Listing virtual tours are so common now that they have lost much of their ability to set you and your properties apart. That is, if you continue to offer the "same old stuff" like everyone else. Read on to discover several clever ways to tweak and use virtual tours that will definitely set you apart from the crowd!

In a virtual walk-through, the prospective buyer can go to your website and view all the rooms of any particular home. VA Kelly Gelle of RealtorsInTouch.com provides added value to her clients’ Virtual Tours. She can put the Virtual Tour on a CD that can be placed at each home or given to a prospective buyer. What’s more, Kelly can burn more than one Virtual Tour to a disk so that a potential buyer can view the agent’s other listings. As Kelly says, “This is a great way to optimize the exposure of your listings. Leave these at your listings and they will disappear in no time!”

Offer the Virtual Tour as a Closing Gift

Kelly also suggests giving the Virtual Tour CD as a closing gift. Kelly believes “this is a great way to deliver a closing gift with sentimental value and includes your name on the back for future marketing potential.” She also suggests asking your clients to e-mail the Virtual Tour link to everyone in their address book. Who better to include in the marketing process than the seller themselves?! Who knows, maybe Aunt Jane opens the link and sends it to her coworker who’s in the market for a new home.

Create Unique Domain Names for Each of Your Listings

Kim Hughes of KimHughes.com creates a unique domain for each of the listings for one of her clients. They use the address as the domain name and, on the site includes photos of the home, personalized content and a downloadable brochure or flyer. She puts this domain name on all the marketing pieces for the client’s listing and then gives the domain to the new homeowner as a gift. This way the new owner has something to show friends and family when they move in.

Which Virtual Tour Program Is Right for You?

There are several Virtual Tour packages available. VisualTour.com provides an easy-to-use system for anyone who wants to offer online tours to their clients. HomeTour360 offers a full- or self-service option for their Virtual Tours. TourFactory.com also offers a full- or self-service option to create a tour that allows users to move easily from room to room. VA Carrie Gable of RealSupportInc.com reminds us that VisualTour.com offers a monthly price for unlimited tours. Carrie says, “This is great for heavy hitters; however, for those with fewer listings they can add a community tour if they don’t have a new listing in the month. The community tour is great for buyers looking to relocate. The agent can post the tour on their website or e-mail it to potential buyers.” When VA Kathy Goldman of InetOfficeVA.com created a tour of the city for her client, the Chamber of Commerce asked to use it for their promotions. What a great marketing opportunity!  VA Kandra Hamric of AssistantForRealEstate.com suggests a Virtual Tour site that allows agents to produce free Virtual Tours, FlyInside.com. It is important to remember however, that it is not an issue of which program you use, it's which one is being used for you!

Professional Photography Skills Not Necessary

Whether you create the walk-through or someone else creates it, digital pictures of each room will be needed to create the Virtual Tour. If your photography skills are minimal, there are VAs that can help you correct the photos you take. VA Ann Lukas of LukasDesigns.com offers photo-editing services that include such things as adjusting the lighting, color contrast, saturation, etc. VA Peggy Schmitz of Mountainsolns.com provides these tips for taking better photos for your Virtual Tours:

1. Turn lights on.
2. Take the photos as you would walk through the home starting with the entry.
3. Declutter the room to the bare minimum (what you may not notice, your potential buyer almost certainly will).
4. Take photos of the neighborhood so potential buyers can get an idea of where they will be living.
5. Take front and back views of the home including the yards and views of surrounding areas.
6. When taking bathroom photos, use the pan feature so you don’t see a still of a toilet or sink.
7. Shoot each room at least twice and from different angles or different sides of the room.
8. If you have pets, it’s ok to include them for a little levity but watch where they are positioned; no one wants to see a cat on the counter!
9. Make sure all closets and cabinet doors are closed. Only photograph a closet if it is extremely neat and orderly.
10. Declutter, declutter, declutter. Remove as much as possible from the kitchen counters and refrigerator and move hoses, rakes and other outdoor items from view.

These pieces of advice can make or break the overall impression of a home. Bringing an assistant to stage (declutter) a room before you photograph it will be very helpful.

As a real estate professional, Virtual Tours with a "twist" are good examples of another benefit you can offer your clients to put you ahead of your competition.

Evy Williams is our VA QUICK TIPS columnist. She specializes in designing marketing materials to sell homes through her company, BrochuresByDesign.com. She holds a Master’s degree in Administration and is a certified Master Virtual Assistant, Military Spouse Virtual Assistant, Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant, Real Estate Support Specialist and is EthicsChecked. Contact her at Evy@BrochuresByDesign.com.

(NOTE: Mr. Internet, his company and staff receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors or service providers. Also any virtual assistant or consultant mentioned in this publication is not to be construed as an endorsement of their services by Mr. Internet or his company. Always remember to do a thorough due-diligence before hiring any kind of assistant.)