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I'm Just Not That Into Your Video

It has been with great interest that I have followed Mike Mueller's blog the last few weeks, which to my amazement, has included an informative video on each post. Envious (as always) of his technical savvy, with no hope of EVER catching him (in points OR tech savvy...darnit), I finally came to a conclusion that surprised even me: I'm not that into video.

What the heck? Didn't Brad Andersohn tell us all to get with it? Flipcams, all around, we're talking about the wave of the future!!!!!

So when Mike posted statistics showing his readership had actually gone down since including the videos, that got me thinking. Why do I prefer to read what someone has written vs listen to someone speak it?

If you had to miss your nephew's wedding in London, would you rather have a 3 minute video of your brother talking about what happened? Or would you rather he write you a 2 page letter describing the wedding, including 3 stunning photos taken that day?

No contest.

Seeing and listening to your brother might appear at first to be a more complete experience. But that letter? It would be an absolute treasure. Maybe, just maybe, we experience more without the distraction of vision and sound. Maybe simple written words say more. Far more.

Why is it easier to tell how a person is feeling by reading their words as opposed to seeing them speak? There is a reason we have the expression "reading between the lines". The tone that a writer sets is quite distinctive and the mood is easily understood in most cases. When we speak, we have learned to be guarded.

Would you want to watch the video of your brother talking about the wedding again? Probably not. Would you re-read the letter and look at the pictures over and over? Of course you would. Speaking is disposable. Writing is forever.

Would reading the letter allow you to visualize the wedding in your mind more easily than if your brother TOLD you about it? Well, yes. Not only is he likely to use descriptions we rarely use when speaking, but we are trained to visualize when we read, but not when we listen.

When we speak, we are always in a hurry. When we listen to someone else speak, we are quickly bored. Why do you think videos need to be under 3 minutes?

Written words are a communication luxury.

Writing a letter (or a blog) takes time, as one thinks, finds the perfect words, rearranges the words to work in harmony, connects random thoughts into opinions and ideas, and takes advantage of the delicious freedom afforded when there is no one growing impatient on the other end, wishing you would just stop talking.

As much as we'd like to pretend our writing or blogging is the same as how we would communicate by speaking, who are we kidding?

If you logged on and watched me talk to you every day for 3 months in a video, you would know how my voice sounded. You would see my facial expressions, and know how I look. And I would be just like the neighbor you wave to every day, but have absolutely no idea who they really are.

Read what I write, and we would be laughing and talking easily within minutes of our very first face to face meeting. It is at the very core of what blogging is about.

Here's my final confession (and maybe there are customers who think like this as well): I don't need to see your face or hear your voice to enjoy and appreciate who you are. Sometimes, it might even burst my bubble. When I am ready, I would far rather meet you face to face. By then, I will know you well.

If you do use video, could you make it the icing and not the cake?

Just keep on writing, sharing tiny pieces of your soul day after day... and if you never once post a video?

I'm okay with that.

Written by Janet Guilbault, Mortgage Lending Expert Based Out of the San Francisco Bay Area

Posted by Janet Guilbault California Mortgage Banker/Broker on 06/02/2008 01:26 AM

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39 Comments on I'm Just Not That Into Your Video

JUN

2008

Interesting thoughts. I haven't watched enough videos yet to make a determination. But, I would prefer to see a video of the wedding than have a letter. Just not as sure of a video of someone talking about the wedding.

Janet: I must agree with you about the video. Although some of them can be kind of cute, I would much rather have something written. The idea of "reading between the lines" holds for those who can, and doesn't work well for those who cannot read between the lines.

It is easier to get the "feel" of a person, at least for me, anyway, from reading their posts. It may sound funny, but I feel I can "see" more of a person in their writing than I could in one of their videos. Great post... thanks for sharing, and congratulations on your gold star and featured post. Take care...

