Loida Velasquez: Social Media = Creditability and Trust

Tracy Hayes  1:08  
Hey, welcome back to The Real Estate excellence Podcast. Today, I have a real special guest on the show. She is not only an amazing real estate agent, but she is also a content producer with over 87,000 YouTube subscribers and nearly 30,000 Instagram followers. She is a leading force in the real estate agent content production. She recently has been was on the Think Media podcast, which is, to me, one of the best social media podcasts out there, when it's what to do and how to do it. She has a business degree from Cal Poly and a master's degree from Biola University. My goal today is to dig deep into her vision and real estate agents and social media, specifically YouTube. Let's welcome the Wonder Woman of real estate, Leota Velasquez,

Loida Velasquez  1:53  
to the show. Awesome. Thank you so much, Tracy, I'm really excited to talk to you today, and hopefully everyone that's listening is going to get a lot of valuable information.

Tracy Hayes  2:02  
Sure, no doubt, I think, you know, there's, as you were talking on the Think Media podcast, there's so many out there that want to get into social media. And in my process here, I'm going to dig in to see what, because I know you're doing some coaching in that area to see how we can, you know, help some of these agents, you know, break the ice, so to speak there. But I want you to take take a few minutes early in the podcast, because that's generally when most people, if they're listening, they're gonna listen to this first few minutes. You have a new agent boot camp. It's not the first time you've done it, but part of your experience now, which is going on eight years in real estate. You're doing these new agent boot camps. You have one on this Friday, March 10. Tell us a little bit about it.

Loida Velasquez  2:41  
Yes, so I'm going to be doing an in person new agent boot camp out here at our office in Miami, Florida. I started doing these back in 2020 just to help agents that maybe are new in the business, or have been in the business for some time, but I still lost and confused as to what it takes. It's almost like a crash course on everything from working with buyers, sellers, setting up your business, communication, tonality, everything that you can think of is condensed in what I'm going to be doing this Friday, in one day. And yeah, any agent that's out here, especially in South Florida, I would definitely work and

Tracy Hayes  3:14  
learn for you to come out excellent. Anyone here in Northeast Florida that wants to travel down, may spend the weekend in Miami. Yeah, we had stopped in. There be a reason to, I guess, a nice IRS tax deduction. Leota tell us, you know, as I start off every show to get a little background. So everyone gets a little background in you. Where did you grow up?

Loida Velasquez  3:32  
So I'm originally from Los Angeles, California, born and raised all my life out there, up until last year, January 2022 was when I officially moved out here to South Florida, but I've been in California all my life. That's where I started my real estate career. I got my license back in 2015 but prior to that, I worked for about eight years in the marketing and advertising industries with a lot of different clients, in automotive, entertainment, music and things of that sort. And even though I loved what I did, I felt like I was overworked and underpaid. And that's kind of when I started to look into real estate. And I'm glad that I made that transition Excellent.

Tracy Hayes  4:10  
So you go to, I've never heard of Biola, though, so you have to explain that. But when you yo, what made your choice in Cal Poly, if that, or maybe that was your only choice. But, Yo, you obviously have your business degrees. And tell us a little bit, what was your you know as a young person, you know, 18 years old, 1920 What was your vision of what your career? What kind of things did you think you were going to do or wanted to do?

Loida Velasquez  4:35  
So I'm an only child. My family is all from Central America, so I was pretty much the first one in my family to go to college, get a degree, and for me, it was just kind of like, you know what I'm gonna do, whatever it takes to succeed. I went to Cal Poly Pomona, that was a school that I had looked into. I ended up getting scholarships and grants, so I didn't have to pay anything to attend there, which I was blessed to have that opportunity. Right? And yeah, so I went there. I got my degree in business and marketing. What's funny is that when I went to college, initially, I went in under a sociology major, because I thought, you know, I want to work in a field where I can help people. And back then, that's the degree that I thought I had to get into. And it wasn't until my first job doing marketing, where I had to go out and meet people and promote different companies that I really saw, that I actually love doing that, and that's kind of when I transitioned into marketing and advertising, and that's how I ended up my with my degree in that field. And then going back to the MBA program, I thought back then that the only way for me to achieve a high level position and make 60 years was to have an MBA. So that's kind of the route that I took. But once I got into real estate, I saw that, you know, you don't even need a college degree to get into real

Tracy Hayes  5:53  
estate, right? I saw your, I don't know it was one of your one of your videos there, as I was clicking through them, and have been for the last few weeks, just trying to get as much background on you, but you actually were talking about it. I don't know. It was in one of your reels or one of your short video where you basically just left, you know, the matter you realize this and the master's degree that you really don't need this to make money you want. Yeah, yeah.

Loida Velasquez  6:15  
And initially it was hard for me to kind of make that decision, because being, you know, the first person in my family to get a college degree, an MBA would have been a big deal, but once I started to look into it, it was more like, if I did end up going through with the program, it would just be to say that I got an MBA and a piece of paper, but I would have been in so much debt, because when I got into the program, I was paying out of pocket. I didn't want any student loans. So I was paying five $7,000 every semester, and it was adding up. And then, yeah, when I decided that I was gonna go full force on real estate, I just made that decision. And I'm like, I'm gonna make this happen whatever it takes. And I just decided to part ways with that.

Tracy Hayes  6:58  
Yeah, being pretty much a generation older than you in that aspect. And what I've noticed in, you know, the last, you know, year and a half, almost closing in on two years of doing the podcast, I found so many really, actually sub 30 year old real estate agents that are they just, they just get it. I think they did listen to a mentor, or whatever it is, and they learned very quickly. I mean, some of them right out of college. I don't think this industry, and you know, like your opinion. I mean, you know, I don't think this industry. 20 years ago, most young people, sub 30, didn't even really think about it. But has social media changed that aspect of real estate? What do you think?

Loida Velasquez  7:46  
I think there's so much information now accessible to everyone through YouTube and so many content creators that for me, if I had access to all of this information back then, I probably would have made so many different decisions, and I probably would have gotten into sales or some type of, you know, career, maybe not real estate, or, I don't even know, but I don't know if I would have gone to college, done something else. I would probably get a completely different place. And, yeah, I feel like it's so much easier now for the right people, if they look into the opportunities and stick to something like committedly.

Tracy Hayes  8:24  
You know, you're you hit on something there about YouTube, which, to me, has just so many different things. That's why I really want to, we're going to drill down on it. You're right. Most people go the path that they you know, at least in my generation, you know, I'm 20 years older than you. So my you know, all we knew is what our parents did, our aunt and uncles, maybe friends of our parents, those people, those adults that were immediately around us all the time. And there wasn't a real estate agent in that circle. You knew nothing about it. And most real estate agents that you know, you know, back when I was growing up, you know, in 80s and into the 90s. You know, we're older. I mean, you just that was the stereotypical was, you know, in most cases, it was the spouse of a of someone who, you know, had a good paying job. And the spouse kind of started off as a hobby, and then it grew. It snowballed, Yep, yeah, yeah. And now where young people can get into this business, really, right from the get go. And it's actually, to me, I think it's actually exciting, you know, when I think back in my career, and like, you know, I didn't make any money, and probably until I was in my early 30s before, and really, actually probably got married before I started really making money. But, you know, someone at 2223 fresh out of college, it really doesn't have that many bills. It actually can live at home with mom. Can actually start their real estate business,

Loida Velasquez  9:47  
yeah, and I have seen so many agents that you know graduate high school. They decide, you know, I'm gonna get into real estate. They get a coach, and they do everything that that coach says, and by the time they're 21 Even have, you know, investment properties are doing really great, and it's amazing to see that you don't actually have to go to college or get a degree, like, if you put your mind to it, you can, you can do this.

