New PanoRider Pricing - For Real This Time!!!

Apologies going out to the RTV dealer network as we posted the incorrect pricing of our PanoRiders in our last RTV Newsletter to you. Below is the OFFICIAL...NEW, PanoRider pricing which is now available from within your Tour Management System (TMS)

Please give us a call for any questions and thanks for your support!

Sign A – 8” x 24”
Bottom No Image Rider




1 Double Sided Rider w/ cable ties
Sign B – 10” x 24”
Oval No Image Rider
1 Double Sided Rider for top of pitchfork


Sign C – 8” x 24”
Bottom Image Rider
1 Double Sided Rider w/ Photo and w/ cable ties

Single Property Website (PanoRider™ not Included) - $19.95
Single Property Website one year renewal- $19.95

Basic Panorider™ (Single Property Website not Included)
Sign A - $19.95
Sign B - $19.95
Sign C - $29.95

Deluxe Panorider™ with Single Property Website
Sign A - $39.90
Sign B - $39.90
Sign C - $49.90

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Announcing RTV TXT Connect

This event is open to ALL RTV Providers!

Join us on TUESDAY August 4th, 2009 at 7pm EST while Jason LaVanture and special guests Daniel Lee (RTV Dealer), John Gallinaugh & Brian Perry unveil the all new RTV TXT Connect program.

The RTV TXT Connect program makes property info instantly available on mobile phones and yields lead generation for real estate agents. YES I SAID LEAD GENERATION!!!

Find out how Daniel Lee, a fellow RTV Dealer has sold this technology to over 6000 real estate agents!

The first 250 participating RTV dealers can take advantage of this amazing opportunity to offer their REALTORS the most advanced marketing and lead generation technology available and at an amazingly LOW PRICE! Even make reoccurring monthly sales commissions.

Please join us on on August 4th at 7:00 Eastern for a LIVE DEMO of this technology and further details.

Find out how easy it is to apply ‘The Formula’ to your business!


Title: The FORMULA 10 - Announcing RTV TXT Connect
Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EDT
FINAL Notice : We have moved all of our shows to Tuesdays.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now by logging into your TMS!

Real Tour Vision
Join the network today!

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Evansville For Sale By Owner

Evansville Indiana Virtual Tour Provider CustomTours360 is pleased to announce that we are now offering a complete Home For Sale By Owner package including a single property website, a virtual tour and a sign with the web address for your front yard.

This is a great way to expose your property to as many buyers as possible. We will also submit your virtual tour to Postlets which will syndicate it out to several other websites for additional exposure online.

Take a look at a Home For Sale By Owner that we have done recently:
www.8727Edinborough.com

As always, we continue to create and distribute virtual tours for commercial and residential clients in the Evansville Indiana, Southern Indiana, Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky regions.

Call us today for a free quote. We are a proud dealer in the Real Tour Vision family of virtual tour providers.

Brad Hahn
CustomTours360
Evansville Virtual Tours
http://www.customtours360.com
Order a Virtual Tour - 812-550-5321

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Why RTV

Dear Judy,

Real Tour Vision gave me your contact information as a reference to their virtual tour business opportunity. I am considering starting a Virtual Tour Company with the RTV system. My market would be Metro-West Boston, MA. A rural area with home prices ranging from $450k-$950k+. Obviously the economy and the housing market have taken a beating, but I still think there is opportunity and a need for RTV services. I would appreciate any words of wisdom or any concerns you have as I pursue this venture. Is this a viable business? How much money can realistically be made in a week/month/year? What has been your experience with RTV?

Thanks in advance for any information you can share.
Ricky

Ricky,

Let's start with the economy . . .

My business really picked up when the economy slowed. During these times, realtors have to "pull out all the stops" to sell the listing -- even just to keep the listing long enough for it to sell. In addition, sellers are internet-savvy and more and more are insisting their realtor put on a virtual tour or they'll go with an one who will. The recent NAR reports that 80% request a virtual tour these days! Yea!!!

I started with RealTourVision 2 years ago this spring. I bought the 200 tour package because I knew I would use them eventually. I was buying my second 200 tour package in about 8 months. I think I've bought a couple more 200 pkgs since then, not sure how many exactly. The tours were, and are, very well received by realtors because they are THAT MUCH BETTER than the competition.

When I was looking for a company to go with, I went online looking for a quality product. RTV had what I wanted and so much more. I never expected their support to be so awesome! Believe me, in the beginning I was calling "support" every day, several times a day for help. I'm sure they thought I would never last but I was determined to learn the system and do the type of quality tours I knew I could. The learning process took about 2 weeks.

Probably what impresses me the most is their loyalty. I can't count the times that RTV has turned away interested people who wanted to start RTV dealerships in my area. RTV would even call me if the person was wanting to start a dealership anywhere in Missouri or Arkansas to make sure it wouldn't be infringing on my territory.

I think the "loyalty" issue is one of the things I most respect and appreciate about RTV. I was a dealer for another tour company that did not show me that kind of loyalty which is the reason I went "shopping" for another company in the first place (and took all my tours and clients with me!)

Getting started . . .I started part-time basically. I had one "big-hitter" realtor and I was doing all of her virtual tours on her high-end listings. Other agents would see her tours and want tours just like "Ethel's". It just built from there. I now have several "big-hitters" and lots of "little-hitters" and full-time work. In fact, my husband also helps with the photography and my daughter-in-law helps with the stitching. It may start out a little slow, Jim, but it will snowball if you hang in there.

