Hey there, you’re listening to the Katie Lance podcast. It’s episode 128. And in this episode, I’m so excited to be highlighting and spotlighting our longtime Academy member Alana Corso. Alana is a local Realtor to me in the San Francisco bay area. She’s been a part of our Academy family for more than four years. And we just had a great conversation about her transition into real estate from financial services. We talked about motherhood, we talked about marketing. You’ve got to stay tuned all the way to the end. She’s got a great life hack for you guys, and she is just doing an amazing job with video marketing. We talked about Instagram and just had a really, really great conversation. So if you’re listening to this, if you are a Realtor or you’re thinking about using social media to grow your business and you are curious about maybe our Academy and what that’s all about, Alana just really goes above and beyond and really shares some really great tidbits and ideas and thoughts on today’s podcast. So Alana, thank you so much for being with us today and let’s get on with the show.
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Katie Lance podcast and the Katie Lance show. I’m so excited to have you guys here with us today. Obviously I’m Katie Lance, I’m the founder and CEO of Katie Lance Consulting and the Get Social Smart Academy. And you guys are either watching this on YouTube. Maybe you’re listening to the podcast, maybe we’re on Facebook or Instagram, but I’m so excited today because today is a special day. Today is where we are interviewing one of our Get Social Smart Academy members. It is Academy spotlight day. And if you’ve been following us for any period of time, you know that each and every month, we like to highlight one of our awesome Academy members. And today I am so excited. We have a great conversation in store for you today. I am excited to introduce to you Alana Corso.
Alana was the managing broker and co-founding partner at Dwell Realtors, which has now partnered with Sereno. She is now the vice president of experience for the San Carlos & Burlingame Sereno offices. Raised by a residential architect and contractor, Alana has been surrounded with real estate, basically her whole life. With a background of working with one of the largest wealth management teams in the United States, Alana has a really sophisticated understanding of the markets, numerous financing options and supporting a home purchase, which as we know is really one of the biggest purchases that most people nake in their life. Alana has also been recognized as one of the top 1% agents for San Mateo county and in the state of California, based upon sales volume from Real Trends. She’s been a member of our Get Social Smart Academy for about four and a half years. Now she’s one of our mastermind attendees, and it’s just been awesome to see her business grow over the years. So Alana, welcome.
Thank you. Thank you, Katie, for having me. It’s kind of a full circle moment for me to be actually being profiled because it seems like the first time I heard you at Inman and started following you and then joined the Academy and then we have attended two different masterminds. So it’s kind of surreal to now be a spotlight guest. So thank you for having me.
Yeah, no, it’s been so much fun to just get to know you over the years in person and online and just see your trajectory and, you know, and see your business grow and, um, and get to know you personally. And, you know, I know you’re happily married, you’ve got a beautiful family. And so that’s the beautiful part about our business, right? It’s not just business, we’re people too.
Exactly. Exactly. So for people who aren’t familiar with you, maybe you can just, um, just give people a little bit about your background, like how long you’ve been in real estate. Um, maybe a little bit about what your business looks like today.
Sure, absolutely. So I like to say I had a career pivot. So back when my husband and I were considering our first house, so we were considering a move. Um, we were like, do we remodel? Do we sell? We were looking for a local real estate agent and used, um, our mother’s local San Carlos Belmont mother’s club for two to search for a name. And there was this gentleman, Bob Burdell, but kept coming up in, you know, as recommended. And my husband discovered and he’s like, wait, I went to high school with Bob and he lived around the corner from us and we ended up hiring him to sell our house and then buy our next one. And, uh, he wrote a, um, it’s still writes a very successful real estate blog for, you know, local community. And I followed him. We kept in touch, you know, we started socializing more and, um, gosh, back in probably 2011, he had done a blog post looking for, uh, an assistant to help his team was growing.
His business was growing and he needed more help. And I was in wealth management at the time, working at Smith Barney and loved my clients and my customers and the people I worked with. I liked the markets. I probably didn’t have an enormous passion for the markets. Um, but I was, you know, still looking at the MLS, even though we had bought and sold houses intrigued. And I was like, gosh, I could be, I could be an assistant. I could do that. And then Bob and I had a conversation and he said, you know, probably you can probably do more than just being an assistant. And he really encouraged me to get my real estate license. Um, so I took the classes required to do that. I got my license in 2012, my salesperson’s license. Um, and at the time it was when Smith Barney was doing a big joint venture with Morgan Stanley.
And my wealth management team was like, you can’t leave, you know, we’ve got all this going on, we need you. And so I actually ended up doing wealth management part-time while kind of ramping up in real estate, um, joining Bob’s team as a buyers agent and kind of learning, you know, contracts and all the in, you know, kind of the nuances of how to get a house ready to sell it. Um, so did that for about a year and then really hit the ground running, like just really found that I loved real estate and, uh, fluff management completely. Um, still talk to all of my coworkers. It was kind of like a family there and, um, you know, a great background because real estate is, you know, such a financial there’s to learn it’s the most, I mean, emotional, but also hugely financial component. Um, fast forward, we were at Sotheby’s at the time and then some like-minded real estate agents, um, with Bob and myself with three other fabulous local realtors, we decided to leave our big brokerages and start a new independent brokerage.
