posted by Christian

The trend was officially started by ManiaTV.com a couple months ago, and the world is taking notice. With some acceptions, user-generated video content is no longer the darling of the web. Here’s how the shakedown started, and-for my buddies at ManiaTV.com-please excuse my attempt to recount what you guys lived through.

You may not have heard much about them, but ManiaTV is a dominant player in the online video space, and their plight out of the gates was to beat MTV to their game online. They have done a great job, but-over the course of time-they noted even the finest details. One was that, with some acceptions, large advertisers wanted nothing to do with UGC (user-generated content). A few months ago, they cut the UGC cord. No mas! The risk of damaging their brands was simply too great for advertisers, and more importantly, end users were seeking quality content in the big mess that is UGC. Turns out that they were not the only video company looking for a way out. Just yesterday, we got notice that Brightcove is cutting and running:

Is this it for UGC? Not for WellcomeMat (our focus is not entertainment), but the shakedown in the UGC market has definitely begun to run its course. Those that have been subsidized, such as Grouper (acquired by Sony and renamed “Crackle”), and YouTube (the Goog) through an acquisition are more than likely safe for a while. For the rest, it is make it or break it time, especially if you are burning VC cash.

Note: WellcomeMat’s focus is entirely different than the entertainment world’s. We will continue to Wellcome user-generated video content because, quite frankly, we view it as a step in the right direction for people to be trying video for themselves: the most likely scenario is that they will see that hiring a pro is the way to go, or get serious and master the craft. We are glad to be a part of both paths.

If you want to gain a better perspective of what’s going on within the minds of the big dogs of online video advertising, watch this panel (shot by Phil DiVideo):

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Eric Manthey of Vid2R just uploaded this video recapping his experiences at the NAR event. Well done video…have a look:

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One waits, one makes moves. One relies heavily on peripheral vision, one need only focus on what’s ahead. The most important thing to note about using video is that it is a real, tangible, competitive advantage. This is especially so when trying to win listings over agents that don’t use video. Brian Copeland’s statement says it all:

“I have a 100% listing rate. I’ve never lost a listing. In my first eight months of real estate (which was in 2006) I closed 62 homes without being with a builder or on a team. I know you guys looked silly walking the floor in space suits, but you truly are the new frontier. Thanks for making [video] accessible, easy, attractive and affordable!”

While we disagree entirely with the opinion that we “looked silly walking the floor in space suits,” and truly believed we looked like super heroes, we still think the world of Mr. Copeland.

Watch his interview with Team WellcomeMat in Vegas:

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We couldn’t figure out what the heck Mr. Dan Greenwas up to. Turns out he had a plan for all of us.

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posted by Christian

I got home late last night (actually early this AM), extremely tired, cleansed myself of Vegas, kissed/hugged the family, and am here to do a stream of conscious review.

Here is the truth: the show expo was not impressive. Then again, trade shows rarely beat this wrap in my book. Something about the format of these things really bothers me, and I have had a lot of time to think about this having done a million of these things for Sony way back when. These shows are the definition of noise, and you start to really understand why solid marketing companies such as Apple rarely toss themselves into this mix. Rather, they create their own shows, and sell their products through their own stores. I guess we could call this brand/experience isolation, and it is a smart way to go if you can pull it off.

Phil and I decided to go on offense at this show, knowing full-well that our plan could get us into hot water with show officials (it did). Our alter egos got the moon boot from the expo floor, and even the hallway (how does that work?). In other words, we had to lose our astronaughty video gear or leave. We left…

What NAR does have is a large amount of great people that are members, and this is where the value proposition is. In short, we loved hanging out with everyone that the show afforded us, and got to add some great new friends. We got to see our Trulia pals, got to hang with the Active Rain Crew (we had no idea that they were going to pimp our ride), got to catch up with Jeff Turner (still love the guy even though we have some big differences of opinion), got to see some of the Zillow crew, Kevin Boer, Pat Kitano, Mr. Joel Burslem, E-Rock from Vid2R and his lovely ladies (thanks for helping us shoot man, and for letting us ditch our bags in your booth), Dan Green of Bring the Blog, and many others. In short, Phil and I seem to gravitate towards the same great people every time we get into the industry mix. This time we got to add some more people to this list, and we have to love that.

Summary: if you plan to really stand out and capitalize (brand wise) from having a floor presence at one of these shows, it’s going to be really, really difficult. The rules aren’t in your favor. If you are there to hang out with great people, and forge new relationships, this show is a must.

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Video is all about standing out. So when we thought about the National Association of Realtors conference in Las Vegas, NV.this year, we thought hell… why not stand out. Let us know if we succeeded, we’re not sure.

One giant leap for…

WellcomeMat on the Expo Floor

WellcomeMat Astronuts - Backside

Take me to your leader.

