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ASK MR. INTERNET
In just 48 hours, you’ll receive an e-mail with a professional-looking floor plan in your choice of a GIF format or a vector format used by Adobe Illustrator. Either file will work on your Web site, but the Adobe file lets your Web designer manipulate and scale the image in almost any way without affecting image quality. Floor plans will be especially valuable if you work with relocation customers. Having a plan on your site will help relos get a better sense of the size and feel of the house before visiting. Floor plans also are a great tool to help buyers visualize where their furniture could go in a home, giving them a sense that the house is already theirs and helping you close the sale. But adding a plan to your listings is just the beginning. With a few creative touches, these floor plans can take virtual tours to a whole new level. Imagine having a plan with special “hot spots” that when clicked show photos or even wraparound, 360-degree panoramas of the room. When you present floor plans this way, you provide context to visitors’ experience of your listing and greatly enhance their understanding and appreciation of it. Keep in mind, however, that doing a complex virtual-tour plan will probably take longer than two days.  (The floor-plan examples in this article are provided with permission by Paul Van Hoff for illustration purposes only and do not necessarily represent the final look and operation of static and interactive floor plans when made available through REVA Teams.) Clearly, online floor plans aren’t practical for every listing. However, for those of you who want to really stand out, this certainly will do the trick! Mr. Internet’s Tip of the Month Do you write your own classified ads? Ever ask yourself why? Even if you’re a great writer, should you be spending time writing ads instead of making listing appointments or closing sales? Chances are any of these activities will yield you more money per hour than the $25 to $45 an hour most reasonably talented copywriters earn. Here’s a way to let go of this drudgery and have it done more professionally with very little work on your part. Instead of laboriously typing out your ad copy, begin by dictating just the bullet points of your listing into your computer using inexpensive recording software like Total Recorder and a simple microphone you probably already received when you bought your computer. This should take no more than a minute or two. Then save the file as a highly compressed MP3, and e-mail it to your copywriter as an attachment. (If you don’t have a copywriter already, check out elance.com for some options.) You also can use Total Recorder to record audio from Windows Medial Player, RealPlay, CDs, or DVDs. While your copywriter develops your ad—which is likely to happen much faster than you could do it—you are freed up to do more important and profitable tasks. Note: Mr. Internet owns a controlling interest in REVA Teams; otherwise he, his company, and staff receive no compensation whatsoever from any other third-party vendors or service providers mentioned within this column. More Resources Software Advisor: Virtual Tours Buyer’s Guide Plus: Virtual Tours Outsourcing, Internet Style , Michael Russer Previously by Ask Mr. Internet: Ask Mr. Internet Main Page Never Lose Track of Passwords Again Web Eye for the REALTOR® Guy or Girl Bring Your Site Alive With Multimedia Ask Mr. Internet: Spammed to a Halt
Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an Internet speaker, trainer, author, and consultant. Send your questions to: help@askmrinternet.com Ask Mr. Internet Main Page
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