Latest / Charleston's Leading Producers / You Don't Need 100k Followers: How She Built a Loyal Client Base Through Authentic Social Media | Taelor Pryor

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You Don't Need 100k Followers: How She Built a Loyal Client Base Through Authentic Social Media | Taelor Pryor · Charleston's Leading Producers

0:00
SPEAKER_03: She told me that you don't need a hundred thousand followers.
0:03
SPEAKER_03: All you need is a hundred loyal followers, and they will follow you to the grave, you know, and just sing your praises.
0:12
SPEAKER_04: Hey leaders, I'm Jake, a loan officer obsessed with business growth and finding out what's actually working in our market.
0:20
SPEAKER_04: If that sounds useful, hit follow.
0:23
SPEAKER_04: Now, this week's leader.
0:29
SPEAKER_04: Today, I'm sitting down with Taylor Pryor.
0:32
SPEAKER_04: Taylor is a Mount Pleasant native and a gamecock who pivoted into real estate after originally working in industrial safety equipment sales.
0:41
SPEAKER_04: After starting in the commercial side of our business, she moved to residential, where she's been named a top 40 under 40 producer.
0:48
SPEAKER_04: She runs Lattes and Littles as a boy mom with one on the way.
0:54
SPEAKER_04: Taylor, welcome to Charleston's leading producers.
0:57
SPEAKER_03: Thank you for having me.
0:58
SPEAKER_04: So before we dive into what is working right now and going on in your business right now, I want to go back about seven years to 2019.
1:09
SPEAKER_03: The archives.
1:10
SPEAKER_04: So seven years ago, 2019, which is wild to say.
1:15
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:15
SPEAKER_04: But um, you were working in industrial safety equipment sales.
1:19
SPEAKER_04: So what sparked the original transition into real estate from that career?
1:25
SPEAKER_03: So I had been with this company for, I want to say almost four years now.
1:31
SPEAKER_03: Worked out in the Midwest, um, essentially managed a team of like nine, nine guys, managers, um, outside sales agents.
1:40
SPEAKER_03: It was fantastic.
1:41
SPEAKER_03: I loved it, did really well, was really successful, got to go on the road some.
1:46
SPEAKER_03: Um, but then COVID happened.
1:49
SPEAKER_03: Once COVID happened, the company did a lot of restructuring, put a travel ban, you know, uh, and a lot of the other companies, like the large industrial companies, put a freeze on spending because no one really knew where the economy was going or the world in general, I should say.
2:08
SPEAKER_03: So once the company did all the restructuring, I could kind of see the writing on the wall and just realize like it's gonna take a lot for me to get back to where I'm at right now and then excel even more.
2:25
SPEAKER_03: So once I had that realization or epiphany, if you will, I decided to explore the real estate route.
2:32
SPEAKER_03: And I don't even know where that came from, um, how I came about that.
2:37
SPEAKER_03: I think maybe one of my good friends was in the commercial industry, and him and I had a lot of, you know, deep conversations about if I could or would be successful on that side of the real estate world.
2:50
SPEAKER_03: Anyways, long story short, I ended up getting my license at the end of 2019 and then started in commercial real estate in 2020.
2:58
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
2:58
SPEAKER_04: So you got your residential license in 2019, or is it how does the licensing work?
3:05
SPEAKER_04: Is it both?
3:06
SPEAKER_04: Is it both both?
3:06
SPEAKER_03: It's actually both.
3:07
SPEAKER_04: When you get I don't think I knew that.
3:09
SPEAKER_03: I know.
3:09
SPEAKER_03: It's kind of crazy.
3:10
SPEAKER_03: It's a completely different MLS, but when you get your license here in the state of South Carolina, it's not residential versus commercial.
3:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
3:18
SPEAKER_03: You actually only learn about residential.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: Oh.
3:22
SPEAKER_03: So I didn't retain anything.
3:24
SPEAKER_03: I didn't learn much.
3:26
SPEAKER_03: It's just completely different ballgame.
3:28
SPEAKER_03: I think they talk about commercial in a paragraph.
3:31
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
3:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
3:32
SPEAKER_03: It's like one paragraph, and then there's like, all right, whatever.
3:34
SPEAKER_03: No one does commercial.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
3:37
SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, didn't learn anything, didn't retain anything.
3:42
SPEAKER_03: But I had a really good friend who was like my mentor, kind of took me under his wing, taught me everything.
3:48
SPEAKER_03: He was amazing.
3:50
SPEAKER_03: Did that for about 10, 11 months.
3:54
SPEAKER_03: And while it was fun and I really enjoyed working with small business owners, I didn't enjoy working with larger businesses and companies just because whoever you're working with, your point of contact, is never the final decision maker.
4:08
SPEAKER_03: So deals tend to take a lot longer, or you can get really far in the process, and then someone's like, no, this won't work, you know, and the whole thing crumbles.
4:16
SPEAKER_03: And that just wasn't that enjoyable to me.
4:20
SPEAKER_03: So I started exploring the idea of going to the residential world.
4:23
SPEAKER_03: So it's like that sounds like a lot more fun and relationship-based and intimate and exciting, you know, and just getting to assist people with finding their dream home or or whatever it is, just sounds like a lot more fun to me.
