Showing Up with Confidence as the Face of Your REALTOR Branding

This post is at its best as a podcast!
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Everybody has moments where they're unsure of themselves. Moments where you don't feel as confident as you want to be, or as ready as you feel you need to be. It's human nature, especially when you're trying something new in your marketing or in your business. 

But what we can't do is let those moments of insecurity become a pattern that defines us. This is especially true when it comes to putting yourself out there for personal branding. Many agents feel uncomfortable promoting themselves or are shy in front of the camera. So, in today's special podcast episode, we're getting real about showing up with confidence as the face of your realtor branding.

Tune into the Ideas for Real Estate podcast:

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Today's episode is unlike anything I've ever done on the show before. What I share is completely raw and unedited and even comes from a place of vulnerability. The audio quality isn't perfect, but what it is, is real. We're addressing real challenges and real emotions that people face everyday, and I know I've faced them myself. 

We're talking about self-confidence when it comes to branding yourself in real estate. So, instead of a traditional podcast episode, today I'm sharing a snippet of one of my live coaching sessions that accompanied my IG Unlocked for real estate, Instagram marketing course. 

In it, we're talking about the power of images of yourself on Instagram to form connections and build your brand. Yet, so many agents struggle with not wanting to show up on camera or feeling awkward doing so. 

So, let's get right into the live session that was one of my student's absolute favorite live sessions of the entire course.

Watch the live video below:

Note: this blog post is curated from a transcript of the live training video above:

I've gotten a lot of questions and comments about confidence. Some of the things I've been hearing is: I don't like myself on camera, I don't like the way I look, or I feel awkward. Another really popular one is: I want to wait. Or, the entire concept of it all makes me feel uncomfortable.

Have any of you ever felt that way? I will tell you that I definitely have.

Sometimes, a little self-encouragement is what we all need. Yet oftentimes, we tend to be the stingiest with our own encouragement.

You might encourage other people that say, "hey, that's amazing, I'm so proud of you," or "you're doing great." But we don't give ourselves that same kind of encouragement. 

My Personal Story around Confidence in Branding

I'm going to get personal for a second. If you don't know my story, I've been in real estate marketing for a long time and was the Chief Marketing Tech officer of a large brokerage for almost eight years, and my background is in real estate marketing. 

So you might think, Well, I'm just always very confident on camera, or this just comes naturally to me, and I have never struggled with things. That is not true.

So my story and the change in my life really started before the world started changing in January 2020. I woke up one day, and I had a really sharp pain in my hip. 

When it started, I was ignoring it - I'm not one to go to the doctor or to say there's something wrong with me. Instead, I just push through it. But it went on for a few weeks, and it was getting worse and worse. This was in December, and I went from being very active to someone who has worked out my entire adult life - I have a lot of energy, and I've been very active. I went from working out five days a week to barely being able to walk in about a month.

I found out that I had a rare congenital condition with my hips and I was going to need some very invasive surgeries to fix it. And the surgeons and the surgery I had to PAO surgeries - periacetabular osteotomy. They're so rare that only a handful of surgeons in the whole country do them. So it started my whole health journey and how my life really changed, and it was a lot of pain. I'm still in pain.

But in November 2020, I had my first surgery where they broke my hip and screwed it back together. I have 16 screws and a drill bit in my hip, and both of my hips are still broken. They also found out that I don't have any bone marrow, so my hips are very thin. I have had a lot of complications and a lot of issues. I was not liking myself and not liking my body - I was mad. Why am I going through this? Why is this happening to me? I've spent the last year most of the year was on my walker, in a wheelchair, or on crutches. So I've been going through a lot in the last few years of not feeling confident in my own body, not liking the way I look.

I spent a good part of the first year just being angry that this was happening to me. Why is this derailing my life? I had to take months and months off work, the recovery is crazy long, and I'm still going through it. 

So I felt the same way - I didn't like myself on camera, wanting to lose the weight, and just the whole thing. I didn't feel positive about it. I've had three major surgeries, I spent a week in the hospital for two of them, so it's a lot emotionally and physically. So I felt like 'I don't want to show up.

But I had to move past that. And you have to move past any self negativity that you might have. I had to do that myself, and you have to do it too if that's how you're feeling. You have to lean into what is positive and what is possible. 

I personally had to make that mindset shift myself. I had to accept it and see what's positive and what's good. I'm walking - I wouldn't have been able to walk anymore if I hadn't had those surgeries. I wouldn't have been able to live the life that I want to live. So leaning into positivity and possibilities, and really making that mindset shift. 

And you have to do the same thing. Because it's not all about how I look or feel, it's about a lot more than that. What really matters at the end of the day is what your dreams and goals are, where you want to go, and how you can help other people by showing up as your authentic self. 

That's where I even had to pivot and readjust my own attitude and really think about. 

Changing your Mindset on Showing up with Confidence in your Marketing

So maybe you're going through something right now or you don't like the way you look. Or maybe you wish something was different in your life. You really have to think, 'what are my dreams? What are the dreams for myself or my family? And what are my goals that are guiding me?' 

And then you also have this great ability to help other people to help them buy a home, sell a home. These are major life decisions and investments, and how you can do all of that because you are being true to you. And you are being authentic - that's what matters.

