Middleton Elite Coaching brings you value from Inman CONNECT New York 2023

Middleton Elite Coaching co-founder Debbie Lariviere recently attended Inman Connect New York, the #1 real estate event where ideas are nurtured, networks are formed, and careers are built. It’s the place to be each January.

We sent Debbie on a mission to bring back tips, tricks, and conversations to grow YOUR business! Because she jumps at the chance to attend events for agents, brokers, executives, and financial professionals, Debbie accepted this mission to network with the most intelligent people in the real estate industry.

Spanning her three days at Inman Connect New York, Debbie brought back takeaways on how to navigate the current market and received insider guidance on what’s coming next. In addition to enhancing her professional development, Debbie made connections with newsmakers, visionaries, and trendsetters, allowing her to bring YOU value and these insights to help you grow your business.

In Debbie’s words, the consistent message was to “Just Do Something!”, because our activities define our success in the real estate market and life. 

Other big takeaways from Debbie’s time at Inman Connect New York include:

The Metamorphosis of a Butterfly 

Brad Inman kicked off the day by walking us through the lifecycle of a butterfly and reminding us that, unlike the butterfly, we have choices to be healthy, give more than we take, stay productive, contribute, and honor success. 

Brad also offered a secret list of must-dos. Here are Debbie’s favorites:

• Treat yourself to the $5 KFC chicken pot pie (you know you want to).
• Put style first and comfort second. It shows respect to those you are in front of. 
• Volunteer for 1 hour per week – non-negotiable. 
• If you are obsessed with fairness, find a new obsession.
• Stroll like the Italians. Have you seen their stroll? Never in a rush and always graceful.
• Duck the tough stuff today and face it tomorrow. Excellence is worth the effort.
• Dream big while doing something- wash your car.
• Stop taking yourself so seriously. Let go of the crazy, and you will be transformed. 
• Don’t overthink business. You know what to do.
• Give the biggest bonus to the one who cleans your toilets.
• Purchase one-way tickets. It is so liberating! 
• Smile more. It makes you look younger.

Insight on the housing market for 2023

• Cautiously optimistic.
• Tough times in America cause people to innovate. This will show up in the business model innovation and technology.
• Trending positive right now – builder index, mortgage applications, pending transactions. have gone from a decline to flat in January, and buyer traffic has increased. 
• A 40% increase in the cost of mortgages is causing people to stay in their homes. Cut unnecessary expenses, see if you can live without it. 
• You can’t expense your way out of a recession, we have to revenue our way out. – Ben Kinney

Tips and Tricks To Streamline Your Social Media

Katie Lance offered systems to streamline social media. She also reminded us that social media is rented ground. It’s a good idea to make sure your social content also lives somewhere other than your social media accounts. Katie suggests storing your content in cloud-based storage apps and tools like a Google sheet within Google Drive or in Dropbox.

Katie offered her YouTube Checklist and encourages making sure you check off all of these boxes when creating content for YouTube:

• Mention your other videos
• Link to your other videos
• Include a title and a description 
• Thumbnails matter
• Promote, promote! 

Tell a story or share a milestone with TikTok. Some of Katie’s tips for sharing this content were to always include pictures and videos and to use the 1 Second Everyday app to easily put it together.

Katie believes that you don’t always have to be on camera in your videos. She encourages recording b-roll footage and to add music and text to your videos. She recommends the Videoleap and Videoshop apps. 

Growing your Instagram Presence

Debbie learned from the best about growing your social media footprint.

 The biggest takeaways from this segment came from Giselle Ugarte, online performance coach and CEO of marketing consultancy, Action Forward.

We were reminded that:

•  Instagram is not a highlight reel. It is vital to add context to all posts. What does this image mean to the public? What sets you apart from other REALTORS®? Give perspective.
• The most important metric for Instagram is time spent on content. Be intentional with your message and bring value to your audience through your content.
• Carousels can generate more “eyes” than reels.
• IG is NON-CHRONOLOGICAL as long as engagement continues the post stays fresh.
• IG puts your post in front of people that don’t follow you, allowing for views from a haven’t-met audience. HAVE CONTEXT.

There are 3C’s for social media –

• Consistency 
• Connection
• Care – there are real people on the other side of the posts. If 3 people engage in your post, engage back with them. 

