Many times, agents come into our office and lament the fact that they either don't have the time, the technical expertise or budget to shoot videos for their website and marketing initiatives. They desperately want to get into the game, but they just don't know what they can do, given their limited resources.

Much like I believe it's important in social media to actually "BE SOCIAL," I also believe it is important to generate original content when it comes to video. While I think shooting your own videos and sharing your own view, voice and style is of the highest importance in your video initiatives, using the videos of others (while giving them credit, of course) on your websites is perfectly okay--sometimes.

So when is this okay to do? Here are a couple examples of ways you can use other people's videos to not only solidify you in your marketplace, but also give people value added information they may not be aware of--and therefore appreciate.

Special Events

I happen to live in the Silicon Valley. Being less than 45 minutes away from three major cities, there are no shortage of events, arts, entertainment and good times to be had. The amazing thing to me, though, is that so many of us have no idea what is "actually" going on. We get comfortable in our ways, and used to doing what we always do, and miss out on many great opportunities.