Quentin Allums aka “Q” joins me today to share 10 tips you can use to start creating content on LinkedIn! Q is the CEO of ie.eg, a storytelling company, and the founder of the Misfits community. He is also the reason I am so excited about LinkedIn, and the possibility it holds for content creators and influencers! Listen to this episode, it could be the launch pad you need to start influencing on LinkedIn!
After a failed startup, Q decided to post a video on LinkedIn every day. For the next 500 days, Q talked about his life, his failed startup and a collection of stories. At first, no one seemed to be watching. Then one of his videos hit 30,000 views, and he realized that people were paying attention. Now he has amassed more than 3 million views on the platform and travels the world as a speaker and influencer, and his company helps other entrepreneurs and companies create effective content on LinkedIn.
Q’s advice to agents or other people who want to get started on LinkedIn is this: Now is the time to create content! There are more than 10 million users on LinkedIn (and growing), but less than 1% of them are creating content. He compares it to Facebook in 2011-2012, or YouTube in 2006. For real estate agents specifically, he recommends talking about broad subjects, as they will appeal to a greater audience. If you need some ideas on how to do this, check out his profile!
It can be hard to see when people share your content on LinkedIn, so Q recommends creating a unique hashtag for your brand. This will help you track where your content goes, who is sharing it, etc. For him, he wanted people to see his content, but also realize that he’s just a normal guy producing content. #JustQ on LinkedIn will display a whole library of his posts, reposts, and videos. It also helps tell his story...THAT is a great content strategy!
#1: Just start - If only 1% of all LinkedIn users are producing content, it means your material will be seen more.
#2: Use a great profile photo - Make sure people can see your face. This is your first impression, make it count!
#3: Use a great cover photo - If you live in Milwaukee and are trying to do business there, your cover photo should somehow relate to that place or subject.
#4: Use Video - video plays on all the senses, and it’s the best way for people to get to know you in the least amount of time.
#5: Put your ear to the ground - see what’s working, watch what other people are producing, and always look for ways to improve
#6: Message people - the core of LinkedIn is relationship building.
#7: Create a hashtag - #JustQ is the perfect example. It’s trackable and it tells part of his story.
#8: Go to events - At some point, the relationships you are building must go beyond the screen. Get out and connect with people, start a LinkedIn local, etc.
#9: Put Calls to Action (CTAs) in your profile - Once people have connected with you, tell them why that connection is so important to you, or what you want them to do.
#10: Optimize your profile - Make sure that your descriptions, bio, and content clearly reflect who you are and what you are trying to do.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
Hey Juicers, let’s dive into the Instagram TV App! The IGTV app, which will work as a button inside Instagram and as a standalone app, will be displayed full-screen and vertically and won’t be limited by Instagram’s current one-minute length. The app, which is meant to model a traditional TV, will start streaming videos uploaded by one’s followers as soon as it is opened by the user. On this onion juice episode, I will share a few ideas you can use to start producing content on IGTV!
Normal Instagram videos are limited to 1 minute of content, but with the IGTV feature, videos now can be up to an hour long! This is a good and bad thing...most people will not sit and watch you for an hour, but it does give you the freedom to do a full walk-through or document an event, which is super cool!
IGTV will only allow you to post in vertical format, so don’t plan on flipping your phone horizontal to get a wide shot...Instagram will crop the edges! This will take some getting used to, especially if you are already posting on YouTube. If you are editing your videos in a secondary program, such as Final Cut Pro, you will have to reformat how the video gets exported to make sure it maintains the vertical layout! Just look at it this way, you have a chance to practice a new skill and learn something new!
Remember, people are not jumping on Insta to search for how-tos, or “10 tips,” so remember to keep your content entertaining and engaging. This is still a social channel, so creative, succinct content will yield the best results!
The length of the videos will throw some people off, as they will try to include a lot more content. Just remember, respect the platform! Here are a few ideas that may work really well on the new IGTV format! Neighborhood documentaries (plan these ahead of time) may be one great option, as you have enough time to capture detail and point out interesting things. The same concept applies to event documentaries, like open houses. Try going behind-the-scenes...if you are producing an event (like a podcast), set up your phone and record the production side of things...it’s a great way to engage your followers!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
I am STILL so excited about what is happening on LinkedIn, I decided to use this Onion Juice episode to talk more about the platform, and how less than 1% of all LinkedIn users are creating content. Back to back episodes on the same subject means you should lean forward and pay attention, this content is juicy! Today, I talk about how to launch a LinkedIn Local group, the third type of digital content, and a few content ideas you can use to grow your influence on LinkedIn!
If you are planning to launch a LinkedIn Local event, the first thing you should know is it takes more than a one-man band. To pull off this event in Madison, we had an amazing team of people...a panel, a moderator, coordinators, and sponsors. LinkedIn Local: Madison lasted four hours total, with 2 hours of networking to bookend the event, a panel discussion, and a Q&A session. If you want to start your own event, check out D.P. Knudten’s LinkedIn profile, where he posted a How-To PDF for a LinkedIn Local event!
You guys know about the two major types of content, searchable and social, but are you aware there is a third type of content? (I’ll wait for your heart rate to normalize...AND...welcome back!) This third type of content is not really searchable, and it certainly isn’t social, by strict standards. This new category is LinkedIn content. This could be called 3E content, which stands for Educate, Empower, Engage. The content that is getting viewed the most on LinkedIn does all three of these things. Anyone who starts producing 3E content on LinkedIn right now stands a good chance of becoming an influencer!
Some of you might be thinking “great, I’ll produce 3E content and post it on all my channels…” To that I say, respect the platform! Not all content is equal across all platforms. Facebook has a different ranking algorithm than Youtube, LinkedIn content is different than Instagram TV, and so on. Any smart marketer should be posting across each channel, but the content should be planned according to how the users are interacting with it. If you post a real estate listing on LinkedIn, don’t expect people to like or share it...that’s not what they are looking for. If you educate and empower, you will see great results!
Are you wondering how you can start influencing on LinkedIn? If so, good, that means you are engaged! Here are some ideas to empower you to start creating great content on LinkedIn. The first and most powerful is to post about your core values. What is your life mission, what’s your sword in the stone? These things tend to make great content! If there are books or quotes that have inspired you, share those! Start a video with a quote, then talk about it for a min. If you are headed off to a conference, Vlog (video blog) about it, record snippets, etc. Another great way to share content is to talk about a lesson you have learned (be vulnerable and real). If you are excited about something, talk about it! Chances are, you are not the only one...Lastly, tag other influencers in your posts. This is a powerful way to reach beyond just your own followers.
[1:00] If you produce content on LinkedIn, it won’t take you long to become a LinkedIn Influencer
[3:45] Launching a LinkedIn Local Event [8:30] My Network
[11:30] Some people are doubting the power of LinkedIn
[14:30] There is a third type of content: 3E
[17:00] Respect the platform
[18:00] LinkedIn inspiration for launching great content
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
A year ago, I declared that LinkedIn was just a large database, not really social media. Today, I am changing my tune. In fact, I believe that LinkedIn is the social network of the year! There is so much happening on this platform, so I am declaring that it’s time to get on this train! Stay tuned, I will explain...