Tracy Hayes  10:11  
Yeah, yeah. I The and we're, you know, we'll talk about it. You're watching. We want Can, can get into to you, because now you eventually get into real estate in 2015 what leads you to that? What did you run into somebody? Meet somebody? What led you to real estate?

Loida Velasquez  10:27  
Yeah, so back then, I did have a friend that was in real estate. He was very successful, and I have known him before he got into real estate. So that's kind of what sparked my interest. But what's funny is that even before, real estate was a thought in my mind, when I thought about real estate agents, I knew about cold calling and door knocking, and I would tell myself, you know, I'm never going to do that. That's embarrassing. Oh, my goodness, like you talk to strangers. But then when I committed to it, I was like, Okay, well, if that's what these people are doing to succeed, I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. I just have to, you know, get thick skin and rather bull by the horns, and let's do this. And that's just pretty much what I did. So when I got into real estate, I focused on going after listings, and I focus on expires and for sale by owners, because I know a lot of agents don't like to go after those type of lead sources. So I made it a goal to myself that if I got very good with my communication and my objection handling, and just know how to figure out on a way to work with these people that I could, you know, make a living out of this. And that's exactly how I got started in that race.

Tracy Hayes  11:38  
So your friend pretty much same age as you, like, two years older, yeah. So pretty much. Okay, so you FOLLOW HIM and FOLLOW see what he's doing. And you're like, Well, I can do this too. One of the things I like to drill down on the like for, I don't know why that phrase drill down is in my Fred cavalry recently, but anyway, is the selection of the initial brokerage. And I know you, last year, you switched from exp to real. But you know, obviously, when you were in California, you were, you were with a different brokerage there, in your eight years of experience, how important in you're doing this new agent boot camp on Friday? How important is it these agents that even maybe before they get licensed, but when they get licensed, to really find out who's going to give them the value that fits their needs, because everyone's a little different. That in really interviewing the broker, how important is that? And I mean, do you talk about that in your new agent

Loida Velasquez  12:33  
boot camp? I do touch on it. I think at the end of the day, especially when someone just gets their license, it really important to ask a lot of questions in regards to help support. You know, where are my fees going? Something that I hear a lot from newer agents that even come to my program is that they have really high splits, or their splits are, like, I don't know, 5050, or the broker ends up taking a lot, but in return, they're not getting any help or support, and they're just kind of being told, You know what, once you get a lead, then come to me, but the agent doesn't even know how to get a leader. How do you communicate? So it's really important to start to ask these questions. See how accessible the brokers are to you, if you ever need any type of help, support and writing up an offer, talking to a client, or things like that. Because if not, I feel like that's when you start to see agents kind of bouncing around from brokerages to different brokerages just to see, you know, who's going to give me what and where am I going to get the help from,

Tracy Hayes  13:30  
or fall out? I mean, we know exactly 80% don't even make their renewal, right? Yes, their first renewal. And often it could be that first step making the wrong first step into the wrong brokerage and not understanding we I really drill down with that on the with the agents, because I really I see them move around. But then again, I have seen some really successful teams move some from some really good brokerages and move to other really good brokerages for different things. Because eventually i i What I've seen in a study of, you know, over 20 months of in interviewing over 100 agents, they there's, there comes a lid in the value, right? That that broker, Joni, takes them so far in the journey, and then it's like, okay, I'm running out of track here. I need to jump into the next brokerage is going to take me to the next.

Loida Velasquez  14:19  
Yeah, exactly that. That's what I see as well. And that's kind of how my transition has been, as well being from different going to different brokerages, it gets to a point that, you know, there's other companies that you see offer you things that will help you take your business to that next level.

Tracy Hayes  14:37  
Now, you I always like to talk about the first 12 months, everyone gets a feel. Because I think that's the, you know, if there's going to be some pain, it's definitely going to be in the early in this, yeah, get started. I mean, so where are you at in California when you're for, you know, back in 2015 to give everyone a picture of what you're doing, you're, you're calling on these fizz bows and expired listings and doing some door knocking, yeah, which is a little. Easier to do in California with the dry heat versus especially here in Northwest Florida. You don't want to be doing that in August here probably pass out. But tell us what you know, what that first year was like, and some of the pains that you went through. And when you look back today, obviously in your new age at Boot Camp, you're speaking with experience. What kind of advice are you giving those new agents to you know that are entering that first year.

Loida Velasquez  15:24  
So as soon as I got my license, I knew that it was not going to be glamorous, it's not going to be easy, it's not what you see on TV that I was actually had gonna have to put in work, right? So I made sure

Tracy Hayes  15:36  
with John Altman with million dollars,

Loida Velasquez  15:38  
I know no no, unfortunately. So for me, I knew that I had to have a schedule. And that's a thing that a lot of age and especially when you get into this business, you think that, you know, now I'm a business owner. I have all this time. I'm going to do calls here and there, but you have to be very disciplined with your schedule. So for me, the first couple months, I was out there, door knocking every single day, and I was scared. I didn't know what to say, but I knew that I had to learn scripts, because there had to be a dialog in order for me to come across. You know, as professional people, knew who I am. I knew what I would be able to talk about, so I did a door knocking. I started to incorporate cold calling. A couple months later, I was role playing almost every single day in the mornings before I started doing any type of prospecting. Because, again, I knew that, you know these top producers, they talk a lot about scripting and role playing, and you have to be very good, especially over the phone. So I wanted to be the same, so I was role playing every single day, in the mornings, from 730 to eight o'clock, and then in the afternoons again. And that's really what my schedule looked like. I was hitting the phones once I started to do that consistently, probably from like eight to 1130 and in the morning, and then in the afternoons, from like four to six o'clock. And my goal was talk to was to talk to at least 30 people every single day. I knew that the more people that I talked to, the faster I was going to get to someone that was going to, you know, need to either buy or sell. And that's pretty much how I got my first couple deals. They were from expired listings or wrong numbers. So the very first listing I ever got was from a gentleman I had been calling all day, and he was like the 40th contact that I had made that day. It was around four o'clock, and he was just so mad and upset, and he was yelling. But based on what he was telling me, I could hear that there was a motivation still for him to sell. So I just kept on asking him a question, and I ended up setting a listing appointment, and this ended up being a property that sold right under a million in Laguna Beach out in California from a cold call. So that kind of gave me that push to continue making these phone calls. Yeah, the next listing was from a wrong number I was calling old, old expireds. It happened to be a wrong number. The gentleman answered. He said, You know what? I'm not looking to buy or sell or do anything, but my parents want to sell their property out in Beaumont. That was the name of the city out there. So I asked him more questions. He connected me with the parents ended up selling that property above asking price and listening it. So that's kind of how my journey started. So once I knew that I was successfully converting these leads, it gave me a more type of like enthusiasm to go after them and just continue to

