Five years ago today, the idea behind Real Estate Shows was born.

It wasn’t until two weeks ago, during a telephone interview with The Internet Marketing Center, that I recognized this milestone was approaching. When the interviewer asked me how Real Estate Shows got it’s start, I realized that the timing of our Valentine’s Day greeting templates was a wonderful coincidence. I’ve told my Valentine’s Day story many, many times, but I’ve never written about it. This seems like the right time.

What happens when you decide not to hire a videographer for your wedding?

You end up with no wedding video. I know that seems obvious. When my wife and I made the decision to only hire a photographer to shoot nothing but black and white photos, we thought it would be cool and artsy. In retrospect, it was just short sighted. As the years passed, what we really wanted was to be able to sit in front of a TV, cuddle up and watch our wedding video. But we didn’t have one.

What do you do when you have a lot of extra time on your hands?

If you’re me, you play on the computer - a lot. And that’s exactly what I did. I played with technology. During the months after I left my former company, I spent a lot of time researching and testing new software. I found an application (Mac only) that made the Ken Burns effect simpler to produce than iMovie and decided I’d use my newly found free time to make a Valentine’s Day present for my wife - a DVD Movie of our wedding. So, I scanned in all of our old black and white wedding photos, hundreds of them, and made a five part DVD of our ceremony.

What happens when you present a gift publicly and everyone in the room cries?

If you’re me, you enjoy the moment for about a minute and then a voice inside your head says, “hmm, why isn’t anyone using this technique to present houses online?” As I watched the different parts of the video on the TV screen and judged the people’s reactions, I realized that when you use the Ken Burns effect on inanimate objects, it feels alot like you’re watching something shot with a video camera.

I played around with the idea inside my head for several months before deciding that this might be worth pursuing. I didn’t register the domain name, RealEstateShows.com, until almost four months later, on June 3, 2003. It would be another 6 months of research and testing before any Shows, all hand made at the time, were presented to the first real estate group. After that first presentation, almost another year would pass before we felt we’d learned enough to fully define, simplify and automate the process online.

What happens when you really enjoy doing what you do for a living?

Time flies really fast. Five years have passed since that Valentine’s Day present was popped into the DVD player. In the three years since we automated the service online, over 30,000 real estate agents have set up accounts at Real Estate Shows. I’m proud of what our team has created.

What do you do to celebrate five years?

I decided to memorialize this day by sharing one of the segments from the DVD that began as a Valentine’s Day gift and ended as a business. Here it is.

The Inspiration Behind Real Estate Shows from reshows on Vimeo..

Thank you to everyone who has helped make the past five years enjoyable.

There have been several times when I’ve thought to myself, “That is the best, most original use for a Real Estate Show I have ever seen!” It has happened again, and this one is truly going to be hard to top. I just don’t see how it could happen. (But please, you guys go on and try!)

Shortly before Christmas, Monika McGillicuddy of Prudential Verani Realty/Hampstead woke up from a very vivid dream that she’d written to her husband’s unknown birth mother. The dream was so real that she felt a need to go ahead and write that letter, and like a the fabulous blogger that she is, the letter came out in the form of a post.

Monika thanked Jay’s birth mother, and spoke as one woman to another about the love they share for him. It’s one of the most touching, personal posts I have ever read.

And at the end of her post, Monika made a Real Estate Show of Jay growing up before our eyes. What an absolute treasure that must have been for his mother!

Because yes, thanks to Monika’s post, Jay DID find his birth mother – and siblings! He wrote about it on his blog.

This is one of the more amazing blogging stories I’ve heard, and I wanted to share it with you. Here’s Monika’s Show. I’m sure that even if you don’t know Jay, you’ll understand what a gift this must have been for his newly found family.

Monika and Jay, thanks from me, too — just because you let us share in the journey.

[realestateshows]http://www.realestateshows.com/js.php?showid=238966[/realestateshows]

Thesa Chambers was not an instant convert to RealEstateShows.com.

She was using another product that allowed her to put as many photos as she wanted into the main presentation. She saw that as a decided benefit. She decided to give RealEstateShows.com a try after hearing the reasons why we limit our main Shows to 30 and 60 seconds. It’s NOT because we don’t know how to create a Show with 50 photos!

