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Jess Lenouvel

Want To Build A Real Estate Team? Here Are 5 Mindset Shifts For Agents Looking To Outsource

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If you want to create a 7-figure real estate business, hands down, one of the most important things you can do is start to build a real estate team. 

You can’t be a one-person team forever. That will eventually lead to realtor burnout, and that’s the last thing I want for you!

If you’re ready to experience true time and financial freedom, creating a powerful real estate team is the path to get you there.

Trust me, I know from my own experience how you might be feeling about outsourcing and team growth. You might have some serious resistance when it comes to bringing on new team members into your business. 

Maybe you’ve even tried in the past and the experience was less than stellar.

If that’s the case, don’t let your past hold you back from the bright future that awaits!

I had to do some serious self-growth to unlearn many of the beliefs that held me back from building a real estate team. So today, I want to take you along that journey and share some helpful strategies and mindset shifts so you can go from a solo agent to powerful real estate CEO.

Let’s get into it!

Identify The Patterns And Stories That Are Keeping You Stuck 

One of my favorite things about entrepreneurship is that it’s a catalyst for self-growth and personal development. 

Often, if you’re plateauing in your business, it’s not just about your business strategy.

There’s most likely a pattern you’ve formed throughout your life that’s showing up and holding you back in your business. 

If you want to get to the next level, you have to commit to breaking your patterns. 

One of the best ways to do this is through journaling. Ask yourself what stories you might be telling yourself that are preventing you from taking that next step to build a real estate team.

For me, the story that held me back for years was the idea that I was a “lone wolf”. 

I told myself that the fact I could do it all on my own was one of my biggest strengths. I liked being self-sufficient, and always in control.

But in reality, these tendencies were my biggest downfall.

They were simply stories I was telling myself as a safety mechanism. Because deep down, I was too afraid to trust anyone else. 

I believe that so many agents subconsciously hold themselves back because they’re terrified of having to be responsible for other people. 

As a solo agent, if you fail, the only person you have to answer to is yourself. 

Building a real estate team can feel scary – because all of a sudden, your business is bigger than just YOU.

You’re responsible for other people’s livelihoods

You’re responsible for the future of the company

You’re responsible for making decisions that will be in everyone’s best interest 

As the leader of the ship, you open yourself up to feedback or criticism that you wouldn’t hear if you decided to stay a solo agent. 

And yes, keeping your business small can feel good. It feels comfortable. 

But sooner or later, you’ll hit a wall.

And if you ever want to grow past your plateau, you need to decide to take control and change the narrative around hiring.

Stop Blaming Your Circumstances and Take Control 

While in the beginning, you might be able to handle running the show solo, you will quickly be headed to realtor burnout.

Pretty soon, the pride you once felt for being able to ‘do it all’ will turn into exhaustion within your business.

I know, because I was 100% there.

I got to a point where I was so busy doing all the things that I was stressed, unhappy, and falling out of love with my business.

And I know many others who have been in the same boat.

But here’s what most people do when they reach this point…

They blame their burnout on circumstances OUTSIDE of themselves.

They’ll blame it on person A or client B. They’ll say it’s just the nature of their business. There will always be a reason or a circumstance for why they just HAVE to be this busy. 

But the truth is the only person responsible for burning you out is YOU.

If you’re addicted to being superwoman, to having everything fall on your shoulders – you’ll never experience the true freedom that comes with building a real estate team. 

Decide on Your Business Vision and Commit To Getting There

You have to get honest with yourself and ask yourself the tough questions if you want to get to the next level.

What kind of business will best serve you?

What kind of lifestyle do you truly desire?

What kind of person do you want to be?

What kind of patterns do you need to break to become that person?

What do you need to work through to get to the next level?

Digging deep within yourself to find these answers is what you need to do if you’re truly ready to grow.  

Building a real estate team is about so much more than just figuring out a hiring strategy and learning how to onboard team members.

You need to truly commit to building a big, scalable business that will let you live out your wildest dreams.

Once you know in your heart that you’re ready to build that business, you’ll have no choice but to go out and find the humans that will help you build it.

Learn To Let Go and Trust Your Team 

When you first start to build a real estate team, it’s not going to be easy. If you have deep-rooted patterns of constantly trying to control and micromanage, to always be in the driver’s seat…letting go will feel scary.

But trust me, it’s one of the BEST things you will ever do (for your life and business).

In the beginning, I really struggled with letting go of the reigns.

You have to train your team. You have to invest in them. You have to let them make mistakes and grow and learn.

It might feel uncomfortable if you’ve been operating as a solo agent for ages. You might be falling into mindset traps such as “no one can do it as good as me!” or, “if I don’t constantly check-in, someone’s going to mess something up and my business will fall apart!”

But remember, these are just stories.

Learning to let go was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

But now, years later, I have a team that I trust fully. 