Tracy Hayes  18:33  
get better, right? That's those are a couple of amazing, amazing stories there some what I have seen, you know, some of these are some brokerages here which I'm sure you and you may have been involved in a broker. There's one brokerage here in town. They, you know, they, they'll bring on new agents, and they have their, you know, that's, you know, nine to 11. They're making those calls. They, and I can't remember, was 25 or 30. They want them to have 25 or 30 conversations a day, and but from nine to 11, they're coming into that office, and they're making those phone calls where, obviously, as you know, and you'll probably have a bunch in this new agent boot camp, they signed up with a brokerage, but that brokerage doesn't really have that kind of structure. They're just, well, they're virtual, is your experience with EXP and real? I mean, they're virtual. They don't, don't have that. You know, everyone's in the office the same day, probably some rah rah sales speech, and then, you know, maybe some role play, and then they're on the phones, right? Kind of like the way I started when I started my career quick as loans. That's, that's what we do. It was a call center environment. And you're, in your opinion, you've seen some of these things. You're seeing some of these new agents. I don't think the incubator of nine to 11 is for everybody, because it could. It could, if they're uncomfortable with it, to the point where they're stressed or whatever, it's not going to last long. I think everyone's uncomfortable with it, but you got to step out. I mean, what kind of, what kind of advice are you, you know, especially in the new age of boot camp, to explain these people, you got to get out of. Your Comfort Zone?

Loida Velasquez  20:02  
Yeah, I say that whether you, you know, think that it doesn't work, you don't want to do it. It's just kind of like a part of the process of becoming an agent, and that making those calls and getting outside of my comfort zone is what got me to the level that I'm at now, where I can easily pick up a phone and call for sale by owner and have a really good conversation with them, even if they're not motivated or serious and I don't get nervous or I'm not like scared to call them because I've made 1000s of phone calls that I have heard absolutely every single objection that you can think of that now my mentality is like, okay, let's talk to this person, and let's see if there's a reason for me to even want to work with them, because I'm not going to waste my time with people that are unrealistic or disrespectful or not motivated. And I think at the end of the day, that's kind of like the experience that newer agents need to get. Because if you don't, you kind of have this mindset of, you know, I'm gonna take whatever deal comes my way, even if you know that buyer or seller are talking down to me, or they're calling me a million times a day, and it's almost like you're desperate for business, and you never want to be at that point, I

Tracy Hayes  21:15  
you had a little you were doing a little role play real the other day about the guy was your your partner was off the screen, but you were doing the 1% you know, and you were doing, you know, how would you would respond? Yeah, and, you know, I think you know, to get out there again to new agents. But even agents who have, you know, maybe been doing this for two or three years and just, you know, they've been kind of puttering along, so to speak, they've been doing okay, but not, you know, where they're seeing some of these top producers producing at that. This is a, you know, the journey. And then, of course, you know, look at someone like you, and you're speaking, you're training, you're in your you're in your zone, but you weren't in your zone eight years ago. I mean, you were, you were coming out, probably for a number of years there, but you've got 1000s of phone calls, which is a college education in itself, right there, yeah. And even if

Loida Velasquez  22:07  
you go on my YouTube channel, I recorded the very first for sale by owner cold call that I ever did. And that was horrible. I mean, the script, it sounds so bad, but I put it out there because now, anyone that's new in the business, you can literally go back almost eight years and see, you know, how I started and where I am now. And it's almost like a transformation, that if you put in the work, you can achieve the same thing, let's,

Tracy Hayes  22:35  
let's, I'm going off my script here a little bit, but I think this is important, since we're kind of talking about this. You know people fear that phone call, but it's not that you need to stay. In my opinion, you correct me if I'm wrong, you have a goal of that call, and I assume it's the set and the point. And yes, whether you can do that in 45 seconds or a minute, or it takes you 10 minutes to do it, you have to figure out what is your path to close them on creating that appointment. Am I correct? Yes, correct. So what are some of the things when you're teaching some of these, these new agents on, on that call, you know, some of the little, you know, I well being in sales, as long as I have, I mean, there's, there's trigger terms and phrases, yeah, what people say, or the questions they ask. What are some things that they need to be like zoned in?

Loida Velasquez  23:25  
So you want to pretty much find out what the pain point is for this person. If it's a for sale by owner or any type of seller, why are they looking to sell? What happens if the home doesn't sell? Where are they going to be moving to next? I think a mistake that a lot of agents make is that they're trying to just set an appointment and it's all about me, and I can sell your house, and I'm the best agent, when, in reality, you know, you're probably going to sound like every other agent calling this person. So I like to say, you know, find out about them and kind of see if you can help them, because there will be a lot of sellers also that you just can't help. I've gotten a lot of people that tell me, You know what, I'm for sale by owner. I want a million dollars for my house when I know that that that neighborhood is going for 700,000 and you have to be also be very straightforward when you're making these phone calls and talking to these people. And I think this comes with, you know, repetition of making these calls of getting to the point where now I will tell someone, if they tell me they want a million and I know at 700 I will say, You know what, Tracy, at this point, you're better off just starting to unpack, because you're not going to get a million dollars right now. And I say

Tracy Hayes  24:35  
it will get the boat the mover for you.

Loida Velasquez  24:38  
Exactly yes. So then, yeah, it's all about asking questions. And a lot of people, once you let them talk, they will tell you everything that you need to know to see how you can navigate and take control of the conversation. I like to use a lot of pattern interrupts, so something that people say a lot, especially when I'm cold calling, oh, you're the same. TF, agent? Oh, okay, yeah. Well, you know, you sound frustrated. Tell me what happened. I asked open ended question. So what happened? You sound really upset. What happened? And that's one of two things.

Tracy Hayes  25:10  
And when you say that, they're either actually going to tell you, I haven't liked the other 49 agents, or they're going to tell you, Well, I don't want to use an agent because and then that starts the conversation

Loida Velasquez  25:22  
doesn't Yeah, and all I want is for them to start talking to me, because then at that point again, this goes back to you role playing. You have to be very sharp. If you're stumbling over your words, if you don't know what to say, you're probably going to lose that person, and they're not going to want to continue that conversation. But it's happened so many times with me that people are really upset initially, but once I start talking to them, they get to the point that tell me, You know what, you're the only agent that I've had such a long conversation with everyone that's called me, they just want, you know, to get a listing, and they're rude, and they tell me that I'm dumb and you're actually, you know, listening to me, and at the end of the day, that's all I want. I want a reason for them to remember me over everyone else.

