How to Create Videos and Slideshows to Market Your Property

Here are some simple tips for those on you in real estate looking to market your properties with videos or slideshows.

The photos in the slideshow above are courtesy of my father’s home building and remodeling business.  Click here for their main site and click here for their remodeling blog.

Creating a Video

Note: There are multiple programs to create videos.  Mac users have numerous options, including iMovie.  Windows-based users have other choices.  The Roxio Easy Media Creator is a great choice for more elaborate videos.

This guide is for the simple Windows Movie Maker program because it is free, or at least included on your windows-based computer.

Steps to create video on Windows Movie Maker

1.    Open Windows Movie Maker
2.    Click on the ‘Collections’ tab and then click the button for ‘New Collection’

3.    Click on the ‘Tasks’ Tab to the left of the ‘Collections’ tab above.
4.    The menu (shown in the image to the right) will appear.  From here you can Import your video and / or pictures and the audio file(s).
5.    These pictures and videos will appear in the main section of the screen.  Drag and drop each of the pictures and / or videos in the order you would like them to appear in your video from the main section to the section at the bottom called “Video”
6.    When each clip is in the “Video” section, you can right click on it to add effects (fade in, fade out) or drag the clip to a new location to change the order.
7.    As with the clips, drag the audio file(s) from the main section to the Audio section.
8.    Under the Tasks Menu, Item 2. “Edit Movie” tab on the left side of the screen, you can click on ‘Make Titles or Credits’ if you would like to add your own text using this program. [You are limited by what you can do with the text, so you could also
create images in another program such as Photoshop and add them like pictures].
9.    Click on the Play button to view your video.
10.    Under the Tasks Menu, Item 3. “Finish Movie.”  Select the save option that you prefer.  Typically, you will select ‘Save to My Computer’
11.    After it is saved, you will be able to do whatever you wish with it. To upload to YouTube…
a.    Login to your YouTube account.  If you do not already have one, create an account at www.youtube.com
b.    If it does not prompt you to upload the video, you can click on the ‘My Videos’ tab.  Select, ‘New’ on the left side of the screen, and choose ‘Video Upload’
c.    Fill in the details about the video and upload the video.
d.    After it is uploaded, they will provide the code to embed the video into your website.  Simply copy the link and paste it on your site.

Creating a Slideshow

1.    If you do not already have one, create an account on www.Photobucket.com
2.    Create a new album for your property
3.    Upload the images to this album
4.    Return to the main screen and click the “Slideshow” tab in the top navigation

5.    Follow the onscreen instructions:  Step 1: Add Images from…
a.    Select your album
b.    Click on green plus button at the bottom right of each image to add that image to the slide show
c.    Optional Step 2: choose a style… (you can choose a theme or leave it plain).  You can also choose the size.
d.    If you want to change the order of the image, you can drag and drop them to the location you desire in the box at the bottom.
e.    If you wish, you can add titles to images
f.    Click “3 save slideshow” to save it

6.    After saving, on the bottom right side of the screen, there will be a box called Link code (shown in image at right).  Copy the link you would like to share and paste it in the code of the place you would like to share it (your website, e-mail, etc.).
7.    After posting on your website you can delete Photobucket’s code for the ‘Make your own’ and ‘view all images’ buttons if you wish by removing the following code:
a.    <img src=”http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif” style=”float:left;border-width: 0;” >
b.    <img src=”http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif” style=”float:left;border-width: 0;” >

That’s all there is to it.  Hopefully you found this helpful.  That’s what we aim to provide here.  Helpful tips for free that allow you better enjoy what you do and make money doing it.  Be sure to check back often for more or sign-up for our RSS feed or e-mail notifications in the upper right corner of this page.

Best of luck in all you do!

Creating a Video

Note: There are multiple programs to create videos. Mac users have numerous options, including iMovie. Windows-based users have other choices. The Roxio Easy Media Creator is a great choice for more elaborate videos. This guide is for the simple Windows Movie Maker program because it is free, or at least included on your windows-based computer.

Steps to create video on Windows Movie Maker

1. Open Windows Movie Maker
2. Click on the ‘Collections’ tab and then click the button for ‘New Collection’

1. Click on the ‘Tasks’ Tab to the left of the ‘Collections’ tab above.
2. The menu (shown in the image to the right) will appear. From here you can Import your video and / or pictures and the audio file(s).
3. These pictures and videos will appear in the main section of the screen. Drag and drop each of the pictures and / or videos in the order you would like them to appear in your video from the main section to the section at the bottom called “Video”
4. When each clip is in the “Video” section, you can right click on it to add effects (fade in, fade out) or drag the clip to a new location to change the order.
5. As with the clips, drag the audio file(s) from the main section to the Audio section.
6. Under the Tasks Menu, Item 2. “Edit Movie” tab on the left side of the screen, you can click on ‘Make Titles or Credits’ if you would like to add your own text using this program. [You are limited by what you can do with the text, so you could also

create images in another program such as Photoshop and add

them like pictures].

1. Click on the Play button to view your video.
2. Under the Tasks Menu, Item 3. “Finish Movie.” Select the save option that you prefer. Typically, you will select ‘Save to My Computer’
3. After it is saved, you will be able to do whatever you wish with it. To upload to YouTube…
   1. Login to your YouTube account. If you do not already have one, create an account at www.youtube.com
   2. If it does not prompt you to upload the video, you can click on the ‘My Videos’ tab. Select, ‘New’ on the left side of the screen, and choose ‘Video Upload’
   3. Fill in the details about the video and upload the video.
   4. After it is uploaded, they will provide the code to embed the video into your website. Simply copy the link and paste it on your site.

Creating a Slideshow

1. If you do not already have one, create an account on www.Photobucket.com
2. Create a new album for your property
3. Upload the images to this album
4. Return to the main screen and click the “Slideshow” tab in the top navigation

1. Follow the onscreen instructions: Step 1: Add Images from…
   1. Select your album
   2. Click on green plus button at the bottom right of each image to add that image to the slide show
   3. Optional Step 2: choose a style… (you can choose a theme or leave it plain). You can also choose the size.
   4. If you want to change the order of the image, you can drag and drop them to the location you desire in the box at the bottom.
   5. If you wish, you can add titles to images
   6. Click “3 save slideshow” to save it

1. After saving, on the bottom right side of the screen, there will be a box called Link code (shown in image at right). Copy the link you would like to share and paste it in the code of the place you would like to share it (your website, e-mail, etc.).
2. After posting on your website you can delete Photobucket’s code for the ‘Make your own’ and ‘view all images’ buttons if you wish by removing the following code:
   1. <img src=”http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif” style=”float:left;border-width: 0;” >
   2. <img src=”http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif” style=”float:left;border-width: 0;” >