4 Secrets to Leadership and Recruiting

The greatest way to increase revenue is to lead. To say it louder, LEAD!

Jon Cheplak, CEO of The Real Recruiter, spoke about recruiting. To recruit agents and team members you must get them to lower their guard first. 

Secret  #1:

Being a great leader means leading by example. Are you doing the activities you are asking of your agents?  By “protecting the culture,” are you protecting a culture of agents that don’t follow up or don’t meet the team standards? Go and recruit to the culture you want to have in your company or team.

Sheena Saydam, the Managing Partner at Saydam Properties Group of Keller Williams, built a small but mighty real estate team in the DC Metro area alongside her husband. They’ve sold nearly $800M in real estate completely by referral. They are also known for giving back to their community and have donated nearly $500K to charity. They have generated $200M in sales from giving back. The giving that Sheena, her husband, and her team have taken part in has resulted in the creation of clean water drinking wells in Africa, the first local library for a maximum security prison, a school for girls in Kenya, and countless other projects.

Debbie was fortunate and grateful to have one-on-one coffee and conversation with Sheena. During their time together, Sheena shared with Debbie how she leads her team, chooses projects, and keeps the momentum in her business. 

Secret #2:

“Accountability is the key. Dig in and meet your agents where they are with activities and results.”

Sheena’s next big thing is taking generosity to the next level through her movement, Imagination Generation, which will help other business owners build big, mission-driven businesses.

Join Imagination Generation on FB here.

Chris Suarez (Founder) and Vija Williams (Head of Industry) of PLACE Inc., share the “PLACE” agent expectations and accountability conversations to meet their goals at different production levels. 

Secret #3:

Path to Leverage (Chris Suarez) –

• Success happens when priorities happen in the right order.
• Set standards and expectations for what success looks like in the role. Have a model that works and hold the agent accountable to the model.
• Spending more hours does not equate to more success.
• Focus on increasing your hourly rate through leverage.

Speaking of leadership, Mauricio Umansky, the Founder and CEO of global luxury real estate firm, The Agency, was joined by Farrah Brittany and Alexia Umansky, members of the Umansky Team. 

Secret #4:

This is our chance as real estate professionals to stand out, educate, be a consultant and lead our clients. We cannot be order-takers in this market.

Debbie learned many more tips for success in leadership that she is bringing back to Middleton Elite Coaching’s real estate coaching Clients and to our team of business coaches.

Some of these recruiting tips came from Chris Stuart “Stu” with Place Inc., including recruiting metrics, sample scripts, and an accountability track for growth.

The Keys To Success 

Glennda Baker is arguably the most recognized face and voice in real estate video. She is an Atlanta REALTOR and owner of Glennda Baker & Associates. Glennda shared with Inman CONNECT NY attendees the reminder that YOU control the narrative for your local market, not the media. She believes you are who is responsible for sharing your local story with your followers. 

Glennda Baker of Glennda Baker & Associates at Inman Connect NY 2023 

It is important to be intentional through the 4 keys to success: real, relatable, relevant, and reliable.

Create videos that include what you would tell your best friend, your client and your therapist about the real estate market – and you will get followers. 

Connecting Through Fun

Debbie’s time at Inman Connect NY was all about CONNECTION:

• Connection with industry professionals.
• Connection with the current tools, systems, and strategies to succeed in this market.
• Connection to the ideas and concepts that will continue helping our clients build and grow their businesses.
• Connection with real successful people doing real impactful things in real estate. 

Debbie also enjoyed connecting with clients and friends.

Debbie also had a lot of FUN!

She did a little practicing on the main stage with fellow Nest Realty agents, and future Middleton Elite Coaching real estate coaching clients. #rulebreaker

Middleton Elite Coaching is ALWAYS welcoming opportunities to speak and train. Does anyone have a call for speakers? We’re your people! 

Then she ended the day by working on her “stand up”. To know Debbie is to know that she is always trying and succeeding at staying funnier than Bill. 

Final Thoughts

If you have an opportunity to attend Inman Connect – DO.

If you have an opportunity to learn from others – DO. 

If you’ve been thinking about connecting with a coach – DO.

As Brad Inman said, ‘Just DO Something’.

Be Elite,

Bill, Debbie, and The MEC Team