Bless you for this article! I thought I was the only one to not care for the trend to video. When Inman uses a video, I feel cheated because I'm not going to spend the time to listen. I'd much rather have a written article that I can scan for the info I want. You can't scan a video to get the key info. Plus, when I HAVE bothered to watch, I tend to get caught up in the person's mannerisms or speaking style and miss what they say.

Just because "we can", doesn't mean "we should"!

Janet, in my opinion, if a consumer is interested in a house they will watch the video over and over regardless of how long it is. If they are not interested in that house, they will quickly move on. Same as content on a blog. I'll have to read Mike's blog, I haven't yet. I have heard the exact opposite from others who are using video's. The back links they are getting on listings are unbelievable.

Good thoughts and perspective.

I'm not that into video either. I just don't have the patience to watch them or wait for them to load. I don't even like virtual tours all that much and much prefer to see a photo slideshow any day. I'd rather look at the photos in a decorating magazine and read about the details of the rooms instead of going to the online version and feeling frustrated while videos load or pages have to reload every time you click to the next picture. Have you tried to view the HGTV green house online? You better have an hour to kill. Just give me the pictures and let me click through them quickly! Otherwise, I will leave the site in frustration. Well, first I'll enter the contest then I will leave the site! :)

I'm not disputing that the technology is cool and for those that love it and feel it helps their business then they should go for it. I do agree with Missy that if someone is interested in the house they will watch the video over and over again, just the same as they would look at the pictures over and over again. Frankly, they'll look at whatever is available to them.

Are we giving too much information, too many photos, causing people to make a decision about a house without seeing it? There is danger in that...since we all know that seeing the house in person is an entirely different matter. Buyers buy houses all the time that they would have ruled out based on the photos alone. Or lack of photos for that matter. It goes both ways.

A final thought: When you see a car advertised on TV, do you see the entire car, every detail? Nope. They give you little snippets, just enough to spark your interest. They want you to come into the dealership and fall in love. Don't we want the same for our listings?

Sorry for the long comment! You can tell this has been on my mind as well!

Janet - Make no mistake, I still believe in Video despite my data. I see video as an option to the reader. I will continue to insert an embedded couple of minutes into most every post (when I can get Google video to work)

OPTIONS: I know some readers are text driven, some are graphics driven, and for some the video is their hot button. If they can get the message delivered in "moments" it's a case of instant gratification and we have succeeded - simple as that. It's all about delivering the message to the consumer in the manner they prefer. Using your example of the wedding in London this is like getting the letter, the photos and the video, not just one or the other.

I'll throw another item into the data that might have skewed it - load time. Missy and Sally mentioned this. Although I think it might have been more of a AR issue, it did get me looking into it.

This is important. It's not the Video's fault. Video is streamed so it adds very little to the load time. I'll have to look back and see when we added the Blog Customizers - seems like a month ago. I have few widgets to slow down the load time. I changed my banner image from a larger animated image to a static smaller image - in hopes of faster load times.

I'm ok reading posts with no video. I see nothing wrong with it. And hey, I also know I'm not the prettiest slice of cake, but I'm ok with that too.

Mike: Geez, pretty or not, video is something you can't resist. Ever try to have a party with the TV on? Soon everyone is watching that irresistable little box, instead of having conversation. It is an argument I have with my husband all the time.

It isn't that I don't believe in video. I do. But I also think video should not replace writing. Video is delivered in an informational format with you as the newscaster.

Blogging is delivered in a story telling format. While I may not see you or hear you, I have a far better chance of seeing inside your mind. Maybe I am just not a visual person.

I could never marry for looks only. But I certainly could for brains only.

PS Load time on your post was definately too long. Have no idea why.

Janet,

Thanks for the post. I am starting to use video but it is the icing and not the cake. I do believe video will become more and more "standard" and more and more people will start to "expect it".

Christine: A video of the wedding is not comparable to a video placed on a blog. Most videos on blogs are not showing an event. They are of the blogger doing a very short newscast type of communication. Go to Mike's blog and see what I mean.

Delivering news and ideas via short videos is like seeing a commercial where someone sits behind a desk and explains the benefits of using sunscreen. This would not have a prayer of being interesting, and the advertising world knows this. Remote would be clicking that person away.