So we did that in 2015, which was dwell, I got my brokers license. So then became the managing broker, um, all the while kind of building my own real estate practice, helping people buy and sell on the peninsula. And then, you know, just kind of, haven’t like skipped a beat and found my sweet spot and kind of really found like my career. And I love it. It’s fun. It’s rewarding. It’s challenging. Uh, there’s never the same day ever and never the same client, never the same house. So, um, it’s just like a new day every day, which is really cool.
Never a dull moment. And I saw there was a me myself last night where they’re like, they, someone was joking. They’re like, you never, you keep saying you can’t make this up, but I think you keep like having those new experiences. And you’re like how I never knew.
That’s funny. Well, you know, just in the gosh, uh, I guess it’s been about 10 years then, so you got your license, right? 2000. Yeah.
I mean, I’ve put my, yeah, I got my broker. It’s 2015, so yeah, it’s been, it’s kind of funny cause it feels a lot longer sometimes that then I go, gosh, I really haven’t had my license that long.
That’s right. And as far as kind of the structure of your team, I know you’re in, you know, obviously like a leadership role. Um, but you’re, you’re actively selling. Do you have an assistant or other folks that you are kind of part of your team or,
Well, sure. So I use a virtual assistant. Um part-time so she helps do some like helps me run reports a lot of behind the scenes stuff or, you know, sends reminders, says things. She actually helps post my videos on social media for me. Um, I use a professional video editor. Um, who’s also virtual who that was one of the things that was cumbersome and scary to me. So I decided to use someone professionally to do that. And then I also use a transaction coordinator for all of the paperwork, part of my job. Um, I always tell my agents, I’m like a paperwork. Doesn’t bring you joy, use someone to help you do it. You should be doing things that bring you joy. And, um, I don’t mind paperwork. It’s an important part of our business, but I could be doing other things with my time. Um, so that’s kind of my, my team.
Well, I think that’s really smart. I think a lot of times we try to be all things to all people and we see it all the time. People get burned out, you know, uh, and it’s just not always the best use of their time. So I think it’s smart. And you know, how you, you, you mentioned some of the folks on your team. I think, you know, you’ve probably hired really strategically that to pick up some of those pain points where you could probably do it, but it’s just a better use of your time. And like you said, something, if it doesn’t quite bring you joy, find someone who is more of an expert, you know, absolutely. A lot of times do it better than you could do it. Absolutely.
Yes. And quicker. I mean, I can’t, it would have taken me hours to edit the videos and do the, like, I just, that was daunting to me. And like, I just didn’t, and I didn’t have an interest in either like the, and I know there’s apps and I mean, you tell us about all the cool tools and stuff. And I just was like, Nope, I’m actually just more comfortable sitting in front of the camera and talking and getting the content out and someone else can make it look pretty for me.
Yeah. I mean, I know you and I have chatted about this. I, I totally feel the same way. I, every once in a while I kind of dabble in, you know, some of the apps, you know, trying out some of the editing stuff, but, but I agree with you. I, you know, it’s one of those things where, you know, it could take way too much time. And so I, I agree with you, it’s just better to hand it off to a professional is going to do it faster and better and more efficient. So that’s actually a really great segue because I wanted to talk to you about your marketing. And I think one of the things that I’ve always admired from afar is just your, your branding and, and, uh, it just feels like you’ve got a really great clean look and feel to your branding. And you’ve got some great marketing and you’ve got this mix of, you know, telling people what’s going on in the market and sharing some helpful information and then sharing who you are. And it’s just, I, I find this really good mix of marketing. Um, have things changed in the last, like 10 years since you become a realtor and what is what’s working right now for you in terms of marketing?
Sure. Well first thank you. That’s a very nice compliment coming from you, who I think of as like a marketing guru. So thank you for your nice kind compliment. Um, you know, it’s, I think, you know, marketing in general, it changes fast. Sometimes it feels it can be fast, right? The changes in the technology and the social media and the platforms and the, um, you know, you could have reels now and you’d have this and, you know, there’s IGT that I’m like, oh, I forget about ITGB sometimes. Right. Um, I think, you know, in the past 10 years kind of what I’ve seen the difference, I mean, personally, you know, I was probably more focused on sending like paper newsletters and, you know, to a farm and, you know, then it evolved to eat more email marketing to then evolving, to adding in social media, you know, and I kind of look at it as they’re all layers and, um, you know, you can kind of have, you know, different layers that are thicker than others of what you specialize in and what you’re comfortable in.
Um, I, I, there’s a lot of noise in marketing, so I think it’s hard to have, like, like you said, like with like, I try to keep it clean and be consistent and like, you know, give out like, people, people want to know the data and the statistics, but the funniest thing is when, like the most engagement I ever get is always on the personal stuff. And I can share that with my, my, my, you know, real estate sphere, my clients, and they want to know about me and like my own personal experiences and the story and the backstory, or they want to know the backstory about the house. They don’t want to, like, I mean, I think you always say, like, be a storyteller, right? Like get us, you know, to know more about it. Anybody could say, you know, just-listed and give the stats.