Tracy Hayes  26:07  
Are you doing any pre investigation on this, on the property of the ad? Are you looking up anything before you're actually making the call, or just blindly, just knowing it is a for sale by owner, just calling

Loida Velasquez  26:19  
you, just blindly, I call them. If it's on Zillow, I'll pull it up, but just what I see on the spot, that's what I do. I don't do, like, any research to see how much they owe or how long they live there, or if there's any pictures, I'd rather you know. If I get them on the phone, I'll start asking some questions and figuring things out, and then maybe, as I'm on the phone with them, I'll pull up the title report, there's, you know, a way that, or even, like expires, I'll pull up the MLS so that I can find out more information, but I'm never doing any research up front,

Tracy Hayes  26:50  
because that can actually one you can waste a lot of time doing that, and then they can answer the phone. That was exactly, but you can be a little biased, because now all sudden you have this mindful of information. And our typical person wants to just, you know, spill it all out on them. And when, in reality, you want to hold some of that information back for when you go and actually having to get that appointment,

Loida Velasquez  27:15  
yes, exactly. And I also when I'm making cold calls and I'm using a dialer. I don't like to look at the price points, especially out in California, I would see a lot of you know, million, 2,000,005 10 million. And that scares a lot of agents, because they think, oh my gosh, it's a $5 million property. It's like we're talking to a whole different type of human species or something, right? When, in reality, they're just a regular person like you and me, so I never like to look at the prices. Once someone picks up the phone, then I'll look up the information. And it's happened where I've had a conversation with a property owner of a $10 million property, and I'm like, Oh, wow, that property is actually 10 million but he sounded, you know, just like a regular person like you and me.

Tracy Hayes  28:00  
So just to transition and stay on my pace to what I really want to dig into you in the social media to sum up, you know where you recently last summer, went over to Real. You came here to to Florida, basically a year ago. Last summer, you guys decide to Team BC decides to go, actually, that was quite include real. And tell us a little about team BC.

Loida Velasquez  28:22  
Yes, Team BC was my partner, Brian Casella, that's the BC and the team. He's the one that when I got into real estate, he's the one that I was looking a bastard. So everything that he was doing, that's kind of how we created the team. We're nationwide. We have over 20 agents right now across the US, and he's also big on social media. I created my social media so it got to the point that as we were creating content for agents, agents were reaching out about wanting to join the team, about wanting us to train them. And that's kind of how the team came about. You know,

Tracy Hayes  28:58  
when you made that transition from exp to real that pretty much, did all the agents come over with you pretty much?

Loida Velasquez  29:03  
I think there was maybe, like, one or two that didn't. But for the most part, they all saw the, you know what we were doing, and made the switch the

Tracy Hayes  29:10  
opportunities there. What do you think are three qualities of a

Loida Velasquez  29:14  
successful real estate agent? Three qualities, one of them, for sure, I would say commitment. And the reason that I'd say that is because I hear this all the time. You know, initially, everyone's really excited, oh, you know, I'm going to kill it in real estate. I'm going to do all these sales and blah, blah. Then a month, two months, three months comes by, they haven't done a deal, and then they start questioning whether what they're doing is working or not, or they think that what they're doing is not working. So they start to change things up or and they start looking at a whole bunch of different people, different coaches, different trainers, when in reality, you're just not sticking long enough to something that you're supposed to be doing. So being 100% like committed, committed, along with being disciplined, along with that great communication, communication and listening No. This business, this is what's going to set you apart, because you talk to so many people, different personalities, different ages. It could be a younger, 20% 20 year old, or someone in their 70s or 80s. Everyone has so many things going on in their life, and when you're talking to them, you need to be able to kind of have a conversation so that they remember you and they also see you as an expert. Many times I have had conversations with people that are business owners, millionaires or people that I have never even met. I call them. We have great conversations. I end up getting a listing and I just end up docusigning them everything, because how I presented myself, even on the phone with the emails that I sent, they knew that I was the right agent for them. So that would be the second one and then the third one. Let's see. So we have commitment and communication. Let's see. I feel like there's so many, but you

Tracy Hayes  31:02  
probably have one in your speech after Friday, pull one out of there. For me,

Loida Velasquez  31:06  
I know being, I don't know how to word it, but always being open to learning, and also learning from the right

Tracy Hayes  31:14  
people, which is an awesome way to, you know, again, another thing with a lot of the agents that I hear is education, and I see so many agents. The only time you ever see them is when they need to get their CE credits at for renewal. They're not showing up to whether maybe a lender is putting something on, or a title company is putting something on, or there's an alternative place where they're where they're teaching something, but it that kind of goes into the, you know, kind of a two edged sword there you're learning, but also by the importance of showing up in meeting some of the other agents in your area. How important is that? Oh, I

Loida Velasquez  31:57  
would say that's really important, because you never know when you're going to be doing deals with other agents in your area. And I know, for example, you know, two years ago where there were multiple offers and, you know, bunch of buyers, very low listing inventory, sometimes, if you knew an agent versus someone else, you know how they worked. You know who they are. I mean, it makes things so much easier. Because for me, even when I'm working with my sellers, there's a certain way that I like to work with other agents, and I like to see whether they communicate up front. They shoot me an email. They let me know, hey, I'm going to be sending an offer. These are my buyers. Because the more communication there is, I know that if something comes up during the transaction, it's going to get handled. The last thing I want is for like, someone to go silent and Ghost, and I never hear from them. And then, you know, next thing you know, the deal is dead.

Tracy Hayes  32:48  
Well, you know, when you've worked being in California, you're working at a higher price point. Well, in Miami, you're, you're kind of assume, maybe just a little bit at lower average in my in the money. But still, when you're whether you're dealing with the $500,000 home or the $5 million home, you know, knowing that agent on the other end, that seller could have picked up somebody who just got started and you know, who they knew was the niece of whomever, and listed their home. Some of them don't Fathom because they're selling a $5 million home that maybe, you know the quality of the agent wasn't important to them, but when you say when you're on the other end of those deals, the importance of knowing them, especially when there's multiple offers. And I imagine some of you start getting into these multi million dollar things, some of these deals are a little, you know, squirrely, yeah.

Loida Velasquez  33:39  
Yeah, exactly. I want to make sure that whoever I am working with knows what they're doing. Because, again, the last thing that I want happening is that maybe there's an agent that they think their buyer is approved when they're really not, and they're just going based off of, you know, he said, she said, that they have this amount of money. So things so much easier. Because the last thing I also want happening is that my clients end up looking at me like, wait, loita, like, why is this happening? We thought that you were the expert, when, in reality, it doesn't even have to deal with me. It was the other agent.

