Going For The Gold - Video Skills

If there's one thing you can count on here in ActiveRain, it is having the opportunity to face and conquer new challenges. And as they arise, there's another thing you can count on - each challenge you take on will make you better at what you do. That's a pretty powerful motivator.

Up until now, video has been one of those things that seem to have taken up permanent residence on my to-do list. It is something that certainly has significant potential for generating leads, selling our listings faster, and promoting our brand. Yet I've let it languish there, generating on-going guilt as I've ignored it. Well, between Anna Banana's Go For The Gold Contest and Craig Daniels' Video Essentials for Business class, my excuses for procrastination have evaporated.

My goal is simple: I'm going to develop a decent level of skill with video, and incorporate it into our business in as many ways as is practical and productive.

My goal is difficult: I know next to nothing about video, and skills don't just magically appear. This is going to take hours of study, hard work and practice, and I'm going to have to find those hours somewhere - sleep is the most likely source.

My goal is attainable: Craig is a video master and a great trainer, and so is Debb. They're going to provide the guidance I need to make this work. Craig has developed a comprehensive video course, with a full set of recorded lessons, lots of demos and examples, and practical homework assignments. I'll be able to use some equipment I already have - I intend to use my iPad3 for shooting video and the iMovie app for editing - and I'll have to get some other useful stuff. I've already bought a nifty iPad tripod mount, a more stable tripod, and a wide angle lens, and an exterior shotgun microphone is on the way. And I think we have a director's chair somewhere in the basement.

My goal is collaborative: Fortunately, that is built into Craig's course. Craig and his guest instructor, Debb Janes, are old AR hats, and others taking the course are AR members as well. But, more than that, we'll be working together out of a Facebook group, viewing each other's work and helping wherever we can. The process is designed for collaboration. (And it also looks like a lot of fun).

This is a big stretch, though. With my social media makeover on-going, and working on adapting my market report blogging to be more Panda-friendly by posting on my Blogger site and one other site yet to be determined, plus those pesky clients making even more claims on my time, it's going to be a very busy fall and winter. But I'm really excited about this. It feels good to finally get started, and I'm completely committed to seeing it through.

Mary & Dick Greenberg Elevations Real Estate LLC 106 East Oak St. Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-689-4663 www.maryanddick.com