Latest / The Daily Writer / What Writers Can Learn from a Rockstar Real Estate Agent About Creativity, Networking, and Business | Anastasia Forrest

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What Writers Can Learn from a Rockstar Real Estate Agent About Creativity, Networking, and Business | Anastasia Forrest · The Daily Writer

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, welcome back to the Profitable Writer Podcast.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new here, my name is Kent Sanders.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an author and ghostwriter, and this is the show that helps you grow your impact and income as a writer.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, as you probably know, I'm a big fan of learning from other industries and professionals.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's really easy as a writer to spend all your time around other people who only think about books and publishing.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yet it's important to remember that at the end of the day, you're a business owner as well.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why I'm so excited to bring you this conversation with my friend Anastasia Forrest, who is what I would describe as a rock star real estate agent.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Anastasia is a lifelong learner, creative, and sobriety enthusiast based out of St.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Augustine, Florida.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: She has two amazing daughters and an awesome husband who builds beautiful houses.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Anastasia's main profession is helping people buy and sell homes as a real estate broker associate with EXP Realty.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Her creative passions are songwriting, authoring books, and painting.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And her favorite things to do with her family are to go out on boat adventures, explore new places together, and have pizza and movie nights.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Anastage is also the author of a couple of books.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: The first one was The 30-day Sobriety Experiment, A Guided Journey of Self-Discovery, a great little book.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And she recently came out with her second book, which is The Creative Real Estate Agent: How to Build a Rocking Real Estate Business and Be More Creatively Productive Than Ever.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a fantastic book that we're going to be talking about here in today's episode.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I was fascinated by her ability to write a compelling book for real estate agents, but do it through the lens of creativity, which of course is a passion of hers.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So on today's episode, she shares some lessons from her experience as an author and real estate agent that you can use to boost your creativity and grow your business.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Some topics in our conversation include why a real estate agent is indeed a creative field, how she developed a unique take on a familiar topic, various ways to cultivate a creative mindset to work and wealth, how to build great relationships, even if you're an introvert, and how she's found success on social media by just being herself.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is a really fun conversation, and if you've never thought that you could learn something about writing or business from a real estate agent, this conversation is going to definitely disprove that theory because Anastasia is not only a fantastic author, she's also a really creative and a phenomenal business owner as well.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure and check out Anastasia's books, music, and real estate business at anastasiaforest.com.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: There will be links to that as well as her books in the show notes.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And without further ado, let's get to the conversation with my friend, Anastasia Forrest.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Anastasia, it's really great to have you on the Profitable Writer Podcast.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is your first appearance on the show.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, and I'm so glad that you made time to talk with us today.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Kent.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I imagine I'm one of the first people ever on the Profitable Writer show.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: You are.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: This interview will come out uh sometime.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: So we're recording this mid-November, and I typically book out oh, probably six weeks or so of shows that I've got in the can.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: So this will come out sometime in December or January, uh, somewhere along those lines.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you'll be one of like the first first uh 10 or 12 episodes on the kind of the newly branded podcast.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's pretty cool.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Very, very exciting.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me on your show.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: So there's you're one of those guests where I feel like I could talk to you about 10 different topics, and it would be a really fun conversation.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna have to really exercise some self-discipline in this conversation because you do so many things well, and you you approach your business in such a fascinating and interesting way.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I just love that.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's really, really cool.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: But ostensibly, we're here to talk about your new book, which is The Creative Real Estate Agent, How to Build a Rocking Real Estate Business and Be More Creatively Productive Than Ever.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: So, where I want to start out is uh I do want to get to a lot of stuff with the book, but can you give us some background on what do you do?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: What do you actually do as a real estate agent?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like how does your business work?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, how did you get into it?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe give us some background on that because this is a show for writers, obviously.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And um, real estate is I've always been really fascinated by it, but um, but I don't know a lot about like the inner workings of how somebody gets into this kind of business or how things work.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe give us kind of some background on that to set the stage if you can.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, my background is as an artist and uh a songwriter, musician.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I did.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that was my first business was writing songs and performing at at clubs and uh bars and restaurants.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I did that in my teen years up to like early 20s, early to mid-20s.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so so that is my my background is being an artist and a creative.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I've always loved to ride, always loved music music and art and all that.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I did not, I would not have predicted that I would become a real estate agent if somebody had told me that, you know, in even my early to mid-20s, that I was gonna get into real estate and help people with their real estate transactions.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: I I would have been like, I don't, I don't think so.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: That doesn't sound like me.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: You must be talking about somebody else, you know.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so but I I got into real estate uh largely because my husband is a general contractor.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: And um we married in 2017.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and our our our youngest was a baby at that time, and I had been doing music-related things.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I went to graduate school for music therapy.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: I did not um, I did not complete my degree.