Tracy Hayes  34:09  
100% Hey, folks, this episode was produced by streamline media, the number one media company for helping brands generate content that converts I knew I wanted to start a podcast to reach more people and bring value to the world, but I did not have the time or the knowledge. Streamline media became my secret weapon to building my show. They handle all my back end work, production and strategies to keep my show going strong. If you're in the real estate business and looking to make content that generates more leads and brings in more revenue. Check out the streamline media link in the show notes and discover how partnering up can supercharge your path to real estate excellence. I want to change up pace here, because I want to really dig into, you know, obviously, what brought you on my radar screen is, you know, I'm building my YouTube. Channel there. And in my search, you came up and one a coach that I had for YouTube, you're talking about, you know, having the right titles on your YouTube videos and so forth. So obviously, I came across you and started, you know, I probably stole a few of your titles on some of your shorts and so forth. You've, you've seen, to have focused on YouTube and Instagram, if I'm not mistaken you and obviously you do have a LinkedIn file, which I find love, to have your comments on that, because I find a lot of agents have underestimated LinkedIn, in my opinion, or at least having something formal there and and crossing some of the but when do you start in your real estate career? You started in 15 when do you start seeing social media. And you mentioned your BC there Brian, but he does a lot of social media as well. When did you guys see this as like, hey, we need to go all in on this.

Loida Velasquez  35:49  
Probably in like, the first year of us starting to create content. That's when we saw all of the engagement, the subscribers. And what's funny is that initially, when we will start it, especially for me, one of the reasons that I started to create content was because, when I got my license, I wanted to know what it was like to be an agent, and also from a woman's perspective. And back then, I couldn't really find that, so I was, you know, knocking on doors, making phone calls. So I just say, You know what? Let me just record what I'm doing, what's working, what's not working, and that's it. Back then, I never saw it as an opportunity for me to grow a YouTube channel. It was just kind of like a hobby that I was doing. But as I was doing it consistently, I told myself, you know, I'm going to put out a video every single week. I'm not sure what day it's going to be, but I'm just going to do it every single week, and that's essentially how I build my YouTube channel. So it was just focusing on creating that content, putting it out. And after the first year, I saw my channel really kind of taking off with agents saying, you know, this is so relatable, or I'm glad that you mentioned this, or even just comments or messages from age of saying that they implemented something that I mentioned, and now they have their first buyer under contract, or they just got their first listing. So once I start to see those messages, that's that's what fulfilled me to continue going, because I've always been a type of person to help other people. And if I can help you succeed, even if it's like, I don't know, I have 20 subscribers, but a tip in my video helps you then, then. That was totally worth it.

Tracy Hayes  37:24  
Yeah, so one of your videos where you mentioned that you got in cut some agents had contacted you, and some of the brokers were using some of your material to train their in their in their brokerage.

Loida Velasquez  37:36  
Yes, yes, that happens a lot. That's awesome.

Tracy Hayes  37:39  
Do you feel YouTube is underutilized by realtors. I think I know that particular that statement, but you'll comment on that. And why agents think I'm yo. I keep telling them I said, you know, and comment on one of my statement here, but yo, Instagram, it's there. You're, you're, you may. Maybe it's a video that make, however their algorithm, it may go viral or something, but it's it's really not that kind of platform. Tick tock. You can do something crazy and get a bunch of people to view but, you know, tick tock, from understand, some people say it's searchable. I've kind of given up on tick tock as far as my niche to as a place, because it didn't seem to be going anywhere. But to me, YouTube is like a library, and whether your video is is five years old or, you know, five hours old, if someone's searching it, it's going to pop up, depending on it's, you know, the matches and so forth. Where I don't think you really see you don't see that. You're not going to see that on Facebook and you're not going to Instagram. Is not, to me, that searchable mechanism. Would you agree 100%

Loida Velasquez  38:45  
and that's one of the reasons, also, that I decided to focus on YouTube. And to answer your question, yes, I feel that not a lot of agents are using are utilizing YouTube, because maybe they think, oh, you know, it's too much work, or I don't know how to upload or edit or thumbnails or all of this, but you have to look at it more long term, because obviously Google is a parent company nowadays, whether it's you, me or whoever, if we have a question we want to know how to build something, first place we'll go is probably YouTube, how to put together XYZ desk or Google. And if you have created content that has those keywords or it's titled the same the chances of your content popping up is much greater versus, you know, I have never gone to Instagram to figure out how to build anything, so that's one of the things. So the same way that people go to Google or YouTube to learn how to do things, that's kind of how agents or home owners are going to figure out how things work, because unfortunately, a lot of people don't really like to read. They'd rather listen to someone say something in a video. And that's how it happened for me, even in the beginning, as I was newer in the business, but I was putting out content, I was now able to include that in my pre. Seeing the information that I would give my clients, where it's like, hey, you know, I'm making these calls, I'm prospecting, and at the same time, I'm creating content on YouTube, so feel free to go look me up. Or what would also happen is that, as I'm talking to these people on the phone, they would go on Google or YouTube and they would find me. And now when I would meet them in person, they almost feel like they're meeting a celebrity, just because I have had so many videos on there, and because they've been watching me on a screen, they feel that I'm a more of a even authority figure.

Tracy Hayes  40:32  
The credibility exactly, Travis chapel, like, hired to coach me and get into podcast started. I mean, he was one of those. And it was, it was that the whole reason why I started the podcast was, you know, to, obviously, you know, be out there the amount of content that is produced from, you know, us discussion on you I'll easily cut 10 reels from this, and have a bunch of content to go out there, plus this whole YouTube videos out there. Someone searches you this is, this video is going to pop up. And I think people like I said, they got the short term vision of it, but not realizing, you know, people are constantly searching, and whether, like I said, whether it's tomorrow or five years from now, if you're doing this video, and this question leads into something you were talking with, think media about, about showing, doing videos about the area that you service.

Loida Velasquez  41:20  
Yeah, that's a great way for people to start to see you as you know, someone that's an expert in your certain neighborhood or community, because you you have to start where you're familiar with where you want to target. So for example, let's say, if I wanted to create a channel out here where I focus on South Florida, I want to show you know, the restaurants that I go to, the beaches, the streets, you know, the freeways. Because anyone that's looking to move out here, they're probably going to look that up, like, how is it driving down the 95 as silly as that may sound, I bet you there's a video, and it probably has hundreds of 1000s of views. So there's never an idea that's too dumb or too silly when it comes to a video idea. And on the contrary, I think that the more specific you can make your video, it's going to target the right person that's looking to watch that type of content.

Tracy Hayes  42:10  
Are you coaching one of the, one of the, some of the better agents around here, in this in the in the form of the YouTube area, are really narrowing down on a community, you know, several 1000 homes, and they're really good, because most of them live in that community also. And becoming an expert is that something you coach or teach to?

Loida Velasquez  42:31  
I teach about it, yeah, when it comes to, like, content creation, video on YouTube,

Tracy Hayes  42:36  
now you get this all the time. This is, this is I've been battling here, and I've got a videographer, and we're like, hey, you know, what can we do to add value? Obviously, expose him. He's been doing some work with some of the agents and so forth that I've been introducing him to. And we're like, you know, we need to have a YouTube school, right? Or just, even just creating short the reels, right? What are some of the things that I'm sure you when you're talking on Friday, you're talking to that these new agents. What are some of the fears that you're getting? And then, what are you what are you coaching to to get them out of that fear, to get them to put that hold that phone out in front of them, or, you know, get that selfie stick and just start doing it.