In my market here in southwest Missouri, I have to be competitive with my pricing. I only charge $75 for a basic tour, so, after the $10 I pay RTV for the tour credit, I net $65 per tour. I'm doing roughly 10-15 per week, so netting $650 to $975 per week. In your market, you'll probably have no problem netting $90-100 per tour (maybe more).

Our selling season slows down considerably from November--January, then it takes off again. At that time I'm lucky to have 2 tours a week. Please feel free to call me if you have any other questions. I wouldn't hesitate too long though. You definitely want to grab your territory while its available. Going with RTV was the best decision I could have ever made!

Sharon Wasson
Springfield Virtual Tours

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The Perfect Voicemail Message

The telephone is an integral part of your virtual tour business communication, especially sales. Today, knowing the correct way to use voicemail can mean the difference between success and failure. What is so frustrating about voicemail is it gives the decision-maker the opportunity to reject you before you even get a chance to talk to them! If you're starting to feel like a failure because people won't return your messages, try these seven tips. There is no guarantee that any of these methods will get you calls back a 100% of the time, but they will definitely help improve your odds.

*Speak Clearly When Leaving Voice Mail Messages
When people listen to voicemail messages there are often a whole host of distractions and most messages do not get returned because people are overwhelmed. Therefore, it is essential that you be clear. While you might be familiar with your own name, don't assume others are. When you leave a message say your name slowly and clearly. In fact, it's recommended that you leave a distinct pause between your first and last name so that the listener isn't confused. Spell your name if it is difficult, unusual or of foreign origin. Speak more slowly and clearly than normal, don't slur or run your words together. The person you are calling is not as familiar with your material as you are and will quickly become irritated if you make them replay the message because they could not understand it.

*Identify Your Business During the Message
If your business name does not offer a description of your business (and you're not yet a household name), be sure to offer convincing descriptors that tell people what you really do.

*Tell Them Why You're Calling At Least Once in Every Message
Many callers are under the misguided impression that keeping the reason for their call a secret is a gripping reason for the prospect to call back. They are very wrong. Today's customers are smarter and frankly, don't have the time to play guessing games. Plan your message before you place your call. Tell them why they'd want to take the time to call you back.

*Make "The Connection" During Your Message
If you've met before, were referred by another person or have a common acquaintance, be sure to tell them. Don't expect them to hear your name and remember that they met you. Be precise about your personal association and you'll have given them another reason to call you.

*Eliminate Minimizers From Your Speech, Especially The Word "Just”

Examples:
"Just a little reminder about how our Virtual Tours can help build your business."

"I'm just calling to follow up on our meeting yesterday"

"Nothing important. Just wanted to a follow up on yesterday's presentation."

*Repeat Your Contact Information At Least Twice in Every Message
Be sure to leave your name and phone number both at the beginning and end of your message. If the person you are calling missed your number at the beginning they will not have to listen through the entire message again to get it and your chances of being called back increase significantly.

*Speak With Energy, Enthusiasm And Confidence
Sit up straight or stand when you leave the message. Visualize yourself as being confident and self-assured. Use powerful body language, including hand gestures. It may look goofy, but it works! And, don’t forget to smile! Place a small mirror on or next to your desk and look into it when leaving voicemail messages. A smiling face leaves a much brighter-sounding message.

*Don't Sell Anything IN Your Message
Because people are continually bombarded with advertisements, many people have developed a strong resistance to the sales pitch. The person you are calling may reject you unless you happen to catch them at a moment when they have need or desire for your product.

*Determine Needs, Provide Solution
This is an outstanding technique to use as a follow up to a sales presentation. In your initial meeting with the prospective customer ask questions to determine where their "needs" are. Make a list of these "needs" and how your service or product can provide specific assistance for each need. When you leave a follow up message, be sure to mention one of your prospect's "needs" and hint at how you can provide a solution. If calling more than once, refer to a different problem each time you call.

Examples:
"Mr. Roberts, this is Mary Smith from Real Vision Studio at 888-541-8595. I'm calling to offer some solutions as to how our virtual tour services can give you a more professional visual presentation on your web site and get rid of that frustrating flat slideshow that was bothering the company president. My number again is 888-541-8595."

"Mr. Roberts, this is Mary Smith from Real Vision Studio at 888-541-8595. I'm calling with an easy, cost effective way to help you provide visual information to your web site visitors. You seemed concerned about this in our last meeting and I wanted to discuss some of the ways we help our customers meet this challenge. My number again is 888-541-8595."

Close Their File
Making sure your voice is not hostile or impatient; leave a polite message that conveys the message that you will not be calling anymore.

Example:

"Mr. Thompson, this is Mary Smith from Real Vision Studio at 888-541-8595. I've been attempting to reach you for the last several weeks regarding the estimate you asked us to send you on June 24th, but we have not received a call back. We don't want to bug you or congest your voice mail with unwanted messages, so would you please call me back and let me know if you would like me to close your file? My number again is 888-541-8595."

Make Sure YOUR Outgoing Voicemail Message Is Professional
When people call your voicemail do you sound friendly, honest, energetic and sincere or do you sound irritated, bored or uninterested? Follow these steps to prepare a successful voicemail message:.

Script your message. Writing it out will help you say exactly what you need to say. You'll also be less likely to make a mistake when reading from your script.

Practice, Practice, Practice your message before you record it. Say it over and over again out loud to become familiar with the words.