She decided to test us head-to-head. She made the following comment on Sarah Cooper’s post, Sharing Marketing Secrets, that was about one of her Local Area Shows:

…in reality it is all about what the people want - VisualTours are great - but what I found was that the product I was using previously to speaking with Jeff Turner gave too much information… Jeff pointed out that the product I was using although a more complex product gave the viewer too much information… it did not leave them wanting more.

She went on to say:

The results speak for themselves - I used RES and my “other program” for 2 very similar properties… same area and same ammenities priced within $500 of each other - the property I used RES and my little email tip has received double the viewings, been forwarded by email something like 10 times and had 7 showings - the property I used the other program with - well it has about half the viewings has never been forwarded and has had 0 showings….

There is a line that other technologies allow you to cross that should not be crossed. That’s the line that leads the Internet viewer to believe that they don’t need to come see the home you’re marketing. It’s called selling past the close. Your goal should be to make it onto their list of properties to see, not present your way off of it!

Thesa sent me this email last Friday and I asked her if I could share it here. She agreed.

Jeff, I just had to share with you my most recent success, that is completely due to using Real Estate Shows. I have a great listing in Sunriver, I created a show for this property as I always do. Sunriver is a resort community in which I am based out of. The show for this particular property was linked to a couple community shows I have previously created with RES. (To view this show click here)

Although the market in Sunriver is a little better than other places in Central Oregon it is still slower than sellers would like to see. This show has been viewed several times and is blasted on anything I can find to put it on. Last week, I had an agent from 200 miles away call and ask for the availability of the property. She and her husband had viewed the show multiple times and just had to come see the home.

They arrived on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend – and they wrote their offer, and it is now accepted and heading towards closing. When I asked her what made her come to see just this home, she told me it was the Real Estate Show. She could not get the house out of her head.

My yearly subscription to RES has now put a commission of over $10,000 in my pocket for this sale. I can not thank you enough – you and RES rock.

Thesa Chambers, Broker, Sunriver Realty

Thesa… thank you.

I regularly scrub through the unique visitor data on our server logs. I need to get a life, I know. But you can learn some interesting things late at night.

One of the things I learn is which Real Estate Shows get the most visits in any given period of time. The number represent a kind of success. So, I thought I’d begin sharing the numbers from these success stories.

July’s Most Viewed Real Estate Show

Mark Malcolm II created both the number 1 and number 2 most viewed Shows in July. Beautiful Year Round Home received 3010 visits. That’s a lot of views, way more than the average, but Mark is getting a lot of attention. His Lakeside Home with Beach House received 2915 visits for number 2 in July. Both of these homes are in Keuka Lake. Mark has the top sponsored link on Google for Keuka Lake, so that may have something to do with his success in attracting visits to his Shows.

But there also must be something in the water up there in Keuka Lake. Bonnie Curbeau came in third with 2348 visits to Elegant and Gracious Keuka Lake Home. That’s still a very large number.

Congratulations to both Mark and Bonnie. Keuka lake must be one amazing place!

I had an enlightening talk with my friend These Chambers of Sunriver Realty the other day.

Thesa used to use “another brand” of home tour, but once she decided to switch to Real Estate Shows, she did it all the way! She is a BIG fan of Real Estate Shows. She loves it and she’ll tell you why.

She’s had some great successes with her Shows, too. She told me about how she’s been taking pictures everywhere she goes, then putting together some beautiful shows of the Oregon wilderness. She lives and works in an area that has a lot of vacation homes, the kind of place that people love as a get-away.

Thesa’s market is slowing down, but she’s managing to stay ahead of the pack. She told me what she’s doing, and said I could share her secret with you.

She makes these beautiful shows of the natural beauty of her area, then sends them on to everyone she knows. They’re just as in love with the place as she is, and often forward the shows on to others, too.

The magic lies in what she adds – she’s connected Shows of her listings or neighborhoods.

People who really enjoy what they’re seeing want to see more, so they click on Related Shows to see what else there might be. What they’re finding is that Thesa has a house ready and waiting for them. If they want to see more gorgeous scenery, here’s a very good way to do it – buy this!

Oh, she’s a clever one!!

View her Show below, and then think about how you could use this secret yourself.