Katie Lance here, founder and CEO of Katie, Lance Consulting and the Get Social Smart Academy. And I am so excited for our latest episode here today. Today is our #GetSocialSmart Academy spotlight. This is something we do each and every month and today I’m really excited to chat with a dear friend of mine, Leslie MacRossie.
For those of you who don’t know, Leslie, Leslie is a broker owner of Lark Realty Group in the Denver, Colorado area. She’s also a dear friend, a long time Academy member, she’s one of our mastermind attendees, and I have to share with you guys just in preparation for this interview, I went over to Leslie’s LinkedIn profile. I didn’t even tell her about this, but I love what she said on her profile. She says, my philosophy is simple. My clients come first. I pledged to be in constant communication with my clients, keeping them fully informed throughout the entire buying and selling process. I don’t measure success or achievement or awards, but through the satisfaction of my clients and I strive to achieve a five star client experience with every transaction. So I absolutely love that. Welcome Leslie, to the show
Thank you so much, Katie. I’m so happy to be here today.
Oh, we’re thrilled to have you. It’s a, it’s it’s been a long time coming, so I’m excited to have you here, uh, and just to chat about your business, social media and all that good stuff.
So I love that you went to my LinkedIn profile. It’s something that I sometimes forget about. Um, but that is kind of my motto all the way through is just really trying to have a client experience. Um, so thank you for bringing that up.
Absolutely. Absolutely. I was like a little bit of homework on my guests before, uh, before we have the month. So, um, let’s kinda start at the beginning. Um, I would love for people who don’t know you to tell us a little bit about how you got into real estate and then what does your business look like?
Yeah, thank you. Um, so I spent probably 20 plus years in medical sales and I worked for a large company. Um, and then Siemens actually ended up buying us out back in gosh, 1998. So I did that for a really long time. And then I had my own small business selling refurbished ultrasound equipment to private practice positions, but reimbursement started to change around this time. And so physicians weren’t really imaging in their offices anymore. They were outsourcing to the imaging centers or back to the hospitals. So I thought, oh, I need to find a new job. So I’m commercial real estate has always been in my background. My dad was a builder and a developer. And you know, I used to love that aspect of it. And then from the, I don’t know the transition into residential real estate. I had several friends who had said you, you love people.
You love engaging with them. You love helping people. So maybe real estate should your, your next career. So I took off a year and then got my license and then kind of parlayed all those skills. I already have a sales and marketing, um, and contract negotiation background. So it seemed to kind of be a good fit. So I started got my license about five years ago and then didn’t really do anything kind of for the first year, um, and felt like, gosh, how am I going to reinvent myself to people? Who’ve known me in medical sales for so long. So I kind of thought, well, social media, it was just dabbling kind of in Facebook here and there. And then somehow I came across you, it must’ve been through a Facebook ad with the get social smart book. And I thought, oh, I need this. So I love that. And then I kinda, we went from there. That’s awesome because I’ve only been in real estate five years, about five years or so.
So licensed for five years. Um, and then really started, um, working with it, you know, with your book and trying to figure out how to kind of reinvent myself in front of people. You know, I bought some leads for a little bit, um, but that didn’t really pan out at all and it was super expensive. And so I just really am a believer of that know like, and trust factor, you know, before I even got into real estate. So I felt like people already know me and like me for the most part. So I need to focus on those who already know me because that relationship is already established. Um, I just had to find a way to, um, let them know that I’m doing something different. And so that’s kinda where the social media aspect came into play. Um, but I’ve always believed that you are so much more than a logo also.
So, and because I have an entrepreneurial spirit, I knew that as soon as I could, um, I would get my employing broker’s license and then open my own brokerage. So in Colorado, at the time you just needed to have two years of experience, two years of your license, I should say, not even X amount of transactions, it was kind of crazy. So I think I had done six deals or something at the time I got my license, but, um, did that started in my brokerage and now it’s been growing. And, um, most of my focus is through social media and it’s still all through referral. I’m super, super grateful that everything I do is people who know me directly or they’ve referred me over to somebody. So that’s where we are today. It’s been fantastic.
That’s great. So no more buying leads.
