I will also post a quick Video response ASAP.

First off thanks for the mention again JF.

I love Animoto but I did not use it to gain the multiple positions for “Greenwich CT Real Estate under 700000″ I used another service to make a simple slide show explaining how to search for the most up-to-date real estate listings. The KEY to the multiple listings was syndicating the videos across multiple web2.0 properties.

I recently got a listing in Greenwich because of those results, http://LucySt.com. The sellers asked the question what can you do that we cant get from anyone else.

In the spring of 2008 I created a video that is still on http://17Fern.com and used Animoto for that video and it brought the Seller to tears! People buy with emotion and justify with facts. I think, not enough Realtors are selling with emotion and listening for the specific questions that a buyer may have.

“ITS THE ECONOMY – STUPID”

Its the HOME, not the Realtor, not the mortgage, or the school. If a buyer loves a home they will find a way to buy it no matter the Realtor or the funds or if they have to drive JR to a private school. Its the HOME.

When we as Realtors can paint a picture of the lifestyle that the next homeowner can lead that's when the home gets sold. And that is truly done in person! Not online. If you have ever heard the expression “sell the sizzle not the steak” – thats my point. Online a Realtors job is to get more appointments for showings and listings. Nothing more. I have people right now negotiating on Lucy St from California! They love the pictures the video and the story. But they had to see it first. I have not sold a house over the web just yet but I'm sure the day will come.

Animoto is an online tool that will help the Realtor stand out. Hopefully enough to get some extra showings or an extra listing – Thats what we really want.

Nike says “Just Do IT”
I say “Just Do More”

Tim Judge
HomeSearchTV.com
Sharpest.Realtor.Ever.com

You're correct of course. I just did some searches, and indeed there has been a major PR algorithm change, with many pages dropping one rank on all kinds of sites. One SEO guru mentioned that some of his internal pages were now ranking higher than the home page, which he likes, as it helps in long tail exposure. I, however, using the Google toolbar PR indicator, am finding that Google isn't ranking many of my internal WordPress pages, after many months up. Not sure what is going on, but I'll get over it. I'm still in the same PR position relative to the local competition, so I guess it's OK.

As you know, there are a lot of channels (on & offline) to promote your content which are not Google dependent.

Did you ever notice that sometimes you should just keep your mouth shut? After my bragging this morning, my weekly check of SEO shows that EVERY real estate website in my market lost one PR point since yesterday or the day before. I have been a PR4 for months, and now a 3. I was just one of the group, but Google is dancing again. I'd be interested if it's real estate wide or just my market.

Jim

I think much of our commentary here is focused on the search engines, which is required to be successful. However, I think that the real estate related content over time will help to build our “local real estate expert” persona. Then, maybe even a little old fashioned word-of-mouth about the great site with all of the real estate stuff will actually come into play.

And, you're right about the combination of long tail with head/neck in many cases. Maybe I'm trying to cover too many bases, taking them early or at transaction time. I guess in today's market I'm just getting tired of having to scrape around for my next 2 pennies.

It's all pretty new, so who knows.