[00:00:01] Welcome in today, sorry to keep you waiting.
[00:00:04] That's all right. It was cool. You can see me backstage. This is a really cool set up.
[00:00:09] Yeah, yeah. Todd has been sitting in the backstage, came in 20 minutes early, dropped out, came back in. Isn't that great back there.
[00:00:19] Yeah. I had to eat the right color. Eminem's and everything I requested backstage in my room. So where did we get the makeup on.
[00:00:31] What's that. Did we get the makeup. The powder room. Pacula. I didn't want to come on stage. I kind of like it backstage and I could just hang out that there.
[00:00:42] So what am I looking at in your background there? Is that a is that a green screen or is that real?
[00:00:46] You're looking at a real actual kitchen, but it is actually designed to be one of the places I could fill, modeled because I now have a video production company and I'm housing them on three different levels of the building. This is the top level, which I call Scotsdale. So it's reminiscent of our time that we had a place in Scottsdale. So it's got that decor. The second floor is Charleston, the first floor is Cleveland. And then next to it I have a five car attached garage that has two stories. So that is where all the video production capacity is as far as editing rooms, common area. And it is just starting to recruit talent to live in this building. So I've actually got the first guy going to be moving in here shortly again in Giuseppi. And he was actually did the original original videos for Machine Gun Kelly here in Cleveland. So, wow.
[00:01:37] So Todd is going to be talking to us about video today. And isn't it great? Because look at all of the times.
[00:01:43] He's already mentioned video, but Todd runs a team at Howard. Hanah has been extremely successful. We're grateful to have him as a Sisu customer. And anyway, Todd, you've also developed a video company of your own software technology company. So anyway, I'm excited to hear what you have to say today. But the key thing here, you're saying how we're using video to target marketing and it's important that you're targeting who you want. Right. You know who it is you want to bring in. So anyway, I'm going to let you just kick things off. I'll be here to ask questions along the way.
[00:02:22] We're in listening to your session with Greer. Earlier, he referenced Lauren Young, the chief economist of NPR. And I also recall hearing Lohan on stage right before we had that Great Recession. I was right in the midst of it. And at that time, she said, never waste a crisis. And so for us, at that time, we really had to then see what additional costs we could talk. We were overstaffed. And so we really had to be to that mode of never waste a crisis, because sometimes you have to have tough conversations and part ways with people to part ways with programs or vendors or advertising.
[00:02:58] And it now I think it's really to the point of view, pivot on a pandemic. I know one of the things that you mentioned, the leads that you get now are the leads you can keep, because I think if you're ever having a transaction with somebody in twenty twenty, I mean, of all the times you're 20, 20 vision, who saw this coming. Right. That's a whole different vision, but it's an experience they're going to remember they're going to remember moving in that epic year.
[00:03:25] And we're so blessed to be in the housing industry where we had the elimination of distractions because we're having a lot of virtual seminars. It's not we're not traveling as much, not traveling really too much at all. Our clients are traveling. They're not going to concerts. They're not going to baseball games. So they're really focusing on the housing. And maybe the before is to look for houses with his in her closet, not in his and her offices or the workout space. So you're seeing that.
[00:03:52] And I think it's also an opportunity for us to really capture some high end clients. And that's what we specifically did to do, is target clients that would be looking for that type of property where they could have a can't really have a compound effect because they want more more privacy. They want the home gym. They want all of these items. And a lot of times you've got you may want to have your own pool. I know in this subdivision, my folks living over in the health club, when they had the pool, they had to registered. You want you at the country club pool. Do you want a certain date, like a month out book? So like it's June and July and August 12, the morning or the afternoon. I mean, I'm like, I'm gonna jump in a pool in five minutes. I'm not thinking five weeks in advance. So I think that really open up the opportunity. Then I saw in a local newspaper, I'm Cleveland Cleveland Dotcom, which is combined with over with online advertising, what's called advantage one, that they had a little promo that if you spend fifty, here's a great promotion. They said, you know what, it's like a grant if you go ahead and apply for it.
