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š¤[T]echnology: New Cameras & Tik Tok
š [E]ducation/Entertainment: Quick Recap
šŖ[C]oaching: Stop Whining
š¹ [H]ow To: Proceed After the TikTok Ban
[T]echnology:
I was going to talk about Canonās new multicam app, Live Switcher Mobile.
But this week I grabbed three Insta360 Ace Pro camerasālast yearās model, but exactly what I needed.
I wasnāt after flashy new features. Just something that performs well in low light. Not everywhere we shoot has the perfect lighting like the studio, and these hold up. š”
Scheduling was becoming a nightmare.
With these, I donāt even have to be there. Set them up. Press a button. Done. Crisp 4K. Simple setup. Foolproof.
I watched enough YouTube reviews to feel good about it. These cameras deliver. No updates. No hype. Just reliable performance. š·
ā
TikTok of course, did not go away, but much like the NAR, itās not out of the woods yet.
In the meantime, Meta geared up by revamping the IG format and even announced Edits as a potential replacement for CapCut.
Itās yet to be seen if there will be a desktop app, but at least theyāre trying.
[E]ducation:
Itās that time of year again when I revisit all of the sources for curating content for this email.
Hereās a quick list of who/what I follow: ā¬ļøā¬ļø
I donāt stalk these websites or social accounts; Iām not saying you need to either.
Once you follow them or sign up for their newsletters, youāll notice your feed start to change (for the better), and you can digest small bite-sized nuggets as they show up.
Never. Stop. Learning. š§
[C]oaching
Our industry news is filled with doom and gloom. š„
Rates are too high. There arenāt enough homes for sale. Commissions are under attackā¦or are they?
Nothing changed.
Five months post-NAR settlement, commission rates have rebounded after an initial dip. Seller rates are up slightly year-over-year, and buyer rates are back to where they were before the settlement. ā¬ļøā¬ļø
Seller commissions dropped to 2.69% initially but rose to 2.73%, edging past last yearās 2.72%.
Buyer commissions hit 2.49% early on but climbed back to 2.55%, matching last yearās levels.
Why the Comeback?
Market forcesālike inventory, interest rates, and local economiesāare driving commission rates more than the settlement. The market has adjusted, proving more resilient than expected.
What This Means for Agents ā¬ļøā¬ļø
Good news: Commissions are holding steady or improving.
Focus on value: Be ready to demonstrate why your services are worth it.
The feared long-term decline hasnāt materializedāat least for now. Itās a reminder that the market often finds balance, even after significant disruptions. So get to work! šŖ
[H]ow To: With Abby
If you donāt use TikTok, you still probably heard that it was banned for an excruciating 15 hours. Why should you care? š¤ This situation taught us all a valuable lesson: you donāt own these platforms, and once your content is on them, you donāt truly own it either. Even the influence youāve built and your followers can be taken away in an instant. š«°
So, what does this mean for you? A few things:
1. Donāt put all your eggs in one basket. š§ŗ
This weekend, many people panicked because their entire following was on TikTok, with little or no presence on other platforms. Even some realtors I know whoāve built large followings on TikTok were panicked.
One realtor, however, wasnāt as nervous because she took a preventative approach and consistently posted on Instagram.
When TikTok went down, she still had a solid (though smaller) Instagram audience to fall back on. š§
This is why you should never rely on just one platform. If your marketing strategy would crumble if Meta suddenly shut down, itās time to reevaluate. Diversify your approach and ensure youāre leveraging at least three different methods of communication to build and maintain your audience.
2. Back up your content.
I saw so many people scrambling to save their TikTok videos this weekend. You should always be backing up your content, whether for safekeeping or because youāve spent significant time creating it.
One valuable lesson I learned was when CapCut went down along with TikTok. I use CapCut for nearly all of my editing, so I anticipated this happening and finished all the videos I had been working on, just in case I lost my progress. However, it still made me extremely anxious, not knowing if Iād have access to those videos later to make additional edits. š«£
After we create videos, we back them up in multiple places: Google Drive, a separate hard drive, and Vimeo. This way, if something happens, weāre protected.
The same rule applies to photos. If youāve been posting pictures to Facebook without saving copies elsewhere, itās time to start backing them up. Whether theyāre personal or work-related, always have a backup. š¾
This weekend served as a valuable lesson for everyone in the social media world, myself included. It was a harsh reminder that, no matter how hard we work on these platforms, they arenāt truly ours, and we have no control over the decisions made by others. At the very least, it keeps us on our toes.
-Ty Morton + Abby G