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Need A New Universal Standard for Video Tours
I wish we could come up with a new standard for our type of work. With "Video Tours" on the horizon and a flock of Realtors that will no doubt be trying to market their image as having Video Tours which will probably be in some format similar to a Virtual Tour or some cheesy shaky unlit DIY video. Then they will post it to YouTube, embed it on their website and tell the whole world about how they now have "Videos". So I guess if we are trying to market our product definition as Real Estate Video Tours, we aren't really differentiating ourselves with the type of work we do. Sure we can show a demonstration of our work and clearly show people the difference but calling myself a Real Estate Video Tour producer doesn't seem like it will hold much value as the market starts to focus on video. I have been calling my work "Commercial Grade Video Tours" but I wish there was a new standard for what we do. Any suggestions? Is there an association for us like WEVA has? A Certified Member of..........? It is tough in this market and Realtors sometimes don't actually see the benefit of what we do as professional filmmakers. What do you think?
"Full-Motion"
Full Motion Real Estate Video(-Walkthrough)
Marcus – branding is the long term key to the difference of the PRO to the DIY guy with his new HD Camcorder.
WOW Stuart, I definitely think we should. I'm interest to see what the other members think. I'm starting to not even like the word "video". I'm not sure how to get around it though. The big problem is Realtors are going to be marketing that term. They are shifting focus towards it and all of a sudden a "virtual tour" or slide show now becomes a VIDEO. I hear it all the time from Realtors "I already have video"
Yes, but don't forget that consumers know the difference between video and virtual tours/slide shows. Can't let virtual tour vendors that have been selling their products as "video" win. There is little or no confusion outside of the real estate industry.
Brilliant concept! I've been thinking about doing something like this for awhile. Let me know if I can help with anything.
@Christian & Marcus - Definitely! I hear that... "I have a video," all the time. In other industries, like hotels, nobody calls a virtual tour a video. They KNOW the difference. And a lot of hotels are starting to use BOTH... I should qualify that: I'm talking about the 3D virtual tours, not the Obeo or VisualTour.com products. Those 3D tours, in my opinion, actually are pretty effective marketing tools as well. There are times for one and times for the other.
Only Realtors can't tell the difference between zooming slideshows and actual video. Must be born with that defect or something....
I make it a point to strongly suggest that agents EDUCATE their sellers on their listing presentation. I give them a nice branded, printed DVD with a sample RealEstateShow, a sample Visual Tour and a sample spin around tour... and of course, real video. I tell them to show this to their sellers on their listing appointment, and explain to them that most realtors will "say" they're doing video, but in reality, THIS is what they are doing. Sellers have no problem recognizing the difference... only realtors! Once they point this out to the sellers, they will question the next agent who claims to do "video" because they now know what to look for.
But the added bonus is... if they DO get the listing (which they almost always do), they now are FORCED to use you and video since they just told their seller they were using video.....
Works like a charm.
Fred... that is brilliant! And what's a $2 DVD investment for a $300 tour (and another and another after that!).
yes, we need a WEVA for our industry, it would be awesome!!
Today I was amazed to find a very bad video in our local MLS system with a youtube link - this is supposed to be a non-branded tour - I thought this type of link was againts most MLS rules - and if you made it through this aweful Blair Witch youtube video, the realtor has his contact info at the end, clearly listed. I had another realtor report this to our local Board or realtors - we will see how long it takes to get the link removed.... sorry for the rant but I am starting to see more of this very bad DIY realtor stuff in my market place.
I haven't seen that yet... video is starting to catch on, but with so many "social media gurus" telling agents and business people alike "all you need is DIY," that makes it difficult to explain to people why DIY is BAD in certain cases (like property tours).
All,
DYI video is the best thing that could ever happen to video pros targeting the real estate industry. The more people try to do video for themselves, the more valuable you/your teams become. Best case scenario is that everyone tries to do video themselves - it'll all come your way eventually. People that sell real estate-and when I say "sell real estate" I mean the people that actually move a ton of real estate-will stay focused on what they do and hire the people that make them look good.
DYI video is not a threat to video production companies. It's a boom...
Christian - you make a very good point.
In reflection, my best clients that are part of the top 10%, the real producers and movers, do not have time for DIY. In fact bad video would destroy their listing presentation and hurt their client base.
AND as we all know, producing good video is not easy. The general public already has high expections for video b/c they are surrounded by great TV shows and Move theaters. Bad video will soo become a big distinguishing factor for real estate marketing success.
So I believe it is our job as a video/film maker - producer - to find cost effective ways to better our craft and become for efficient. There is definitely a glass ceiling in my marker in terms of what I can charge - since the introduction of video to my business model, I have found that I am working more for the same amount of money but I know that will shift in time and I really love what I do - which is the most important thing for me.
So ya, bring on the DIYers...
How 'bout REVA. lol.
I think Christian summed it up. We aren't to far off from the video thing taking off and like he stated in the survey results I can see where there is going to be a ton of cheesy videos out there and when we go to work for the Ma and Pop Realtors because they are looking for a way to differentiate themselves and promote their brokerage, the big brands will see this and realize they look like a bunch of idiots with crappy videos. I wouldn't be surprised at that point if brokerages make every agent remove all their DYI videos and go hire a pro.
So yeah, I'd say they are pretty much going to cut their own throats.
To prove this point you can go http://www.realtor.org/ and watch their "How to Shoot a Home Video Tour" A Realtor trying to teach a Realtor how to shoot video. Very Hilarious. Inside of the first 2 minutes of the video they are teaching them to go hand held without a stabilizer and telling them to open all the windows and doors and I'm sorry folks but your camera's iris will probably be broken by the time your done panning across every window if you don't know what you're doing and WOW won't your audience be entertained by that, no need for a light kit. Something tells me I'd rather just look at some photos of the house.