[00:05:00] And then you said fifteen hundred a month, they'll match it. So I got approved to spend a months, right? Yes, they approved me, but then they said, but you've got to do it for three consecutive months. And I was fine with that. So we did some really good math with our team, got a brand new videos with masks and how to show how we would show properties and sell property safely. So that just made good client awareness and kind of educated in a fun, entertaining way. We met up with some really upper properties and actually used to do videos that would go property videos about a minute, maybe because video of OK, two minutes or less. 90 seconds or less. Minute or less. And then I agreed to do this because I thought it's some good videos ready to go. And they're like, OK, 30 seconds or less. And you're like, oh, then you got to really make it more impactful. So we worked on a series of videos for properties that would just be uploaded, properties, pretty punchy, fun videos, and we got them done to 30 seconds or less. And so it also made me realize, OK, let me hit a different target audience.
[00:06:07] So I went over to cranes, dot, dotcom, and a lot of people a lot of people get crayons and our various crayons. Cleveland maybe in your area as well. There's a lot of different cities that have trades in. It is just all the business insights of what's going on, commercial real estate, anything in the area specific going on to that particular city. And most people really enjoy reading the cranes. Any time I visit an office in downtown Cleveland, I'd always grab a copy of this so much to the point that I subscribe to it. But guess what? People are going to the office as much. So where are they reading cranes? They're reading it online. So we went over and spoke of the rapid cranes, said, OK, here's what I'm going to be doing over at Cleveland Dotcom. Can you pop in some 30 second spots on cranes? So we did that. And then to our delight, his quickly responded back after the first motss, like, OK, you're getting eight times engagement and open rates that we've ever seen on any cranes videos. And I'm going to tell my videographer, OK, we've got to act now. We got to step up a little bit.
[00:07:07] Now, the house videographer that's outsourced, we have basically in-house because it is.
[00:07:13] Well, here's the beautiful thing about Facebook and Facebook reminders as well. There's a great Cleveland event photographer named Orville, and he does a lot of major events, photography, some video. And I'd always try and say, hey, you need to work on this. Can you be like Tom? I can shoot it. I've got down and have to shoot it. I can't I don't have time to edit it. So that March Facebook pops up and yeah, you did this with Orville. I'm like Orville, the photographer. There's no advance or no. So at that point, we ended up working a partnership on a video production company so I can utilize his expertize and then with anybody. It's just a matter of trying to scale things because we've got over booked. So it is now bringing on other videographers and here in this company can house six of them could live here, plus have the ability of an extra 20 in the area, could actually come here and have a creative compound for content creators with its writers or video producers or cameramen talent. So we can really scale it up that way. So different things that we just have one of the cool things, and this is a property that I did the same thing I mention with cranes at that point we just spend fifteen hundred a month. And so it helped with I actually got this listing because over the hump couple, my parents live with video on property with the drone or it was I get a text message.
[00:08:35] Is that your drone flying next to our house said yes and this will my dad needs to sell the house that he has over hills is going to be the one point three million range is great. So we go ahead listed that one and it had a really long driveway. And so when I was in there, I was like, you know, what do with me today? I'll I'll have my guys pressure washed the whole driveway. What did you think? How long it was actually had been seven hoses over to pressure wash the whole driveway. But then when we did the video, we brought in a girl that goes on rollerblades and swivels around. And so she would hold up a sign that says pond or fountain. And so it's not just going to the property itself, it's making it. How do you captivate it and make it look more entertaining for people? So we did that, which created a lot of interest with it. And this is a really good ideal property to entertain it. It's got a phenomenal pavilion overlooking the pool. So we decide, you know what, let's do a pop up party. Because one thing I learned I really, really like to do is throw parties at other people's houses. It's like someone's going to have a really nice house. So I did this and I did it really like in forty eight hours I called up, had live music. I saw something on Facebook that explained and does fire spinning.