There is a trending hashtag and content sharing movement happening on LinkedIn called the #TenTipsTenDays. For 10 days, influencers are posting a short video that contains tips and best practices for their niche. Not surprisingly, this is attracting the attention of tons of followers! I decided to start my own #TenTipsTenDays for all of you agents out there in the OJ nation. I will be creating content for working according to a vision vs. needs, efforts or results, no one relates to your perfection, social vs. searchable content, cheese and whiskers, developing a clear plan, the disease to please, getting connected in madison, and comfort is the enemy of progress, to name a few!
As of right now, only the top 1% of people on Linked in are creating and sharing video content. This means that there is a huge opportunity to grow, connect and establish yourself as an expert! To give you an idea of the potential, right now, LinkedIn looks like Youtube in 2006...let that sink in, then start creating!
I was recently asked to be on a panel for a LinkedIn Local event, which is hilarious because just over a year ago, I declared that LinkedIn was not a social platform. This event was an amazing opportunity to connect to other business professionals from Madison! Besides helping to establish my credibility as a realtor, the fact that were were all present made it easier to blind follow other people’s profiles. If you don’t have a LinkedIn local where you live, you should start one! If you have questions, reach out, I would love to show you what we did here in Madison!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
What do you do to stay in touch with your past clients and SOI (sphere of influence)? This is called being “Top of Mind.” This is what most business owners want. They want to be Top of Mind with people that need their services either right now or in the future. If you have been around the OJ for awhile, this concept might sound familiar...and you would be right! Today, I am re-squeezing episode #18, to both update some of the concepts I talked about, and show how, more than ever, being top of mind is super important for any real estate agent.
In recent episodes, I have talked a lot about social vs. searchable content. As it turns out, I was dancing around this concept back in January of 2016 (episode 18), I just didn’t define it as clearly then. If you are posting every video to the same places (Facebook, Instagram, Youtube), you will notice a discrepancy across channels when you look at the view statistics. Market reports don’t belong on Facebook, people will get bored and leave. There are people who are searching for tips and advice from agents, and they are using keywords to do it, so start categorizing your YouTube channel to make it easier for them to find you! For more on this concept, check out past episodes where I interview Karin Carr (OJ 131) and TJ Kelly (OJ 132) on this subject!
Back in 2016, I touched on the idea that you should be attracting people to your business through social media. While this has not changed, I know for a fact that if you only focus on the attraction pillar and neglect the sphere of influence or the chase, you will starve. Depending on the avenue you are using to attract business, it may take longer before you start to see results. Radio advertisers, for example, say it takes 12-18 months before clients start responding to your ads. For me personally, I use the I Love Madison Show as my attract pillar. As of right now, that show is not paying the bills. My open houses, newsletter, and grinding are paying the bills, but people are starting to recognize my team and I around Madison. I am confident that will eventually turn into a stream of business. For now, Caleb Jahr and I will keep highlighting amazing places around the city, we will keep Vlogging and keep connecting people.
Two years ago, I said “You’ll get their attention not only by what you share (posts, images, podcasts, etc.) but also through HOW YOU ENGAGE with them. When you come across as a real person, then you’re going to be much more successful at getting people to feel that they know, like, and trust you.” I think that content is still fresh! You get do lots of things to get people’s attention...you can light yourself on fire and stand in the middle of the street, and that will garnish you some attention, but people will not trust you...the best way to gain trust is to be authentic in every interaction you have with a client, whether its in-person or online. Authenticity builds trust. When a client is considering a house, it is one of the biggest and most important decisions they will ever make, and they will not work with someone they don’t trust.
One of the main reasons I launched the I Love Madison show was to help trailing spouses get connected here in Madison. Last night, I had the chance to speak at an event called Disrupt Madison where I talked about the trailing spouse. Afterward, several people came up to me to say “I had no idea I was the trailing spouse, thank you for that presentation.” Why do I share this? Not to toot my own horn, but to talk about the importance of operating INSIDE of a vision, supported by your “WHY.” As a real estate agent, you will communicate all sorts of things to your clients, but all of that communication should flow from a crystal-clear vision of what you are trying to accomplish. When you are consistent with that vision, people will start to notice.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
My question for you today is this: are you living in the clouds, or living in the dirt? To be honest, I see a lot of real estate agents who spend most of their time in the clouds, and not enough time in the dirt. On this awesome Onion Juice episode, I encourage you to get dirty, build real relationships, not just connections, and implore you to abandon the word “rededicate.”
The clouds represent that fun place in your business where you are planning, dreaming, envisioning a prosperous future, and endless good ideas. The clouds mean a clear plan. If you are just starting out, the clouds can be a fun place to hangout. When I am coaching new agents, we start up in the clouds…we figure out a strategy, play on your strengths, dream a little and plan a lot. We start in the clouds, but we don’t stay there.
The dirt represents the possibly tedious, redundant tasks that ACTUALLY grow your business. Phone calls, knocking on doors, reaching out to your email list, creating new content…this does not mean tweaking your logo to perfection…honestly, your logo doesn’t matter. Your brand is insignificant to the amount of time you need to spend in the dirt working. For established agents, sometimes they spend too much time here, and need to spend more time in the clouds. You may have built your business on just hard work, but you are lacking a plan that will sustain you long term.
Chances are, you have a ton of followers on social media and hopefully a solid email list. You reach out to a lot of these people, a few messages, comment on their content, etc. You might even see them in person and exchange a quick hello. These are connections, not relationships. Relationships are built when you spend time with people in order to get to know them. You share a meal, or coffee, you know their family and what matters to them…they would bail you out of prison…I encourage you to spend time building real relationships. They will ultimately sustain you, and those will be the people that you do life with, not just real estate transactions.
I recently heard an interesting take on the word “Re-dedicate,” and it got me thinking about how often I hear people say they are going to rededicate themselves to work or a project or goal. This does not make sense to me. If you are going to “rededicate” yourself to a project in the future, what you are actually communicating is that you have no dedication at this exact moment. A commitment is now. There is no”Re-dedicating” yourself, there is simply dedication and commitment right now.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
On this onion juice episode, Jerry Potter teaches you how to leverage your Instagram feed to drive business! If you are a real estate agent who uses Instagram, this is the must-listen-to episode! Learn about the new features that Instagram is rolling out, how you can improve your live video, then learn how you can improve your social media knowledge in just five minutes! No empty promises, I promise, just fresh, juicy content for you to ear-guzzle!
Instagram places a big emphasis on search and discovery of content. It’s one of the few social media platforms with a Search and Explore tab in its app. Being featured in the search results or in Instagram’s Explore section can be a great way to boost your success on the network with added exposure and the chance to reach new users who may not have otherwise seen your content. There are also several other ways you can use Instagram’s Search and Explore for your business — finding the best hashtags to use, engaging your fans, and finding influencers to collaborate with.
Jerry says if he had to abandon every other social media platform, he would JUST use Instagram...it’s that powerful! The app is constantly being updated with new features to help make the experience better for the users. Jerry shares a few of those features, including “focus mode” that adds a professional look to your pictures by blurring out the background, video chat, augmented reality (think Snapchat filters), clickable account names and hashtags, and the ability to mute (but not unfollow) a channel or user. To learn more about the powerful ways you can use Instagram to grow your real estate business, check out this episode of the onion juice!