No for six months. And you know, that was, they were expensive. I think I was paying six or $700 a month money. I didn’t have, cause I was just starting out in real estate. Um, so stopped doing that. And then really honestly, just kind of embraced your, get social smart book and because it gave me the outline of what to do and ideas of what to say. And, um, it gave me some structure around it. And so, and it wasn’t always, um, like real estate oriented posts that I would do, but it was just kind of fun ideas to get out there and connect. And I think at the time lists were a big deal with Facebook. So there was, you know, making your list of like your realtors and your close friends and things like that. So you could interact with people that way.
So that was kind of a helpful tool. And, um, just staying top of mind with people, if it’s somebody’s birthday to either call them or text them. And I started doing, um, videos. So I love doing a quick little video to somebody. Um, I do it always when I’m introduced to somebody as a referral, um, we’ll get a text introduction and then I just drop a little text message to that new person and say, Hey, I just want to put a face with a name, give them maybe some stuff about real estate and that people share that with other friends. I don’t think people are used to doing that or receiving that kind of injection. So they share it with others. And so I think that’s one way of kind of standing apart, but they just take a little video on your phone and just you just text it over. Yeah. I mean, it’s just, I think sometimes we over-complicate things too, you know, it’s just, it’s just that extra, extra little effort, you know, that’s just one extra little thing that, that helps you stand out, you know, among others.
Yeah. That, and you know, it’s nice. Um, for me, I’m always super impressed if I like messaged you maybe an Instagram messenger and then you do a voice text even, or like a voice memo back. Yeah. So much more personal. And I think, oh my gosh, she took the time to say something. And then there’s just another small connection there.
I love those audio messages, I guess, selfishly, because I don’t have to be on camera. So you can just send a quick audio message. But I agree. I find that when I do that, there’s always sort of this reaction of like, oh my gosh, like, it just, there’s just something about hearing someone’s voice, you know, whether it’s through that or whether it’s through video, it’s just that extra layer being personal.
I agree. I love it so much. It just makes it, it makes a nice difference. That’s for sure.
Absolutely. So. Well, let’s kind of unpack the social media stuff a little bit. Um, what do you like, what do you, what are you doing right now that you feel like is working really well? Um, and are you able to, you know, social media is one of those funny things where it’s sometimes it’s hard to point back to, is it working? Is it not working? I mean, is there something that you think that you’re doing that seems to be working really well where you can see, gosh, that’s impacting people contacting me or that’s impacting my bottom line, or maybe you’re just giving me a lot of engagement from something that you’re doing. So just curious, what’s, what’s working for you right now and maybe what’s not.
Because I haven’t experienced now where I can see what does work and what doesn’t work. And yeah, I mean, I think it was probably something that you’ve always encouraged us to do is done is better than perfect. So I have it on my desk because I find that I get in my head and then I don’t want to do something until it’s perfect, or I know exactly I’m saying, or I have to look a certain way or whatever it might be. Um, but with social media, I’ve just started kind of jumping out there and doing things I’ve, I’ve learned to kind of stay in my lane and certain things. Um, before I found you, I was constantly chasing the next shiny object of social media, this or the guru for that. And I can’t do that. And there’s no reason to do that because you have it all.
So thank you. I am super grateful for that. Um, so I found that I don’t do everything. Um, I wanted to like, I’d love, you know, some other people who do amazing YouTube videos and they’re so professional and they’re so chock-full of education. But when I tried to do that, it didn’t work. It didn’t come out naturally or authentically. It felt forced. And so as much as I wanted to do that, I scrapped that. So I really stick with Facebook. Facebook is, um, it is my personal platform. I know most everybody on there, I’m really selective on who I become friends with. Just because you sent me a Facebook request, I’m not going to accept you. Um, and I do that for a variety of reasons. I don’t know you, this is really why in part of my personal life. Um, but I have found that on Facebook things that work are just me still being me and still being personal and still engaging with my friends.
Um, when I post certain things that are real estate related, the kind of get glossed over, unless it’s something super cool, you know, about a house or a room, nobody wants to hear me posting those things. But every once in a while I do cause people need to remember that this is my, my job. Um, and then the other platform that I’ve really embraced is Instagram. I love Instagram for so many reasons. Um, and I think there was a little concern where there was a recent announcement that, you know, is not going to be a photo sharing app anymore, which is not true. They’re just putting a little more focused on the video side. So, um, I’m trying to just kind of embrace what you have said too, of just getting in there and, and doing it. And so video seems to work and I love it.