Right. But to have it wrapped up with like a, you know, like what is unique and special and then showcase it because I mean, I’m a very visual person and, you know, I’m attracted to pretty pictures and nice, pretty intense, you know, shiny clean things. And because it is noisy out there, you have to like really draw people in. Um, so I think it’s just kind of being focused and, you know, figuring out your, the layers of, of that marketing, which feels good. Um, and kind of seeing that difference of like, oh, you know, don’t forget that email marketing it’s important. Right. But is it good email marketing? Right. I mean, I don’t, I mean, when I was just in, we were in our leadership meeting and talking about, you know, how people will send agents, send out emails to other agents with their house that’s listed on the MLS.
And it drives me bananas. I’m like, my job is to look on the MLS and tell my clients about it. And either use an email service that, you know, emails them. But why are we bombarding people with these? I mean, I get dozens and dozens of those emails every day that is noise. I don’t want that noise. Hey, you have a special, it’s a really unique property, or it had a price reduction or it’s off market that is an appropriate use of email marketing from agent to agent. Right. But it’s like, that’s where I’m like, as an industry, we’re just like cluttering and I’m like, stop the clutter, make it pertinent, make a good content. Right. And hopefully that’ll work. Right.
Yeah. I, it makes me laugh because I know exactly, exactly what you mean. And, uh, there is a lot of noise and there’s a lot of clutter and that’s probably a good segue to kind of, you know, talk to you about how you, you are cutting through the clutter. Cause I think one of the things that I wanted to chat with you about was, you know, one of the videos that you’re doing, you’ve been doing videos, I guess, for about two years.
Yeah. It’ll be two years. I’ve kind of taken a little break. This just to kind of, with the art were murdered Surenos. It’s just been time consuming. And I have to say that, uh, my three children, all doing online learning Lasher was exhausting. And so it was nice to have kind of the summer to like regroup and focus and then get back into it. But yeah, no, it’s been about two, cause I think it was your mastermind October, 2019 when I started, like, that was kind of my jumping off point where I finally like jumped in, was like, I’m going to do video marketing.
So yeah, I’m trying to think too, because we didn’t, we didn’t host
2018. Maybe it was maybe it’s been, yeah. I’m like, well, there was a little bit,
What day was
It? What a year? What year are we in? It’s 2017. Now
I know, I think you were there in 2018 and 2019,
Which makes sense. Okay. So it’s been almost three years.
Exactly, exactly. Um, and you know, it was in preparation for our interview and I was kind of checking out some of your videos and checking out some of the things that you were doing. I was looking at your, I, I love this series that you, ah, I think you were doing it earlier this year, maybe last year, it was called mama’s and business. Uh, which I thought that was so fun and creative, you were interviewing other moms, it looked like in the, in the area. Is that something that just kinda came about or is that something that, um, you just thought was really fun thing to do?
Yeah. I mean, I think one of the things that it’s like for me, the video topics, like I always thought like what you gave us, you give us any academy of like, you know, suggestible content ideas, right? Like that was, it’s a great place, like in a foundation and building it. And then it’s, you know, finding like things, I think once you get the muscle and building video and doing it more and more, you go, oh wait, that could be a video that could be a video that could be a video. Right. So I keep a note on my phone or I write on my note pad, like ideas to, you know, what to do videos about. And then mama’s in business is like, you know, we have a lot of, I was trying to also, I was brainstorming with my, with Russell, my video editor of like what could be different and cool.
And, and I was like, I like doing interviews, I’m a mom, a business. There’s a lot of these moms. I know that own that are entrepreneurs themselves. And like, I would love to like, you know, get to know them what it is like. Cause I, and I keep my questions the same for every mom. I mean, I, you know, tailor it a little bit to them to get their, you know, story, to hear about them. But it’s, um, just to kind of like, I grew up in a house with, you know, my mom and my step-mom both worked full time and there’s a lot going on when you are balancing motherhood and, you know, being, you know, working and whether you’re self-employed or, you know, you work for someone or, you know, whatever it is. Um, it’s like, there’s all these stories out there that are really cool and our community deserves to hear them.
And so that’s where mom is in business was kind of born out of. And, you know, I just, it’s, it’s, it’s funny. Cause a lot of people are very apprehensive to be a guest on it. Um, no one, you know, it’s like, you know, I mean, it’s that muscle of doing video. It’s very, uh, natural at first. Um, I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable as those three years have gone on. I mean, I think I look back at my older videos and oh my gosh, it was so awkward and you know, I would have to, you know, probably needed to edit them a lot more back then than I do now. And um, I know more how to pause and do certain things in front of camera, but it’s so it’s hard sometimes for me to get moms to actually commit, to want to be on my video.