If you’ve been in my community or programs, chances are you’ve interacted with my team. They’re truly incredible.

But getting to that point in my business where I have a powerhouse team I can lean on for support was no coincidence.

I had to decide that I was going to choose growth. 

I had to decide that I was no longer going to play small and hold myself back. 

I had to decide to fully embody that next-level version of myself.

And to do all that, I had to be willing to let go, to lean into the discomfort, and to choose growth over staying stagnant…every single day.

Lean Into Fear

In this process of learning how to let go and trust others, there will be moments that seriously test you.

There will be moments when you’re filled with fear, and you want to choose comfort so badly. 

Keep going.

You need to choose the future of what you’re building over the fear.

Often, when that feeling of fear bubbles up in our stomach, we think it’s a sign to stop.

But fear is not a red light. In my mind, fear is more like a yellow light. 

The way I see fear is like a barrier. I need to get through in order to reach the other side.

Fear is essentially your ego telling you, “I want to stay where I am now!”

But the people that create amazing things in their lives are the ones who choose NOT to listen to that voice, and instead rise above their fears.

Your brain is designed to look for threats and keep you alive. That primal fear you feel in your body comes from a time when, as humans, we weren’t safe. 

The part of your brain that activates when you make a scary business decision is the same part that got activated when we were being chased by a saber-tooth tiger hundreds of years ago.

We have evolved, but our brains still feel fear in the same way.

You have to remember…

You are safe now. And it is SAFE for you to grow.

If you are ready to step into your next-level self, and want support along your journey of building a 7-figure real estate business, I encourage you to join us in The 7-Figure Agent program.

The 7-Figure Agent program is a high-level year-long mastermind that gives you the roadmap to leverage a team of A-Players with proven systems to scale your business to 7 figures and beyond.

Want to see if you’re the right fit?

Learn more and apply here. 

This One Mindset Shift Will Significantly Improve Your Real Estate Marketing Strategy

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Are you looking to elevate your real estate marketing strategy so that leads and clients flow your way consistently?

There’s one simple mindset shift you can make that will drastically change the trajectory of your business. 

Because let’s be real…you can read all the marketing books and binge all of the podcasts you want. But if you don’t have the right perspective when it comes to real estate marketing, your strategy will always fall flat. 

So let’s get right into it! 

Jab, jab, jab, right hook

If you know me well, you most likely know that I’m not the biggest Gary Vee fan all of the time (I’m not about that hustle culture!)

But there is one philosophy he often talks about that I think is particularly helpful for shifting your mindset around your real estate marketing strategy.

And that’s the idea of jab, jab, jab, right hook. 

Vaynerchuck wrote a book about this concept back in 2013, but the principles remain extremely relevant to this day. 

In jab, jab, jab, right hook, the jabs are every instance you provide value to your ideal clients. This includes the valuable content you put out, the appreciation you show your people, and the kind gestures you do for your community. 

The right hook, on the other hand, is the ask.

It may be:

  • Asking for a sale
  • Asking for a referral
  • Asking for registration on an ad

What jab, jab, jab, right hook stands for is essentially give, give, give, then ask. 

You have to earn the right to ask for the sale.

Timing is everything

If you want to implement jab, jab, jab, right hook in your real estate business, timing is key.

Getting jabs and right hooks lined up actually requires a deep understanding of your audience.

You want minimal friction as people go through your marketing funnels. It should all feel incredibly natural!

The worst thing is when people can recognize that the right hook, the ask, is coming and so they duck to avoid it. We all hate being sold to. No one likes the feeling of being just another lead in someone’s funnel.

This is why it’s so important that our marketing feels generous and customer-centric. 

Advertising cycles are getting longer 

As consumers get more intelligent, the longer the sales cycles become.

Across all industries, it’s taking longer for customers to purchase. The buyer’s journey is expanding. 

While there still might be some industries where ‘quick hits’ are the norm, and people purchase straight away, they’re becoming few and far between. 

As consumers are bombarded with more and more ads, they’re becoming more and more cynical. 

This is why your marketing requires more finesse than ever before. You’ve got to put in some extra effort to romance your customers!

Shift to a give-first mentality

The changing advertising industry teaches us where we need to shift our real estate marketing strategy. 

Gary Vee wrote Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook nearly a decade ago, and since then advertising has become far more saturated.

Because of this, you can’t always expect your right hook, your ask, to land.

This isn’t some kind of formula.

It’s not about posting three authority posts on social media and then a promo post, and expecting the sales to flood in. 

It’s so much more than that. 

It’s about completely shifting your mindset to a give-first mentality. 

If you’re just throwing jabs because you’re ticking off boxes in order to ask for the sale, the strategy is never going to work. 

Prioritize relationships above all else

Have you ever heard the quote, life gives to the giver and takes from the taker?