You have all seen the live videos on social media...lots of likes and hearts floating up the screen. If you are like me, you probably wonder how long the person is going to talk, right? What if this real estate agent talks for 20 minutes?? Jerry says one way to improve your live videos is to “offer an end at the beginning,” meaning drop a hook that will encourage views to keep watching until the big reveal. For example “This house is a three bedroom/ two bathrooms, but it might have the strangest thing I have seen in one of the bathrooms, but we’ll get there shortly…”
It is possible to learn social media in just five minutes…Mr. Jerry Potter shares how on this awesome onion juice episode.
If learning and improving your social media presence has been a goal, but you haven’t been able to find the time, you should check out Jerry’s channel on Youtube called Five Minute Social Media, where he teaches tips and tricks in small chunks that you can learn easily and implement quickly! For all the links, check out the resources section below.
Our sponsors:
You can connect with Jerry Potter here
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
The Juice Bar is open! In today’s episode, I’ll answer your questions about how to adapt to market changes, how to build a real estate team, setting a marketing budget for new agents, and creating systems and processes that support growth. Join me for this Q & A and then join us over on the Facebook group to interact!
Bob: I am afraid there will be a market downturn before I get established, what should I do? The truth is, regardless of what the market is doing, there is always an opportunity. It’s not what the market is doing that will determine your success, it’s about how fast you shift, how willing you are to survive. In 2005, I had no idea what a short-sale was...things were rocking and I was feeling good. In 2008, I learned very quickly what a short-sale was because I needed to in order to survive. You have to adjust and shift, stay in front of clients, stay educated, and continue to grow.
Rachelle: How do you educate people on lying realtors who say the market hasn’t shifted and they say they are super busy? There may be some realtors who are clueless to any adjustment that is happening and are just programmed to say they are busy. In their case, maybe they don’t know what they don’t know. Remember that we are in the relationship business. People hire us because they trust us, not because of market stats or price listings.
Robert: As a new agent, how do I set a budget? It is easy to think that you need all the bells and whistles up front in order to be successful. A sweet website, Facebook ads, the works...In reality, there are ways to build your business that are very low cost. Creating a newsletter is one way I focused on relationships when I was starting out. I even got the newsletter sponsored, so the cost was minimal. I also used open houses to build relationships at little to no cost. Remember too, a clear plan will help you eliminate spending a lot of time and energy on short-term strategies. Once you are established, supporting your family and taking care of regular expenses, then you can add a great website and marketing dollars to your budget.
Karin: How do I build a real estate team? Here is a quick tip when building your real estate team: Hire up! Trust that there are people who will do things better than you can, but don’t let that stop you from hiring them, They will be valuable assets to your team! It can be a struggle to delegate and teach others every step of your process, but the value of recreating yourself is priceless. You should also consider contracting out pieces of your operation. This will save you time and money and allow you to focus on growth.
Michelle: I have a hard time getting organized, what systems can I use that support growth? Michelle, great question! Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start when you are trying to create a system. I was the same way. In 2013, I was running solo...no buyers agent, no assistant. That was also the year that I sold around 100 houses, so I HAD TO figure out a system that would save me time and keep me organized. I started with an email template that I would send to buyers. They would fill out all the details, then I would just copy/paste that into an offer. It looked professional and saved me hours! Since then, I have created systems for nearly every part of my business.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
In case you didn’t know, I am not a huge movie guy. I don’t have the attention span to watch a lot of movies, plus I would rather be thinking about other things, like my family or business or my team. Recently, I watched “The Greatest Showman,” a film about the famous P.T. Barnum. After the movie, a quote from P.T. Barnum lingered on my mind, “Comfort is the enemy of progress.” On this episode, I want to take a few minutes to talk about what makes ME uncomfortable, where I have exchanged progress for comfort and encourage you to get comfortable...with being uncomfortable!
Are you working because you enjoy the challenge and the process, or are you working for comfort? Comfort is not inherently bad, but it can lead to laziness, or “letting off the gas” once you get a little momentum. There have been a few times when I had 2-3 contracts moving forward, which made me feel successful, so I eased off on the marketing and the chase for a bit. Guess what happened? After those contracts closed, I had to scramble to find more clients. I got comfortable and it came back to bite me!
After that quote simmered in my brain for a bit, I had to ask myself, “Neil, where are you choosing comfort?” The answer: calling my sphere of influence. I email my sphere, post on social media and send them newsletters monthly, but I rarely call them...because it makes me uncomfortable. The reality is, these are already people I know, like and trust, so it should be easy to connect with them! If you struggle with this as well, I would encourage you to step into the uncomfortable thing...the fruit from that action will pay off 10x. For some advice on what to say to your sphere when you have nothing to say, check out Episode 134!
I found a second piece of inspiration this week that I wanted to share. This is not a movie quote, but something I saw on LinkedIn. Try adopting the mindset of “I get to” instead of “I have to.” The effects are powerful! Your boss asks you to stay late...typically you think “I have to stay late.” Try this instead: “I get to be trusted by my boss in a time of pressure, for an important project.” With that in mind, what do you get to do today? I hope this subtle shift will help refocus and re-energize you!
Next week is the Onion Juice Bar, and I want to hear your real estate questions! You can email them, message me on Facebook or my other social channels! Next episode, I will do my best to answer each question!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
Real estate video marketing is one of the most powerful tools you can use in your real estate business. People only do business with people they know, like, trust, and remember… And a video is, by far, the easiest way to stand out online, build authority in your real estate niche, and create an experience that people will never forget. Today, Michael Krisa from Agent Inner Circle joins me to show you how to use real estate videos to build strong relationships with your clients and grow your real estate business!
All video content is not created equal. Social is very different from searchable. If you don’t follow the “rules,” your content will not be as effective as you had hoped. Social media is meant for quick blurbs, which get refreshed in the feed in a matter of minutes. A good YouTube video, on the other hand, picks up views and starts climbing with search engine results, 24/7, worldwide. When you are posting video content, it is important to treat YouTube like a search engine, not like a social media platform. Check out episode 131, with Karin Carr to learn more about this!
“No one can relate to your perfection” is a motto every real estate agent should remember when producing video content. If you try to produce perfect videos every time, you will never launch any content. Let’s be honest, the imperfect video will have much better results than the one you never produce. Michael shares a few basic tips to improve the quality of your videos, like making sure the sun is behind the camera (facing you), and putting your phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode while filming, so notifications don’t break your concentration.
If you are just starting to produce video content, there is no need to go buy the fancy desktop software to edit your videos. The reality is, those programs are loaded with cool features, but they take hours to learn. Your job is not to become a video editor, but to sell houses. With that in mind, Michael says the best approach is to lead with mobile, meaning the cell phone in your pocket is your most powerful tool! He recommends getting an external mic to help with the audio clarity, like the IRig Lav Mic and a simple editing app like Power Director (Android) or iMovie (IOS).
