I Tube, YouTube, We Should All Tube
Tips for starting up the Rain on YouTube:
It's a beautiful day here in the Pacific Northwest, but I'm inspired to make it Rain... okay, maybe not the "real" kind of rain, but instead, Rain wet full of Knowledge and Inspiration. Droplets of data and wisdom, or maybe a prophetic word... okay, maybe that last sentiment is merely wishful thinking. 
I've been seeing a lot of posts this week (is it just me?) about posting videos to YouTube and other video sites. I hear a lot of hesitation from agents when I make this suggestion (and other industry professionals) who fear being on the 'Tube. Why so scared?
I can easily answer that question. I'm a seasoned YouTube Partner myself (not for real estate though) and although I've been at it for 4 years now, I still get nervous whenever I post a new video. Will people like it? Are the trolls going to attack me? Even worse, what if people don't like me or think that I'm annoying? What if I'm wasting my time?
You know what? All those fears are okay. And, from experience, "when the trolls attack, it means that you attract." Yep, some say that bad attention is just normal attention with a twist of commentary and unsolicited advice. (Okay, I'm probably the only one I know who says that, honestly) I've had a lot of people (haters/trolls) call me inexperienced, ugly, fat, stupid, etc., and make requests for me to go and die or just go away. While people can hide behind screens and fake names to tell me all that, I find that it drives me even harder to keep uploading and posting. It only makes me want to keep annoying them with my videos... all while reaping the benefits of more business: Aaah yes, the real reason we should all 'Tube--the business prospects.
Real Estate is still a pretty small niche on YouTube, which is why it's such a great time to get started. YouTube is built around being able to easily share ideas and good content, so you can post your videos here on ActiveRain, your personal websites... and even on Facebook and Twitter. You can do what I like to call "webbing," my term for connecting all of your big SEO sources together in your networking web, so that you can inter-connect all your Google juice and direct it to one place...
Since the power of YouTube is amazing (all hail the mighty Google God, and its love-child, YouTube) harnessing that power will greatly help your business... if you do it right. The first step is just to begin though!
Tips for Raining on YouTube:
1. You don't need fancy equipment. Whooa what?! Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of one-hit wonder videos out there that are filmed with the built-in camcorders in cell phones? Yep! your camera-phone will do just fine. While video quality is generally good in new model smartphones, videos are made even better when you have optimized your filming space, which leads me to numbers 2 and 3:
2. Good lighting is key. Just film in natural daylight where you don't have any shadows casted on your face nor are you squinting into the camera because of direct sunlight. The best time for filming is during the Golden Hour (also known as Magic Hour). This is about an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset. The lighting is just soft enough to not be too bright, but not too dark for it to be difficult to see your lovely or handsome face.
3. Stabilize your footage. If you do plan to use your cell phone for filming, I recommend getting a mini tripod or something to hold it up in a landscape form. This is to prevent the annoying shaky footage, and what's more, your video will appear to be better quality because it will fill the video frame.
4. Post-production editing is good, but not required. You see a lot of videos on YouTube that look as though a professional had edited them. I am personally a fan of my $300 Final Cut Pro, but I am not a fan of sitting around for six hours to edit a four-minute video (I've been known to do that though...) As a busy real estate professional, I'm sure those six hours and $300 can be better spent on other marketing gains. However, if you know that you are going to make big blunders, change scenery, or are filming a lengthy video, I do recommend editing merely for those purposes, but you don't need to buy a program for it. If you own a PC, you can use the free Windows Live Movie Maker (very simple edits) or on a Mac, you can use iMovie. If you are filming something super short, or are otherwise perfect ( nobody ever is) don't spend all the extra time to do that. Don't even bother hiring someone to do it unless you seriously have 0 time for any of that.
5. Keep it short. Audiences today don't care how much you know; it's about how it is presented to them. If you keep it short and sweet, you retain more of your audience and YouTube will be more likely to share your video in the side bars and Suggested Videos. If you like to talk (some of us talkers could easily make 40-minute videos--I've done that too!) then your viewers will get bored and quickly flip off of your video. If they bounce off at 45 seconds into your 20-minute video, this looks really bad compared to a bounce-off at 45 seconds into a 3-minute video. (3.75% retention rate vs. 25%). Keeping it short will help your YouTube viewability and SEO immensely.
I hope this information helps you! Please comment below letting me know what you think or if you have questions!
Have a Rain-tastic day!
Mary
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