Realtor's Corner: Social Media Secrets for Skyrocketing Sales!

Embarking on the social media world of real estate can be as intimidating as it is rewarding. We get it.

Charisse Walker's strategic utilization of social media profiles allowed her to create a presence that was authentic and increased sales as a realtor.

Social media is more than a promotional tool; it is a way to cultivate trust and maintain relevance in a market crowded with competition. 

Embark on this episode and uncover the secrets behind realtors' success in harnessing digital marketing to skyrocket their real estate career and how Digital Journey can help you do the same!

You can find Charisse Walker here:

Website: www.charissewalker.com.

Podcast: Unbreakable Momprenuers

Want to reach out and hear more about Digital Journey?
You can email us at kaylee@digital-journey.net or check out our website, www.digital-journey.net.

Transcript

Kaylee Johnson: 0:00

What's up guys? This is Katie Johnson here with Digital Journey. If you're a person that's wanting to learn social media, maybe that's just for you personally, maybe it's for your business. This is the right place for you. Today, we have on the show Sharice Walker. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for having me. I'm excited. Sharice Walker is an accomplished author, podcast host, tv personality, realtor, lender, real estate investor, coach and speaker. Throughout her career, charisse has garnered numerous accolades in teaching and real estate, reflecting her commitment to excellence and dedication to her craft. Whether through her roles in academia, where she began teaching at the age of 22 and later directed and even established a college, or the dynamic realm of real estate, charisse has touched the lives of thousands, guiding them towards their aspirations. You have done so much. That's amazing. So I just want to hear how did you get to where you are today? What was your journey like? Because it sounds like there were a lot of ins and outs and different steps to all that.

Charisse: 1:04

Yes, my journey was not exactly how I planned at all. Ever, ever, ever I graduated. I had this goal that I was going to graduate at 21 from high school I mean not high school, sorry, college, that's a long time. I graduated college and so I went. I did my four years and I graduated and went now what I don't know.

Charisse: 1:25

So I opened up a newspaper ad, because I'm that old, and answered classified ad and it was just one of those stepping stones to another thing, and so I ended up applying for a job where I worked as a temp and in the finance part of college, and I think it was probably a couple of weeks into that, they're like have you ever thought of teaching? And I said, yeah, I actually used to want to be a high school teacher. And they're like well, we have a position open, so let us know you have two hours and hand us the book and prepare for a four hour class in two hours. So luckily, it was in my what I graduated in and so I. That's how I got into the education proprietary education industry. I was taught there for several years, then became the Dean, then I became the director and then, yeah, I did open up a college and it was about that time when I opened the college that I separated from my husband. So I had four kids and it was a journey, especially having my youngest was three.

Kaylee Johnson: 2:20

Wow.

Charisse: 2:21

Yeah, and it had been a couple of years and then I found my new husband, my current husband, and we had just gotten engaged and they had laid me off Like they laid off a third of the corporate staff. And so I'm like, well, now what? And so I wasn't really planning to go back to work because my husband's like, I'll take care of the kids I mean, he's a saint and I'll do all these things but I just didn't feel right about it. And so real estate had been something I've always been passionate about. And my mom well, my grandma was a real estate agent, my grandfather was a contractor, so they always worked together.

Charisse: 2:53

My mom was like the youngest person to ever get her real estate license at the time in the state of California, and so, like there is this history of real estate, there's always been one, and my ex-husband was also an agent. And so I just thought, well, let's get into that. So I studied for about a year and a half and like what to do with investing? Because I wanted to do real estate investing. And so at that point my close loved one I won't name names came to me and said, hey, let's invest in this big, great opportunity down in Honduras and long story short, we mortgaged our home, took out a HELOC. A whole lot of money was lost.

Kaylee Johnson: 3:30

We were on food stamps.

Charisse: 3:32

And there's a huge journey between that. But the point was we were $400,000 in the hole. We got into real estate investing and we realized that that was the way we're going to get out. So within a couple of years, we did, we pulled ourselves out, we built a real estate portfolio and about the time when we fought in the first place, I was pregnant with my second cause, my husband. I have two kids now. I was pregnant with my second daughter, signed up to go to through real estate school and licensing and then, like, had her. It wasn't six months of her being born. I went through and I got my license and that basically changed my life. But I think what happened was because I've had several surgeries.