Because THAT is what this mindset shift is all about.

You need to focus more on what you can do for your audience than what they can do for you.

When you give and give and give, then the ask is always going to be more successful. 

But winning a sale can’t be your primary motivation. 

The relationships you have with your clients and potential clients are the most important thing. 

Think about it like this:

No one wants to hang out with that friend who only calls when they need something.

They want to hang out with the friend who’s always organizing events for the group, who’s generous and thoughtful, and who’s always there to lend a listening ear.

Be THAT friend for your audience, and watch your real estate marketing strategy soar. 

Create true value (not just value for the sake of value)

When you’re focusing on creating value for your audience, you need to be intentional.

It’s not about creating value for the sake of value. It’s about creating targeted value that will help your ideal clients make significant strides in their life.

Ask yourself…

What’s the most valuable thing I can do or give my audience today?

What do they really, truly need to hear from me?

What piece of wisdom or value can I give them that will help them get closer to where they want to be? 

This is super important when it comes to crafting your marketing funnel, too. 

Ask yourself:

How can I make the experience of going through my funnel as enjoyable as possible? 

How can I make sure that I’m giving far more than I’m asking?

How can I make sure I’m fostering a relationship and building trust over time?

When you ask yourself these important questions, your funnel is going to feel a lot more smooth, and your real estate marketing strategy will yield greater results than ever before. 

As an agent, YOU have the opportunity to be a part of the exciting, changing real estate marketing world.

Traditionally, real estate marketing has felt sleazy. It’s been billboards with someone’s face on it saying “Give me a call!”…there’s zero value. There’s zero connection. It’s more about asking rather than giving.

But you can now be a part of a new wave of agents who prioritizes relationships – and builds their business with a give-first mentality.

It all starts with shifting your mindset and reflecting on how you’re currently marketing your real estate business.

Is your current real estate marketing strategy focused heavily on sales? Or is it more focused on being of service to your potential clients? 

If you answered the latter, fantastic.

And if you answered yes to the first option, it might be time to take a second look at your real estate marketing strategy. 

Do you want to keep learning about building relationships at scale with your ideal clients so you can grow to seven figures? I’ll teach you how in The Listings Lab Guide. Download it for free here.

Real Estate Marketing 101: 7 Fundamentals You Need To Grow Your Business

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When it comes to real estate marketing, everyone wants to start with the fancy stuff.

Setting up Facebook ads, developing an Instagram strategy, or even starting a TikTok channel.

But if you ever want to scale your real estate business, you’ve GOT to start with the basics.

I’m seeing a ton of agents who still haven’t gotten clear on certain marketing fundamentals. And it’s holding them back. 

If you don’t understand how marketing works, all the work spent on your Instagram strategy and money poured into FB ads is going to be one big waste of time. 

So to save you a whole lot of frustration, let’s make sure you understand the core real estate marketing principles to grow your business to seven figures. Sound good?

Let’s go!

Niche

We can’t talk about marketing 101 without talking about niching.

A lot of agents are generalists. They’re trying to speak to everyone.

And because of that, they end up speaking to no one. 

I want you to think about it this way…

Imagine you were standing in a crowded train station.

If you were to stand up on a bench and start shouting at the crowd, “Hey everyone! Hey all!” 

…nobody would even look at you.

But if you were to stand up on a bench and yell, “Hey Bob!”

SOMEONE would turn around. Someone’s name would be Bob.

The lesson here is that the bigger the group you’re trying to speak to, the more generalized your message becomes. You become vague and saturated, and because of that, you don’t resonate with anyone. 

But when you decide to niche down, you create a connection. And connection leads to conversion. 

Ideal Client Avatar 

Choosing your niche all comes down to nailing down your ideal client avatar.

You want to get clear on the pain points, problems, fears, and desires of the person you’re speaking to. 

Doing this will help you attract a specific type of person in your real estate marketing. 

A lot of ideal client avatar exercises will have you make up an imaginary person.

But what I like to do is choose a REAL person that belongs to this group of people.

My ideal client avatar is someone I know in real life. So whenever I’m creating content, I have one specific person in mind. 

This allows me to tap into my ideal client’s psyche.

I’m able to ask myself…“What does she need to hear from me today?”

Notice how I didn’t ask myself what I want to talk about today?

Having a business isn’t about building a platform where you get to talk about whatever’s on your mind. It’s about building a platform where you get to serve your ideal clients.

Because marketing is all about service. 

Messaging

If you want to master real estate marketing fundamentals, you’ve got to master your messaging.

So what exactly is messaging, you ask? 

Messaging is what you speak about to attract and help that person you’re trying to serve in your business. 

It’s about delivering the messages that are going to help them connect with you. 

Many people think of messaging as tag-lines or one-liners. But messaging is so much more than that.

