YouTube as a Marketing Tool? August 6, 2006
Ardell asked about the meaning of “web2.0″ yesterday and David G of Zillow gave an easy-to-understand definition that Web2.0 is the “read/write web”. In an unrelated thread, Ed pointed us to a rap video sang by the Trulia Markermen… These conversations converge in that the cost of producing and hosting videos in a web2.0 environment is so low as to be negligible.
Watching the markermen walk around SF Connect, I couldn’t help but be reminded of when I was living SF around 2000 and couldn’t go downtown without bumping into an Ask Jeeves character passing out free stuff (he’s now retired by the way). Nonetheless, it is a fun video and it reminds me of biting faux-rap video (the uncensored version is even more biting!) I saw yesterday on YouTube called Suburbanites. I’ll post it here for your viewing enjoyment:
Considering the edginess of YouTube, is there a place for professionals (real estate or otherwise) to get involved? I’m not sure how effective these videos are at generating leads, but I think videos like the following one put out by Cheryl, a broker in NYC, are extremely effective at demonstrating an agent’s knowledge of the local market. Considering the cost of producing a video like this is minimal and the hosting fees are zero, it’s seems like something any tech-savvy real estate agent should be exploring.
Note that this ad for her services has already been viewed over 1500 times by people who want to hear her message. Incredible!
- Posted in : General Real Estate
- Author : Dustin
Comments»
You read my comments, I read your source. I didn’t know how to embed a YouTube video in WordPress — until now. Thanks!
Greg,
YouTube makes it extremely easy… The YouTube page of the video has a section called “about this video” that includes the code necessary to “embed” the video. It is literally as simple as copy and paste to include a YouTube video in a WordPress blog post.
I looked last night but all I saw was Blogger and TypePad.
[...] Codesnatch thanks to Dustin at RCG: [...]
Been using videos and YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, Blip.TV and others to market real estate in Southern New Hampshire. All listings, plus community tours are posted - and indexed in Google! Works like a charm!
Rudy,
You’ve put together some great videos… Thanks for sharing!
a simple option to embed video when using wordpress is to disable the rich text editor check box found on the bottom of the “user” page. then simply copy and paste the code into your post.
-rdb.sellsius°
Rudy,
I just watched your video. In your video you say “perfect home for a family with children” is that a HUD violation. Russ do you know the answer. Are fines going to be more aggressive because agents are saying the words?
Not trying to pick on you Rudy I love the videos. Its just I keep watching these custom videos and am surprised what the agents are saying.
rdb,
You’re so right… I had forgot that I keep the rich text editor option off by default. I’d rather write my post in HTML, but I can’t blame most people for not wanting to do this.
The option you described will work, but another option, and one that might be easier, is to push the button that says “HTML” on the page where you write a post. This will open up a popup window where you can insert the necessary code without changing your default rich text editor option.
sorry dustin, but if you leave the text editor text box selected and use the “html” link to insert an embed video, i will cause errors and your blog page will become distorted. have you tried it? i don’t think that’s an option.
-rdb.sellsius°
Go figure… Why would I try out something before advising people to do it?
I can’t imagine what the HTML button is for if not for embedding content like podcasts and YouTube videos. Thanks for letting us know it doesn’t work.
Another go figure… I thought I “found” an interesting video, but it looks like Curbed picked it up a few days ago… Wow! It is amazing how they ripped into Cheryl (good and bad) over there!
sure thing dustin.
your tip re: html button was valid, but somehow the wysiwyg conflicts with the embed code…
-rdb.sellsius°
Don’t waste your time with the wordpress plugins for youtube and google video. Just follow this:
The code begins and ends with embed
phil,
glad i could help.
thanks to your comment, i found your blog and added it to my list.
blog on!
-rdb.sellsius°
Anyone named Rudolph is cool in my book!
For some reason, anytime RCG has topics on technology there’s not much drama
Youtube is number one. http://www.denver-lender.com/2006/07/21/oh-yeah-youtube-rules/
Let’s hope it stays that way! They have the largest selection of Family Guy clips on the web. Freakin Sweet!
Hey all.
Don’t want to rain on the YouTube parade (pun intended), but you really have to take a look at the terms of service and usage for YouTube and Google Video.
From how I interpret the terms, promotional, business usage is a no-no.
You can always host your videos on your own server. It takes a little more effort, but if you want to be “legal”… I host and display my videos independently of YouTube and Google Video. I’ve also read through the terms of service for Yahoo! Video. I’m no lawyer, but I didn’t see the explicit non-business usage term in their terms of service document. So, out of “The Big Three” of online video sharing, yhat’s where I put my videos.
Thanks for the head’s up! I wouldn’t be too worried about using YouTube for business purposes at this point, but it makes sense to look at other options in case it is necessary in the future!
Allen Benson is a smart guy.
Be careful about what you say or put in a video. Fair Housing issues are no joke. Words like “private”, “quiet”, “family”, “empty nester”, “in-law apartment”, etc can be red flags, and the penalties for violating fair housing laws can be severe and career ending.
I wonder if posting someone else’s video on your own site could cause problems - it’s not your words being spoken, but posting a questionable video is tantamount to saying the words yourself, the way I view things. The suburban rap video is funny, right up until the very end. Yikes!
fotohom is a simple and easy free real estate site
that allows seller to embed youtube video.