How to Market Your Business During a Recession

February 5, 2023 in Blog, Education

How to Market Your Business During a Recession

Marketing during a recession can be a difficult task, as budgets are often tighter and consumer spending slows down. However, it’s important to remember that recessions are temporary and that businesses that continue to market themselves effectively during tough times can come out even stronger on the other side. Here are the best marketing tips to help your business navigate a recession:

Know Your Target Market: Understanding your target market and their current buying habits is key to making smart marketing decisions during a recession. This may mean adjusting your target demographic or focusing on a specific need that your target market has.

Offer Value: Consumers are more price-sensitive during a recession, so it’s important to offer value in your marketing efforts. This can come in the form of sales, discounts, or added bonuses for customers.

Emphasize Quality: While price is important, quality should not be overlooked. Consumers are more likely to choose a product or service that they know will last, even if it costs a bit more. Highlighting the quality of your products and services in your marketing can help set your business apart from the competition.

Utilize Digital Marketing: Digital marketing, including email marketing, social media, and search engine optimization (SEO), can be a cost-effective way to reach your target market during a recession. It allows you to reach a large audience for a relatively low cost.

Focus on Customer Loyalty: During a recession, it’s more important than ever to focus on retaining your current customers. Loyal customers are more likely to continue purchasing from your business, even if their overall spending decreases. Offering loyalty programs and promotions for repeat business can help keep your customers engaged.

Diversify Your Marketing Channels: Diversifying your marketing channels can help ensure that your business is reaching as many potential customers as possible. This might include a mix of traditional advertising methods, such as radio and print ads, along with digital marketing techniques like social media and email campaigns.

Collaborate with Other Businesses: Partnering with other businesses can help you reach new customers and expand your marketing reach. Joint promotions and cross-promotions can help drive traffic to your business and create opportunities for collaboration on other projects.

Consider Alternative Marketing Methods: In a recession, traditional marketing methods may not be as effective as they once were. This may be a good time to consider alternative marketing methods, such as event marketing, public relations, or influencer marketing.

Be Adaptable: A recession is a rapidly changing environment, and it’s important to be adaptable in your marketing efforts. Be prepared to make changes to your marketing strategy as needed to ensure that you’re reaching your target market and driving results.

Keep Your Brand Consistent: Even during a recession, it’s important to keep your brand consistent. Your brand should still reflect your business values and mission, and maintain a consistent look and feel across all marketing materials.

In conclusion, a recession can be a challenging time for businesses, but with the right marketing strategies in place, it’s possible to come out even stronger. By understanding your target market, offering value, emphasizing quality, utilizing digital marketing, focusing on customer loyalty, diversifying your marketing channels, collaborating with other businesses, considering alternative marketing methods, being adaptable, and keeping your brand consistent, you can effectively market your business during a recession.

Growing a business can be a challenging task, but with the right strategies in place, it’s possible to achieve sustainable growth in 2023. Here are the best ways to grow your business:

Define Your Unique Value Proposition: What makes your business unique? What sets you apart from your competitors? Having a clear understanding of your unique value proposition (UVP) will help you make informed decisions about how to grow your business.

Focus on Customer Satisfaction: Happy customers are the key to growing your business. Focus on delivering exceptional customer service, and solicit feedback from your customers to find out what you can do to improve their experience.

Invest in Technology: Technology can help streamline processes, increase efficiency, and provide valuable insights into your business. Consider investing in tools and platforms that can help you automate tasks and make data-driven decisions.

Expand Your Reach: Relying solely on existing customers is a recipe for stagnation. To grow your business, you need to reach new customers. This can be achieved through marketing campaigns, referral programs, and partnerships with other businesses.

Diversify Your Product or Service Offerings: Diversifying your offerings can help you reach new customers and increase sales. Consider adding complementary products or services to your existing offerings, or launching new product lines altogether.

Utilize Digital Marketing: Digital marketing can help you reach a large, targeted audience for a relatively low cost. Utilize techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and social media to increase your visibility and reach new customers.

Collaborate with Influencers: Influencer marketing can be a highly effective way to reach new customers and promote your brand. Partnering with influencers who have a large following on social media can help you reach a wider audience and build credibility for your business.

Invest in Employee Training: Your employees are the face of your business, and investing in their training can help you deliver better customer experiences and drive growth. Consider offering ongoing training and development opportunities to help your employees grow professionally.

Leverage Data: Data is your best friend when it comes to growing your business. Use data to inform your marketing and product development decisions, and regularly track key metrics to measure the success of your efforts.

Stay Agile: The business landscape is constantly changing, and to grow your business, you need to be able to adapt quickly. Stay attuned to changes in the market and be prepared to pivot your strategy as needed to stay ahead of the curve.

In conclusion, growing a business requires a combination of strategy, planning, and execution. By defining your unique value proposition, focusing on customer satisfaction, investing in technology, expanding your reach, diversifying your offerings, utilizing digital marketing, collaborating with influencers, investing in employee training, leveraging data, and staying agile, you can position your business for growth in 2023 and beyond.

A recession can be a challenging time for businesses, as customers may be cutting back on spending and competition for sales can be fierce. However, with the right strategies in place, it is possible to beat your competition and emerge from a recession stronger than ever. Here are some tips for how to beat your competition during a recession:

Focus on Your Unique Value Proposition: A clear understanding of what sets your business apart from your competitors is essential in any market, but especially during a recession. Highlight the unique benefits of your products or services, and communicate these benefits to your customers.

