Have you ever taken photos of a property for an out of area buyer? Did you come back to the office, put them on the computer, email them, and type your comments in the email? That's great, and it works, especially with today's digital cameras.

Have you had a seller call you and ask where those sites are that you promised would display their home listing? Maybe they want to check to see if you're doing your job. You can send them links to the pages, and that is a good solution. But, what if you want to make some comments about why only some of their photos are on a certain site?

I've profiled a new service, currently free, called the Jing Project. I also give you a link to a little demo video I did in less than five minutes of images and commentary. A picture can be worth 10,000 words, but sometimes a hundred words can make a picture a lot more explanatory. Why type them in an email when you can talk to your customer?

Confessions of An Ad-aholic, by Paul Pastore was fun reading. He speaks to a habit of running expensive print advertising that, upon careful tracking, was found to yield little or no business. He mentions "ego ads" and doing what everyone else was doing. After all, if many of your peers are doing it, then it must work, right?

Other Realtors aren't the only problem, as your clients are a major source of pressure to run ineffective marketing. How many out there cave in to listing prospects regularly when they want more newspaper or magazine exposure that's expensive and non-productive for quality leads? Or, if you're not giving in, are you keeping records that will prove your listings move just as fast as those heavily marketed in print? Take your average days on market and compare with listings that were splashed all over the newspapers and magazines. You just may find a great statistical tool to prove your point, as well as save a lot of money.

Let's not even talk about the pressure from the vendors. Who has been in your office or on your phone this week pitching the latest new "special insert" that will showcase your listings? In times like these, a thorough analysis of your marketing methods, costs and results is absolutely necessary. All print isn't bad, nor all internet good. Take a close look at all of the advertising resources at your disposal, and try to equate cost to results. It could be an eye-opener.