And so my future strategy, um, is kind of composing five different areas of video and Instagram when it comes to reels and ID TV, which I love. Cause that’s kind of where I put my educational content now, which is, um, unscripted, but a little bit longer than the 60 seconds. So it kind of lives there. Um, the videos in my grid and then stories, I mean, Instagram stories are so fantastic and they are like free, fast real estate advertising or just advertising of yourself right there. And they’re so fun to make too. So those all work. And what I love about Instagram too, is I connect with other realtors and other cities and states. I don’t necessarily follow realtors in my Denver market. Um, just because then I get derailed and think, I want to know this person’s doing that. Maybe I need to share it.
So I don’t want to do this, what I focus on what I’m doing, but I do kind of network and, um, you know, build those relationships with outside realtors. And that has really helped. I have now like realtor, Instagram, friends, you know, one person, we went to social media marketing world together and got adjoining rooms a couple of years ago and I can learn from others. So one it’s a networking tool. So we refer people back and forth. I’ve absolutely gotten referrals off of Instagram. It’s been fantastic. Um, and if you see something that someone’s doing, you can kind of save that post for inspiration, for something that you can do and adapt it for yourself in your own, in your own market. So the thing that’s, that’s yeah, my Facebook friends don’t want to hear all that.
Well, and I think it’s a neat, interesting that you bring that up because I, I, I feel like I’ve a very similar experience between Facebook and Instagram and, um, and it’s similar, but, but different, right? I mean, it’s just different in who you’re connected to. I feel like, excuse me, I feel like Facebook is still a lot of people who knew me from way back then, you know, sort of, and other chapters of my life. And it sounds like you’ve kind of feel that same way and Instagram, there’s a mix of that, but then there’s also people that you, you don’t know that you’ve just connected through through Instagram, which, uh, which is also really kind of a cool thing.
I know. I love it. And then I think their focus with reels is to really kind of put your information and content in front of people who don’t know you don’t interact with you. So now that I finally jumped in, I was terrified to rails, but I loved them.
I love your reels and you guys, I’m going to put Leslie’s Instagram handle below. So no pressure, but check that first of all, follow Leslie, second of all, check out her reels. I remember the, before you were doing realists, we like messaging back and forth and I was like, you can do it, you can do it, just do it. And now you guys she’s got the music she’s got like she’s pointing and like totally creative. I’m like, okay. You’ve like surpassed me on the real. I was like, you got it
Kind of this perfectionistic side. Like, I don’t want to do anything unless I can produce something super perfect. And it doesn’t need to be that way. Um, but I did. I message you for like six or eight weeks. Okay. I’m going to do it today. I’m going to get a Sunday. And then I was like, ah, don’t do it. I’m terrified.
And don’t you feel like now that you’ve done a bunch of them, like you now, all of a sudden you get like a lot of ideas for like, oh, that would be a good one. Or what could do that? You know, they just sort of pop up in different scenarios. Yes.
And what I love about that too, is I try to kind of make my day be like a documentation day. So I have folders on my, on my phone for either music that I hear. So if I hear a song on the radio, like how that would make for a really good reel, or if something’s happening during the day, then I just kind of document that. And then definitely in your explore page for reals, you’re getting bed, all kinds of information. And so, yeah, my plug for reals is I’m doing trending music, but listen to the words cause you want to make sure that the image that you’re putting out there. So I think that I need to be aware of that. Um, but then take something you see and then tweak it for, you know, real estate and some of mine, or let’s say some of mine are fun.
Not really, I guess some of the, most of them are somehow real estate related. Um, but what I have learned with that too, and again, it’s all a learning process is, you know, I will do an Instagram post calling my insights and seeing when my audience is on and that will do well. My reels do better at night if I post them after seven 30 at night. So those are things that during the day, like when my audience is on, maybe get four or 500 views, but anything I post at night gets over 2000 views. So interesting. Oh my gosh. And that was true too. And I, I messaged him like, and I thought I was going viral, like hundreds of thousands.
