Conducting the Interview
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      1. Parkbench Help Center
      2. The Interview Process
      3. Conducting the Interview

      Self Interviews

      What is the most important interview that you’ll do???

      The answer - YOURS!


      You are, hands down, the most important person to interview. 


      WHY?

      • This interview will give you an opportunity to experience what it is like to be interviewed
      • You need to think through all the questions that you might ask someone else
      • You need to practice doing a video interview, podcast, and creating written content
      • This interview will let others know who you are and it will humanize you and what you’re doing
      • It will give you an additional platform to look credible and professional
      • You will create content that is indexed by google! People will learn more about you, without you having to continually do MORE WORK!
      • It inspires others to be interviewed

      3 Main Areas to cover in any interview

      • What do you do?
      • What do you need?
      • What do you like?

      When it comes to your interview about you, when you talk about what you do - you want to cover all the areas that people are looking for when selecting a realtor (as reported by NAR and Zillow in their annual consumer reports). This includes:

      • Years of experience
      • Why you’re a local market expert
      • Your process for helping someone buy or sell a home
      • Your negotiation skills
      • How responsive you are
      • Your involvement in the community
      • Client Success Stories

      When it comes to telling people your needs, wants goals, and vision - this is where you need to be vulnerable, raw, real, and just speak from the heart. People want to know:

      • Why you’re in real estate?
      • Why do you want to give value to the community that you are in?
      • Why do you want to build a business on relationships and referrals vs advertising?
      • What are you trying to achieve by sponsoring Parkbench?
      • What’s your vision for your community?
      • How do you want homeowners using and benefitting from the website?
      • What are your goals in life and business?
      • What are the challenges you face in business that you want help with?

      And finally, because people like to do business with people who are like them, you want to let people know:

      • What are your hobbies and interests?
      • What are your likes and dislikes?
      • What are your pet peeves?

      Have fun with this section! Make fun of yourself! Let people into “Who you are” - humanize yourself!


      People are sick and tired of “the slick realtor” - be raw and real. Be you!

      Now let’s talk about HOW to do it:

      Step 1: Log in to your control panel on Parkbench. Click on Interviews and click on “Real Estate Professional Interview”


      Step 2: Answer ALL the questions and insert pictures if possible to go with your answer

      • AND if you can think of other questions that homeowners often ask you, then add that question into the interview and answer it!
      • Remember - imagine you are being interviewed by someone and answer the question as if you are talking to them. Write as you would speak.

      NOTE: When you write out the interview first you will think through what you want to say on camera so that you can progress to the video AFTER this.


      Step 3: Create a video interview

      • If you’re doing a short (<4 min) interview, then when you press record on your camera, imagine someone just asked you: “What’s your story and why should I use you vs another agent?”
        • Try to touch on all 3 things that people want to know:
      • What do you do
      • Why are you doing it
      • Tell me about YOU the person, not the professional
      • If you are doing a long interview, where someone IS asking you the questions, then just answer them!
      • Here are some tips when you’re doing a video:
        • 1 Camera is fine
        • Your Smartphone is perfect
        • Make sure that you have a good microphone
        • Make sure you’re in a well-lit room (sunshine works!)
        • Save your bloopers :)

      What makes a great interview? 

      (whether you’re interviewing yourself or someone else)

      The headline:

      • “Meet (YOUR NAME), (POSITION) at (BROKERAGE/BUSINESS), one of the best (ANOTHER SEARCH TERM) in (NEIGHBOURHOOD, CITY)
      • “Meet Matthew KUT, Realtor at RE/MAX West Realty, one of the top-performing agents in Liberty Village, Toronto”

      Your headline must include relevant search terms that you are wanting to rank for (e.g. terms that you want to be connected with).

      • Name of the interviewee
      • The interviewee’s position/role
      • Name of the business/brokerage
      • Area name - Neighbourhood, City, State
      • Any other relevant search for terms

      The content types:

      • Text
          • Best for SEO!
          • The more you write, typically means the better your ranking online
          • Answer as many questions as you can in written form
          • Write mini paragraphs (3-4 sentences)
      • Video
        • Good
          • One video
          • 4 minutes or less in duration
          • E.g. A short bio video
        • Exceptional
          • 2 Videos total
            • One 4 minutes or less in duration
              • Short Bio Video
              • Added as the main video of the interview on your Parkbench site
            • One 20+ minutes in duration 
              • A long interview or vlog
              • Easiest? - Getting someone to interview you
              • Better but harder? - “A week in the life” vlog, documenting what you do AND who you are
              • Added as a link to the video on YouTube AND/OR added separately to your Parkbench site.
      • Pictures
        • Add lots of pictures to your interviews and blogs!
        • Breaks up the content
        • Makes the content more engaging!
        • 10+ questions with no images can be difficult to read
      • Audio (Podcast)
        • Shoot the video interview then detach the audio using a video editor e.g. iMovie or Filmora9
        • Save audio as an audio-only file, to upload to Stitcher/Spotify/iTunes, etc