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: I completed all the coursework, but I'm short a um internship, um, which I would was a required requirement, and then I would have had to sit for a board certification exam, neither of which I did.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I'm not certified or I don't have my, I don't even have my graduate degree, which is a little bit sad if I think about it, but whatever.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so but I was still doing work.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: I was kind of in, I had this opportunity to work with people with special needs.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I was doing music therapy type work, even though I couldn't call myself a music therapist all the time I was pregnant with my second.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: So go and work with these uh special needs kids and adults.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I was doing that up until the time I gave birth.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: When I gave birth, I had I was time to figure out, well, what's next?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Am I gonna go back and do this and you know, make the amount of money I was making and you know, and I was teaching lessons.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like little bits of money here, there.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing like super substantial, especially when you have a growing family.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like that job probably would have been great for me in my early 20s or my late teens.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: But in my situation, I there was like, well, maybe I need to think about making more money, you know.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: So my husband said, You should get into real estate.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it's more he said it's flexible.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can um, you know, do it on your own schedule.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, you just study for this exam and then you take this test.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: We can study together.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: So we would stay up, we'd stay, we'd put our baby to bed, we'd um have our computer like broadcast to our TV, and we would go through the slides together and we would study and then we'd quiz each other.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so got through the two tests.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: You have to pass two tests in Florida to get certified or licensed.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: And and then you register with the DBPR, uh, which is the Department of Building and something, professional regulation, something like that.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, long story short, I became a realtor relatively easily, easily.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but but your as to your question, like what does it actually look like?
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's very much a um it's a it's a self-employment type situation.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: You first you hang your you hang your license under a broker.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: So as a new realtor, I had to pick, you know, a broker.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: And they're basically, I'm an agent working for the broker.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I represent, you know, them in a way, but I'm also very much promoting myself because as a realtor, I'm like the face of my own business.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so me and my husband, we function as a domestic team.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he he got his license as well.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: So um basically we're the face of our of our like individual like team, but then we have a broker.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: My broker is exp realty, they take care of um um insurance.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like if somebody were to get upset and maybe try to sue me or something, you know, they would all I have insurance through the broker.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: They would be kind of mediate for me to some extent.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't been in that situation yet, but they would basically there's a like there's some security, even though I'm licensed as a broker, because years later I did get my broker license.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: I still am working underneath a broker rather than going out on my own because okay, yeah, you have that like layer of um help and and all that.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: So basically, yeah, my my real estate, you can make as much as you want to make.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you can do really, really well.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's all it is very much self-driven.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's how much do you want to get out there, how much do you want to do?
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so that aspect has been very nice because it's, you know, there's there's a lot of room for um personalizing your business and customizing your business to something that works for you and works well for other people.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: So real estate is an it has always seemed to me like it is an industry where uh if you have a very entrepreneurial spirit and you like people and you like to kind of set your own schedule and you like to have a lot of control over your business, but you also want the benefits that comes from being asso being associated with another entity like a brokerage.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: It seems like there's a lot of cool benefits, uh, but also some cool protections and affiliations.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: What is that a right way of saying that?
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I think you expressed it very well.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: I actually would actually nobody I I've never told anybody this.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: At one point, I actually thought about going into real estate.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: This has been five or six years ago, whenever I was trying to make my exit from college teaching, and I was trying to figure out what the heck am I gonna do next.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: I briefly thought about that for about three seconds, and then I realized I probably would not be that good at it because I'm kind of an introvert and I I I didn't feel like I would long term be like really successful at it because it requires it requires what I perceive to be an amount of emotional energy and like business hustle that I didn't feel like was the best use of the kind of energy that I have.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I really respect people who are in real estate and the hustle that you've got to have and like how it connects to all different other kinds of things, you know, homes, like that's where people make their memories, and there's so much that goes into homes and all kinds of legal stuff and so many things.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I think what you do is really, really cool.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd I love how you have you've taken real estate and created some really cool things around it that I've never seen before from a real estate agent.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so maybe let's dive into that.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um give us some background on why you decided to do a book that connected two topics that I've never seen connected before, which is creativity and real estate.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in the book, once you go through your book, it seems really obvious how these things are connected because you've made those connections, but what was it that made you decide to do a book on this topic specifically?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a great thank you.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's a that's a great question.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um I was inspired, so I didn't really listen to podcasts up until I started.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: I was new, a new realtor.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: My husband listened to podcasts, Sean.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: His name's Sean.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: He said, honey, you gotta listen to this podcast.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's called the Real Estate Uncensored.