I’m not a big believer in tag-lines and one-liners. They used to make sense back in the day when we were more limited by print marketing.

But nowadays, your messaging has the ability to be much more robust. 

Your messaging should revolve around the pain points, problems, fears, and desires of your niche.

An important note: As mentioned above, your niche should be based on your ideal client avatar. 

I am NOT talking about farm area.

The farm area model was imperative when we didn’t have the technology. We didn’t have the internet. 

The only way an agent could be consistently successful was is if they had a farm area. All marketing was done manually – cold calling, knocking on doors, handing out flyers.

Now, we’re able to market at scale. And because of that, it makes much more sense to niche down by human being, or by life transition. 

Some examples might be: 

  • First-time buyers
  • Up-sizers
  • Down-sizers
  • Corporate women
  • The LGBTQ Community

These are all people who you can speak to directly – in terms of who they are as humans, and what they need in terms of their current situation.

Your messaging should address your ideal clients and take them from being a total stranger all the way up to feeling like they know you, trust you, and want to work with you. 

Video Content 

If you feel like videos are everywhere these days, there’s a reason why.

And it’s NOT because everyone loves looking at themselves in the camera (in fact, most people hate that part of video marketing!).

The reason video marketing for real estate has skyrocketed in the past couple of years is that video is the best way to create connection. 

You can have the most aesthetically pleasing photo and the best-written caption…

But nothing helps your audience feel like they know you more than video. 

When people can hear your laugh, the cadence of your voice, and see your facial expressions it allows them to connect with you as a human being. 

It accelerates the trust-building process.

And at the end of the day, creating trust is what marketing is all about. 

So even if you hate video, even if you’re terrified…push past your comfort zone and give it a try. 

Start small with a quick Instagram story. After all, it disappears after 24 hours anyway!

And if you want more help, check out our post on five tips for embracing video marketing for real estate.

Pro Tip: If you want your videos to convert, keep them short and sweet. While longer videos might perform well on YouTube, on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, ~2 minutes is the sweet spot. 

Personal Content 

There’s one type of real estate content for social media that can skyrocket your business results…but SO many agents are neglecting it. 

That content type is personal content.

One of the biggest reasons people resist creating personal content is because they’re stuck in an old-school sales mindset that business and personal are separate. 

But that is NOT the case anymore.

People don’t want to see you as a faceless brand. They want to see you as a human being.

More now than ever, we’re craving connection. We’re craving vulnerability.

We’re all tired of polished perfection. Give your audience something real!

The other reason personal content is so incredibly important is because your average ideal client only moves once every three to seven years.

So if you’re ONLY posting business and real estate content, you’re only going to be relevant to them every three to seven years. Which means they’re going to hit that ‘unfollow’ button.

It will be nearly impossible to grow an audience if you’re 100% business, 100% of the time. 

When you create personal content, don’t be afraid to go deep.

Your captions should almost be like mini-blogs. Not one or two-line captions with a blurb of hashtags.

Hashtags will do very little if your content doesn’t resonate.

So make sure you’re focusing on the right things – creating content that drives connection and conversation with your audience. 

Get Clear on The Problem & Solution 

This basic sales principle is key to a successful real estate marketing plan. 

You *must* be super clear on the problem you solve and the solution you offer.

You need to be able to answer the questions:

  • What problems do you solve?
  • What are your ideal client’s pain points?
  • What is their biggest struggle?

I don’t want you to guess. I don’t want you to take a stab in the dark.

I want you to go out there and TALK to your ideal clients. Start having more market research conversations! 

People never move for fun.

They move because their current situation is no longer serving them.

It’s up to you to get clear on the specifics of why their situation is no longer serving them, and what they’re desiring in its place.

Once you get clear on:

  • Their current situation (or problem)
  • Their desired situation (or solution)
  • And how YOUR services are the bridge to get them from Point A to Point B…

You have the fundamentals needed to create compelling real estate marketing. 

This is not just about peddling your services. Too many agents are too transactionally focused in their marketing. 

Focus more on the client and their desires rather than yourself.

Your client is the hero of your story. They want to see themselves on top. 

So be sure to paint that picture in your marketing!

Social Proof

The last thing you absolutely need when it comes to real estate marketing is solid social proof. 

And no…I don’t mean a constant string of those, “Just listed, just sold” type of posts.

Instead, I’m talking about case studies, testimonials, and PR features.

And not just any testimonials, but in-depth testimonials. 

In order to get these powerful testimonials, you often have to guide your clients. 

Rather than just asking them, “Hey! Can you write me a testimonial?”

You can ask them strategic questions to get powerful marketing material. Ask them what the experience was like, what kind of results they achieved, and how they felt before and after working with you. 

When you take the time to master these real estate marketing fundamentals, you’ll create a solid foundation from which you can scale your real estate business to seven figures.

