Goodbye, virtual tours. Hello, video. The age of YouTube means that anyone can upload a video to market a home to anyone else online.

It's so easy that over one in five (22 percent) American adults shoots their own videos and 14 percent post them online.

Citizen journalism is now citizen advertising. If you can operate a cell phone, you can be theMartin Scorcese of home listings.

And you'll have an audience. According to a September study by Horowitz Associates (Broadband Content and Services 2007), six out of ten high-speed Internet users watch/download online video at least once a week. That's up 25 percent from 2006.

What's significant is how quickly user-generated, non-professional content is growing alongside news broadcasts. Thirty-six percent of survey respondents said they watched news online and 30 percent watch user generated content such as YouTube. News and non-professional videos outpaced movies, music videos, sports, TV shows and other content.

For agents who wish to use online video to market their homes, those are fantastic numbers.

To understand why videos are suddenly so popular, consider how they are viewed. Hand-held devices such as cell phones or PDAs supported by wireless broadband make it possible for people to view videos anywhere, anytime.

Twenty-seven percent of Internet users have a hand-held device with video capability, and another 23 percent plan on upgrading to get video capability soon. One third (35 percent) of hand-held users watch videos on their devices at least weekly.

The relationship between broadband access and video platforms has made video increasingly viable. In September 2007, 9 billion videos were watched. YouTube accounted for 28 percent of those. That means more than 70 million people watched more than 2.5 billion videos a month.

Fast forward three months later, and the number are staggering.

Traffic to YouTube doubled in 2007 from 2006, according to a survey by Pew Internet & American Life Project. The survey found that one-third of phone respondents watch at least one video on a typical day.

The proliferation of sites like Zillow and Trulia mean you'll have a place to showcase your video. These sites are looking for as much content as they can get and they're willing to post your listings for free, so there's no reason not to get on the video bandwagon.

Published: January 14, 2008

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.