[00:09:49] And I'm like, oh, you're perfect, you're on the team. So we brought it in and then we had a pop up video party there and you captured that as well. And that had really good feedback. And then I had a by. That actually happened to me over and it was actually over a lifetime when I was working out the summer and he does a lot of real estate people that may know him as Mark Evans, Mark D.M., but he calls me on that property is like, hey, Tom, this is Mark Evans. I'm like, wait a minute. I'm like, I can fix your face. And I'm like, I can picture your hat. Because he always wears his hat is stylish hat. So it's funny because I pull them up on it. Now, people, you say how you look on Instagram or how you look. So on Instagram. So he's sitting there, he's got had a cigar in his mouth. He's got like back me up three phenomenal Rolls Royce spectacular, you know, when it comes up in the Mercedes SUV saying, look, it pulls out the baby carriage and I'm like even Borlase baby, so that he carried the baby in there. And and then sure enough, I was able to sell that property myself directly and then have a really cool party video. So you'll have to see that sometimes you want to see what is. So then we put that on and Craig's Satcom as well. I had another unique property.
[00:11:05] I have a question for you around this. So you with the pandemic, really started focusing on high end videos and targeting the high end market. From what I know, you know, your average price point because you have Sisu.
[00:11:19] So last year, your average price point was what and what is it this year if you're in the team, our team and only about two hundred twenty seven thousand, me personally pushed it well over four hundred thousand and sales just recently five higher than it's coming in right now to put I should know that exact number as critical. Pull that up. But we have now it's just increasing that price.
[00:11:42] So I do too, because no one on those properties, you're going all in giving them a complete media package that's going to attract more people, because, as you said, the leads you get now, the leads you keep and you also make an experience that they want to share for others, have a video so cool that they want to share it. So I'm on that along with sharing solutions. So I also I've got a team of five guys right now, not not the burger place, but it sounds like the burger place I'm going.
[00:12:11] I joked about that on Saturday morning because I had a previous client that wanted to buy a house and I'm showing it to them and both of their in-laws are there. They like the house. And then you get the text message from the agent. There's an offer on the house right now and you're like, OK, how do you say this to this guy? Just kind of when you see this text. And so they decide to buy that property without the sale there, but they still wanted to sell it pretty quickly and then some painting and things to do. And so on Saturday, eight o'clock, I had five guys there, painted the entire basement, painted all of the trim. I said it's complimentary. I mean, and then I had an open house that night of that day. Let me see that hand open house on Sunday. Monday, we had six offers on the property sold well over this price. Thirty days rent free so they can actually not close on their current property before heading out to the next one. So I think it's a lot of times it's how you can simplify things. People want to make a move. I do with a lot of estate sales properties where you may have three siblings and they need to sell the family house. And what happens if you ever get that name like they try and clear it out? What happens is they'll go there on Saturday about like ten or eleven. They'll start looking at some photo albums.
[00:13:31] They'll try to leave and they really don't get anything done. And I'm like, OK, what you really just need to do is just take anything that you want. If there's anything you want me to donate, just market donate stickers to do that, have just things that you want to put in storage. Let me know that. And then we've got guys and trucks that will literally those things get a dumpster. We take things over to L.A. County Furniture Bank so we will clear the property out, paint it Politti wallpaper, any carpet. We do hardwood floors just so they can literally do things. And I got guys that do it very efficiently. So I normally will lose a little bit of money and property prep.
[00:14:10] So you actually do that at your own expense in most of the time and do it at my expense sometimes. If it's a if it's mine or I'm going to do it at my expense if it's a property. One of them, I said, okay, here's what we done with the property it's going to is on the carpet. Some things I'd like it would my guys can do all of this and it would be thirty five hundred dollars.
[00:14:31] I probably spent over five, but again, didn't make a difference. I got that listing. I'm going to get both listings on either side of them.
[00:14:40] But nowadays, if you can provide that solution, whatever it may be. So any property prep slows people down. And right now we're in a time where it's an active market. The leaves are changing. That's changing right now. You're starting to see them. They're going to start falling. And then you also come over once you hit November. We lose an hour of daylight, so all of a sudden you're trying to show house, you show it during the week and it's going to be dark, probably November show to get on the weekend. So when you have it, it's how quickly can you get it on the market? When I leave here today, I'll be bringing the drone over. They called me up and it was called New Promis Church. So if you ever want to over deliver, you do that for New Promise Church. So they've got a property here, two homes on it past. You used to live in the back one. They had a property up front. I could use a rental. And at that point that was part of the compensation. If you work for the church, you did housing, but they want to sell that property now, put some improvements in the church. So interviewing three realtors and I walk to the first ranch and I look at this in the basement. I see some missing basement needs to be painted.
