It’s Wednesday. Took the family out for dinner. Thai. No more work for today, or so I thought.
My wife has been riding me lately… “Stephen, why do you work so much and Stephen can’t you not work on the weekends?” After some discussion we came to an agreement: work stops at 5:00.
I can work all I want from 8 to 5 but when 5:00 comes it’s done. Family time. I’m good with that. What good is work if you don’t have a family to work for right?
I always tell real estate agents “Begin with the end in mind”. Things happen. Just because you plan things one way doesn’t mean they will end that way. I tell them, don’t use an email address you don’t own. Don’t use a website you don’t own. Why? Because things change. You can avoid sending out that familiar letter to your sphere of influence “Hey, guess what, I have made a change to serve you better, I am now with XYZ realty, my new phone number is or my new email address is or my new website address is..” If you own it you can simply change the logo on your website and be off and running.
I began with the end in mind when I forged the agreement with my wife. I began with the end in mind and built in a “what if”. Oh Snap!. Well that’s what I call it any way. Something that is so bad, something that could explode at any minute that I can invoke “Oh Snap!” and work past my allotted time. Well, today I invoked “Oh Snap!”. It was 8:37 PM.
I’ve been using video in my title business for years. It has changed my business. So much so that I now have real estate agents that come to meet with me. Crazy huh? I teach all kinds of real estate video classes. Property Tours, Green Screen, Screen Cast, Video Scribe, Animation, Talking Head, Interview, Testimonial – all kinds. Regardless of what kind of video a real estate agent is making, it has to have one main ingredient. VALUE. Without value don’t do it. No one will watch your video. Unless it’s really bad that is.
“Oh SNAP!” was invoked after I received an email from a buddy, Bill, in Louisiana, {thanks for sharing this gem Bill} a video he found on YouTube of a real estate agent using video in their business – the wrong way.
“This is desperation….I’m embarrassed for this Agent, who ever they are!”
he said
Oh My Gawwwwwd. This is bad. I see so many things wrong with this video, I’m still shaking my head. First of all I think it’s a template from Fiverr or Odesk. Second, there are no specifics at all. Third there is no VALUE. Video is not like direct mail. You can’t throw something at the wall and see what sticks like you can with postcards, flyers, sports schedules, door hangers, personalized pens and pads, grocery cart ads, etc. The reason: consumers are searching online for what THEY want or at least what they think they do.
So, if you are going to use video in your real estate business (or any online marketing for that matter) you have to know who you are making the content for. What problems they face. Their pain points. What’s important to them. Once you know that you can create a message for them to find when they have a need. But the rules of real estate marketing have changed folks. The Internet has not just moved your cheese, it has melted it.
Most consumers go to the internet to look for a product and you, the real estate agent, ain’t it. Look at it like you are buying a car. Are you looking for the car or someone to sell it to you? There are so many things consumers search online for when looking to buy or sell a home BEFORE they look to buy or sell a home: Schools. Taxes. Employers. Lifestyle. Proximity. Process. Loans. Credit Scores. Subdivisions. Commission. Home Values. And on and on and on.
There is a right way and a wrong way to use video in real estate, want to learn the right way? Check out the Video For Real Estate Agents course