Optimize Your Pricing Strategy: In a recession, customers may be more price-sensitive than ever. Consider offering promotions, discounts, or other incentives to entice customers to choose your business over your competitors. At the same time, be careful not to undercut your pricing too much, as this can undermine your profitability.

Improve Your Customer Service: In a tight economy, customers are more likely to shop around for the best value. Providing exceptional customer service can help set your business apart and build customer loyalty, even during a recession.

Invest in Marketing: During a recession, it’s more important than ever to get your message in front of potential customers. Invest in marketing and advertising campaigns that effectively communicate the benefits of your products or services, and target your efforts to reach the right audience.

Expand Your Reach: Relying solely on your existing customer base is a risky strategy during a recession. Consider reaching out to new customers through partnerships, influencer marketing, or other tactics to grow your business and increase sales.

Utilize Digital Marketing: Digital marketing can be a cost-effective way to reach a large, targeted audience. Utilize techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and social media to increase your visibility and reach new customers.

Innovate Your Products or Services: A recession can be a time for innovation, as customers may be looking for new and innovative products or services to meet their needs. Consider developing new products or services that fill a gap in the market, or improve upon existing offerings to stay ahead of your competition.

Collaborate with Other Businesses: Partnering with other businesses can help you reach new customers, reduce costs, and offer more value to your customers. Consider forming partnerships or alliances with complementary businesses to strengthen your position in the market.

Embrace Technology: Technology can help streamline processes, increase efficiency, and provide valuable insights into your business. Consider investing in tools and platforms that can help you automate tasks and make data-driven decisions.

Stay Agile: The business landscape is constantly changing, and to beat your competition during a recession, you need to be able to adapt quickly. Stay attuned to changes in the market and be prepared to pivot your strategy as needed to stay ahead of the curve.

In conclusion, beating your competition during a recession requires a combination of strategic thinking, creativity, and execution. By focusing on your unique value proposition, optimizing your pricing strategy, improving your customer service, investing in marketing, expanding your reach, utilizing digital marketing, innovating your products or services, collaborating with other businesses, embracing technology, and staying agile, you can position your business for success, even in the toughest economic conditions.

Virtual Staging And Property Marketing

February 4, 2022 in Blog, Education, Photography, Real Estate, Software, Virtual Tours

What is Virtual Staging?

Selling a home, or selling the potential of a space, do you need virtual staging? Maybe you do not want to schlep in a bunch of furniture, to use outdated pieces of furniture. Maybe you just want to save the time, and don’t want the hassle and the problems of dealing with it. Not when there are other options available that do not come with the same headaches and complications. Virtual staging is a quick, cost effective, and pointed way of properly staging a home, so it can look its very best to potential buyers.

Virtual staging, regardless of if it’s being used on still two-dimensional images or 360-degree panoramic images, is the process of using computer image editing software. The photographer will place various pieces of furniture or other structural fixes into the space. While I can take an hour or so to haul the furniture into a room, set it up and clean up so that it is finally ready for viewing. This same process is completed virtually in relatively the same amount of time. This leads with a few notable benefits that do not come with physical staging.

Next steps

I’m going to be talking about virtual staging, and how it can be used by real estate agents and property marketers to greatly increase the engagement. A potential buyer has with the space, and how we can shape their thoughts, feelings, and emotions about an area.

Will be covering some of the core aspects of property marketing, as well as why one should consider. Also, about what types of properties can be virtually staged, and what types of virtual staging are even possible. We are going to touch base on how to prepare for virtual staging including day of preparations. We’ll also talk a little bit about the post-production. The behind the scenes of what makes it work. Lastly we will also talk about how to implement virtually staged assets. So you’re able to utilize them to the best possible outcome.

Property Marketing 101

In 2022, the housing market will be in a very odd and weird head space. Some call it imbalanced, some call it the new reality. It’s hard to ignore that coming out of 2021, house would sell over asking with poorly taken cell phone pictures. That there are realities to human buying and spending habit psychology that simply cannot be ignored.

Is it possible to still sell a house with just cell phone pictures? Technically, yes of course it is. Is it possible to sell that same house over asking with those pictures in this market? Likely so. Does that mean that this is the best possible solution when you do finally get a listing in your hands that you’re able to sell? Absolutely not.

Expectations

Your clients are going to come to you with the expectation that you can sell in a few days. It’s your job as the real estate agent, as the professional in the room to emphasize to them. That if you just spend a few more days, if you put away the cell phone and utilize regular channels of property marketing, that you are going to see the house sell quickly relative to historical timelines. But you’re also going to see and even further still increase in offers over asking.

And hey, who doesn’t like more money? It really is important to stress and utilize to the seller that sourcing and implementing virtual staging assets can be a critical step in really filling out a listing.

Why Should I Virtually Stage?

Virtual staging can cover a lot of headaches that might otherwise present themselves when it comes to marketing a property. Let us say for example there is a small issue somewhere on the property that will be fixed after the photographer leaves. This can be anything from a blemish on a wall to a scratch on a floor.

