Video Can Help Real Estate Agents Clinch Deals!

A deal in real estate is not like a deal in toothpaste. deals with toothpaste make you two dollars richer. A deal in real estate makes up hundreds or thousands, and even, a million dollars. So if using video as a marketing medium help clinch a single deal, you will make a lot of money!

There are no two ways about it, video is the way of the present and the future! If you want to generate online traffic anywhere, using videos will increase conversion and retention rates and improve sales leads.

However using video on websites is not the only thing a real estate business needs to do to generate sales. You also have to be a little bit creative and understand the aspects of making a professionally made video to maximise your chances of success. But first, I will look at what the power of video purely a medium has done for businesses.

Video as a medium

Here are some facts about online videos in business

1. StacksandStack.com reported that visitors were 144% more likely to purchase after they saw a video on their website.

2. Visitors who watch videos are said to stay on the website for twice as long and visit twice as many pages.

3. Unbounce reports that sales conversion rates increase by 80% if a company uses an online video to market a product on their website

4. According to Kismetrics, leads are 64 to 85% more likely to purchase from a small business after seeing a video online.

There are more than 300 hours of video that is uploaded to YouTube a minute. In the near future, video will comprise of more than 70% web traffic. Companies are using video today, knowing just how well it increases online traffic, conversion of sales and retention of customers.

Professional Tips

You may need the help of a professional company to help you with generating a top notch quality video. If you decide to market in real estate using a handheld smartphone then you need to get back to the drawing board. A professional filming company will think of techniques that enhance the quality of your video. Aspects of filmmaking such as:

Lighting
Camera positioning and angles
Close-ups
Filters and aspect ratios
They are just some filmmaking concepts that professional filmmakers consider, including many more aspects and variables. This may seem minute and seems like perfectionism, but the more you consider these aspects in an online video, the greater your competitive advantage becomes.

Another thing real estate agents can do is the overall direction of how a video will be made. Make some strategic decisions in the video that matches up with the brand image that you like to present. Since Real Estate companies are formal, you may want to use real estate agents themselves wearing their formal attire. As opposed to getting an average-looking person with casual attire talking about real estate. That said, if the real estate company’s brand image is casual and creative, the average-looking bloke talking about real estate may be a great idea!

Also, try to get good shots of the houses, It may be best to take several shots from the houses at several different angles and cut out all the bad and mediocre looking ones.

Finally, make sure that you include your company logo either at the beginning or end of the video so viewers can contact you and remember who you are. It is always a good thing if you get customers to associate your brand with something of high quality or any other positive attributes.

The Creative Side

This is what may really get you a ton of competitive advantage. Think of making a video as a way to generate a unique selling proposition. Being tactically creative allows people to:

1. Have a unique selling proposition

2. Have a competitive advantage

3. Have a vision

The best way to achieve a unique selling proposition is to come up with creative ideas. Ask yourself “How are real estate agents marketing their products and how can I be different from them while still keeping consistent with my brand image?”

If you find that Real Estate agents are marketing in a similar way then this is liquid gold. Find out about what motivates consumers to purchase a house (like newlywed couples wanting to start a family, or buyers wanting independence) or what demotivates consumers (such as the rising prices in metropolitan areas) and address these attitudes in a way that speaks to them.

When you want to make a video, using that knowledge, brainstorm some ideas. This is the opportunity to be a creative as you like! You may never know what good or bad ideas come out! This is the time when you can come up with bad ideas because this is the time, creatively, that you can discard these ideas and suffer no consequences. At the end of brainstorming, it gives you a clear direction with a creative idea and you have obtained a vision, ready to be turned into a reality.

Conclusion

So there you have it! By understanding how video positively impacts upon sales and knowing how to professionally create a video with a creative idea will dramatically increase your chances at clenching that all-important deal.

 

Nelson Cumming is an enthusiastic business blogger with AdrienneMcLean.com with a keen interest in Marketing and PR.

Adrienne McLean DTM – SpeakersTrainingCamp International Instructor and the Founder of The Speakers Practice – Adrienne specialises at

The Speakers Practice helping clients to confidently deliver presentations for maximum impact for sales presentations, pitching to Investors, promotional presentations etc.

Adrienne has been training presenting to camera programs since 2012 and has been coached by Lou Bortone – US Video Marketing Expert.