They’re like, no, I don’t want, oh gosh, that’s so awkward. And um, and then, so it was it’s, you know, in building out that schedule, I think, you know, one of the things you push us in the academy is like, right, as like, you know, batch content right. And make it right. So it’s me, it’s like how you reached out to me, you know, what a month in advance to get this scheduled. Right. And it’s like, those things it’s like when that marketing brain, you have to be always thinking forward and like planning ahead and going, oh wait, that would be a cool, a business interview to do at the same time. Maybe that the businesses, you know, they’re doing some new, you know, they’re moved or something exciting that you could share. Right. And it just elevates knowing more about our community and the cool businesses we have within it and highlighting mamas who obviously are very special and dear to me.
Absolutely. I think that’s great. And I wanted to ask you because you bring up a really, really good point in how not everyone’s comfortable on video. And I think sometimes if this is something that’s a little challenging when realtors want to do more video and maybe they’re there, they themselves are getting more comfortable, but then they want to interview people because they like, you, you know, you want to reach out to people in the community, but, but to your point, sometimes those people are like a little apprehensive. So is there other, you know, I guess any, any tips or anything that you do, like when you’re setting up a guest, you know, do you give them any tips or any, any, I don’t know, suggestions to kind of build their confidence to, and not all of them to make it a, a good interview because
Absolutely. Right. I mean, so I emailed my interview, so I, you know, I, I reached out, I showed them what I’ve done so they can watch it. Right. I’ll send them the YouTube links of the interviews I’ve done in the past. Um, so they can see what it is. And, you know, like I said, I gave everybody the same question, so I give them the questions ahead of time. Right. Cause I think like it helps you to you to know what you’re going to be asked and that you’re not asked any secret, tricky questions, right. To stump someone. I mean a lot, like it’s not like I’m not a news like pastor, right. Um, doing the hard interview, um, it is, it should be enjoyable for our audience. Right. It’s and it’s interesting because it was, you know, mama’s and business was, was born during COVID and it was like, zoom is such an easy modality to actually I’m like, they don’t even have to be in person.
It’s like, we’re doing now. I mean, you can be sitting across in a screen. And then I think a lot of the time I’m like I, a professional editor who will also help if we mess up, we can stop and it’s okay. And we’re human beings and like just kind of get over hearing and seeing yourself and just kind of talking people through that process. And that helps I think, get that jump over to like, oh, okay, this, this, this isn’t as scary. And when it’s a natural dialogue, I think we’re all much more comfortable just speaking, you know, instead of some weird, you know, and that’s maybe, maybe not everybody’s could be good at it, but it’s, um, if you’re talking about things you’re comfortable about and you know, about there, it shouldn’t be hard. Yeah.
Well, and to your point earlier, you said that you typically ask the same questions or similar questions each time, from your perspective that’s, uh, just, it just makes it easier, right. Get that kind of a flow and then you can always, and we do very similar things. I have kind of similar questions I ask often, but it depends on how the conversation goes, you know, and it’s sure nice to have that, uh, you know, being played on, but also kind of being able to sort of be in the moment also.
Absolutely.
The other video that I watched recently, uh, and don’t worry, I wasn’t totally stalking you, but
You’re just getting my viewership up. Katie. It’s great. More helps the algorithms.
And by the way, for all of our viewers, we are going to LA uh, link. Atlanta’s a YouTube channel below. If you haven’t seen it, check it out, give her subscribe, check out some of her videos there was, I’m sure you’ve got a number of these, but I watched one recently, um, about the market and it was around election time. And I don’t want to say, you know, we’re not necessarily talking about politics, but I just thought it was such a beautiful way of you talking about like your experience and how you came to Smith, Barney and talking about tough, tough subject about what’s happened. And I think there’s a lot of uneasiness just in the world in general with like, what does that mean for real estate? And I just thought like, what, uh, the way you came across, you were talking about numbers, you’re talking about the economy, you’re talking about things that are tough, but like, it just came from a place of like, I just felt like you were saying, I got you, you know, like, it’s all good.
And this is how, this is how this is affecting you and then this and that. So do you, do you feel like your experience with, with Smith Barney and then just over the last 10 years, you know, working with buyers and sellers and other agents, has that helped you kind of get to that place where you can be like, look, let me walk you through some of the stuff that’s happening and it’s not, it’s not maybe not as scary as we think, you know, and just kind of ease people a little bit in terms of the economy and numbers and subjects that, that aren’t always as exciting as maybe a picture of your dog or, yeah. I just think that that’s an important thing to talk about. I just would love your opinion about that. Yeah.
I mean, I think it’s, you know, I, I’m obviously maybe more comfortable talking about it because of my background in wealth management. Right. And, um, you know, while, while the market’s, weren’t my a hundred percent, my passion, I do find them interesting. And I keep in touch with, you know, a lot of my former colleagues, I have my accounts still, you know, we’re going to Smith, Barney, Morgan state. Now it’s usually Morgan or it’s been Morgan for awhile. Um, and I read a lot of the research and I, you know, I find it interesting and it’s, you know, I get those questions a lot from my clients and when I’m, you know, storing property and they’re like, what are your thoughts about the election and what’s going on? And it’s like, so, you know, getting, you know, using my resources of like reading the Morgan Stanley research and then being able to like kind of, I guess, translate it to what is going on because a lot of people there it’s the noise, right?