A good real estate content photographer is going to be able to utilize this asset to take care of minor details for you. While it is important to keep in mind that we must not misrepresent how the property or its surrounding areas look. It is within our ability to, say for example, make the grass look a little brighter during the colder months. It’s also possible for us to implement things like sunset scenes in the background for exterior photos. If kitchen appliances or other fixtures are not being sold with the house, those can be removed. This helps to ease any miscommunication and overall increases the experience of the potential buyer looking over the seller’s assets.

What Types Of Properties Can Be Virtually Staged?

It’s important to disregard any pre-existing assumptions you had about which properties can and which properties cannot be done. It’s important to keep in mind that with the advent of technology as it is today, things that were previously outside the reach of traditional home sales are now applicable, if not soon to be standard practice for all listings.

Let’s go into some examples. virtual tours for example used to be exclusively for seven-figure listings, now virtual tours are commonplace in everything from Airbnb rentals to condo sales. When virtual tours were first released there was a large attitude in the real estate industry. A potential buyer would need strict supervision by the agent in order to walk through the property appropriately. This removed the agency from a lot of buyers themselves. and gave the wrong type of feel and didn’t utilize the ability of a virtual tour to sell a listing itself.

Spotting Staging

Likewise, we find similar attitudes about staging. When it’s done properly is extremely difficult to tell from furniture that has placed into the space itself. In fact, most seasoned real estate agents are able to pick out virtual staging in just a few seconds. But this should not be taken as an indicator that the virtual staging itself is no good. It’s important to remember that virtual staging is used for the consumer of the photos. In these scenarios the virtual staging looks real and it helps impart a sense of place and belonging. They provides context, looking at different spaces.

Types Of Virtual Staging

A very broad overview will suggest that there are actually five different types of virtual staging that can be employed by a photographer or a real estate agent to help sell a space. They are interior virtual staging, exterior staging, virtual tour staging, drone virtual staging, and lastly repair virtual staging. We are going to touch base on each one, and how virtual staging can apply.

Interior staging is easily the biggest and most common type of virtual staging experienced out in the wild. Interior virtual staging is anything from covering up old furniture with new furniture. As well as putting new furniture into empty spaces. This is easily the most cost-saving type of virtual staging, and also the easiest to implement. This is because we’re not really covering anything up per se, it’s more just filling out a room and implementing a vibe.

Other Methods And Applications

Exterior virtual staging is remarkably similar to Interior virtual staging. Exterior can focuses on fixing and adjusting different aspects of the outside of a listing in order to increase overall curb appeal, or to implement soon-to-be made changes. They can also be used to highlight different ideas and aspects of a listing that might be popular or attractive to potential buyers.

Virtual tour virtual staging is a complex yet rewarding methodology of staging a home for sale. Tour staging is something that needs to be undertaken by professionals with true experience production, for one large glaring reason. The real estate agent is going to want the virtual staging done in still images and, in other areas of the house, to be identical to the virtual staging done in the virtual tour.

This is vital because it will allow the potential buyer to help and maintain that established familiarity with the space, which is ultimately the point of a virtual tour to begin with. Staging a virtual tour is easily the most rewarding type of virtual staging, because it really allows a full and defined idea to be put onto a space allowing a true and wholesome image to be utilized.

Other Extensions

Fourth in line we have drone virtual staging. Drone virtual staging is largely applicable only to drone still images or 360-degree panoramic images that have been captured by drone. drone virtual staging is fantastic for removing any sort of blight that might be around your listing that you may want to remove. This can be anything from Landscaping operations, construction Crews, other inconvenient artifacts that may have been in the way during the time of shoot – such as garbage trucks or mail trucks.

Drone is also a very popular place to add Twilight backgrounds to photos. This can be a very attractive and very fetching way of initially gaining attention to a listing. A classic shot, using Twilight virtual tour staging in drone photography is without a doubt the best way to generate the first picture that should be used on any home listing.

Lastly we have virtual staging for repairing and maintaining different spaces. This is largely applicable to listings that are for rent say for example through Airbnb. There are rules and regulations regarding misrepresentation in the marketing of real estate. Using virtual staging to repair different assets can be tricky and should be used very judiciously. It should never be used to mislead a potential buyer as to what the reality of the listing is.

But there are some great opportunities for repairing solutions that make it important to note for anyone considering utilizing these methods to increase the attractiveness of their listing. The best example likely in this category would be to remove pieces of furniture such as washers and dryers or refrigerators that are not included in the sale of the listing.

Get Virtual Staging

Virtual staging is offered like any other service from a reputable property content marketing agency. while it’s always a good idea to let your agency know ahead of time if you’re considering virtual staging or not even if you’re not one hundred percent certain that it’ll be an option you utilize. While there are no major differences between capturing a home that will use it and capturing a home that will not use it. It’s always important to communicate with your photographer about your needs and wishes for your listing. Preparing for staging can be as easy as leaving things exactly where they are! The beauty of using virtual staging is that we are able to use software programs like Photoshop. This gives us a lot of Liberty and freedom in removing and taking away certain items.

An Example At Hand

This is not an ultimate fix for problems that might exist in a listing. For example, I am were taking a picture of a kid’s playroom. The playroom itself would need to be moderately cleaned up, or at the very least toys picked up off the floor. Every artifact that needs to be either removed or added takes time and will dramatically affect the cost. The difference between a $50 cost to Stage a photo and a $100 cost to Stage is simple. Often as little as running the vacuum through a space or and spending 5 minutes tidying can help. Loose items on countertops and arranging things so they are as neat and organized as they can possibly be.