If you need ideas to start producing video content, Michael says to use the 10x10 strategy. Here’s how it works...pick a niche, like “New Home Buyers,” then answer the top 10 questions that niche usually asks, using one question as the subject for each video. As an agent, you probably know 10 more questions about that subject that people don’t think to ask. When you are all said and done, you a have a 20 episode series that you can post as searchable content. In addition, people have gotten to know you a little from those videos, and you have presented yourself as an expert. That’s a great way to build likability and trust!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Jason Frazier, aka The Real Estate CIO, joins me on this episode to talk about why EVERY real estate agent should be using a Facebook pixel on their website. If you have no idea what a pixel is or how to use it, listen to this episode of the Onion Juice! Be aware though, once you hear what Jason Frazier has to share, you will have no excuse to start using this powerful marketing tool!
The Facebook pixel is a piece of JavaScript code for your website that enables you to measure, optimize and build audiences for your ad campaigns. Once you drive people to your website, you can use the Facebook pixel (which is created for you, in your Ads Manager on Facebook) to track what they do on your site, and then create a custom audience that you can use to retarget and remarket to this group of people so that you can increase your likelihood of a conversion. For example, you can target an ad to users who have visited your website but have never made it to the search registration page, or users who have viewed a specific neighborhood page, or even a specific property page.
Ok, so you know what a pixel is now. You might be asking “Why do I want to track this information in the first place?” The short answer: Because they have expressed interest. They are no longer “cold” leads. The hardest part of running a successful ad is targeting users who will be interested in the topic of that ad. But by running an ad to this custom audience who has already expressed an interest by visiting your website, you have a far better chance of getting the users to engage. That may be requesting a showing on that property. Or signing up for a home search of “similar homes in the area.” Or really anything else that you want to target this audience for.
There are so many things to learn in marketing that it can quickly become overwhelming. That's why Jason has developed a program called Agent Marketer Training. He breaks down complicated, multilayered systems into digestible, step-by-step building block courses suitable for any skill level. The course includes topics like culture shift ever in consumerism, why dynamic marketing is going to be the most important asset to attracting more business in this new economy, and how to provide an awesome consumer experience will take your personal brand to the next level, among other things.
Just because you are uncomfortable learning something new does not mean you can use that as an excuse to not execute. Jason says if you say “I am not able to…,” what you are really communicating is “I don’t want to.” Learning how to be an effective marketer is not complicated, despite what people think. A lot of agents tend to freak out a little when they start implementing things Jason recommends, like the Facebook pixel. He’s heard all the excuses, and still doesn’t think any of them are valid. With a willingness to learn, a good google search and maybe someone looking over your shoulder the first time, you will be well on your way to capturing leads and engaging your clients.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
Facebook is no longer the new frontier of marketing. It’s become an established channel many real estate agents use to obtain more (and better) leads. So, how do real estate agents capture new leads in today’s technologically advanced society? Facebook, of course! Dustin Brohm is back to share Facebook retargeting strategies to help you, the realtor, get in front of the right people with your Facebook ads.
Have you ever searched for anything on Amazon – let’s say, a pair of shoes – and then taken a break to scroll through Facebook? There’s a good chance you saw those same shoes advertised on your Facebook wall. This may be creepy, but it isn’t by chance. A Facebook pixel fired when you visited Amazon, allowing the site to retarget you. Real estate agents can do the same thing! A pixel is just a piece of JavaScript code that tracks a specific action. You can get this free snippet of code from Facebook and place it on your website code. Visitors to your site have shown intent, so it makes sense to show them an ad for your services. When you optimize your advertising for a lead conversion, you’re telling Facebook to find engaged prospects who filled out your lead form. Facebook then uses its algorithms to target your ads on the platform to the best possible prospects — those who have already filled out your contact form. This is much more effective than simply targeting prospects by their interest.
If you’re good at your job (which I’m sure you are) you likely have a list of people who recently purchased. With custom audiences you can upload that list to Facebook, and then have Facebook do some magic to find similar individuals (AKA lookalike audiences) who are looking to buy or sell a house. You can also build a custom audience based on your website or social traffic. The settings you can use are endless, so don’t get lost in all the details. Anyone who clicks on a certain page can be one audience, people who watch a percentage (20%, 50%, 75%, etc) of your videos can be another audience, and so on.
Think of Facebook ads as a way to constantly be refreshing your list of potential clients. Dustin recommends a tiered approach when setting the duration for your ad campaigns. One ad may target visitors who have landed on your site within the last 10-30 days, while another ad may target everyone who has viewed your content in the last 60 days. Not everyone is going to buy after the first interaction (in fact, this is RARE), but targeted ads over 60-120 days will help you build brand recognition that may eventually convert to business.
If you are unfamiliar with the Facebook carousel ad format, get familiar! This ad format is perfect for it’s visual appeal, making real estate the perfect candidate. The carousel ad format essentially allows the advertisers to display a series of images in a catalog type format so viewers can scroll through and view multiple images or listings. The multiple photos also mean this single ad has multiple pathways to convert.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Do you have a clear plan for marketing your real estate business, or are you just throwing things against the wall to see what sticks? Most of the agents I talk to inside my RoundBox coaching program are chasing shiny objects that end up distracting them from one of the three pillars (Influence, chase, and attraction). Today, I want to share a few marketing tips for real estate agents. Before I launch any marketing, I run every piece of content through these filters to determine how effective they will be. I hope these tips will resonate with you and help you produce better marketing content that will elevate your business to new levels of success!
The first filter I run any marketing material through is this: does it fit into my established plan, or am I just chasing the latest shiny object? Having a clear plan is the most important step before you do any marketing. Let me put that another way…If nothing is working, that means you have no plan. Developing a clear plan takes focus and hard work (and a good coach), but it gives you a foundation to build on. When I am planning a marketing campaign, be that a postcard, an email, a Facebook post or a YouTube video, I ALWAYS hold it up against my plan to make sure it furthers that goal instead of distracting from it.
Here’s a scenario I see often...an agent reaches out to tell me that they published a professional, engaging “New Home Buyers Guide” or similar video on Facebook, then waited for it to be liked, shared and commented on...they are still waiting, because that content is searchable, not social. It was posted in the wrong place, to the wrong audience. In a nutshell, Facebook content is social; it’s entertaining, engaging and usually pretty short. Think about how you interact with Facebook...do you watch every video all the way through? Do you read every word of those long posts? Of course not. You scroll, with the occasional pause to view a little bit of engaging content, then move on. On Youtube, However, you search for specific content, then scroll to find the most relevant content to your search. You might watch a 15-minute video because it kind of relates to your subject. Understanding the nuances of searchable vs. social content is VERY important in today’s marketing landscape! If you want to learn more, check out episode 131 with Karen Carr, where we talk about the important difference between social content and searchable content.
The content you send to your friends and family needs to look very different from the content you send to people who have never met you. If you send a warm and fluffy, homey newsletter to a client you have never met, it’s going to make them feel weird and disengage. “Why is this random realtor sharing his life goals and dreams and failures with me? I don’t even know this guy…” The content you send to new clients should be glossy, professional and contain calls to action that are proven to be effective. Once you nail that content, you have to send to them consistently. A one-off piece of content is NOT the approach you want to use, trust me!
