Lessons in the elevator– live from Megacamp 2011
I’m back in Austin ready to hit Keller Williams Mega Camp and search for MONEY making ideas. The vibes right for success as I’ve already stumbled upon a simple nugget of wisdom.
I’m in the elevator and joining me is this woman whom I’m convinced is Dolly Parton. If she started signing I could have proven it. She has a huge rhinestone pin that says “The Queen of social media” so I have to grab this opportunity, I mean, come on, how often do you get to hang with the queen, right?
Tyler: “Wow, you’re the queen, huh? That’s quite a title!”
Queen: “Sugar, I’m the queen of anything I do, but Facebook, blogging and such, well, that’s my specialty”
Tyler: “Awesome!, I need to get better at it, I just don’t like it that much, I approach it in the worst way possible, haphazard and never really know what to say”
Queen: “Oh lord sweetie, we always got things to say, just start saying it! It’s called SOCIAL media for a reason silly!”
Tyler: “Well, it’s not that easy for me! The truth is, it all feels so dumb I’m almost embarrassed of it. It feels so ridiculous, the things people post, the self-indulgent comments about what they ate, how they feel, what their kid just threw up, you know?” “Plus, I just want to sell houses!”
Queen: “Listen up. I don’t do s*it unless it’s to help sell houses, that’s it. That’s what this is all about sugar.” “ you just need to get a conversation started, to create dialogue around yourself— picture it as a meet and greet at an open house—would you ever just stand in the corner? HELL NO! You’d walk your butt all around and schmooze the wallets and look good, sound good and make stuff up to sound interestin’ right?
Tyler: “wait, what’s a wallet?”
Queen: “Oh sorry sweetie, that’s my nickname for anyone who can buy or sell— a wallet!”
Tyler: “Funny. OK. So, what do you post, how did you become the queen at it and what exactly are your results?”
( NOTE, the elevator has stopped now and we are sitting in the lobby—I’m in workout clothes getting ready to go the homeless garden kitchen and serve dinners and she is literally dressed to go on stage)
Queen: “Well, now you ask the right question. Boy, you need to ask the right questions sooner, all this chitchat so far, we could have already done a referral or something good”
Tyler: “ Ok, good advice—so please, tell me exactly how you do it!”
Queen: “Life has no great ideas. Someone has done it all before and I don’t like new ideas, they just take up too much time. So, I set myself down and thought to myself, what have other people done in this business that’s worked, and how could I implement it here. When I finally realized that Facebook and my blog and twitter are all like being the host of a party, they are all platforms for me to convince people to use me, my entire approach to it changed. As a southern girl, I would NEVER throw a party and not be the queen of the ball!”
Tyler: “ Yeah, I kinda picked that up”
Queen: “So, had my girl print me off a calendar and I set myself down and decided how often I want to communicate, the kinda things I want to say and I just scheduled it, sugar! I like to post 5 days a week to everything— I know, it’s too much, but everything about me is a little too much and I wouldn’t want to disappoint people’s expectations of me. So, now every day, one of my appointments is to make sure I’m the host of my online party! It takes me less than 10 minutes— when you post often, you don’t have to use lots of words and such.
Tyler: “and how do you make it relevant, how do you know what to say?”
Queen: “This is my secret— I created this little cheat sheet— I carry it everywhere. See here? I always have a hundred or more ideas on it— ready and waiting—so that one day, if I’m not in the mood or can’t think of something to say, I can just pull my cheat sheet out and pick one!”
Tyler: “Wow, and what’s on the sheet?”
Queen: “I like to sprinkle a little of everything, I like sprinkles. I throw some news and stuff; sometimes I’ll just re-post an interesting article that feels relevant. I like inspiration, so often times I just post a quote I love that I think others will like, and sometimes I do post specific listings or open houses, etc but I don’t like to do that too often…. People don’t like it when you toot your own horn so much”
Tyler: “and what are your results?”
Queen: “Sugar, don’t you know me? I’m gonna be up on that big ‘ol stage tomorrow, basking in the glory and sitting on panels! I sold over 100 houses just this last year and most of my business comes from the fact that everyone feels like they know me! In this business people want to know who they are doing business with. They don’t care so much about how you do it—they care about who you are and social media is your way to be who you are and let others know all about your ability, but also about your heart and what makes you tick—it’s the golden VIP ticket to the money ball!”
Tyler: “wow, that’s profound, I’m re-inspired”
Queen: “Sugar, I’m glad—and now I’m done talking to you—have you seen the parties in this town? I need to go create a name for myself on 6th street!”