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I think you get a lot of good ideas from it.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I started listening to Real Estate Uncensored.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and uh it's basically a conversation between these two guys.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh at the time it was these two guys, it was Greg McDaniel and Matt Johnson.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: And they're both, they're both um quoted in my book and they both endorsed my book, which was very nice.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I I realized that I they were giving away so much information, which was a little bit opposite to what I had felt in my brokerage that I was involved with, because I worked at this time among other agents who are very protective of their secrets uh uh or their ways of getting business, their ways of you know thriving in this business.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: So even as I I even as though you feel like to a certain extent, you know, almost like, yeah, they're they're supposedly here to help me, and they are in certain ways.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: I they there would be cases where they're we're hiding stuff too, because you know, you it's very competitive.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: So can I can I ask a question here, maybe take a little 30-second side trail.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: What what's the purpose of being secretive?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like if somebody the only reason I could see that being secretive, I mean that that sharing any secrets that you have would hurt you is if it was somebody in your own area competing for the same clients.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: But like what what possible good would it do to hold back any secrets that you have?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like if some if you're in Florida, but you have somebody in California who's using your same strategies to be successful, how does that hurt you?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, at the time my brokerage was local.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: I my local, yeah.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I was surrounded by local agents and my brokerage were local.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: So now I'm not.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm with EXP Realty, where I'm with an international company.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I understand.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I was listening to the show, what what really struck me was just all this value they were offering.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: I was learning so much more from the show in certain ways.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't, I'm not, I'm not bashing any anybody or anything, but I'm just saying it was a different, it was a different energy.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: There was a different energy.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: And they and the people in the show, uh these the had a vested had an interest in giving that value because at the end of the show, they would say, You should join exp Realty.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: Come be with us at EXP Realty and you know, fly your own flag, be your own, you know, be your own team at EXP Realty, but consider this really cool brokerage that we're a part of.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not like they were just like, Oh, we're so nice.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Here's all this information.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: They are really nice, and here is all this information, but everybody's got like, you know, a sales pitch, right?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And but what ended up being really, really neat about that is um exp Realty is amazing.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: So now I've I've been with EXP Realty now for like four, three or four years.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I really love it.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't remember what we were talking about, Kent.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: What what was what were you asking?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so sorry.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: No, I was um really trying to figure out what what was it that made you want to write a book that connected these two themes that are not really connected.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I do this all the time in this show, by the way.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh people who listen to who listen to the show on a regular basis, they know I go off on tangents because I'm just curious about things.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: So um Oh, okay, okay.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: I got I got it.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: All right, I'll pick up that thread.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: I I got it.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I lost the thread.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's right, I totally threw it off.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: It was my it was my fault.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but okay, so basically I had a conversation with uh years after being with EXP for a couple years.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: I had a conversation with Matt Johnson and we were talking, I was talking about ideas.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: I said, I want to start my own podcast and I want to attract agents to the brokerage under me.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: I want to kind of do what you guys have done.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: So we, you know, I had different ideas, like maybe you know, sober real estate agents, because I was really into I still am sober, but at the time I was really into the idea of like sobriety and connecting with other people that want to be sober.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: But he's like, and so I said, What about a show?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because he's a musician as well.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: I said, What about a show for creative real estate agents?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Ooh, ooh, I like that.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's a good idea.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: And and kind of took off with that.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I ran a podcast called The Creative Real Estate Agent, the same title as my book, for about a year.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I had weekly guests like you, like much like you're doing in a way.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: And we had conversations about everything from marketing to balancing your creative and uh work life um to the power of video, how to use social media effectively, how to uh brand yourself creatively, how to set yourself apart and get clients' attention.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of great topics.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so basically the creative real estate agent book was born out of that.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, like about a year later, I was trying to decide what book to write next because I was in your wonderful book group.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I actually told my husband a few of my ideas.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: He said, You need to write the creative real estate agent.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: You already have, you've already done a lot of the work because you did all these interviews.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: So um, so I kind of did it to because it was there.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: It was just there, you know.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know that.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: I I had no idea that the book was based on your podcast.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, inspired by, you know.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I I do feature quotes um in the book from people I talked with.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um and yeah, but the content is is to help.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's really twofold.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: One is look, when we start getting business oriented, it's almost like a different side of the brain, right?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't know if you experience this in your because you have a business and you're very creative, but but it's almost like a different side of the brain.