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Dear Mr. Internet,
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What are the best ways to "jazz-up" my Website to make it
more interactive, fun and interesting for my visitors? |
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Stef Lukas
Lukas Group Realty
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
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Dear Stef,
"Jazz-up" is a good way of describing what happens to your visitor experience
when you include well thought out multimedia elements to your site. There
are some very exciting possibilities that will definitely grab the attention of
your visitors and have you stand head and shoulders above your competition.
The Power Of The Spoken Word...
Using audio is one of the easiest and quickest ways to add compelling
multimedia content to your site. A Web-based service called
AudioGenerator makes it as simple as leaving a voicemail message to add
voice to your Website and or listings.
Click Here to see how Phyllis Staines of RE/MAX Coastal Real Estate uses it
to "jazz-up" her listing's description (just click the play button
► after the written description). You can get
fancier by adding lead-in / lead-out music, editing the voice recording and then
uploading the final mix as a high-quality MP3 file to the
AudioGenerator
site.
Click Here to see how these kinds of effects are incorporated in a site I
recently created �there is a different audio message from me on nearly every
page.
Audio is just the beginning however, there are other ways
to digitally engage your visitors...
A Multimedia Tour Is Worth A Million Words
Some agents are beginning to use multimedia tools that were originally
designed for listings and repurpose them into tours of neighborhoods, parks,
etc. Here are some examples:
- Cool Tour Of A Warm Place -
Click Here to view an
Imprev Flash movie tour of Winter Park, Florida. Charles Williams of
the Winter Park Land Company hired Virtual Assistant Kim Hughes in Dallas, TX
to put together this multimedia tour of his town that incorporates the use of
photos, music, and text. Diane Dunn with Coldwell Banker, Willis-Smith
of New Burn, NC also uses Imprev for her area tours �Click
Here to see an example.
- Map-Based Guided Tours - Rick Lorenz, a broker with the Wells Group
Real Estate Brokerage in Durango, CO uses a different and rather clever
approach.
Click Here to see how he incorporates a map of his area with "hot spots"
that link to multimedia tours of that corresponding area (be sure to click
on the red hot spots to launch the tours). In this case, Rick uses
Visual Tour for delivering the multimedia content.
What is important to note here is that these agents used multimedia tools
that were originally designed for marketing listings and turned them into highly
interactive, entertaining, and valuable tours of their market area.
The ideas mentioned above are inexpensive and relatively easy to implement
and provide excellent results. However, if you really want to push the
high note of multimedia interactivity, there are ways to do that too...
Have Your Site Come Alive (Literally!)
Rovion is a company out of Lexington, KY that has a remarkable service called
BlueStream that allows you to add "personality" to your site in a way that
must be seen to be believed. When you go to view a site that uses
BlueStream multimedia it will ask you to enable a small Java applet, you
must say "Okay" in order to view the effect.
Click Here to view a real estate example on Mary Ann Simmons Realty
Executives Premier site and just sit back and enjoy (be sure your speakers
are on, also this technology works best for high-speed connections).
Keep in mind that this kind of multimedia is highly sophisticated and
requires a scripted digital video shoot in front of a "blue-screen" (like most
TV weathermen use) as the source video. Bluestream essentially takes
edited digital video files and converts them into a special kind of Flash file
that makes it "pop" above everything else on your screen. It is probably
out of the budget and practicality range of most real estate sales people �but
then again, so were listing virtual tours when they first came out in the
mid-90's.
The multimedia Website enhancement examples above are just the beginning of
where things are going over the next few years. As high-speed Internet
connections become more ubiquitous, the unlimited supply of creative talent
around the world will continue to find ever more clever ways to utilize it for
enhancing your message. And that's real "cool jazz" baby!
Article Resources
AudioGenerator - an easy and inexpensive way to add your voice or any other
kind of audio to your Website.
Imprev - a Web-based multimedia marketing materials service that enables you
to create awesome Flash tours (with background music) of just about anything
including neighborhoods, schools, and other points of interest.
Visual Tour - where you can find Virtual Consultants to help you set up your
own e-mail marketing software systems.
BlueStream - a highly innovative and sophisticated way to make your site
come alive.
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