There’s a lot of noise. There’s a lot of, you know, kind of, you know, it could be fake news, whatever it is. And it’s kind of being like, I mean, my job as a, as a realtor is I’m really a trusted advisor to my clients. Right. And a partner in the process and, you know, to be able to speak to them, you know, and kind of calm emotions and be knowledgeable. Right. And, you know, you know, I know I’m not an economic analyst. Right. But I can read a financial report, an economic report and be able to synthesize it and digest it and break it down for my clients. And for, you know, my, my video, my blog Watchers and stuff. So it’s because we just need to know people and, and it’s also like, they just want the summary, right? Like they don’t want to break it down.
I mean, if I had a client, I had several clients that, you know, they were looking for houses and they’re like, what is going to happen with the election? What does it mean? And it’s cool to look at a piece and be like, Hey, historically, this is what happens. If it’s a democratic president, this is what’s happens if it’s a Republican president and it’s like, you can, yes. It’s politics. But it’s like here we have, you know, hundreds of years of, you know, tutored years of experience where they can look back and track the markets. And so it’s like, I could just give it a little bit of tidbit and snippets to everybody to make them feel better. I’ve done my job, I think, because they, it is all about trust and them feeling good and confident. And it was like, okay, they’re like, I mean, and I got a lot of feedback on that, that particular video that it was super helpful and informative and, you know, that’s, you’re like, okay, well, good.
That’s the point. Right. As I want it super relevant. It’s like, sometimes if you don’t talk about something, that’s like the elephant in the room, everyone’s talking about it. So, you know. Yeah. And that’s where, like I said, like, it’s like the, like what’s going on around us constantly to make it be like, you know, it was like a year ago. I did a video about the fire, like what to be prepared for fires. I mean, that’s a new reality here in California that we’re having, you know, fires every year. And like, it’s, you know, it’s effecting more and more people that we know. Right. I mean, right now it’s like Tahoe is like, you know, crazy on fire. And you’re just like, how many of us in the bay area either have a second home in intolerant go there every summer? Cause it’s their treasured spot. And it’s like, so it was like turning that into like, okay, what can we do to be prepared? Like that’s pertinent. Right. And if it’s pertinent, we’ve I think you get through the noise.
Right. Right. You know, I think one of the things that sometimes tough with marketing is to be able to pinpoint and say, well, I did this, which means I got this business. Right. Or I did this, which equals this number of leads or, you know, whatever it might be. Are you, are you able to, to, to kind of pinpoint like, okay, because I’ve been doing video because I’ve been doing this with social media, you’ve seen, you know, I dunno an increase in business or, or you may, might even be more of like an anecdote, like, oh my gosh. I remember so-and-so reached out because they saw, I posted this. I often find that’s the case where it’s, you know, you’ve got to sometimes a story or two. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, I feel like it is, it’s more probably anecdotal. Like, I don’t feel like, I mean, I, I definitely have people that reach out to me because they follow me on Instagram. They follow my stories, they, you know, relate to me, they know this, um, you know, or they see me in the community, you know, volunteering or doing something. Right. So, and it’s, again, I think it comes to the layers of like all of those little things. Right. It’s the Instagram stories they know, like they know I have dogs, they know I have kids, they know I garden. They know, you know, that it’s like, I like to entertain like certain things. And then they, I think it makes me approachable and more comfortable, you know, they’re comfortable. They kind of feel like they know me. And I’ve, I’ve gotten feedback from people that they’re like, oh, I watched your video.
And you know, that was so great about this. And got a, I really did understand like why staging is so important and things like that. So again, it’s those layers that then they go, oh, I remember Alana. She, oh, wait, we’re, we’re ready to actually buy that house. Now we’re going to reach out to her. Um, you know, sometimes it is directly off of like a post or something that I might get someone reach out. But I feel like it’s more the layer of a little bit of this, a little bit of that and a little bit of that. Um, cause I am a big believer that it’s a long game. It’s not like I’ve never been like a lead buyer. I’m not like, it’s not like this click click like person. Like it’s just, that’s not me. It’s not my comfort zone. I’m a, let’s build a relationship.
You use me as a trusted advisor or we work together, you know, use me, but we work together to be trusted partnership. And I hope that we can become lifelong friends in life. And I can be a lifelong advisor, real estate advisor for all my clients. I always the hardest process in real estate for me is when the transaction closes and I don’t get to see them all the time. And you know, so then it’s like, okay, the long game continues because how do I keep in touch with those people? Right. So it’s creating, you know, touch points, email marketing events, all those things to, to have the, the layer because successful,
I love that. The layers, I think that’s such a great visual. I I’ve often said it’s like digital breadcrumbs, right? Yeah. Just going to leaving these, you know, breadcrumbs or layers, um, for, for people to find you and connect with you and, uh, and, and keep in touch. And you know, like you said, at the, at the end of, uh, you know, a transaction, if you feel like, oh my gosh, I missed that person. You know, it’s, that’s, that’s a good thing. I mean, it’s you’re, as you said at the beginning for most people, this is one of the biggest moments in their life. And so, you know, being able to use tools like social media events, uh, you know, that’s a great way to, to be able to keep in touch. So you mentioned Instagram, um, and I see you on, on Instagram a lot. I know you’re active on other platforms too. Um, where are you spending the most time right now on social media?
