Tag: top coach

Edutainment is here to stay! How to incorporate IG Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts into your 2022 plan

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Katie Lance

Have you noticed a big trend in social media these days? American illustrator Peter Catalanotto coined the term “edutainment” in the 1990s while teaching students about writing and illustration, but I also think it’s so relevant today for Realtors in this day and age.

It’s hard to ignore the rise of TikTok, Instagram Reels and even the new YouTube Shorts.

When it comes to social media and real estate, I’m often asked, “What is the best type of content to create and post?”

As I’ve always said, I think it’s important that agents and brokers create content not just for the sake of content, but there is a tremendous value in building a content library that goes with you wherever you go. Social media is rented ground.

So, how can Realtors and real estate brokers employ the use of edutainment when it comes to building their brand, generating business and promoting their listings?

First, I think it’s important to understand why TikTok and Instagram are so addicting for many consumers. This past year-and-a-half there has been a tremendous amount of angst and noise in our news, and to be honest, I think it’s refreshing to a lot of us to watch short-form entertaining videos.

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t also create these types of videos for your business.

What do all these videos have in common? They’re all short-form — under one minute in length. In fact, the faster the better.

Here are three edutainment ideas:

One: You don’t always have to be on camera

Good news, right?! The next time you have a new listing, take out your phone and record five to 10 2-to-3-second clips on your phone. This might be a short clip of the kitchen, the backyard, opening the front door, walking to the home, etc. Your voice does not need to be on camera, and you don’t need to be on camera. Now, on your phone you have a handful of clips of that house.

Open up TikTok or Instagram Reels, add some trending music and a little bit of text, and voila — you have now created a quick and simple piece of content, informative but fun and playful.

As a bonus tip, you might even add your brand colors or logo.

Two: Tell a story of a milestone

I love using my 1 Second Everyday app to capture a 1-second clip throughout the course of a year. You can use this to create a quick video highlighting the progress of a year, but for real estate you might use this tool to create a quick video showcasing a local community, or a home being built, or the process of getting a home on the market.

I love using this app in conjunction with the Videoshop app to speed up the video, and with using 1 Second Everyday, even add pictures or videos to create something fun and engaging, as the music through Instagram reels or TikTok, and again you’ve created something fun and creative.

Three: Share a quick tip

What are questions you get asked all the time that you could answer in less than 30 seconds? Brainstorm a list of 10 to 15 quick tips that you could give when it comes to your community, relocation, moving, listing a home, buying a home, etc.

When you go to record each video, instead of recording it all the way through, record a few clips separately. You may record a quick introduction, then two or three points, and then a separate clip for the ending. Then, open up Instagram Reels or TikTok, upload each one of those clips, add a little bit of text and voila — there you go!

Now you’ve created a great piece of content that’s quick but also extremely helpful and can help establish yourself as an authority in your local area.

The key to incorporating edutainment into your content in 2021 and 2022 is getting a plan together for planning, creating and editing and then distributing your content.

Don’t forget that Instagram reels and TikTok can be shared outside the platforms. I love sharing our content to our e-mail database, as well as sharing them on other platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, even Pinterest. I would love to hear from you. Are you creating edutainment? Let’s connect over Instagram @katielance, and let me know!

Katie Lance is the author of #GetSocialSmart and founder and CEO of Katie Lance Consulting, a social media strategy firm and founder of the #GetSocialSmart Academy.

Build relationships and bring value with every outreach

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By Maria Malin

When we look back at the experience of living through the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ll have learned many valuable lessons from it, including how life and relationships were reprioritized and strengthened. Though physically and socially distanced, we forged new and creative pathways to check in, keep in touch, share our lives and, yes, do business. Technology will be remembered as the conduit for our connectivity, teaching us that virtual, though not reality, worked as not only an effective, but sometimes more efficient, use of our time. As we now emerge from the constraints of the pandemic, will we continue to simply click to connect our relationships? More specifically, will the return of our ability to be “in person” give technology a new place in how we reach out and stay top of mind?

From a coaching perspective, I encourage you to envision how you’d build your business if you couldn’t text or post or like or comment or stream or otherwise digitally find your way into someone’s life. What if your business wasn’t referral-based? What if you were building a business for the first time or in a completely new market or had no established sphere of influence? What would outreach look like? What would stand out? What would make you stand out? Would it be tech-savvy or grassroots?
The first, last and only thing that counts — in my personal and professional opinion, and no matter how you deliver it — is value. True and genuine value. Value to the relationship and valuable real estate — in that order.

Whether you deliver that value via digital routes or grassroots is secondary. Bringing value to those you know and those you want to know better can and should be an everyday thing. Building relationships and making others feel important doesn’t take genius, but it does take consistent effort and authenticity.

Think about the unique aspects of the relationships you want to touch, and deliver custom, relevant, personal outreach at every opportunity. Be present; be a go-to; be who you genuinely are, not some curated persona on social or a once-a-year check-in or someone only seeking out their next referral.

Remember, the world today is not only digging out of a year-plus of pandemic-weary living; it has reprioritized what’s important and has a keener sense of what’s untrue. Be other-centric in how you deepen, enrich, share and stay top of mind to the relationships in your life, and via direct or digital outreach, you’ll bring value.

Delivering valuable real estate is more straightforward. If you’re newer to real estate, build credibility by sharing quantified, data-focused market knowledge at every opportunity. If you’ve been in the business for a while, yes, you’re busy and the market’s been like no other. Still, always be other-centric in sharing what’s valuable to those asking you about the market and relying on your expertise. Simply stating that your business has been busier than ever may be perceived as “too busy.” Keep answers specific to those asking you the questions, and create value with what and how you share.

A few simple questions will help you stay in tune to whether or not your outreach is effective. Do you get response or engagement, or never hear back? Remember, half of a relationship is not a relationship. Is your sphere of influence organized? Do you then customize your outreach based on that? Make sure you’re sending what is top of mind and relevant to your recipients, and go beyond the usual, like geographic farming.

Again, always be authentic. Curating a brand or image that’s not true to who you are is not only ineffective, it’s extremely difficult to sustain or find long-term success with. Think genuine rather than simply strategic, and you’ll win in life and real estate.
Indeed, hearing a voice or seeing a face will never become obsolete. And of course, we’ll continue to deliver valuable outreach at scale via technology. Enhance and enrich your relationships at every opportunity, and strengthen your credibility by sharing your specific real estate knowledge and experience with those you know and those they know. Spend your time wisely and consistently on all fronts, and you’ll create a template for long-term, sustainable growth in any market.

Since 2011, Maria Malin has worked exclusively in real estate coaching and training for @properties and Compass in Chicago, writing, developing and teaching content to assist Illinois real estate brokers with building and growing their business. Brokers who regularly coached with her in 2020 grew their business an average of 76%. Maria recently launched her own real estate coaching business, works with all brokerages and can be found at mariamalincoaching.com.