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it for some people, they start to think their creativity is a liability and they have to suppress it.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: And they have to just be in their business and keep that other part separate.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: My theory is that is kind of dangerous because we're creative people, it's part of our makeup.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it can be a little dangerous to suppress that down so much.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Not only do I think it can be, you know, dangerous, and maybe your life won't end up being as fulfilling or for any number of reasons, but then also we're also neglecting to think that, hey, we're entrepreneurs, we're trying to set ourselves apart, and we need to show people that we are different from Joe Schmo down the street who can help you sell a house.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you your individuality is actually this a valuable thing.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: So creativity being part of that is part of your individuality, and it can actually be what sets you apart.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, gosh, I couldn't agree with that more.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: Particularly when it comes to writers.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, writing obviously by itself is a creative thing, but I think a lot of people who are in creative fields like like music or writing or visual art or filmmaking or or some kind of production stuff, I think a lot of times the it's easy to put the creative stuff in one box and then you think, oh, I've then I've got to do the business side.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, everybody kind of gets depressed and upset when they have to do the businessy stuff.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: But that's that's part of the creative aspect, isn't it?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's why why isn't that a legitimately creative aspect of what we do?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because in order to be successful as a creative, you've got to pay the bills and you have to have income.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, that's that's just part of it.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I wonder what would happen if all of us who are kind of wired as artists, if we would just embrace the business side of it as another expression of our creativity rather than just kind of having to tolerate it.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: And it and it genuinely can come harder for somebody.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there is there is that aspect where it can be harder when you're used to exercising your brain, you know, it to write a book or I don't know, write a poem or sing a song.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: It can be a little feel feel a little awkward to get those other, that other side kind of spinning moving.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but but I feel like, yeah, ultimately, I feel like for me at least, a part of my uh process of what like Carl Jung would call individuation, like just bringing everything together and finding your your your path is has been bridging, connecting those two sides of like being grounded in this world and doing the things that will help support myself and my family.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um but also being really in touch with you know that creative energy that flows through me and you know inspires me.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: So when people get on LinkedIn or other social media platforms, but I I see this most on LinkedIn.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um many times you post videos of you singing, playing guitar, doing other kinds of creative things that I've never seen from other real estate people.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's so unique and so different.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: What kinds of feedback have you gotten from people, let's say the last couple of years, uh, since I've known you?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh obviously you've been doing this longer than that, but I'm just kind of thinking in the more sort of recent past.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: What kinds of feedback have you gotten from people because you approach your real estate business in a very different way?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Has that been a I assume it's been a really positive thing and it sets you apart and and people comment on that and they know you for approaching real estate in a really different way.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Has that been the case?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's been I've gotten mixed mixed reactions here or there.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: But um, I would say one so some one experience that came to mind when you asked me this question, Kent, is that early on, um, and and actually, so neighbor had he's a writer, okay.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: And he he had suggested to me he's like, Why don't you sing about your listings?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, nobody's doing that.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: Why don't you do that?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Oh, that's scary.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what, you know, but I did it because I was like, why not?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Let me try it.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so I would sing not only about the listings, but I would make videos about educational aspects of real estate that people might not know about, like things to do before shopping for a house or or some aspect of the lending process, or really weird, weird, like I mean, on topics of as obscure as what is a non-warrantable condo and how is that different from a warrantable count condo?
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: Boring stuff, you know, that I mean, I'm saying boring might not be boring to everybody, but making it kind of like engaging and helping people look at it, hear about it in a different way.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: And there was one comment on, I think it was Instagram, and he wrote cheese and he put a cheese, you know, because he's he was a musician, you know, and cheesy, you know, there is there is like an artist to kind of look down sometimes on artists for using their art for business.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there is almost like the snobby, like snobbery, you know.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: But I would say as far as like getting people's attention and reminding them that I'm in real estate, it's been really useful.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because part of the part of the battle for it for, I don't want to say bat, it is a battles and intense work, but like a battle for attention.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many things like drawing our attention.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and so as an entrepreneur who's trying to draw someone to be in your group or draw someone to be my client, um, we are sort of competing against other um other sources of um of that same service, right?
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: So part of it is getting attention and being top of mind and by putting out things that get they tend to get more hits than you know, something maybe more straightforward or more usual.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: You got people looking at it, it helps.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: It helps.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, oh, it's that girl that sings, you know, a singing realtor, you know, like of course, I have to also really do a good job as a realtor.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: I can't just sing about it.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I also have to follow through and get reviews and get, you know, a proof of the fact that I I am a good realtor and I am a good, I'm a good choice.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, but as far as like getting the attention and getting staying top of mind, I think it's been really helpful.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, we'll get back to the conversation here in just a moment, but I want to pause and give a huge thanks to today's sponsor, The Word Wizard.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you might have written a great book, but it's not ready for publication until it's been in the hands of a master editor.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why my good friend Karen Hunsinger, also known as the Word Wizard, is the perfect partner to help you craft the highest quality book possible.
