By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

Herman Chan wants you to free yourself in your videos. Stop having the delivery of a “dial tone” and show some personality, Chan told a crowd at a session sponsored by the California Association of REALTORS® Young Professionals Network on Tuesday during the CAR Expo in Anaheim, Calif.

Chan, an associate broker with Better Homes & Gardens Mason Mcduffie, mixes humor, wit, and a whole lot of personality in his video blogs, dubbed “Habitat for Hermanity,” which pokes fun at the real estate industry.

Chan’s unique twist on vlogging has garnered him a lot of attention since starting the webisodes earlier this year; he has 11,000 followers on Twitter and Facebook waiting to see what he’ll sound-off about next. He’s also appeared as a host on HGTV’s “House Hunters” and “My House is Worth What?”

“I’m not pushing my listings,” Chan said about his videos. “I’m just being myself on camera.” Admittedly, he said the tone of the videos might be a turnoff to some, but he didn’t want to just play it safe with his videos and be like everyone else. He wanted to be memorable and create a brand. After all, buyers and sellers can get information on real estate anywhere online, Chan said, so why should they pick you to represent them? How are you going to make yourself standout in the crowd?

Chan uses a production studio to film the webisodes, shooting about 6-9 episodes at a time to provide plenty of content for his blog over the month. He uses YouTube, Facebook and TubeMogul to syndicate his videos.

His best vlogging tips: Keep your videos short — 1-2 minutes each — and be energetic and smile. And, be sure to “use powder on your face — a shiny forehead is worse than a foreclosure,” he said.

You can view more of his videos at www.habitatforhermanity.com.