Well I think we can all agree that black and white floor plans are a stunning way to communicate with a potential purchaser.

Why not differentiate yourself and create a visual that portrays the space in a way that purchasers can actually see themselves living in it. Call me crazy but this is the largest purchase of their lives so let’s give them something that helps make a more informed decision.

One more thing. These types of renderings have had significant price drops over the last few years so now is the time to revisit and see if this fits within your marketing budget.

Sincerely,

Brad Jaycock, V.P.

888.439.4633

…well almost nothing.

For all you designers, architects and idea people, spectacular visuals can be created from pretty much anything. There aren’t any differences in the end renderings or animations just how you get there. Obviously receiving finalized CAD, material samples, room finish schedules and sample boards are the optimal choice BUT with a few extra approval rounds, frequent communication and your creative sketches, illustrations, mockups, etc. The same results can be realized.

After 12+ years in the business we have the experience to work from pretty much anything, under any timeline and for any budget. If we can’t do it in the timeline or price (see recent condo rendering pricing here) you need, which rarely happens, we’ll tell you upfront and in some cases recommend someone who can accommodate you.

A great example of a project created entirely from sketches, reference photos and imagery, and plain old discussion is Dubailand which we finished last year. Our client came to us with a grand vision… and by working from minimal finalized materials we brought that vision to life with stunning results.Check out the project here…

Communicate your vision to your client, bid, prospect, municipality or committee with visuals that stir confidence, awe, appreciation and understanding not confusion, questions, fear and misaligned expectations of what the final outcome will be.

Jim Warren, CEO

I get asked this allot so I thought I’d post it here as it is even more relevant in today’s economy.

Most people expect me to say “do it all in 3D don’t build models” … WRONG … You should always build at least one Model home unless you are doing a heavy pre-construction marketing campaign (build registrations, create a buzz, test the market, etc) … the old adage that what you build you sell is to a large extent true and I feel that the ability to touch and feel a home is essential in closing a sale.

What I would recommend is to definitely build fewer and use the money you save (see below) to have at a minimum 3D floor plans or even better have 3D interior/exterior animations done. Here is why:

Model Home

Costs/model: $40 - 60K Interior Merchandising & Design, Cost to build carried until model sold, security, landscaping and maintenance, utilities, $2k in photography for collateral.

Benefits: Ultimate way to communicate builder quality, great experience for families to visit for everyone to connect with a design (if that design is built), provides a great location for sales environment if no sales center/trailer built, allows the sales team to watch/listen to prospects as they are touring the home(s) … if they are touring with them.

Virtual Model Home

Costs/model: $6,000 - 10,000 depending on size

Benefits: Leverage the animations to get renderings from the interiors and exteriors and use all of this content on your website, in emails, print for sales center, billboards and Direct Mail, test the market before committing to construction, satisfy the need that your purchasers are looking for…that rich media experience.

There are so many more advantages to this but none more compelling than what you will save by building ONE fewer model home will pay to have ALL of them at least in 3D Floor Plans if not all fully animated which will give you a much better online experience which will give you better traffic to your sales center which … i think you can handle the rest

Jim Warren, CEO

Here’s an interesting and concise (i.e. short, because that’s what my attention span demands) article on what you need to consider when trying to entice people into buying what you’re selling…

What Are 7 Psychological Triggers That Make People Buy?
By Arina Nikitina

Trigger #1 Reason Why

Tell people WHY you’re doing something. Don’t be a mystery for your customers. People are more likely to buy from an ordinary person they know something about.

Are you giving 25% discount on your product? Give the people honest reason why. Are you limiting the number of products you want to sell? Tell people why.

If you tell your visitors about the reasons of doing something they will be more likely to trust you and to buy from you.

Trigger #2 Specifics

Tell the specifics. “How I made $1,057 in a week” sounds more believable than “How I made $1,000 in a week”.

People are skeptic. If you include specifics people will be more likely to believe you.

If you state a fact, make it specific. General numbers never sounded plausible.

Trigger #3 Curiosity

We all are extremely curious. We want to know answers to our questions. Tell people not to open this email and they will open it. Because they want to know what’s inside.

Headlines like “Discover the hidden secret of free ezine advertising” are always producing great results. You immediately want to know “What secret?”.

Curiosity trigger is a great way to get your email opened. It also works great in ads and in articles. Like the title of this article: “What Are 7 Psychological Triggers That Make People Buy?”

Trigger #4 Fear to Lose Something

People are most likely to buy from you if they are motivated by fear to lose something than if they are motivated by desire to gain something. That’s why deadlines and limited production numbers works well.