Loida Velasquez  43:18  
A lot of the things that stop people are, you know, them getting in their own way? Oh, well, you know, what are my friends and my family gonna think? Or they also think, well, you know, there's already, you know, 10 other agents that are doing the same type of content. I'm just gonna be another one. Or I don't look good enough, or I'm a new agent. I'm not an expert. At the end of the day, I say, Look, if it's not you, someone else is creating that content, and they're starting today, so they're already meeting you on it. And not everyone relates to every single person, because there's probably people that would rather watch me versus someone else, or vice versa. So you never know. There's plenty of people out there, and all it really takes is for you to pick up the phone, even though it sounds, you know, we always hear it all the time. It's not going to be perfect, but over time, that's how you get better. When I started my YouTube channel, I remember, you can even go back again to these videos. I would talk really fast. I was very serious, and over time, I started to watch these videos, especially in the beginning, because I wanted to find out how I could get better when it came to creating content. So some people might think that's really cringe to watch your watch yourself and listen to yourself, but I knew that I was talking really fast, and what got to me was when people were commenting, oh, loiter, you're talking to SAS, or you're running out of breath, even though the my video was about open houses and they're talking about me. So it's gonna take some time for you to get comfortable, but you just have to do it. And there's gonna be people, because all it takes is for someone to reach out to you and tell you, hey, you know, I'm thinking about my. Buying or selling. You don't need to have 1000 subscribers or 10,000 subscribers. You never know as long as you're being consistent, that's really all it takes. And you just have to be patient and know that it's going to work.

Tracy Hayes  45:12  
Do they Well, I think I know the answer is just Chad those who would be listening or watching. The reality is, I think a lot of our friends and family obviously don't care what ultimately we look like, or how we say it, or we stutter, or any of those things. And sometimes it's those, you know, every Sunday morning we like to go boating. And, you know, I'll do a, you know, I like to do the Florida lifestyle video, you know, hey, if you go to Florida, a lot of people want to go boating or whatever. And whatever. And hey, we're out at the beach. And as informal is that is, you know, just letting your friends and family or that, again, that are networked around the country are seeing you do that video. And, you know, just by throwing, you know, throwing something there on the end, or, I'm sure you teach hooks and stuff like that. But just throwing something to say, Hey, I'm, you know, I'm a real estate agent. Or I'd say, hey, you know, I'm a loan officer, you know, here in Northeast Florida, you know you're looking to move here. Give me a shout. But hey, this, I just wanted to show you this beautiful beach out here on a Sunday morning in February when it's snowing, where you're at, right? And just whip that out and just let it roll. And when I first started doing some of my impromptu videos, I had some friends go, are you scripting? I said, No, I'm just speaking from the heart. I've been doing this 17 years. So I could speak about mortgages and everything, but it's just people just want to hear you and see you and obviously what's behind you. And you could show them something, because I think just as in South Florida, that's what the benefit of living in Florida is. We have a lot of people moving from other areas, and they want to see video. They want to see where they're going before they get

Loida Velasquez  46:50  
Yeah, and even putting out videos like that, where you're out in a boat that separates you from just an agent that's talking about, you know, interest rates, because, you know, I can find that information all day long, but you in a boat, I'm like, oh, man, I wish I was out there with Tracy the water, because that looks really good right now, right and now you become more like they might see you now as a friend versus, you know, another loan officer. And going back to video, it's so important also, because there are so many agents, there's hundreds and 1000s of agents. But what's going to separate you from others, and what's going to make you memorable is you, if people can put a face to the name, now they're going to know, oh, okay, that's loiter. She's a real estate agent out there in California and Florida versus, you know, I've seen have a common name, people aren't going to know. They'll be like, Oh, Jim. I don't know which gym this is,

Tracy Hayes  47:43  
right, right? Well, you're that you made a good statement there. I mean that the commonalities like, yeah, like boating, they may be both, and so they're like, Oh, well, he's out in the you know, we want, we want to be able to vote when we get down. And maybe that's someone I should contact. Now, you have something in common which starts to create a bond and create a relationship

Loida Velasquez  48:01  
Exactly, exactly. Yeah. So even the content that you put out, I would say, you have to have a balance make sure that you are incorporating your personality and what you like, because many times people relate to you for other things that are not even real estate related.

Tracy Hayes  48:16  
Now you are bilingual. I picked this up on the Think Media podcast. You also have a YouTube channel where you're speaking Spanish.

Loida Velasquez  48:24  
Yes, correct. I started to create content in Spanish for consumers right now.

Tracy Hayes  48:30  
I know you guys went through that. You know, should someone do that? Obviously, you want to get good at your craft before you start. You know, opening multiple channels, it can be difficult. But what? What are you seeing in the fact? Because that's a bond itself, right? We have a lot of people here with Spanish is their primary language. So, you know, having been around bilinguals, a lot of times, yeah, even though they could speak English clearly, they would rather actually talk in Spanish in the business transaction, because that's their primary language, and what are you? What are you seeing, especially in South Florida and all Florida's? Well, a lot of the areas are qualified for that, but obviously in your area, there's a high concentration of our Spanish speaking friends, yes.

Loida Velasquez  49:12  
So I have my YouTube channel where I post this content, but I actually started that content on Tiktok. I had never really like dabbled with Tiktok, but the reason that I started to post more specifically Spanish content on there was because I would always see, you know, older people that I know on Tiktok, and I'm like, if they're on Tiktok, you know, what are they watching? Let me go the educational route. I'm not going to be dancing or pointing. I'm going to make my Tiktok account specifically educational, up to, you know, 30 seconds to a minute tips to consumers. So I started posting three times a day for two weeks straight, just to see it was kind of like a test. And that took off like from the start, it was. Just tips on how to buy a house, different type of loan programs. How fast can you close a house? It was like the most basic tips. But that's what people were looking for. And what was kind of surprising is that my audience of people watching me were probably in the range of 40 to 65 year olds. So on Tiktok, reaching out. And it got to the point that it was it was crazy. They were messaging me, DMing me, telling me their life story, what they're looking to do, calling me. I created a business WhatsApp, because a lot of the Hispanic community, that's how they like to communicate. And when I saw that happening, I said, You know what? Let me repurpose all of this content and put it on YouTube, and I created its own YouTube channel. What's surprising is that the results were not the same. I would get more activity on Tiktok versus YouTube. On YouTube, I was getting more agents following me, my following my Spanish account, but I still wanted to make sure that all of my Spanish content was on there, but that's kind of how that got started. Interesting.

Tracy Hayes  51:04  
What do you why do you think that is for? Because the Spanish consumer, Spanish speaking consumer, was more on Tiktok, or more active there than YouTube. Do you have any insight?

Loida Velasquez  51:18  
No, I'm not sure exactly how it is or why, I probably should look more into it, but yeah, from what my experience has been, pretty much all of them were there. I'm sure that there's a lot of Spanish speakers that watch many other content creators on YouTube. But from my specific, you know, case, everyone was on Tiktok. So I just decided to go full force on that I created. It's all specific. CRM, I had one of my little cousins of Central America repurposing my content and writing the tags, because I was now trying to leverage, because now it's, this is a legit business off of Tiktok.