• 24:44
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• 24:44
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• 24:53
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• 24:57
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• 25:06
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• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's KarenHunsinger.com.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: There's a link in the show notes for a free sample edit.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now back to the conversation.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: So is there I mean, and obviously if you put out a video of you using all kinds of profanity or doing something bad or whatever, uh that's negative attention, obviously.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: But but like other than that, I mean, is there really such a thing as bad attention if you're doing if you're trying to do something creative?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, isn't all attention just kind of by definition good because it is attention and that's what we want from people with our marketing?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, again, assuming it's not attention because you went out and did something illegal or word of scandal or something like that.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: But it's like, isn't there a sense in where it doesn't really matter what the attention is for?
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's just it's something that's different and stands out.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: And isn't isn't that kind of what we want to do with social media anyway?
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think largely so.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so here's the thing like by doing by doing that, going out on this lim and and doing this creative spin on it, is there is there a chance that I'm going to maybe repel a few people, maybe a few people that aren't into that are not gonna come to me.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm sure that's the case.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, they're not my ideal clients, you know?
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the you're going to attract, but you're gonna attract the people that are resonating with you.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: So in that way, I think it's almost like an initial sifter, like sifting through, sifting through the uh through the audience and and really like finding those people that are like, oh yeah, there's something clicking here.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dig into a couple things from your book.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: So uh since we're talking about marketing and social media, uh, one of the things that you do talk about in the book, so you have basically sort of five main things that you talk about.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: And one of them is um, sorry, there's an ambulance going by.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you can hear that.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, I can't.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Your mic must be really good.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't hear it at all.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I wouldn't say it's really good.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh one of those ATR 2100 USB mics that like literally almost every podcaster has.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's a decent mic, it's just fine.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it but it is funny sometimes, like stuff will be happening right around me, and I'm like, man, you can't hear that.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's really loud here.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess the mic filters that out or something, which is cool.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's yeah, having a mic is helpful.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: It is helpful.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you talk about mastering the creative art of social media marketing in your book.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that you would recommend to writers specifically in terms of maybe doing video or putting ourselves out there more?
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, like you know, a lot of writers feel a little introverted, and I I hear it so often that I don't want to do video, I'm not comfortable on video, blah, blah, blah.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: What are some things that maybe you could tell us writers that would help us get more comfortable with video?
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because, gosh, we all know the power of video, but so few of us actually do it.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: So you I was gonna start with a statistic, but you just said we know the power of it.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: But maybe just to remind your listeners, um, I researched this a little bit.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: So do you do you know how much uh communication is actually nonverbal?
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like what percentage?
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know that?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's like 90% or something, isn't it?
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's so much, yeah, it's 93%.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm so close.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's so yeah.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, when you think about that, it's yeah, the power is is undeniable.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like you and I sitting here and like seeing the nuances in our our expressions and the movements of our hands and all these little details that really help us feel like we can know, like, and trust a person.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I feel like I know you.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: I've never met you in person, but I feel like like you're a friend of mine.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: And you are, but yeah, this, yeah, I feel the same way.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: But so yeah, so as far as the power, yeah, like you said, undeniable.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say the biggest I think the biggest hang up is that self-consciousness.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: And um I just encourage anybody that's feeling that way and feeling nervous or scared about what people might think about them or what comments they might get to kind of just let go of that.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Don't put that out of your mind and and and realize and remind yourself that what other people think about you has absolutely nothing to do with you.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's nothing to do with you.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's there, it's where they're at, you know, and they're gonna project what they're gonna project.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: We all project on other people.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's true.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, so true.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and even if on the all on the first layer, and maybe they have some resistance, and maybe they're they're like jud, maybe they judge on some layer because we all judge, you know, but underneath, there's probably a part of them that's like receiving your message too.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like our subconscious is taking in so much.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so I I would just encourage you to like get over that fear.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: Don't well, life is short, you know.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: Go ahead and do it.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's not the world isn't gonna end because you put a video of yourself online.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the the potential rewards that you could reap from that are huge.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: It really goes a long way.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: It really goes a long way because you feel you just feel like you like the the feeling of knowing somebody.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: Who are you going?
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: Who are they gonna choose to write their book?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe probably somebody they feel like, oh, they're a real person.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: They're human.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe they messed up on the video, maybe they said a word wrong or something happened, their cat walked across the desk or whatever.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: But that adds to the humanity.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: They're like me.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: I can know, like, and trust them.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think I want to work with them.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know what?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite things that I've seen recently is so you know the sphere in Las Vegas, they opened recently.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: The big venue there with you too.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: Have you have you heard seen that or heard of that?
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: What was it again?