Hey, I’ll take a thousand views any day of the week. That’s a yeah.
Where people who didn’t know me and I’ve gotten 15 new followers probably in the last two weeks that have come straight from my reels. So that’s great. That’s good. And then I know what people like my top reels are the ones that are, are lip-syncing versus some of the other ones.
What’s great is, you know, it is, it’s all related to what you’re doing. It’s not, I mean, yes, you’re doing assess some that you’re doing lip sinking and things like that, but it’s all related back to who you are and it’s related to real estate and it doesn’t feel like doesn’t feel like it’s this different version of you. Like, it’s just like an extension of you and your brand and your personality, you know? And so it’s, I think, I just think it’s a lot of fun. And I think like you said, you just have to kind of dive in and try it out and see what works. And I love that, that feedback about posting at night. I’m just thinking psychologically, a lot of people, you know, you’re busy during the day you’re working. And so I know I’m on social media a lot at night, just kind of scrolling through and watching videos and reels and whatever. So, you know, that makes, that makes a lot of sense. I’m going to try to try that my next real posted at night. Oh my gosh.
Did I just teach Katie something? I’m sorry.
I love it. I absolutely love it. Um, that’s awesome. So we got Facebook, we’ve got reels. Um, you know, there’s a lot of people who watch our podcast or listen to our podcast, watch our videos, gorgeous, struggling with social media, you know, they’re overwhelmed. They feel like, oh my gosh, like I, they just feel like it’s just a big time. Sec, do you have any advice for people who were just feeling overwhelmed with what to do and where to do it? I mean, you mentioned the whole dentist better than perfect, which I am a huge believer in, um, as you, as you know, but I know, I know it can just feel really overwhelming and we use, we tend to overanalyze things and then we don’t do anything. Right. So just wondering if you have any advice for that person,
I hate you because that’s, that’s really where I was when I first read your book, because you did an amazing job at outlining all of the different, um, mediums and what to do and how to do it. So I felt like I needed to do everything, but you can’t cause I’m, I just didn’t want to be this Jill of all trades and then not doing anything well or learning from it. And so for me, I just zoned in, on my career as a Facebook, um, Instagram, and then I use LinkedIn because those are like those 500 plus connections are all people that I actually know and have worked with. And so I keep that still professional. I’ll do like a blog post or something that could be evergreen for wherever you’re living. So I would say that you have to go with whatever’s natural and, and feel as good for you.
Um, you know, some people really love Pinterest for example, and Twitter, I don’t know anything about Twitter and don’t want to be there, but it might be natural and feel authentic. So it’s really finding the niche where you’re most comfortable and you show up authentically and can shine because don’t try to be everything to everybody. And I think that comes through. So, and it’s okay. I think I’ve realized and learned that too, that as much as I wanted to have this great YouTube channel currently, it’s not for me. So hopefully sometime it’ll get there. Um, and I think really just kind of reading that book and joining the academy because, you know, when I first started, you were the, um, it was a roadmap to help guide me to what I needed to do and for ideas. And then now I’m busy and I have my own content ideas and I get questions.
I have the most amazing first time home buyer right now. I love her. She asks all the hard questions and it’s awesome. I’m fighting. And I’m thinking if she’s asking those questions, I need to document that other people are gonna have the same question. So I’m getting my content. But now where I’ve kind of shifted with the academy is I don’t have time to know what’s trending and what changes are happening, but I know I can go to you. And so I know I can always log into my academy site and see what’s happening. Great example, I really enjoy doing Facebook lives. Um, and so learning how to do the be live, uh, technology from you was super helpful. So I can just pop back in and get a refresher on how to do that and still interview other people. Um, because I think that’s important.