Smile while recording your message. A smile will make your voice sound warm and welcoming.

Stand up while recording your message. This will definitely add energy and animation to your voice.

Get feedback from family, friends or colleagues. Does your message sound as good? If it doesn’t, do it again!

Include a unique selling proposition, a phrase that articulates a key benefit to your customer. For example:

"Thank you for calling Real Vision Studio, Your Online Marketing Specialists. We CAN Spin Your World! Leave your name and number at the tone and we'll get back to you as soon as can.”

Frugal Marketing U
Detroit Virtual Tours
http://www.realvisionstudio.com

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Get More Referrals

Marketing is a critical step to any virtual tour business plan. Many companies focus there marketing efforts on seeking new customers, but forget to go after the important referral. Getting referrals is easier and less expensive than marketing to new customers, and referrals are often more loyal customers. If you ask for a referral you are likely to get one. Here are some tips to help get more referrals for your business.

~When handing out your business cards, hand them an extra to give to a friend or co-worker that may your services. Do this with your brochures as well.

~After completing a job well done communicate a thank you personally or via e-mail. Say something like this: Thank you for your business, please tell your friends about us.

~When sending out mailings to your clients attach two coupons for your business, one to print for your customer and a second to print for a friend.

~Provide follow-up via several methods. Do not just send an email, Spam filters often re-route these. Send email, make follow-up calls, and send traditional greeting cards through the Mail. Many times more traditional forms of follow-up are sometimes the most effective way to connect with a client. Sending a sincere thank you note is a great way to follow-up with a customer. Do not fill your message full of advertisements, coupons, and sales offers. Share how much you value your customers business and how you will be supportive of his or her future needs. Personal contacts are a great way to keep your name in front of your customer, hence yielding more referrals.

~Offer a small incentive if possible if a client refers others. You may also ask your client if they know of any friends, co-workers or business acquaintances that would like to be sent discount coupons. Always send a thank you note when you receive a referral.

Frugal Marketing U
RTV Marketing Team
Detroit Virtual Tours
http://www.realvisionstudio.com

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RTV's New PanoRider Pricing - Revised

Apologies going out to the RTV dealer network as we posted the incorrect pricing of our PanoRiders in our last RTV Newsletter to you. Below is the OFFICIAL...NEW, PanoRider pricing which is now available from within your Tour Management System (TMS)

Please give us a call for any questions and thanks for your support!

Sign A – 8” x 24”
Bottom No Image Rider




1 Double Sided Rider w/ cable ties
Sign B – 10” x 24”
Oval No Image Rider
1 Double Sided Rider for top of pitchfork


Sign C – 8” x 24”
Bottom Image Rider
1 Double Sided Rider w/ Photo and w/ cable ties

Single Property Website and PanoRider™ Order Form

Please use this form to order your Single Property Website and PanoRider™.

Please select the package you would like for this order:

Single Property Website (PanoRider™ not Included) - $19.95
Single Property Website one year renewal- $19.95

Basic Panorider™ (Single Property Website not Included)
Sign A - $19.95
Sign B - $19.95
Sign C - $29.95

Deluxe Panorider™ with Single Property Website
Sign A - $39.90
Sign B - $39.90
Sign C - $49.90

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Stone Wood Family Complex

Gustavo Lopez just presented this fabulous stone wood family complex that is on more than one acre at the southwest of Miami in one of the most exclusive neighborhood of the city. (See virtual tour)
The main house has four bedrooms with two and a half bathrooms totally tiled, an extremely comfortable totally equipped kitchen. It also has a Family room and a library/office area.
The guest house has also a big area with its own kitchen-living-dining room area, a large bedroom and one bedroom and one and 1/2 bathroom.

The landscape is fabulously staged and makes the pool look as part of the landscape and not as an inclusion. It also has a nice covered area at the backyard. The backyard is totally enclosed this guarantees the privacy of the home. (See you tube slideshow)

To contact Gustavo call him at (305) 338 3809

For your entire Internet marketing needs at Miami Dade or Broward counties please contact Virtual Florida Tours at (305)331 8960
Visit our webpage at www.virtualforidarealtours.com
Miami Virtual Tours

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Traverse City Social Networking Training

Traverse Area Association of Realtors (TAAR) is very pleased to offer a free Social Networking, Blogging, and SEO 101 seminar. On Wednesday August 19th Jason LaVanture of BlueLaVaMedia virtual tours and creator of the Social Ignition System will be offering up some very valuable tips on how to increase traffic and build powerful back links to your website. The free seminar will be held from 9-10 at the TAAR office and all members are welcome to attend. If you have an interest in these topics it's recommended that you start out by taking BlueLaVaMedia's free online course found here:
www.BlueLaVaMedia.com/socialignition

Go BlueLaVa!

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Power Play on HDR

According to Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia online, High Dynamic Range Photography is:

"In image processing, computer graphics, and photography, high dynamic range imaging (HDRI or just HDR) is a set of techniques that allows a greater dynamic range of luminances between light and dark areas of a scene than normal digital imaging techniques. The intention of HDRI is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to shadows.

Keeping this in mind, when we use this powerful tool, we also need to remember that 90%+ of home buyers start their search online. The virtual tour's thumbnail needs to represent the best possible photo as possible, after all this is the first shot your viewer's will see of your tour. The color, detail, contrast and brightness of a point-and-shoot photo cannot be compared to the excellent results you get from a HDR photo.

