Q & A With Darris Cassidy at RealEstateEcards.com
By Drew Meyers | February 21, 2008
Darris Cassidy reached out to me a couple weeks ago for some feedback on his new site — RealEstateEcards.com. The eCards include background music, professional looking photographs of the home with captions, along with details about the listing agent (click “view” on the lower left of this page for an example) and the cost is $39 per listing. Though I’m pretty familiar with the real estate tech industry, I’m not an actual Realtor who would use this type of service to help sell a listing. As a result, I thought I’d share his product with the Geek Estate audience with the hope of some tech-savvy real estate professionals providing some further feedback. I think the cost is a slight barrier to rapid growth considering the range of similar services such as vFlyer and Postlets. That said, read through Darris’ answers to the 4 questions I sent to him via e-mail and make your own decision as to the products’ future prospects.
Q: What problem are you looking to solve with Real Estate Ecards?
A: Each home has a unique feel and story that often is not well conveyed through the use of conventional real estate marketing. RealEstateEcards.com provides Realtors and individuals an opportunity to effectively, efficiently, and easily market home listings by creating a stimulating eCard that evokes an emotional viewing experience. Our eCards use music and special effects to bring real estate listings to life; opposed to alternative online marketing options that utilize static photos or virtual tours, which often do not emphasize the most marketable features of a home in a manner that leaves customers wanting more, which our eCards do.
Q: What does Real Estate Ecards do in 5 sentences or less?
A: Our eCards capture the essence of each home and stimulate viewer’s senses in a way that moves them closer to a purchase. Since roughly 80% of people begin their home searches online, this product was created with the belief that effective online marketing should result in moving potential buyers off their computers and into homes for personal tours. To cause someone to take such an onerous action, it is essential to appeal to their senses in a positive, warm, and intriguing way; all of which are accomplished by our eCards. Realtors can spread their listings through many internet channels they’re likely already using such as email, Zillow, Craigslist, blogs, and even their own websites. Therefore, the transition into this type of marketing is typically seamless to Realtors and their clients.
Q: What’s the revenue model?
A: The first eCard created by an individual is FREE and then cost $39 thereafter. We decided to give each customer a free eCard to allow users to get comfortable with the creation process and to better understand the marketing power behind the product. Our fee based revenue model keeps our site free of advertisements so that viewers focus is entirely on the listed home.
Q: How do you recommend real estate professionals use this service? Can you give one or two good examples?
A: Realtors can effectively use our product by inserting a link to their eCard everywhere the home is advertised online such as RMLS, Zillow, Craigslist, etc. Also, many of our realtor customers place the eCard link into emails to: follow up on an open house lead, direct market to Realtors or clients, feature homes within weekly newsletters, and in response to phone call inquiries.
Thanks for your time Darris — best of luck growing Real Estate Ecards. I know Darris and the Ecards team will appreciate any feedback you can provide, so please let them have it in the comments (good and bad)!
Author's Website: http://www.zillow.com
Topics: Marketing |
4 Responses to “Q & A With Darris Cassidy at RealEstateEcards.com”
Comments
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February 21st, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Hey, I stopped by the booth at the RMLS tech fair last week and grabbed a flyer. Hopefully you guys got some good exposure from that.
Overall, I think it’s a great product, but as Drew mentioned, the price might be a little too high for the agents liking.
I also thought the “special effects” like the snowflakes, and the animated fire in the fireplace were pretty cheesy. Seems like a good idea, but when you actually see it, it just didn’t work for me. Just my personal opinion…
Good luck out there!
Jeff Bernheisel
Western Title & Escrow
February 21st, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I think $39.00 is a bargain especially when compared with the cost of a high quality virtual tour.
Sellers love to see their property presented this way on the internet and it’s a great way to market to other agents.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:38 am
Unfortunately for RealEstateEcards you don’t have to spend a cent to create great listing presentations like this in no time. Slide is infinitely more customizable and has the important viral distribution features of being able to both link to and embed the show. Slide only lacks the menu functionality seen here but that doesn’t seem like much of a loss considering the savings and the creative freedom slide offers.
Check it out: http://www.slide.com
May 28th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Slide is free, but your sellers will know the difference. You should take the time to view or actually create (first one is free) one of these Real Estate eCards yourself. Not only does “Slide” not have the interactive features of these eCards, but your listing will be flanked by ads. Real Estate eCards also has a Facebook app! Also, a “forward” feature that notifies me whenever someone sends it on. My sellers love these!