Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tina Casto. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
What we do differently than the industry standard is that we don’t try to upsell agents on products that won’t produce an effective ROI for the home they are selling. A common request we get from agents is about doing videos for their listings. Videography is a more labor-intensive and therefore, more expensive, tool to promote new real estate listings. While the statement “video is king” is still true…there is a caveat to that – what kind of video is it? Real estate videos do not typically get a lot of views for most agents because the agent either 1) doesn’t have a lot of followers to show it to, or 2) isn’t posting it on social media channels where it can be seen and shared appropriately. We tend to discourage agents from paying for this upgrade, especially when the listing is a standard “tract” home because most buyers just aren’t interested in that medium. We researched agents in our area who religiously post videos of every home they sell and the stats aren’t very impressive. One local team has been posting videos for the last 11 years on Youtube and out of the thousands of videos less than 10 have over 1000 views, and less than 50 have over 100 views. Conversely, we go directly to the annual National Association of Realtors Buyer-Seller Profile in which buyers and sellers are surveyed about different things they value through the buying and selling process. Time and again, buyers indicate they want high-quality photos, a floor plan with room dimensions, and a virtual tour because these are the three most practical items allowing them to discern if a home will work for them before ever leaving their couch. If you are looking to add videos to your repertoire, we recommend starting FOR FREE with a selfie stick and a boatload of confidence so that viewers can find YOU and your authentic voice – this is the way you will truly start to engage with an audience and gain followers.
Tina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Open House Optics 3D Photography and Drone operates as a holistic real estate photography brand. We wanted to be a sort of one-stop shop for agents looking to market their listings which is what sets us apart from most other brands in our area. We offer real estate photography and simple videography, drone photo and video, virtual tours (Zillow 3D, Ricoh and Matterport), Single property websites for listings, listing description copywriting, brochure, flyer, postcard and social media post supplements and creation, floor plans, virtual staging, virtual twilights, renderings, site plans, google maps placement, and most recently have pushed into the verticals of head shot photography, school year book photography and creation and pet photography.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
If you are even thinking about starting a business, read the book Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. It is a paradigm-shifting outlook that can really help you push open spaces in your chosen industry where there previously were none. I would like to think this book allowed me to catapult my new business from a negative borrowing position in start-up costs to a business that has doubled year over year in revenue in its first four years and now brings in roughly a quarter of a million dollars annually with just two people.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The two biggest points of feedback I get from my clients is how responsive I am to their calls, texts, web requests, or emails. I cannot stress enough how important it is to be available to customers on THEIR medium and quickly. You will not just bleed customers with long response times, you will hemorrhage them. My clients are constantly surprised and delighted when they text or email at 11pm or 5am and get a quick reply because I happened to be up. I don’t wait until “working” hours to respond. I’m by no means saying that you shouldn’t enjoy some level of work-life balance but what I am saying is that you should make an effort to respond to customers in as timely a manner as possible. Also, you may hate taking phone calls but if your client loves talking on the phone, you’ll want to engage with them in that format. The other thing I hear is about how much they trust me. This trust comes from working together for a period of time but more so from my giving suggestions on what NOT to buy vs taking every opportunity to upsell. For example, if a house is on a small lot and they’ve ordered drone photos…I would advise against that because it will accentuate how small the lot is. My clients know they can rely on me to make recommendations that will not only save them money but will put their listing in the best possible position to sell in the market.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://openhouseoptics.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/openhouseoptics/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OpenHouseOpticsLLC
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/openhouseoptics
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@openhouseoptics
Image Credits
Open House Optics