Apr 16, 2010
Real Estate Video Is Dead, Encore
I happen to agree 100% with my old friend Joel Burslem over at 1000watt on this:
This technology is also a truely democratizing force, meaning your marketing collateral can now compete with the best that Madison Avenue can cook up. In the eyes of consumers, a boutique brokerage can now sit on a level playing field with the big brands with their multi-million dollar ad budgets. No more hokey Handi-cams. Please!
The listing video they use to highlight is an excellent piece of craftsmanship.
I love that the video stars the homeowner; who else would be as passionate about the house, or be as expert on what it’s like to live there?
There’s a second part of this “video is dead; long live cinema” idea. More after the jump.
Telling Your Story
Real estate video doesn’t have to be only about listings and houses. They can and should be about you, the realtor. So first, take a look at this:
Although “professionally done”, the video falls far short of being interesting or informative or creating any sort of a consumer response short of boredom. What could such a video look like? Well, take a look at this.
That’s passion on display, in a quiet but sincere way. Manakintowne is a small boutique farm in central Virginia. The owners are quite obviously in love with what they do. They believe in what they’re doing, and no one pretends that farming is easy work or glamorous work.
But look at what these farmers think about food, about “feeding someone”, and how critical eating is to being human. Is housing any different? Why couldn’t people whose lives revolve around buying and selling houses come across this genuine, this authentic, this passionate?
The answer is, I think, that they could. If they thought about it, and used some of the video technology that Joel talks about.
So get to it. Tell your story. Don’t just try to hawk yourself or your warez. Tell your story.
And if you can’t tell your story with passion, authenticity, with genuine love of what you do… might I suggest finding a different line of work? Maybe like tax collectors, or government healthcare bureaucrat or some such thing?
But It Ain’t the Tools; It’s the Story
I do differ with Joel, however, in one small respect: it isn’t the technology that matters, it’s the story. Hokey handicams or Flip videos could work magic just as well as the Canon 5D-MK or the million dollar Madison Avenue shoot. In fact, it’s safe to say that most companies today are looking to Madison Avenue not for the slick production values but for their creativity and ingenuity in telling the story.
It’s not the equipment you shoot on, but the person and the story you’re shooting that matters.
So don’t wait to acquire thousands of dollars of equipment and training yourself how to edit video. Don’t think you have to hire professional videographers to do stuff for you — although they certain can help. If you’ve got a story, if you’ve got a passion, go ahead and tell it. Right now. With whatever means you have to tell it.
-rsh
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