John Amendola
Vaughan, Ontario
There are even bigger things on the horizon for John Amendola, of Realtours Media. Serving York Region, Realtours Media is active in some of the wealthiest cities in the country (King City), and some of the fastest growing (Vaughan and Aurora), too. Read on to find out how his full service company incorporates iGUIDE along with other services for a winning business with its eye on growth!
Spectacular Growth in One of Canada’s Richest Real Estate Markets
During the summer of 2017 Realtours Media had a single employee working out of its Vaughan office.
Today, the real estate marketing firm has 7, and it plans to hire four more after it moves into a bigger office in September.
The foundation for that growth is the iGUIDE cameras the firm uses, says John Amendola, the head of the company.
“If there is no iGUIDE Camera, there is no Realtours Media—straight up,” says John.
From the office in Vaughan the company services the real estate agents in York Region, which sits on top of Toronto’s northern border. This area includes some of the wealthiest cities in the country (King City), and some of the fastest growing (Vaughan and Aurora).
The firm does real estate photography, drone footage, video, iGUIDE shoots, website design and development, and branding and marketing services for real estate professionals.
“We are full service,” says John.
But iGUIDE accounts for 60 per cent of the business. In 2015 Realtours did 47 iGUIDE shoots. The next year that more than tripled to 172. The growth continued to accelerate and Realtours created 436 iGUIDEs in 2017. Last year it did 501.
Real estate agents love what Realtours and iGUIDE provides. Floor plans, square-footage measurements, and 360° virtual tours of every room in a house. And the agents get all that by the end of the next business day.
“Real estate agents want everything now. NOW. They have two speeds, now and right now,” says John.
“By the end of the next business day, they’ve got this tool that integrates with MLS and everything in it, in their inbox, everything they need down to feature sheets, for $275,” says John.
When the agents have more success, thanks to iGUIDE, they often want new websites. Realtours Media is happy to help. The company also shows the agents how to repurpose the content from iGUIDE shoots and use it in social media for branding.
The firm increased its number of realtor-clients by 405 per cent last year, and it is tracking for 150 per cent growth of its client list this year.
“It’s exciting,” says John.
Realtours is also using iGUIDE cameras to expand into new sectors — newly constructed homes and retirement homes.
A few years ago, John was all about print media. He and a partner had Snapd franchises in six communities. Only one was making money, so they sold the rest and started looking for new opportunities. While the community newspapers did not make money, they did create a network that included a lot of real estate agents. John was looking for a way to capitalize on that network.
“So, three years ago I was five people, and dying, thinking I was losing everything,” says John. But his business had acquired some iGUIDE cameras.
He had lunch with a friend who owns 20 Royal LePage offices. She wanted to bring innovation to real estate photography and marketing. He immediately thought of his under-used iGUIDE cameras.
“I said: ‘I have innovation,’” recalls John.
Everything changed following the pivot to Realtours Media with iGUIDE as the foundation.
“The summer of 2017 we were $50,000 in revenue, and one part-time person,” says John.
Now he has 12 employees and needs to hire four more. Realtours currently does 140 to 150 iGUIDEs a month. The firm currently has three to four per cent of the real estate business in York Region and it is going after more.
“We are going big, a 16 per cent market share in York Region is massive, two-three thousand listings a year, that’s what I am going for,” says John. “There is so much room for growth.”