A Conclusion On Virtual Staging

Now it looks better or: How I learned to stop worrying and love virtual staging. While it is a funny joke it is true, a lot of people are put off by the idea of doing this! It is a cost-effective meaningful way of increasing awareness in a space. And helping to implore a sense of belonging and relevancy to any potential buyer who is looking at your listing. Staging is cost-effective and reliable, and the deploying is easy. virtual staging is increasing every month. Even if you think you have a relatively comprehensive understanding of how your local content marketing provider is producing content, It’s always important to check back in and see what’s available these days. You will be pleasantly surprised at what you find.

Virtual College Tours

September 8, 2021 in Education, Virtual Tours

College Virtual Tours: Choose Your Campus Destination

Students from all over the world can check their dream college campus just from the comforts of their homes. Yes, no need to pack your bags yet and travel miles across another foreign land just to visit these colleges. Thanks to technology, virtual tours and interactive maps make this possible. You could either check for websites which specialize in college virtual tours or you could visit each college website individually and click their virtual tour feature to immerse yourself with the environment of the college you’ve been dreaming of.

Choosing which college to go is critical in achieving your lifelong dreams. You could always use some advice from friends and families but nothing beats having your own decisions and assessing what these colleges offer all by yourself. At the end of the day, it is you who is going to spend time studying in these campuses.

College admission these days has a different buzz compared to the years prior. As we are still in a pandemic, students who would normally be spending their spring breaks looking around college campuses will be spending time taking virtual tours. College admission officers who usually conduct events and other in-person marketing gigs to attract students will have to be more creative. Again, technology will play a big part in getting those students enrolled. Before we jump off with the virtual tour selection. Here are some important things to remember on how to maximize your time in doing virtual tours.

Ponder, evaluate and decide why you want to pursue college

Before spending time doing the virtual tours, you should have taken the time to assess yourself in terms of how ready you are to take this new exciting yet challenging chapter of your life. This is a huge commitment which takes four years or more of your time and you have to be fully aware and committed on why you want to do this. What do you want to get out of it and what exactly are you looking for at a particular college or university? College should be a good fit for the things that you want to pursue in life. This is important so that prior to you making the virtual tour, you already know exactly what things to look out for while doing the campus rounds.

2. List down the colleges you are interested in, join the mailing list

You may have a couple of colleges in mind so list them down and join their mailing list. This is helpful in finding out what’s new about this campus and if they have other programs or events such as upgraded virtual tours which you can check. You could also start following the social media handle of the colleges you are interested in. This can give you a better sense of the college’s programs and other marketing campaigns.

3. Identify the information you should be looking out for in virtual tours

When doing the virtual tour check the features such as interactive maps, advance search filters, high-definition photos, 360° panoramic view, online customer service assistant, admission, health and wellness, sports, tuition, location, and other pertinent information.

Now, let’s jump back into the best websites out there which provide a specialized service focused on college virtual tours and individual colleges with virtual. Then we will be visiting other college websites which offer virtual tours.

4. Campus Tours

virtual college tours

Image Source: Campus Tours’ Website

When you visit their website, you can simply search a campus across thousands of selections using the three filters of the search bar – school name, search by state or province or search by country. If you input a particular name of a school, it provides you with the school’s address, general information, tuition fee rate (2020-2021), enrollment statistics, admission requirements, sports and athletics, and majors/ degrees conferred. In addition, there are also icons for campus map, virtual tour, video, website, and VR/Pics. If you search by state or province, you will have a long list of colleges and universities in the given area. You can also make use of the advance search option for a more granular search of what you are looking for. You can filter your search with the undergraduate population data, gender, women sports and other criteria.

This company offers high definition video production and also uses Matterport True3D Walk-Through experience. Their team also specializes in aerial photography and drone-based college campus shoots, as well as, 360° panoramic shots.

Website: https://campustours.com/productions

You Visit College Search

virtual college tours

Image Source: You Visit’s Website

Within their website, you can filter your search by choosing the state or territory which is similar to Campur Tours’ website. In addition, you can also filter the institution type whether what you are looking for is public or private, institution years, campus setting, enrollment and tuition fee. Check their website and select from the number of colleges with 360° views. But before you can open each college’s virtual tours, you will have to sign up with your email address first.

Website: https://www.youvisit.com/collegesearch/

Niche

virtual college tours

Image Source: Niche’s Website

Unlike You Visit which specializes in the college campus search, with the Niche website you can also search for k-12 schools, colleges and graduate schools. It also allows you to compare colleges. Niche provides students and parents with data and reviews which are helpful in making them decide which are the best colleges around the area. You may also find the student loan interesting. This feature allows students to look for loans offered by their lending partners in order to pay for college tuition fees and other related expenses. When you go over the college tab, it brings you a list of the top colleges which you can filter out by college type, cost, specialty, religious affiliations and other criteria. It also allows you to search the college through their campus maps feature. The great thing about their website is that the colleges which offer virtual tours are displayed and you can just add this to your list and come back to it anytime you want to check it out again.