When I started to transition away from my corporate job, what if I had said I'll just wait until I'm more ready and am feeling better. I'll wait until I get back to who I used to be - instead of recognizing that everything that you're going through is actually making me a better version of me. Then we wouldn't be here on this coaching call today. We wouldn't be here with IG Unlocked, and we wouldn't have Ideas for Real Estate if I had just let that negative mindset take me. 

{Click here to learn more about IG Unlocked for real estate & join today!}

If I hadn't encouraged myself and said, 'Hey, this is what I want from my life. And this is how showing up on photos and videos is going to help me get to where I want to go." 

I love helping other people. I love helping people with real estate marketing and seeing how that impacts your lives. And I bet you guys feel the same way about helping your customers. So if you get into that mindset of 'personal branding images make me uncomfortable,' or 'I don't want to take the time to have photos of myself,' I want you to think about how it's not just about those photos. It's about so much more.

And I know I can relate. I know how hard it can be to put yourself out there and show up to put yourself out there professionally and personally and consistently do it. 

I'm not going to say that it's easy, but I am going to say that it's worth it.

I have this saying I've been using saying for many years before I had my health issues. I call it 'letting go.' And it doesn't mean that you don't care. But sometimes, you just have to let go and do it. And that has saved me so many times, and it helps me all the time. 

Now, I have a level of professionalism and how I want my brand and myself to come off. And if I meet that level, I'm okay with it. But sometimes I have to let other things go.

We recently filmed a video for holiday marketing. It was really warm, and in the video and I'm wearing a sweater and hat, and my cheeks got really red. And as I was watching the video, instead of looking at the messaging and how the tips could help agents, I was just thinking, "Oh, it looks like I'm wearing a bunch of blush - I don't like that." 

So instead of getting in my own negative mindset, I had to say - okay, it doesn't matter, I have to let that go and say yes, this video works. It works for my marketing, and it's something I need to do. 

So I'm not perfect. But I do this, and I find that it really helps me. I just let it go. It doesn't mean I don't care, but let it go and move forward. Does it help you reach your goal? Is it going to help you reach more customers? If the answer is yes, let it go. And move forward. And you will be so happy that you did. 

So the mindset shift here is: instead of thinking about how your personal branding is all about you, I want you to really think about the 'why' behind everything you're doing. And this was the first thing we did in module one: what does success look like for you? What are you trying to do? Are you trying to grow your business to live the life you want to? And how does this help you? And how can it help you serve others?

Instead of thinking, "I don't want to go take photos in front of this bridge that's really popular in my community because I just don't really like how I'm looking right now," I want you to think about how this helps your Instagram strategy, how helps your marketing strategy, and how that, in turn, helps your business, get you to where you want to go, and helps you ultimately connect with those customers that you're passionate about serving. 

Switch that mindset because it's very hard if your mindset is always 'me, me, me' and 'I feel uncomfortable about me.' If you switch that to 'this is for my business' and 'this is for my customers,' things will get a lot easier when it comes to personal branding and marketing.

I just want to share another quick example - I'm sure that you guys don't care, and you probably haven't even noticed that I don't necessarily look the same as I did in 2019 or earlier than that with all of my health issues. 

And that is to remind you that it's actually us that are our own biggest critics. We pick out things that other people would just totally not even notice. We find things that are important that don't matter at all. We are our own biggest critics. 

But on the flip side, we are all that we need to silence that self-doubt that's holding us back. So while on the one hand, you might be your own biggest critic, you are also the person that can pull yourself out of that. You have the motivation, and you have the inspiration, but it's you that's going to be able to do it.

So keep that in mind as you're doing all of this - your marketing and your personal branding images. 

Know that it's for a reason, and you can 100% do it. All it takes is just showing up, following the steps, and thinking about how it works into your overall strategy.

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I hope you enjoyed an inside look to one of my IG Unlocked coaching sessions! This is just a portion of the content I shared that day. So, if you're interested in learning more about Instagram marketing, make sure you check out IGUnlocked.com to learn more about the complete course and all that you learn inside. 

As you can see, I don't just teach "click this button on Instagram to do this." There's so much more to Instagram marketing than the latest features or trends. For long-term success, it's important to not only focus on strategy but also the mindset and the challenges that hold us back. 

Being uncomfortable with marketing yourself isn't something I want you to struggle with. I hope you listened to this episode and are inspired to show up with confidence because that confidence will not only lead to closings, but it will also help you make meaningful connections.

Looking for more? Don't miss these top related posts:

• EP 39: Branding for Real Estate Agents (Pt 1)

• EP 40: Branding for Real Estate Agents (Pt 2)

• EP 26. Growing Your Personal Brand & Social Following with Branding Photos

You might also find these related (free) resources valuable as well!

• Download My "Realtor Branding" Worksheet

• Download my Worksheet "How To Take Personal Branding Photos for REALTORS"

{Click here to learn more about IG Unlocked for real estate - my Instagram marketing course for Realtors!} 

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I’m Heather Colby, host of the “Ideas for Real Estate Podcast.”

If you like what you read here today, I’d encourage you to take a listen to the episodes. :