Breaking into Real Estate with DIY Videos (Episode 195)

[00:00:00] Chris Schwager: G'day, I'm Chris here from Ridge Films and welcome to the DIY Video for Professionals podcast where you get all of your video tips, even from property buyers, all in one place. And I'm super pumped to be joined with one of my more recent clients, Anshu Vadia. From premium buyers and the exciting part of talking with Anshu is he has just started his business and he's gone all in on video and I can't wait to hear his story.

[00:00:34] Chris Schwager: Anshu, welcome to the podcast.

[00:00:35] Anshu Vaidya: Thank you, Chris. Thanks for having me.

[00:00:38] Chris Schwager: Tell. The audience, a little bit of the background, where you come from and how you got to here. I come from

[00:00:45] Anshu Vaidya: professional background from insurance and banking industry. Started my own property investment journey many years ago, built a portfolio and started helping friends and family and thought, Hey, look, there is opportunity.

[00:00:59] Anshu Vaidya: And, how about helping more people and clients. Here we are.

[00:01:04] Chris Schwager: What's, what are some of the challenges of property buyers right now? Say, five years ago, I was maybe even ten years ago, I was razzed. I was like, oh, what? You mean there's people out there that can help you with this stuff?

[00:01:14] Chris Schwager: This sounds like it's a, it was a shut up and take my money moment, right? But I would imagine over the last five to ten years, there's been more and more competition. Is that true?

[00:01:23] Anshu Vaidya: A hundred percent. So there are countless buyers agents at the moment doing similar things using, similar data and whatnot.

[00:01:31] Anshu Vaidya: But the challenge is also an opportunity, right? So more buyers agents means there is more acceptance to pay for to buy properties using Tata and whatnot. Yes more competition is more awareness. And that means that this industry has, gone through the roof at the moment.

[00:01:48] Chris Schwager: Have you run a business before? No.

[00:01:50] Anshu Vaidya: Look, it was as a start, it was just a side gig whilst I was working for the big bank. And I saw a really good response and and that sort of gave me courage to go, you know what, I'm I may as well do go all in and go full time.

[00:02:04] Anshu Vaidya: So

[00:02:05] Chris Schwager: yeah, good on you. And it's time to the to take the leap from employee to owner, to someone that's responsible for not only the future of the asset that you're building and the future of the wealth and success and prosperity of your family. Agreed, correct sounds right. Like big leap and for your clients as well.

[00:02:23] Chris Schwager: A hundred percent, yeah. Big leap. So yeah, I guess on that, what is the thing that is flaring obvious as a startup business you've had to really consider in say, the last six months. Or even the last year, or even since when you started, what was the thing that was like, I got to get this organized and I'm not trying to see the video thing in here.

[00:02:46] Chris Schwager: I just want you to tell me honestly, or what's the big thing that you know, that you needed to tackle.

[00:02:50] Anshu Vaidya: The first thing is, the floor of clients. At the minutes basically, I'm relying on a lot of referrals whether it's business to business or referrals from existing clients, that's number one thing.

[00:03:03] Anshu Vaidya: And, how do you raise awareness of your brands and things like that is, part of the success story is, This studio set up.

[00:03:11] Chris Schwager: So what was the thing that was flaringly obvious to you that you really wanted to make sure that you got right?

[00:03:18] Chris Schwager: It was a bit of a leap. It was a bit of a commitment financially, as well as, overcoming some beliefs around how you would get yourself out there and get that visibility that you're after. What's the next step?

[00:03:29] Anshu Vaidya: The next step is again you have full faith in yourself.

[00:03:32] Anshu Vaidya: You've seen the results as well, right? I've helped clients 18 months ago buying Burnberry as an example. At the time it was not obvious. Now big players are saying that Burnberry is going to be, one of the top performing areas in, throughout Australia. I knew that before, 18 months ago.

[00:03:49] Anshu Vaidya: Now it's being talked about. So to, how do you create that awareness? How do you raise that profile? And that can be done, through your content YouTube channel and things like that. And with the studio, I can record videos at midday or midnight or two in the morning.

[00:04:07] Anshu Vaidya: So I have complete flexibility and control of, when I want to do it, how I want to do it. And things like that.

[00:04:14] Chris Schwager: What was life

[00:04:15] Anshu Vaidya: like before the studio? Where were you at? I always want to create content. It was working out of a laptop camera which probably wouldn't have been effective.

[00:04:24] Anshu Vaidya: I knew that was not the solution. Didn't even give it a shot, to be perfectly honest. When you're compared against a lot of professionals with SMIC studio set up I guess looking professionally is obviously a key. For success. What are the key ways you're using your DIY kit every day?

[00:04:42] Anshu Vaidya: Many different ways. As I was explaining before recording videos, creating content is definitely one big factor for me or where I use on a daily basis is interacting with clients. Yes, face to face is always more effective. That is also [00:05:00] time consuming as well. So you may be spending a couple hours in the road just for one appointments that can go for 45 minutes, right?

[00:05:07] Anshu Vaidya: Whereas if you have studio set up prep time is 30 seconds.