You can contact Adrienne on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au or ring on 0414 367 960.

Branding strategies – Gunnar Habitz – Business Success Strategies.

Branding is the way the prospects and clients see your business. Your branding is the face of the business. In this video & podcast, Gunnar Habitz details the important parts that go together to make a brand successful.

Gunnar Habitz has twenty years ICT experience in sales, marketing and consulting roles with a technical flavour covering various computing solutions sold to commercial and consumer segments. Originally from Switzerland with solid experience in the European market, Gunnar moved to Sydney in 2016 and completed a leadership program at the Australian Institute of Management and now offers his skills in the  areas software, services and solutions.

 Some of the questions Gunnar answers here on the topic of Branding strategies for growth are : 

  1. When looking at branding a business or a product, what are the essential steps?
  2. Why does changing a brand help with sales growth?
  3. What are your recommendations to a business who are looking for massive change?
  4. What are the signs of a successful brand?
  5. What is a strategy that has really helped you grow your business?

Here are some links that Gunnar recommends for checking out –

1) www.habitz.ch (my own website)
2) www.cloudrecover.com.au (my employee who changed the branding strategy totally in 2015)
3) www.livinglines.com.au (brand development expert Susan Jones)
4) www.intrix.com.au (reseller Intrix who transitioned to a managed service provider)
5) www.cowanprospecting.com (Matt Cowan Prospecting, I mentioned that I found him only due to his LinkedIn article)

The Business Success Strategies is a 30 minute interview with successful business people who have been able to achieve amazing results with growing a business.

Business Success Strategies is an always have something to offer event  sponsored by The Speakers Practice and ADrienneMcLean.com. The Speakers Practice offers programs to help SME professionals to market their business by speaking. AdrienneMcLean.com helps SME professionals to market themselves using the international marketing system BookYourselfSolid – a marketing system designed for service professionals to get you more clients.

Adrienne McLean helps business professionals with marketing and business development along with promoting their business. You can contact Adrienne McLean on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au or ring on 0414 367 960.

Crisis in PR: Bad Thoughts in Business

Don’t get in a full fledged crisis. Every business has its stressful situations and rainy days. This is something a business cannot avoid. What a business can avoid is turning a rainy day into a category 5 cyclone.

There are many toxic thoughts that you might have that you are completely unaware or that spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R  for your company, particularly if your business begins to grow or you have just experienced a lot of success. These toxic thoughts are the catalyst for any major preventable disaster a business experiences. Learning about these toxic thoughts will not only make you aware and alert of any problem in business, but you can become your own PR agency in your business.

Without further ado, here are some of the most toxic thoughts that can kill a business dead on its tracks

Thought #1 “That Crisis will never happen to me”

If you don’t take steps to prevent the disaster yes it will happen to you. In life when we see someone struggling through life, we sometimes can see the solution from afar, but when we are caught in the same situation, we may not know what to do. This is exactly the same in an business environment: It is easier said than done.

In the age of social media, there is very little wiggle room to hide and news travels faster. All it really takes is a whistle-blower in the form of an employee to type onto Facebook. Now, if their complaints are unwarranted and untrue you still must take some form of action because it still harms the image of a business. If what they are saying is true however, you have entered into full crisis mode and the thing you thought would not happen to you just happened.

Thought #2 “Let’s keep our stakeholders in the dark”

To me this thought is the equivalent of the child prank of “Why are you hitting yourself?” This is just asking for an issue in business to manifest into a crisis. When PR and lawyers get involved with your company, they biggest desire is to only have to resolve small issues that have not had any real impact in your business, they do not want to resolve the big issues that cause you and them so much time and stress. They will hate it even more if you did not tell them about the issue you were trying to prevent.

Thought #3 “ No Comment”

If you are unfortunate enough to encounter a disaster that has caught media attraction, the worst thing someone can say is “No Comment”. The reason for this is that stakeholder and the general public what to know how this disaster started and what the business is doing about it to remedy the disaster. If you don’t say anything, stakeholders and consumers will resent the company and think it’s hiding something even more sinister.

Think of this situation between business and stakeholders as a relationship between two spaces that has hit the rocks. The relationship can be saved and you may even grow stronger if you reveal what the trouble is between yourself and the situation. If not, except your relationship to worsen and have long term detrimental impacts.

