Today's episode is going to be about how to build your brand and the rest of 2023, but going into 2024, leveraging the media of the day and by that I'm talking about video I'm talking about digital I'm talking about social and I am joined by an absolute expert a person who has done it from start to finish at the highest level. Yes, yes, yes Today I Get to interview the Shannon Gillette who leads one of the top 10 teams in the East Valley around Phoenix and is an absolute Rockstar member of our coaching ecosystem. So if you're new to the channel, welcome to this week of marketing! This is a very special episode and a super special interview that you better buckle up for and you don't want to miss. Uh, make sure to go ahead and hit that big red subscribe button and then turn on notifications.

So whenever we publish future episodes, you always hear and know about it first. and therefore you get to be the one who gets to take action on the ideas very very first. But today I am super stoked because today's conversation is so relevant given the state of the marketplace. There is a divide right now between the rich and the rest in terms of the agents who are doing The Lion Share of the business and the agents who are struggling to find where do I find listings.

Where do I find deals And that line of demarcation is about building your brand. And so Shannon thank you so much for joining us on today's podcast! I'm super glad you're here today! Thank you so much for having me now! I Think a lot of folks who are watching already follow you and maybe know a bit of your story, but for those who don't talk to us about how you built a brand and an conventional way to get to where you are right now? Yes! I built my business the non-traditional way in 2014 I left a very successful career in new home sales to start in a very scary resale journey I had no money I knew I didn't want to cold call or door knock because I just sold new homes for so many years. I was used to the clients coming to me and calling me so I made a commitment to myself that I was going to go all in on video getting my face on camera doing listing videos and there were times I had to pay my videographer on a credit card but I am so glad I never gave up and I also did something really crazy back in like 2015 2016 that was not popular back then and it was building a personal brand on Instagram where I was not just sharing real estate I was showing my kids and my family and a behind the scenes of my life and really becoming top of mind and I started to get calls of people saying things like will you be my realtor? Are you taking on new clients right now and I've never had to make a cold call or door knock. What was your experience with video prior to? was it a cold turkey? I'm just going to go for it or was there a history video preceding when you decided to launch it as the key driver in your resale real estate business.

When I was selling new homes for a builder for so many years, I started to see a trend in the real estate community that frustrated me so much and people would want to buy one of my new homes they'd have to hire of real estate agent and I noticed that agents they weren't marketing their listings, they were taking photos, putting sign in the yard and throwing the home up on Emls. So when I left New Home Sales I was like man I want to learn everything I can about how I can do more for my sellers? how can I Market their listing and I learned video was the best way. So I started to follow some other agents. there weren't many that were on camera for a listing video and I just found those role models and just got in front of the camera.

My first videos were horrible I've deleted all of them I can't even watch them but with anything you get better with time and I'm so glad I didn't give up because now you know I'm so honored to lead one of the top teams in my market and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you know, building that personal brand video and you know even the Tom fairy ecosystem. My coach has completely helped me transform my business over the past few years. Yeah, that's that's incredible. And you made the comments momentary a moment ago about you made the decision to build a personal brand and with a lot of my own personal Coach clients we have a conversation about being an influencer.

We use the word kind of as a as a a different meaning to be an influencer because a consumer can't make an informed choice if they're not informed and so the responsibility Falls onto in my opinion: What? I would coach to the agent to be the informant and to be the influencer so that people can make good choices. But I know that you use the term in more of the the the traditional sense of an influencer, somebody who becomes a beacon that people aspire to and follow. And subscribe to the thought leadership, walk us through the decision to become an influencer in your local Marketplace On Social to build a personal brand and can I ask you to sell us on why every agent should be doing the same thing? Yes. I think at first I was scared to lean into my personal brand I wanted to be for everyone I had no money I had no clients Would I look weak if I'm posting that I'm at my son's football game on a Saturday would I offend someone if I post on my Instagram story that I'm at church Sunday morning.

But I Quickly learned man if you lean into your personal brand and write down three to four things that make you you besides being a Realtor and post about those things on your Instagram story and you know throughout your feed, you're going to build this tribe of people that think of you first when it's time to sell their home or refer a Realtor and you're going to work with clients that you relate with right like we do. A lot of client appreciation on our team and most of our clients are so much like me. They're moms with kids and you know they relate and I believe the agent with the best personal brand is going to win the business of the future and there's no better way to do that than through sharing you not you, the realtor not this listed just sold. getting your face on camera and being vulnerable and sharing behind the scenes of your life and real realizing that you're never going to be for everyone.

