Taking Video to the Mat: WellcomeMat Body Slams a New Release
WellcomeMat, the real estate video tour platform, released a new version of their software today. Rudy from sellsius and I had a chance to preview their new release this morning.
The new WellcomeMat refocuses the site around the idea of channels, and now allows anyone to create their own real estate channel. The new channel manager page lets you manage, activate, update and edit all your videos from one location, which you can push out to a single branded video page that includes your contact information (should you want it to appear).
I love this option as it now gives all Realtors a single place where they can aggregate their video listings. WellcomeMat even designed a video widget that lets you show all your videos from the comfort of your sidebar. (The example below is some of Doug Heddings of True Gotham’s listings)
But they don’t stop there. A number of new video player options included in this release means Realtors now have even more choices when it comes to taking their videos with them. WellcomeMat makes it even easier to post individual property videos on sites like craigslist, MySpace or even on a personal blog posting.
The guys from the Mat even let it slip that WellcomeMat videos will soon be able to be streamed from Realtor.com – which is a huge win for them and for all video-wielding Realtors. Now you’ll be able to add your video walkthrus to all your listings on the biggest real estate portal in the US (see Hitwise’s State of the Industry).
I asked WellcomeMat about pricing for this service (which is currently free) and they said eventually it will be around $30 per video per month – I believe that this is prorated, meaning if the property sells in less than a month, you are only charged for the number of days the video was live.
For the time being, while it’s still in beta, there is no rush to implement monthly fees and any videos uploaded before the switch will be grandfathered in at zero charge.
In my mind, this release crowns WellcomeMat as one of the heavyweight players in real estate video. Any other challengers to the title?
4 Comment(s)
2 Trackback(s)
- From Real Estate Video - Wellcomemat Blog » Blog Archive » It’s Official…2.0 Means Free | Mar 30, 2007
- From WellcomeMat - Real Estate Video Tours | Apr 18, 2007
John Schroeder | Mar 30, 2007 | Reply
WellcomeMat already has a fantastic product. The ability to post your videos to a variety of sites is very cool. I am eagerly looking forward to all of these updates.
Christian Sterner | Mar 30, 2007 | Reply
Thanks John/Joel! Also, some clarification is in order, probably because our enthusiasm outweighed our explanation of the fine details:
1) We did not complete a business development deal with Realtor.com. Rather, we are simply giving our users the option to submit to Realtor.com should they desire to do so. I guess some people don’t like this idea, or Realtor.com because we just got this email (if it wasn’t from an anonymous sender, I would never put the email in public view):
â$30 per video, per month. Ok, sounds like Realtor.com has been talking to you guys and done some convincing. That is not Real Estate 2.0, that is 1.0. They are looking for ways to make it since all the new companies are coming out. Realtor.com has always nickeled and dimed Realtors for every single service and now you are involved. I am pulling for Zillow and Trulia. The heck with you and Realtor.com.â?
We have no opinion : ) regarding this message.
2) WellcomeMat will eventually charge (yes…it’s true…we too have families, and are generally concerned that our content will be unreliable if we remain free for too long). But, we will make our charges affordable (through bulk discounts of up to 45%), and will offer ways for people to invite help from their trusted network of business associates. We all have local friends that we like driving business to, and video is the most powerful marketing solution online (at least we are banking on it).
3) Lastly, if you hire a WellcomeMat videographer, your WellcomeMat service will be vastly discounted.
Incredible Agent | Mar 30, 2007 | Reply
Christian and the boys have been doing some cool stuff for a while now. The Realtor.com deal is even bigger news than their software update. I’m sure they’ve been working on that for awhile now. If that gets completed, there’s no stopping them.
Tony | Mar 31, 2007 | Reply
First off, congrats to the WellcomeMat team for a fine player release. We’ve previously talked by phone with Christian and they are good bunch of guys with a lot of vision.
I think that you’ll soon see that there is still a long way to go not only in terms of the market itself but also with the technology that supports real estate video. This release certainly raises the bar and represents a tangible step in the right direction for real estate online video client interfaces.
Before we crown a winner just yet, it should be recognized that the much harder “championship” technical problems lurk in areas such as infrastructure scalability and process scalability once the market does expand. We know from our own experience that processing 10 or so videos per week is one thing…hundreds (or even dozens) of videos per week can be a completely different animal. These are the often overlooked things that will ultimately make or break contenders.
Again, congrats to WellcomeMat team…anything that drives video is a positive step in my book. We look forward to your next advancements. As far as your email thread above, just chalk it up to “if you want to be a pioneer, you have to be willing to take a few arrows.”
Tony