Before you move on to ads or social media strategies, you’ve got to go back to basics.

Otherwise, you’re building your business on a house of cards.

If you want deeper support with building a truly scalable real estate business, be sure to download our free guide, The Listings Lab Method, where we walk you through marketing fundamentals to consistently fill your calendar with appointments.

Download It For Free Here 

Master Real Estate Content For Social Media With These 3 Types Of High-Converting Posts

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Are you feeling overwhelmed by social media? While social media can be a powerful tool to grow your real estate business, many agents feel lost on what type of real estate content for social media works best.

You might end up feeling like you’re spinning your wheels. You post and post…but nothing seems to bring in results.

Or maybe you’ve gotten so fed up with the ‘gram you just stopped posting altogether.

Sound familiar?

If so, you’re not alone. 

But today I want to show you how you can take your social media content from feeling like a giant waste of time to being your biggest lead generator.

It all starts with figuring out the right type of real estate content for social media. A lot of agents are currently getting the content piece wrong. and wonder why their social media isn’t converting any followers into clients.

Keep reading to know exactly what to post on social media to grow your real estate business. 

Why It’s Hard To Show Up on Social Media

Tell me if this sounds familiar…

You follow a ton of other agents on social media.

You see them promoting their services, and it feels sleazy, icky even.

And you think to yourself, “I so don’t want to look like that!”

But, you have no idea how to post in a way that feels good AND brings in sales. So you don’t post at all. 

It All Starts With Our Ideal Clients

In reality, your social media channels should be anything BUT constant promo feeds. 

Instead, they’re a place to serve up major value to your ideal client. This is where you want to go back and revisit your ideal client avatar.

You have to get crystal clear on who you’re speaking to. Because if you’re trying to speak to everyone, you’re speaking to no one.

Once you’ve gotten clarity around your ideal client, you can begin to craft content that will resonate with them. 

Whether you’re speaking to first-time buyers, move-up buyers, up-sizers, down-sizers, corporate women, or the LGBTQ community…you want to get specific. 

You want to make content uniquely tailored to their struggles, their desires, and their fears.

Where so many agents go wrong is they forget to put their ideal client at the heart of their content creation. 

Instead, their real estate content for social media is a mix of posts that appeal to them. Rather than thinking about what their ideal clients need to hear, they simply post what’s resonating with them in the moment. 

And what happens next is that instead of attracting ideal clients, they end up attracting other agents to their profile.

To avoid this phenomenon, make sure every time you post, you ask yourself:

Who is this for?
How do I want them to feel while reading this?
What kind of outcome will my ideal client get from consuming this content? 

That way, the real estate content you create for social media will attract perfect-fit clients…instead of your competitors. 

Real Estate Content For Social Media: The 3 Major Content Buckets

By now, you’re probably ready to get into the three types of content that will convert your ideal clients.

These content types are going to work one hundred times better than the typical real estate social media content you see.

Most agents rely on pictures of houses with banners saying “Just listed!” or “Sold!”.

There’s no value in those types of posts. All you’re doing is showing the world you have business in the hopes it’s going to attract more business.

What you need to remember is that social media is meant to be social. 

It’s about connecting with fellow human beings. 

In order to do that, there are three main types of real estate content for social media you want to be posting. 

These three types of social media content will help your followers get to know you, like you, and trust you. Which ultimately leads to them wanting to work with you.

The three content types you absolutely need are: 

  1. Authority-building content
  2. Social proof (case studies, testimonials, PR)
  3. Personal content 

Let’s dive a little deeper into each content type. 

Authority-building content

Authority-building content helps showcase your expertise to your potential clients. 

Think about content that educates and delivers value, as well as shows off your signature process. Your signature process is how you help clients get from point A to point B.

This type of content will help you become the go-to agent in your client’s mind. 

Social proof content 

Social proof content is going to be posts that feature case studies, testimonials, and PR.

When you post this type of real estate content on social media, it shows your followers that you know what you’re doing. You have a list of happy clients for whom you’ve gotten big results for.

It tells them you know how to get them to where they want to go. 

Personal content 

The third content bucket is personal content. 

And this is where so many agents go wrong. 

They don’t include any personal content, so their profile starts to feel very business-like, stiff, and corporate.

And that’s when you lose people. 

You’ve got to remember, when it comes to real estate content for social media, people don’t move 50 times a year. They only move once every 3-7 years.

And if you’re only relevant to your followers during a short period of time, it’s going to be extremely difficult for you to grow an audience. 

That’s where the personal content comes into play.

You want to make sure that you’re continuously relevant to your audience by sharing your personal beliefs, your personal philosophy, and your personal story.

You want to take them behind the scenes are share different things about your life.

Connect with them on a human-to-human level.

Often, I see agents feel a lot of resistance towards sharing their personal life online.

