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I stumbled upon this post at Inman.com yesterday called “Video: the Real Game Changer” written by Bernice Ross.

I would suggest you read it, as it makes great points about the value of video in real estate.

Here are some of the key excerpts:

• If you had to select one tool for 2010 that would give you an edge over 99 percent of your competitors, what would that be?

• While there are plenty of ways to create a USP (Unique Selling Proposition), some startling new statistics indicate there is a tremendous opportunity in a surprisingly obvious place: video.

• According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), only 1 percent of the agents are using video to market their listings, yet 73 percent of all sellers would list with an agent who uses video to market their property.

• In other words, using video as part of your USP gives you an edge over 99 percent of your competition. If you want to convert more listings into signed business in 2010, video is one tool that shouldn’t be overlooked.

• After Google, YouTube is the most-used search engine in the world. Also, Google’s algorithm appears to rank videos higher than podcasts, blogs or static Web sites. In other words, using video helps you increase your search-engine ranking. Google also has new software that translates the voice track on video into searchable text.

I didn’t write this post just to reiterate Ms. Ross’s points. I wrote this post to make these points:

Every day, real estate continues its breathtaking sprint toward technology.

• First, it was the Internet. The stats overwhelming make the point that if you don’t have a Page 1 Google presence for your real estate website, there’s a major hole in your marketing gameplan, as 90% of people are now using the web to search for homes. If I were a consumer, and I were going to locate a Realtor to help me buy or sell a home, here is what I would do: a simple Google search that used this keyphrase: “name of my town real estate.” Or “name of my town Realtor.” Or “name of my town homes for sale.”  If people are doing this in YOUR town, are they finding you?

• Next, it’s Social Media. Lots of people have resisted this trend. Then Erik Qualman (@equalman) created this amazing video that shows how the ROI on SM is just blowing up. Oops. Now people are starting to realize that, just as Stefan Swanepoel said, Social Media is going to be the ultimate game changer in real estate.

• Finally, video is a technology that is without question about to explode. We’ve created a few YouTube channels ourselves. In fact, if you do a YouTube search of “real estate franchisor,” you will see that Professional One absolutely dominates those rankings. You can duplicate these rankings if you simply get in the game and start leveraging this incredible opportunity to separate and differentiate yourself from your competition. For an example of a Realtor who has leveraged video to great advantage, check out Ian Watt. He created enough buzz with his video work that he was mentioned in Gary Vaynerchuk’s New York Times Bestseller “Crush It.” Another great resource is the blog entitled “MyTechOpinion.com” created by Reggie & Nicole Nicolay.

Every day, the gap between the “tech savvy” and the “non-tech savvy” just keeps getting bigger.

• 
  
  I think a lot of agents have taken a broad view of the industry and decided that the decrease in their personal income is almost entirely attributable to the overall state of the economy. I would beg to differ. The economic malaise is huge, no doubt, but don’t let that blind you from these other realities that are changing the real estate landscape in dramatic, unprecedented ways.

• I see certain agents thriving right now, and the one thing they all seem to have in common is a cutting-edge use of one or more of these tech trends. Example: one of our agents works with a relatively constant population of approximately 400 buyers, all of whom are sourced from the Internet (some from our company site, and some he buys on his own).  At that level of activity, someone is always ready to buy, and many of these people have homes to sell as well. He has “Cracked the Code” on working with web leads, and he loves working this niche. This is just one example I can give you.

• Further, these technology trends are only going to continue to grow and intensify over time. The longer you wait to get up to speed, the harder it will be to catch up.

• In my market, I see a lot of agents who once made big money floundering or leaving the industry altogether. Yes, there are many reasons for this phenomenon, but one thing all of these people seem to have in common is this: they have not leveraged these new technologies effectively, or they haven’t even attempted to use these new technologies at all.

The bottom line: Video – and these other leaps forward in technology – WILL kill some who have been real estate stars in the past.

If you don’t know how to leverage the Internet, find a broker who does and learn from them.

If you don’t know how to attack social media, find someone who is knocking it out of that park and get educated.

And if you don’t know how to do video, affiliate with a company that does and get up to speed.

NOW is precisely the time to expand your knowledge base and your skill set.

In my opinion, tomorrow’s Real Estate Superstars will be the ones who see the future the most clearly and simply take the steps necessary to leverage where this is all so obviously going…