Another fantastic advantage of using HDR photography is this technique can be done without using extra lighting equipment. These images can be produced by using different exposure levels on your camera. No extra equipment to carry and fuss with thus saving time, energy and expense.

So produce spectacular images, but remember reality. Is this a true representation of your subject? Though this process can produce a spectacular image, is this image a true representation of your subject?

Even through this process can produce fantastic luminous pictures, it can be time consuming. Is this the most cost effective way to represent your virtual tour?

Sandra Gibson
Power Play Multi Media Productions
South Central Michigan Virtual Tours
http://www.powerplaymmp.com
Order a Virtual Tour: 517-869-2707

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Help Yourself by Helping Others

A few years back my wife and I bought a log cabin, The Dancing Bear at Brothers Cove Cabin Rentals, in the city of Sevierville (Wears Valley area) in East Tennessee. Our cabin is a great place, but like so many other rental cabin owners, affording a couple of homes these days has become increasingly difficult, so we started looking for ways to ease up our tight money situation.

Brothers Cove has always been a great place to come and relax, and in the past our cabin has rented well, but these days, with the economy as it is, rentals aren't being booked quite as often. Brothers Cove has always been looking for ways to expand their rental marketing, they’ve wanted a new look, some way to show off their facilities and showcase the cabins with virtual tours.

So, I've found a way to market my business and at the same time provide services that will benefit Brothers Cove and the cabin rental owners. I gave them my offer -- a few of my ideas on how best to use my services along with some discounted incentives -- I started the process of shooting all the cabins, about 70 plus of them, it's going to take a little while, but I'm enjoying myself. I enjoy seeing all the different designs of the cabins plus even better; it is a great way to get the KnoxTours.net name out there and better known for Wears Valley virtual tours.

I'm providing help to all the other cabin owners, assisting them in getting their cabins rented more often and even helping to get several of them sold. I saw this as a great chance to help Brothers Cove, cabin owners and help myself in the process. It's a win-win situation for everyone, to me, its just good business to help the people who help you. It’s the process, part of getting myself out there, virtual tours and Knoxtours.net are here and doing business!

Mike O'Neill
Knoxtours.net
Knoxville Virtual Tours
www.knoxtours.net
Order a Virtual Tour at 865-292-3865

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A Cow, 2 Chickens & a Night's Stay for a Tour

I was wondering if any one has bartered a Virtual Tour in exchange for things, services/gift certificates? I recently was asked by my chiropractor, who is selling a family home, if I would do a virtual tour in exchange for Chiropractic care. Being self-employed and having to provide my own health insurance, which does not cover this service, I agreed. I think I got the better end of this deal. In today’s economy with every one trying to cut expenses this seems like a good idea to me.

I recently approached the owner of a local restaurant who is remodeling and planning a great big new opening, and discussed the need for him to have a Virtual Tour on his new website of the brand new interior and exterior of his business. He grumbled about the cost of remodeling and all the new advertising he was doing. So, I suggested a lower price but with some gift certificates to the Restaurant, he was very interested. I have an appointment to shoot the tour as soon as the renovations are complete. I have also considered using this technique with several other new eateries in my area, as well as some of the Golf and Country Clubs and even a few new Health Centers that are opening around the area.

I am wondering if any one else has done this, and if it was successful. I have considered using the gift certificates as incentives to my Clients for pre-purchasing tour packs, or as a thank you for their referrals.


Have a Picture Perfect Day,

Mary Beth Finnerty
Yes! Virtual Tours
Bethlehem Virtual Tours
www.yesvirtualtours.com
Order a Virtual Tour: 610-597-9915

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The Complete Marketing Plan

In this economy of intense competition, it is easy to get stressed out at the thought of learning new techniques to getting real estate listings and virtual tours out in the public eye. But, there is no need to completely abandon traditional marketing strategies. The best advertising and marketing strategy is to diversify your marketing to reach a larger target audience. In order to do this properly, you must use all available means of marketing to draw potential buyers and sellers to one central place; most favorably, your website.

DIVERSIFY: The efforts of the agent or broker can seem like a monumental chore to undertake, but the benefits far outweigh the effort required in the long run. By diversifying your marketing efforts and funneling leads you can ensure that you are not left without steady business. Using a combination of traditional as well as modern advertising and marketing efforts can pay off for the savvy real estate agent.

LOCAL MEDIA: Many agents who use virtual tours also take out ads in the local paper and include the URL to the virtual tour web site. By using traditional media in the local real estate market area, the realtor can drive targeted traffic to the virtual tour web site, which will feature a variety of homes to choose from as well as virtual tours of the properties. Outlets such as news papers, magazines, local trade publications and free discount magazines are excellent methods of advertising the agent's active virtual tour web site to the world. Once visitors arrive at the agent's site, they can choose from various types of homes and locations to view online and view an interactive virtual tour.

MAKE IT EASY TO REACH YOU: Be sure to include SEVERAL means of contact, regardless of advertising medium. After looking at the virtual tour some users might opt to call the realtor directly for a personal showing. So be sure to leave your phone number in an easily accessible and prominent area on your online AND print media advertisement.

DISTRIBUTE FLYERS: Print-out fliers and brochures that advertise your single property website, your business and the online virtual tour. These fliers and signs can be printed and distributed locally.

USE UNIQUE ATTENTION GETTING MARKETING: Using unique marketing tools such as RTV's PanoRider(tm), emailable HitStats(tm), or even just using a professional photographer service for those dramatic night-time shots can help you stand apart from the crowd. Using these marketing tools not only makes your properties stand apart from the rest, but also says incredible things about your marketing strategy to prospective sellers.