They’ll tell me, “I’m a professional…my lawyer doesn’t show this kind of stuff on social media!” 

And to that I say – one, your lawyer most likely isn’t advertising as much. And two – your lawyer often isn’t dealing with such an important, vulnerable moment in someone’s life. 

Buying a house is one of the most important financial decisions your clients will ever make in their lives. And it’s often stressful, too. 

It’s expensive. It’s time-consuming. You’re packing up your whole life and putting it into boxes. 

You’re supporting your clients through an intensely emotional experience.

So it’s incredibly important that your content helps them get to know you on a personal level.

You only want to go through an experience like that with someone you genuinely like and connect with!

Social Media Imagery Do’s and Don’ts

Now that you know the three main types of real estate content for social media, you’re probably wondering…

But what kind of images should I post with these captions?

So let’s get into a few do’s and don’ts.

✅  DO post lots of pictures of yourself.

Now, I know this might feel weird, or even a little egotistical. I’ve felt the exact same way in the past. But when it comes to social media, people want to see YOU.

They don’t want to just see pictures of pretty houses. There are already dozens of massive inspo accounts devoted solely to posting pictures of beautiful homes.

People want to see you, they want to get to know you, and they want to build a relationship with you. 

Think about your favorite influencers. The people you feel you have a real connection with – even though you’ve never met them.

When you look at their profiles, they’re posting pictures, they’re showing up in videos, and they’re being themselves. 

✅   DO edit and brighten your photos

You don’t want to just snap a photo and post it. Instead, you want to brighten it so it shows up nicely in your followers’ feeds. 

Your visuals are often the first thing your followers notice before they even begin reading your caption.

So if your visuals aren’t captivating, they’ll simply scroll past. 

You want to make sure that your photos are light, bright, and airy.

It’s super easy to achieve this effect by using any kind of editing app, such as VSCO or Lightroom.

✅  DO take up as much space as possible within the feed 

When it comes to the orientation of your photos, you always want to make sure your photo is vertical.

If you’re scrolling through your feed, whether on Facebook or on Instagram, 99% of the time, you’re doing it on your phone. 

So from an imagery perspective, you want to try to take up as much space as possible. 

On Instagram, the ideal size for this is 4×5.

❌  DON’T post overly branded images 

I’ve said this many times before, and I’ll say it again: 

If your photo looks like an ad, people are just going to be repelled by it and scroll past. We don’t like being advertised to, especially when it comes to organic social media content. 

So many agents add a branded banner, design elements, or their logo onto their photos. 

Instead, you want to keep them as clean and natural as possible. 

That way, people will simply feel like they’re connecting with you…rather than being advertised to. 

Branding will only hurt your reach. 

Social Media Post Formatting Tips

When it comes to real estate content for social media, not only is your message important…but so is how you format it.

First things first, you want to make sure you’re using the appropriate hashtags.

Specifically, I’m talking about Instagram. Skip the hashtags on Facebook. Facebook tried to make them a thing a few years back and they didn’t take off. So if you include a blurb of hashtags at the bottom of your post on Facebook it will look a little spammy.

When using hashtags on Instagram, be sure to include some spaces after your caption so that they don’t distract from the main body of your post. 

Next, you want to make sure you’re using appropriate spacing for your captions.

No one wants to read lengthy paragraphs of text when it comes to social media. 

While you absolutely want to be creating long-form captions (think mini-blogs!) it’s so important that you space out your text so it’s scannable and easy on the eyes. 

And lastly, don’t forget to include a catchy hook to grab people’s attention.

The hook, or the first line of your piece of content, is by far the most important part of the whole caption.

The headline needs to entice your followers to hit that “Read More” button on Instagram and consume the rest of your content. 

So take some time to think of a hook that’ll have your potential clients thinking, “I’ve GOT to know what they’re going to say!” 

Next time you’re sitting around trying to brainstorm what type of real estate content to post on social media, use one of these 3 types of content. You’ll notice an immediate uptick in interaction and conversion from your ideal clients!

And if you’re ready to dive deeper into building an automated marketing system for your real estate business, you’ll want to learn more about The Listings Lab Method. Get all the details in our free guide, The Listings Lab Guide. 

5 Tips To Embrace Video Marketing For Real Estate

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So you know you’ve got to start embracing video marketing for real estate…but you’re letting your fear hold you back.

I talk to so many agents who tell me the exact same thing.

But intimidated or not, you *need* to start showing up on video if you want to grow your real estate business. In fact, Cisco estimates that video will drive 82% of all internet traffic this year, in 2022. 

Marketing is all about capturing the attention of your ideal clients. And video content gets them hooked. 

If you feel resistant or uncomfortable about using video for real estate, don’t take it as a sign that you’re not cut out for video marketing. 

