In the first installment of the How To Sell Your Horse For Top Dollar, I wrote about how to write an ad that sells. In the second blog post I talked about how to take pictures that sell. In this post, I want to talk about using video to help sell your horse.
I think video is a great way to sell anything, even your horse trailer. What a great way to give a look around and layout that you can’t quite capture in pictures.
Your sales video needs to catch the attention of the buyer very quick and keep it. It should be catchy, with all the best parts of your horse. You have 5-10 seconds at the beginning of your video to engage a potential buyer.
Don’t start of showing me how he stands to be saddled, I’ll lose interest and switch to something else. Show me how he turns a quick steer or turns a wicked first barrel. Slow motion a punchy extended trot with fluid movement and jump back into a winning run. I would keep the “trailer” video under 2 minutes and an extended movie under 5 minutes. Give just enough to keep them engaged and show all the good things the horse offers. We can see that in 1 or 2 circles of loping, we don’t need to see 10 circles.
Making a video doesn’t need to be high tech. Many desktop computers come with free movie editors (Movie Maker on windows or iMovie on Mac). There are also free apps you can download on your phone to piece videos together. On Rodeoclassifieds we connect to your video through Youtube. Youtube also has a built-in editor that you can patch and blend videos together with.
I recommend a soft fade in for music at the beginning and a fade out at the end so you don’t have a sharp start and stop. The music you choose is limited these days due to copyright laws so your best bet is to pick something suitable from the Youtube songs that are available. Otherwise they are likely to mute your tunes. Music is great way to cover up the dog barking, baby crying and the “it’s recording” from your spouse.
If you want to make a longer version available to buyers we do offer a second space for videos to be posted in our ads. You can also list in your ad “extended video available” for those that are now more serious after watching your trailer. In this video I would set it up like a story with an into, meat and potatoes and conclusion. Fade in with showing saddling and mounting segments (not the whole thing) if you wish but not required. If this is a performance horse I would put my best runs first, but also include some circles at a trot and lope so that the prospective buyer can see his gait, soundness and “brokeness”. Think of what you’d want to see before you drove 1200 kms with a certified cheque in hand. At the conclusion of your video you could ride off into the sunset or show a dismount with a calm walk to the barn being videoed from behind (and fade music out) while including contact information.
If this is a prospect you’re selling I believe it’s worthwhile to include some in hand video or round pen video. Many sales are being made sight unseen and I know I’d want to see the horse move before I sent a money wire. Have someone video you walking the horse on the line on hard ground and perhaps trotting as well.
Horses are being sold long distances over the internet these days and video is a great way to protect yourself as a seller and provide a buyer with the information they need to make an educated purchase.
One thing that I’ve noticed that can take away from a video is when it’s grainy and too small for me to see what’s going on. Most people use their cell phones for video these days and if it’s inside with no zoom, your video is not very valuable. If the videographer is at the gate you’re just a spec once you’re down at third. If you have a high-end horse for a high price, I highly recommend getting a video camera where you can zoom and take quality footage. If you can’t swing that, make sure you use a cell that can zoom, the sun is shining, you don’t have a glare and the operator knows how to zoom in smoothly.
To get your video to Youtube, I would suggest watching a video on Youtube on how to do it! Go to Youtube.com and in the search box type “How to upload a video to Youtube” it will give you a much better visual experience than I can give here. If you’re a figure it out on your own type of person, look for the arrow pointing up button on the top right of your desktop. If you’re on mobile, click the icon that looks like a video camera and follow the prompts
Once you have the video uploaded you’ll need the link of the video to copy and paste into your ad on Rodeoclassifieds. You can find it by clicking on the share button and copying the link or copying the link in the top tool bar (where the www.youtube.com/linktoyourvideo is)
It may take time to put this together, put a professional presentation will bring a greater dollar, the most serious buyers and a quicker sale. You’ll be well paid for your time and preparation. If you can’t get this all pulled together then put two of your best runs with the clearest quality. Ask yourself – would I buy a horse off this video? Many horses sell with less than great videos, but the purpose of this series is to offer you ways to get top dollar and sell quickly to serious buyers.
In our next post in the series, I talk about pulling it all together and getting your marketing plan together.
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