Online buyers want more video content, and video technology has become much simpler to use.  I’m challenging myself, and anyone who’d like to join me, to create 100 neighborhood videos in 100 days.  To make that happen, I’m going to shoot video only on my smartphone.

Where did this idea come from?  R.E. agent discussions focus a lot on what the big data aggregators are doing to beat them online.  However, no amount of server capacity or programming staff can drive through a neighborhood, take video, and speak intelligently about that neighborhood and the local market like an agent can.  Local video leverages the agent’s unique advantage over a portal.

That, and Matthew Ferrara‘s video speech finally broke through my thick skull the third time I heard him speak.

Putting off video is easy because of the technological barrier to doing decent quality video.  Professionals don’t want shaky, grainy video representing their company.  However, doing something is better than doing nothing.  The ability to create good quality video, even if not top-tier, is easily accessible today.

Getting started with video is the hardest part.  Large cameras, tripods, dollies, etc. make for a clumsy setup that is a big time killer.  Complicated video editing software lengthens the process, and makes the user want to give up after a few tries.

To get 100 videos done, it needs to happen on a phone.  I still sell real estate.  I can’t be out every day doing complicated shoots, and back every night in front of the editing screen.

Some Shortcuts:
I cheated the “only on my smartphone” part to get the process started.  I created some graphics on my PC with Adobe Photoshop.  I wanted to give the video a recognizable branding that looked professional, but also put it in perspective, emphasizing that it is smartphone video (i.e. mobile video handheld tours).

Then I used those logos to create two quick video clips on my PC–an intro and outro to bookend the videos.  The neighborhood video would be the central content in between these two 5 second clips.  They were created on Cyberlink Power Director.  You don’t need these clips, or this software, but since I had access, it was a nice base to start with.  You could easily just upload a logo image to be used as your video’s intro.

Video/Smartphone/App Specs:

I’m using the Videolicious App on my iPhone 5.  The video quality, image stabilization, and reaction time of the iPhone 5 are good enough that a small-format video might sometimes be a bit shaky, but it’s good enough for posting online.

Videolicious is the simplest way to put together a number of videos, create a voice-over, add music, and upload to the cloud and social media without leaving your phone.  It transitions smoothly between clips and processes new videos quickly.  The Business pricing plan is $5/mo and allows the user to have appropriate branding.  There may be more advanced software available, but I’m looking for something to get the job done well and get me back to my real work.

Tip:  To integrate an outside video with its own audio source  (like my intro and outro clips) into a Videolicious video, I had a long conversation with someone in their tech support who really went out of his way to explain this little trick.

Create a neighborhood video in Videolicious with voice-over/background music and save it.  Import your intro and your outro videos on to your iPhone through iTunes.   Now create a brand new Videolicious video, and import the intro, fully-produced neighborhood video, and outro into one video.  Skip the voice-over and the music.  Save.

Result:  New Neighborhood Videos Without Leaving My Car

At this point, I can drive to a neighborhood, shoot video, edit, voice-over, and publish it before my clients show up for an appointment.  Since I can’t shoot video every day, being mobile is important, as I could shoot a half-dozen of these on a good day.

The plan is to post each video on our websites’ neighborhood pages, and host them on our YouTube channel.

I’m trying to keep the videos around 1 minute.  They’re more of an intro video to a neighborhood page on a website.  

98 to go.