[00:05:12] Chris Schwager: Exactly. And what are some unexpected benefits or uses you've discovered since taking all this on in the way that you've done it?

[00:05:21] Anshu Vaidya: Most of it I guess we're we're expected. Having that ease easiness, like for example, when you're sharing screen they were like, I don't know, like four or five clicks away.

[00:05:31] Anshu Vaidya: And it used to take like maybe 20 seconds. So just share one screen. And once you start sharing screen, You can't just, pause easily flick back to your camera and things like that with this setup. It's literally press a button. I can switch to screen sharing, come back to camera, and your coaching has helped me a lot.

[00:05:54] Anshu Vaidya: That basically, your face is what you're selling as opposed to, the chats and whatnot. So I've been using that to a very good use.

[00:06:02] Chris Schwager: Let's talk about the coaching a little bit. What are the, some of the, do you have any examples of the videos you produced directly leading to client sales or significant opportunities?

[00:06:14] Anshu Vaidya: It's very early days. So I've done this for what's not even a couple of months, right? Created probably, 15 odd videos, it's hard to directly translate. And that was not the intent as well. The whole intent behind content is awareness and brand recognition. You can't put a dollar value or, conversion to that, it takes a long time to, Build that awareness, confidence, the results will come in months to come or years to come.

[00:06:42] Chris Schwager: And that's awesome, right? Like just even hearing that you've done 15 videos, what do you think would be like the alternative of you? And please make sure you drop in the 15 videos that you've already done. That you've already produced because I've been following them on TikTok. I think they're great mate.

[00:06:57] Chris Schwager: And the fact that you've only tapped a part of your video coaching so far is also a testament to you that I wish for everybody, which is, you've got to get in the trenches and figure some stuff out and maintain some consistency. Obviously I'm helping you win the coaching through that, but also it's the responsibility of the owner to be doing those things and maintaining a good look and diary.

[00:07:17] Chris Schwager: Like you've got Allocation of time, you're prioritizing your time. It sounds like you're a real prioritizer. You're the guy that understands the value of being consistent. Tell me what have been the successes of having this solution for yourself, that ability to morning, noon or night shoot whenever you want, as well as, getting out there and making sure that you keep your foot on the pedal.

[00:07:39] Anshu Vaidya: I think as you rightly said, it's it's basically discipline, right? If you there is there is a hot topic. At the moment, there is a lot of banter going around on negative viewing but there is very little awareness at a general population level, what the implications are, you may as well if you were to hire a professional to record a video and so on, so forth it's an exercise in itself, whereas for me I can just do a bit of research on the topic things I already know and, start recording at my own pace.

[00:08:10] Anshu Vaidya: And look, I've gone from first video was, I, I'll be honest, it took 10 shots 10 recordings. Now I do one or two and that's it. One or two, all in one go and yeah, edit the videos, get the content out. 15 videos wouldn't have been possible if it was not for.

[00:08:30] Anshu Vaidya: This DIY setup. Yes it's, it sounds a lot, 15 videos in a couple of months. But like I said, even if you use a professional, you record the video, and you send it to them and there'll be. Number of rounds of editing and so on, so forth, you can do that all you, at your own pace and depending on the sense of urgency, and then you can pump out those recordings very quick as well.

[00:08:54] Anshu Vaidya: Effectiveness is, is key, right? So you can deliver same message in 30 seconds, right? Or take five minutes. And that sort of results in, interest or conversion or whatever it may be. So for me it's, my only intent of the content at the moment is this awareness and brand recognition for now.

[00:09:15] Chris Schwager: And you talked about recording for 30 seconds. What are the videos that you're recording for 30 seconds? What are those, what type of videos are they?

[00:09:23] Anshu Vaidya: Yeah. It could be anything look, explaining negative gearing in 15 seconds is what I've done. One one video, so short, sharp, and those things stick take quite a bit of traction.

[00:09:33] Anshu Vaidya: Or in 60 seconds talk about what are the implications of, X, Y, Z. Is it a right time to invest in property market in 2024? I've done that in probably like 60 seconds as well. You know what I mean? You can what I do is I do full long videos and chunk it down into bite sized pieces.

[00:09:53] Anshu Vaidya: And, utilized for YouTube shorts or socials and and things like that. It

[00:09:59] Chris Schwager: sounds like there's a lot of [00:10:00] marketing, a lot of hitting the social channels, which is really great. And if you'd been doing anything in your sales, like any little reply to inquiries or proposal walkthroughs or using some of the, those meetings as formal documentation, like the recordings are the documentation, anything like that so far?

[00:10:15] Anshu Vaidya: Look, I haven't tapped into that space just yet. But what i'm also planning to do is is instead of sending a boring Written email with hey, merry christmas. Happy new year How about record a video? So it's personalized, you hear the voice it's it's personable.

[00:10:30] Anshu Vaidya: So yeah.

[00:10:31] Chris Schwager: Along with your startup phase, of the desktop studio, in fact, you've only been really getting into it in the last couple of months. What has been some of the useful resources, coaching, but also some of the online videos and things like that, that we've had ready for you.

[00:10:45] Chris Schwager: Have you been, Utilizing those

[00:10:46] Anshu Vaidya: certainly.