4:39
SPEAKER_04: It's funny to hear somebody say that, like, yeah, I wanted the shorter sales cycle of residential real estate because in my brain, it's like, yeah, you know, you connect with somebody, it usually takes, you know, a few weeks before we're even really starting to look.
4:54
SPEAKER_04: And then it's a month.
4:56
SPEAKER_04: And it's like, you know, we're typically looking at like a two-month-ish sales cycle.
5:01
SPEAKER_04: So to be like, yeah, I wanted the shorter sales cycle of two months is kind of hilarious.
5:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's not normal thinking, but uh which it's like very like Tasmanian devil, I feel like, because you just hit the ground running and it's crazy and can be chaotic, especially when I transitioned from commercial to residential during the two, three percent interest rates, you know, 10, 20, sometimes more offers on one home.
5:25
SPEAKER_04: And it's like I've heard about these times.
5:27
SPEAKER_04: I wasn't around then.
5:28
SPEAKER_04: You weren't?
5:29
SPEAKER_04: No, I was licensed in 23.
5:31
SPEAKER_04: So I started working like fall-ish of 23.
5:35
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
5:36
SPEAKER_03: Honestly, blessing in disguise, uh, you know, a lot of people made a lot of money, and but it was it was wild.
5:43
SPEAKER_03: I mean, we'll never experience that again.
5:45
SPEAKER_04: So I think it was Is that good that we're never gonna experience it again?
5:48
SPEAKER_04: Is it like I don't know?
5:50
SPEAKER_03: I'm sure some people for homebuyers, no, right, you know, for homebuyers, absolutely not.
5:55
SPEAKER_03: But for people in our profession, I think so, because it was so, like I said, chaotic, and you really had to not coddle your clients, but essentially because they would just feel so defeated, you know, and it's like we gave it our best.
6:11
SPEAKER_03: You can only do so much, and I can only do so much, and it's not our fault.
6:17
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
6:18
SPEAKER_03: So it was some very crazy time.
6:22
SPEAKER_04: So I sold a home, and this was before I was in the business in 21.
6:26
SPEAKER_04: Um, but I remember like we put it on the market and we didn't know it was the first house that I sold.
6:31
SPEAKER_04: So we didn't know like what the process was actually supposed to be that you know it was supposed to take 30 days or whatever.
6:37
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
6:37
SPEAKER_04: So, anyways, we put the home on the market, and then like the next day, of course, it was a home in West Ashley, not a huge home, it was nice, but whatever.
6:44
SPEAKER_04: Um, next day we had like 10 offers.
6:47
SPEAKER_04: So, me and the realtor, like, we go out and we're drinking wine, we're going through all these offers, like, which one are we gonna take?
6:54
SPEAKER_04: Like, just kings.
6:55
SPEAKER_04: And I wish I would have known at that time that that's not normal.
6:58
SPEAKER_04: Not realistic.
6:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I feel like that time robbed a lot of home buyers from their joy, you know, in the home buying process because it was so crazy.
7:09
SPEAKER_03: And typically, unless you were above a certain price point, you had to be prepared to go up against several other offers.
7:19
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I like I said, it was I'm not gonna say quick, easy money, but in comparison today, like that the sales cycle is a lot longer.
7:29
SPEAKER_03: But I think it's more joyful for for people that are actually going through the motion.
7:33
SPEAKER_03: And for me too as an agent, you know?
7:35
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's not well, you connect with people so well, like so easy.
7:39
SPEAKER_04: It's really easy to sit down and just chat with you and connect.
7:43
SPEAKER_04: So um, I'm sure that plays a role into your business as well.
7:47
SPEAKER_04: Um, but when we were talking before, you actually mentioned that there was a little bit of a period of time that you didn't have a team and you did feel like a little bit like you were on an island or maybe a little bit lost.
8:00
SPEAKER_04: So tell me about that time in real estate, and somebody that's listening to this can kind of relate to that.
8:06
SPEAKER_04: Like, I'm trying to get this figured out.
8:08
SPEAKER_04: I'm trying to get this started.
8:10
SPEAKER_04: What was that point in your career and what was that like?
8:13
SPEAKER_03: So, as soon as I came over from the commercial world, I was just by myself and I had no idea what to do, what to say, how to get clients, what books to read, what podcasts to listen to, who to reach out to.
8:29
SPEAKER_03: I had no idea.
8:30
SPEAKER_03: The reason I chose my brokerage is because we have a very, we have a Facebook group, a company-wide Facebook group, which is amazing.
8:39
SPEAKER_03: Every agent's in it, our broker's in it, and it's just like a wealth of information.
8:44
SPEAKER_03: But also, my broker is available 24-7, which is probably not a good thing.
8:49
SPEAKER_03: I don't know how he does it, but he always responds, you know, pretty much immediately.
8:52
SPEAKER_04: What's his first name?
8:53
SPEAKER_03: John.
8:54
SPEAKER_03: John.
8:54
SPEAKER_04: Shout out John.
8:55
SPEAKER_03: John is amazing.
8:56
SPEAKER_03: He's funny.
8:57
SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, he probably hates to see me coming, but well, there's how many agents?
9:03
SPEAKER_04: And we can say, right?
9:04
SPEAKER_04: You're you're the boulevard.
9:05
SPEAKER_04: That's what they're saying.
9:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there's typically 300.
9:07
SPEAKER_03: I would say we average 300 agents.
9:09
SPEAKER_03: Give or take.
9:10
SPEAKER_03: Jeez.
9:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
9:11
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
9:11
SPEAKER_04: John's got his hands full.
9:12
SPEAKER_03: I he has a wife and kids.
9:14
SPEAKER_03: I don't know how that's crazy.
9:16
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
9:16
SPEAKER_03: Put up with it.
9:17
SPEAKER_03: But anyway, so that was one of the reasons I really gravitated towards the boulevard because I was like, I'm gonna need something.
9:22
SPEAKER_03: I need some resources, I need help.
9:24
SPEAKER_03: I don't know where to start.
9:26
SPEAKER_03: So, with that being said, I really just started leaning into social media and I was like, Well, I don't have any money, I don't have any clients, I don't know what I'm doing.
9:36
SPEAKER_03: So I'm just gonna lean into this.
9:37
SPEAKER_03: It's free, you know?
9:39
SPEAKER_03: Why not?
9:41
SPEAKER_03: And that's not too long after.
9:43
SPEAKER_03: So, mind you, this was still in the 2020 chaos.
9:47
SPEAKER_03: No one, like all of the good agents, I say good agents, um, the top producing agents, the busy agents needed help.
9:54
SPEAKER_03: You know, they had clients coming out of the woodworks.
9:57
SPEAKER_03: Um, if they couldn't get a house under contract, they had to go and show 10 more.
10:02
SPEAKER_03: God forbid you take a vacation.
10:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
10:04
SPEAKER_03: Out of the question.
10:06
SPEAKER_03: So I was just scouring our Facebook group looking for agents that needed help, mainly just so I could get in homes and take, you know, take videos, photos, whatever, make content.
10:17
SPEAKER_03: And then they would pay you too.
10:18
SPEAKER_03: So I was like, oh, this is cool.
10:20
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna get to eat lunch today, you know?
10:22
SPEAKER_00: Like, hmm.
10:24
SPEAKER_03: So after doing that for a little while, there was one agent who was out of town and I helped him out for about a week.
10:31
SPEAKER_03: Uh, all of his clients reported back to him just saying, you know, it was great, yada, yada, yada, toot my own horn for a second.
10:37
SPEAKER_03: And then after that, he asked me to get coffee and have a sit down and explore the option of coming onto his team, which he didn't have a team at that time, but he wanted to start a team and grow mainly because he was so busy and needed the help.
10:54
SPEAKER_03: So that ended up working out.
10:57
SPEAKER_03: He became my mentor, and it was just a wonderful working relationship.
11:05
SPEAKER_03: I learned so much from him.
11:07
SPEAKER_03: I feel like I owe a lot of my success to him because he would really push me and not necessarily answer questions.
11:13
SPEAKER_03: He would make me think, you know, and give me the tools and resources to do things on my own, but not just tell me the answer.
11:22
SPEAKER_03: And so I'm very, very thankful for him.
11:25
SPEAKER_04: And what's his name?
11:26
SPEAKER_03: Gentry.
11:27
SPEAKER_04: Gentry.
11:28
SPEAKER_04: Shout out Gentry.
11:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
11:29
SPEAKER_03: Well, I don't want his head to blow up anymore, you know.
11:32
SPEAKER_03: But no, what's that?
11:33
SPEAKER_03: I said, I don't want his head to blow up.
11:34
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
11:35
SPEAKER_03: No, I'm just kidding.
11:36
SPEAKER_03: He's fantastic.
11:37
SPEAKER_04: Gentry knows he does a good job.
11:38
SPEAKER_04: Is that uh of course, because he does.
11:41
SPEAKER_03: And you know, he's got the systems and the rhythm, and it works.
11:46
SPEAKER_03: He's also been doing it a lot longer than me.
11:48
SPEAKER_03: And so he's a seasoned veteran and just I could sing his praises all day long.
11:52
SPEAKER_03: Um, just very thankful for all the opportunities he gave me.
11:55
SPEAKER_03: But, anyways, I think that just really propelled me into my career because we probably worked together for about six months or so.
12:04
SPEAKER_03: And then he ended up going to another brokerage.
12:07
SPEAKER_03: I decided not to go.
12:09
SPEAKER_03: Um and at that point, I gotten calls from like a few other teams, you know, like, hey, I heard you guys are no longer working together.
12:18
SPEAKER_03: Would you be interested in coming on with us?
12:20
SPEAKER_03: Yada yada yada.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: And I don't remember how long after I ended up joining another team.
12:27
SPEAKER_03: Was on that team for a little while, left that team, and joined another team up until I like maybe two months until I had my first child.
12:38
SPEAKER_03: And then my whole thought process was I don't know what it's gonna look like after I have my son.
12:44
SPEAKER_03: I don't know what life's gonna look like or business as a whole, but I always knew that I wanted to grow and build my brand one day by myself.
12:54
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I was like, Well, I I don't know if I want to be on a team anymore.
12:58
SPEAKER_03: I feel like I have the knowledge under my belt and I have the resources, you know, the help if I need it to grow myself.
13:07
SPEAKER_03: And so that's been a couple years ago now, and yeah.
13:11
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's really cool.