If someone was really interested in the benefits of sunscreen, they would most likely GOOGLE sunscreen, and do the research by READING....including reading what other consumers have to say...

OR they would see a beautiful girl splashing on the beach in the commercial, and buy that brand at Walgreens unaware of why they liked it.

How can we, as bloggers, hope to attract the consumer with our 3 minute videos? We stand a much better chance by writing.

Janet - Thanks for this thought-provoking post. I have never placed a video online of myself yet (or of a property either). I had been feeling somewhat pressured to do this, but maybe I will take my time now.

Karen Anne: You can definately know a person better by reading what they write. When someone is on camera, they are acting, because that's what you do on camera. When someone is writing, they don't have to act or be concerned with how they sound and how they look.

Some people, I am certain, are naturals behind the camera, But those people are few and far between. It is why we love our movie stars.

Elaine: You bring up a good point that I totally missed!!! Now I know why I feel like I have ADS when I watch a video. I think being able to scan something that is written is such an advantage over waiting for a video to get to the end, then try to think about what you just watched.

Sometimes I do just start looking at the person speaking and completely miss what they are saying.

But it didn't occur to me that I do it because my mind is moving faster than the person speaking.

Thank you for contributing this idea.

Missy: I think videos showing a tour of a house are another whole story. On this, I completely agree with you. I think the entire real estate industry has taken a giant leap forward with video tours of houses. If I was interested in a house, could go to the internet and see a video tour, I would watch that thing intently over and over, trying to absorb every little detail.

What a great thing! But when it comes to a Realtor posting an informational video of themselves dishing out the same kind of info that they would write about on their blog or website, I think most people would just be bored.

What they might find interesting would be really short video testimonials from other clients.

Very interesting! I think the draw of it is that people today are so used to getting what they want instantly from a small box. So when we have something long and drawn out - be it video, email, note, written presentation... they no longer have the capacity to spend the time to absorb it. I think shorter is better no matter what format!

Kelly: You have compared a TV commercial to a video on a blog. And I agree with what you have written. We all bombarded with short little videos. They are called commercials and we watch them on TV. They cost millions to produce, and those brilliant advertising minds that do understand we get bored in 2 seconds, have the remote in our hand, and what they give us better be amazing.

THIS is what you are competing with when you post a video of yourself talking.

But what competition do you have when you post a blog about your industry, your ideas, and your opinions? Very few people STILL are blogging. Yet almost EVERYONE is online when they start to shop for something major.

I say, go where there is very little competition and blog your guts out.

Mike: I also believe it will become more of a standard, so we all better get used to this. I think a whole new industry will need to be born to jazz them up, however.

I would love to see my child, who is in college, do a 3 minute video telling me about her life.

But if I want to buy something, I would like to just read and research. I video is just too close to a commercial, and not nearly as interesting.

Emily: Small box syndrome. Hmmmmmmm.......well, I think the route to getting what you want is probably a combination of both....watching and reading.

Watching is something that better grab you fast, or you are outta there. That is a fact. Writing also needs to grab you, but there is a big difference....you can skip ahead on a written piece, and just read what you want.

Maybe a video could be best used as a "hook" to get someone to read your blog....Maybe just a 30 second teaser like they do for newscasts.

"Written words are a communication luxury."

Beautiful Janet!

You captured my feelings precisely. I don't watch video blogs - they bore me silly. I ask every buyer of mine if they watch the video tour, if any, attached to a listing and how important that feature is to them. 9 out of 10 don't bother. Because they see it as a bother. Unlike photos and text, they cannot skip over the boring stuff.

Like you, I convey far more in my writing than anything I can give you in a video.

I am thrilled they featured this. It needs to be said. Thank you.