Probably Instagram. Um, I mean, I do when I, I, you know, Facebook with their CR there, I use the creator to like do like when I’m doing my posts. Right. So we, um, I’ll post to Instagram and Facebook. So it’s the same. Right. You know, my engagement usually is probably a little bit higher on Instagram than Facebook. Um, and then I also typically will post, I actually, um, fairly frequently as well. Um, keep in touch with a lot of my, um, that’s a place where I’ve actually had like, literally people have reached out on LinkedIn to be like, Hey, we used to work at Morgan Stanley together. I’m thinking of buying a house. And I love the fact that, you know, you, you have the same background. Right. So LinkedIn was one of the ones. Maybe I could quantify that more. Um, yeah, my, my, my lanes are Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and then YouTube for posting my videos.
Um, I was kind of like, I know them, I’m comfortable on those platforms. I feel like those are where my people are. Um, so that’s where kind of I stick, but I’d say I like Instagram again. Like I’m a visual person where I like the photos. I like to, you know, like do that. I love stories. I love seeing people, you know, what people do with their stories. Um, I’d like to learn more on Instagram always. I mean, like, it’s like, I haven’t done a real yet, you know, I’m like, oh, I gotta watch the academy. You know, the sessions on reels because I gotta, you know, it’s keeping pertinent to right. And seeing a scene abreast of it. But it’s also being like, where are you comfortable and where you don’t, you can’t, I can’t be a master of 18 different platforms. Like there’s no way, like I have no interest. So, um, like I said, I feel like those are my people.
I love that. I love that. Well, um, for anyone who might be, I dunno, thinking about the academy, you know, you’ve been a long time member, any, any words of wisdom or, or, or thoughts for anyone who might be, you know, just kind of curious about what, what the academy is all about?
Sure. I mean, I say, you know, I have not found any other resource that is so valuable. I think in marketing, online marketing for realtors. I mean, you, you, that’s your niche, you do it specifically for realtors. And so if people are trying to figure it out, I think that it’s like, just start like jump in. You have much, I mean, you have so many, many, many videos and, you know, and like just tidbits of things that make it. So it’s not so overwhelming. And just, I, my advice would be like, pick one area that you want to focus in and start there and then build off of it. Right. And again, do what feels comfortable and right. Don’t force yourself to be, you know, on Facebook, if you’re never on Facebook, like, I like Twitter, I’m not on Twitter. Like I just don’t. And I know like Twitter is a huge platform, right.
But I’m not there. Am I going to force myself? So I’d say, what do you, what are you looking at? You know, yourself personally, and then take some of it, you know, a few of the videos to start with and then build from there. Um, and you’re, you know, the Facebook groups it’s everybody is. So, um, I think like willing to like be held, it’s a collaborative community. Um, you know, when you’re in your Facebook groups so that everybody, you know, if you’re having an issue or you don’t understand how to do it, or you want to know more, you’re looking for a, you know, a tip on something, everybody in that community is willing to share. It’s like I said, it’s collaborative. It’s not like a secret secret, you know, which makes it valid. I mean, again, one of the most valuable, I think, you know, you’re one of those valuable resources to real estate agents out there in the country, I would say,
Wow, well, thank you for that. That, that really means a lot. I so appreciate it. And I appreciate you being, uh, on our, on our, our show. I’m so excited to chat with you. Uh, for all of our listeners, we’re going to be dropping Atlanta’s contact information below her Instagram, her website, or YouTube. Of course, you can check it all out. And we’re going to keep Atlanta on the line for just, just a moment, because we’re going to continue this conversation over on our podcast. So if you’re watching this on Facebook or YouTube or Instagram, and you have not yet checked out the Katie Lance podcast, check it out. It is on basically every podcast platform you can find. You can also find it on our website, but we always love to extend these conversations and have a few extra bonus questions that you will only hear over on the podcast. So shameless plug for that. And also if you’re listening to this, if you would like more information about our get social smart academy, feel free to go to Katie, lance.com forward slash academy, check it out. And of course, you know, if you’re watching this on YouTube, as Atlanta knows, we got to tell people to hit the subscribe button, hit the bell button. So you get notified when we have new videos that come out each and every week. Atlanta, thank you so much for being with us today.
Thank you for having me. It’s been a true pleasure.
Absolutely. All right. Stay on the line. We’re going to go over to the podcast and again, you guys check out the podcast. We’ll see you next time. Bye for now. All right. We are on the podcast and I want to just say a big shout out to all of our podcast listeners. We appreciate you being here today. Um, you know, this is an interview that we do, uh, just about each and every month where we highlight our, um, our awesome academy members and we do an academy spotlight. And so we are continuing this conversation here on the podcast with a few bonus questions. So, um, Atlanta, I wanted to ask you one of the things I asked a lot of our guests is, you know, I feel like a lot of people feel like they’re too late to the game when it comes to social media, you know, it’s like, oh my gosh, I’m too late. There’s all this stuff going on. You know, everyone’s carved out a niche, you know, do you have any advice for someone who might feel like it’s too late for them?