13:13
SPEAKER_04: Um, you mentioned the social media stuff.
13:15
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
13:15
SPEAKER_04: And we've gotta pick your brain on some social media stuff because your your social media is amazing.
13:20
SPEAKER_03: Scary place.
13:21
SPEAKER_04: But I I wanna, but before we jump into that, um, you mentioned just kind of the importance of having a mentor and how transitional that was for you.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:32
SPEAKER_04: Um, what what kind of stability did it give you having a mentor?
13:37
SPEAKER_04: Or what did you learn, you know, specifically from Gentry that really helped move the needle in your career?
13:45
SPEAKER_03: I would say before joining forces with him, I never had like a routine or a rhythm or anything.
13:51
SPEAKER_03: I would wake up every day and just kind of think to myself, what am I gonna do today?
13:57
SPEAKER_03: You know, it was like I just never knew.
14:01
SPEAKER_03: I never knew.
14:02
SPEAKER_03: Like I would just fly by the seat of my pants.
14:05
SPEAKER_03: But with him, you know, he would take me on listing appointments or he would take me, take me with him to bio consoles, or we would prepare content for social media or just like collab.
14:18
SPEAKER_03: So it was really he gave me structure that I didn't know I needed.
14:24
SPEAKER_03: I knew I needed in a sense because coming from, you know, a nine to five where I was busting my behind and doing really well, but I knew what I needed to do to be successful.
14:33
SPEAKER_03: And then being over here and having no idea, but just knowing I wanted to do it.
14:39
SPEAKER_03: He just, yeah, he basically told me what to do without telling me, if that makes any sense at all.
14:45
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
14:46
SPEAKER_04: Structure is important to you?
14:49
SPEAKER_03: No.
14:50
SPEAKER_04: Maybe is it important, but maybe not natural?
14:53
SPEAKER_04: Is that the Yes?
14:54
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
14:54
SPEAKER_03: We'll go with that.
14:55
SPEAKER_03: No, I am not like a structure routine kind of gal.
15:00
SPEAKER_03: I don't want to say I'm chaotic, but I just very like, I don't know.
15:06
SPEAKER_03: If you in my younger days, if you asked me to go and do this, I would probably say yes and not think twice.
15:13
SPEAKER_04: Right, right.
15:14
SPEAKER_03: You know?
15:14
SPEAKER_03: So I think that's also why real estate is so good for me because the schedule isn't strict or you know, by the book or by the timeline or whatever.
15:24
SPEAKER_03: And I do have the flexibility.
15:25
SPEAKER_03: But if someone's like, hey, can you do this?
15:27
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, yeah, I can.
15:28
SPEAKER_03: A little bit more difficult now with a child, but wait until that second one.
15:32
SPEAKER_04: We still make it work.
15:34
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
15:35
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
15:36
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it helped me to figure out what to do and what a day, what a normal day looks like in the shoes of a real estate agent.
15:48
SPEAKER_04: It is such an interesting balance.
15:50
SPEAKER_04: Like, and same thing from our side on the loan side.
15:53
SPEAKER_04: Like, you need to find this strange, I guess balance is the only word that I can really use for it of like we need structure, you know, but we also there's there's a good part of that just like living kind of in chaos.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:08
SPEAKER_04: You know, where it's like, I don't know, we just want it because we have to be out meeting people, and you know, we have to be communicating with a lot of different people, and that is going to bring chaos.
16:19
SPEAKER_04: You know, if you're talking to a lot of different people, it's going to be chaotic, you know, because people are chaotic, it just is what it is.
16:26
SPEAKER_04: But finding that rhythm and finding that tipping point between this is the structure that I have in my day, and you know, I communicate with everybody.
16:36
SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
16:36
SPEAKER_04: It's just very important to both sides of the business, I feel like.
16:39
SPEAKER_03: I feel like you just kind of have to find what works for you because not everyone works the same way in this industry.
16:47
SPEAKER_03: I think that's probably probably has a lot to do with because you are your own boss.
16:51
SPEAKER_03: So you have to be a self-starter, especially in order to be successful.
16:56
SPEAKER_03: But I oftentimes feel like it's like that meme where it's like a duck, you know, and then under the lottery's just like, oh yeah, like battling for dear life.
17:05
SPEAKER_04: Is that Taylor's life, the duck and the feet just going crazy?
17:08
SPEAKER_03: Cool common collection, but you should see my feet under the table.
17:11
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
17:12
SPEAKER_03: Always thinking about the next move.
17:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
17:15
SPEAKER_03: No, my the way I conduct my days would probably drive anyone mad.
17:19
SPEAKER_03: And I could probably be a lot better of an agent if I had some sort of like order and everything.
17:25
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
17:25
SPEAKER_04: Maybe that's what you know.
17:27
SPEAKER_04: We kind of we try to find our unique, I don't know, way of doing things.
17:31
SPEAKER_03: Like it might be what works for me, works for me.
17:33
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
17:34
SPEAKER_03: That's why I'm not the best person to give advice.
17:37
SPEAKER_03: I feel like because I'm like, I don't know if you want to do what I have done and do, and there's no rhyme or reason to it's working for you.
17:47
SPEAKER_04: So we'll just leave it there for now.
17:50
SPEAKER_04: But let's get to the social media stuff.