So just lean into it and everyone has a personal brand. Did a light bulb just go off and you decided it's time to invest to building your brand and you recognize that hey, there's no better way to do that than to leverage the media of the day. I.E Social Media But you think I wish I had the right training the blueprint to go from Rookie to Rockstar on social media. Well the good news is I've got that blueprint for you.

It's one of the courses that's part of our marketing. Pro training platform called Cracking the Social Code Course is three plus hours of recorded video content with me walking you through end to end. how to build out your social strategy on Facebook on Instagram on YouTube on Tik Tok So you can be that Rockstar online that becomes a Beacon and a brand that attracts business perpetually. Click the link in the description for more details.

I Was on a webinar this morning and I brought this up during a webinar that I took my, my kids, and my wife. we went to Disney World this past May and it was absolutely blazing hot. We had a great time but it was so hot and I remember we were looking for a ride with air conditioning and we we walked into the Hall of Presidents which was like a movie theater and I thought this is what I needed Uh so I got that rest a little bit and I was watching this document of um, some of our most historic notable presidents in the history of America and it got to Teddy Roosevelt and the narrator in the documentary made this comment about how Teddy quickly Rose to influence because he leveraged the media of the day which at the time was newspapers and radio and I had this light bulb moment where I thought well wait a minute because I found myself like sometimes you see politicians on Tik Tok or other platforms and I think politicians shouldn't be on social media like that and I'm like, yes, they should, they should be leveraging the media of the day to create influence and I thought about that to the lens of anybody whose business requires them building a platform to have thought leadership to Showcase expertise to build influence to leverage the media of the day and I think a lot of Agents coward at the idea of leveraging. so I don't want to be in my listing videos I don't want to be sharing thought leadership I don't want to be transparent about going to church on Sunday or living my life in my area.

but you seem to take the 180 and you said I'm going to leverage the media of the day which is social media which is video to build a personal brand. What's happening in the marketplace right now for agents who don't have a brand to stand on I really believe that in all businesses I mean I was when I first started building my brand I was following other Industries like maybe fashion bloggers or um, you know interior designers and they were sharing their personal life I follow these flash fashion bloggers and I know their dog's name and what their husband does for living and where they travel and I almost feel like they're my friend and they don't even know me and I was like man could I do that with real estate where people feel like they know me and when they meet me in person and when I go to meet a seller and they open up the front door they say things like wow, you're much taller in person and I don't have to sell myself I can literally they're asking me if I'll be their realtor because they feel like they know, like and trust me and if you're not leaning into your personal brand and if you're not getting your face on camera, you're missing out on business that you don't even know you're missing out on because they're Googling you. They're researching you and if your website looks like it's from you know, 2005 and you don't have an Instagram they're not calling you so you don't realize the business you're missing out on. They're calling the agents that they feel like they can trust and that they can research online and everyone is Googling us but they won't tell you and I I mean we Google people and we look at their old Facebook photos we're not going to just say oh I just spent 30 minutes researching you.

That sounds creepy and weird I just stalked you for the last 30 minutes. It seems like you're a good candidate for hire. Yeah, exactly. All right.

So we're seeing this divide and and this is what I am seeing too. We're seeing this divide between the rich and the rest and that line of demarcation is the brand on which you stand and you have gone so far above and beyond. So many other agents to build a level of influence in your Marketplace Let's shift gears and talk about the platforms on which you built now. I know you've leveraged YouTube and you mentioned Instagram Help us understand more on the analytic strategic side of how you're approaching your your brand building online.

Well I Believe video and Content is prospecting and if you're putting the right content out there, it's going to be prospecting for you 24 hours a day. So I don't have to cold call I don't have the door knock and for my Instagram I commit to every single day of the year. I'm posting five to 10 stories as almost like a vlog of the behind the scenes of my life. Every day is different but every time you post on your Instagram story and people see that your top of mind it's almost like you're brainwashing somebody to think Shannon Gillette Queen Creek Arizona Realtor and I will be very strategic with my feed which is more of a resume where it's a mix of my personal life but also I want to be be known as like the digital mayor of my town I want to be known as an industry leader and I have talking head reels and you know I I batch film every other week and um I also do a listing reel for every home I list with a catchy hook and things like that um but YouTube came as a surprise to me I never thought YouTube could um one of my number one lead sources and I really have my coach to thank for that because I was so focused on Instagram I was so focused on doing everything myself and waking up at 400 a.m.

to make my Youtube thumbnails. I didn't even have a VA or an assistant until my coaches like Shannon what is your hourly rate? You literally make over a million dollars a year and you're up at 4 a.m making a YouTube thumbnail. What are you doing? So she helped me. It sounds so simple, but she helped me hire a VA and now my VA is helping me tag my YouTube videos so they're found on the first page of Google and every time I film a YouTube video even if it's a listing video I'm asking myself what are people Googling I want to be on the front page of Google for every top neighborhood in my town and when people are searching, you know pros and cons of living in Queen Creek Arizona I Want my video to come up and it's been so powerful and there's nothing better than having people call and say hey I Just watched your YouTube video from 2019.