Tracy Hayes  51:56  
That's cool. That's cool. The length of the videos. I noticed you have YouTube shorts, but not like 1000s of them. You do have a lot of videos that are, you know, seem to be in the 510, you know, less than 15 minute instructional type videos in your experience. Where are you? Are you gaining ground? Because I know, I think media, they think, you know YouTube shorts in 2023 is where it's at. I know you're listening to his different podcasts and YouTube videos, but what are you seeing in your knee, in our niche here, basically as far as length of video.

Loida Velasquez  52:33  
So I have been putting out a lot of shorts, just like you mentioned, and in terms of subscribers, that hasn't really gained me specifically, a lot of subscribers. A lot of my audience and subscribers are coming from longer form content. So when I do like, 10 to 12 minute videos, where it's, you know, step by steps or how tos, that's where I'm seeing a lot of really good results and engagement specifically for my channel

Tracy Hayes  52:59  
interest now, are you scripting out that whole 10 minutes? How? When you structure a 10 minute video? Because that, I think, for anyone listening, if you're not doing social media right now, that that's an advanced level of instruction. I think you lyota would agree with me, you know, it's easy to do, you know, 45 seconds on some one particular point, like how to apply for a mortgage, or, you know, you know, tips. You know, here's three great attributes of a good real estate agent you need to be looking for. You could do that in 45 seconds, but 10 minutes takes a little bit longer. Are you scripting that whole that thing out?

Loida Velasquez  53:33  
I am doing bullet points. So I like to write down, whether it's on a sheet of paper or, you know, on Google Docs, the main bullet points that I want to talk about, and then I kind of write down little sentences to make sure that I touch on them. So once I am recording, I like to have it in front of me. And it's not like I'm recording everything in one shot sometimes. I mean, if I try really hard, I could probably do it, but I like to make sure that I'm referencing and staying on track, but that's usually what I do. Now, when I started, I was not scripting or anything. It was just kind of like off the top of my head.

Tracy Hayes  54:10  
No, that's exactly I actually, I've done a couple scripts. I just started using the teleprompter thing a little bit. Are you using chat GPT at all in any years you know, to help you work up some scripts or come up with any ideas.

Loida Velasquez  54:24  
Recently, I have been looking into it, just playing around with it, because I know it like blew up. A lot of people were like, Oh my gosh, this is a game changer. So I have gone into it. There's usually already some ideas that I have in my head. When I come up with a video idea, if I go on chat GPT, I'll type it in there just to see if there's anything different that maybe I can add. But yeah, I think that it's a great tool, especially if you want to start creating content and you feel like you don't have any ideas of what to, you know, talk about.

Tracy Hayes  54:53  
And those out there, yeah, whether you know, if you create a real whether it's. YouTube shorts slash reel. Same difference doing something less than 60 seconds, yo. You can cross post that against on all the platforms. Facebook's got reels, and that's what I was doing. I dropped, I kind of dropped Tiktok, because it wasn't going anywhere for me. So really, you know, Instagram and reels and obviously YouTube shorts, but it's the same thing all the way across. So you only have to create one video to put it all on. There is, you know, make it easy on yourself. You know, to create, create that content in your Do you have a different goal for Instagram versus the YouTube?

Loida Velasquez  55:34  
So on Instagram that I have also grown organically, so the way that I have gone to almost 30,000 followers there is that I was intentional in every single video that I would post on YouTube, and I made sure to include my instagram at the beginning. So once people watch me there, they kind of are like, You know what? Let me go and see what this girl is doing on Instagram. And when I'm consistent there, that's when that starts growing that following. But with Instagram, I try to make it more relatable with agents, in terms of like, I like to post funny reels where I even make fun of agents in our industry, or maybe even things that I'm going to showcasing, maybe things that I'm doing, I like to work out in box, so I post that in my stories. So it's more like a behind the scenes of me versus on YouTube, it's more like educational content on Instagram, it's more kind of like humor.

Tracy Hayes  56:27  
What do you think you know you're, you're in, you're doing, you're coaching. Are people, people hiring you to coach them on their social media? Yeah, some of them are okay, all right, so when you're, when you're, you know, advising or consulting on that. What do you think? You know, I put down here, the question isn't, you know, restructure us anyway. What is the minimum every agent should be doing on YouTube, Instagram, and I'm gonna throw in LinkedIn there, because I really find, you know, I've had a, you know, like I said, over 120 some top agents on I'll go on their LinkedIn, and I wouldn't say 50% but a good 30% they have barely anything there, if it hasn't been updated in a long time. And what are you coaching or advising agents that obviously want to leverage social media? What is the minimum they should be doing on those platforms.

Loida Velasquez  57:22  
For YouTube, I would say at least one video a week, kind of like how I build my

Tracy Hayes  57:27  
video or the reel. So I would or

Loida Velasquez  57:29  
No, I would say, like a regular video, whether it's five to 10 minutes, make it every single week. There's so many also video ideas that I give to agents. So even creating the buyer process or the seller process, because now not only do you post it on YouTube, but you can utilize it and make it a playlist so that you can send to your clients, so they're learning from you. People out in on YouTube and Google are learning from you. So it's like you kill two words with webstone. You can also repurpose and send those videos to your database when you're sending out newsletters. So there's a lot more intention in creating content that's going to be seen by your people that you already have in your database, versus thinking, You know what, I want to just become a YouTuber and blow up on YouTube. So at least one video a week, post it there, and you know, just like how you were saying earlier, you can easily repurpose that same content on Instagram or create, you know, a short out of that video. There's so many different free apps that allow you to just cut these clips, put the captions on it, and then now you have that. So for me specifically, I like to focus on YouTube and on Instagram, on Facebook, I'm there. But now what I do is that I just, whenever I post something on Instagram, it also posts it on Facebook, so everything just kind of repurposes itself.

Tracy Hayes  58:50  
I mean, do you really, I mean, other than this, this your Spanish speaking clients, obviously, Tiktok seems to be, you know, the sweet spot there for the majority of them. Your other clients, are you notice? Are you really able to track whether are they on Instagram or are they on Facebook, or they're seeing you on YouTube? Are you been able to actually narrow that down?

Loida Velasquez  59:10  
My clients, they're mostly on Facebook and Instagram, and they follow me on there too. A lot of my business that does come from YouTube are agent referrals here and there. I do get consumers that reach out because they find one of my videos where I talk about, you know, how to sell your property for the most money, or why your home didn't sell. But yeah, most of my business from YouTube is agent to agent referrals. And then any clients that I do end up even most of the times, they have found me on YouTube, and then they just follow me on all of my social media platforms that I'm active in,

Tracy Hayes  59:44  
all right, so I find that interesting. You just, you know what you just said there, the other agents are referring you mean they're you're outside of Miami area, the greater South Florida area, and they're referring clients to you. And so if you think about who would you refer? Well, if I didn't know any. Anybody there, I'm going online and looking up, and if you're putting out regular social media content about that greater area that you're servicing, and they're only seeing you, or maybe a couple of other people, but they're looking at you, it really narrows down the amount agents who they're going to select to but then the fact that you're doing the social media, you have credibility?