[00:15:51] And I'm like, I can have guys do that. I can have guys do that. So I said, do all that. So we're doing the things that I didn't even tell them about. Freshly washed the driveway, refinished the deck. This is funny. When you get a call and somebody normally if you get a call about any contractors, they're normally saying, OK, you know, where are your guys? When's it going to be done? I get a call from Pastor Roy yesterday that you didn't tell me. You're putting in a hardwood floor. And he was slightly concerned. So they thought I was going to charge you. But in the back main house that a big garage with two entrances, one in a laundry room, one is really nice office. When I saw it all had boxes in it. Now they're very pastoral. I moved out. Now it just says it's got no flooring. I'm not falling for my neighbor while extra flooring and it would cover that. So it wasn't very expensive for me to get. So then I just said, my dad's the hardwood floor there, but it's nice when you actually surprise somebody that's a hardwood floor in there and so that one will hit the market. I'll take pictures today. I'll actually then attend their service that they have ten thirty on Sunday and then have held open right afterwards. But you just get that type of when you overwhelm people. And just I know you've talked about user experience or customer experience.
[00:17:10] We really kind of look for we call it entertainment, if you can, at visitor or guest entertainment, where you literally entertain them at the same time that you train them on the process of what's going on and just make it so it's excitable so that they really you know, our job is to help them transfer title. In the meantime, transferring energy. Here's what we're going to do. Here's what my guys could do. And then you still do more than you ever said. And then it's just you get compound with referrals. It so that was that's a base that's the base of a market in Cleveland.
[00:17:46] But that allows me to get things done, service a lot of clients, but then also ATEX and carve out the market. We can afford the investment it takes to get to higher end properties because that you're investing some dollars in the videos, the technology, the drone. So I got the new drone I've got when I was little concern. I'm looking at Orville and I thought it was like his screen was cracked on his phone because I see, like, yellow stripes on this thing. And I'm like, what's wrong with the drone? Is like, that's a tracking device. So when the girls skating on the driveway, it's literally following a tracking. And so they said, OK, it's cool. I've got another tropical Africa atras. Used to be eleven hundred acre retreat for three elite families that were had homes over a million from Cleveland. So I'm all for this one. I'm going to get a mechanical bird and I'm going to fly it. And I want you to track this thing. And somebody said, you know how to fly the bird. And I said, the bird is really cheap. I really don't care if the bird crashes, but there isn't a drone tracking the birds of bird crashes. I said, good point, Orville, pull off the bird.
[00:18:51] I don't really know how to fly the bird. And I can prove that because then he later took a video of me getting the bird off the roof of the house because it landed there. But if you can go all over, settle anything for your clients and whatever it takes that attitude, they they appreciate that. Because when he went to drone that property, I see the branches all up on the roof. So latera we'll get the branches off. But I think with those those clients, you know, their business owners, this gentleman of that property happens to own a business at Mannus in manufactures everything for display cases, for loans and everything that holds up for like fosset items and things of that nature. So he's got a large tell. But you create experiences like, wow, I can't believe everything that you did and then you just get more referrals that way. But what you have to then do is captured on video. So first we capture the properties, then we'll double back and capture all the testimonials. But really quick, punchy with good at. I'm going take a drink. All right, close this group, we're supposed to have participation and I don't participate enough, so I'm hoping product placement counts as participation.
[00:20:07] Todd.
[00:20:08] So it it seems to me that you go out of your way. To make things fun and to make things convenient for whomever you're working with, and in doing that, what's happening is you're driving a referral business.
[00:20:24] It is that a fair description, definitely.
[00:20:28] Yeah, it's one of the past and tell me, listen, it was pretty close between three of you three realtors we interviewed and then I met them last night. So my goal is to make sure it wasn't even close. And you thought it was close going in. But what you see what we've done, just prepping the property, we'll start marketing it today.
[00:20:48] It's a clear decision. And then again, create that experience. Then you want to just get the video sort of text version so that you get a video done. You can text it to your seller at work where they're showing other people this. They're saying, I can't believe they did this item. So it's just a matter of how quick and punchy and fun you can make a 30 second video.