Website: https://www.niche.com

College Confidential

virtual college tours

Image Source: College Confidential Website

Their website offers you a list of forums to join and read through the discussions, the colleges tab for you to check the best colleges in town, and articles related to college living and studying. To maximize your search, sign up with your email in order to start your search. Included in the list of colleges are the acceptance rate, and the in-state and out-of-state expenses.

Website: https://www.collegeconfidential.com/

Campus Reel

virtual college tours

Image Source: Campus Reel’s website

Unlike the other websites mentioned, Campu Reel specializes in creating campus videos. This is an engaging way to visit college campuses for students and families and those who are taking up higher education. The website offers a virtual campus tour of the colleges you are interested in. Simply create an account using your email address and start checking out which admission you’d like to take. Campus Reel has been featured and recommended by big names such as TechCrunch, Forbes, USA Today, and The New York Times. There are plenty of videos you can watch. This includes the Ivy League Reels, the Large University Reels, and information about California Scholarships. If you are part of a college admission team and plan to work with Campus Reel, click the ‘schedule demo’ on their website and connect with them. They have worked with a number of colleges which include the Harvard Business School, Bloomsburg University, Springfield College, The University of Vermont and a lot more. So if you are after a video solution provider for your college and if you look forward to improving your recruitment statistics, get in touch with Campus Reel.

Website: https://www.campusreel.org/

Cappex

virtual college tours

Image Source: Cappex’ Website

Their website is dedicated to providing students with helpful articles related to recruitment and college admissions. The company generates about 1.2 million new users on an annual basis. The company helps students and colleges communicate with each other. Included in their feature are a list of colleges with the best virtual tour experience, scholarship grants, majors subjects, and transfer information.

Website: https://www.cappex.com/

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

virtual college tours

Image Source: University of Minnesota’s Facebook Page

Check out their website and get to know more about their admission process, their academics overview and special programs, life at Minnesota, the cost of living and other aids you can get, school counselors and resources for families and parents. You can visit the site virtually by either going through their online campus tours, booking on their weekly information sessions or having a one on one virtual appointment with their admission officers. Virtual individual appointments are done via Zoom, Google Hangouts, email or through a phone call. They also offer a self-guided virtual tour along the east bank, west bank and St. Paul area. If you are looking forward to having companions while taking the tour, join the virtual group session for groups of 10 or more. There is also an option for student-led Minneapolis Campus Walking Tour and Student-Led St. Paul Campus Video Walking Tour.

Website: https://admissions.tc.umn.edu/visit/virtual-tours-and-visits

Harvard College

virtual college tours

Image Source: Harvard University’s Website

Visit Harvard University any time of the time, any day of the week through their virtual tours. The virtual tour is accompanied by an audio which provides you with additional information on how to navigate around the campus. Everytime you move to another location, the audio gives out important information related to the location. This panoramic Harvard campus tour is powered by You Visit. Once you have toured around the campus, you can book an hour-long information session for your inquiries to be addressed. There are also student-lead virtual tours which you can check out. This is perfect for undergraduates who are interested in programs under the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Website: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/explore-harvard/virtual-tour

Georgetown University

virtual college tours

Image Source: Georgetown University

Georgetown University offers virtual and in-person visits, as well as campus virtual tours. Their virtual tour is powered by Youvisit and allows you to pause around 20 campus stops. It comes with a narration as well so anyone taking this walking tour is provided with the right information. You can use any device to view the virtual tour as it is compatible using phones, desktops or laptops. You can also opt for the self-guided tour and browse over their campus map.

Website: https://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/visiting/visit-options/

Stanford University

virtual college tours

Image Source: Stanford University’s Website

To get the best virtual tour experience around Stanford University campus, use your mobile device or your VR headset. Immerse yourself in this student-led virtual tour which runs over 10 minutes. After going around the campus with the 360° video tour, you can take the virtual campus walk. The high-definition photos and in-depth information will bring you closer to Stanford! You could also check the garden tour and read through the information provided in every slide. Learning more about how it is living inside the campus through the virtual tours of the student’s residential areas, places where they study, eat and lounge. Campus photos give you an idea not just what is within the campus but also the things, people and culture you can experience outside the campus and nearby areas. After going through all the virtual walk-around, book an appointment with the admission officer and start firing out your questions!

Website: https://visit.stanford.edu/tours/virtual/

Virtual Tours Colleges

May 13, 2021 in Blog, Education, Local SEO, Virtual Tours

Well, it is that time of the year again. Students are graduating from High School and going off to college. Before you would commit to a college, you would want to have some sort of campus tour, right? Since we are currently living in a global pandemic, High School graduates are not able to get the same experience I, or maybe you had when choosing their dream college. Aside from the pandemic, there are also High School graduates who’s dream college is across the country but not able to pay a visit for a campus tour due to transportation. So what is the solution to these issues? Virtual Tours of Colleges, of course!

I have said this many other times and I will say it again; Virtual Tours are super reliable! Think about it, you can be in the comfort of your own home checking out some of your dream schools in your pajamas. You do not have to worry about touring a campus with a masks on the whole time standing six feet apart (which is what we all should be doing when in social gatherings). Don’t forget about the most important benefit of a Virtual Tour; it is FREE, FREE, FREE! No need to be paying out of pocket for gas or a flight.

How about we get started on our Virtual Tours of Colleges? I am going to take you to four of the best colleges in the nation; and to my High School graduates, hopefully I can ease up your decision on where you like to call your home for the next four years. Here we go!