Loida Velasquez  1:00:23  
Yes, exactly. And a lot of these agents that are watching me are watching me for my real estate tips on how to succeed, you know, with buyers or sellers. So the moment that they do come across someone or have a client, I'm the first person that pops into their mind for, you know, California or Florida, right?

Tracy Hayes  1:00:41  
100% All right, I've got you right here in an hour. I'm going to finish up here because I think the big question everyone has is, we like to produce, you know, we get them producing content. Let's just start with that. Hopefully they start doing videos, whether it's at their open house or whatever they're at a restaurant. They do these things and actually start putting some stuff up there, and however they're found through these algorithms. How do you turn those social media leads, and specifically talking about your Facebook and Instagram, because you seem to be getting more Consumer Direct calls from them in that area. What are Is there anything you're doing to create that call to action, or is it just the regularity and consistency of your video? Because I think most agents like, well, I'm doing these videos. When should I see some business?

Loida Velasquez  1:01:33  
Yeah, consistency. Consistency is a key. Once you start consistently showing up on people's feet, making sure that you're saying, you know, where you're located, just being authentic as well. That's what people organically start reaching out. They'll send you a message. You also do want to have your social setup in a way that, if someone does want to, you know, I don't know, set up a consultation through Calendly. There's a way to do that, or go to your website. So you have to be very mindful of that. I would also say, if you're an agent going back to creating content, you know, I see a lot of successful agents posting content where they don't even show their face. They're just doing property tours and voiceovers. And those do really well as well. But the key is, again, to be consistent. So yeah, once you have those little things set up, you have to be patient. I don't rely 100% on social media for my lead generation. That's why, you know, I still make calls or do active prospecting, because at the end of the day, you don't know where you're going to get that first one or maybe someone is going to reach out to you. But if you just have one or two videos, and then you just kind of fall off the face of the earth, they might think you're not even in business anymore, 100%

Tracy Hayes  1:02:41  
wait to go back. Around and strengthen to what you're saying. I mean, you're still doing the regular real estate prospecting things, but the social media is behind you, because of our customers are Googling us. They are looking up. They want, they do want to see your face. You made a statement there about agents doing videos without them being in in the video. You know, occasionally, I guess you know you can do that. But do you feel it's important to create that relationship bond? Because the mind doesn't differentiate whether I'm looking at the New Video or you're sitting across the table for me right now, it doesn't, doesn't differentiate that. And to put your face in there so that people actually see you and see you're a human and you're normal and you're not a computer or a bot, right? Doing doing a video when you're not in, how important is to actually have your face in a lot of your videos?

Loida Velasquez  1:03:34  
Yeah, I would say have it all the time. But I know that there's some agents that are still kind of, you know, shy, or they don't want to get started. Maybe not showing your face is a way for you to get started on actually posting video content. But yeah, just like you mentioned, if you have your face and you are actually coming out in the video, now people start to remember you. I like to always be smiling. So even in all of the videos that you ever see on YouTube, I'm always smiling. Because if you remember a few minutes ago, I said in the beginning I was not smiling, and I was always serious. So I want people to see me that, you know, if they're watching me on YouTube, they automatically will assume that I'm a friendly person, and I am. So when you meet me, you get exactly what you saw on YouTube. It's not someone that's completely different. And then what I like to create is a sense that people feel like they already know me, so they're watching me. They're like, you know, I can totally relate. She seems funny. She seems easygoing, super genuine, like I have no problem shooting her a text or giving her a call, right?

Tracy Hayes  1:04:35  
You remind her of one of their friends, or something of that nature. It creates a mental bond there. I just, I think there's no doubt when someone's going to meet somebody. You think about probably back in the 80s or even the early 90s, when people were using the old real estate magazine. I mean that even that black and white picture gave them some idea what you look like, and if they're going to meet you at a property or meet you some. Where in a neutral place, and it's not your office, they generally going to want to know what you look like. And so they, when they see you, they go, Oh, that must be her, you know. I mean, obviously, you know, got to keep our headshots updated too.

Loida Velasquez  1:05:13  
Yes, I was gonna say that. But

Tracy Hayes  1:05:15  
obviously, if you're putting out regular content, they're seeing you in all aspects, whether you got your hair down today, or you got your hair up today, or you're you're wearing a different outfit, they're mentally able to see you in all those different aspects, and then when they see you, it's a comfortability thing. You know, there, I think there's no I mean, think you would agree they're going to choose someone who's got pictures and so forth of themselves on social media, versus someone who doesn't or has very little or

Loida Velasquez  1:05:39  
old pictures. Yeah, absolutely, I agree.

Tracy Hayes  1:05:42  
Do you want to add anything I'm got to the end of my questions here. I think it was a great conversation. Some people got something out of it. I'm going to definitely create some great reels from from this channel. But anything you want to add? Tell us about the you do some different things as you are speaking. And actually, that reminds me the one thing I wanted to say, I do notice you're the team BC tour I saw on your Instagram. You guys are going around to some different areas. I don't know if you have any agents here in Northeast Florida or the greater Jacksonville area, but I'd love to, you know, get with you guys and put something together to have you guys, you know, come in and, you know, do a training or something. I do know there's a couple of Megan Farrell Nelson in Palm Coast, she went over to Real recently, about the same time you did, and so did Stevie Hahn, who is very she's a big social media she's probably easily the top two or three social media people in Jacksonville. She does a lot of video, but she went over to Real as well about the same time you did. I think, yeah, yeah. I know if those names ring a bell, but I would love to, you know, put something together and, you know, a training or something. Or you guys, you guys come through Jackson.

Loida Velasquez  1:06:48  
Yeah, absolutely. You know, we love going out and teaching and talking to agents. So yeah, especially since we're out here, both in Florida, we're totally open to it.

Tracy Hayes  1:06:57  
Add a little day trip. Yes, you know, there's, there's some treasures up here too, like St Augustine and and Fernandina Beach as well, to spend the weekend at and enjoy that too. So, yeah, it was awesome. I appreciate I'm also, if I want to introduce you, I had her on the podcast. If you look your episode 130 she was episode 125 Her name is Heather Monahan. She lives in Miami. She's written two books, confidence, creator and overcome your villains. She's a big woman empowerment. I think the two of you need to have a conversation. She has a regular podcast as well, but I'm going to do an email introduction. I think, I think the two of you, and in fact, you guys, are, you know, not, don't live that far away from each other, because she's a she's a big keynote speaker herself, and like I said, she does her podcast and the books. You don't mind. I'd love to do an email that sounds great. I think you guys would would be able to put some things together down there.

Loida Velasquez  1:07:51  
Yes, I would love that. No, I appreciate it. Thank you. Problem, I

Tracy Hayes  1:07:56  
appreciate you. And I'll send you the whole video. In case there's some things in here you want to cut out. I'll send you my Google Drive link with the video in it so you can have it as well.

Loida Velasquez  1:08:06  
Awesome, awesome. Thank you. Tracy Lloyd, I appreciate you coming on.

Tracy Hayes  1:08:09  
Thanks. Thank you. This may