Are you motivated by what you see? 

In today’s social world we are exposed to so much content it’s hard to keep up.  We know more about our friends, family and neighbors than anyone ever cared to know.  Information is at our fingertips in seconds.  I can find out information on just about anyone or business, on any social media platform right now, because the world is telling us in real time.

In many cases, I love the information highway and the fact that I can learn so quickly.  Learning when I want to learn, is how I want to learn.  Not when you tell me.  I often wonder how I made it out of high school not having a smart phone.  Good thing we had the library and read encyclopedias.

So, what do you really look at on social media? When I look at Instagram, I have access to real estate agents all over the United States and all over the world to see how they work.  Many agents are famous on Instagram. Some of us are famous on Instagram and sell real estate. Some of us are famous on Instagram and when we look up their numbers, they’re just famous on Instagram. I’m not knocking those that aren’t selling real estate but are famous on Instagram, However, if you’re famous on Instagram, hopefully you are using that platform to talk to the consumer and educate the consumer, so you can sell real estate.  We had to start somewhere!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-pWtLywdLg]

If the truth be told, and you look up my numbers I’m not selling real estate. Do i have an answer? Of course, I am now a real estate broker owner of a company in Illinois. I’ve been selling real estate since 2001 and transitioned to an owner in 2017. What I learned from my previous brokerage, is that the managing broker really needed to be available to train and educate the agents in the office. Otherwise, the owner/managing broker, if they are selling real estate, they become the competition for the agents in the office. I am not saying that the owner shouldn’t sell, however if you are going to own a company, you may want to look at the model you want for your company. You may want to be the leader of your company and become the lead generator.  Then all the business goes under your multiple listing service ID.  Then the agents work for you and they go out and work with your clients or the business that you build with lead generation.  This model is where you’re the person that talks to the clients and manages the business.

Before opening my brokerage, CarMarc Realty Group, I encouraged my husband to get his license so I could run the company and he could work with our clients. As I’m writing this blog post, I currently have 26 agents including myself. I found that I need to be able to answer questions via phone, text and email.

Ask yourself this question, are you driven or motivated by what you see on social media? If you decide to be like other agents on social media, make sure they comply with your license law and the code of ethics. Just because someone has an awesome Instagram account, doesn’t mean they’re ethical.  Agents will often challenge me and say, Carrie, “this agent is doing it, why can’t I?” My response is “If that agent jumped off a building are you going to follow along?”  Or do you want to be your authentic you? Agents aren’t always successful online first.

Agents that generate leads or have a huge following on social media, might already have a huge network, allowing for lead generation to come easy.  Remember, you can’t beat what you copy. Emulating what other agents do on social media, may or may not be a great idea.   It doesn’t mean that you’re going to beat the other agent business, but you need to think about what you want out of your social media for real estate. You could be the most popular agent on Instagram and the most broke agent on Instagram. When I started selling real estate in 2001, I had an 11-year-old, an almost 3 1/2-year-old and I became pregnant.  My goal was to make a living not a killing.  Learn from other agents, can you emulate what they do, however, you won’t be your authentic you.  We didn’t have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, dig, delicious, stumbled upon, reddit, Instagram and Snapchat. We had to generate business, via the mailbox, networking, newspaper ads, and maybe a billboard.  For me making a living included, going to the swimming pool as often as I could with my kids every summer.  Therefore, I planned my day so I could be a parent that would spend time with my kids while they were young.

As of today, my youngest, who knows what a commission check is, is in his last year of high school. Now I can run a company, educate the agents in my office, help my agents close deals, train agents all over the United States, train office staff, and write a blog post and create videos and a podcast.  “I love what I do.”

Ask yourself this question, “what do you really want?”  Do you want to be like me, the agent on Instagram or do you want to be like you? I challenge you to sit down and write down your goals. I challenge you to come up with what you want out of real estate. That might change in 5 years.

You don’t have to do what everyone else does on social media. Remember, you can’t beat what you copy.  Your goal is to grow every year in business, not copy other agents, but a successful business while building your own brand.  If you’re motivated by what you see then you can’t be your authentic you!  Trust when I say, everyone knows when you are trying to be someone else.  So, Be your authentic you!