Daily Archives: April 23, 2013

Three Reasons to Embrace Video Storytelling | Armonk Realtor

In the past few years, as owner of a video production company, I’ve noticed a real shift in what clients are requesting. A few years ago, it was mostly the typical sales pitch video. But, now clients want more. They’re looking for ways to connect with their audience, to use emotion, and to create a lasting impression. This is a promising trend for all of us in the professional video industry. Below are a few reasons to embrace the trend of storytelling in videos.

1. Storytelling sets us apart as video professionals in a world where anyone can shoot and edit.

As professionals, we strive to do a much better job than our clients could do just setting up a camera and reading a script. New editing software and cheap digital cameras make everyone a video producer. But, once we hone the craft of telling great stories, our clients can’t really emulate that. And, they don’t want to spend the time it takes to master the art.

Three Reasons to Embrace Video Storytelling

Use humor in your stories

2. Storytelling videos are much more likely to be shared online

Sales pitch videos, though they certainly have their place, aren’t really likely to be shared online. But, when you create a humorous, interesting, thought-provoking, or problem solving video, people will share it. Consider this example.

My company, Marietta Video Productions, got a call from the owner of a commercial painting company. He wanted us to shoot one of his restaurants being painted. When he told me the restaurant was The Big Chicken, one of Atlanta’s iconic landmarks, I asked him to let us tell that story, not just shoot some video. He agreed and arranged to allow us to interview a couple of others involved in the project.

The result was a really fun video that accomplished the goal – a great response from the people who mattered – his clients. They didn’t just watch the video, they enjoyed it, laughed at it, and shared it. The video helped to create a deeper alliance between him and his customers. It portrayed him as a caring, creative, and fun guy who really goes above and beyond for his customers. It also gave his customer’s a deeper understanding about what sets his company apart from his competitors.

Three Reasons to Embrace Video Storytelling

3. Storytelling videos can be very efficient and can help you get the sale.

Some clients have a really tough time narrowing down the points they want to make in a script. The process of developing a script and storyboard can be very time consuming.

All clients want to bring too many ideas and thoughts into a video while still keeping it short. And, if the client can’t really articulate their vision, and they’re relying on you to come up with what they want, sometimes, you can lose the sale.

I’ve learned over the years that when I tell a client we will develop their story from conducting interviews instead of creating a script and storyboard, it eases their stress. The client trusting you – the video producer – to pull out the best portions of the interviews and keep the ideas concise gets the ball rolling and helps you land the sale.

The process is simple. We do interviews, preferably with the client and the business owner. We send the audio files to a video transcription company, such as CopyTalk™. We get the transcripts back in a couple of days and write the stories completely from the interviews, just like a news reporter does. I use information in the narration, and I use the interviews to convey opinion and emotion.

Keep in mind, storytelling does not have to be expensive for your client. We use stock video in some cases and build the story around what we can find. In most cases, it’s much easier and less time consuming than developing a script and trying to get clients to say something that’s scripted rather than the conversational style of an interview.

In the Data Center video below, we used stock footage for the opening scene. We told the story through the eyes of our client’s customer, and we developed the script from the interviews. This video achieved its goal as well, helping our client “connect” with their prospects. It’s helped them close several key sales.

Three Reasons to Embrace Video Storytelling

Storytelling seems to be the buzzword right now in video. It’s not just the interview style of storytelling clients want. No matter how you tell the story, whether using interviews or a script, keep in mind, the components of storytelling such as emotional characters, a fun or dramatic plot, and engaging settings are more likely to land a great response and be shared online.

Pound Ridge Sales down 11% | Median Price Up 52% | RobReportBlog

Pound Ridge NY Real Estate ReportRobReportBlog20136 months ending 4/23201223Sales26$1,175,000.00median sold price$772,500.00$412,000.00low sold price$367,500.00$2,872,500.00high sold price$2,350,000.003998average size3589$280.00ave. price per foot$260.00236ave days on market208$1,112,536.00average sold price$952,189.00

Sales of New Homes in U.S. Climb 1.5% to 417,000 Rate | Bedford NY Homes

Purchases of new U.S. homes rose in March, capping the best quarter for the industry since 2008 and providing more evidence the housing recovery will be sustained.