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Walking up Janss Steps, we are located in the amazing Westwood Los Angeles, California is UCLA! Lots of people claim that UCLA is the most beautiful college in the United States; but hey, we will be the judge of that. From the look of it right now with his bright green grass and well structured giant buildings is proving its case!

Our first stop at UCLA is Royce Hall. This is the most iconic building on campus. It is usually the main building that students take pictures of to post on their social media platforms, like Instagram. Inside Royce Hall are the majority for the language and literature classes that are in session usually. In the middle of the building is the main auditorium where a lot of important speeches and performances are held.

Now we are standing at Powell Library. Walking inside you will notice that it looks different from your typical College library since it has a Romans kind of architecture. The windows are huge and stair rails are hand carved. As we walk inside to the second floor, you can see a beautiful vintage lamp hanging from the tall ceilings along with the brown-beige walls.

Next is this interesting section of the campus called Bruins Plaza. It is a great area to hang or do some extracurricular activities. In Bruins Plaza, there is the student union center, the school store, food spots, and even a gymnasium. One thing that stands out the most is that in front of the Jackie Robinson Athletics & Recreation Complex is a big and bronze 42 statue in honor of former LA Dodgers player, Jackie Robinson. You can also see the famous Bruin bear statue, the moscato of UCLA.

Last, but not least, we now look at the UCLA Hall of Fame. This location is filled with nothing but trophies. You are probably thinking, why are there so many trophies here? UCLA used to have the most wins of championships out of every College in the United States; until Stanford University stole the throne a couple years ago.

Walking past the dorms, the Inverted Fountain and down the Janss steps we leave UCLA. 10 out of 10 a beautiful campus. So what is next on our Virtual Tours of Colleges?

Harvard University

Oh yes, we are going to the Ivy Leagues today! Welcome to the one and only Harvard University located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. If you have never heard of Harvard University, then you probably have been living under a rock. The campus is pretty spread out. Classroom buildings are about a ten mile radius from each other. Famous individuals like Mark Zuckerburg, The Obama’s, Natalie Portman, and many more have attended Harvard University. Let’s take a walk though campus and see what these Alumni’s loved about it!

As we walk through the Harvard Yards, you would notice it does not look like you average campus with stone or concrete. There is brick architecture everywhere, from the grounds to the buildings. Along with it is a huge quad space with lots of grass. This campus is very elegant to look at since it has been around for so long.

When standing in the center of the Harvard Yards , you will see the iconic Memorial Library. Just like UCLA’s Royce Hall, the Memorial Library is also a popular building that students would take pictures of to post on social media. Another iconic building across from the Memorial Library is the Memorial Church. Walking inside, it looks ancient. It has red flooring and white pews with a high baloney in the back of the Church.

Walking down, let’s stop and take a look at this famous statue on campus. This is a statue of John Harvard, the founder of Harvard University. It sits high and mighty looking over all of the Harvard Yards. Typically, there is a line of people wanting to take pictures with the statue. You will notice John Harvard is an all black statue, except the top of his shoes are like a bronze color. Reason being is because there is a Harvard tradition where if you rub his feet, then you will receive good luck and knowledge. The paint has come off over the years by students doing that. Also, not to mention, another tradition along with it is you have to urinate on it before you graduate, so you might want to wash your hands!

Up next, we head over to the Harvard Library. Walking inside the library, you will see a huge amount of space with high ceilings and white marble walls. There are giant pillars and two stairwells, a balcony that is also covered in white marble, and a beautiful chandelier hanging right in the middle. Going into the reading room of the library, it also has giant pillars throughout the space, bookshelves against the walls, and massive windows that bring in a good amount of sunlight.

Last area we will check out on campus is Harvard Commons. This is one of the best study spots on campus. It was recently renovated, too! Walking inside, the main lobby has red-orange couches, glass doors & walls, high ceilings, and huge balconies. It has a great aesthetic to it!

When exiting Harvard, we enter our way into Harvard Square. There are shops, bars & restaurants, and many other stores. It still has the same architecture as the campus with the brick. They did that purposely so it can intertwine with each other and so you can still have that “Harvard feeling”. So take a look around and Harvard Square; but don’t take too long. We need to still head over to our next Virtual Tour of Colleges!

University of Alabama

Roll tide! We are going down south to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to take a look at the University of Alabama. Although they are very known for having an amazing football team, University of Alabama is also known for having a beautiful campus!

We will start our Virtual Tour here in the Quad. It differs from many other quads on College campuses. The Quad here at University of Alabama splits into two areas, the west side is for academic studies, where you are surrounded by trees, benches and quiet places to do your school work. The east side for recreational activities where it provides open spaces where you can throw a frisbee or kick a soccer ball around. In the heart of the Quad is a monument honoring a University of Alabama icon, Denny Chimes. Across from that is the President’s Mansion. It is a big white mansion with pillars in front of it. It is not hard to miss.

Next, we are at the Ferguson Center. The 300,000 square foot student union building. Inside is the school store, an art gallery, and the Ferguson Theatre, and food court. There are also offices for the fraternity & sorority life, student government association, and university housing.

Now we are at the Robert. E. Witt Activity Center. Here, you notice the 32 foot rock climbing wall. Huge, right? With many floors of the activity center, thi includes weight rooms, basketball courts, and rooms for floor hockey and soccer.

