How I Took 5 Months Off & Still Crushed Real Estate with Kaila Lindsey
On this episode of The Closing Table, we sat down with Kaila Lindsey!
To watch the full episode, check it out on YouTube below. In the meantime, here’s a summary of the conversation…
Here’s what you missed from Kaila Lindsey…
Kaila entered the real estate industry with minimal resources and had to hustle to build her business. She dedicated significant time to cold calling and scripting, learning these skills to connect with potential clients.
Over time, the constant hustle led to burnout, especially as the market shifted. Despite initially building a team and investing more money, Kaila found herself in the red. An unexpected pregnancy further prompted her to reevaluate her approach.
Upon the advice of a coach, Kaila shifted her focus to YouTube and invested time and resources into creating long-form videos. This strategic pivot significantly increased her business, even allowing her to take five months off for maternity leave. The impact of her video content created a strong connection with potential clients, boosting her business and achieving a better work-life balance.
Kaila’s YouTube channel effectively “cloned” her, building a strong connection with her audience. The psychological impact of consistent video content led potential clients to feel as though they knew her personally, resulting in more successful interactions. Each video posted had a substantial impact on her business, with a calculated return on investment of about $10,000 per video.
Kaila highlighted the time savings and effectiveness of her YouTube strategy compared to platforms like Instagram and TikTok. She emphasized that the time investment in creating high-quality, long-form content on YouTube was more valuable than the time spent on other platforms, specifically comparing the time required for creating daily Instagram reels to the impact of long-form YouTube videos. Her minimum daily commitment for YouTube involves 1-2 hours, including keyword research, trending topics, and quick editing. She interacts with her ideal client, dedicating about an hour to two hours a week, depending on the type of filming and content creation.
Kaila produces three main types of videos: vlog tours, talking head videos, and map tours. Vlog tours take about two hours to film, while talking head and map tour videos each take about 15 minutes. She can produce two videos in a week, with variations in time commitment based on the type of videos filmed.
Kaila shares her appreciation of the ability to schedule content in advance. Her videos have long-term visibility and continue to attract viewers over time, even during maternity leave, generating leads and business without actively creating new content.
Kaila emphasizes the importance of time and monetary investment in editing. She recommends working with a consistent full-time or part-time editor, costing approximately $500 per week, who can also provide additional services like short-form videos, blog content, website creation, and SEO support. Alternatively, freelancers from platforms like Fiverr can offer cost savings.
At first, Kaila faced challenges and slow growth in the first few months. However, significant growth in subscribers and leads occurred after about six months, scaling the business and increasing returns over time. She emphasizes the need for consistency and following the complete “viralagement” formula for success, adapting the language from “growing” to “scaling” the business.
Kaila leverages time through social media for exponential growth. YouTube’s algorithm continuously works in the background to find the audience. She stresses the importance of following the complete formula for success, not just individual elements, and highlights YouTube’s reliance on SEO for search visibility, unlike platforms with constantly changing algorithms. Kaila emphasizes YouTube’s focus on SEO and its rare changes, providing backend optimization opportunities. She believes anyone can learn and implement SEO, recommending the app/plugin “Tu buddy” for SEO keyword selection.
Kaila then describes the Viral Agent Formula as a DIY plug-and-play playbook, providing exact steps from channel setup to content creation. She discusses in-depth guidance on finding an ideal Avatar (ideal client), emphasizing understanding the ideal client’s characteristics and needs.
Kaila advises against using a script for videos, encouraging working from bullet points and delivering a structured call to action. She explains that people are looking for facts, the impact on them, and the speaker’s opinion. Starting with familiar topics, such as the speaker’s hometown, can lead to a more natural flow in content.
She also stresses the importance of consistency in video uploads. She shares her personal experience of consistent uploads leading to significant subscriber growth and highlights the impact of optimization and consistent content creation on student success stories. Building a strong foundation is crucial for future growth.
Alicia then shares how she was surprised by the upfront costs and lack of practical training in real estate. She found a lack of mentorship and hands-on learning after getting licensed, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and relationships in the industry. She stresses the value of working with other agents to improve transactions. Kaila encourages focusing on a specific niche for selling houses, noting the benefits of becoming an expert in a particular area. She defines an expert as someone who is one step ahead of others and brings valuable information to the table.
Kaila’s content strategy attracts potential relocation clients, often with clear timelines and specific house requirements. This focus allows for more structured planning and video tours for remote buyers, providing flexibility and leverage for both the agent and potential buyers.
Kaila has become recognized as an expert in her local area through YouTube. Buyers and local sellers find her on YouTube and identify her as an expert, reaching out for assistance in relocation. Relocation often involves families following the primary relocators, creating further business prospects. Kaila has attracted clients and secured follow-up business due to family members desiring to be closer to the primary clients.
Kaila effectively leverages time and automation to manage her workload. She delegates showings to a showing assistant and has a director of operations and an admin helping with scheduling. Consciously choosing not to work nights and weekends allows her to prioritize being present for her family. Automation tools like Calendly for scheduling Zoom meetings and ManyChat for engaging with potential clients on social media streamline her processes. Templates for emails and texts efficiently respond to inquiries and funnel all activities back to the main goal of scheduling a call or appointment.
She stresses the importance of a mindset shift and time blocking to effectively manage tasks and priorities. Time blocking has significantly helped her in prioritizing essential activities, such as recording videos, treating them as non-negotiable appointments. Kaila urges individuals to adopt a mindset that prioritizes efficient time management and delegation of non-income-producing tasks, understanding the value of activities and structure.
Check out Kaila Lindsey:
https://www.instagram.com/kailalindseyrealtor/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClKADlV-SXqHBlFUrULH7Ww
https://stan.store/kailalindsey
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