Between listing appointments and managing expectations for buyers and sellers, you manage to carve out some time to film yourself to promote your Real Estate business. Maybe you have tried to prop up your phone on the counter, use a webcam, or the cell phone holder in your car. The lighting is wonky but you give it the good ol’ college try. After pressing the terrifying red ‘Record’ button, you ramble and “um, ah” your way through the first take. Text messages are flying in while you record.
“Oh, I’ve got to take this call,” you say to yourself, “I’ve been waiting to hear from the home inspector.” It’s not good news. And how can you turn the cheer back on to resume recording your second take?! Uy vey! Calgon, take me away!
As you ease into recording videos of yourself for YouTube, social media, updates for your clients, etc., here are some helpful apps, gadgets, and gizmos that will make filming a part of your ongoing efforts for your business.
Apps
Teleprompter for Video
This app is free as long as you can keep your script under 750 characters. That’s about 1 minute with of video which is great for short explainer videos. You can also split up your script into 2 or more segments (videos) and splice them together under some B-roll. It’s easy to adjust the speed of the script and size of the font to make it super easy to record while looking directly at the camera.
iMovie
iMovie is great for editing content on the go. Whether you film horizontal or vertical, it is possible to edit in iMovie and export your content to Photos to distribute your video.
Photos
Once a movie has been exported to Photos, you can share your content directly from your Photos to social media platforms and YouTube. If the video needs to be cropped to the vertical format, this is possible to do in Photos.
Regarding distribution, I find it is best and easiest to distribute natively on each platform. The manner in which to upload content is different on each app and varies over time as apps update on a regular basis.
Gadgets & Gizmos
iPhone
The iPhone is the absolute most handy gadget to film, edit, and distribute content online. The camera quality is amazing and the editing app, iMovie, comes included with the phone. Also, social media platforms are free to join and it’s free to distribute your content. With just a few more gizmos, it’s possible to maximize all you can do with your iPhone.
Tripod & Cell Phone Adapter/Holder
A tripod and cell phone adapter (holder) are a worthwhile investment to steady your phone instead of propping it up on a stack of books against a potted plant. Here’s the setup that I use:
Davis & Sanford EXPLORERV Vista Explorer 60” Tripod with Tripod Bag
I love this tripod so much that I’ve got three of them! The cool part is that it is inexpensive, collapses to travel well, and has a removed plate for attachments. This makes it really easy to attach the cell phone adapter (holder) to the tripod. Here is my affiliate link to the tripod: https://amzn.to/3daSodf
Vastar Smartphone Tripod Adapter Cell Phone Holder Mount Adapter
This cell phone holder is great because it is easy to attach to the tripod, it can fit virtually any size of phone, and it easily switches from horizontal to vertical format. Click here for my affiliate link to the cell phone holder.
Gimbal
DJI OM 5 Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer
I am so impressed with the ease of use of the DJI OM 5 Gimbal – it could be love!!! There are so many features about this gimbal that I love as opposed to the Hohem Gimbal that I originally purchased. Stay tuned for a comparison video to go over the features that I love the best. Click here from my affiliate link to the DJI OM 5 Gimbal.
Have you tried using any of the above to make a video for real estate? I would love to hear about your video victories! If you have any questions, please share in the comments below. Happy filming!