Charisse: 4:13

It's been a rough 12 years. It's been rough health-wise and there was a time where I was laying in bed. I just had another hip surgery and somebody came on and she was digital marketing when it came to real estate and so high on drugs because of the pain, I signed up for this program. She actually called me and I'm like, speaking of, I want my money back. I was not in the right frame of mind. She's like right Opportunity. So four and a half years later I still coach with her. She's taught me like digital marketing, like it really is, as you talk about it as well, it really is the way to go when it comes to real estate, especially as an agent and because of that you know, there's 10,000 agents in Salt Lake County alone and I was one of the top 500 of the realtors Wow, that's what I've learned. So swear by it. It's important. So that's like a really weird journey to where I am today.

Kaylee Johnson: 5:08

Guys, thanks for listening. Now, if you're on here, you're overwhelmed with social media. Maybe you don't know what platforms you should be on or the type of content you should create. Maybe you're worried that you're going to put so much time into this and you're not going to see anything from it. You're not going to earn more money or get more clients. I get it. I hear it all the time. What I'm here to tell you is Digital Journey can help you with that. We have an exclusive group just for realtors and people in real estate. These are for people who are serious about growing their social media. This is if you want to see a difference. It's an exclusive group coaching program that will teach you how to grow your social media, not just so you can have more numbers, but so you can gain more clients and make more profit. If you're interested in leveling up your social media and if you're serious about wanting to earn money through it, reach out to me. You can contact me at digital-journeynet and I'd love to help you get to where you want to be. You deserve this.

Kaylee Johnson: 6:14

Now let's get back to the episode. That is an incredible story Lots of ins and outs. You've gotten to do a whole lot of interesting things and learned from a lot of different aspects, which is amazing. Interesting things and learned from a lot of different aspects, which is amazing. When it came to the digital marketing aspects of real estate and your friend approached you as you were high on high on pain meds from surgery, what was your thought? Had you been doing any digital marketing with real estate beforehand?

Charisse: 6:40

No, I remember laying in my bed because I couldn't sit and I'm scrolling you know how you scroll on Facebook and I'm like this person keeps following me. Like how does she keep doing this? And so normally people will go to like a challenge or they'll read their books or they'll do all this stuff. I just I think it was three different times I kept seeing her face. I'm like okay, well, if she can retarget me and keep coming to me, obviously she knows how to do it and it works, so I'll just sign up. I look back and like wow, that was a lot, cause I mean, it was a very expensive program, totally worth it.

Kaylee Johnson: 7:10

So that's, amazing. And it shows that the hard work and dedication of continuing to reach out to people and being active on social media is worth it.

Kaylee Johnson: 7:18

You know it can be a little discouraging when it comes to someone working with realtors, because it's like are they even listening to my stuff, or is this all automation of posting things? You know are they? Are they actually active on here? So when you entered the program, what? What did you do differently when it came to digital marketing, or what? What did you start to do with digital marketing you hadn't done before?

Charisse: 7:37

I put my face on the camera, you know, and I'll tell you a secret. So I have pink eye right now and normally I I mean, I woke up yesterday it was really bad, and today I'm not wearing makeup on my eyes and I would never have done that before I started marketing, right, and it's, people don't care. You know, you probably didn't know this because my eyes are so no, I didn't, anyway, but they're normally not like this. You know, you worry so much about what people think of you. You worry so much about how you look. You worry so much about how you look. You worry so much about all this or that.

Charisse: 8:11

And I mean, I remember saying to them well, I want to lose like 25 pounds before I do this. She's like there's never going to be a time I could have easily said you know what? My eyes are swollen shut, so can we please do something else. But now it's, that's just something that you're very comfortable, and because of that I'm now on a national TV show called the American Dream that also deals with real estate, and it's those things that you just become so comfortable now that, not that I still like to be on social media, but if you have a message and you want to help people and you want to change people's lives. That, to me, is more important than my puffy eyes now.

Kaylee Johnson: 8:43

Absolutely. When you're on social media, you're on it to help the person you're reaching out to. It's not just to make a sale even though a lot of times that happens from it but as real estate agents, you can provide such valuable insight from emails or from posts just in general, without being like, hey, we have this house, buy it, buy it, buy it.

