The question we get most about video isn’t strategy — it’s permission. “Do I really have to be on camera?” No. But you should want to be, because video is the fastest way for a stranger to decide you’re not a robot, and mortgage clients are choosing a person, not a rate sheet.
The format that survives a busy month
Pick one repeatable format and shoot in batches. Ours for most brokers: the 60–90 second “one question, one answer” clip. This week’s client question, answered plainly, phone camera at eye level, window light. Batch four on a quiet Friday and you’ve got a month of content.
Gear: stop at $150
A phone tripod and a $40 lavalier mic. Audio quality matters far more than camera quality — viewers forgive grain, not mumble. Everything past that is procrastination with a receipt.
Editing is the real bottleneck
Most brokers quit video because editing eats the evening. Solve it one of three ways: don’t edit (single take, trimmed ends — genuinely fine for the Q&A format), hire a student editor, or use a browser tool that does captions and cuts for you. The captions matter either way: the majority of feed video is watched on mute.
Post natively to each platform rather than linking out, keep your first three seconds about the viewer’s question (not your name), and give it six months of weekly reps before judging the results. Video compounds slowly, then all at once — usually the first time a new client says “I feel like I already know you.”