Okay, I'm ready to be a member of REVA now. Where's my certificate?
I've been selling a DVD on "How to do real estate video tours" for a couple of years. Many people have questioned why I would want to do this? Why do I want to tell everyone how I do things? Aren't you afraid of creating your own competition? Blah, blah, blah....
In fact, the exact opposite is true.
1) In almost 5 years, I have virtually no competition, even though I've shipped this DVD to many local people.
2) By showing and explaining to realtors or videographers what is truly involved, many of them THEN realize this isn't quite as simple as picking up your $200 Casio camera and shooting some photos and clicking to upload them to your listing. They start to realize the expense involved, the learning curve of learning how to edit AND shoot AND upload AND transcode, blah blah blah. I would venture to guess that most people are discouraged more than encouraged as they realize video can be complicated and technical.
3) At the same time, I am building MY reputation and showing MY expertise and knowledge of this business. And guess what, many of those people have HIRED me to do their videos, because they quickly realize that they can only do so much, and it's a whole lot SMARTER to hire me for a few hundred dollars than invest all the time and money and effort and learning something that is NOT their primary business and source of income.
DIY video is the best thing out there I think. The more BAD video that is out there, the better GOOD video looks. Intelligent realtors who understand branding and marketing can see the difference between bad video and good video. It's not rocket science.
It's no different than MLS Photos. The more people that use really nasty still photos, the better those realtors who hire professionals look.
Christian is dead on. Smart realtors know where their bread is buttered, and it's NOT spending hours shooting, editing, trancoding and uploading video. It's SELLING real estate. At least for me, those ARE my customers.
Thank you Marcus for sharing your ideas. I am fairly new in this field working around the New England area. Slowly but surely, realtors around this area are starting to see the benefits of using quality videos to showcase their listings.
Many people have pitched great ideas on this discussion and I think we should take immediate action on some of these ideas. We should contact film makers around our area and set up a meeting where we can all meet and discuss this issue. After, we can come back here and see what we all came up with. Lets all try and set a deadline (lets say in the next two weeks) which will help us to get the ball rolling.
By working together, we can make tremendous improvements in this field.
As a Realtor and a video tour producer, I am appalled by the DIY video I have seen. In more cases than none, the DIY video tour reflects poorly on the Realtor who made it and thus is just one more thing that nags at Realtor respectability as a whole. Here you have the so called Professional, selling the most expensive product essentially that there is, that they stand to make thousands of dollars if they sell, and at best they create a 1980's looking commercial as their primary marketing tool. It's astonishing.
So just keep making your videos and never stop striving to improve the look and feel of them. More and more people will start producing their own, without question. And in a perfect world those worth their salt will realize it's not near as easy as it would seem, it's very time consuming, to make it look truly professional it may actually require a different kind of professional to do so, and for a small investment they can have someone else do it for them and in the end make them look much better and more the professional. Then there are the other 90% of other Realtors that you can do nothing about. ;-)
RE: Christian's Comment #5 above: "... don't forget that consumers know the difference between video and virtual tours/slide shows. ... There is little or no confusion outside of the real estate industry."
He's right. Consumers, and some realtors, intuitively know the difference, when EDUCATED and SHOWN EXAMPLES.
As I relayed a true story from my family a few months ago over on the infamous "It's Official - No More Slideshows ..." thread (comment # 171):
"My wife does scrapbooking and lately some digital scrapbooking using a couple of online slideshow creation services. Of late she uses www.smilebox.com. Before I took the kids up for their bedtime routines, my wife asked them if they wanted to see a movie (referring to her two new smilebox presentations) ... and of course they said yes.
What's the first thing my 7-year old son says ... completely unprompted and un-schooled by me on the matter (but always seeking to be right technically)? "Mom, that's not a movie!". She then corrected herself and said "You're right, it's not a movie - it's a slideshow."
RE: Fred's Comment #7 above ...
Along the theme of EDUCATE and SHOW, I think a branded (to the realtor) DVD that shows examples of:
- sample RealEstateShow,
- sample Visual Tour and a
- sample spin around tour... and
- full-motion real video
A simple explanation that most realtors, if they say "video" at all, actually means 1, 2, or 3 but not 4. Then an unmistakable "I do #4" should send a clear message to the sellers sitting in front of that realtor; that seller is now fully educated and informed and understands one of the differentiating point of the realtor's value proposition as compared to every (most) other realtors they might consult before selecting a listing realtor.
RE: the immediately preceding Comment #18 ... referring to Fred's comment #7 ...
I realize now that I only restated Fred's comments but didn't actually say what I was trying to get at ... the obvious. I agree with what others have said, what a great idea and great marketing tool for both realtor and videographer. Make it easy for realtor to SHOW sellers ... not explain in words ... the differences in visual presentation types.
NOTE: I'm Comment #19, not Brad Collins. (I was still in "Logged In As Client" mode.)
That's what posting when tired can do. Sheeeesh!!!! Sorry about that!!
Agree with all of you. Would love to see a Professional Certification available. Have heard many realtors refer to vitual tours as video and visa a virsa. Can't believe some realtors try to sell multi-million dollar homes with just photos - YIKES.
See lots of unprofessional DYI stuff and think Fred and other's idea of producing an educational DVD to show the differences an/or how to DYI are a great ideas as well.
My Face Book page is helping get me noticed by local business owners and Realtors. I would like to invite you to join me on FB and we might have some of these discussions which could indirectly inform and educate.