[00:10:47] Chris Schwager: And a

[00:10:47] Anshu Vaidya: hundred percent particularly around if I am confused around what to do with the year itself. There are resources to go. Okay. So how do I find a solution, right? Or, presence as well. Yes, I haven't actually taken taken up some of the sessions we've we do have it's already been booked in, by the way, but yeah pre recorded videos that you have.

[00:11:10] Anshu Vaidya: It's been very helpful for me, how do you present yourself, what's, even the frames and everything on the camera where do you place yourself, it's simple things like that, but you normally don't think about

[00:11:22] Chris Schwager: how would you explain what you're experiencing?

[00:11:25] Chris Schwager: To somebody else that's coming in cold,

[00:11:28] Anshu Vaidya: look, don't get deterred away with just investment you have to make it's a long term investment, think about as an investment as opposed to an expense and all of a sudden it starts to make sense, right? So you can't put a dollar amount on things like this.

[00:11:44] Anshu Vaidya: You may go, yes, it's, 10 grand, 15 grand, whatever it may be. But if you think as an investment and you can use the same resource for life effectively and have, awesome gentlemen called Chris to help you along the journey, do yourself a favor. And. Yeah just, go ahead.

[00:12:03] Chris Schwager: Good on you. And in what ways do you think the kit has helped you stand out or differentiate your services and products?

[00:12:11] Anshu Vaidya: Yeah, look, it's I look definitely it looks more professional. With teleprompter as an example, it helps you record videos and you look very natural.

[00:12:21] Anshu Vaidya: Although sometimes you may be reading from the screen but it's yeah.

[00:12:26] Chris Schwager: Anticipated ROI, right? Like when you're calculating whether you do this or do something else. So some, we know, turn to go and buy six grand worth of gear and they try and figure it out, scrapping together some YouTube videos that they could possibly figure out how to piece it all together.

[00:12:41] Chris Schwager: Good luck to them. Don't know if it's the right solution, but it's certainly a cheaper alternative. Whether it's going to deliver the same result, who knows? They deploy a professional video company at significant costs and the pressures of producing content probably in a short period of time can be a little bit overwhelming, not a little bit overall.

[00:13:00] Chris Schwager: It is overwhelming. It's hugely overwhelming. And over the course of a year, a lot more than what you would invest in the desktop studio. So how did you justify the cost?

[00:13:09] Anshu Vaidya: Yep. So for me, it was quite simple to your point, you buy individual kits, put it together, figure out yourself, spend countless hours.

[00:13:20] Anshu Vaidya: Or hire a professional, get it set up for you. And all you have to do is, ask Alexa to to turn the studio on. And that's literally one step. Button or you calling, Alexa to turn the studio on and everything will be turned on for you. Yeah I chose to go down hiring a professional routes instead of, spending hours and hours trying to figure out.

[00:13:45] Anshu Vaidya: Like I would rather use that time to research on a content as an example, help a client buy a property for a client then figure out yourself and fail miserably and go back to professional again.

[00:14:01] Chris Schwager: And what was the one thing that Chris said to you after the installation? To do or not to do, I should say after,

[00:14:10] Anshu Vaidya: You told me, Chris told me to not fiddle around with the switcher and guess what I did, I was fiddling around with the switcher and I was calling Chris to go, Hey man, my microphone's not working.

[00:14:24] Anshu Vaidya: And you're like, did you press something there? I was like, I don't know, must have. And turns out, yeah, all I had to do was turn off and turn back on again. And it was working.

[00:14:36] Chris Schwager: There's definitely some practical lessons that you've immediately. Learnt about if we wrap this up by just saying, over and above the technicalities of this thing and the tech and all that sort of stuff, how does what you are doing really improve life?

[00:14:54] Chris Schwager: Not just the brand presence and all that, but just the overall thing. You've got this. We [00:15:00] can call it a resource, but this gateway to your market. Tell me more about, about that. Yeah,

[00:15:06] Anshu Vaidya: it's more, for me it was it, it's been a, it's almost been a game changer, I don't have to think about, what I have to do, it's like little things, right?

[00:15:14] Anshu Vaidya: It's very hard to explain, press button, it's ready to go for you. Press a button, you share screen, you come back your face comes back again, so like little things you want wake up at, one o'clock at night and record it, record a video. You can do that, you have complete control over what you want to do at what time and when.

[00:15:34] Chris Schwager: And just if you guys want to connect with Andrew to go to his LinkedIn profile, which I'll put at the bottom of this, that's his next meeting coming up. But I'll put that in the show notes. So you can go and check it out, check him out and seeing some of the videos that he's producing, TikTok and Google shorts and all that stuff to go and check him out, man.

[00:15:51] Chris Schwager: Cause it's pretty bloody good given that we haven't, Quite got into the video coaching yet. He's really taken it on and it looks fantastic. And he's really giving it a good rip. So well done. Thank you so much for your business. Thank you for your time today too. I really appreciate you coming on and convincing others, of why it was, why this thing's a kick ass.

[00:16:08] Anshu Vaidya: Thank you, Chris. Couldn't have done without you, man.