TV and RADIO: The local effort to drive traffic to the realtor's site should include any manner of traditional advertising the realtor can afford to incorporate into his or her ongoing advertising and marketing strategy, even radio and television if the prospective URL isn't too difficult to remember.

OPTIMIZE, OPTIMIZE, OPTIMIZE: Once the virtual tour and the supporting web presence have been established and advertised locally, it is important to concentrate on web site marketing and optimization online. Optimizing your website, your blog and even your virtual tours maximizes your overall traffic and potential leads by allowing search engines to properly index your website and listings. RTV offers free SEO, Blogging, Social Networking, Social Back Linking training by way of our Social Ignition Course too all providers of our technology.

SOCIAL NETWORK: Getting the word out about your website and your virtual tours may seem like a daunting task, but if taken step-by-step, will prove to be quite easy. The trick is to get your network set-up and to get yourself into a routine that is easy for you.

Need help setting up your social network? Check out our 12 week workshop as announced in our last RTV Newsletter. Simply log into your TMS and click on the Social Ignition Course to sign up. Free to ALL RTV providers. A Sure-Fire Way to Beat the Economy!

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Extreme Marketing Makeover | New RTV Employees

This month RTV is very pleased to welcome Jill Sill onto the RTV Marketing team. Jill will be in charge of creating our Inner Circle marketing pieces on a monthly basis as well as writing our 'done for you' newsletters. Jill will be using her skills as a prior teacher and her passion for graphic arts to further RTV's mission. After graduating from Hope College, Jill spent 5 years in Homer, Alaska teaching high School to at risk youth and running the Carl E. Wynn Nature Center.

Look forward to exciting new marketing pieces each month...Yes I said EACH MONTH! And best of all your 'done for you' newsletter will now be delivered to you in a timely fashion. Remember, if you would like to have a custom marketing piece made and are an Inner Circle member, simply fill out our suggestion box and we will add your unique marketing piece to our list.

New Marketing LIVE Chat

You have asked and we have listened! RTV has now setup live marketing support for you to access from TMS. For a limited time our live marketing support will be available for both Inner Circle Members and non Inner Circle Members. RTV is happy to have partnered with team Frugal Marketing U to bring you this premium service.

You can now log into your TMS and click on the Live Marketing Support icon (just like the sales support one on our homepage) Click the button to engage in the live chat. You will even be able to contact a live person over the phone depending on your needs. Yes, you certainly heard us correctly! We are actually letting you talk with members of our marketing team this time around. WHOOT WHOOT!!!

Frugal Marketing U is very familiar with the virtual tour business and has over 8 years of expertise in building a virtual tour company producing over 200 virtual tours a month, search engine optimization, email campaigns, blogging, agent and business to business presentations, web site marketing, cold calling, flyer marketing and yes...even belly to belly sales.

No matter what your budget, no matter how much time you have to spend in a day, they will have a solution tailored to your unique situation. A special thanks to all of you out there in RTV land for your continued support and urging us to make some very necessary changes with our marketing program. Without your support and comments to us this unique partnership and changes would have never happened.

New RTV Employees

In June the Tour Track team welcomed Brandi Neumann. Brandi has been a great asset to our team so far and we are so excited to have her!

Brandi graduated from Hope College in Holland, Mi. After that she moved to Chicago where she spent 4 years working in the restaurant business. After having her daughter, Ella, she stayed home full time to enjoy motherhood. During this time, she developed and created her small business, My Hip Chick, selling hair accessories for young girls. She now maintains her website, and will be working full-time for RTV as Jacque's right-hand assistant with Tour Track. She is thrilled to be honing her skills as a photo editor, and keeping Tour Track orders processed and delivered on time.

Good Luck Out There!
RTV, INC
http://www.realtourvision.com
Virtual Tour Software

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Social Ignition System Now Live

Are you ready to completely dominate the search engines? Would you like to be the #1 ranking virtual tour company or real estate site in your market? If you answered yes to either of those questions then you are ready for the all NEW RTV SOCIAL IGNITION SYSTEM! We have been very busy testing this system out over the past twelve weeks with BlueLaVaMedia and we are now officially ready to release it to any Full Service or In House provider of RTV technology!

Over the last year while Jim Blue has been in and out of several hundred homes here in Northern Michigan, I have been busy working on something truly unique, that is so powerful, and yet incredibly easy to learn. In fact, every time I show someone what I am about to show you they always wonder why they have not been doing it all along.

I must admit that I used to plug my ears anytime someone mentioned Digg, Delicious, Furl, Facebook, Technorati, Backflip, or Twitter to me. But that was before I realized the sheer potential for literally ANYONE...in ANY business...anywhere in the World to maximize their online exposure. So yes, this does mean YOU!

Like you, I used to hear these new buzz phrases and ignore them.

I used to see little symbols like popping up all over the web and, yes, I simply looked the other way. Do you remember when email was the same way? Back when you could still run your business without a website? Times are quickly changing and once again you need to do the same.

Don't worry because once you learn a few of the basics this will be just as easy for you to do as it is to send an email. I promise! If you would like to find out how you can start to leverage the power of social networking and bookmarking I highly encourage you log into your virtual tour manager RIGHT NOW and sign up per the instructions of our July Newsletter. The course is a 12 week course that you will be able to take from the comfort of your home via the web.