[00:21:08] So if I'm not if I'm not doing a lot of video today in my business, how do I quickly get into that? What what kind of equipment are is required? How are you creating videos that are making a difference?
[00:21:20] I think it's just to start off with video that cell phones that we have nowadays are absolute recording studios that happen to text people and make phone calls as well. So I know my partner Lisa, been just crushing videos, going to different open houses with my open house on Sunday, put three shots together, three videos of the iPhone. She was able to quickly just edit that.
[00:21:45] She went to the open house at twelve o'clock. I think by 12, 15, she posted a video on the house presenting in the kitchen address so you can shoot any video on your phone.
[00:21:58] Iphone eleven plus is what you're using or what. What are you as a.
[00:22:02] So it is phenomenal.
[00:22:04] Yeah, yeah, OK, we have five minutes left.
[00:22:12] What what are the key things for next year that maybe you want to summarize that are that you feel are going to make a difference to really focus and take your business to the next level when it comes down for any agent listening to this right now.
[00:22:27] It's just a well, let's just start off with entertaining, training your clients. How well can you train a client, make an enjoyable make the process so that they can enjoy it, relieve the stress? Here's an idea. Most people are not doing things on their cell phone. So if you're meeting with a client, like I'll be doing what's the listing agreement? Give a client, whether it's a seller that you're currently working with, when you meet with them, give them an example of a sales agreement, a purchase agreement on their property. You can just write and fill it in and loop. You can put awesome buyers as the buyer's name, but have them look at that. So at the time that they get an offer, they have already seen a printed copy, they can digest it. The first time they're seeing a purchase agreement is on their cell phone at eight thirty at night while they're driving. They're not going to be able to process it. So the more you can walk people through the steps is the difference. So you want to go ahead and make it simple. One thing, as I said myself in my own phone as a contact. So if I need to relay my information to somebody else, I just share my contact information and tell them to open up and say it so you can save the contact information, save their contact information. So if you're to call me, I'm like, hey, Brian, how can I help you today? People just get a chuckle out of that, that I'm creating them by name when they when they go ahead and give me a call.
[00:23:55] So those type of things of educating people in the process so that they know the next step, I think with technology, which is phenomenal, to expedite things, we've gotten away from the explanation of of items. We used to walk people through the buying process with the flow chart, and we have that. But we don't do it diligently enough every single time to a client and both the homes selling the home buying process. So I think you just need to still interact with your clients, differentiate yourself and how you can be there in the process. So I'm sure people are properly so. And I'm sure in your homes, I would say, listen, by what we're going to do is we look at three houses today. If there's any of them that you like, I'm going to call the listing agent why we're in the house. Just want to verify this is still available. Just want to make sure my people can. It's in the top three. But if they decide to write on it, just want to see when would you like to give up possession? How quickly can you get it presented? And then is there any exclusions? So I tell them the phone call I'm going to make during the day, love, I'm making that exact phone call, just like I told you, because it's great.
[00:25:07] It is. It's a performance, as we know, and it's how well you can deliver it. And I think one of the things I've ever because people say, well, I don't want to sound scripted. Well, what you want to be is fluid. If your delivery is that good, it seems it's it's effortless and it flows. And the best thing I ever heard, it's just like telling a joke. I mean, some people can tell it really well. Some people just hack the joke up. But the people that tell it, well, it's like a story. So you want to basically have little stories that move people along. There's similar stories just like comedians if someone's going to give a similar joke but make it so it's captivating, entertaining. It really you can help them transfer title, but you have to transfer energy, experience, insight, wisdom, passion and have them enjoy the process and share it with their friends so that they want to work with you and you'll have a good time doing.
[00:26:04] I wish I could hear you.
[00:26:09] Sorry, I guess I was muted, my phone was ringing, so I muted myself out for a second. So anyway, thank you for joining. I think you've done a great job in really making the experience a great one for everyone that you work with. I think that's something that every every person in real estate could definitely work on and take their business to. The next level really shows that you care about your your people and the experience and just a completely different approach that I think a lot of people are not utilizing. So thank you so much for jumping in today and sharing that with us.
[00:26:43] And some swag now. So this is in color. I'll be working some Sisu inside next time it's in the mail for you.
[00:26:53] That's all right. Thank you.
