Using Video to Enhance Your Business

No matter what the stage of your business, you can always get started using video in your business. There are several ways to consider using video in your business: to film an intro, open houses, to go live on Facebook, or connect with local businesses. Monica’s guest, Jeremias “JMan” Maneiro, joins her on the show to discuss these different ways to use video in your business, as well as what equipment to use. All of these discussion points can help you improve and strengthen your connections with your clients.

As we’ve entered into 2019, it is a time of video. It is a great way to build rapport with your clients and get to know them before an initial meeting. Community video is a great place to start. You can share things about restaurants, amenities, accessibility; you want to make the communities where you live and sell appealing to others. Another way to do community videos is to interview business owners and share it with the people. This not only helps you but also helps promote the business itself; it’s a win-win! You can also stream live events going on.

An even easier place to start may be listing videos. You already have all the content and the listing, and it could be a great way to do the marketing. JMan does a “coming soon” video where he does a live walk-through of the home and shares it on his business page. Everyone has equal access to the listing, and the clients can see when agents leave comments on the video, which boosts the quality.

You do have to be careful when you do Facebook live videos — be strategic about how you are “conducting business” between personal and business pages. You also have to respect your clients’ privacy. It is the same as when you’re staging for photographs — you want to make sure only things that should be on display are on display.

There are options for more formal videos. Animoto and iPhoto are great applications where you can import images and videos to produce a stylized video. You don’t have to be in these videos, but you should brand it so people know who you are and where you are.

More recently, drone video has entered the video marketing strategy. They can provide some really awesome shots but it may an instance where you want to hire a professional to help you. There are so many different things the drone allows you to see.

Some of the most popular business videos are virtual open houses. This allows you to take interested buyers on a virtual tour of the house and also leaves the option to provide feedback or questions via some sort of form, so you are reacting to the video you just saw. This also allows for live engagement.

Nearly all social media platforms have the “story” feature — these are a GREAT way to start! They are short clips, but they also only stick around for 24 hours, so there’s a little bit less pressure. These story videos encourage you to keep your message to-the-point, as well as get frequent practice with pretty little effort.

The goals of your videos should not necessarily be the number of likes, but rather about connecting with your audience (quality over quantity). You can work to create custom audiences, so the people that are seeing your videos have really been tuned into your videos previously.

Now that you know all the benefits and different avenues for video, how can you incorporate it into your business? One thing to expect is that you won’t be happy with every (or maybe any!) take. It takes time to get used to how you look and sound on video and one thing Monica recommends is to give herself one take, even if it’s not live. Each video is a learning opportunity, so as you get started, you can learn as you keep producing more videos. One of the beauties of video in our culture is that it does allow for you to be authentic and gives room for your human mistakes.

One thing JMan has is a quick introduction video for his team. He has a small team, but a short introduction video allows clients or even other agents you may be working with to put a name with a face so they can get to know the whole team, rather than just you. They can feel like they are connected with the team at all points of the transaction.

You don’t need to have a ton of fancy equipment. If you have a smartphone, that’s a good place to start. There are some additional lighting options to enhance what your phone does. Next is the audio; they make external microphones. The lavalier is a style that both JMan and Monica talk about to get better-polished videos. You can use apps and tools to get better angles, and there are also devices such as gimbals that act as a tripod so you don’t have to recruit others to help.

One final type of video is the Matterport. This is a camera that does a high-res 360-degree scan of every room in the house and creates a virtual, immersive, 3D experience.

If you’re ready to get started on video, just remember to be you. Be authentic, and focus on building relationships.

• Full-time licensed agent, it's my career, not a hobby. 
• Associate Broker — Highest form of licensing in Real Estate you can achieve. Department of State recognizes that you have the expertise and experience to be your own Broker/Owner but that you have decided to associate with a company.
• Aggressive and experienced negotiator; I work with everyone from first timers to luxury home buyers and fight to get you the best price and terms with the least amount of stress to you.
• I exceed the expectations of my clients by providing immediate response to their needs and better service through the mastery of today's technology. Instant access to e-mail, internet, and cell phone.
• New home construction specialist; I help my client from contract to closing. We can determine what development, floor plan, structural and product amenities best fit your needs and budget.
• My highly successful 30-day marketing program will sell your home faster and for the most money possible. 
• I am a life-long resident of Rochester — born in the City and raised in Greece, New York.
• My custom home feedback system gets accurate and honest feedback from showing agents quicker and more often. This means the house will sell faster because we are more in tune with the market.