How Real Estate Agents Can Use Social Media to Generate Leads Without Going Viral

Michelle Mikel (00:00)
my main focus right now today is to teach mortgage real estate sales professionals and entrepreneurs how to look at social differently and use it as a social prospecting tool to actually help them generate ROI for their companies, despite the fact that most people are spending a lot of time, energy, and money on social and not getting anywhere with it. And that’s usually why they end up calling me. But the truth of the matter is I think a lot of people have a bad taste in their mouth around social because they feel like it’s

so time intensive and it just sucks the life out of them from a content perspective, right? I feel like I constantly have to make videos or I constantly have to produce X, Y, or Z or have branding photo shoot, you know, whatever it is. And, you know, most people I talk to are really, really tired of being on that hamster wheel. And so my main focus right now, especially, you know, in the six to eight months to come, are just really helping people understand that that does not need to be the case. And in most cases

The ability to produce ROI is just one message away.

Quentin Edmonds (02:31)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds, and I’m here today. And I’m really excited because I have a guest here, a really good guest, who I know we’re gonna learn a lot from. she’s pretty much in the influencer world, right? I mean, she uses social media and maybe not the way we expect.

And the way we think, you know, she’s not listening to all the noise. She clears out the noise and makes sure it’s used for the purpose that it needs to be used for. She’s a keynote speaker. and I’m just excited for us to get to know more about her. And so I want to introduce you all to Miss Michelle Mikel Miss Michelle, how you doing today, ma’am?

Michelle Mikel (03:10)
I’m great. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Quentin Edmonds (03:12)
Absolutely. So listen, I’m just like I’d like to dive in. And so I would love for you to just take a chance and tell people what’s your main focus these days.

Michelle Mikel (03:21)
Yeah, so

my main focus right now today is to teach mortgage real estate sales professionals and entrepreneurs how to look at social differently and use it as a social prospecting tool to actually help them generate ROI for their companies, despite the fact that most people are spending a lot of time, energy, and money on social and not getting anywhere with it. And that’s usually why they end up calling me. But the truth of the matter is I think a lot of people have a bad taste in their mouth around social because they feel like it’s

so time intensive and it just sucks the life out of them from a content perspective, right? I feel like I constantly have to make videos or I constantly have to produce X, Y, or Z or have branding photo shoot, you know, whatever it is. And, you know, most people I talk to are really, really tired of being on that hamster wheel. And so my main focus right now, especially, you know, in the six to eight months to come, are just really helping people understand that that does not need to be the case. And in most cases

The ability to produce ROI is just one message away.

Quentin Edmonds (05:09)
Yeah, yeah. Love that. Now I’m giving a little bit of origin story. Kinda how you get how did you get into this space? Where did the passion come from for this?

Michelle Mikel (05:16)
Yeah, so I have been, you know, if if we back it all the way way, way back up and talk about, you know, who did Michelle have to be in order for this to be possible and to be a a success. I swam competitively for twenty two years. So I being an athlete, I have a a kind of a running joke that I learned what discipline was before I knew the definition of it. And the truth is that that that really has impacted my career and my life and

I swam the mile. So if anyone’s familiar with the swimming program, you know that the mile is the longest event on the swimming program, which means that I was first in, last out for just about every practice my entire career. and the mile for those, you know, in who are maybe not swimming experts, if you understand the event or don’t it for that matter, I can tell you the average female takes roughly 17 minutes at an elite level in college to swim this race.

Where if you know the fifty free, which is something I feel like everyone’s watched on the Olympics or, you know, on TV, the fifty free styles roughly twenty two to twenty three seconds. So think about the difference between those two events. One is for sure a dopamine hit. It’s fast and it’s flashy and it’s fun. And the mile is very, very long and takes an enormous amount of practice and patience and endurance behind the scenes in order to even complete the race, let alone do it quickly. So fast forward to

who I am and what I do now, right? The truth is that being really good at prospecting and teaching people how to talk to people and actually understand how to get conversion comes from really understanding the whom the human psyche and knowing what actually makes people tick and what do people want. Right. And people want connection. People want to feel heard and seen and loved. And in some cases, yes, we need to stroke their egos a little bit when we’re sending a message when at the end of the message we want something out of it.

so there is a lot that goes into understanding that. And when I built my career, I did what everybody else does, right? Or does maybe still, which is I produced all the content, I had all the videographer stuff, I had all the fancy B roll, I had all of the stuff, right? Crazy cool branding, you know, you name it. I had spent money on it, I had spent time on it, and my calendar was still empty, despite all of that. And

When I look back on it in 2019, I got my sort of my hard launch and fast launch into what some people would call success. And I look back on it and I say, Well, what was the caveat and what was the thing that made that happen or the tipping point? And in July of 2019, I was invited on to my very first podcast that I had ever been featured on. And it took me six tries to get a yes. So I had to ask him six different times before I finally got a yes.

