Mike's Corner Now MLBroadcast Blog - New Website Launched

I would like to extend a big thank you to all of the faithful readers of Mike's Corner over the past 3 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of blogging and a platform that has allowed me to share my opinions of the real estate industry and real estate 2.0. No worries, I am not going away, just sort of relocating. MLBroadcast.Com/blog needs to morph into a platform that does a better job of focusing on our product and the niche we serve. As such, I will be working on a new location (and name) for Mike's Corner where I can continue to write the kind of content that seems to resonate with more people than I could have imagined it would. If you would like to receive an email notification when I launch, please drop me a line at 360podcast AT gmail DOT com with your email address and I will let you know the new URL.

As for this blog, I hope you'll remain subscribed as we talk about how our product and syndicated content in general can be one of the most effect tools in your real estate marketing arsenal. In our goal to do a better job of presenting our product to the real estate community, we have launched an entirely new web site. I hope you'll take a few minutes to review it and let me know what you think. Coming up next: How MLBroadcast community content creates tremendous search engine results.

Land of The Peach & Home of The Braves - Meet Us In Atlanta

RETech South takes place one week from today in the city of Atlanta. We're really looking forward to the event. I've heard great things about last year's event. Brad Nix and Matt Fagioli have been working hard to make sure this year's event exceeds every expectation.

RETech South is a real estate technology conference that packs quite a bit into a single day. There are RE.net luminaries coming from around the country to present and be part of the panels. Scheduled to Keynote is Dave Jenks of Keller Williams who will be telling us how we can get order from chaos.

Yours truly will be moderating a panel on the main stage at 2 pm entitled,"Hype or Help? Does Real Estate Video Work as a Marketing Tool?" The panelists are a varied group of real estate professionals that I feel confident will result in one of the best sessions of the day!

The organizers of the event are using an interesting web based platform to allow the attendees to connect in a social media platform called Crowdvine. I've spent some time in the Crowdvine site for this event and I am very impressed with the clean, easy to navigate elements that bring together the event calendar, twitter feeds, documents and more under one interface. If you're attending the event I highly recommend you join me in using Crowdvine to make your experience even an better one, before, during and after the event.

Joining me on this trip will be two of my business partners, Mark Basile our Executive VP and his lovely wife Sandra. We will be conducting a breakout session at 3:30 pm to introduce ourselves and demonstrate the features of MLBroadcast and show how it generates results for marketing listings, communities and beyond. Come and find out how you can use your still photos and great copy to take advantage of advanced video distribution channels, easily and very inexpensively. We promise to make it entertaining and worth your time. If you come to this session you'll get a coveted RE Barcamp Houston '08 T-shirt and a chance to win free MLBroadcast video episodes and a custom graphic set up valued at $136!

If you haven't registered there's still time! Hope to see you there!

Creative in Canda - 72HourOpenHouse.Com

Kye Grace, a Realtor in Vancouver BC had a challenge on his hands. It's a challenge keeping plenty of people awake at night - great listing, no traffic. With a little help from a friend Kye came up with the idea to hold an open house. It wasn't your average open house though. Kye created a concept, built a marketing campaign, generated some serious buzz, grabbed his sleeping bag and provisions and parked himself in his listing for 72 hours straight, ready to show to whomever came by, at any time during that period.

I had the opportunity to speak with Kye a couple of days ago. We talked about the results of his efforts and much more. Although Kye has only been an agent for a couple of years, he has some great insight and a good approach to building his business model. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Listen On The Web:

Subscribe In iTunes:

Gary Vaynerchuck - "It's Over...."

As promised, Gary Vaynerchuck of WineLibrary.Com took the time to create an episode for Mike's Mic today. We spent about 30 minutes discussing transparency, social media and more.

"It's Over! - The way people gather and are attached to brands has fundamentally changed"

Gary minces no words when he speaks to his beliefs regarding what it will take for a real estate professional, or any professional for that matter, to succeed in the future. He makes a very compelling argument for putting in the extra time and effort necessary to capture and keep long term market share using social media and new media publishing tools. Anyone can dominate or as Gary says - "Crush It". It's a matter of keeping an open mind and having the drive and dedication for doing things a little differently than you have in the past.

I have to say, having a conversation with @GaryVee literally took the wind out of me at times, but I enjoyed it very much and I think it provided a way for him to expound on his keynote address at Inman. Whether you agree with him or not, his passion is genuine and his success is a testament to his vision and timing. When it comes to today's real estate industry, the timing couldn't be better to get out of our own way and realize this isn't about technology at all. The technology is merely a tool that allows for an economy of scale in doing the same things that successful people have always done - a medium for a message. The same rules of learning, ingenuity and old fashioned hustle apply.

I hope you enjoy listening and I look forward to your comments.

Listen On The Web:


Click Here To Subscribe To Mike's Mic Podcast

A New Contributor To Mike's Corner

We're going to try to something a little unique with our blog. Over the past month I have had the honor of getting to know one of our clients, a client that like many others is enjoying tremendous success with our product. Connor MacIVOR of the RE/MAX Paris 911 team in California has been singing the praises of our service throughout the RE.Net. In addition, he has found ways to extend the exposure of his episodes using his Realtor.Com account, Utterz, Flickr, his blogs and many other venues.