Instead, read on to learn about some tips and mindset shifts that helped me go from a scared, shy newbie to a video maven who’s 100% comfortable doing everything from IG stories, to live streams to video collabs and so much more. 

Everyone Feels Like An Imposter

Here’s what you need to remember when you start to feel like an imposter:

We all felt that way at some point in time. 

The other day, I thought back to the first live stream I ever did.

Oh boy…did I ever feel nervous! 

The sweaty palms, the feeling that I might be sick, and the absolute dread were intense.

While you might now know me as someone who’s completely comfortable in front of the camera, that wasn’t always the case. 

I got so nervous and uncomfortable about making videos, I’d actually go and record them on the roof of my building so nobody could see me. Not even my husband!

The whole reason I started reflecting back on my first live stream that day, was because I was actually going live in my friend Erica’s Facebook group, which has a massive audience. 

And you know what?

I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t even bat an eye.

It was just another meeting on my calendar.

Looking back at my video marketing journey, I realized just how far I’ve come. So if you’re feeling major imposter syndrome as you try to embrace video content, know you’re not alone.

You absolutely can push past these fraud-like feelings and experience the incredible business wins video marketing provides. 

Start Small

If you’re terrified of the idea of showing your face in any capacity, it’s probably not the best idea to jump straight into live video.

Instead, you want to gradually push past your comfort zone and start small. 

For me, this looked like getting into the habit of doing short Instagram stories.

Every single morning before my workout, I’d do a quick face-to-camera story. In the beginning, my primary goal was just to get used to speaking to the camera. 

After a while of doing daily Instagram stories, this soon led to me being able to record videos. Then it progressed into being able to record trainings. And fairly soon after that, I had built up the confidence to do live video.

Work on being 1% better than you were yesterday, and pretty soon you’ll find you’ve successfully mastered video for real estate!

Remember…Your Community Wants To Hear From You

When I talk to agents in The Listings Lab community, live video is the content type that scares them the most. 

But here’s what you need to remember about live video:

The people tuning into your videos are your most engaged community members. They’re your loyal fans!

They’ve quite literally signed up to hear from you. Rather than thinking of these people as an audience there to judge you, think of them as friends. These are your people. Of everyone on the internet, the people listening to your lives are going to be the least judgmental. 

When you begin to see video as a tool to create a deeper connection with your community and love on your people…everything begins to shift.

Stop Focusing on Yourself And Focus on Your People

We can have a tendency to get so caught up in our own insecurities. Our own fears.

We forget that this really isn’t about us. In fact, it has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with our community. 

Creating videos is about being of service. 

It’s about delivering value and nurturing your people. 

If I didn’t:

  • Go live and share my knowledge

  • Hop on stories and share wisdom

  • Host video trainings so that agents get the info they need to grow

Then I’m not giving my people what they want, and what they ultimately need.

If I refused to show up out of my own fear of being judged, at the end of the day, I’d be acting from a selfish place.

While of course, embracing video for real estate will drive massive business growth, it’s always an act of service, first and foremost. 

Practice, Practice, Practice

The next time you open up your phone to hit record, and instead you feel that gut-wrench in your stomach and close your camera app – I want you to remember:

It DOES get easier with practice. 

Confidence comes with competence. 

And if you’re not feeling confident, often it’s simply because you haven’t practiced enough. 

Mastering video marketing for your real estate business is just like any other skill.

If you were learning basketball, you wouldn’t be competing in the NBA on day one.

So why are you expecting yourself to be a pro before you’ve even recorded your first video?

You’ve got to continually practice, show up and build your video marketing skills. 

It’s easy to get caught up in perfectionism. But allow your video journey to be messy. Done is better than perfect!

Whenever we find ourselves holding back or procrastinating, it’s most likely perfectionism trying to rear its ugly head.

I challenge you to take one tiny action today to help you embrace video for marketing your real estate business.

Even if that just means recording a 1-minute video. 

The whole idea is to get comfortable talking to the camera. 

And the more you take these small steps, the easier it will become.

Pretty soon, video marketing will feel normal. 

The more that you normalize it, the less resistance you’ll feel, the less fear you’ll experience, and the less you’ll hold yourself back. 

Leave a comment on this post if these tips have encouraged you to start embracing video for real estate!

And if you want to dive deeper into marketing for your real estate business, be sure to download The Listings Lab Guide where we teach you the strategies to continuously fill your pipeline and scale to seven figures. Download it here. 

Instagram For Real Estate Agents: How To Grow Your Business Without Spamming

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Do you want to know how to successfully use Instagram to scale your real estate business? 

Instagram marketing can be an incredible organic marketing tool for real estate agents. If you use it correctly, you can quickly build a community filled with ideal clients and become their go-to agent.

But if you focus too much on the wrong things when it comes to Instagram, your account will start to go downhill very quickly. Rather than being a lead generation machine, the only thing Instagram will be is a massive waste of time. 