Well, first of all, I would say flat out, it’s not too late. Um, I mean, it’s not at all. I mean, as we talked about earlier, I’ve only been doing video. I think I officially launched my first video. It was like February, 2019. Right. So I’ve only really been doing this, you know, two and a half. It’s not that long. Right. I think we look and we go, oh, I’ve missed the boat. You haven’t like, just start. I think that was one of the things that was so important to me is just making the dedicated space, blocking the time to do it and jumping in. And you know, you’re not too late because there’s a whole, we have years and years and years and years ahead of us. Right. I mean, every day is a new day. Like why not? Like just like jump right in and do it. I don’t think it’s too late at all.
Yeah, no, I agree. Um, I also wanted to ask you, and this is, this was not on my list of questions. So I’m going to, I’m going off script here for a second. I wanted to ask you, you mentioned, um, earlier, I think you said you use like Facebook creator studio, uh, to kind of help manage some of your, you know, Facebook stuff, maybe even Instagram stuff. I’m just curious if there’s any other like apps or websites or tools that you’ve been using that you use either for maybe marketing or social media, or just to kind of like help you stay organized with like, you know, you’re a video editor, it’s, it’s always good to kind of hear like, what are, what are people’s tools that they’re using? Do you have any favorite ones?
I mean, you know, some, a lot of the tools, I mean that I use a lot that you talk about in the academy too. Um, so I, or, you know, all of my captions on rev, um, and now I’ll have them burned in and I get annoyed when people don’t have captions on their videos now, like, I’m like, oh, they didn’t, they need the caption that. Right. And you can even do the automated ones on Facebook, but I’m like, I’ve learned cause I’m like most of us do ever sound off. Right. So yeah, the captions, so rev is one for me that I use, you know, every, when I do my videos each week, um, I’m a huge canvas user. I mean, I’m telling you, like, I’m trying to think if there’s anything like different and unique, um, you know, I’m a big a calendar person. So like, I, you know, I’m a Google calendar. Like for me, it’s just calories during everything, right. And there’s, there’s no magic dot for that. Right. It’s just using the system that works best for you. Me personally, it’s, you know, Google calendar and kind of knowing when I have to do things when, um, and, um, I’m trying to think if there’s anything else.
Those are some big ones. Yeah.
I mean, those are big. I mean, I, I started using Canada years ago and it’s changed and evolved so much and it’s such an easy way to do cool graphics and keep your templates. And I always tell people it’s totally worth paying for the paid business account. So, you know, you can, you can keep your colors and the fonts you use and your logos and everything. Um, but yeah, those are kind of my go tos, you know, and it’s just, I, I’m trying to think if there’s any cool, hot.to share, not that comes to mind.
Well, it’s funny with, with canvas, I don’t know if you’ve tried this out, you can actually record video now in Canva and do some light editing, uh, which has really great. I think for anyone who’s, who’s on a budget or has been intimidated by video. I recently discovered this and I’m like, holy cow, this is like a game changer for people who just want to, especially just kind of getting into video. It’s not,
I don’t know about it. See, and that’s the thing too, is like learning all those things where it’s all, it’s all constantly evolving, right? Where there’s those new tools and different things. Um, you know, it’s like, I it’s like project management. Right. And like understanding all of those different li it’s the layers back to the layers of knowing all the different things to do. But it’s, we, the technology available to us, um, you know, at our fingertips is, is, is overwhelming and daunting in itself. Right. But it’s just like to have those few go-tos I think, make it, make our lives easier. Yeah.
Yeah. I also love how you mentioned early, early on in the interview, you said how you kind of took the summer off from video content and I didn’t get a chance to really acknowledge that, but I think that’s really awesome. And that’s what you can do, especially when you have this library of content. So much content that I know, some of it of course is very timely and specific, but I know you also have some other stuff like your video about the fires from last year, even though it was about last year, it’s, we’re still dealing, we’re dealing with that, you know, in, in, in many, many ways right now. And so you’ve got, I would imagine a lot of content that you can reshare, you know, or repost and, uh, feel kind of be able to take a little bit of a breather.
Absolutely. And that’s one thing that is nice is I can look back on my playlist and be like, okay, what is important to reshare it on? A lot of them are, you know, they’re, they’re evergreen that you could keep using them and they haven’t changed. Right. You know, a market update might be different, but, um, you know, I could show my blooper reel too. It was always a fun one. That was always one of my favorite videos to do is, you know, the outtake. So Atlanta to show like also remind everybody. And that was, you know, taking a break this summer and a pause to not do videos is like, we’re all humans. We make mistakes. You have to have fun doing it too. Right. Otherwise there’s no point like, like, and that’s, you know, I think like always to just kind of like, like just have the grace to be like, wait, I need a break to do the videos.
