Greening up the Grass while Waiting on Sod Delivery

Lawrence Virtual Tour is here to help you sell your house. We create top quality virtual tours using professional pictures of your property. However, we know when you need a little help... and when the house is finished inside and shows beautifully, ready for the Parade of Homes, ready to be sold, but the grass is not cooperating, Lawrence Virtual Tour is here to help you.

I just started to work with a builder, Rockfire at the Lake, and did their Clubhouse a month ago. When they called me to shoot their first home the sod had not yet been delivered so the yard was in sad shape. I ended up adding some grass digitally in the front yard still.

I also tried it on the individual photos for a full 360 panoramic and it worked very well! I wasn't sure that the stitching would work, but it did. I preferred working on the individual photos before stitching, and next time I will try from the stitched high resolution photo. It might save me some time.

The full virtual tour is available here, but it doesn't show the before/after. I also had to add a few green spots through the living room windows and the kitchen door.

The reviews were ecstatic, both from the agent and the builder: "You have done a nice job, I am very impressed with your work." and "You have done an admirable job. Thank you."

And guess what? They already promised me job to shoot the next two virtual home tours and they are planning on building another hundred of houses in the next 5 years.

Kate Huchet
Your professional virtual tour provider in Lawrence!
www.Lawrencevirtualtour.com
Order a virtual tour - 785-764-2552

Trade Show Advice from Panorama Jack

The key to trade shows is proper planning, getting lots of sleep the night before the show, and not getting too nervous during the show.

Remember that, at the end of the day, people are coming to the event to get free food, win prizes and hang out. So, you will have to do your best to snag their attention and leave a lasting impression. While most of us can’t afford purchasing a dunk tank or having a movie star co-host your booth, so you have to find another way to catch their eye.

You want to be memorable -- make people remember at least one thing about their encounter with you.

The sole purpose of your booth is to generate leads so you can do your follow up and emails after the show. What I have discovered over the years is that paper material gets tossed, recycled, or if you are lucky it is saved long enough in a paper bag and used during a summer camping trip. In this case they may or may not notice you just before the fire sears away your phone number.

Use something that stands out like miniature sized business card CD’s. You can find some great deals on the web if you look hard enough. I recommend using www.cdrom2go.com for their great low prices.

Business card sized CD’s have a VERY long shelf life because who really wants to throw that away, right?

They make an excellent conversation piece that reflects on how tech savvy you are. The other advantage to these is that they can hold up to 50 MB of YOUR data. That will leave you enough room to include your information packet, your order form, a sample virtual tour, your PowerPoint presentation, and one other miscellaneous item that you might put on there.

But how do you pull that off and make it look slick when the CD is placed into the on board computer cup holder? It’s simple and if you read last month's newsletter then you are already enjoying the benefits of www.autorun.com. The combined use of this nifty software and your business CD will also save you hundreds of dollars on printing costs. The total cost of one of these burned in full color is about $.40 and even cheaper if you buy a system and do the printing yourself. Look into it!

Now that you have all of your company information packed into one tiny conversation piece that will last a long time, you are ready for additional planning. Sadly, 80 percent of all trade show leads never get followed up on so it's very important to plan out prior to the show exactly how leads will be gathered and follow up on. I recommend that you setup a raffle at your booth to win a free virtual tour that will be announced at the end of the show. Purchase a nice fishbowl or other attractive table piece that your visitors can drop a business card into. And always remember (as you hand out your business card sized CD) to ask if it is ok for you to follow up with them at a later time. (While asking this question always shake your head yes and smile.)

Next you need to setup your booth. Remember that booth graphics are the eye candy that will bring people to your booth…unless of course you have that dunk tank or movie star standing there. The first impression must grab attention, because you only have that 3 to 6 seconds in which to work. Formulate an effective graphical statement and it is here that I recommend you have a nice printed sign for your company. Most camera and digital print shops can do this for you on a stiff corrugated plastic sheet. Don’t try to put too much stuff into your graphical message. Simpler is always better. Graphics should be colorful, eye catching and tell your story. Your sign is certainly not the place to showcase 31 reasons to use your technology or other lengthy complicated textual statement. Those turn people off quickly.

When at all possible, never place a table across the front of your booth. That places a barrier between you and your prospects. It makes them more likely to just keep moving. If you do have to have a table I highly recommend that you just stand in front of your booth. You are sure to see the slackers sitting in chairs behind their booths and those should never be your role models. NEVER SIT at a trade show. "Tough it out, soldier", as Ray Kroc would say. Your feet will hurt and your shoulders will tire but at the end of the day you will have impressed those around you.