I asked Connor if he would be interested in doing a series of guest posts. These posts will be tutorials that walk you through the processes that Connor uses for his broadcast channel and episodes. Since becoming an MLBroadcast client, the Paris911 team has seen a dramatic improvement in search engine results. Connor has also seen an increase in call volume and cites his broadcasting endeavors as one of the features that helped them land a nice REO account recently.

You can find Connor everywhere in the social media channels of the RE.net and he is always willing to lend a hand to a fellow RE professional. We're proud to have him on board! Look for his first post to be up in the next day or so. It will show you how to upload your MLBroadcast.Com video episode to Realtor.Com.

P.S. I forgot to mention that Connor and Paris MacIVOR will be joining us at REBarcamp next month!

Tech Success Starts With Early Adopters

When I originally formed the concept of MLBroadcast, (originally MLPodcast), I wanted to be the first company to put a real estate listing in iTunes. I've been involved with listing enhancements and distribution for a long time, in fact, it dates back to 1995. My involvement with Quicktime technology sparked my keen interest in what was happening with audio podcasting. I knew it was a matter of time before Apple extended the DTD (document type definition) to include video content for podcasting.

I also knew my first clients would be Diane and Bruce Kink. I have worked closely with them over the years on several technology fronts and knew that they would embrace the concept of syndication and distribution immediately. After converting all of their listing photos to videos (click here to see the feed), we added the very first real estate video podcast to the iTunes podcast directory. That was in February of '06.

The press picked up on it quick and we ended up with local articles, national articles in Inman and B2B magazine and more. It was basically the birth of our company. I took the idea to my business partners, Jay Jackson, our CTO and Mark Basile, our Exec VP. We incorporated officially in June of '06 and have been going great guns since.

I wanted to take the opportunity on our company's 2nd anniversary to talk with Bruce Kink about early technology adoption and a little more. I think you'll enjoy listening to the podcast interview.

Thanks to Bruce and 100's of other early adopters, we are innovating in the space of the distribution of listing enhancements and the best is yet to come. I will be featuring interviews with more of our clients soon, coming up next, Connor MacIVOR of Paris911.com.

Click Here To Listen To The Podcast Interview With Bruce Kink

Click Here To Subscribe To Our Podcast In iTunes

MLBroadcast Partners With ClipBlast To Extend Distribution Network

MLBroadcast is proud to announce our partnership with Los Angeles based ClipBlast.Com. Clipblast is a pioneer in web video that uses patent pending technology to index video content across the web.

ClipBlast's Press Release:
Los Angeles, CA - April 15, 2008

Amid Continuing Real Estate Market Volatility, ClipBlast! to Index Video Content from MLBroadcast.com

ClipBlast! (www.clipblast.com), the premier Web-wide video search and distribution platform, today announced that it will index all current and future video content from real estate marketing innovator MLBroadcast (www.mlbroadcast.com).

The move comes amid both persistent volatility in the real estate market - a market defined by the subprime mortgage crisis and the rash of foreclosures in its wake - and a significant shift in the industry from print to online media, particularly video. According to Borrell Associates, real estate professionals invested $2.6 billion in online advertising in 2007, a 26 percent increase over the previous year. The firm projects that real estate advertising online will grow more than 12 percent this year, with agents and brokers spending more ad dollars in online media than in traditional advertising avenues by the year 2010.

"ClipBlast!'s index will increase the distribution of our video content exponentially," said Michael Price, MLBroadcast President. "That's particularly important when faced with challenging market conditions. Real estate professionals are looking for dynamic, cost-effective ways to enhance their listings and reach out to more potential buyers. We've built a system that allows them to do that with nothing more than the current marketing materials they use today."

"Real estate buyers are increasingly turning to the web to research and compare listings and communities," said Gary Baker, ClipBlast! founder and CEO. "We're delighted to index MLBroadcast, and bring its innovative approach to online video to consumers looking for an edge in this very tough market."

MLBroadcast enables real estate professionals to produce, syndicate and broadcast video content. Through a syndication method know as video podcasting, the company adds the appropriate data to the listing and then submits the podcast to a network of video directories that use this standardized data format to display the channel and its individual videos. The company also submits individual videos and the data associated with them to popular video portals, including ClipBlast!.

About MLBroadcast

MLBroadcast is a pioneer of video podcasting and web syndication for real estate related content. Visit www.mlbroadcast.com or call 832.331.4846 for more information.

About ClipBlast!

Founded in 2004, ClipBlast! provides pioneering Web-wide video search that uses patent-pending technology to continuously update the largest index of video content across the Internet. ClipBlast!'s fast, easy interface gives users instant access to millions of quality, highly relevant, targeted video clips from the world's major media brands, independent producers and individuals - video that informs, enlightens, inspires and entertains. The company is based in Agoura Hills, Calif. To learn more, visit http://www.clipblast.com.