And I finally did. And I remember a after the fact him telling me that the only reason he let me on was because his wife had been bugging him about it and said, What’s the worst that could happen? You know, the episode sucks and you just don’t publish it. And so I’m sitting there thinking, like, Okay, well it didn’t suck, I don’t think. And fast forward he posted it and I was then able to create some momentum to get on another one and then get on another one

Then that led to speaking. Then that led to, hey, can you come do a webinar? Hey, can you come do a mastermind? and in all of that, I said to myself, okay, well, my success has nothing to do with a viral post because I’ve never gone viral. My success has nothing to do with how many followers I have because I don’t really have that many. And you ask yourself all those questions and you say, Okay, well, I was supposed to have that, I was supposed to have that, I was supposed to have that because that’s what the world told me.

And the truth is that none of that influenced it. The thing that did was my ability to send a message to someone the right way to get a booked call on my calendar that then turned into an opportunity for me to spread my voice and and and share what I know to be true. and so in twenty end of twenty nineteen, early twenty twenty, I started building Beyond the Method, which is the name of my big signature course. and the rest is kind of history. And it it’s been very, very fun.

To be a pattern disrupt in this space.

Quentin Edmonds (09:24)
Yeah. ⁓ thank you for the story. Thank you for sharing. you know, I love when you said, you know, people being heard, known, and love. I I absolutely I absolutely love that. so now how are you duplicating this method beyond the method? So now how are you duplicating the success that was so very advantageous for you? How are you duplicating that for other people so that they can find their success as well?

Michelle Mikel (10:21)
Great question. And the answer is I built drivers and leavers. And drivers and levers is a portion of Beyond the Method. So it’s essentially if you were to put a magnifying glass on one portion of it, that is what drivers and leavers is. and if you zoom in to specifically drivers and leavers, what it does is it teaches you how to identify what your drivers are in your business, meaning what are the things that you must do on a monthly basis that create opportunity for you.

So if you look at your day to day and your month, like we’re all commission based employees, right? Especially agents. when you look at your month, what up what actual actions do you have to do on a monthly basis so that you know without a shadow of a doubt you will generate a lead, which in turn creates revenue for you. So drivers are the things that you must do that create the opportunity for the lead to exist. So this is a huge mindset shift because most people will think, I just need more leads. I need more leads. Okay. Well

You’re looking at it wrong, right? Because what got you the lead in the first place was the opportunity that you had that gave you the lead. So you need to look at the prospecting from a perspective of I w need to really identify what the drivers are in my business. So for me personally, my big three are webinars, podcasts, and speaking. Those are the three things I do on a monthly basis that allow for the opportunity for a lead to exist in my career, right? that ultimately creates revenue for my company.

so that’s step number one. Step number two is levers. So a lever is a person that you know in your life that you could use to help or name drop to help get a relationship going with someone that you do not know. So I call the lever the bridge, right? Between the person you have the relationship with to get to the person that you don’t, and how we do this is the tactical daily act, which is step three of the drivers and levers process, which is sending one message every single day to somebody that you do not know.

So once we know what your drivers are, the things that you need on a monthly basis, once we identify who the levers are in your life that you can name drop to help you get those drivers, then the daily act is the one single message you must send without fail every single day. So this entire process is a giant reverse engineer of okay, I got money in my bank account, but how did I get it? And back it all the way up to how did it originate? What did it create for me? How did I get it in the first place?

what person was I able to name drop to get that to become a reality. But the most important part of this entire thing and the part that frankly gets everybody stuck and and hung up is what do you actually say in your message. So people will say, Michelle, I I know who I or I know what opportunities I need, I know who I can name drop to help me get them, but I have no freaking clue what to say. And so that’s where the four part framework of my outbound prospecting message has come in.

I wrote about it in my book, The Black Line, and it’s the most important part of drivers and leavers because it really breaks down the psychological framework of that outbound prospecting message so that we don’t just send messages to send messages and pray that one of them is gonna get us a yes, that we instead send one message very well written in the formula that we know works without a shadow of a doubt to get us not only read, meaning our message read, but also responded to.

And to then in in tandem, right, get the yes to get the call booked on our calendar.

Quentin Edmonds (13:45)
Yeah. I love this. But listen, let’s talk about some of your levers. Like who are some people in your network that you pull on that you work closely with?

Michelle Mikel (13:53)
Yeah, so my best friend in the space, regardless of personal or professional, her name is Cindy Ertman. She’s one of the number one female mortgage coaches on the planet. a two hundred million dollar a year originator based out of Manhattan Beach, that now owns and runs a very elite mortgage coaching company. and she’s the girl that I will call on for anything. Personal, professional, all of the things. you know, when life’s hard when you have an employee that leaves that you’re unexpectingly

not not anticipating happening. when you have a a new baby, right? I just had a baby eleven weeks ago and I had a lot of imposter syndrome with like, can I handle going back to work with two kids? You know, I’m the sole income earner in my family, so can I handle that? Right? Can I go back to work without the mom guilt? You know, all of the questions that you ask yourself as a new parent, and as a very high performing female. Cindy’s my girl. So she’s the one I’m gonna call on for anything under the sun.

