 Hey there, I'm Jared Jeffery and today I'm effectively going to tell you a story But first I wanted to thank private property for having me back after the real estate industry summits and What we're going to talk about today Really is the impact that social media has had on my business how you can leverage it to Catapult your success whilst building your personal brand along the way But for it to make any sense, we've got to start back at the beginning When did I start what was industry like at that stage? What did I compare it to and how Consistency over time made a big difference more so today then whilst began posting etc. etc. So if we look at it February 2015 and just resigned from a job and No idea what I was going to do and maybe to contextualize that a little bit the job I resigned from was really to help Temporary at a friend's dad's company that sort of became permanent But ultimately didn't feel like it was for me. So The next sort of this thing that I've been around for a while was real estate and workshop houses Used to answer at the front desk for A popular brand in the area. So I was familiar with the area familiar with the industry I sat down with my then broker owner and She said look Joe, why don't you come give it a whack? Let's start on Monday. I said perfect Went away for my final weekend Come Monday walked through the door Excited enthusiastic had no idea what to do, but there was training provided granted So I got the strips. It was Jared you've got to tell everybody, you know that you know in real estate If they're thinking of buying or selling or if they know anyone looking to bar, so you the guy to contact and I thought that's fantastic I'm gonna go downstairs to the pick and pay. I'm gonna bump into strangers. I'm gonna say hey, I'm Joe And a phrase Just so easy doing the role playing in the training room But when it came face to face because it wasn't something I'd continuously done It was frightening So being a 22 year old sort of technologically inclined Hard enough spread the message without having to see people or see people yet I could get it out there if they liked it fantastic if they commented even great I forgot a phone call that would have been the answer so I put it on Facebook and I said hey everyone just to let you know I've now started in real estate If you haven't know anyone looking to bar, so I'm never too busy for the call And what happened? Nothing I think there are three likes and congratulations from family friends that all enjoy a big and didn't really directly impact and the business yet So the next best thing I thought of all what happens if often incentive and agents do it between themselves between Officers within the brand externity. I thought well, I'll give commission to anybody that prefers me Did it work? Not really Again the same family friends. I thought why hard is that work and I'll let people know but again There was nobody in my media sphere of influence that was going to help so 2016 well 2015 heading into 2016 was tough And I think I had one sale to chalk up which was okay But what I didn't realize was happening was whilst I was doing the activities expected For you to succeed or start to succeed in real estate and your day-to-day laugh I was also posting it on social media. I was sharing articles I was sharing just listed other people's mandates in the office anything just to promote myself and hopefully get a lead Whilst I was trying to hunt my own so the advice would come to me through mandates, etc And what I didn't realize was happening was it was all just a build-up It was that consistency that people saw although they didn't necessarily engage with me it was Very unexpected when people said oh, hey, Jared. I saw this or hey, I saw that And then the uncomfortable conversations and pick and pay started to become the norm People swore me in and around the center. They knew us in real estate. They might have had a friend or other friend They might have left my facebook page from a competition I ran So when they said hey, Jared, how's the market? It was unbelievable. They started the conversation with me Not that it turned into many leads at the time either But it was conversations with people and I was starting to become front of mind While it was important was in my area where I'm in Westville and Kawi Shul The average sort of experience of an agent is probably 15 years plus. So coming into it with no experience um, the average age also slightly higher, no offense, um It was harder to compete Because when you sat down in front of the center that may have found multiple agencies for valuation It was experience that more often than not won the mandate if it wasn't a personal relationship so Then it was how do you compete against experience? And that has to be through innovation that has to be embracing the technologies that are available to you now That maybe the older style of real estate isn't accustomed to because it's new to them too So you both on a level playing field. So when you're talking about facebook and social media You can't necessarily talk about 20 years worth of experience and that's okay because they can't talk about that versus facebook so It became a level playing field in that regard But what if I myself facing then was everybody started to use it if I look at 2017 I started doing it on instagram the problem with instagram was All my friends were on it. So none of them buys at that stage, but what it didn't realize was happening was they would tell their parents about me or their friends or friends about me or their friends parents and although 2016 or that kind of 2016 early 2017 didn't necessarily turn into hard leads The conversations were still happening. So it was just a sort of compounder activity That really started to take or make its mark but necessarily take its toll So in 2017 everybody was doing professional photography. Everybody was doing the sort of standard house videography I started doing facebook ads and that was instrumentally fantastic for me That started producing the result a lot quicker I started not necessarily finding status But I was finding bars for listings that previously weren't getting the inquiries on the traditional websites So I continued with that until the industry started to catch up or they embraced it as well But what I did have now on my side was traction And I had momentum so heading into 2018 that start in 2015 The consistency in 2016 and 2017 started to build my momentum for 2018 because now I had three years experience Both in real estate and the social media So it was becoming easier to sort of compete What I didn't realize is also happening. It was building a brand and where that really exploded was in 2019 and I was fortunate I was fortunate enough to find myself in an unfortunate position that forced me to get a business coach And while that's relevant with social media and my personal brand is we broke everything down to a Day-to-day requirement of what is expected of me in order to reach my goals. So That was as little as making phone calls, posting on social media, following up with people committing to meeting new people, etc etc and That was sort of an aha moment because I had this Some experience. I had consistency. I had momentum I knew what to do because I was being Reminded that if I didn't do them, I needed to do them So I had all of this happening And whilst business was fantastic I had to take it to a new level And that was done twofold Video was number one Something that everybody was currently doing but what nobody had done at that stage was stand in front of the camera And I thought well, how do I one up this and if anybody attended the real estate industry summit My theme was in and around that. So what I did was Sort of walked up to the camera introduced myself how I'm Jared Jeffrey. Welcome to my latest listing and I dove into a pool And that made my business explode Again, not so much as I was at the time But other agents were talking about me buyers were talking about it and I was getting so much exposed on the properties That social