Zoomf Blog - UK Property Blog.

During this downturn, there are many agents out there starting to think about other ways to make revenue from switching to the ‘online agent’ model to opening a cafe inside their high street premises.

Well here is another idea to add to the list…. if you’ve got a digital video recorder, why not replace Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp of Location, Location, Location.

How would that work? Well have a read of this recent article in the NYTimes. Get it right and you could become the virtual version of that popular Channel 4 show.

The marketing folks over at Urban Spaces are starting to trial some YouTube videos to see how video can help their online marketing efforts.

Here is some quick Q&A with Jacqui Daley who heads up marketing over at Urban Spaces:

Why videos on YouTube? 

We created these viral clips in an attempt to reach our target audience in a way that is fun and a little different. We’re very serious about what we do as an agency, but there’s no need to follow suit in our approach to marketing. Our target audience are leaders in technology, they are media savvy and I wanted to find a way to cut through the general outlook to estate agency marketing. The only cost of video’s is production - posting video’s on the internet is free so it seemed like an interesting medium to try.

And success so far?

It’s too soon. We don’t expect great success just yet, however, it’s something that no other agent seems to be doing and a different approach worth testing. I hope we’ll get some interested “loft dwellers” finding our site from the post.

Sometimes we write about technology that has nothing to do with property but are examples of how technology is changing the content consumption online. Video is one such category, where the acceleration of platforms like YouTube and Vimeo are changing how people use the internet and how video content is being distributed to the masses. Another video start-up has entered the marketplace which has a very simple use;

enabling you to watch TV live via your computer

The application is called Zattoo and funny enough, the founders of this company come from my alma mater, the University of Michigan. I’ve just installed Zattoo on my mac and it works a treat. You get all the BBC channels and most of the main UK channels without any hick-ups as long as you’re on a broadband connection. The picture quality is great. Well worth the 3 minute registration and install. If you’re traveling in Europe, the application checks where you are and gives you a selection of channels for that country.

And of course, the most important thing is that now we can all watch Location, Location, Location from the comfort of our PCs while we hunt for more property leads on Gumtree. Perfect.

YouTube has long been the grand-daddy of online video websites, but now there is a new player who looks to improve on the YouTube system. The service is called Vimeo and it’s worth having a peak. The salient bits of the system include -

• 500 meg of free space with a free account
• better sharing capabilities
• more widgets for your website and tools to expand your presence on other sites (facebook etc)
• privacy channels so you can share with only those you wish to
• high definition video support (important for those pricey pads!)

So if you’re thinking it is time to start using those digital cameras (with video) to better show-off your property portfolio, Vimeo might be the place to help you get started.