An Adventure in Vimeo
June 9, 2008
By: Jeremy Rivera
Author's Website: http://www.theriversidehomesource.com
Video is the next frontier, or so they say. I have been wracking my brains for a way to utilize video on my Riverside real estate website, but since I am handicapped by not having any listings, I couldn’t do a listing tour.
I decided that since my website emphasis has alway been on the home buyer, and providing photos and information about Riverside, that I should do the same with video. Drop the straight hard pitch of real estate and go to the soft pitch of providing community information. My fiance recently was given a 10 mega pixel Camera, so I decided to try and use that to take my video…and ran into what was at first a major setback. We don’t have a video card for the camera, so at most I can only take 20 seconds of video! Not to be daunted, I decided to form the entire concept around that limitation instead of letting it stop me. I created 9 videos around different spots in Riverside. Of course, I had to download each video off the camera on the fly before I could start the next one, so it was a bit inconvenient.
Looking online, I wanted to get my video out on the most effective platform, and so I chose Vimeo.com as the platform to host my videos. I started uploading the videos, adding tags, and descriptions of the videos, when I discovered a really neat option.
You have the ability to make a “channel” for your videos. I know that’s not ground breaking, but I think that the other features on the page make it worthwhile. It has a built in shout box, a mini blog feature, a forum, a calendar, and all of it is subscribe able via RSS. I setup a channel just for Riverside — http://www.vimeo.com/Riversideca. Of course, the project is just in its early stages; as I continue to add more videos, we will see if it’s a successful adventure.
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Video
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Comments
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Graeme on June 9, 2008 10:18 am
Jeremy:
I think that the creation of neighborhood videos is a great way to add content to your site. The more you can come across as “the local expert”, the better position you’ll be in to connect with clients; video is a great way to make that personal connection/distinction.
–Graeme
mike price on June 9, 2008 1:07 pm
Jeremy and Graeme,
Community tours are a tremendous way for a buyer’s agent to create some Google Juice. We have clients that are creating and posting community content that have them coming up in coveted 1st page spots.
Aside from the obvious SEO benefit, web prospects are more likely to spend time on your site if you can demonstrate, in a unique way, your familiarity with the communities you farm. Just ping me if you want to see some more specific instances.
Cheers,
MP – MLBroadcast.Com
Ralph on June 10, 2008 4:37 am
Video IS the way to go. Many of my clients are going to full video sites. More efficient from the buyer and sellers side along with the real estate professional saving time and money.
http://www.aarsteam.com
http://www.nosellercost.com
http://www.weuuzit.com
http://www.iuuzit.com
All video sites that are starting to take off.
Jeremy Rivera on June 10, 2008 1:35 pm
Graeme, I agree, adding video to my site has sparked all kinds of new developments for me, and it already has been a great boon to the SEO link building process.
Mike, I’d love to see some of your examples of community tours. I am still evolving on how I post and add these tours, so I’m interested to see how others add them.
Ralph,
That’s an interesting concept: A full video site. I’ll take a look at those sites and see if I can pull some new concepts.
Now currently, in my video descriptions I often put a link back to my site in some fashion…Is that a good strategy or a suicide attempt?
Steve Jagger - Reachd Video Training in Seattle on June 10, 2008 2:29 pm
Jeremy,
Try doing videos about your thoughts on the market, the area, neighborhoods, etc. Check out what this agent is doing with video.
http://www.ianwatt.ca/Ian-Watt-Video-Blog-Vancouver-Real-Estate.ubr
Hope that helps.
Steve
Jeremy Rivera on June 10, 2008 3:59 pm
I think it is a neat aspect that he’s driving in most of his blogs. It makes sense… I have a 1 hour commute everyday, so it is a good opportunity to use that time for something more effective.