Sales of single-family properties climbed 1.5 percent last month to a 417,000 annual pace from a 411,000 rate in February, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 76 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for March sales to rise to 416,000.

Sales of New Homes in U.S. Climbed 1.5% to 417,000 Rate in March

Sales of New Homes in U.S. Climbed 1.5% to 417,000 Rate in March

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

A dearth of existing properties is encouraging builders to undertake new projects that will keep fueling the economy.

A dearth of existing properties is encouraging builders to undertake new projects that will keep fueling the economy. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

A dearth of existing properties is encouraging builders to undertake new projects that will keep fueling the economy. Mortgage rates close to record lows, higher home values and rising household formation are helping lay the groundwork for increased buyer traffic in 2013.

“The housing sector continues to be the bright spot for the economy,” said Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies LLC in New York, who projected a 418,000 pace of home purchases. “Inventories are light, which means that builders are going to keeping building.”

Home sales averaged a 424,000 annual rate in the first three months of this year, the strongest since the third quarter of 2008.

Stocks maintained gains after the figures and as earnings from Travelers Cos. to Netflix Inc. beat estimates. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.8 percent to 1,575.29 at 10:18 a.m. in New York.

Economists’ estimates ranged from a March sales rate of 395,000 to 435,000. February was previously reported at a 411,000 annual rate.

Rising Prices

New-home purchases were 17.6 percent higher in March than the same period in 2012 on an unadjusted basis, today’s report showed. The median price of a new home climbed 3 percent last month from a year ago to $247,000.

Purchases increased in two of four regions in March, with a 20.6 percent gain in the Northeast and a 19.4 percent advance in the South. Sales decreased 20.9 percent in the West and 12.1 percent in the Midwest.

Builders are responding to increased demand by making more homes available. There were 153,000 new houses on the market at the end of March, the most since November 2011. At the current sales rate, the supply would last 4.4 months, the same as in February.

Housing Starts

Housing starts climbed to a 1.04 million annual rate, the fastest since June 2008, the Commerce Department said last week.

At the same time, builder optimism has faded, reflecting higher costs for raw materials, limited developed land and tight credit conditions. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence fell this month to its lowest level since October, data showed April 15.

Builders were still more optimistic about the future, with a gauge of their sales outlook for the next six months increasing to the highest level since 2007.

Mortgage rates hovering near record lows and a healing job market may keep providing a spark for the industry. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.41 percent in the week ended April 18, the third consecutive drop, according to Freddie Mac. The rate slid to an all-time low of 3.31 percent in November.

Existing Homes

Figures out yesterday from the National Association of Realtors showed previously owned homes sold at a 4.92 million rate in March, down from a 4.95 million pace the previous month.

A lack of inventory of more affordable existing properties has driven up the cost of such homes, making newly-constructed units more attractive to potential buyers. The NAR report showed the median price of an existing home rose 11.8 percent, the most since November 2005, to $184,300 last month from a year earlier.

Sales of new homes are considered a timelier barometer than purchases of previously owned dwellings, which are calculated when a contract closes. Newly constructed houses accounted for about 7 percent of the residential market in 2012, down more than 15 percent before the 2007-2009 recession began.

The strength in housing is spreading to other parts of the economy.

“The majority of the data still points to a robust and sustainable recovery,” Christopher Connor, chief executive officer of Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW), said during an April 18 earnings call. “Our sales results in the first quarter support that conclusion.”

Sales at the Cleveland-based company, the largest U.S. paint retailer, rose 1.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier to reach a record $2.17 billion.

Creating a Zero-Waste Home | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

Our friends at LearnVest offer sound financial tips and advice for every aspect of life. Check out these zero-waste strategies everyone should know about.

Woman putting cans and bottles in recycling bin

Five years ago, Bea Johnson and her husband and two sons were looking for a home closer to the restaurants, shops and school in their coastal California town.

During the year they spent house hunting, the family of four moved into a small apartment, took only the possessions that were absolutely necessary, and left the rest in storage.

“After living with just the necessities, we realized that we had much more time to spend with our family when we weren’t spending it caring for a large house and lots of belongings,” says Johnson.