17:52
SPEAKER_04: So um, your social media looks great.
17:56
SPEAKER_04: You've obviously put some time into it and you've obviously you know built that following.
18:01
SPEAKER_04: Um, do you have one platform that you focus on specifically, multiple platforms?
18:05
SPEAKER_04: What does that look like for you?
18:07
SPEAKER_03: Instagram is the main platform.
18:10
SPEAKER_03: I've tried to dabble in others, Facebook, TikTok.
18:13
SPEAKER_03: I had a blog at one point in time along with the podcast.
18:16
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
18:17
SPEAKER_03: And I just felt like it was too much.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
18:20
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was just it's a lot.
18:22
SPEAKER_03: It's hard.
18:23
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
18:23
SPEAKER_03: Because you want to show up as your authentic self, but I feel like you don't want to post the same thing across every social media channel because everyone looks so different.
18:33
SPEAKER_03: So Instagram has always been the most fun for me.
18:38
SPEAKER_04: And for someone who's trying to grow their social media presence right now, what's one thing that they can do?
18:45
SPEAKER_04: What's like one first step that you recommend in growing that presence?
18:50
SPEAKER_03: I would say just post the content.
18:53
SPEAKER_03: I feel like I appreciate your compliment on my social media, but I don't feel like again, I have any rhyme or reason to it.
19:01
SPEAKER_03: It's really just whatever I feel like posting that day or whatever pops into my brain that day, and then I kind of run with it.
19:09
SPEAKER_04: Are you posting every day?
19:11
SPEAKER_03: Uh I try to.
19:12
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
19:13
SPEAKER_03: Stories, yes, but on my feed, no.
19:17
SPEAKER_03: But I will say I'm in my DMs every day.
19:19
SPEAKER_03: Oh, interesting.
19:20
SPEAKER_03: Talking to people every day.
19:22
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
19:23
SPEAKER_04: Are those mostly incoming or outgoing?
19:25
SPEAKER_04: The DMs to start both.
19:27
SPEAKER_03: Both.
19:28
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
19:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's a great mix.
19:30
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
19:31
SPEAKER_03: I just really try to stay present in top of mind, especially with especially with other mothers.
19:38
SPEAKER_03: I feel like my following has really turned into moms just because we relate so well.
19:43
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
19:44
SPEAKER_03: And because I've always been such an open book.
19:46
SPEAKER_03: I've always told everyone, like, you can ask me anything, and I don't really get embarrassed or like shy away from it.
19:52
SPEAKER_03: Cause I just not that I don't care, but I think community is such a big thing, and everybody needs someone to lean on, you know, or something to lean into.
20:02
SPEAKER_03: And um, yeah.
20:04
SPEAKER_04: So you don't have any like typical rhythm or anything like that with your social media.
20:10
SPEAKER_04: It's like just whatever's happening this day is what I'm posting.
20:13
SPEAKER_03: Pretty much.
20:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
20:15
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
20:16
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I have some of the same, I'll say, topics that I post about.
20:20
SPEAKER_03: You know, I do my monthly events, which people really like.
20:23
SPEAKER_03: I've recently found that people love to know.
20:25
SPEAKER_03: Well, obviously, people love to know what's going on in the community.
20:28
SPEAKER_03: So I post a lot of new and coming soon to Charleston businesses and restaurants.
20:35
SPEAKER_03: But other than that, I post a lot of recipes because I bake a lot.
20:39
SPEAKER_03: I wouldn't say I'm like a Gordon Ramsay, but what's your best uh baking dish?
20:46
SPEAKER_03: Uh, everybody loves my chocolate chip cookies.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: Chocolate chip cookies?
20:49
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
20:50
SPEAKER_03: Classic.
20:50
SPEAKER_03: I'll never ever give that recipe away just in case I decide to give it up and become like a baker one day.
20:57
SPEAKER_03: Never.
20:58
SPEAKER_03: People love my protein bagels too because I have like five ingredients and they take like five minutes.
21:05
SPEAKER_03: Interesting.
21:05
SPEAKER_03: So that's huge.
21:07
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
21:07
SPEAKER_04: I'd be into that.
21:08
SPEAKER_04: I like protein and I like bagels.
21:10
SPEAKER_04: So bam bam.
21:11
SPEAKER_04: Sounds like uh right in my wheelhouse.
21:13
SPEAKER_03: I should have brought you some.
21:14
SPEAKER_03: I didn't even bring you a gift.
21:17
SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
21:18
SPEAKER_04: Most people don't.
21:19
SPEAKER_04: Don't worry about it.
21:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, there's not a lot of gifts there.
21:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
21:22
SPEAKER_04: Don't don't don't feel bad about that one.
21:24
SPEAKER_04: Um, but yeah, so back to the social media here.
21:28
SPEAKER_04: What is one thing that you see agents doing wrong on social media?
21:33
SPEAKER_04: Like when you see it, you you like cringe a little bit and are like, don't do that.
21:37
SPEAKER_03: Speaking from experience, yeah, I think it's so cringy and annoying when people post and I do it too.
21:46
SPEAKER_03: But when people post like just listed, just sold market stats on their feed.
21:54
SPEAKER_03: I think that's more for stories or maybe like your email list or text message.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: Or something.