We now head over to the most iconic place in the University of Alabama. This is where the magic happens, the Bryant Denny Stadium. It is not a far walk at all from campus. In this iconic stadium, it underwent a 93 million renovation– that is crazy, but true. With its dome shape, it can fit thousands of students.

When exiting outside the campus, you will notice these huge mansion houses. Those are owned by the University of Alabama’s fraternity & sorority Greek life. With 45 fraternities and 28 sororities, about 30% of students are involved in Greek life here on campus. That is a good chunk! So, with that big chunk of students, they are living in the big mansions. It is shocking how big each house is.

That was a great tour! The ambiance of the whole campus was nothing but great vibes. You know what they say– everything is better in the south. Maybe our final stop will prove us wrong, because we are going back up north, let’s wrap up our Virtual Tours of Colleges!

University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

At last, not only we made it back to our hometown, but we made it to homestretch! Another one of the Ivy League’s we are touching base on; Located in University City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the University of Pennsylvania. Famous individuals like John Legend, Elon Musk, Warren Buffet, and many more attended UPenn. From previous experience, it is a great campus and you will not be disappointed– so let’s get into it!

Similar to Harvard, UPenn also has that same brick architecture all around most of campus. There are benches, bright green trees, and the brown brick buildings. It looks even more beautiful in the fall. On the west side of campus, there is Locust Walk; a pathway that has a snake pattern that goes all the way down to the end of campus. Walking down you will spot the high rises of student dorms and construction that is going on. Also, you will see giant art pieces that are phenomenal.

What a long walk on Locust Walk! We are now located on Main Campus. Here is the most iconic building at UPenn, College Hall. In front of it is a big statue high up of the founder of UPenn, Benjamin Franklin right in the middle. Yup, that one dude on the $100 bill. Also, along the sides are a giant library, a theater, and all they way down is a duplicate of the famous LOVE statue.

Up next, we head to Fisher Library. The architecture of the exterior is breathtaking. It is nothing but brick on the outside, even the ground. The interior is also beautiful and elegant. A lot of students like to take photos of this iconic building.

Walking by Penn Commons where it has its famous UPenn crest logo right in front of the building, let’s check out Franklin Field, where it is also connected to Weightman Hall. This is where the Philadelphia Eagles used to play. Sports, Graduation, and many more events typically occur here. It has a huge track field all around and can fit many students.

Well, that is it! University of Pennsylvania and all of the other colleges we took a Virtual Tour at! Thank you for coming along with me, and just remember– when in doubt, take a Virtual Tour.

Five Reasons To Leave Your Career

March 23, 2021 in Blog, Education, Virtual Tours

Five Reasons To Leave Your Career

In everyone’s work life, there comes a point when you ask yourself if you’re on the right path. Is what you’re doing what you want to be doing? Or is staying in it your way to play it safe and avoid change? The answer to these questions contains the key for what should be your next career move.

Maybe you have already considered changing careers, but have not gone further than that. You have probably imagined yourself pursuing a new interest, or perhaps you’re dominated by a burning need to change things. No matter the case, there are some definite signs that you must try new things and move on.

Pride Is Non-Existent

You spend so much of your lifetime at work, you should be doing something that feels worthy to you. People can find a sense of pride in whatever they do if they are passionate about their mission. If you no longer feel this and see no point in advancing, your motivation is running out.

Maybe you feel like your industry is not relevant anymore, and you want to move on to the careers of the future. Maybe you want to make a difference in an area that is closer to your values. Maybe you want to feel the rush of learning new things again. The pride in the work you do comes from how well it aligns with your life’s purpose. Reaching that balance is the key to career happiness.

You’re On Auto-Pilot

When you reach a point where your career doesn’t offer new challenges, it’s time to move on. Predictability at work can kill your motivation and stunt your growth process as a professional and as a person.

In a position where you’ve learned all that is possible, you have two options: you either leave in search of new challenges, or you bring them in yourself. Tech advancements surface every day. You could try to bring new tech tools into your job if you want to take on the project. Whatever you decide, you should aim to get out of your comfort zone. It’s where the magic happens.

Too Many Downsides

A very straightforward method to know if you should move on to a different career is to make a balance of upsides and downsides. Make an honest list of the positive and negative aspects of your career. Include everything, from practical things (money, time investment, long-term advancement) to abstracts (motivation, fulfillment, happiness).

Look at your list. It’s a reflection of what you think about your career. Is it full of negatives? Then you need a change, your job is not hitting the mark. Use this list to assess what matters to you in work terms, and apply that knowledge to your search for alternatives.

Your Values Don’t Align

Besides skills, interest, money, and other practical stuff, there’s one thing that will determine how motivated you’ll be at work, especially in the long run: how your career relates to your values.

We all have a set of values that we carry with us. There are the things that we give importance to, that guide our decisions and structure our lives. Of course, this means very different things for each person, but what is important is that your career aligns with those values you hold. If you have never stopped to consider this, you should identify yours. It has been proved that people who have this kind of knowledge about themselves generally do better in life.

Something Else Has Come Up

If you have bumped into a new career path that you’re interested in, pursue it. Fear of change is no excuse to stay stagnant in your current position. If a new opportunity presents itself, ask yourself sincerely if you want it. If the answer is yes, embrace it with both arms. Job security is a myth, anything could happen at any minute, so don’t let that convince you of staying where you’re not happy.