Hey, my husband spent too much money on Amazon this month. What what do I say to him? You know, like just stupid stuff. because we’re all that way, right? And but we really, really need those individuals in our life that that regulate us. and when I’m getting ready to make a big decision, when I’m getting ready to say yes to a keynote or hey, I’m trying to design this keynote, do you like it? Right. That’s the girl for me because she is unbiased.

Meaning like, yes, she loves me and she wants the best for me, but she’s also gonna give me the real and the raw. and the hey Michelle, that isn’t very good. I wouldn’t do that. or if I’m on fire emotionally and I’m like pissed off about something and I wanna send the text the way I wanna send it, she’ll usually regulate me and say, Let’s maybe not do that. so it she’s just a really special person.

Quentin Edmonds (16:08)
I love it. Berman Media. What else do we need to know about Berman Media?

Michelle Mikel (16:12)
Yeah, so Berman Media was born under pressure, right? Berman Media was born under the desire in my mind and in my heart to be a better leader and to be a better female leader in a very, very male dominated space. especially as a keynote speaker now, we’re in twenty twenty six and we’re still fighting the fight of having elite female speakers that are actually getting paid to leave their families to come speak.

So I’m still fighting that fight. It’s gotten better. but you know, people joke and say, Michelle, you’re everywhere. It must just be so easy for you to get all these opportunities. And that’s not the case, right? I earn them and I ask for them, right? That’s where the prospecting piece comes into play. So you know, Berman Media was born out of this burning desire to be a really present mom and to be a really good wife. and also to

be able to support my family to live the way that we want to live. Not from a I have all the things because we don’t care about stuff. But for example, like this summer we have three vacations planned because my son starts kindergarten in August and we want to go to a bunch of places and we want to go have fun and not have the financial burden of can we afford to do that? hold us back from experiencing things. you know, we’re gonna be going to Alaska next year and my son has been dying to go deep sea fishing and

So like we look at stuff like that and we’re like, okay, well, what are the barriers? And usually it’s around, can we afford to do it? Can we afford to take time off of work? and the answer is if you build it, they will come. Right. That’s what the that’s what the Bible tells us. If you build it, if you pray about it, it will come. maybe not in our timing, but in God’s timing for sure. Yeah. so right now for me, you know, Berman Media, I want everyone to just know.

Who we are is a company that deeply, deeply cares about success to the point where I as the the leader of this helm, literally carry it to bed with me at night and will wake up in the morning thinking, my gosh, I forgot to email that person crap, I’m the worst, right? And really it’s like not a big deal, but it’s rooted in heart because at the end of the day, my success is their success. And I always tell my clients that before they pay me anything, right?

That my success is your success. Therefore, like if you’re not winning, neither am I. and I think that that makes a big difference for someone if they’re gonna invest a lot of money and time into something.

Quentin Edmonds (18:22)
Absolutely. I I gotta say, cause you talked about, you know, if you build it, it will come. I mean the people will come. And so, you know, you the Bible says write the vision and make it plain. So those that hear it, they will run with it. And so you’re absolutely right. We may not see the full end of it all, but if we write the vision and make it plain, the people that hear it, they’re gonna run with it. And I think that’s so important for your clients because you’re gonna help them build visions that’s gonna continue to go.

even long after maybe they’re gone. And so I I I I’m excited for you. I’m excited for what you’re doing. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can they get in contact with you?

Michelle Mikel (19:03)
Easiest way is through social. I answer all my own messages. There is no many chat. There is no automated nothing. That is a hundred percent me. And that’s really important to me. And hopefully it is important to you, who or anybody listening to this. But please reach out to me, send me a DM, send me a message, whatever is on your heart, even if it’s just to say, Hey, I heard you and thanks. Like that matters and it makes us, you know, makes me feel good to know that people are listening and that it impacted somebody.

Quentin Edmonds (19:28)
Absolutely, absolutely. So listen, thank you for coming on. I appreciate your time. I appreciate your story. I appreciate your mindset. it was really, really a pre a privilege and a pleasure talking to you today.

Michelle Mikel (19:38)
Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Quentin Edmonds (19:39)
So listen, y’all heard Miss Michelle. Please check her out. Get in contact with her. Information is in the show notes. But definitely make sure you’re subscribed here. Cause I promise you, we’re going to continue to bring up amazing people just like Miss Michelle. So I say thank you again. And everyone else, listen, y’all have a fantastic day.