Author: Special Contributor

How I lost 240 pounds and grew my real estate business fivefold

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By Amy Izzo

We are all a work in progress. Some of you are suffering in silence, like I was. Everyone sees your smiling face, nice car, home, success, money, happy family, friends, highlight reels of deals closed, travel and life events that make others wish they were like you. Behind the smile and highlight reels, though, lie discontentment, uneasiness and maybe even a deep suffering others don’t suspect.

A trip inward may be scary because you’re not living up to your full potential. You know you can be more, but you continue to feel stuck on an ever-present secret journey of trying to figure out how to get over the hump or maybe even what is wrong with you. This vicious cycle will eventually leave you in pain, robbing you of living your best life, hurting your relationships and stunting your growth. I know this firsthand.

I was perceived as very successful by others over a 25-year corporate career and a more-than-10-year real estate career: a polished corporate executive who successfully transitioned to a top-producing agent, team leader, coach and speaker. All true, but also my truth: at my heaviest, I was 440 pounds, exhausted and unfulfilled, and my income was stagnant because I was unhealthy and, therefore, less productive.

Today, I am 240 pounds lighter; my income has grown five times what it was just three years ago; and I am a competitive ballroom dancer and running a thriving, growing real estate, coaching and speaking business. I work less, play more, feel more fulfilled than ever and make more money.

When you line up my success with my health journey, you’ll see my lowest-performing year in business aligns with my rock bottom in my health, and my explosive growth happened in the years I spent more time focused on myself, while playing more and working less. The more I pour into myself, the easier it is to scale my business and make more money, too.

Right about now you may be thinking: How is it possible to make more money by focusing on ME? I am a living practitioner of this, and I have the data and photos to prove it.

Here are three critical strategies that I practice to transform my life:

1. Be honest with yourself about where you are RIGHT NOW and what you really want.

We lie to ourselves and make excuses so we feel better. This behavior doesn’t move you toward the life you want. It keeps you operating small and away from realizing your full potential. Whether you are consuming too much alcohol, are overweight, live a sedentary life, function in a cycle of burnout-recovery-burnout, or whatever it is, you are living a recipe for disaster. When you don’t feel healthy and fulfilled, your productivity is lower, you work more hours, your relationships suffer and you make less money.

2. Make a decision TODAY to commit to one immediate action that will move you forward.

Decisive people take action immediately. When you choose one small action, something seemingly insignificant, so small that it appears IMPOSSIBLE to fail, and you keep that commitment to yourself every day, you create a trust within yourself that propels you to new levels. My road to a 240-pound weight loss, massive income growth and competitive ballroom dancing started with walking 15 minutes a day, every single day, no matter what.

3. YOU GO FIRST ALWAYS.

This has been the hardest lesson for me. You must come before everyone else. You before your partner, children, family, friends and clients. Self-care is not selfish; it’s necessary for you to BE your best for every person you serve. Once you really embrace that neglecting your needs and desires actually robs others of enjoying the best version of you, you will always prioritize your needs first so that you can serve the world better. Stop cheating the world of the best of you by cheating yourself out of what you really need.

True transformation comes when you get honest, make a real action-packed decision, stop shaming yourself and allow yourself grace without excuses. You will have tough moments, but living stuck is more painful than those tough moments. Reframe those moments and move your focus back to what you really want and to your one small commitment. You are not broken. No one is coming to save you. Be the hero you need. It’s time to rise and run into your next season of life with a smile on your face and a heart full of grace.

Real estate coach Amy Izzo, team leader of The Amy Izzo Group brokered by eXp Realty, has been a Realtor since 2014.

How to generate real estate leads and strike gold on Instagram

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Let’s play a quick round of “Guess Who?” — marketing tech edition.

Google is jealous that 40% of Gen Z use me [along with TikTok] as their top search engine.

I’m the No. 1 social media platform for people to connect with brands [like realty firms/Realtors!].

It’s been predicted that 35% of my users will make a purchase on my platform in 2023.

Amazon might need to move over, because 47% of American shoppers make purchases via my app.

What social media network am I?

In short, because we as real estate agents and brokers have products [homes/land/properties] and services [us!] to offer, Instagram is a powerful place to be. I dare say marketing ourselves on Instagram has felt like a gold rush of clients and closings for many of us over the last decade.

Is it too late to join or get active and generate leads for your real estate sales business? Instagram is still the most downloaded app in the world and the fourth-most popular network. That means there is still time to get it while the getting is good!

But here’s the thing: Being on Instagram and getting likes is NOT the same as growing your business on Instagram.

When I teach this class live, this is often the pain point with which people come into the class: “I’m doing all the things on Instagram like having color-coordinated posts and reels. I have a nice logo. I am posting at what some have said are the ‘best’ times and anything else various social media [*note: often non-real estate] gurus tell me. But I don’t have any deals from it.”

If that frustrated statement describes you, I want you to move away from the cutesy aesthetics of “doing it for the ’Gram,” because being “matchy matchy” is not bad but does not necessarily equate to leads. Instead, focus on what the agents I coach who are making $10 million-plus from solely Instagram lead generation know are the key components of every single post:

Image [referring to having an engaging/inspiring visual such as a video/reel, photo or infographic/text].

Story [this is tea time where you can be a storyteller].

Tags [geo — never the exact location for safety, hash, user: collab with and shout out others].

CTA [this is the call-to-action that motivates people to move from being a spectator to a participant].

For the sake of this article not turning into another doctoral dissertation [I am sure you do not have time to read a novel, ha!], let’s cover a couple of points from item No. 4, the call to action.

To begin, a call to action simply gives people direction so they can move from spectator to participant. I like to explain it as “Simon Says” for social media. If you have ever played or watched “Simon Says,” then you may remember that no one was to make a move until a phrase was given that included “Simon Says.” In this age of speed swiping and doomscrolling, many of us will not leave our feed of endless posts and videos to go to someone’s page, profile or website, which is where we more easily capture leads, if we are not given a “Simon Says” phrase, aka a call to action.

Here are some popular calls to actions, as generated from the popular AI tool ChatGPT (which, by the way, you can use to craft your own CTAs). Just be mindful of the law, including fair housing:

• Double-tap if you agree.
• Tag a friend who needs to see this!
• Click the link in our bio to learn more!

But let’s get specific to real estate. For example, in your stories you can share a fun fact or cool program via a photo or video and then use the free poll feature or Add Yours stickers to ask viewers if they have heard of it or not.

See my example where 85% of 185 responses tapped “had no clue.” That’s approximately 157 leads within 24 hours of posting one story! Can you imagine if you did this at least weekly? This becomes an excellent way to generate leads from those that said they “had no clue.”

As a twofer, you also get to stay top of mind with others who have responded [built in follow-up to the remaining 15%]. Boom!

I challenge you to feature at least one helpful real estate/housing-related program a week with a CTA. It could be something that your office is offering. It could be a program by a lender. It could be a cool option by a community organization in your area for homebuyers, homesellers, renters or landlords. You may want to feature local programs, but remember that there are also state and national programs that would be beneficial to your audience and will simultaneously position you in their minds as their trusted real estate professional. Double boom!

Interested in more on How to Strike Instagram Gold? Check out the complimentary webinar of the same name I am doing, hosted by The Residential Real Estate Council (formerly Council of Residential Specialists) on June 21, or watch the replay afterward. You’ve got this!

Dr. Lee Davenport is a real estate educator and former RE/MAX managing broker and agent. She is recognized as one of the top real estate coaches in the U.S. by multiple real estate organizations. Her doctoral research examined the lead-generation strategies of top agents.