If you are sending to people you know, the exact opposite is true. You want the content to be warm and inviting, “downhome” even. Why? Because those people know you. They know you are not perfect, and they would rather hear about your goals, struggles, and failures. Proper grammar and tasteful designs are still present, but that content is a snapshot of your life, and no one expects that to be perfect.
It’s been said that the average consumer is like a mouse when it comes to the way they respond to marketing. A mouse spends all day either looking for cheese or running from whiskers (attached to a cat, of course). In the marketing world, value is the cheese and a pushy sales pitch is the whiskers. As long as you’re providing value, people are going to be attracted to you and the message you have to share. But when you begin putting on the pressure to buy, they’re going to run away. I’ve got some thoughts about how this can apply to your real estate business, so be sure you take the time to listen.
If you ever get discouraged by the real estate market trends, pay attention. The truth is, In every market, there is a demand for something. Successful real estate agents look for where the demand is, then figure out how to stand in front of that demand. During the recession, the demand was short sales. Nobody wanted to do them, because of all the work and communication it took. I had other agents who passed along short sales to me because at that time I was communicating that I was willing to put in the work to get them done. In today’s market, the demand is trying to keep up with all the requests for houses. How is my team standing in front of this demand? We look for houses that haven't hit the market, we ask for the opportunity, and we constantly try to build likeability and trust.
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A real estate agent’s sphere of influence is one of their most important professional assets. Handled well, this relational network can become a lead generating powerhouse, fueling your real estate business for years (even decades!). But building your sphere of influence is more than a tactic or strategy: it’s learning how to build authentic, professional relationships with real people. On this episode, I will share 7 tips you can use to connect to your sphere of influence, even when you have nothing to say!
Tip #1: Planning an event is a great way to connect with your sphere of influence, and if done correctly, gives you a reason to talk to them up to three times! You can call them to invite them, talk to them at the event, then call afterward to thank them for attending. If planning the event seems like the hard part, remember that the whole thing can be planned in under five minutes...seriously! Call a restaurant and tell them you want to host an event during happy hour. Create a special order item that is named after your business (be creative...imagine patrons and bartenders shouting out the name of your company back and forth…), then order appetizers. Done!
Tip #2: Another tip you can leverage is to create a survey, then call your clients. If I did this, here are the three questions I would ask - 1. If you were looking for a house, where would you go? 2. If you were to refer an agent, who would you call? 3. Do you know anyone looking to buy or sell a house?
Tip #3: Have you ever thought about calling your clients and asking them if they would like to receive “Home Sold” alerts? It’s a great way to stay connected to your sphere of influence and provides useful information. This also allows you to make sure your email database is up to date. Once they agree, you can automate this process to send them emails every time a house in their neighborhood sells.
Tip #4: Everyone loves the idea of being a VIP, right? Reach out to your clients and ask them if they are on Facebook. Once you have found their profiles, add them to a private VIP group. This Facebook group is designed to cater to them and make them feel appreciated. One idea you can use is to buy a Starbucks gift card, then take a picture of it and post it in the feed. Tell the VIP’s it’s first come, first serve until the card is all used up. You can also post pictures of useful items that your clients may need that they can reserve! If any of you do this, I would love to hear what creative ideas you come up with to serve your clients!
Tip #5: You all know, I am a huge fan of newsletters! If you don’t have the resources to produce a paper one you send via snail mail, an E-Newsletter is a great alternative! Besides a reason to update your email list, you should call your clients and ask if they want to start receiving it!
Tip #6: This tip may not work for everyone, just depending on your comfort level...Call or text your clients and tell them that the market in your area is up, and you need listings! Ask them if they are looking to sell, or if they know someone who is. It’s straightforward but effective!
Tip #7: One of the ways I build likability and trust is the I Love Madison podcast. It’s a fun show that highlights all the great things about Madison, the city where I live and work. My hope is that people will get to know me through that show, and remember me when they need a real estate agent. I recently found out that only about 5% of my sphere of influence from my real estate business even knows the I Love Madison podcast exists! If you are a media company that happens to sell real estate, call your sphere and tell them about it! Ask them to follow your social media, listen to your podcast or watch your YouTube channel!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
When was the last time you got a piece of real mail that you really enjoyed reading? Today on the Onion Juice, Michael Krisa from Service For Life!® joins me to talk about the power of the mailbox, specifically, a custom newsletter that they produce for me to keep me connected to my “power list” of past clients, friends, family and potential new clients. This newsletter is so important to me, it’s one of the top three strategies I focus on to attract business!
Real estate newsletters to past and prospective clients can be a fantastic and inexpensive way to build and maintain strong client relationships. I learned this from a mentor in the real estate business back in 2002, which resulted in the creation of my own newsletter I titled “The Mathweg Minute.” After the first year of creating and sending it to my list, I realized I did not have the time to produce great content as often I would have liked. That’s when I found Service For Life!®.
I used to produce every newsletter, which meant writing every block of content and planning extra content that I thought would help build trust and likability. Service For Life!® intentionally creates a newsletter with a “down-home look” my list raves about. It’s not the shiny, corporate direct mail that everybody immediately tosses in the trash. I include real estate information, of course, but Service For Life!® strategically includes “How-To” articles, trivia, tips, and humor to motivate the highest readership and encourage sharing. it’s NOT all about real estate, and that’s one of its success secrets…
The more you can communicate with your “power list,” the more successful you will be at attracting business! Michael says it’s “all about the touch points.” Loosely defined, a touchpoint is a place or point that a customer touches, or interacts, with your brand. When people read my newsletter, I hope that it comes across as warm, genuine and heartfelt, because that is exactly how I want to attract new clients. Imagine the business you could attract if a past client hands a well-crafted newsletter to a friend, and shares a positive story about you at the same time...the value of that interaction will far exceed the commission you make on it.
Raise your hand if you didn’t know there was a difference between marketing and advertising...Michael says marketing is the science of getting people to do something, while advertising just means you have a lot of money to burn. Each of the newsletters that Service For Life!® produces for me includes several call-to-action sections that encourage people to connect with me. I can set up a number with pre-recorded information about a property I am listing, offer tips like “5 ways to prepare to sell your house” and even a touch point that starts by asking something like “Would you like to know what your neighbor's house sold for?” These are all powerful hooks that are included, and the best part is, I don’t have to write them myself!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
If you are a real estate agents who is trying to break out on YouTube, drop everything you are doing and listen to this episode! I promise it will be worth every second! Despite the fact that YouTube gets more search traffic than Bing, Yahoo!, and AOL, many real estate agents fail to leverage the platform. On today’s episode, TJ Kelly joins me to share several YouTube best practices that real estate agents can use to reach more people.
When it comes to ranking YouTube content, TJ Kelly is the man with a plan. When YouTube first launched, part of the algorithm was based on views. The more views your video got, the higher it ranked. Now, YouTube uses a different approach. While they still count aggregate views they do so in conjunction with engagement metrics, which include number of seconds viewed, comments, likes and social shares. TJ said before it was better to pump out a ton of videos with less focus on content. Now, it's better to create content-rich videos that drive user engagement. The first 15 seconds will determine if a viewer will stay engaged, which TJ says is critical. The other factor is the total amount of minutes and seconds your video has been viewed. This is not per user, but overall. Therefore, having longer videos will add more seconds to your count and increase your rankings.