The only thing that our program will require of you is a bit of your time and willingness to make some small changes in the way your conduct business online.

Are you ready for Social Ignition?

Sign up now by logging into your virtual tour management system and find the instructions in our latest E-Newsletter! Once you sign up for our free social networking, blogging, SEO, and back link building course you will receive one email every week for the next 12 weeks. This FREE course is open to all RTV dealers!

Why pay for training like this when RTV gives it to your for FREE

If you're an Inner Circle member you can log into our marketing center and download ALL 12 weeks right away and won't have to wait for them. Why would you want all 12 weeks at once? Because you can do just what Jim and Jason over at BlueLaVaMedia did and that's build an opt in email list incredibly fast! Simply let your current prospects and customers know that you now offer a free course that will teach them how to better use social media sites, build up back links to their site, and teach them the basics of blogging. This is working so well that the Traverse Area Association of Realtors has even asked team BlueLaVa to speak in August to a group of agents on the basics of the course.

Not using aweber yet? Well sign up now at http://www.aweber.com and you can drop our ready to go course in and setup a form on your site! This is a tested and very easy weekly course jam packed with SEO tips, social networking tips, and blogging tips. What a great way to be more than just a virtual tour provider or just an average real estate professional in your local market.

Either way know this: You will NEVER have to pay for this material because we have it all right here for you for FREE! To sign up now join the RTV network or if you are an existing provider of our technology simply login and read our latest newsletter for detailed instructions.

Watch this video below and see Social Ignition first hand:



Thanks and good luck out there!
RTV Marketing
http://www.realtourvision.com
Property Marketing That Works!

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Goodbye to Google Rank

The days of Googling your keywords to measure the effectiveness of your SEO strategy are coming to an end. According to Bruce Clay of PubCon, there are big changes in ranking. In the name of Top Shelp Organic SEO, Google is tuning into the specific behaviors of individual users to serve up more customized results.

What this means to the end-user is better results and less spam.

What does this mean to SEO professionals?

Well, for the good ones it means more business. For those that have been concentrating on ranking without any reference to traffic, bounce rates and conversions it means a serious reality check.

At the end of the day, this is a change for the better. More individualized search results means higher conversion rates for companies that have a well built website. This does not mean that SEO is no longer important; it actually makes it more important! Tracking your marketing efforts will definitely require more diligence.

Q: What should you do?

A: Nothing that you should not have already been doing.

The most important part of a website is the ends result; attracting more leads and increasing business. To get there you have to attract website visitors, keep them interested in your website long enough to stay past the first page and finally get them to convert. By convert, I mean to get them to perform a specific action like sign up for a newsletter or request additional information. Conversions vary by website. A conversion for you may be a request for information about one of your listings while a conversion for amazon.com could be the sale of a bestselling novel.

I, for one, think this is a great lead by Google. It forces website owners and SEO professionals to take a closer look of what traffic is actually DOING when it gets to your website. It puts the emphasis on website content, navigation and functionality.

Sending people to your website and getting XXXXX visitors is one thing, conversion rates are a completely different (and more important) aspect. I mean, you can send all the traffic (paid or otherwise) in the world to a dilapidated home, but if they never get out of the car and go inside... it's not going to sell.

It's time to get your website to do what it's supposed to: SELL!

Go Google!

RTV Marketing
http://www.realtourvision.com/image

RTV offers full service national virtual tours

866-947-8687 Order a virtual tour today!

_____

My comments:

First off, I would like to say that this is a blog that my marketing department for http://www.realtourvision.com released at the end of last year. If you watch Bruce’s entire video he states that we will see these changes begin to take hold in the first six months of 2009 so this was a perfect time to push this out there again. This is indeed old news but it is happening right now I can assure you that. For the last ten years I have been actively working side by side with my SEO team to make sure both RTV and our national network of virtual tour photographers websites rank well.

To see this change firsthand, you can run a test on your own. It is quite simple to perform. For the next week google your business or real estate website using what I call you “Geo Key-Words” such as ‘Traverse City Real Estate’ or ‘Traverse City Virtual Tours’. If you continually run this search, and click on your site (not necessarily on the PPC ads you might be running) you will see that your results begin to change after a few days or so.

Your site will begin rising to the top of the SERPS. Is your site ranking better? The answer is yes and no. Yes, your site will be ranking better on YOUR computer and yours alone. You will quickly see that a clearing of your private data, cookies and temp files instantly returns your search to your actual google positioning. I try to clear out my temp files at least every day so I can run clean searches and view actual results. You should make habit of doing this too if you take an interest in your sites true google positioning.

At the end of the day, the people who don’t clear out their private data often, will certainly have unnatural search results. What can you do? Do what you have been doing all along and run a light PPC ad campaign, build strong back links to your site (this brings the spiders and the google juice), make sure that the architecture of your site is laid out properly, optimize EACH page of your site for a new keyword, and drive traffic and people to your site by blogging. Finally you should run tools on your site for fine tuning such as http://www.websitegrader.com.

Blog often on sites that give back link power. Active rain no loger does this unless you purchase a rain maker account. Take advantage of using social bookmarking sites. Big site linking to smaller site is good. Install the google toolbar if you don't already have it.

Google juice is now split by both traffic and spiders so you want BOTH coming to your site. The key with traffic is to get them to stay on your site and that is where the term bounce rate comes in. Your bounce rate increases when people come to your site and are not satisfied by their search results so the simply hit the back button. That is a bounce.