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: The sphere in Las Vegas.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: I have not, no.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's this huge sphere that literally they built.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's on the somewhere by the strip in Las Vegas.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure somebody will correct me on that.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, it was like this multi-billion dollar thing that the whole outside of it uh so sometime today, if you if you want to go down a rabbit hole, just Google the sphere Las Vegas.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, the whole outside of it is all these LED lights, and it's really crazy.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: And the inside, it's like this huge it's it's constructed in a really unique way, but it's like this multi-level kind of experience.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it's the inside is this big you're literally inside a big ball, but you're surrounded by all these like high definition screens and stuff.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, U2 has been there and they've they kind of opened the sphere, as they say.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: They've been doing all these concerts, and right before they opened up a couple months ago, uh, there was an interview with Bono and the Edge, obviously from U2, on CBS or something, and they did this really long interview about them opening the sphere.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the most interesting things that I've seen recently was when Bono was just really honest, and they were talking about rehearsals and stuff, and he said, you know, our rehearsal last night, and they were opening the next day.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Our our rehearsal last night went really badly.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't go well, there were a lot of problems, and so you know, we really want to get it back on track and and so we can have a great opening.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I found that so compelling that one of the world's biggest stars would basically come out and say, Hey, our rehearsal didn't go well, you know, and they've been touring for what decades.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: I just thought that was so cool and so disarming.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I wonder if social media can't do the same thing for us as well, where we just kind of we come out and we're just human.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: We don't pretend to be like, I'm the I'm the big influencer who's got everything figured out and I'm so awesome.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we see that so often.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh yeah, and it I think it it can be very stressful when you feel like you have to squeeze yourself into this maybe shoes, maybe a pair of shoes that you don't fit in, you know, they just don't feel comfortable, you know, or it it's nice when you see something refreshing, like some refreshing honesty.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like you can take a breath and you're like relax a little bit.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, okay.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're human.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good story about about them.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that for sure.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: Something else that you talk about in the book that I really, really appreciated.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate a lot of things about the book, but you talk about creating a mindset.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm sorry, I said that wrong.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's cultivating a creative mindset to work and wealth.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: And you talk quite a bit about money and finances in the book, and I found that really, really super helpful because so many of us came from backgrounds where we weren't wealthy and we didn't have access to all the crazy stuff.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I I had a very good childhood and all that.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: But most of us don't come from really wealthy or affluent kinds of backgrounds.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm wondering if you what kind of things would you say to writers who are maybe struggling with a mindset of being profitable or of being financially successful?
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of writers, I think, you know, most creative types don't really think of themselves as being able to be financially successful.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: But you talk about that in the book, and I thought a lot of your comments were were really spot on.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's an interesting question.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I certainly have that.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: I have a little block in my mind too about that, just because we've been told over and over how hard it is to make a living as a musician or make a living as a writer.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've been told it, and there's some truth.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's truth to it, and it's hard.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: But everything's hard in its own way.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: Everything is, though.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, everything is.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: It really has to do a lot with your um your mindset and your determination.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, because so so yeah, one of the things that you talk about in that chapter is that creating money can be thought of as a creative act.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_01: You're creating, you're so anytime we like have a little vision in our head and we start to dream and imagine how do we produce that vision, how do we get there?
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's a creative act.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so I mean, I would encourage, I love visualization.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'd encourage a writer, you know, who's who's struggling to overcome that that belief.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: Imagine themselves getting that check in the mail.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: Imagine themselves getting that Venmo deposit.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: Imagine themselves having this work that they're doing and seeing it on their calendar.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: You can make it as make it as real as possible.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like feel the planner in your hands or feel the phone in your hand when you get the you know the incoming money.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, just imagine it because you're creating.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like by imagining something, you're creating.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the things that Greg McDaniel, one of the one of the people I interviewed on there, one of the co-hosts of Real Estate, Real Estate Uncensored, he'll he has said that has stuck with me is your mind doesn't know the difference between something you're imagining and something that's real.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm not, I'm not sure if that's always the case, but it can be so it becomes so real that you are starting to maybe create it in a way, you know.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm I'm a I'm a Christian, I uh as I know you are.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, I I I like visualization, but I also pray.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: I pray to God about my finances.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: I pray, you know, to help, you know, that he'll help guide me and show me, you know, how I can be successful and how I can help other people, but also, you know, help support my family.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so there's the faith, you know, that faith element, whether you're a person of of a faith and a religion or not, there's it's faith.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta have faith.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like George Michael saying back to the 80s or 90s when that was.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, yes, yeah.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think it starts there, yeah.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe one of the best insights is just getting back to the root of of what creativity actually is.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: The idea of you can actually make something where something did not exist before.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, just the idea that as a writer or as a business person or as a creative person, you can actually do things that create income where there wasn't income before.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you have the power to bring about value and make connections or create products or services or whatever that people want to pay for and that they value what you are and and what you create so much that they will give you money for it.