Then, when they did decide on a house, they chose one half the size of their previous home, and simplified by selling most of their old stuff.

Around that time, Johnson and her husband began investigating environmental issues. “We read books, watched documentaries, and what we learned worried us and made us sad for our kids’ futures,” she says. “So, we decided to do something about it. My husband quit his job to start a sustainability consulting company, and I tackled greening our house.”

It was then that Johnson devised a system to reduce the family’s garbage — what she calls the “Zero-Waste Home.” She started by swapping everything disposable in their home (paper towels, water bottles, grocery bags) for reusable items.

Today, she says, her family’s yearly waste can fit in a quart-size jar.

She spoke with us about how to get started, her zero-waste strategies and the one sustainable habit she’s just not down with.

LearnVest: Was there something you read or saw that you modeled your Zero-Waste Home after?

Johnson: No. Actually, there were no blogs or really anything about being zero-waste, so I had to test everything for myself — I did a lot of Googling. Today, the zero-waste lifestyle is easy for us — we don’t even think about it. But [when we were getting started], we had to experiment to find what our limitations were.

LearnVest: What are the basic tenets of the zero-waste lifestyle?

Johnson: What we do is based on what we call “The Five R’s,” which should be applied in order.

No. 1: Refuse whatever we do not need. For example: junk mail and freebies.

No. 2: Reduce what we do need by donating or selling anything that isn’t absolutely necessary for us to live comfortably.

No. 3: Reuse by buying secondhand, swapping disposable items for reusable items, and shopping with reusable packaging.

No. 4: Recycle. By this point, if you’ve applied the first three R’s, you should be left with very little recycling. For example, what’s left in our recycling bin are bottles of wine that friends bring over and papers sent home from our sons’ school.

No.5 : Rot. Compost anything that can be composted.

LearnVest: How did your sons react to the change in your lifestyle?

Johnson: Our sons [ages 13 and 11] didn’t even know we were doing zero waste until we pointed it out to them. To them, what we do is totally normal. And, the kids have really enjoyed the simplicity aspect of the lifestyle. It clears their heads, keeps them focused, and they say it’s much easier to clean their rooms.

LearnVest: What is your process for grocery shopping?

Johnson: For my weekly grocery run, I bring what I call my shopping kit: three totes, five glass jars (one each for meat, fish, solid cheese, grated cheese and deli meat for the kids’ lunches), two different sizes of cloth bags for dried bulk goods and mesh bags for produce.

I buy olive oil, honey, peanut butter, cereal, snacks — almost everything — from the bulk section in our grocery store where the items are unpackaged. I buy grated cheese from the salad bar and, every week, I ask for 10 baguettes unpackaged from the bakery. I put them in a pillowcase and then cut them in half, freeze them and thaw them out as needed. The produce section is also great for unpackaged foods. The only food that my family eats with disposable packaging is butter — that’s it. We tried making our own butter, but we found that it was not a sustainable option for us.

Continue reading Johnson’s take on zero-waste living on LearnVest.

More from LearnVest:

This post originally appeared on LearnVest.com on April 22 and was written by Lisa M. Gerry. It is republished here with permission from LearnVest.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of Zillow.

Wall Street banks on distressed single-family homes | North Salem NY Real Estate

Wall Street investors, hedge funds and other institutions are crowing out individuals home buyers because they are drawn by the prospect of double-figure profit margins on rents and the resale of homes whose prices plummeted in the crash. 

If the chain of easy credit and dangerous leverage that started on Wall Street fanned the housing bubble and eventual crash, some analysts find it disturbing that major investors are the ones snapping up the bargains — and eventual big profits — left in its wake.

“There is the possibility that Wall Street and the banks and the affluent 1% stand to gain the most from this,” said Jack McCabe, a real estate consultant. “Meanwhile, lower-income Americans will lose their opportunity for the American Dream of building wealth through owning a home.”

Housing report disappoints for investors | Waccabuc Real Estate

By midday, the Dow Jones industrial average briefly popped higher, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.6%.

Investors were disappointed by an industry report showing that existing home sales slipped 0.6% in March from the prior month. Analysts expected the sales rate to rise, writes CNNMoney.