As the tech world rules us it is nice to really FEEL something! I have to say that it is just like all tools we develop as agents - to be the the full package we must have a bit of it all! I think if you are dealing with someone that you have never met a short and professional video email is a good start but them let them see who you are and your knowledge with other follow up! Thanks for your input on this! For the non tech at heart they get big bonus points for how this blog will make them feel! By the way - I am so jealous of your blog! I am just not so techy yet to have all the bells and whistles! I am getting there! Have a great week!

Jennifer, Actually, I thought of you several times when I was writing this. In fact, since you are so often listed as a "favorite" blogger by many of us Rainers (I am one of those, by the way).... I wanted to ask this "Do you think Jennifer would/could EVER say what she writes on a video??

Not a chance. Nor do I want the delivery to come from you that way. It would spoil everything.

Writing lay dormant for many years after letter writing went out of style. I guess we thought we didn't need to express ourselves this way in the brave new world. Along comes blogging and we all realize what we had been missing.

Why are we so anxious to replace this with 3 minute clips of someone talking? I, like you, just don't get it.

Janet, you make some very valid points!! I was thinking about doing a vlog, and posted for input - this is one aspect I didn't consider - there will be some people who just won't be interested. So I believe that I need to determine who is interested in the video version of my comments, and is it worth putting the effort forth...Thank you for the post!

This really got me thinking. I have thought about getting more into video but haven't made the leap. Personally, I would rather read words than watch a video of someone speaking those words. While I'm reading a post, I can listen to music or to my favorite talk radio personality. I can also bookmark the post if I like it.

I think video works great for showing properties, tours of towns etc but just having a camera pointed at us while we're talking is visually boring.

You all make some very valid points that I completely agree with.

The one I don't agree with is that by offering a Video to the reader, it somehow compels them to watch it and then denigrates the integrity of the message delivered.

This discussion parallels the same one techies have over RSS feeds.

Do they offer up the feed at all, forcing the reader to read the post only on the blog, in the way they've written it? or...
Do they offer only partial teasers of the feed? or...
do they offer an Email version to be delivered to the subscriber (full or partial as well)? or...
Do they give the reader the opportunity to read that post in any format they (the reader) deem appropriate?

I think you can tell I'm in favor of #4.

The delivery of the RSS feed is akin to the delivery of the message itself.

I'm of the opinion the importance is the message itself. How it get's delivered is unimportant to me. Those that prefer text will read the text. Just because the video is there doesn't mean they have to play it.

To borrow a comment from Vickie Nagy on the post

"HOWEVER, I will say that I read your posts, but I often don't watch the video. I prefer the written word. I am an AVID reader and don't watch tv."

There it is right there. She prefers (like so many here) the written word. My message still gets across and that's one of the main reasons I blog.

I found your blog very appropriate considering I just spent another 30 minutes on the phone with a marketing person who was trying to convince me to spend several hundreds of dollars to be able to email real estate info through video as well as my listings. My main objection is why would my contacts or people who do not know me want to click on a video and get more excited about it than a well-written email or piece of info that informs them of something of value. I agree with you for now that it seems that it is a nice extra, but not the key. Thanks for the posting...at least I know I am not the only one who does not feel like viewing videos. I get enough humor ones from friends.

Writing trumps video. They thought that video killed the radio store but if you have followed MTV since its inception, today it's nothing more than so called "reality t.v." Music is back in the form of IPods and MP3's.

Intersting disection. I feel the sameway about video, but never really took the time to figure out why...i just passed through it. Great post as usual.

OK. As a You Tube junkie, I have to say that I LOVE videos. BUT, I don't usually like watching them on blog posts. However, I think they're a necessity for listings. Buyers love them, especially when I embed the widgets. I've seen a drastic increase in the number of views of my listing videos in the last few months. All I can say is "FINALLY"! I've been questioning those stupid virtual tours for 2 years.

JUN

2008

Interesting that you say some have indicated their readership is down since they began with videos. Personally, we don't watch a lot of videos -- reasons are it takes more time to let videos run through and in the same time a lot of reading could have happened. Other reason is that videos use up computer resources and with all the other programs we have open and working videos can freeze up the computer. And it's not like we don't have a good computer, but videos sure slow things down.