Will you list my $2 million home? So something that stands out is you were taking the time to do the work to you have outsourced to a VA but you are still yourself understanding what are the consumer searching? What topics do I have to feed YouTube or the other social Platforms In order that this group of people will see my content and this is a mistake I see a lot of agents make. They become intimidated by the technology by the platform itself and so they look to completely. Outsource even the level of thinking in terms of how they approach it. What encouragement would you give to agents or business owners who are watching this? Maybe they don't even sell real estate, they run a a wedding photography business and they too find themselves in in the position of needing to build a personal brand for themselves to stand on.

Yet they feel intimidated by the platforms. What's your encouragement for them to get their nose in the books and understand how to leverage the tools of the day? I Would say give it six months of going. All in everybody wants overnight success. They want to post on Instagram for a week and have a bunch of people calling you.

It's something you have to invest in and once you get going and maybe you commit to posting five to 10 stories a day as a behind the scenes of your life and maybe five feet posts a week and batch film. um you know in a local studio and you just commit to six months going all in I Guarantee people will start calling you and you will see the results and once you see these results you will never want to stop doing this and your life is just so much better because you're working with clients that are asking you if you'll be their realtor. You're I don't have to beg anyone and say oh I've never even asked anyone Are you looking to buy or sell at home I Want them to I Want to attract them where they call me and say things like I see you everywhere I know you I like you I trust you? You know. Will you help us find a home? Yeah and what's more because you didn't hide who you really are.

You know that you're attracting people who have already aligned with the person that you are. It's like Tom Fairy always says your Vibe attracts your tribe now I Want to go back to some of the strategy behind how you've approached Social. You made a comment a moment ago where you talked about I don't have to prospect because video is my prospecting because every time you post video on YouTube every time you post a video on Instagram or Tik Tok or Facebook or whatever platform it is. Every video is like another soldier in your army.

They're your street team going out and having having moments with people and creating awareness. I Think a lot of folks approach social media without really having a compass in terms of what are they hoping to get out of it. You spoke about two outcomes that I think are so practical I hope everybody walks away with these two outcomes. you talked about awareness, You simply made the comment of I just want to be there when they go looking for this or when they think about that I Believe a lot of folks look at social media with this High expectation of it better put deals in my lap.

It better be straight layups, which that may be several steps removed from reality, but your lens of looking at it is I want to be there because that's the starting point and the other piece you said that I I Want to reinforce in this messages um, the nature of you're looking at it as a tool for prospecting now I Am not going to say you shouldn't go prospecting I'm a coach, but I would say whether you're marketing or prospecting, either way, the purpose of doing that is to spark conversations and so you appear to be leveraging videos speaking to the camera in a way that incites dialogue with customers. Because we all know that the person who has the most conversations sets the most appointments, sells the most houses. End of story. Repeat any thoughts on those higher level strategies that you would want to double down on.

Yes! So there's one thing I did did in my business over the past few. Well over the past year that's been a complete GameChanger. So I mentioned I've been doing listing videos I think when people talk about YouTube they're leaving like the most powerful video out which is the listing video. I Believe every seller, no matter what, the price point deserves a well produced listing video.

There's no better way to tell a story or Market a home. But for many years I was I was on camera and I was starting my video with welcome to 123 Main Street Let's head inside and the I list like very basic homes three-bedroom two bath, basic $500,000 home. that's not going to stop any type of scroll so I was like well when are people Googling they're not Googling three-bedroom homes in Queen Creek Arizona they may be Googling Best neighborhoods to live in? What's it like to live in Queen Creek Arizona Things to do in Queen Creek Arizona So I started my listing videos. now with Lifestyle First Video Marketing and if you ask your buyers, they make care more about the lifestyle that their home provides than how many bedrooms it has or what type of kitchen counters that home has.

So now my videos are starting with imagine living in a neighborhood where you feel like you've stepped back in time where the neighbors know each other and you can walk to dinner and and walk to coffee. and I'm starting at the local restaurant and doing drone of the community garden and halfway through the video people are like man I want to live in this community and I haven't even seen the house yet and then we head to the home. and the strategy behind that is now let's say that neighborhood is called Agritopia in Gilbert Arizona That video is up. It's a listing video, but it's highlighting the neighborhood.

