Using An Agent Profile Video Or Video Interview To Grow Your Real Estate Business
After a few years of sputtering, more real estate brokers, agents, and service providers are now becoming more comfortable using their video cameras for property videos. However, have you thought about how to use your camera to market yourself more directly to your customers?
A one to two minute agent profile video on your website or a somewhat more in depth video interview may be just what you need to give new life to your website and other marketing efforts.
- Agent Profile Videos: If you have a tripod, you dont even need another person to help with a profile video. Just place the video camera on the tripod, adjust the yourself and/or the camera so that you fill about two-thirds of the frame, and press record. Just be conversational, speak clearly, look directly into the camera, and introduce yourself. Let a prospective buyer know why they should do business with you. If you speak another language, consider making another profile video in that language too.
- Real Estate Video Interviews: Video interviews take a little more preparation. You’ll need to work with at least one other person to help film and ask questions.
Some quick tips from personal experience filming real estate interviews
- the interviewee should either maintain eye contact with the camera lens (”the viewer”) or with the interviewer, but not both.
- Prepare a list of questions prepared before starting and be familiar with the points of how to best answer those questions. Know what you want to say.
- Clearly communicate your strengths
If you only have one other person to help: The person being interviewed should be the only person in the frame - the interviewer will be off-camera and will serve as both camera operator and the interviewer. My personal preference for these types of interviews is to have the interviewer sit close to the camera lens so that the person appears to be talking to the viewer but is really just maintaining a conversation and eye contact with the interviewer.
If you have two people helping: Two person interviews with the interviewer on-camera is a bit trickier but easily doable. A third person that operates the camera produces the best results. The only rule of thumb with these interviews is that you should arrange the chairs such that you dont only see the side of the interviewee’s head. Our preference for these types of interviews is to introduce the person with the interviewer and interviewee side by side and then zoom in while the interviewer changes seats to one closer to the camera…the rest of the interview takes place with the interviewer off camera. That said, there are many ways to do interviews with the interviewer on-camera that are equally successful.
Once you’ve filmed and edited your real estate video interview, Vidlisting has a dedicated place on the front page of their website where you can display your interview as well as widgets to put the interview on your own webpage or blog. Just go to a real estate video upload site, fill out the short form, and your video will be converted without waiting.