Like I, you know, I kind of was feeling flat on content ideas. Like I said, I was tired from my kids with, you know, on distance learning last year, you know, going through a, you know, uh, work merger and it’s a lot. And it’s like, it’s okay. But reshare that content and Katie is, I mean, you’re a master at teaching us how to do that as well. Which I think like, you know, I did an earth day one. I remember this, like I hadn’t recorded the one that video. And like my video editor was like, oh, good call, man. And to reshare that one, you know, like, you know, green ideas things to do. And it’s like, it’s again F evergreen. And it’s you make that constant. You own it to do whatever you want with it, which is super cool.
Yeah. It’s, it’s huge. If I find a lot of people just post things, it’s kind of one and done. And we think, you know, either we forget about it or we think, oh, I already post that shared it. We think people have seen it. They have not seen it. Trust me. Right. We there’s so much, like you said, content and noise and infer anything that someone has seen it sometimes it’s it doesn’t stick till they see it again.
For sure.
Yeah. I love that. Well, anything else that you want to share before we wrap it up here today? Neither last minute, I dunno. Tips or ideas or anything else you want to share their audience today?
You know, one of the things that I always want to help out my fellow parents out there in the, in the noise of, of life and busy-ness, and one of the things that I started implementing, um, last year. And so now I’m finally seeing it as like a full circle is, um, I do monthly meal planning, which is like, has nothing to do with social media or marketing, but I always liked those life hacks of like, how can we make ourselves? Like things like, um, you know, be easier for yourself. So a little, a little tip and trick is to do your meal planning a month in advance sounds super overwhelming and daunting, but you can put it in your Google calendar, you set it recurring to repeat each year. So you will never, after you’ve done 12 months of it, you will never have to meal plan ever.
It got like, obviously, and like, I liked eat seasonally, right? So like whatever I’m making and, you know, coming up in September, it will be somewhat fall focused. Right. And then like, obviously if there’s something we hated as a family, and I know like there’s just certain like meals, my family likes and we always have on rotation. Right. But I’m like, I mean, this is like where, you know, it’s like something that I’m like, if I could share that with, if two people get that from me and they go, wait, you do a whole month in advance. I’m like, yeah. But think about it. If you put it on repeat for next year, you’re never going to have to come up with that ever again. Like, unless you want to change it. Right. So I just wanted to share a life hack of like, we love life busy parenting.
I know Paul does most of the cooking at your house. I know that because I followed the snippets. Right. And my husband and I, we both cook equally, but it is super helpful to have that something where, because, you know, again, I’m selling real estate. I have three kids, I, you know, a management, you know, an office, like it’s a lot where like, oh, what are we going to make for dinner? Right. And if I don’t have to think about it and it’s already been done for me, and I know my, like I’ve tried other people’s meal plans and stuff. This is my meal plan that I know works. I have, you know, a super picky eater, an easy going eater. But I like, just know, and it’s something that I’m was like, oh, it took me. It even took me a while to figure out that repeat part. Like I would build the, build the calendar and then you’re like, oh, wait, I could just reuse it again.
Yeah. Just hit that, whatever that button is on Google calendar, the repeat every year, every week, every year. Yeah. That’s a great, that’s a great hack that
Like totally different, not, not marketing related at all. Hope a life hack maybe could give somebody something if it, if I change one person and I mean, I guess it’s a close, I mean, you know, Katie’s, Katie’s famous quote of done is better on perfect. She, she gave us the framed, um, those words in a little frame, when I think we, I went to the first mastermind with you and I think it’s something for us to all remember in when you are overwhelmed and you’re feeling like it’s too much to like, you know, record your first video, your first podcast, or, or you’re, maybe you’re even nervous doing, you know, social media like posts. Right. Like I remember being nervous to like put it out to the world, like just even a simple graphic, but like just getting it out there and be done. And I’m a perfectionist. So for me to release that and, and do it, it’s, um, it lets us all grow as human beings.
It definitely does. It, it does feel good when you can just try to go a little bit, you know, I’ve done is better than perfect, but I think that’s, I think that’s a great way to, uh, to wrap it up here today. So, well, this has been, this has been awesome. Thank you again, Atlanta for sharing, you know, your story and some, and some tips and some life hacks, which, uh, I, I so appreciate you being with us here today.
Well, thank you for having me. It’s been lovely to, to see you across the screen and to share this time with you. So thanks again for having me.
Absolutely. And for our audience CDOT, as I mentioned before, if you want to connect with Alana, I, we will put all of her contact information below, give her a follow over on Instagram, check out her website, check out her YouTube channel, subscribe to her channel, poke around and check out her video. She’s doing so many great things with video content and for our podcast listeners, we would love to hear from you, you know, uh, the best thing you can do is share out the podcast. So, you know, Alana mentioned, she loves Instagram stories. So let’s do a story tag, Alana tag me. Uh, you can do a screenshot of the, uh, of the podcast. We’d love to connect with you over there. And if you really love the podcasts, we would love your five-star review over on apple podcasts. So thank you again, Alana, and thank you everyone for tuning in, and we’ll see you next time. Bye for now.
