Realty Times October 23, 2000

Using CD Presentations
by Stephen Canale

Being a strong advocate of using CD-ROM read/write units to burn your own CD’s for use as a marketing and promotional tool, I’ve been receiving quite a few inquiries lately. Most questions seem to focus on two subjects: first, what information should be shared with prospects and second, what file formats should be used.

The question of what material should be distributed on CD really depends on your own marketing techniques and the technology you employ. But, here are some ideas:

  • Panoramic and/or 360 degree photographs of properties for sale
  • Video tours of both current listings and area attractions
  • Standard forms that you’ll eventually be asking the prospect to sign, such as Agency disclosure forms and Sales Contracts.
  • Property specific documents such as Seller’s Property Disclosure and Lead-Based Paint Disclosure forms, and receipts for past repairs, pest inspections and utility bills.
  • Marketing Presentations explaining why sellers should list with you and/or why buyers should hire you as their agent.

Of course, the list goes on, but whatever information you share, making sure the prospect can actually use the information is of utmost importance. Thus, here are a few recommendations as to how to format the material so that the consumer’s computer can read it:

  • LPhotographs should always be in the Internet Standard JPG format, which can be viewed by any browser on any computer. This includes panoramic and 360-degree photos. Both can be put together with a $50 program called MGI Photosuite.

  • Documents of any sort should be converted to Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) using Acrobat PDF Writer, a $240 program. The PDF format retains the original look of the document, whether scanned or created by software on your computer, and can be read by any other computer on any operating system for universal consumer appeal.

  • Video files are best shared in the popular MPEG format as most computers can play these files right out of the box; meaning the customer wont have to download any special programs or plug-ins in order to watch the video.

    Whatever data you choose to share, rather than simply placing countless files on a CD and expecting the consumer to weed through them to find the information that’s relevant to them, there are two common ways to make the CD more user friendly.

    The first is to organize the entire CD as a web page, which has the benefit of being familiar to the consumer. This means it will be easy to use and can be universally interpreted by whatever browser the prospect currently uses.

    The other common method of sharing information is to create PowerPoint “slide shows” that contain all of the data you wish to present. This works well since Microsoft offers a free PowerPoint Player program (which you can include on the CD) enabling anyone to play your presentation, even if they don’t own the actual PowerPoint program itself.

    Both options will work for almost anyone wishing to create and distribute CD’s to consumers. Each has its relative strengths and weaknesses, depending on the information you’re trying to share.

    It’s worth noting that you could use both presentation methods on a single CD. You could organize the same information in both formats and let the recipient choose how to view the data. Or, more likely, you could create different presentations using the two options I’ve suggested; creating an inventory of current listings designed as a web site, while making your listing presentation a PowerPoint presentation, for instance.


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