22:01
SPEAKER_03: But me personally, I think real estate facts and statistics are so boring.
22:07
SPEAKER_03: No one really cares unless you're looking for a home or you want to sell.
22:13
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
22:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:15
SPEAKER_03: So I made the same, I'm not gonna call it a mistake, but I did the same thing for a long time, wasting a lot of time putting together those posts, and no one cares.
22:26
SPEAKER_03: You know, or or it just pisses a lot of people off.
22:30
SPEAKER_03: So like that's ridiculous that houses cost that much.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, who's paying this?
22:35
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, well, I someone's paying it.
22:38
SPEAKER_04: Somebody's paid it, yeah.
22:41
SPEAKER_04: Well, I'm thinking about you know, the people that you work with too.
22:44
SPEAKER_04: It's probably like 20s, 30s, you mentioned moms, you know, like they're not scrolling through their Instagram and being like looking at some, you know, stat from percentage of homes like doing this or whatever.
22:59
SPEAKER_04: They're just gonna go right by that.
23:01
SPEAKER_03: But if they saw me crying on my seventh meltdown of the day because my kid, you know, won't eat what he asked me to make, yeah, that's more relatable.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:12
SPEAKER_03: And they're like, wow, okay, I'm not alone.
23:14
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
23:14
SPEAKER_03: You know, like I can really connect with this person.
23:17
SPEAKER_04: Well, talk to me about bridging that gap.
23:19
SPEAKER_04: Because I think, you know, anybody who has gone into the social media world does know that, like, hey, the personal posts, you know, they do attract more attention.
23:29
SPEAKER_04: But how do we bridge the gap between that and business?
23:34
SPEAKER_03: I have really shifted from predominantly focusing on business on my page because again, it is boring to me.
23:40
SPEAKER_03: And I'm such a relationship person, just such like an outgoing social person.
23:45
SPEAKER_03: I would rather have a normal conversation with someone versus like, hey, do you want to sell your house?
23:50
SPEAKER_03: You know, and just sound like I'm fishing.
23:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:53
SPEAKER_03: I think that's so lame.
23:54
SPEAKER_03: So I think it was really when I started posting my monthly events list and saw where people, you know, loved those and wanted to know more about our community.
24:06
SPEAKER_03: And in turn, it would spark conversation in my DMs and then they would want to know more about me.
24:14
SPEAKER_03: And I feel like when I really started putting more of myself out there, that's when, you know, I got more followers and just more interest.
24:22
SPEAKER_03: So I rarely post about real estate now.
24:26
SPEAKER_03: If I have a new listing, I'll market that, of course.
24:29
SPEAKER_03: Um, if I see some really cool homes that have hit the market, I'll post about them.
24:35
SPEAKER_03: But I really don't post a ton about real estate.
24:39
SPEAKER_03: I think I just trickle it in and be like, hey, this is what I do.
24:42
SPEAKER_03: Like, holler if you need some help or you think I'm cool, you know.
24:46
SPEAKER_03: Like, but other than that, it's just kind of boring.
24:50
unknown: You know?
24:52
SPEAKER_03: So I love that.
24:54
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think that's amazing.
24:56
SPEAKER_04: What is the hardest truth about this business that people don't always understand?
25:03
SPEAKER_03: The hardest truth, probably you're not gonna get rich overnight and drive a Lambo to your second home in Miami.
25:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, like you're not gonna be on a yacht partying every day.
25:15
SPEAKER_03: It's it takes grit and grind, and it's hard.
25:20
SPEAKER_03: There are so many agents here in Charleston, so many great agents, successful agents.
25:26
SPEAKER_03: And everyone kind of does the same thing for the most part.
25:32
SPEAKER_03: So I think you just have to show up and be your authentic self and and find your niche, you know, and and make your little community.
25:40
SPEAKER_03: And then it just snowballs from there.
25:43
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it's not what you see on TV, it's not glitz, glamour.
25:49
SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of tears shed by the city.
25:51
SPEAKER_04: Yes, yeah.
25:52
SPEAKER_04: Still at this point in your career as well.
25:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely.
25:57
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
25:58
SPEAKER_03: There are days where it's just like so overwhelming, or I feel so deeply for a client that didn't get the home that they want, or you know, whatever it is.
26:07
SPEAKER_03: It's yeah, I mean, I'm still a human.
26:10
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
26:11
SPEAKER_04: And we are human.
26:14
SPEAKER_03: Talk about raging hormones right now.
26:17
SPEAKER_03: I can cry looking at this light.
26:20
SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna go back to uh um a lot on the social media and just being in the in this business.
26:25
SPEAKER_04: And you mentioned the glitz and glam of it, and that it is actually really hard.
26:30
SPEAKER_04: But also, I think right in line with that, one of the things that we were talking about is falling into this comparison trap, which is so easy to do on social media.
26:40
SPEAKER_04: And it's actually funny because I had this question planned um from when we were talking before, but I actually did it this morning.
26:46
SPEAKER_04: I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw something and I was just like, oh God, like I know.
26:51
SPEAKER_04: So I've gotten a little bit better if just being like, all right, just shut the phone down, put it away, go do something, go move outside or something.
26:59
SPEAKER_04: Touch some grass.
27:00
SPEAKER_04: Yes, we were talking about that.
