Animoto.com

Animoto creates one of a kind videos for your pictures. You simply upload your pictures (About 12 for a 30 second short video), Pick a song out of a wide variety of available music (from classical to jazz to indie rock to pop) or upload your own, then it customizes your video for you.

No two videos are alike! Animoto analyzes your pictures and music to create a one of a kind video!

Animoto says it’s like a “movie trailer for your pictures”.

As I found this site today I’m not sure of all the restrictions but it says you can “use it to show off whatever you want”. You are also allowed to post to your website/blog, export to YouTube, Email it, view on your iphone, and so much more!!

So take your listing photos and create a video to share!! Won’t your sellers be impressed?

1. Free Email-  The basics to a business today.  I am still shocked when  someone tells me they do not have an email address!  What?  How do you conduct business?  Sign up for a free email account at Google, Yahoo, or Hotmail.  And today you’ll get atleast 2 GB of storage… for free!

2. Free Wireless Internet- Getting out of the office to work is sometimes a great idea and today’s free WIFI spots make this even easier!  From coffee shops to restaurants to fast foods chains to Auto Shops, everyone is offering free wireless today!  Wififreespot.com lists some of the spots by city where you can find free wireless.

3. Free Photo Editing Software- After taking pictures of a home, the first thing you should do is edit them.  Not every picture you take is going to be an award winning photograph- some will be too light or too dark or need to be cropped.   It is amazing how much better a picture can look by simply taking a few minutes to edit it.  And afterall you want people to have the best perception of the home!  Photo editing software can cost hundreds of dollars but free editors can be found on the web.  Try out a few of the following:  Google’s Picasa, Photobucket (where you can also host your pictures for free), GIMP, and Snapfish.

4. Free Budgeting- This is a HUGE part of growing your business and ensuring it is successful. Why?  You want to make sure you are receiving more money than you are spending– you want to make a profit!

Real Estate agents usually ask “How much money should I spend on marketing”.  Well, it should directly correlate to how much money you are bringing in.  There are TONS of free budgeting tools on the internet, here are a couple to get you started:  BetterBudgeting.com (great place to find free Budgeting Tools and Checklists) and Wesabe.com (The BEST place to recognize where you need to improve and helps organize your spending into different categories).

5. Free Online Marketing Tools- Welcome Web 2.0! The internet is a resourceful place to enhance and market your listings.  Although there are hundreds of sites and widgets to choose from, my favorites are: Postlets.com (Make free virtual flyers for your listings then have them syndicated to a handful of top Real Estate Sites), Trulia.com (Great place to list your listings and have them seen by hundreds of people daily; also check out the Q&A section to help out fellow Real Estate Professionals and Buyers/Sellers– not to mention answering questions boosts you in Google’s ratings), Craigslist.com (Even if there is no section for your city choose the nearest city and post your listings– Craigslist provides great national exposure), ActiveRain.com (by far the BEST online marketing tool– Active Rain not only provides Google Juice but endless supplies of valuable information– a great place to learn and share!).

Let me make it easy for you.  Here is a quick overview of websites especially for you!

Online Listing Marketing 101
Postlets
Craigslist
Trulia
Point2
Realtor

Virtual Tours
Visual Tour (Web & CD Virtual Tours)
U Build Tours
Tour Factory

Real Estate Template Websites
Top Producer Websites
Point 2
Agent Advantage
Ultra Agent
Real Estate Webmasters (Templates & Custom Design)

Marketing Pieces (i.e. Flyers, Postcards, Newsletters, etc.)
Sharper Agent
Imprev
Express Copy
Sendsations
Guru Real Estate Flyers

Database Management
Top Producer
File Maker
Microsoft Outlook

This is just the beginning!  Have fun searching these sites and finding your favorites!