Prudential California Realty Partners With MLBroadcast.com

Prudential California Realty, a broker with 300 plus agents in Northern California has partnered with MLBroadcast to provide a dedicated portal and support system. We've developed a centralized ordering system branded to the brokerage along with some reporting tools that allow management to view which agents are utilizing the system and more.
Prudential California is an extremely forward thinking brokerage when it comes to empowering agents with web 2.0 technology tools. Eric Bryant, the Information Services Director has been training agents recently on a variety of technology initiatives including syndication tools like MLBroadcast. He was quoted in a recent press release as saying:

"Our relationship with MLBroadcast solidifies our commitment to providing our Agents with the finest in web 2.0 technology. Their consistent use of this product will place them miles ahead of the competition, and provides their customers with unprecedented exposure. We couldn't be more pleased."

We're proud to add Prudential California to our list of satisfied clients and look forward to helping them succeed with the new rules and new tools of the web.

First American Title Expands MLBroadcast Reseller Agreement

First American Title Company of Texas has expanded it's reseller partnership with MLBroadcast to encompass the entire state of Texas. My business partner Mark Basile and I spent the day in Austin yesterday working with a group of marketing reps from around the state to train them on the program and how it can benefit their clients. We will be doing the same in Dallas Monday.

The new rules and new tools of web marketing and technology are extremely overwhelming to real estate professionals. First American is doing a great job of providing real consultative value to their relationships by introducing a product that takes advantage of new distribution channels by utilizing collateral and processes they are already familiar with.

The training is hands on. Each rep comes prepared with a set of photos and information from their respective markets. We have each one go through the process of establishing a broadcast channel and then adding an episode. We then discuss the distribution process and ways that agents can use the product in listing presentations and how to leverage it for community based content and more.

It's a win-win-win situation for MLBroadcast, First American and the real estate professionals of Texas. Stay tuned for updates on our progress!

Where In The World is Mike?

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. Its been hectic! I have several draft posts ready to be finished up, a couple that have died a natural death because they are no longer topical and a story to tell that will expose how careless some companies can be when it comes to right clicking and stealing content from the web that will have you scratching your head. It will also show how being careless in your web endeavors can put you at risk. Here's a hint: If you hire someone to design a web site for you, don't wait 10 months to look at it. Anywho...I promise I will get back to my blogging duties this weekend. Until then enjoy the entertaining video featuring the incomparable Jessica Swesey of Inman and a very handsome man who obviously knows what he's talking about. It's not the Today show but we're just as proud of it. Perhaps if I start calling myself a scientist I can get the kind of play that the Redfin gang is enjoying. Who knew you could turn log file analysis into a gig working with Al, Matt and Meredith? Brilliant.

Real Estate Video by - Real Estate Blogger

MLBroadcast Marketing Support Center

MLBroadcast has a new marketing support center. All clients now have access to free tools and resources to promote their efforts as web broadcasters. They include:

• A power point listing presentation that can be integrated into your current presentation or used as a stand alone tool. It's designed to help you present broadcasting as part of your listing distribution strategy. 
  
• A 4.x6 postcard mailer template that can be modified and mailed to your farm to make introduce them to your broadcast.
  
• An e-mail marketing script that can be broadcast to your current permission marketing database.
  
• A widget to display a live list of the broadcast episodes in your feed on your web site and/or blog.
  
• Graphics to use in your web site.
  
• Subscription link buttons. 

If you're a current MLBroadcast client, email support@mlbroadcast.com to get access to these resources. 

MLPodcast™ Re-Named To MLBroadcast™, Launches New Services & Pricing

MLPodcast™,has re-named to MLBroadcast™. The branding change ushers in a an extension of their service offering beyond video podcasting to include the submission of client videos to popular sharing destinations YouTube and Yahoo Video.

In addition to the name change and additional broadcasting services, MLBroadcast is announcing a new lower pricing structure. Michael Price, Co-Founder and President was quoted as saying "Our new branding effort is something we've had in the works for a while now. Our service was designed to help real estate professionals take advantage of syndication technologies to distribute their listings and community content. Video sharing sites have matured into syndication destinations that provide not only additional traffic, but vast improvements in the ability for listings to be found in organic searches."

In addition to the name change and new service announcements, MLBroadcast is announcing a pricing change that lowers the cost of their video episode production to $29. The fee includes a professional music score and professional voice narration service. Videos are created from client provided photos. The previous price for the service including the voice over fee was $49.95. There is a one time set-up fee of $49. "Improvements in our production capability have allowed us to create a price point for our service that should make it a fairly easy decision for any real estate professional that wants to take advantage of the power of Web 2.0 and syndication", said Co-Founder and Executive Vice-President, Mark Basile.

Price also stated, "MLBroadcast brings together services that address the most important new issues in real estate technology today, Syndication, Video and Mobile delivery of content. Our goal is to solidify the traction we have in these areas and continue to improve a platform that provides maximum exposure to our real estate clients' content."