Conclusion:

Thinking of changing careers will put you on a journey towards self-discovery that you should profit from. You will only find ultimate success in pursuing things that fulfill you, so make the right decisions. Change is inevitable, but not only a thing that happens to you. You can spark it yourself.

Virtual Tours on College Campuses

October 13, 2020 in Blog, Education, Virtual Tours

Virtual Tours on College Campuses

Hey everyone, and welcome back to another Momentum Monday! We’re getting deep into fall now, and before you know it, it’ll be Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Fall is an exciting time of year for a bunch of reasons, not just those aforementioned holidays. Fall means apple picking, sweater weather, and pumpkin spice everything, just to name a few reasons. The best part of fall is that everyone is in a preparation mindset – preparing for the holidays, wrapping up this year (finally!), and getting ready for the next one. For a lot of high school seniors, this is also the time of year to be sending out college applications and waiting patiently (or impatiently) to hear back from their dream schools.

The college application process is a little different this year than in years past. Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, there are no in-person campus tours or open houses. Even if you manage to go visit a campus, it’s not likely to be the hub of activity it once was.

This can be challenging for universities. Because going to college is so expensive, many people are skeptical of committing to a school they haven’t actually seen. So, like all of us during these troubling times, colleges have had to adapt from business-as-usual. What does this look like for colleges? You guessed it, virtual tours!

To be fair, many schools already employed some level of 3D tours for the campuses. Even without a global pandemic, virtual tours are an excellent way to showcase a college campus and can be an invaluable tool for prospective students that don’t have the means to visit a campus in-person.

That being said, since many campuses this semester are fully online, incorporating a hybrid class schedule, or operating at reduced capacity, there has never been a better time to get a virtual tour of campus.

In this week’s blog, we’re going to be highlighting some tools to find virtual campus tours and showcasing some universities that have taken the leap into 3D tour technology.

Virtual tour tools

Unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, navigating a university’s website can be time-consuming, tricky, or disheartening. But don’t worry, there are ways to circumvent this arduous process.

Google is your friend when looking for a virtual tour. By simply typing “[Name of College] virtual tour” into your browser, if the school you are looking up has a virtual tour, it should pop up as the first result.

This is especially helpful if you know exactly which college you want to check out. However, not all prospective students know immediately which schools they want to see. That’s fine, too!

One great tool to utilize if you’re looking to get a broader range of results is CampusTours. This is a search engine specifically designed to show you virtual tours of college campuses. CampusTours offers you the choice of searching for a specific school, schools in a certain state/providence, or even in countries outside of the USA. If you look through their advanced search tool, there are even more options to search by including tuition costs, student body size, selectivity of the school, sports, majors, and more!

Examples of Virtual Tours

Harvard University – Cambridge, MA

Harvard University is one of the most selective and prestigious universities in the world. It has produced more politicians, doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other world-changing professionals than can be named. So it comes as no surprise that Harvard has an extensive virtual tour available for all those that are looking to check out their dorms, academic buildings, and the campus itself, complete with all the essential information you could need.

Temple University – Philadelphia, PA

Temple University is Philadelphia’s public university. With a campus spanning 390 acres and a student body of almost 40,000 students, Temple has also hopped aboard the 3D tour train with an interactive and guided tour of research facilities, green areas, academic buildings, and residence halls to let prospective students see what life would be like learning and living in the heart of North Philadelphia.

University of Southern California – Los Angeles, CA

The University of Southern California, commonly referred to as USC, is an elite university located in beautiful Los Angeles, California. USC has a diverse population and has many ties culturally and historically to the City of Angels. Their virtual tour takes viewers through their picturesque campus, offering information about campus and the university itself. There is even an option to take a tour specifically about the art and architecture on campus.

There are thousands and thousands of these kinds of virtual tours set up for colleges all across the country. Here at Momentum 360, we couldn’t be happier with this push to incorporate virtual tours into all aspects of life, and we want to see it go further! We have said from the beginning that virtual tours are an essential aspect of any kind of business, and college campuses are no different.

That’s it for this week’s blog! As always, check out our website and social media to learn more about Momentum 360 and all that we do.

For information about pricing, check out our pricing page here.

For a complete list of Momentum 360 Services, check out our website here.

Still not convinced? Check out our portfolio and see our work for yourself!

Our team members have also worked at Google and Facebook before, so we have the most up-to-date knowledge in the business. All to help your business rank at the top of Google and kickstart your journey to be a future lead generation machine!

Here at Momentum 360, we want to make growing your business easier than ever. Investing in a virtual tour is without a doubt an imperative step in making that happen. Our society is prioritizing digital content now more than ever, and we likely will not see a decline in this mindset in the future years.

If you are interested in learning more about Momentum 360 Virtual Tours or would like to have one made for your business, feel free to email us or schedule a call with Sean or Mac. For more information, visit our website! Mac Frederick and Sean Boyle, owners of Momentum, have over twenty years of experience in the digital marketing field and have a passion for helping businesses reach their fullest potential.

We post our Momentum Monday and Small Business Saturday blog every week, so feel free to subscribe and make sure you are up to date on the latest trends in the industry. If you have any questions or concerns, leave them in the comments below! From everyone at Momentum 360, thanks for the love, stay healthy, and until next time, build Momentum!