Finally you need to remember that if you don’t jump out and reach your customers you will probably lose 80% of your prospects. Attract their attention by being fun and contagious. Don’t be afraid to bounce around a bit and look excited to tell people about what you have to offer. It makes people want to stop and be part of what's going on. It makes them remember your booth too and also improves your chances later for when you follow up. When you do get their attention, be sure to shake hands immediately and look your prospect directly in the eyes. Repeating their name two or three times during your conversation will not only attract them more to you as people love hearing their own name, it will also help YOU remember it. If you are like most people you forget a name within five to ten seconds after meeting a person. This is because a million things are racing through your head during this first encounter. By saying their name right after they tell it to you, and a time or two during your conversation, you will be able to exit the presentation with confidence.

Real Tour Vision
National Virtual Tour Company
Order a virtual tour - 866-947-8687

Photo Editing Fix for Too Dark Windows

Do you have problems with too dark windows in your virtual tours? It's a fairly easy fix.

It is almost impossible to get a steady exposure all the way around in a room with lots of windows. I have found that using any version of Photoshop can fix this.

First thing to do is select the shots that are dark. You should also select photos in front and in back of the dark ones too. Say for instance shot 4 is exposed right, 5 is a little dark, 6 and 7 are too dark, shot 8 is slightly dark, and 9 is exposed right. Select shots 4 throught 9 and go into Photoshop. Even Photoshop Elements will work.

Pull up your shots, and go to the enhance bar at the top of Photoshop. Then go to adjust lighting, and select brightness and contrast. When you select brightness, it will automatically push the number to 50. Set it back to 0 and adjust the lighting accordingly.

I have found that for slightly dark, I use 20 in brightness, and for really dark I push it to 30-35. This does the trick. You can also adjust contrast too but be careful not to overdo it. You can also use this to make your sky shots a little bluer outdoors. Just use the contrast and slide accordingly. It really helps.

This is a link to a hotel I just shot. The lobby windows were way too dark, and I fixed it with Photoshop. Same with the breakfast bar windows.

Bob Busser
Dublin Virtual Tour Company
Order a virtual tour - 925-895-6663

Unique Selling Proposition

Do you have a USP?

A USP is a Unique Selling Proposition. Every successful business has at least one (maybe more). A USP gives your business an unfair advantage over your competition. This means that your customers will have only one place to turn if they want to take advantage of your USP.

One USP you can leverage in your business is the PanoRider(TM). This unique offering marries the use of a Single Property Website (a URL address forwarding to your Virtual Tour) with one of your attention-getting panoramic images of the property.

Why is this USP so powerful? By placing the URL and the panoramic scene together on a customized sign, you are giving your customers their own USP. That's right, many agents will use the PanoRider against their competition. After all, if you were an agent using the PanoRider, wouldn't YOU bring it to all your listing appointments?

To start marketing your newest USP you don't even have to spend any money! Just use the images we provided to you to show off your newest product. Get started creating a compelling USP for your business and clients today!

Real Tour Vision
National Virtual Tour Company
www.realtourvision.com
Order a single property website with Panorider today! 866-947-8687

Welcome to the Family!

Team RTV is proud to welcome Kevin Michael Domark to the family!

Kevin was born to Steve & Tammy Domark on Thursday May 15th, 2008 at 9:50pm at 7 pounds 7 ounces .

New daddy, Steve Domark, reports that mommy and baby are doing well! Welcome to the family Kevin!~

Steve Domark
Pic-Tour

DuPage County Virtual Tours - Warrenville, IL

To order a tour - (630) 664-5100

Composing Great Stories with Virtual Tours

I’m not much of a writer, but put a camera in my hand and I can tell a story. I’ve been creating virtual tours for about three years using RTV software. Over those three years I have learned alot about the art of creating a good 360 virtual tour.

In general, good photos result from careful attention to the basics of composition, together with appropriate lighting and an interesting subject. When I shoot a still image I always have a subject to focus on. I don’t just shoot a kitchen; I use rules to help me compose the image to make it pleasing to the eye. For example, I use the rule of thirds which is theory that the eye goes naturally to a point about two-thirds up the photo. Also, by visually dividing the image into thirds (either vertically or horizontally) you achieve balance.

I also use framing in a photograph. Framing is using something in the foreground that leads you into the picture or gives you a sense of where the viewer is. Such as a dining table partial in the photo leading to the main focus of the kitchen, but not distracting from this focus.

Another rule I use is to place the main subject off-center and balancing the "weight" with other objects which will be more pleasing than placing the subject in the center. Use composition to help you tell the story. A picture that is well composed, should be telling a story about the subject being shot. As, they say “A picture is worth a thousand words”!

So, how does this apply to the creation of virtual tours?

