from Florida Realtor Magazine, July
2007 | page 18
Video E-mail Arrives Full
Stream Ahead
Every now and then a technology comes
along that changes your life and you give up the old way of
doing things. Kimberlee Hawk, a sales associate with RE/MAX
Executive Group in Kissimmee, credits an inexpensive e-mail
tool called helloWorld with radically changing the way she
does business. Via video-streaming software, helloWorld lets
Hawk create video e-mails and instantly send them to anyone
in the world. Instead of writing a traditional e-mail, Hawk
simply videos herself talking to the e-mail recipient who
then can watch a video instead of read an e-mail.
The program helped Hawk turn one sale into three sales. “An
investor-client in New York was interested in one of my
listings, so I made a video and e-mailed it to him the same
day,” she says. “I always say the date so they’ll know it’s
fresh. The integrity of the process is improved 100 percent
because I highlight things they would notice if they were
walking through [the property] with me. Instead of buying
just one house, now he’s talking about possibly three
purchases.”
There are several video e-mail providers from which to
choose, but Hawk was introduced to VMDirect’s helloWorld (a
Web-based program) when an affiliate showed up at one of her
open houses and told her about it. The product costs either
$10, $20 or $40 per month, depending upon which features the
user wants.
Here are five benefits Hawk derives from video e-mail:
1.
Create That “Wow” Factor
Our society has become much more “visual,” and most people
simply don’t have time to read text-intensive e-mail
messages, says Hawk. “I have a huge database of people who
e-mailed me in years past, and I’m responding to them and
hearing back from them whereas before they really weren’t
saying anything back,” she says. “Now, when people see and
hear me in a video e-mail, and all these extra senses are
involved, they immediately say, ‘Oh, that’s really cool’.
“I have a [Web] camera that sits on my desk, I press record
and [speak into the camera] and when I’m done I type in the
e-mail address where I want to send my video message.”
When a recipient opens one of Hawk’s e-mails, he or she will
see a “filmstrip” of about five still images of Hawk, and a
message that reads: “Hi [Recipient], Please tap on the
filmstrip below and disable any pop-up blockers so you can
see my message.” All the recipient needs is a high-speed
Internet connection and he or she can view Hawk’s video in
seconds. There are no downloads, so hard drive space isn’t
used.
2.
Strengthen Relationships
A resident of Celebration (the town that Walt Disney World
built) since its inception in 1996, Hawk makes an effort to
get to know her neighbors. She finds that helloWorld helps
her break the ice at community events. “I recently
videotaped a neighbor’s child winning an award,” she says,
adding that she uploaded the video to the VMDirect server
the same day, clicked a button and instantly sent the video
to the child’s parents. “Now they’re saying that if they
ever sell their house they’ll call me.
“Within the past few months, my [face recognition] has
multiplied a good 30 percent, with people stopping me in the
street and saying they know me from somewhere,” Hawk adds.
She has no doubt that her video marketing e-mails have
created a sense of familiarity. Her video e-mails also
include a link to her Web site (www.celebrationhomesales.com).
3.
Enrich Marketing Efforts
According to Hawk, helloWorld has helped her attract a
global audience for pennies compared to the cost of
traditional marketing. “I’m trying to get away from things
that people throw in the trash,” she says. “Just look at
sending out 1,000 postcards at $2 apiece. That’s $2,000 a
month, and you never know who’s looking at them. For just
$40 per month and a couple of mouse clicks I can broadcast
my own real estate video blog, do live Web casting and send
unlimited video e-mails. It’s not invasive, and I get e-mail
verification so I know my video was watched.”
Virtual tours also cost Hawk next to nothing. “With most
virtual tours you have to hire a camera crew and they have
to edit the video. With helloWorld you take your camcorder
to the home and do the tour, then upload it and publish it
the same day. You can put music behind it too. It puts you
in control.”
4.
Broadcast Open Houses
For out-of-town clients who can’t be present during an open
house, Hawk places her Web cam inside the property and uses
helloWorld to “broadcast” the event to them. “They can be in
Philadelphia,” she says, “watching what kind of traffic
we’re getting.”
5.
Host Live Video Chat
Another feature Hawk enjoys is live Web chat. “That’s huge
for sales associates because we can get the lender, the
closing agent and the client online,” she says. Each
participant must be a helloWorld subscriber, so if Hawk
knows she’s going to be working with vendors for a while,
she signs them up. “If I want to be able to communicate with
a builder, for example, I can pay the $10 fee and then
cancel afterwards,” she says.
Hawk predicts that video e-mail will be the “next big thing”
for real estate. “It will revolutionize the way we
communicate,” she says.
This column, designed to
offer examples of how salespeople and brokers are using
technology in their offices, won first place in the 2006
Best Column category from the Florida Magazine Association.
The column is for general information only. Opinions
expressed here don’t necessarily reflect an endorsement of
the views by Florida Realtor® magazine or the Florida
Association of Realtors® (FAR). |