27:01
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, but how do you keep yourself out of that cycle of comparing yourself to others?
27:06
SPEAKER_04: Because you even mentioned there's so many great agents in town, there's a ton of great loan officers as well.
27:13
SPEAKER_04: How do we keep ourselves like centered and focused on ourselves?
27:18
SPEAKER_03: I always try to remind myself what's most important to me.
27:22
SPEAKER_03: And that's first and foremost, my family, you know, and and providing for my family.
27:28
SPEAKER_03: So when I feel like I'm in a rut and going down that path of, oh, this person is doing all this, or you know, this person's doing all that.
27:39
SPEAKER_03: I try to take a step back and remind myself of my bigger picture and and where I'm at in my career, you know, and and that person's life doesn't necessarily look like mine does, and that's okay.
27:53
SPEAKER_03: And then I think about something that one of my good friends told me years ago when I first got into real estate.
27:59
SPEAKER_03: She told me that you don't need a hundred thousand followers, all you need is a hundred loyal followers, and they will follow you to the grave, you know, and just sing your praises.
28:11
SPEAKER_03: So that has really stuck with me and really resonated with me throughout my career.
28:16
SPEAKER_03: So as long as I'm having fun and enjoying what I'm doing, I try not to get too wrapped up in comparison.
28:27
SPEAKER_03: But it is hard.
28:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
28:29
SPEAKER_03: Because, you know, in our profession, it's a very like sometimes you don't know when your next paycheck is coming.
28:36
SPEAKER_03: And if you do have a family to provide for, that can be, or whatever your situation is.
28:40
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
28:41
SPEAKER_03: It can be very daunting and just feel very scary.
28:46
SPEAKER_03: But I've I've tried to pray more, you know, and just like put more faith in God and his plan, which might sound cheesy to a lot of people, but I feel like since I've done that and kind of just let go of the control aspect, I feel like I've been given opportunities that I would have never expected, you know, never anticipated or never saw coming.
29:11
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
29:11
SPEAKER_04: No, that's such a I mean, you hit on the two most important things, you know, if you are a religious person, something to fall back on, you know, that and you know, I pray all the time too.
29:21
SPEAKER_04: Um, but that and family, you know, and then you realize that, you know, nobody's really thinking about you anyway.
29:28
SPEAKER_04: They they have their own issues that they're thinking about and dealing with you, yeah.
29:33
SPEAKER_04: Somebody's carrying.
29:34
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
29:34
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
29:34
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
29:35
SPEAKER_03: No.
29:36
SPEAKER_03: And I think about too, um, you know, you see these people that are doing so well and maybe they have it figured out, or maybe they're miserable behind the scenes.
29:47
SPEAKER_03: So I try to take that into account, and I hope they aren't miserable, but you never know.
29:51
SPEAKER_03: You know, and it's like social media isn't real for the most part.
29:56
SPEAKER_03: So you never really know what's going on.
29:58
SPEAKER_03: They could be like, oh, I hate this job.
30:01
SPEAKER_03: I'm so busy, I need help, or you know, other aspects of my life are in turmoil.
30:08
SPEAKER_03: So I try to also just remember like, I'm where I'm supposed to be right now.
30:13
SPEAKER_03: I have a beautiful two-year-old, you know, beautiful family.
30:17
SPEAKER_03: I I want to be as present for him as I can be.
30:22
SPEAKER_04: So and I think a lot of those, you know, really, really high producing, because you're a high producing realtor, and like, you know, the really, really high ones, they're going through all of the same thoughts and emotions.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:35
SPEAKER_04: They're comparing themselves to like the next level of, and there's just no end to it.
30:40
SPEAKER_04: You know, it's a rat race.
30:41
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
30:41
SPEAKER_04: There, there's no like, well, I've hit the, you know, I've reached the goalpost.
30:46
SPEAKER_04: You know, the goalpost is always moving.
30:48
SPEAKER_03: That's exactly something my husband says to me all the time.
30:51
SPEAKER_03: He, you know, if I have a great deal in the works and it closes, and you know, it's an amazing payout just for all the work I've put in for my clients' big win and the paycheck, it's almost like I forget to celebrate it and be thankful because I'm so anxious about the next deal, where my next paycheck's coming from.
31:11
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, okay, cool, that was great.
31:13
SPEAKER_03: I'm so thankful.
31:14
SPEAKER_03: But now I got to get back to work because I need to make sure that my pipeline is full.
31:20
SPEAKER_03: And he's like, Well, okay, at what point are you gonna be happy?
31:25
SPEAKER_03: At what point are you gonna be satisfied with your accomplishments and how well you're doing?
31:33
SPEAKER_03: You know, and I'm like, Well, I don't know.
31:36
SPEAKER_03: Like, that's a really good question.
31:38
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
31:39
SPEAKER_03: So I try to think about that more too.
31:42
SPEAKER_04: I think we need to find like happiness and joy like in the grind of it.
31:48
SPEAKER_04: Because I don't think there is a single deal or a single like I closed X amount volume this year that it's like, okay, check.
31:56
SPEAKER_04: And even if that is the case, well then what?
31:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, what do you do next year?
32:01
SPEAKER_04: You know?
32:02
SPEAKER_04: So figuring out how to be, you know, how to just really find your place in that grind, I think is so important.