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posted by Christian

It’s classic at this point: a site blows up within the younger demographics, the hype builds, and then the adults (I begrudgingly admit to being one) come in and crash the party. I’ve been at these parties, figuratively and literally, when the parents come home. The record player scratches to a stop, 75% of the attendees run and the rest stay to try to somehow make the best of a bad situation.

By all standards and measuring sticks, Microsoft did put a $15B bounty on Facebook’s head. But, honestly, I am not buying it. My two cents is that Microsoft paid $240M for the rights to advertise on Facebook for an extended period of time: the 1.6% in this case was FB’s way of placing some more incentive on the deal. But, heck, if one is playing the valuation game, I guess you can’t blame Facebook for going big.

So, here is my theory: a web company hasn’t arrived until the old timers show up. So where’s the party?

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We have lagged quite a bit on finishing our Why You Should Not Use Video in Your Marketing Initiatives series, but rest assured…we are back! This series has been great fun to produce: we learned quite a bit from comments made and got to reflect on what is important to WellcomeMat’s business through discussions with those interested in the subject. Many thanks and much appreciation to everyone who contributed to the ongoing discussion!

Without further adieux, we announce the most common objection to the use of video in the real estate space…

“Video is Too Expensive!”

WellcomeMat has received countless emails, Neighborhood posts (we have always called our forum “The Neighborhood”), and phone calls from people talking about how video just might be too expensive. Video producers call and say that, while they have no trouble demonstrating the prowess of video, some agents just won’t spend the additional capital necessary to do video tours. Agents/brokers who are not yet using video sometimes express concerns about the cost of getting into this new game: their arguments are valid, and we can’t help but think of that old statement, “every time I get with the program, someone changes the channel.” In the real estate space, nothing could be more true! However, I have yet to meet an agent/broker who started using video that stopped. Not one.

“Video is too expensive” is a statement being made about the additional costs of producing video verses other mediums. But, is it possible to ascertain that the costs of not doing video far exceed the costs of producing, hosting and distributing videos? There are different points of view, depending on whether you are on the sell or buy side; but let’s just start with the listing side of things.

Do listing agents who do video well win more listings over their competition? Not a single doubt! Every time I talk to a video “newbie” about how their video helped them, the agent says something along the lines of, “I am definitely using my new video(s) in all upcoming listing presentations.” What people quickly realize is that video offers a wow factor that no other medium can, and home sellers get video right away. Like most of us, home sellers love online video, and not just because it’s new. Many times, they are still living in the home that they are trying to sell. So, when a video tour is produced (one that attempts to match a true, in person walk through) it means a great deal to them, and a great deal of time savings. Just like “window shoppers” are painful for buy-side agents, it is painful for homeowners to prepare their house for a worthless walk through.

Even after winning the listings, you still have to execute an outstanding marketing campaign; video offers you, the listing agent and homeowner, the single largest competitive advantage online. Here are two pieces of back up:

1) When you produce a video, and post that video to the major video portals, your chances of showing up on page one or two of a Google search within a week are very high. Just take a look at what Fred Light is saying about this. Your competition has worked bloody to get on page one, for years, and you can come in with a video and bump them down? Yes…definitely…without a doubt…it is happening every single day! Google Universal Search is a game changer for any real estate professional.

2) Inventories are amassing, prices are coming down, there are fewer buyers, and your competition’s working hard to move their listings. What are you, the real estate marketing star, doing to stand out? There are many answers to this question, but video is definitely one of them. When you send out a mass email, post an image of your video player into the email with the “click to play” being a link back to your video tour. Post the URL address where your video tour is in every single piece of marketing you do. It will work! Buyers are used to, potentially numb to, traditional real estate marketing, and-worse-traditional marketing is not getting buyers off of the sidelines.

If none of the aforementioned advantages justify the price of video, then we have irreconcilable differences. However, if we are on the same page regarding video, then we should move on to a discussion about the clearest winners when video tours used/created: the buy-side. It might be too much for a listing agent to simply do a video because of the time savings afforded to the buy-side. Understandable! But, video tours (the closest match to a real, live, physical walk through) save buy-side agents, and their clients, massive amounts of time and energy. Could we consider videos sportsmanlike…or even a “we are all in this together” attitude? Think about the day when every property has a video attached. Will this help you? Will showing properties to people that have already seen a well-done video tour help you to close more transactions? If having video as a part of mainstream real estate will save you (the buyer’s agent) time, how much time? What is your time worth?

We really enjoyed doing this series of posts! It was a blast. Our team’s belief in what we do is not just idealism. As we have shown, there is a real, justifiable business case behind using video. Those telling you how hard video is to do, and that you can’t do video well have a vested interest in you not using video. To buyers, sellers, and those with rentals, video makes complete and total sense. And, if our stance is to serve all of these parties to the best of our abilities, then video is a clear choice, and a winning proposition.

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