TJ recommends using the PPP method when producing content for YouTube. Here’s what that looks like...Preview: First, give the viewer a hint of what the video is all about as soon as the video starts. Proof: Then, establish proof that you know what you’re talking about and can deliver on the topic. Preview: Finally, reiterate what the video is about, this time adding a specific detail that the viewer will learn.
The latest algorithmic changes to Google’s search engines now take into consideration a more dynamic field of content types. As such, videos, images and transcriptions are now crawlable. Anything you say in a video (especially one that includes subtitles and annotations) can technically impact your ranking signals. Putting your keyword into the title of your video while also saying your keyword throughout the video is a great way to drive home the point of what your video accomplishes, to both viewers and search engines. In line with Google’s shift toward natural language search and high-relevancy content, matching auditory keywords within a video with those utilized in video titles signals that you’re not spamming users and that your video follows through on its title.
A newer differentiator that is becoming more common on YouTube is creative video thumbnails. Just last year, thumbnails were static images, but they now automatically animate when cursors hover over them. If your video is featured on page 1, it’s likely facing stiff competition from other videos that may better serve viewer intent. So how do you get users to click on your video despite being ranked lower? The key is to make a great first impression by having a customized thumbnail that stands out visually from everything else on the page. Customization can take many forms, including appealing color schemes dynamic banners or design patterns, and Intuitive splash screen/video title combinations.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Today, Karin Carr joins me on the OJ to share how agents can leverage YouTube to build a business! YouTube is often said to be the second largest search engine in the world after Google itself. Every day, people watch hundreds of millions of hours of video on YouTube, generating billions of views. Having a strong YouTube presence can have an incredible impact on your brand reach and will give you the chance to engage with the millions of visitors of using the platform.
YouTube is owned by Google and it’s the second most popular search engine on the planet. In real estate, we all know how hard it is to get ranked on the first page of Google because of syndication sites like Zillow, Trulia, or Realtor.com. However, Google will often sprinkle one or two videos into the first page when it thinks that the videos are highly relevant to a person’s search – And these videos come straight from YouTube. So the biggest benefit of creating YouTube videos is definitely SEO.
Social media is meant for quick blurbs, which get pushed off the radar and forgotten nearly as quickly as they were posted. A good YouTube video, on the other hand, is exactly the opposite; it snowballs, picks up views, and starts climbing with search engine results, 24/7, worldwide. Karin says it is important to treat YouTube like a search engine, not like a social media platform. This means you can use content to target a specific audience. For example, one video might target local homeowners looking to sell, while another might target local buyers looking for homes in your area or out of town buyers. Your content, title, tags, and keywords will all have an effect on how people find this content.
People only do business with people that they know, like, trust, and remember. Video allows you to do all of these at once with ease. When people see you on camera, they get to see all of the little nuances of your personality. From there, you can build an intimate connection with that person. Down the road, when they are ready to buy or sell real estate, you are the one that they are going to remember.
Taking the extra steps to make your videos easier to find and share will let you take advantage of all that YouTube and videos have to offer along the customer path to purchase. Videos take content to an entirely new level. Karin says your title should be a few words long and include the major keyword for which you want to your video to rank. She also shares how to use tags that fit with your content and that will interest the people for whom the video was intended.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
The Juice Bar is open! In today’s episode I’ll answer your questions about social media, knowing the right time to leave your job, daily routines you can use as an agent and how to encourage a spouse that is frustrated or discouraged about your work as a real estate agent. Chances are, you have asked many of the same questions that these listeners have raised. Join me for this Q & A and then join us over on the Facebook group to interact!
Follow-up is the most important daily activity a new agent can do. Chances are, you have a list of people who talked to you at one point because they were interested in buying or selling a house. Maybe the timing wasn’t right, maybe life was crazy for a bit...whatever the reason, It’s time to follow-up with that person, they will appreciate the personal communication!
Some of you are running Facebook ads, but not following up with the leads that are generated! That’s crazy! If you have clients from Facebook, your method to attract business is working, so make the time to reach out and provide outstanding customer service! If you do that well, you may not have to chase business as much, as satisfied customers love to share their experience with friends!
There are thousands of videos on YouTube that talk about real estate, so the question “which videos should I watch?” is a valid one. Here’s the problem though, sometimes too much of a good thing is not a good thing. There is so much content on YouTube, it may be more of a distraction if you don’t have a clear plan and a vision for how you want to do business. For example, my team is focused on hosting open houses. With that in mind, I might go on YouTube to search for videos from other agents who have mastered open houses, then copy what they do. I learn and improve, but I am not distracted by all of the other “shiny things” that don’t fit into my clear vision. To hear more on this subject, check out the full episode!
If you have struggled with the idea of leaving another job to pursue real estate full time, here is what I would recommend. When you believe in your vision and have your vision dialed in, it's time to go. That sounds simple, maybe even a little scary, but the reality is, your clear vision will motivate you forward, and your needs will be met as a result. If you need help creating a clear plan, I would love to chat with you! Check out the rest of this episode to learn more!
I love this question! The idea that extroverts are the most successful real estate agents is a misnomer. I suspect that the agents who consider themselves introverts are also some of the most caring, detail-oriented, attentive people in the business. There are advantages to both personalities. The solution is not your personality, introverted or extroverted, but to build a business around your strengths. What are you good at? How do you best communicate with people? If you are introverted, knocking on doors may be the stuff of nightmares...maybe email and social media campaigns are more your speed? Figure out where you thrive and what brings you the most joy, then build your real estate business from those foundations!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
I hate to break it to you, but if you’re treating LinkedIn like an old-fashioned Rolodex, you’re doing it wrong. Nearly every industry uses LinkedIn to find and vet job candidates, and over 90% of recruiters rely on the site, according to data from the Society of Human Resource Management. So your profile can’t just be a storage unit for career contacts — it needs to be a living, breathing record of your professional life. Cathy Yerges from RevGrow joins me on this episode to share how real estate agents can maximize their connections on LinkedIn. Cathy says Linked In in the sleeping giant of 2018. You don’t want to miss what she has to say!
Be sure to complete all of the sections including education, certifications, interests and the other section options your profile provides, when applicable. Your profile gives you the option to include a Twitter handle, three websites, company web address, phone number, email address and more — neatly placed in an address file at the lower right-hand corner of your intro box, alongside your LinkedIn URL. This makes it easy for you to find info to contact people on your target list and simpler for hiring managers to contact you.
LinkedIn can be a powerful networking tool — if you let it. Instead of just saving the connections you’ve met throughout your professional life, actively engage with contacts by liking, sharing, and commenting on their activity. It’s fine to connect with someone you’ve never met, but make sure you send a customized message in your invitation. Cathy suggests following up with anyone who looks at your profile. The key is to engage people, instead of just broadcasting what it is you do.
LinkedIn's foundations are built upon individual personal profiles, which usually showcase the user's skills, not those of the company they work for. LinkedIn members use the site for numerous reasons, two of which include; following and networking with other professionals or following companies to hear of news and developments from that organization. Unlike your personal LinkedIn profile, your company page can help you display relevant content and services.