32:11
SPEAKER_03: I think it's important too, finding a niche, at least for on the real estate side.
32:15
SPEAKER_03: I never really had any, well, my niche was bachelors.
32:19
SPEAKER_04: Oh, it was.
32:21
SPEAKER_03: I worked with a lot of bachelor's.
32:23
SPEAKER_04: Well, that's gonna be part two of Taylor Prior's.
32:25
SPEAKER_04: Uh, our next podcast episode is all of the stories from that.
32:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, in a past life.
32:31
SPEAKER_03: Woo! Um, no, used to be bachelors, but now I'm finding it's more moms and and small families.
32:39
SPEAKER_03: So I think finding a niche is very important too, because then it becomes more rewarding.
32:49
SPEAKER_03: Not that other clients aren't, but it's when it's someone that you really relate with, it's almost more joyful when you get them into a home, get them into their dream home because they're growing their family, or because they have a family now and they've outgrown their starter home, you know, or they need to sell it, whatever the case may be.
33:11
SPEAKER_03: I think a niche is very important because then it kind of gives you a sense of purpose and fulfillment in your career.
33:20
SPEAKER_04: Well, you've talked a lot about building trust, building relationships.
33:25
SPEAKER_04: Um, it seems to be a cornerstone of your business, but I'm gonna look at it from the other side.
33:30
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
33:31
SPEAKER_04: What is the fastest way to lose trust with a client?
33:37
SPEAKER_03: Uh that's never happened to me.
33:38
SPEAKER_04: Oh.
33:41
SPEAKER_04: Wouldn't have any idea what you're talking about.
33:43
SPEAKER_03: What do you mean?
33:45
SPEAKER_03: Um, fastest way, probably communication.
33:50
SPEAKER_03: They I have had several clients reach out to me who have worked been working with someone else, cut ties with them because the communication wasn't there and they didn't have a great experience.
34:05
SPEAKER_03: And then they come to me, you know, a little bit down the line asking me to to pick up the ball and run, you know, because their previous agent just didn't cut it.
34:20
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
34:20
SPEAKER_03: You know, so I would say communication's huge.
34:23
SPEAKER_03: And I try to be like an over-communicator, which could could be very annoying, but at the same time, I found that all of my clients have been very thankful for it, especially ones that are first-time home buyers and have no idea what's going on, you know?
34:40
SPEAKER_04: So I want to wrap up.
34:42
SPEAKER_04: I want you to think back to the Taylor in like this 2019-2020 era.
34:48
SPEAKER_02: She was fine.
34:49
SPEAKER_02: So she was fun.
34:50
SPEAKER_04: Just getting started.
34:52
SPEAKER_04: But you did not know that you were gonna build this career through social media, um, through your community.
34:59
SPEAKER_04: We'll have to talk about some of the other community-building things next time as well.
35:04
SPEAKER_04: Um, but you didn't know that you were gonna have this family and just be in the place you are today.
35:08
SPEAKER_04: What's one thing you would tell about 2019 version of Taylor?
35:13
SPEAKER_03: Just keep going.
35:15
SPEAKER_03: Just keep going because it'll all work out.
35:19
SPEAKER_03: And that's something that I always tell my clients too, if they're very stressed out or sad or whatever.
35:23
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, it always works out.
35:25
SPEAKER_03: It might not work out how we think it's going to, but it will.
35:29
SPEAKER_04: Well, Taylor, you've got incredible advice.
35:31
SPEAKER_03: Thanks.
35:32
SPEAKER_04: I appreciate it.
35:33
SPEAKER_04: I appreciate you being here today.
35:35
SPEAKER_04: If anybody who's listened to this wants to reach out to you, just ask follow-up questions um or just connect with you in any way.
35:42
SPEAKER_04: How can they get in touch with you?
35:43
SPEAKER_03: I would say Instagram's probably the best bet.
35:45
SPEAKER_03: Um, they can follow me at TaylorPryor on Instagram.
35:49
SPEAKER_03: I have a website too.
35:50
SPEAKER_03: It's really pretty.
35:51
SPEAKER_03: I pay a lot of money for it, but I don't think anybody looks at it.
35:54
SPEAKER_04: So and Taylor's T-A-E-L-O-R.
35:58
SPEAKER_04: Prior P-R-Y-O-R.
36:00
SPEAKER_04: Um, but yeah.
36:02
SPEAKER_03: That is my government name.
36:04
SPEAKER_04: Want to make sure people are spelling it right.
36:05
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
36:06
SPEAKER_04: And stuff.
36:07
SPEAKER_04: So we're right on.
36:08
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, appreciate you being here.
36:09
SPEAKER_04: It's been great.
36:10
SPEAKER_03: Thanks so much.
36:13
SPEAKER_04: Thanks for listening to Charleston's Leading Producers Podcast.
36:18
SPEAKER_04: Could you take a moment to hit subscribe on the platform that you're currently listening on?
36:23
SPEAKER_04: That allows this show to grow and bring you more of the top of the line producers and business leaders.
36:30
SPEAKER_04: And if you think these stories will help someone you know, please share this with them.
36:34
SPEAKER_04: New episodes every Wednesday.
36:36
SPEAKER_04: I'm Jake Cummings.
36:38
SPEAKER_04: See you next week.