By Kathy Kovacs
When an athlete trains for an event, their main goal – aside from winning – is to achieve their personal best. That’s a lesson I carried over into my business and the results were nothing short of remarkable. Having spent nearly two decades in the sports media business as a full-time sports anchor and reporter for Fox Sports, A-Channel News and CTV News Vancouver, it’s no surprise I relied on a basic sports analogy to get me through the early phases of entrepreneurship. But as obvious as it seems now, I didn’t think about setting my sights on a personal best until it was almost too late.
Hopefully after reading this article, it isn’t too late for you.
After I left the television business, I teamed up with a place called Strut Studios in Yaletown and was busy setting up my own freelance gigs, which included hosting events, writing and editing web content and helping clients become as visible and reachable as possible. Before long I had a hand in creating some pretty cool, cutting-edge content that was creating a buzz clear across North America. While I was busy making other people look good, I neglected my own stuff. Sounds familiar, right?
In fact, I barely stopped to consider how my online presence could be improved until the guys at the studio insisted I include some of their applications on my own site. The main addition? Cue the irony. The main addition was a personal video embedded into my home page. How is it that the on-air sports anchor didn’t think about using the number one thing that made her career successful? It happens. Once I added video to my site, people’s association with me ‘clicked’ and I was able to build on the foundation that had already been put in place years ago.
The lesson in this is you don’t have to be an on-air sports personality or TV anchor to reap the benefits of having a professional video on your site. It’s just the opposite when it comes to the Internet. The Internet is everyone’s television station and you are doing yourself a disservice by not putting you – your best product – front and centre. I believe this to be especially true for real estate professionals.
People work with you and trust you because they like you. You don’t have to have George Clooney looks or Sandra Bullock’s charm to get noticed. In fact, that may make people too intimidated to work with you! You have your own unique skill set and what better way to introduce yourself to future clients than to welcome them to your site with a quick, engaging, personal video? I could go on providing you with a bunch of statistics that include percentages of clicks per this or that, but you’re probably already aware of the positive effect video has on websites. You just haven’t had time or felt the need to get it done – yet.
The Internet is here to stay and video is one of its most useful resources. Don’t get caught sitting on the sidelines. You are your brand so activate yourself via video and watch it become a game changer in your career.
Kathy Kovacs is a veteran television writer, producer, editor and on-air sports presenter, having spent nearly a decade at CTV News Vancouver as the station’s late night sports anchor and reporter from 2000 – 2009. She is currently an on-air presenter and online media communications consultant for Strut Studios in Yaletown. www.strutstudios.com