media started to number started to climb So from a business standpoint, that was a game changer But what really helped and still confidence in my personal brand Was when I started to really be authentically me that when things really started to change And quite holistically not just on a business sort of point of view Where leads were generated which turned into sales. Of course that was happening But what it created was networking opportunities And good relationships and friendships that have formed From just reaching out to somebody and sharing similar stories or similar values in business and The only or the most prominent example of that would be During the initial lockdown Myself and two other agents had to be in Gregor Washburn created a group And a lot Jordan Cumberick created a group where we would share our experience and how we were handling lockdown What our sellers were feeding what buyers were feeding and it was a fairly common Message across the board. So then we took it one further and We started reaching out to people or agents that we knew abroad We had the privilege of hearing from Rob Levy amazing estate agents in Australia And although their lockdown was unique at the time To them similar sort of things and reservations were happening But when they were coming out of the lockdown We then were going to experience it little did we know But we had an opportunity to speak to people like Daniel daggers He's done north of four billion in sales in the UK We spoke to Jordan Cone. It's the number one rematch agents in the world And those would never have happened if one we didn't ask the question Or two if we didn't share our journey on social media And the benefit for that was immense not because Of us being able to take the information from them that being able to share it with so many people around South Africa Where our little group of four grew to one over a hundred and That again just cemented relationships Who a lot of them we still stand such today and we refer business to each other And you can't put a random value on that because it doesn't necessarily equate to One referral art one random but what it has done It just what it has done is create confidence Especially in the marketplace because I see people that are active or that are being proactive and gave us a solution sort of outtake on what then was a Quite a fearful situation so None of that probably wouldn't have happened if One had a solid reputational good presence on social media So that we could see who we're about to get into better with the network with But on the flip side When you start being authentically you again it just cements the confidence or The intrigue for people to want to reach out or do business with you And that's again not just on the business side of things but also from the community involvement And something I'm very passionate about is my area and the community And I've since become a sponsor at Westville Boys High School And none of that really would have ever materialized If I probably didn't start posting on facebook then because social media has been able to accelerate my career in a short space of time That may have taken longer If it wasn't there because like I said we're fighting against experience and innovation at the moment From my current experience is starting to win What's also nice is younger people are coming to the industry They're finding it easier to get ahead or understand because there's a lot more information available at the fingertips which Is modern as the way training and things have happened, especially with zoom, etc, etc So it's hard to put a rad value on that But it's also hard to say you can't not start Because people are along this journey with you and once you start you can't stop And that's something I see happen fairly often is It doesn't matter if you necessarily copying someone or replicating what they're doing I'm not advocating take word for word But if you turn in initiatives that you're passionate about in your area and action it That's okay because the more people that do it the better it is for the community the better it is for the industry And the better it is for you at the end of the day So when you look at it from that standpoint It's okay if someone's doing a cleanup in your area to jump on board And all likelihood a residence is probably going to issue a challenge and jump on it But once you start you can't stop similar to social media Once you start posting or once you get into a position where You're rolling with whatever content you're posting and the value you're putting out there Because every post won't be a hit You've got to keep doing it because somebody's going to read it And it's going to make sense to them on the day and it's going to turn into something for you Whether it's a conversation or relationship or a transaction Is Unknown at the time, but you don't know who is seeing it on your screen Same thing people buy into it. They love to go on the journey with you So when Somebody sees you five years ago from where you started to where you are now That confidence is there and you're going to win 99% of the time when you get to sit in front of someone Versus the person they just called in they feel like they've known you for six years five years 10 years No matter how long you've been doing it because they followed your journey That's just their time to either sell or bar So when you can present and Their values on all likelihood going on with yours You're going to beat the person who's going to drum on about stats or maybe be a little more robotic Because they're following what they've just been told If that makes sense And if that doesn't make sense, that's okay too, but I'd encourage you to start anyways It's going to put you into places or situations that are going to be so far out of your comfort zone Like standing here today and giving this talk But it's an opportunity you can't say no to because you don't know who you might inspire You don't know what relationship might come from it. You don't know that A son of mine only want to deal with someone who's given a talk on private property. I've no idea But if that's the outcome, that's fantastic if it's an opportunity to do something like this similar If it's an opportunity to balance an idea of someone that's always going to be welcomed And that's really the power of social media and solidifying a personal brand And as it evolves and changes and as you grow as an agent and quite frankly as a person The opportunities and the results are fairly endless, but you've got to put in the work And that's sometimes fairly humbling because it's not always go go go go go That social media may make a book to see and that's also okay. Um, there's been times where I've shared challenges and if anything that's provided more solutions and Pulled me away from the negativity then more so than I could ever believed um If I look at 2018 that was a fairly tough year. It was a year I wanted to get engaged uh thought of changing areas sales went amazing so I got a business coach and We set the goals set the activities and put in the work and I shared that and That was a renounding success And some of it probably a bit of luck Some of it certainly down to hard work And some of it was really just The message fit the right people at the right time, which did luckily turn into sales And it's continued to do so If I look at how it's shaped and guarded my career today I had a change in brand and myself and a very prominent agent in the area have teamed up And because of that we've become the most followed Partnership in the area. So we've got an incredible reach We've got similar work ethic similar values and the market has reacted so well to us. It's incredible And none of that would have ever happened or again happened so quickly if I didn't just start way back in 2015 So if you've managed to pull any sort of value from this if you have any questions I'm always available whether it's on whatsapp instagram Facebook, I will always get back to you. I really hope you've enjoyed this and cheers for now