Here’s what so many real estate agents get WRONG when it comes to Instagram. 

They focus on quantity > quality 

They believe they should focus all of their efforts on growing a massive following (oftentimes, at any cost). 

But having the wrong type of followers on Instagram (or any non-ideal followers for that matter!) is probably one of the worst things you could do when using Instagram for real estate. 

It’s not about having more followers, it’s about having the correct followers. 

If your followers are not relevant, they’ll only hurt your account. 

A big part of that has to do with the Instagram algorithm.  Let me explain!

How The Instagram Algorithm Works 

Here’s what happens when you post on Instagram. 

When Instagram first pushes out your post, it only gets shown to 10% of your followers. 

If your followers react to it (i.e. through likes, comments, saves, shares), then Instagram will show your post to the next 10% of your followers. It’s kind of like a sliding scale.

So what happens when you don’t have the correct followers? 

If you have irrelevant followers, people that aren’t actually interested in your services and will probably never work with you, your post will get zero engagement.

That first 10% of people your post is shown to won’t like, comment, or share because ultimately your content is relevant to them. 

And after that, your post’s reach tanks. Instagram stops showing your post to any new followers. 

But on the other hand, if you have fewer followers that are highly relevant followers, then your post gets picked up, and more and more people will actually SEE that piece of content. 

When you build a highly engaged following, it signals to Instagram that your content is valuable and pushes it out to new people. 

4 Ways To Use Instagram For Real Estate And Build An Authentic Following

So how can you build a genuine community of clients online? How can you use Instagram for real estate in a way that helps you connect with real potential clients?

Here are some tips you, as a real estate agent, can use to leverage Instagram.

Do Not Buy Followers

The fastest way to kill your reach on Instagram is to buy followers. This is the epitome of non-ideal clients. And because buying followers is against Instagram’s regulations, it could even result in getting your account banned. 

If your ultimate goal is to get more eyes on your content, you have to remember that it’s not about the numbers. 

While seeing a large following on someone’s Instagram profile might provide a little bit of social proof, at the end of the day the number of followers you have is a vanity metric.

Vanity metrics make us feel good. They make us feel like we’ve made it. 

But when all is said and done, a large following does nothing beneficial for our real estate business. All it does is kill our reach and prevent us from reaching the people we actually need to be reaching. 

So make sure to ditch any spammy practices to increase your following, especially if those practices include buying followers. Killing your reach on Instagram is very hard to come back from. There’s not much that can revive a dead account, and you may even need to start over from scratch.

Instead, stop obsessing over your numbers and focus on building a community of highly relevant, local followers in your area. You know, the type of people who might actually HIRE you one day! 

Delete Ghosts or Bots

Even if you’ve been super careful with curating an intentional following, it’s highly likely that you could still have some suspicious characters in your following.

I go through my account on a regular basis to delete ghosts, bots, and irrelevant followers. If they look like they’re not real people, or they look like they wouldn’t be a part of my target audience, I’ll remove them.

I do this because it’s so important to me that my content reaches the right people. I’d rather have fewer followers have 100,000 followers that don’t truly support me and my mission.

Remember, it’s about creating a curated community that’s going to interact with your content. 

Create Content to Attract the Right Followers

In order to build a truly authentic community, it’s important you create content that’s super targeted.

Your posts aren’t random. They’re not just ‘whatever you feel like posting’ that day. 

In order to create posts that will resonate, go back and revisit your ideal client avatar.

Create content that speaks to your ideal client’s hopes, dreams, fears, and struggles. Be a valuable resource for them and you’ll quickly find them engaging with your posts, tuning into your stories, and connecting with you in your DMs! 

Don’t Play The Follow For Follow Game

One of the spammiest ways you could use Instagram for your real estate business is playing the follow-for-follow game. 

Again, people who use this tactic are of the mindset that bigger is better when it comes to their Instagram following.

Follow-for-follow doesn’t make sense for any business, but it’s especially ridiculous for real estate agents. 

If you’re selling to a New York market and someone from Georgia follows you, why on earth would you follow them back?

This person will never become a client and is only interested in their own superficial growth on the platform. 

When you’re using Instagram for real estate, you need to focus your efforts on growing a local community. 

Instead of aimlessly following just about anyone, be sure to build relationships with potential clients in your market. You can find these people by searching for locations, on local hashtags, or just by checking out your followers and seeing where they’re from. 

Instagram can be a powerful tool for generating leads for your real estate business, but you have to use it intentionally. 

By focusing on quality over quantity, on authentic connections over spammy growth tactics, and by creating targeted content, you’ll be able to develop real relationships on social media. 

You’ll create genuine connections that may even turn into paying clients!

Do you want to learn more about developing a marketing machine that helps you effortlessly attract leads and fills your calendar with appointments?

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