You guys have heard me say it, the goal is to be media companies that happen to sell real estate. When used effectively, LinkedIn is just one way that agents can provide value and attract more business, instead of chase it. Just like you do for your real estate blog and other social media accounts, posting a significant amount of content is essential to growing leads. Look at some of the best real estate agents and firms on LinkedIn and you’ll notice a trend: They all post content of varying types — links to blog posts, opinion pieces, articles, and curated pieces. Any visual content you create (as long as it’s informative) can help your LinkedIn page. Just as photos, images, and graphics perform well on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, LinkedIn provides another medium you can use to publish multimedia and advance your real estate social media marketing.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
If you not seeing success as a real estate agent, it’s probably because you are not being consistent. Of all the tactics and strategies available to an agent, I think being consistent with your plan is one of the most critical. It’s easy to chase the “shiny objects” or jump from one strategy to another, especially if you don’t feel like one is working. If you are doing this, you are wasting a lot of time an energy. Here is a silver bullet that you can bank on: work hard consistently. Check out this episode to hear more about how you can develop the right plan, set that plan in motion, then rinse and repeat.
You have probably heard the old adage about the gold miners who were digging, but gave up before striking it rich, just a few feet from the gold. Had they dug a little deeper, they would have seen a payday. The moral of the story? Trust the process. If you have been selling real estate for a while, but not seeing the level of success you desire, it’s either because you are following a plan that doesn’t fit you well, you are not being consistent, or some combination of the two. If you are just starting out, you may need a little more time in the business, combined with a congruent plan. I would love to help you get there. If you have been at it awhile, you may need to focus on one thing, then maximize your efforts.
If you want to see success in one area consistently, you will have to repeat a process over and over again. This makes sense when we are talking about fitness or saving or positive habits...strangely enough, many real estate agents don’t follow this same approach when it comes to growing their business. Assuming that you have a great plan in place, the real power comes from your consistency. If you want to grow your business and develop long-lasting relationships with your sphere of influence, listening to this Onion Juice episode is a great place to start!
As I mentioned above, having the right plan is critical when considering the best approach to selling real estate. My team is focused on mastering open house events and sending out newsletters. I have been successful with this approach, but that may not be the plan you should follow. The truth is, everything can work if you work it.
When you first start selling real estate, chances are the effort will outweigh the results at first. You will spend a lot of time doing things that don’t seem to be working, which is where “trust the process” comes in. As you stay focused and avoid the shiny distractions, the results will soon outweigh the effort. It will be easier to attract leads, people will seek YOU out, instead of you chasing them, you will start to gain momentum...these are the rewarding moments that mean you are doing something right!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
If you have ever googled “how do I manage my time,” you probably know what time blocking is...if not, just imagine you break your day up into 1-hour blocks, then assign a task for each hour. Great strategy, right? Since this is the Onion Juice, and we do things differently here. I want to share with you a better way to manage your time and tasks. I have been using this system with great results! Listen to this episode to learn how day-blocking can help you maximize your workday productivity!
You have great intentions to organize your day into time blocks. If you can carve out the time to organize your daily schedule, you are further ahead in the game than most people. I used to organize my schedule in blocks, but I found it didn’t take long for unexpected meetings and conversations to cut into that time, throwing my whole day off. Ever been there? Of course! This is when I discovered day-blocking.
Scheduling every hour of every day was tough, and it didn't take long before that process seemed to be taxing and tedious. I didn’t always make good choices in this practice, and soon realized I was not alone in this process. So I changed it. Here is the new system I use every week: On Mondays, I call all of my hot leads. Tuesdays I call all of my clients to give them an update on where we are in the process, be that transaction details, listing details listing or any new listings on the MLS. On Wednesday, I contact my top 25. These are my referral partners or other people I am collaborating with. Thursdays are spent on the phone with my entire client list, organized by the alphabet. By the end of the year, every client has received at least two phone calls from me. On Fridays, I look over expired listings and the most recent posts on the MLS for my b-list clients.
This schedule works well, but you might be wondering how I manage all of the other projects, like this podcast, the I Love Madison Show, the other agents I work with in real estate and a social media presence.
Every Monday, I promote the latest episode of the onion juice, as well as the I love Madison show. This means that I am scheduling tweets and facebook posts and sharing the content. Mondays are also when I meet with my real estate team. Tuesdays are my newsletter day. I use service for life and have been incredibly happy with the results. On Wednesday, I record the I Love Madison Show. Thursday is used to record the Onion Juice podcast, before sending it off to the editing team. Friday is my video production or Youtube day.
The reason I can manage so many things at once is because I hire up and automate where I can. After recording the podcast episodes, I turn the audio over to Podcast Fast Track, where they prep the audio and write (these) show notes. Many of the social media posts can be automated and scheduled, which saves time. Eventually, I will hire someone to help me promote the podcast episodes as they publish each week. This is how I hire up! Your schedule and activities will look different, of course, but the principle is the same.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Whether you’re a new real estate agent or a pro who’s been in the game for years, it’s not uncommon to feel uncertain about how to structure your business, grow your lead database, build relationships, and, ultimately, maximize profits. One common solution to help with these concerns is to hire an experienced, reputable real estate coach - in other words, someone who has dealt with everything you’re going through today and can guide your career in the right direction. This is exactly what I do with Roundbox, the Real Estate coaching program I created to help launch new agents and revitalize agents who have been in the game for awhile but seemed to have lost momentum.
A freshly-licensed agent doesn’t have past numbers to look back on or to analyze what worked and what didn’t. They’re trying to increase production and set up their business, but don’t yet have a working business plan in place, or an idea of what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a real estate coach, I help new agents define and reach goals using a three-pillar approach. These pillars are 1. Your Sphere of Influence, 2. Chase Business and 3. Attract Business. The goal of these three pillars is to help you create a well-rounded plan that sets you up for strong growth and success!
Building your sphere of influence as a real estate agent is one of the most important things you can do. If done well, you can expect to see new business from about 10% of your sphere. There are several ways you can accomplish this. Personally, I use newsletters. Not the digital ones that people delete...I’m talking about sending the real paper to my list. Since few people are still doing this, there is not a lot of noise in this space and people are more likely to share an interesting newsletter than forward an email. The trick to developing your sphere of influence is to be consistent. Roundbox is designed to help you figure out what works best for your business, then help you develop a plan to help you influence your sphere.
The second pillar is chasing business. This is often the only pillar that agents focus on. After chasing business for a while, many agents get tired or burnt out and lose the motivation to continue. I believe there is a way to chase business that can be productive and profitable without the burnout. It’s possible, but it takes focus and tenacity to avoid all of the “shiny things” that can distract you. My team is focused on using newsletters and open-houses to increase business. There are hundreds of ways the chase can be accomplished, but what is right for you? Listen to this onion juice episode to hear more on how you can start the chase!
If you have listened to the Onion Juice before, you know that I often talk about being “media companies that happen to sell real estate.” This is how I attract business instead of always chasing it. In some of the recent episodes, I talk about a few ways that agents can attract business. My friend Caleb Jahr uses a vlog, I have used Facebook Live and Instagram, as well the recently launched I Love Madison Show, a podcast that highlights the city of Madison, Wisconsin. These are the things that work for me and my company. If you want to know more about how you can attract business as a real estate agent, I would encourage you to schedule a 15-min phone call with me, I would love to share ideas and hear your creativity!