• 37:43
  unknown: Right.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's if you've worked like a W-2 job your whole life, that's that's a really difficult thing to embrace.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: The idea that you can just go out and make something and people will pay you for it.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: No, because if you have always been an employee your whole life, you show up and do the work, and a lot of times there's a disassociation between the value of your work and your compensation.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because you show up to do the work and then you get paid, and sometimes there's not that direct link that there is when you own a business or when you're an entrepreneur or a real estate agent or some kind of field where you're making commissions or direct sales or whatever.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's a that's a powerful insight that that you have in the book that I really appreciate.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: Just the power that we have to actually create income and value for people.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's a very that's a very good distinction between the two types of of working.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: You're right.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: You are you are in uh in a way in much more control because you're you're you're the boss, you're the creator, you're you're in, you're you're kind of in charge, which can be intimidating, right?
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: But it's also very freeing, um, and and really the sky's the limit.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one final thing I want to ask about here from your book, and gosh, I could talk to you, Pro Anastasia, about all this, because I'd I love all I love all these themes.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: You talk in the book about creating a structure that allows your creativity to thrive.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's something that those of us who are wired as creatives and artists that sometimes we can struggle with a bit is this kind of self-imposed structure.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: What are some things that you have found helpful in terms of structure or planning out your day or productivity?
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: What are some of those things that have allowed you to thrive in your real estate business?
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I will be honest with you, uh, as I have been.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: This is hard very hard for me.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I do have trouble with structure.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I thrive when I have some discipline, you know, it's it's just such an interesting thing.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: But like, I mean, even my my handwriting is a little bit of a hot mess.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I wrote down a checklist today.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of a hot mess.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not a super, super duper like neat, organized to the to the dot crossing all my D's, dotting all my I's.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've worked on, I work on that side of myself every day, you know.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I love making to-do lists.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's been huge for me.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: Just something simple like that.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: But I'll also I do and when I come up, like come up to a new year for the past the past few years, I've been writing a 20, like I have on my wall right here, 2023 goals.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I have a list of goals that I had for this year.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um now a good number of them I I uh I have achieved, and there's a number of them I have not.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I give myself, I give myself that it's part of the creative process.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, okay, cool.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm doing part, I don't, I try not to be too too hard on myself, is what I'm saying, but I do set goals.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_01: I had a goal to put out the book this year that's on there.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_01: I've checked that off.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I had a goal to put out a newsletter from my journey of freedom thing, which is my you know, sobriety meditation, healing, you know, that part of my my thinking and my the stuff I'm doing.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I've done that.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: I've put out a newsletter almost every week.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: I've missed a couple, but I'm like, I've really stuck with that one.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's fantastic.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, because otherwise it's easy to get lost and forget, you know, what you're doing, especially for someone like me.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I mentioned to you before the show, I have ADD.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_01: I unfortunately the medication is not, does not work well with my system.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I did take it in college, you know, but these days I can't even drink coffee.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I can't handle stimulants, it just upsets my body, like my stomach and everything.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, but I definitely have ADD.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_01: So making a list, um, having goals, very, very, very helpful.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, very important.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's such a simple thing to do, isn't it?
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you make a list of things that you need to do, and then you have goals for what you're gonna do.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: So you kind of have that beginning input of here's my list, then you have maybe larger goals.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: I've got to do this and this and this or whatever it is.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it, you know, on the surface, it doesn't sound complicated, but sometimes those of us who get distracted easily, we we really struggle with that.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: But I think there are some there are some things that do make it harder, you know, like just for example, as we were doing this interview, somebody sent me a boxer message.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've got four text messages actually from the same person.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: I shall not name who it is.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody in my family about Thanksgiving, somebody in my family about holiday, holiday drama.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so like we have all these things coming at us all the time that that I think do make it a big challenge to be focused.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, something like writing a to-do list, it seems so simplistic, and we may feel like it's above us or something, but it's so not like it is so it's something so simple, but it's something so helpful.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because we're human beings.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_01: We for you know, we forget things and we get distracted and you know, you lose your focus.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_01: So a list um post it somewhere prominently in your room, maybe on your phone, maybe pinned to the top of your notes in your phone is so helpful.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_01: Just bring yourself back.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: Do you find it difficult to juggle things in your real estate business?
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: So essentially your client work with your own project.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: So not I I do this too.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: I do client work, you know, for ghostwriting and some other things as well.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: Then I have my own stuff.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I run this podcast, I run membership group, which you're in.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I love having you part of the group.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's so much fun.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got my own books I'm working on.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: How do you think about this in terms of like planning your week?