What many other tour builders do, and what I used to do, was stand in the middle of the room and photograph the real estate virtual tours from there. It may be an easy way to do it, but it is not the best. I now take a moment in each room to compose my panoramic, before snapping the first shot. I divide my panoramic into three scenes and I look for the most interesting thing or things in the room (artwork, fireplace, windows, appliances, a bouquet of flowers, furniture). I fill each part of the panoramic with at least one element. If a room is empty, this can be hard to do, so I might only do a particle panoramic and focus on filling the scene with a window, a stairway, an interesting architectural feature or a door lead out of the room. If possible, I’ll open up windows and capture something interesting outside. This will help me locate the best place to setup my tripod for my 360 virtual home tour.

I then decide how I’m going to enter this room from the previous scene using navigational hot-spots and where i will place the hot-spot to exit from this room. This gives me a starting point and saves me time when I layout my tours in the tour building software.

When I layout my tour, I think about how someone visiting the home would walk through it and try to layout my hot-spots, so they travel through the tour the same way. Once you start to do this on a regular basis, it only takes a quick scan and a moment more to shoot a tour. If you take the time to compose a tour, you’ll improve the way your tour tells the story. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a well done virtual tour can tell a great story.

See examples of my Phoenix Arizona virtual tours.

Rudy Gutierrez
OnView 360
Maricopa County Virtual Tours
Cal to order a tour: 602-885-5974

Building My Tampa Virtual Tour Company...For Free

I just started my Tampa virtual tour company about 2 years ago. Last year I cleared about two hundred and fifty virtual tours and this year is shaping up to be even better. Here is how I grew my virtual tour business and spent little to no money at all.

When I first got started in this I went all out and had some fancy flyers and high quality business cards printed. I spent quite a bit on those items as well as getting my website up and running. I knew image was everything on the web, in print and most of all...in person.

I want around to all of the local real estate offices, handed out business cards and flyers and introduced myself in person. That is really where it all began. I got a few orders from that campaign then I refined my process and stared the routine all over again.

After my second pass I realized that being a one person operation I was soon shooting virtual tours and did not have time for all of the sales anymore so I sat down and began working out a way to put my business on autopilot.

I already knew that most of my new business was coming from referrals. People loved my product, my deliver, prices and level of service so they naturally talked about me to other people. That's when I decided to take that simple fact and make it work faster and faster for me...even while I was out in the field shooting virtual tours.

I immediately stopped printing the expensive flyers and dropped down to marketing with just the website and a nicer business card with an attractive panorama printed on it. To get the ball rolling I implemented a few basics that I had learned along the way and then simply amplified them. I was now ready to make word of mouth my primary form of advertising!


I had made it a habit to follow up with my customers weekly after each shoot that I did for them to make sure everything was in order. On this call I began asking for a referral. "Do you know anyone else in your office that may need a virtual tour?" "Have you visited any homes recently that do not have a virtual tour but could really use one?" Questions like these did not always "Pan Out" but on many occasions they did and I started landing more deals using less money and less time overall.

Next during my 360 virtual tour photo shoots I made sure to give my customers some extra business cards and told them that every new agent they sent off to me who gave me at least two virtual tour orders I would give them a free virtual tour in exchange for the referrals. That free single virtual tour that I gave away was well worth the twenty or thirty virtual tours that I would get from that new customer over the next year or two. After handing out my business cards to agents for a few months some of them actually started asking me for more cards from time to time. Why wouldn't they? They were getting free virtual tours for simply handing out my cards to their peers and talking about my services from time to time.

Next I implemented a "Constant Contact" program into my business. (From one of the Ask Jack columns in an old RTV newsletter). My constant contact approach here meant that if I had not heard from a particular customer in three to four weeks I would call then and ask them how things were going. If they had placed a CD order with me I would drop those off at their office in person. Yes that's right...I stopped mailing out my CD's. It takes a bit more time to do the drop but it gets the gate keepers familiar with you at the front end of the office and it creates an amazing opportunity for you to meet the key players in the office. The more they see you around the better so long as you don’t become a distraction. The key to a successful drop off is to get in, make the delivery and get along your way. Keep in mind they are typically very busy but the fact that you hand deliver your goods shows a lot and will stay with them.

Finally I made a big focus on making my tour production as fast as I possibly could without sacrificing the quality. Turnaround time is key especially when other national companies take weeks to deliver the virtual tours. They all will remember you and talk about you more if you have fast turn around time.

Well everyone out there, I hope some of my ideas help you out and I wish you all the best.

Thank You
Chuck Small
Tampa Virtual Tours
www.360PhotoShoot.com
Order a Virtual Tour - 813-774-8605