If you’re not already running google analytics on your site DO THIS NOW! This will show you your bounce rate and you can start working on it from there. The lower the number the better. My local RTV dealership for the Traverse City Market has a 50% bounce rate which I am pretty happy with. It does not sound good that 50% of my visitors are leaving but a lot of that comes from the thousands of back links that I have established out there. See what your bounce rate is and try to lower it by using some of Bruce’s subtle suggestions.

For example, at http://www.bluelavamedia.com we push nearly all of our virtual tour listings onto craigslist. I also include a small ad on this craigslist posting that goes to a special page on my site. This page educates the home shopper on the value of using online property marketing tools that work such as interactive virtual tours, single property websites, top notch photography and so on. You can’t get to this page unless you come in directly from one of these craigslist ads that I have posted. Here is a link to one of my pages off of craigslist:

http://www.bluelavamedia.com/traverse-virtual-tours.html

You can see that I have video on this page. I use the video to keep people on the page longer and get them to dive into my site more thus reducing bounce rate. Make sense? Finally, YES, content is still king but also you must make sure that the content is relevant to your website. Do you need to have videos all over your site? I don’t think, so but it does not hurt to have a few here and there. Video testimonials are great and so are power point presentations. You can turn all of your power points into video very easily using Tech Smith’s software found here:

http://www.camtasia.com

Finally, at RTV we offer free photography, blogging, social networking, and social bookmarking training courses for both real estate professionals and full service virtual tour providers who use our virtual tour system. Check it out and we would love to talk to you more about your property marketing program. Thanks everyone!

Jason LaVanture

Vice President / Founder

RTV, INC

http://www.realtourvision.com

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Pimp My Tour | SOLD

While Jim and I are swamped here at work this summer, we still take some time out once in awhile to think of really cool things that we can do to PIMP our virtual tours. The latest really cool thing is to continually make the best use of the agent virtual tour gallery and showcase SOLD properties as well as current listings. Over the last two years Jim and I have not been deleting virtual tours unless specifically requested by our customers. This happens every once in awhile, but for the most part all of our customers LOVE…yes LOVE showcasing SOLD properties in their virtual tour gallery.

Let’s also not forget that RTV virtual tours outrank any other virtual tour on the market due in part to our new SpiderLink™ technology. Simply put, the more tours that we have out there ranking organically in the SERPS the better that is for BlueLaVaMedia and the agent that sold the property.

To further highlight sold properties in the virtual tour galleries, Jim and I are making use of the “AFFILIATE” feature that is built into RTV virtual tours. The affiliate field allows you to select many advertisers to display on your virtual tour, only in this case we will be using a SOLD button. Like so:

If you would like to use this on your RTV tours simply save the above image to your hard drive and upload as an affiliate. It's really that simple! Judy Levin a Traverse City real estate agent uses our virtual tour gallery on her home page here: http://www.JudyLevin.com and here is a sample tour with our new SOLD Affiliate in place:

http://rtvpix.com/RE-5279-E7HUY5-01

Don't forget that when you save a virtual tour it will automatically push that tour to the TOP of the virtual tour gallery. This happens because as pricing and tour changes occur it will be important for those virtual tours to bounce back to the top of the list.

Have fun pimping your tours!

Team BlueLaVaMedia
Traverse City Virtual Tours
http://www.BlueLaVaMedia.com
Order a virtual tour - 877-941-TOUR (8687)

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Hot Springs Village TRUE Virtual Tours

Challenging Designs Inc, a Hot Springs Village Virtual Tour Company is up for ANY Challenge!

Residential and Commercial Real Estate - a virtual tour is not just a slide show and it is not just a few panoramas thrown together. At Challenging Designs Inc., we go beyond the mundane and offer true virtual tours which include multiple panorama views as well as still photos, flyers, descriptions, links, information and a way to contact the Realtor to request additional information. Additional options available are also CDI Living Photos(TM), personalized website, personalized highlight sheet master, virtual tours can be added to a business card CD's and much more. Challenging Designs also offers graphic design and web design as well to show off your property.

Business and Commercial - virtual tours are a great way for the public to see your business from their home. JD Powers has found that over 80% of consumers begin their search on the internet. Showing your facilities off makes a longer "memory" and increases your chances that they will chose to visit your business over someone who just has a phone number and address. It can create a personal connection before they even visit.

Insurance Documentation Services - Our "Vital Records Album(TM)" is great to have around in case of theft or disaster in your home or business. We take individual photographs of your valuables, then a virtual tour of the room where they are housed. We can assist you or do it all and take a written inventory log as we go. Then all the photos and the scanned inventory list is put on a CD or DVD, and you get the original disk as well as the written inventory list. We can also scan other important documents to be added to the disc. We recommend you store these in a fireproof box, or in your safe deposit box. Call us when you update your art collection, or want to update your "Vital Records Album.

Challenging Designs Inc. is your Hot Springs Village full-service design firm, from Virtual Tours, Photography, Graphic Design and Web Design. We take your Challenge and Manage It!
Designs for any Challenge!

Donna Haagenson
Challenging Designs Inc.
Hot Springs Village Virtual Tours
www.ChallengingDesigns.com

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Calgary Virtual Tours on RTV

Dear Barry,

What is your take on RTV and the current virtual tour market?

Sincerely,

Jim



Dear Jim,

There is definitely a need for RTV services. I held a photo seminar at a real estate company last week to show REALTORS that listings presented on MLS have bad photos and, in my city of Calgary, Alberta, there are few multi-media presentations and lots of terrible photos. (I would bet it's the same where you live).

