most intriguing topics to me included discussion on “taking it offline” (which almost turned into a smartphone addicts anonymous meeting). Then the Raise the Bar (or “RTB”) discussion had me very interested even though I’m not an active REALTOR. It shocks me that some in the industry seem so resistant to raising the bar on professionalism and holding themselves (and each other) to a higher standard.

All in all it was a great event. I met some great people that I’ve networked with online, and made a few new friends. I am looking forward to the next RE BarCamp that comes to my neck of the woods. Next time, I might even present at a session.

Lastly, let me ask you to take a moment and help out a great friend of the RE.net, Joe Ferrara. He was diagnosed with an aggressive malignant brain tumor and he and his family need all the prayers, love, and support they could get. And check out the Friends of Joe Ferrara group started up on Facebook.

When searching for new plugins and widgets for my own blog, I stumbled upon this nifty little gem that I thought would be great for the “green conscious” Realtor and their blog.

Check out this Green Living Tips widget. It’s a cool little box that randomly cycles some tips for living a little greener and I think would be great little addition to a real estate blog. Right now it is only available for WordPress or Joomla sites, but it installs easily and looks great.

I’m always on the lookout for fun things to make your RE blog better. And if you need help setting your blog up, it’s a great job for your Real Estate Virtual Assistant to help with. Just sayin’.

via realtor.org

Methinks that NAR is taking some great steps in the right direction. This is some exciting stuff in my opinion. I think this is badly needed and hopefully will erase the need for agents to buy into 3rd party aggregators. This should become a truly valuable NAR member benefit… Finally.

Posted via web from megbarberva’s posterous

Have you vistited our main site, www.BarberVASolutions.com lately? Well I am excited to announce that our BVAS site now has a new look! After 4+ years of having the same website design, I thought is was time for a facelift. So after many hours of hard work,  and many nights dreaming about CSS, I did it! (thanks to WordPress) With our new site, we’re also in the process of adding a few new services, products and resources. A few of the most exciting services we will be adding it the coming months:

• Social Network Marketing packages and more
• More graphic design services including Twitter backgrounds, custom web/blog headers and buttons

And as a celebration for our celebration of our site’s new look, I am running a New Look Special! For any new clients that sign on with us before March 31, 2009, we are offering 5% discounts on all of our retainer packages for the first 6 months of your contract. So don’t delay and contact me today for more details. Be sure to stay tuned and check back to our site frequently to see our new services, new resources and new team members we add in the coming months.

Megan Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, LLC,  and runs blogs, The BVAS Connection and The Virtual Perception. Megan has been in a Virtual Assistant for 4+ years and has spent 10+ years doing the “behind-the-scenes” work in the real estate industry assisting agents with their real estate marketing and transaction needs.