And, um, I think I just went on this huge tangent, but no, that’s great. No, I like that part with, you know, the roadmap of what you guys provide and experiment with it and see what feels good and what feels right and what comes natural and doesn’t feel forced. And if you have to sit down and think, oh no, I need to plan out this content. And then it needs to be posted here, here, and here and here. And I can’t do it and I’m overwhelmed. And don’t do that. Just take a couple of little chunks, but you got to get started. And another that you have given, which is so hands down true is you have to give to get. And so I really focus on that, both on Facebook, on Instagram, if you’re on Instagram, read somebody’s posts, like read the post or flip through the carousel and find something that resonates, not just give a little heart emoji, find something that speaks to your heart and then authentically respond back to somebody. And that’s really how I’ve developed friendships on Instagram. And Facebook is always, it is definitely my personal platform and it’s always coming from my heart. So any interactions that are on Facebook .
Those are all that is such great, great advice. And one of the things I’ve actually been trying to do with Instagram, I’ll just throw in a little tip here, I guess, is that, you know, most of what I do on Instagram is on my phone, but what’s nice about the con the desk cut version of Instagram is that you can still comment on people’s posts and you can, you can just type more, right. And so I love like, to your point of not just clicking that like button clicking the heart, like if you’re, if you have five minutes and you can scroll through on the desktop version of Instagram, it’s a lot easier to write like a sentence or two and a sentence or two comment on Instagram is like, whoa, someone took the time to write a couple, you know, like that’s very meaningful. And, you know, I think that goes back to your point of just being a giver and, um, and just paying attention, being a noticer, you know, what’s going on. So yeah, like
Something that someone’s done, it’s easy to, you know, like their story or you like their posts that they have or whoever you’re following have you had, you know, I like wine. And so I do a wine down Wednesday. I love that. I love my wine wine. Um, I’ll just share it so you can share it onto your stories and give people love that way to brag about other people. I have a ton of cool people who are business owners in my life that I love to kind of, to brag about. And, um, authentically of course, in the share their information. I didn’t know you could do that on Instagram. I’m always on my phone for Instagram. I didn’t know that I could go to my desktop and do something too. Yeah.
There’s not a whole lot you can do on the desktop version of Instagram, but, um, I’ve just started doing that recently and I just found that it, it helps to make those. I can just write more, it’s more of a meaningful comment. I can use someone’s name. I can, you know, just, just write something a little bit more thoughtful. And I, I just find that if I only have time to just comment on a few things that I’d rather do that than scroll through and like 30 things, right. It just, just feels a lot more authentic. So I thought I’d share that tip.
Um, what you did too about pinning comments. I didn’t realize that too. So I’d love, um, when somebody, somebody gave her some really, really thoughtful feedback on a post that I did, um, it was with a seller who I had, who was so grateful that they got as much as they did for their house. And so instead of being greedy, like some sellers are kind of being right now, he was over the top grateful. And so he gave a credit for some stuff, then also bought the home warranty. And so she made a really thoughtful comments about that. And so I’d pinned it up to the top cause it was, it was very kind and, um, that’s great. And get people to see that there is some real engagement going back and forth. And I just wanted to brag on my seller because he was amazing. So yeah.
Oh, I love that. Yeah. I mean, for those of you watching, if you don’t, if you don’t know when you’re on Instagram, there’s a little button where you can just basically kind of swipe right next to someone’s comment. Don’t delete the comment. The trashcan button is also right there, but there’s a little pin button and you pin it. And then basically it brings that, that comment to the top and also that person gets notification and it’s kind of a flattering thing. Like, oh, they pinned my comment then was a really, you know, so it’s just a nice little nice little thing. So I love that you mentioned that, um, this is awesome. Well, Leslie, I know we could go on and on and I’m going to keep you on for a few minutes longer. Cause we love to have a few extra questions exclusive for our podcast listeners. So will you stay with us for a few more minutes?
Absolutely. I would love to. Awesome.
All right. So for all of you watching over on YouTube, we would love if you’d hit the subscribe button and the bell button. So you get notified when we have new videos that come out each and every week. And if you’re listening to this thinking, okay, I need to get a handle on my social media like Leslie, as we are going to link to my book, get social smart below. And also we would love for you to check out our, get social smart academy. You can go to Katie, lance.com forward slash academy to get the scoop on what that is all about. So Leslie, thank you so much for being with us today. I just, I absolutely loved our conversation today.
Thank you, Katie. It was really wonderful. And I just can’t say enough for you being kind of our beacon in the world of social media. I’m super grateful. Thanks.