Thought #4 “We are one of the biggest companies in the world, we are untouchable”

I can guarantee that that was the thought in the heads of Enron, Worldcom and Lehman Brothers.

As soon as a business develops this delusion and believes it, it spells the beginning of the end. Normally, this thought leads to fraudulent activity or some other unfair+ business practice. It can range from lending mortgage bonds to people who could not pay them (Lehman Brothers)  to simply making up figures in the accounting books (Enron). These types of scandals are no hidden forever and if unchecked, it will lead a company to bankruptcy at best and imprisonment for white collar crimes at worst.

Conclusion

So these are just some of the thoughts that managers have that can harm a business. There are more but what I always recommend is constant self-awareness. That way, your mind is always based in reality. You can become your own PR machine. If you don’t lie to yourself, whether you succeed or fail in business, you will always be able to at yourself in the mirror with a clear conscience

Nelson Cumming is an enthusiastic business blogger with AdrienneMcLean.com with a keen interest in Marketing and PR.

Adrienne McLean DTM – SpeakersTrainingCamp International Instructor and the Founder of The Speakers Practice – Adrienne specialises at

The Speakers Practice helping clients to confidently deliver presentations for maximum impact for sales presentations, pitching to Investors, promotional presentations etc.

Adrienne has been training presenting to camera programs since 2012 and has been coached by Lou Bortone – US Video Marketing Expert.

You can contact Adrienne on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au or ring on 0414 367 960.

Perfect Speech for Perfect PR

In PR, the value of words is invaluable. That sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it’s true. A great speech can build positive relationships with stakeholders and potential consumers, which is at the heart of public relations.

To become better apt for your next presentation, here are a couple of tips to help you become a better speaker.

  1. The Rule of Threes
  2. Know the Purpose of the Speech
  3. Use Humour, anecdotes and analogies
  4. Slang, Jargon, Formality or Informality

The Rule of Threes

The rule of threes is an excellent way to structure your speech. Personally, I love it, it just works for me and it also works for the audience. It’s simple, highlight three areas of the speech you will be discussing and elaborate on that. This rule works especially well if the third point is either slightly longer or has a nice little twist to it. The audience will believe will pay more attention as you save the best until last.

Purpose of the Speech

Purpose of  the speech will determine the tone an mood of your speech. If you are promoting your business to existing consumers at a convention, you are more likely to apply everyday language and incorporate humour. However, if the company is in the middle of a crisis, you better not joke. Knowing the purpose of your speech will get the best result out of people as you are giving them the information they want presented in a way that they like to hear it.

Humour in your Speech

Humour anecdotes and analogies are ways to stimulate the audience or to simplify high minded ideas to them. Just make sure that the jokes are actually funny and your anecdotes and analogies are accurate and don’t go off on a tangent. Read a joke book or look up online for analogies that best fit for your speech. If you practice this long enough, soon you will be like a duck to water.

Slang and Jargon

Slang and jargon in your speech is entirely determined by how knowledgeable your audience is.

Say we were selling TVs. If you were pitching televisions to IT professionals, you might talk about the technological processes  on how the TV functions. For a bunch of consumers, you might only need to say that the TV lasts longer, has a bigger screen and has better picture quality.

Finally you need to practice your speech. There is a massive disconnect if you constantly look at your notes. You can condense your speech into bullet points and make it whatever you say come naturally. Even though it may be harder for inexperienced people to publically speak without palm cards, maintain eye contact is the key for audiences to understand and enjoy you and what you wrote. You speak to the audience, not to the ground.

All of these tips will hopefully help you in both writing and constructing a speech from start to finish

Nelson Cumming is an enthusiastic business blogger with AdrienneMcLean.com with a keen interest in Marketing and PR.

Adrienne McLean DTM – SpeakersTrainingCamp International Instructor and the Founder of The Speakers Practice – Adrienne specialises at

The Speakers Practice helping clients to confidently deliver presentations for maximum impact for sales presentations, pitching to Investors, promotional presentations etc.

Adrienne has been training presenting to camera programs since 2012 and has been coached by Lou Bortone – US Video Marketing Expert.

You can contact Adrienne on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au or ring on 0414 367 960.