Mark Schow with Obeo on internet marketing through virtual tours

BrokerIPTV: Today, we are talking with Mark Schow, owner of MediaMax Photography and the Colorado distributor for Obeo. Mark, thanks for being with us.

Mark Schow: Thank you Dan.

BrokerIPTV: Glad you are here. Can you explain because I know as a Realtor when I first got in the business I am like okay whats Obeo versus MediaMax versus 360house.com?

Mark Schow: Thats a great question and sometimes there is confusion around that, but Obeo has a model, its a distributor model where they subcontract with individual companies in each market. So, MediaMax is a company I formed back in 2002 to act as a distributor for what was then called 360house.

BrokerIPTV: Okay.

Mark Schow: And it was in 2005 that Obeo started plans to rename their company to better distinguish themselves from other companies with 360 or house in their name and they came up with Obeo and I think they have done a great job because now here in 2008 Obeo is seen as one of the innovation leaders in the country and has become quite a force.

BrokerIPTV: No question and so that is going to lead into my next question.

Mark Schow: Yeah.

BrokerIPTV: Which is how big is Obeo and how do they help consumers buy and sell homes?

Mark Schow: Another great question. I mean Obeo has representatives similar to what they have here in Colorado with 95 markets around the country and in Canada. So, we have a pretty large footprint, and I think it is actually that footprint that, the popularity of Obeo across the country, across North America that really puts more visibility on a buyer or sellers property.

BrokerIPTV: Yeah.

Mark Schow: And puts more eyeballs out there and I think drives more inquiries to the real estate agent.

BrokerIPTV: My next question is, is that for a good part of early 2000.

Mark Schow: Yeah.

BrokerIPTV: When you guys first got going I mean you had most of the market share in Colorado, recently you've had some competition come into the market, CirclePix so forth.

Mark Schow: Right.

BrokerIPTV: Whats your thoughts on that?

Mark Schow: Well, I think you know competition is inevitable. In fact when I was putting my business plan together for 360house back in 2002, I was actually surprised at how few real competitors there were and there is two sides to that competition model, there is self service and full service. So, I think in the full service arena where there is a managed photographer network out taking pictures, the competition is stiff, but not daunting I guess you know. There is, I think we distinguish ourselves based on the service we provide and focusing on the full service side of that business.

BrokerIPTV: Give me a quick example of what a home owner can buy as a package to showcase their home?

Mark Schow: Well, the most popular virtual tour package that we have is the Obeo Bronze Tour; it includes four panoramas and up to 20 still shots, but some of the other core add on services that I think are gaining a lot of popularity are things like the domain name street address registration where you create a single property website around a street address domain name, interactive floor plans with drag and drop furniture as well as the very cool style designer have gained popularity. So, it's those add on products and features that I think are making for popular packages.

BrokerIPTV: Mark, great information. Thanks for being on the show. Appreciate it.

Mark Schow: You are welcome. It was great.

Posted on August 05, 2008 11:48:34 by Blog Author