So in two years, two years, someone could be Googling Agritopia Gilbert Arizona or best neighborhoods to live in Gilbert Arizona My listing video just comes up and it's still relevant two years later because they're getting an idea of the lifestyle that that home provides. If it was only the house, why would you want to watch that that is so spoton? I'm thinking of what I could add to it and I have nothing to add to it because it's so spoton. Talk about how you're doing the research and this is a theme I'm hearing throughout our conversation. You want to understand what are consumers in your Marketplace Googling What are they searching on YouTube What are they looking for that appeals to their lifestyle preferences? How do you conduct that research Because that research is Paramount It seems in guiding the kinds of videos you're producing, how do you conduct your research well? There's so many great resources for that of course to Buddy which could show you what you should tag your videos with or answer the public or just a simple Google search what comes up But also we talk to clients all the time.

We know what they care about, we know what they're searching for. My pros and cons of living in: Queen Creek Arizona Video is one of my most successful videos and it's just me talking about the town because people are researching I Heard over 52% of buyers start their research on YouTube and you have to mark your listings to somebody that's never been into your town. We just assume we can take a few photos, throw them up on MLS and that's going to share the story. It's not your, your sellers deserve marketing, and nobody is selling for fun right now in this market.

And if you aren't doing video marketing for your listings, you're taking a short cut for your sellers no matter what the price point. because I'm seeing the success I'm seeing our Instagram reels get showings I'm seeing people see the video on YouTube or Facebook and schedule showing and buy the home because the reality is not every single buyer actively on MLS every day searching for a home. So we should be getting our listings in front of people that aren't you know going to find it on MLS That is a mic drop moment and it is a disservice to the seller not to create a listing video. It's also a disservice to your own brand because in this business you're marketing really two elements.

You're marketing yourself in terms of the services you provide whether it's buying or selling nego like the services, but you're also marketing listings. and when you use your listings to Market yourself and you put yourself in the video and you use the listing as a portfolio of what you're capable of in terms of reaching the broadest possible audience, the most targeted pool of buyers and sell buyers in a local Marketplace you're showcasing your worthiness For Hire with Sellers and I can only imagine in a market like the one today. Sellers see what you're willing to do to promote their neighbors' properties and they must think there's nobody else other than Shannon Gillette and her team that I would ever consider working with. I'm guessing that's we hear that all the time.

But you know. What's even better is when a local top realtor in my community ask, hey, can I pay you to do a video at my listing and put on your YouTube There's no better feeling than another agent asking if I'll Market their listing for them and it's just so powerful I Mean getting your face on camera should be a non-negotiable and starting with a hook, don't ever start a video saying welcome to 123 Main Street I mean I I listed this very basic three-bedroom home that would be perfect for a firsttime buyer. So I was like what message do I want to start with So instead of Lifestyle maybe I start with Education First So I started my YouTube video with I have exciting news. Down payment assistance is back.

That means you could buy this home with this with a free down payment and the consumer thinks man, that's only on that house We got so much like great feedback from that and showings on the listing. So you have to think outside the box and get more exposure for your sellers. but also film video that will live on YouTube forever because there's no better feeling than getting a call two years from now saying like I just saw your video. Will you list my home? Every video is another soldier in your army.

She's right. Uh, final question for you as we wrap up the conversation today. Uh, here we are moving into the last quarter of 2023 and you're looking ahead in 2024. From a marketing standpoint, where are you setting your sites to do more or less of different activities? What are you seeing and paying attention to? Well, well, our team.

What we really want to be is leaders in our community. We already are doing monthly client appreciation events. Some are in person, Some are virtual. Because some of our clients move out of state, we do a lot of giving back to the community.

but I want to do even more because there's never a client appreciation event that we're not at least selling one home from. Not that we do it to sell homes, but next year I Just want to do more of that and just being everywhere you know we have on at our local high school. on the school scoreboard, our logo is up you know, front and center we at my kids. Elementary School We have magnets with the school calendar on everybody's refrigerator with our logos so we just want more of that brand awareness and what can I Implement to where people are like I See you everywhere, you're the only team I Think of when it's time to sell my house.

Heck yeah now and always the market belongs to those who. Market uh this has been an amazing conversation. We could talk all day. We should do round two of this.

Maybe sometime early next year to see what you're looking at. Come the first quarter in the marketplace. uh is likely going to be a lot more like it's been this year. so I'd like to see how how everything pans out.

Thank you so much for being on the show today. Uh, we'd love to hear everybody's feedback. What are your questions? If we do another episode, drop those in the comments below and share this with all your friends. Brander Ground and don't back down! Shannon Thank you so much! Until next week! This is this week in marketing a.