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There is a powerful shift that takes place when you start living your life according to a vision, instead of just living to meet your needs! In the last episode, I talked about how to create a vivid vision for your life. This vision helps you to adopt an abundance mindset and focus on what truly matters. This week, we are going to peel back more of that onion and drink a little more on the subject of vision! If you haven’t listened to episode 124, you should go guzzle that first, it’s still fresh!
When you roll out of bed in the morning and start thinking about your day, do you focus on how you are going to pay bills, or how you are going to use that day to accomplish a grand vision that adds value to your life and to those around you? Truthfully, we all focus on those needs...there are more of them, and they tend to take up more brain space. What would happen though, if we started our day by clarifying what our vivid vision is, then used that vision to guide our schedule? I think your life would be changed...I know mine has been!
Having a vision has clarified what I need to focus on each day, and has lit a fire in my soul to see that vision realized. Every day, I get up excited to go to work, excited to continue selling real estate and leading my team. As I clarified my life vision, I shared that with my team, which in turn fired them up! If you are looking to build a team of people, for real estate or otherwise, the best thing you can do is clarify your vivid vision, then share it! As you lead, encourage the people around you to do the same.
Recently, I heard a radio commercial for a salon here in Madison that said they specialize in curly hair. As it happens, my daughter has extremely curly hair, so their commercial immediately caught my attention. Ok, but we are talking about real estate, why does curly hair matter? Because it’s a niche. There may be hundreds of other salons I could take my daughter to, but these guys say they specialize in the one that I am focused on. The same concept applies to your real estate business. When I started out as an agent, I focused on expired listings. I communicated that I could sell the houses that other real estate agents could not. Do you think that caught people’s attention? Absolutely. When you focus on a certain niche, it tends to expand. As it expands, you are positioned as an expert in that area, which makes people trust you and want to do business with you!
If you are a real estate agent that needs a niche, keep listening! There are hundreds of ways you can approach selling real estate. My team has decided to focus on open houses and being media companies that happen to sell real estate. I know other agents who focus on senior care or providing services for elderly people looking to sell a home, downsize, etc. Military families and law enforcement is another area of real estate that you could focus on. Understanding what military families are looking for means you can easily rule out properties that don’t fit, saving you time. There are hundreds of ways to approach this, I would love to hear some of the niches that you guys are focused on! Here’s to a vivid vision and expanding success!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
I want you to start living your life according to a vivid vision! Hey juicers, on this episode, I share a powerful concept that will help you stay focused on the vision that drives your company, not just the immediate needs that pop up. The difference is subtle, but the result is remarkable! Listen to this OJ episode to start living according to your vision!
Most of us are used to responding to needs and do everything we can to meet those needs as they arise. This is not inherently bad, those things absolutely need to be addressed, but at what cost? This endless cycle is one reason why people never step into their true purpose. Barry Bennett makes the point that most inventions, scientific advancements, and dramatic accomplishments were done by people who didn’t focus on their need, but rather on something that motivated them. The same is true for how you live your life.
Focusing on your needs instead of living according to a grander vision is like running around to put out a bunch of small fires. As long as you are only living to meet your needs, your focus will constantly be on those fires. This is stressful and often means many people never reach their full potential. When you live according to a vision, the fires bow to that vision. It’s fun to work on the things we love, right? We find we have more creativity and passion and energy, things that are usually lacking when we are stressed about meeting the immediate needs in front of us. I am positive there are greater things for you to achieve...stop chasing fires and start chasing your vision!
A few episodes ago, I mentioned the abundance mindset vs. the scarcity mindset. I bring it up again because it applies to this concept. If you are just focused on your needs, it’s easy to get into a scarcity mindset. Left unchecked, this scarcity mindset can creep in and affect how you plan for growth, how you hire new team members and undermine your generosity towards others. The opposite is true of the abundance mindset. When the vision is your primary focus, it is easier to understand that the tide raises all ships. You then can lead with creativity and passion. It’s all about the vision. Vision is future, needs are present.
Here’s what I encourage you to do: write down a vivid vision, then move towards it. This is the critical first step you have to take before you can focus your life and begin to see the abundance that is associated with pursuing that vision. If you are thinking “what does a vivid vision look like,” start by writing down what you want your life to look like in 3-5 years. How old will you be? How old will your children be? What do you want your sales volume to be for your company? How many team members do you plan to have? These are all great places to start. Once you get this stuff written down, figure out what your three pillars will be, then focus your attention solely on those three pillars. Remember, the results of your life are found in the actions you take.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
Have you heard that Facebook changes are on the way? It's understandable and I actually love the things that Facebook is going to do. The reason I say that is that lately, Facebook has become less of an enjoyable place for me to spend my time, and that means the people I want to engage with aren't spending as much time there either. Why has it become so unattractive? It's because of all the clickbait and irrelevant posts that wind up in my Facebook feed. But the changes Facebook is making here at the beginning of 2018 are going to help us be more effective in reaching the very people we want to connect with. On this episode, Jason Frazier and I explain why.
It may sound funny to say it this way but the changes Facebook is making and its algorithm are focused more on people than they are on Brands. Yes, Facebook is still an advertising platform and they will still sell advertisements and enable you to target their audience, but it looks like they are tired of user's Facebook feeds being crammed full of junk. On this episode, Jason Frazier and I clarify exactly what Facebook is doing, why the changes are happening, and the impact it should have on us media companies who happen to sell real estate.
If you have been using Facebook as a place to post clickbait type content, you are about to receive a big wake-up call. Those kinds of posts will no longer even show up on Facebook feeds because Facebook has changed its algorithms. The post that will be highlighted the most are the ones that get engagement, actual comments and conversations going on. That means as a media company that happens to sell real estate, you need to rethink your strategy and build relationships through Facebook, which is what you should have been doing all along. On this episode, Jason Frazier and I highlight the ways we can approach these changes that will be beneficial to us and to those we're trying to reach.
If you've been using Facebook and social media in general for that matter to build relationships with people so that you can serve them better, you'll be happy about the changes that are coming to Facebook in 2018. It's wonderful to know that all the junk that is aimed at getting people to click, share, and take some sort of action to purchase the product, are going to go away. Facebook's plan is to highlight engaging content that truly connects people. Isn't that the purpose of social media in the first place? I love it, and on this episode, Jason Frazier and I are going to discuss how you should think about these changes in why you should consider it to be a good thing.
If you have already been doing live videos you know the power they have when it comes to engaging with people. That is exactly the kind of results that Facebook's changes are aimed at producing. That means that live video is going to rank much higher and be more noticeable in Facebook feeds than ever before. So if you are not doing live video, you need to start. Figure out a way to focus on a cause or a topic that will engage the audience you're trying to reach. That's going to make your posts rank higher, give you the opportunity to build authentic relationships so that you can be known, liked, and trusted, and eventually wind up with new customers because of that engagement. This episode highlights everything we know so far about the Facebook changes coming down the pike.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!