Four reasons why every Realtor needs to video podcast

Scoble - astute podcaster and blogosphere observer/participant that he is- thinks this is a good idea too.  

Lots of Realtors are blogging even now. One of the best I've read is from a prestigious, Phoenix-based Realtor named, uh, Russell Shaw.

No that's not me. That's him. Nor are we related. But we do exchange emails every once in a while. And if you Google our shared name, you'll find lots of listings for both of us (and others, including an Arena Football League player and a very well-known Roman Catholic lay scholar).

Russell the Realtor is Podcasting, and that's a great start. But I think every Realtor should think about video podcasts as well.

Want some reasons? Here are four:

1. Real-estate buyers and sellers are, by virtue of their economic status, more liable to be broadband users than the general populace is. And video podcasts work very well over office, home and even mobile broadband connections.

2. Home-selling (and buying) is a visual medium. Why? Homes, and in many cases the accompanying land, are best described through visual means. Video podcasts are ideal for walk-through tours that up until now, have been mainly illustrated either via photograph-based virtual tours or slide shows. With video, you can get the feel of the home. The traffic below, the fireplace heating up, the shrubbery out front, the yard where prospective home buyer's chocolate lab can catch frisbees thrown by 11-year-olds, the functionality of the kitchen.

3. By nature of video podcasts and the blogs that can offer links, we're talking about an easily distributable form of updated content. If I am a Realtor, and I've just added a home with a great den, I can get a downloadable video podcast up the same day, and via RSS, have it distributed not only on my site or my specialty Realtor aggregator site- to video podcast and Podcast aggregator subscribers. I mean how cool, and how efficient, would it be to index a  video home  tour on, say, Bloglines that same day?

4. Realtors have always been on the cutting edge of tech. With reachability as a mantra as well as a competitive imperative, They all had cellphones many years before the pre-teens in the mall. I'd think that video podcasts could be an effective competitive weapon.