Kaylee Johnson: 9:02

You know, when you're reaching out to people through social media, it's supposed to be a conversation, it's supposed to initiate that social aspect versus just I want your money, give it to me. So, like you're saying, like when you're reaching out to someone as a person, they're not just okay, how exactly do they look? Because it's like are they going to care about me, are they going to help me find the house that's best for me? Are they going to help me sell my house in a way that you know, they realize how valuable the house is to me and the emotions and the and the memories I have tied to this house. And so so many people are like oh, you know, I don't want to get on social media or digital marketing because I don't want people to see me, and I'm like, well, you know, that's kind of part of it. People need to have that face with it, especially in a world where everything's so automated.

Charisse: 9:45

And I think during the pandemic, so many people entered the market, so many agents, because you didn't even have to put a sign on the yard. Ok, I did. Ok, and I never changed anything I did, I still did all my brochures, I still did all my marketing, because that was something I had integrity to my clients and if they're going to pay for that, then I'm going to. Yes, but there was a lot of people that entered the market and they were very, very lazy and it made me very, very sad and so you know, that's the part that you have to think is, you're doing a disservice to people if you don't get out there and educate.

Charisse: 10:24

You just have to make sure that you're serving, serve, not sell, if you've heard that, and so the sale will come, because people can tell that you genuinely care, and if you're not out there doing it, guess what Somebody else is that might not be as well as you, so shame on you.

Kaylee Johnson: 10:40

Yeah, exactly, and I love the point that you said. You know serving, not selling. You know going back to what is my purpose behind doing what I'm doing, and I think the best real estate agents are the ones that truly care about their clients. It's not just concerned with making a buck, and so being on social media can show that, especially if you're willing to not just automate everything, because I can tell when a person has automated a post and it's just chat, gpt, or when a person's taking the time to be like, hey, I sold this house to this couple. They're amazing, super thankful for them.

Kaylee Johnson: 11:13

Versus how sold you know, it's like you can tell and you know when. When you buy a house, you want that person that cares for you in particular, which is so big. So what do you think you know? You talked about people that are lazy and you know aren't putting as much into it and not giving as much to their clients. Do you think people can tell that who aren't realtors, or do you think it's more so the realtors that you can point out and be like that person's not upholding their end of the deal?

Charisse: 11:38

Good question. I think it's a combination of both and, as I always tell my clients, it depends. I think that if you have a client who has bought and sold multiple homes, then, yes, they probably know the difference. But if you have somebody who this is the first time they ever bought, the first time they've ever sold, they don't know the difference. And, truth be told, I think that that's why there was that big lawsuit that we're all going to be affected by now, because people didn't know, because, I mean, I've never walked into a client, a listing presentation or a listing period, because I've never really had to do a presentation, but I'm prepared if I do.

Charisse: 12:14

But if you know and say, well, you have to pay them 3% or you have to do this, you have to do that. But your clients absolutely trust you and you have a fiduciary duty to make sure that you're taking care of them, not your own needs. So that's where, like I always say, how much do you want to pay? It's never been an issue. That's why all these people are making such a big deal about this. Well, if you've done the same thing, you've done it right the whole time.

Kaylee Johnson: 12:36

It's not going to be a big deal, it's whatever you know, like you know, we know that our clients love us, we know we're doing what we need to and we have that reputation behind us that, yeah, it's going to be an extra step, okay, but it doesn't really matter. And then I hear other realtors be like, oh my goodness, the world's coming to an end, I'm not going to be able to make it anymore, and I'm like that's a little sketchy, you know. You know what's going on with that whole aspect of that.

Charisse: 13:06

No, it's very true.

Kaylee Johnson: 13:08

So, when it comes to social media, what do you do for social media or in that whole realm, with your, with your business? What have you seen do?

Charisse: 13:16

well, good question. So I'm not a daily poster, I know, but I've taken. I took about a year off because that one year, I mean, I was burned, I worked a ton and then we moved and a whole lot of stuff happened. So last year I kind of took some time off. But before that, like, do as I say, not as I do, listen to Kayla.

Kaylee Johnson: 13:36

Okay.