We went live on the Internet to find some examples at random and went through a few with some suggestions on how to improve them. I'm not worried that REALTORS will learn something about photography, but they will regard me as a "expert". Of course, I told them about my company and RTV and got three bookings from the seminar.

I can't stress enough that you have to get your face in front of REALTORS with emphasis on service. To be right up front, Jim, when REALTORS take a beating in the market, you will too, especially if you don't have an alternative plan. RTV has that alternative with Choice Hotels and their national photography service tour track system, so when the market is down in real estate, you can be doing something else, like motels, hotels, resorts, restaurants, etc. I have done six senior citizen homes this spring at rates about five times a real estate listing.

Is the virtual tour business a good business? Absolutely. I have direct contact with Jason LaVanture, the vice-president and founder of RTV for counseling and advice. So would you. The management and new marketing department at RTV is very accessible.

As far as money is concerned, there is no limit. As I mentioned above, seniors home provided five times the revenue of a real estate listing and with baby boomers reaching 65 in a couple of years, the demographics are creating lots of competition in that market.

I can't say enough about RTV, their assistance, virtual tour product, webinars, dealer network and more.

My advice to you: Go for it!

All the best,
Barry Blick
SPINNERMAX, INC. Real Estate Photography
Tel: (403) 850-0801 Fax: (403) 398-1428
Calgary Virtual Tours

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Big Changes in Tallahassee

Tally Tours, a full service RTV dealer and provider of Tallahassee Virtual Tours, has made some major improvements and upgrades over the past month. We have a brand new office located at 308 McDaniel St, a new photographer Amy, and a new office assistant David. Our main phone number will remain the same, 850-491-3909 and will ring directly to David to set up appointments, answer questions, and provide support.

Before we continue with our great news, we want to take this opportunity to thank our loyal customers that had appointments during this transition period and stuck with us as we upgraded.

Until recently, Tally Tours has been a "one man show." A single person did the photography and office work. Keeping up with the workload had become increasingly difficult if not impossible at times for a single person. Our photographer can now focus on what she does best, taking great photos, while our office assistant David will do all of the computer work, scheduling and customer support.

Our valuable customers will soon begin to see major improvements all across the board. We have retrained and retooled to have a more efficient work flow that will provide even better quality end products than ever before!

New Service Packages
When we were operating as a "one man show", a lot of time and effort went into a great product at as low of a cost as possible. With the new employees and office space, we needed to create new packages and prices that keep the business going at this level without sacrificing quality and customer service.

After surveying some of our customers, Tally Tours has come up with four new pricing levels for our residential virtual tour customers (previously there were only three). We’ve also created new marketing services to help our customers beyond just the virtual tour at a new lower cost. We are sure that the majority of our customers will agree with the survey group that the business upgrades warrant these much needed price points.

We would love to hear everyone's input and comments! Good luck out there!

Myles Lasco

Tally Tours Inc
Tallahassee Virtual Tours
www.TallyTours.com
Order a Virtual Tour (850) 491-3909

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Virtual Tour Marketing Tips

Need a New Place To Market Your Virtual Tour Business?

Jobvana is The Social Marketplace! Are you trying to grow your virtual tour business or just starting your virtual tour business? Check out Jobvana to market your passions! Increase your exposure, build credibility, and leverage our web presence, all FREE!

Jobvana is a network that utilizes user provided content. Their mission is to increase your value by creating a market for the skills you have, enjoy and want to share.

View our profile here: Real Vision Studio, a Detroit Virtual Tour Company in Southeast Michigan, and a full service virtual tour provider for RTV.

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Slow Market Yeilds BOOM For VT Business

Is this slow down in the Real Estate Market a Plus for Virtual Tour Providers?

I was worried when the Real Estate Market took some hits this year, what with everyone worried about what the economy would do. My fears seem to have been unfounded. I am busier than ever, (when it isn’t raining in Eastern Pennsylvania). My customers are referring me more and more, as other agents are asking them what they are doing to sell there listings. I find that not only are agents looking for Virtual Tours on the “High End” properties, but even on duplexes, and Condos, and other properties that we may not have expected to see VT of. This just goes to show that every home should and will benefit from a virtual tour and online distribution.

I have received virtual tour orders for from agents that when I approached them initially, they said they didn’t believe Tours really helped sell homes. Well I am here to tell you that Yes! Virtual Tours (shameless plug) do help sell homes. I have lost count of the number of times I have been told that someone saw a Virtual Tour of a listing on line, and called to see the home and put an offer on it. Recently an agent called to order a tour and told me that a house I had just done a tour on had sold on the first showing; the buyers saw the listing on line and looked at the tour and the rest is, as they say, History.

This same agent when I did the first tour for him a year or so ago, had clients from out of State who saw the tour on line and said that would be the first home they looked at when they came to town, and yep, you guessed it they bought that house.

So, don’t let people tell you they don’t believe in the internet or Virtual Tours as an aid in selling their listings. More and more agents are telling me their sellers are asking for Virtual Tours.
So as the Market gets more competitive, remember that Virtual Tours are a great enhancement to Realtors’ Marketing tools.


Have a Picture Perfect Day,

Mary Beth Finnerty
Allentown Virtual Tours
Yes! Virtual Tours
www.yesvirtualtours.com
Order a Virtual Tour : 610-597-9915

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