With the written word, the site visitor controls the pace and the content that is reviewed. With the video, the website controls the pace and the content.

The videos can be offered, but unless I really need training or information, I do not spend the time on them.

Videos that open automatically are reasons for me to go to another site automatically.

With that, I am learning the techniques for introducing video to my website - with content and with quality. Quality video can help set a site apart and can help visitors with good, understandable messages.

My thoughts. Great post and great comments.

Richard

Richard, good pro and cons, thank you so much. I would very much like to learn video as well, but I think the video I would consider for my web site would not be me talking.

I think I write better than I can talk, but I have always wanted to do intereviews. Maybe I will go play Barbara Walters

B and C: Ah, the old technical difficulties. I am not a technical soul, but I have heard this as well, and if true, would even make getting through a video slower.

I watched a tutorial on AR when I was trying to learn something. All I can remember is how much I wish it had been in writing.

Videos need to be engaging. You are competing with TV, Unless they are dynamite, most people get bored.

Lisa: Congratulations! As I have said, I believe this is a fantastic use of video! Love video tours and am still amazed.

I started in real estate with a telephone book with little black and white pictures. The fact the people can take a virtual tour is just fabulous.

Maybe we will come up with a better application for video on our blogs than just talking. I hope so.

Mike: I completely agree with most of what you have said. I do think that once I see your blog, I would feel compelled to see the video. I would never consider the fact it might be the same thing you had written. I would assume it to be something different.

Janet, I find that I catch up on the news through video clips. I don't have to sit and watch and wait through commercials and I can point and click directly to my interest. I wouldn't want to watch everyone on video each day either. I prefer the "imagination" to stark reality. I can't tell you how many time we have all thought "wow, he/she didn't look like their picture!" It's a bit of a bummer.

Thanks for the thought provoking post and later in the rain~Deb

I'd like to clarify that when I said I don't like watching videos, I was refering to those with people speaking ... the type that Inman is using more often.

I didn't mean videos showing homes. That's entirely different. I use Slide.com to show my listing's photos rather than video because the photos are much clearer. While that's not really a "video", they do get a LOT of hits on my blog.

But would I foolishly think my readers would give the same attention to me talking to them as they give to viewing photos of my listings? Even I wouldn't want to watch me talking. ;-)

JUN

2008

I am so glad someone else isn't "that into video" I don't watch video well. I don't pay attention and miss half of the point. (Then I don't take the time to go back and see what I missed.) With writing I am taken in and I concentrate. I might provide video, once I actually figure it out, but I will write more.

I understand where you are coming from, but here is the question...

Wouldn't you rather see a several minute video of the ceremony than have a written account with a couple of pictures?

For me everyday blog posts, video probably isn't the medium... I'm not a star, people don't need to see my smiling face that much, but for some things, video DOES offer a better presentation.

JUN

2008

Lane: After I posted this I realized someone would think of this, and several of my readers have. My response is that this does not compare to videos in blogging, because we do not post videos of events, and things that happen. We post videos like Mike, of ourselves talking.

That is way a better comparison would be if got the video of someone talking about the wedding, not the wedding itself.

To answer your question, YES, I would rather have a video of the wedding that the letter. BUT having said that, the letter would contain feelings and opinions and observations from someone that was actually THERE, which you give you a diminsion you would not get from just the straight video.

Janet, I follow you. My point is that we CAN choose to present some material as a written post, and other material in a video format.

My 4 year old is getting ready to start playing hockey. I haven't wrapped a stick for ice hockey since before my wife was born... I found several videos of how to do it, as well as written posts. Which do you think was better to follow?

I also have come across some video instruction of photo techniques... WAY better than written with a few example pictures peppered in.

And I have clicked off of some podcasts because they couldn't hold my attention.

Like a wrench, video is a tool. It serves a purpose, but isn't the only tool we need to have in our box. But that doesn't mean we should toss it out of the box... just use it where appropriate.

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