Charisse: 13:37

So the daily posting really is important to get your word out, to get your information out. But what I do, I'll do like videos. It's called the know, like and trust. So you do specific things so that people get to know you, they get to like you, they get to trust you. So you might put a reach out out there. I never boost, do not boost, it's a waste of money. And so then you can retarget to the three second people who've watched your ad, then you retarget again to the 10 second people, and so then you can do a lead information sheet, or you can do something else, and so I might do a lead magnet that sends you to a funnel which then takes you down.

Charisse: 14:13

I will post. You know it's usually the 80-20 rule where I'll spotlight, like different companies. I'll do restaurant of the week or place of the week, or hey, here's some good information for you. Or here's a recipe, and oh, yes, I did sell a house. Or here's my newest listing, or here's some, so that it's not constantly real estate. I do have a real estate page and so I do keep it more professional there, but most people are on my own page and I don't post my listing just on that, I do an ad and so I'll do like, and I can reach tens of thousands of people like there's that two million people that had seen all my videos and things. It was a lot and I lost it all because I, I know, I know you can get it back.

Charisse: 14:51

You can get it back you have that reputation still, you know and it actually took about six months.

Kaylee Johnson: 14:56

So I mean, if you're discouraged, you can grow the audience very, very quickly, very fast, if you choose to and when I first started having people in my program, they're like I'm already making my money over just being in the program, because we're teaching how do you target to an audience, how do you be a genuine person on your social media. I love the idea of restaurant of the week because, even if I bought a house from you, I'm still going to continue to follow you, you know, because, okay, she's pointing out interesting things in the community around me and it's not just okay, she's another sale. I'm not looking at selling right now, but then when I am looking at selling or buying again, you're popped up. I'm used to seeing you, I'm used to that connection there and so making sure that you do posts that aren't just sold this house, selling this house.

Kaylee Johnson: 15:41

You know, I have some, some clients that you can do the coolest videos of showing you inside. You know, here's a random house from the 1800s that has this special feature For me. Even though I'm not buying a house right now, I'm so interested in that. It's unique, it's cool, it's something you're not expecting, and so I don't feel like I'm watching a real estate thing and I'm really just getting to know them more.

Charisse: 16:06

And I love that. I love that. That's the one thing. Like you walk up these stairs and the stairs I'm not joking are like that, that wide so you can't even really step unless you're on your tippy toe You're like, yeah, how would you like to slide down this at night, you know. And so you do. You take random pictures and I always tell the clients I'm walking through. I'm like sorry, this is picture worthy. They're like I'm so glad that we can be at your. You know, use us for whatever, but it's fun because people do. You get a lot of responses from the unique stuff, not the. Here's my open house. Come to my listing. Dah, dah, dah. You know, no, you need to be creative.

Kaylee Johnson: 16:40

Creativity is key and you know, like you said, it doesn't have to be super complicated. You can be walking through a house and be like, oh, this looks cool. You know, let me take 15 seconds and then you have a social media post there. You don't have to sit down and work on a social media post for 30 minutes. You don't have to do that. I love that.

Charisse: 16:56

Or even you're sitting in your car waiting for your client to show up, or in the house because you should go, open up all the doors and lights and you're like, hey, I'm here. Those are all different things that you can do.

Kaylee Johnson: 17:05

You often have times that you're just killing time, whether it's waiting on a client to show up. You know it's like you have 10 minutes here and that's a perfect time. Cool, let's get a post out real fast, yeah, then you're making money that way and you're helping other other potential clients, which is amazing. Well, it was such a pleasure having you on here. I know I love talking about all this kind of stuff. I know my listeners love hearing about it, so where can they find you if they're wanting to see? You said you have a book you're working on now. What kind of stuff is going on that way?

Charisse: 17:34

Right, so thank you. I have a podcast of my own. It's called Unbreakable Mompreneurs, and so it really talks to people who are looking to build a business and that usually typically are a mom or a parent I don't care if you're a mom or a dad and you're an entrepreneur. So Unbreakable, because sometimes you feel like you're like being stretched in all these different places and ways with your kids. So there's that, and then you can go to ShariceWalkercom. It has everything. And then, if you want to learn how to create passive income with real estate, I teach seven different ways to do that, from zero money to a lot of money, and you don't want to do anything. So that's Fly Free Retiree.

Kaylee Johnson: 18:10

All of that will be linked below. It was so amazing having you on. Thank you so much, thank you, you too.