Use deadlines in your copy. Run 3 days specials or limit the number of products you want to sell. Make people act now by letting them know that it is a limited time offer.

Trigger #5 Questions

Ask questions. By asking questions you get people involved, they automatically start to think to answer your question and become more responsive to your message.

What headline would grab your attention:

“You are wasting money on ezine advertising” or “Are you wasting money on ezine advertising?”

Trigger #6 Stories

Nothing can be better than a good story. It’s easy to influence people just by telling them a good story.

A lot of famous copywriters used this method in their sales letters. You can tell a true story about your customer. Or about yourself.

A real life story about something the product has done to improve someone’s life will build your credibility and motivate people to buy.

Trigger #7 Facing a Problem

Every product is a solution to particular problem. Don’t rush into presenting the solution you have, make sure you first make your visitors to face the problem.

Present the problem and agitate it so people would feel the pain of situation. Spell out the problem, tell them how it feels. Only after you’ve got readers interest present your product that provides the solution.

Apply these seven psychological techniques to maximize your sales and increase the response rate of your ads.

______

Anita Nikitina is, according to what the internet told me, a successful and confident motivational speaker and published author. I am someone who surfs the internet.

Later,

_

ajleitch@imagenius.com

As I surf most Home Builders websites on a regular basis one thing that really stands out to me is that the average branding message is very consistent. The message, the look, the tone, the terminology all are very well done and do a great job in communicating with any potential purchaser.

Visuals is where I really see this consistency drop off. Most national developers have a myriad of rendering styles, floor plan styles and animation quality being presented to the buyer. Sometimes this can even be within the same community!

I urge you all to take a look at how consistent your visuals are across all developments, divisions and promotions. Talk to your divisions that aren’t measuring up and maybe even consider doing a company wide audit on what vendors are being used and why (i.e. Price, Quality, Service etc.). Who knows, that maverick division president from Albuquerque might just have done something right after all!

The next step will be to take all this information and look to choose one vendor who will partner in your branding look going forward. The best way to do this is by creating a generic RFQ that delves into pricing samples, production process, capacity and unique abilities.

Now I’ll refer back to an earlier post in which it is stated that, “This is not the time to blindly put your faith in an unproven vendor solution.”

Brad Jaycock, Vice President
Imagenius.com Inc.
888.439.4633

The short answer… now.

You do need to start thinking about it because whether or not you know it, most of the time in the presentation of your current projects you are using HD capable products and presentation tools, you are just not using them to present a final vision that is truly High Definition. What you are presenting is a standard definition picture on a high definition display. Think of it as having a colour t.v. but only using it to watch black and white movies. The black and white movies are going to look good enough, but colour is what you want to see isn’t it?

Now, sticking with the colour t.v. analogy, if I’ve got 20 channels to choose from on my new colour t.v., with 19 of them look like nothing I’ve ever seen before with all the colours of the rainbow in their full glory making the pictures come alive right in front of my eyes… and one that looks like (insert yawn here), out of those 20 channels, I’ll give 19 of them my time. One channel will be completely forgotten.

The same will ring true for HD vs SD in the next few years. Right now SD is the way to go, because it is the way everyone is going in the realty industry. Soon enough though, you will see animations being rendered out in HD, more and more will follow, and when they are presented on the same HD capable monitors that you have in your sales centers right now… simply put, you’re not going to want prospective buyers seeing your SD animations in a side by side comparison. I’m not saying that your next project should be a High Definition one, but now is a good time to start thinking about HD and it’s relevance to your projects. I’ll bet your competition is.

Basically, in todays climate, HD is a “nice to” and not a “need to”… but tomorrow is coming.

If you’ve got any questions about HD and it’s relevance in our industry, fire them at me or post a comment below, I’m up for a conversation.

Later,

ajleitch@imagenius.com

This is what we’ve heard from two of our competitors since we launched our new pricing at IBS. Now I’m pretty sure that is a compliment…just not from them. One of them we beat out of a contract in California by 35% and the other by over 40% in Florida. What they are specifically complaining about is our new pricing that has come about from our partnership with BHI (www.builderhomesite.com). Through their buying power we’ve been able to reduce our prices by 30-40% and more will come once the market catches wind that the price has finally come down to allow use on all projects.

I’ve always maintained that our medium (renderings and animations) would follow the same path ($100,000 websites now cost $10,000 or less) as websites and interactive did about 3 years ago once the available workforce became available, greater competition in the market place and of course off/nearshore solutions.

I’ve known for a long time that this was coming and I’m glad to be apart of the BHI wave and be the hand that initiates the change vs. being the face that feels the hand of change.

Viva la revolution!!!

Jim Warren, CEO