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do you ever do you have a certain percentage of time that you try to devote to each, or does it just vary from week to week?
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I have honest, I have tried.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like at the beginning of this year, I told myself, well, the mornings I'll work on real estate.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: In the afternoon, I'll work on creative stuff.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a great that can work for people.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I found I I have a hard time sticking to that because things come up, like a client may need to see homes in the afternoon.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I've I've kind of let it sort of take on a more natural uh flow.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I would say designating like just having the certain things you're gonna do each week.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: For your business.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: This week I'm going to do this and that and this for my real estate business.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_01: This week I'm going to, um, for example, for me, I'm going to record this song this week.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just giving yourselves those for me, and I know some people I think it can be really helpful to be a little more regimented, but for me, I call it a floating schedule in my book, where it's it's like, I'm going to do this, but I'm gonna do do it when when it feels right and when I can, you know.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_01: But you're right.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's interesting because you mentioned the different tasks that we have to do.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I would say I spend just as much time, if not more, marketing my real estate services um as I do actually spending time with clients.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's so it's it's huge, you know, it's a big it's a big part of it is talking about real estate, writing newsletters, you know, putting out those videos.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I I'll I'll admit I've been kind of slacking off in the department.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but but ideally, yeah, if I was trying to do more business and really like make it really, you know, just have a lot more influx of clients, I would be doing a lot more of that.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, it's it's a it's definitely a it's a dance.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: It is a dance.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: It really is.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and again, it's not like a it's not like a 40-hour a week job where you go in and somebody tells you what to do and you do it and you go home.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think that's part of the challenge of just owning a business is you don't have anybody else to blame except yourself, you know, in a sense, and that's the good part, but it's also the bad part if if you're a person who is who really likes somebody giving you very specific directions about do this, do this, do this.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes it's not always clear what the priorities are because you have this thing you want to do, but you have this thing you want to do, another thing you want to do.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's really hard to sort out what should come first and what needs to get done.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: And but that's kind of the the beauty and the the frustration sometimes of entrepreneurship, I guess.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think a little free ride free writing could be helpful.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe go into that other side of your brain and and pretend like you're your boss and maybe maybe sit down, have a meeting with yourself, have a business meeting with yourself.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, what are you really trying to do with your business?
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay, thanks for sharing that.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, here's some things you could do to do that.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_01: Here's what you need to do, here's a plan.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe ask that other side of your brain to guide you.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it can it can be helpful, I think.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's good.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Anastasia, this has been a blast.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_00: This has really, really been a blast talking with you and uh getting your insights on uh the real estate business and creativity and how you've blended those two in such a cool way.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: Where can people find out more about the book?
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh your real estate business, in case we have any listeners in the Florida area who would want to connect with you.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, where can we find out more about that?
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I would say the easiest way would be you can either Google the Creative Real Estate Agent book um or you can go to creative real estateagents.com.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_01: I have a website set up there, or maybe the easiest way of all would be look up my name, Anastasia Forrest.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_01: There aren't too many of me out there.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna find a bunch of stuff.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna find you know LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on these books, this book is on Amazon.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: So easy answer for finding the book, you can find it on Amazon.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_01: But if you want to connect with oh, perfect.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_01: Lovely.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I hope I'd love to connect with people.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_00: So that'd be awesome.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you again.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_00: This has been an absolute blast.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um you have written a really good book, and it's my favorite kind of nonfiction book, which is it's an easy read, it's fun, a lot of stories, it's practical, and short chapters.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: So well done.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: Very well done.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_01: I try I know people are busy, so I try to put a lot of good stuff in there, but I try not to be too, I try not to ramble on too much.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_01: I try to make it something they can pick up and read in a you know, in a week or a few days.
• 47:54
  unknown: Yeah.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's cool.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_00: Congrats on the release, and I'm excited to see what's coming down the pike next.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_01: Me too.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, wasn't that a fun conversation?
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: I really enjoyed talking with Anastasia and learning some lessons that I can apply to my business from her writing and also from her real estate business.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, I want to encourage you to check out both of her books.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: The first one is called The 30-day sobriety experiment, a guided journey of self-discovery.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the second one is called The Creative Real Estate Agent: How to Build a Rocking Real Estate Business and Be More Creatively Productive Than Ever.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_00: Both of those are really, really fantastic reads.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I also want to say this, um, particularly her first book, The 30-day sobriety experiment.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you just a little bit about that one.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I know we didn't get into that book that much in this conversation, but she ostensibly wrote that book, uh, obviously for people who are dealing with alcohol addiction and trying to be sober.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I want to tell you something.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you're trying to overcome any kind of issue in your life or just get healthier or have a better mindset, that is a really, really great book.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of one of those examples of a time when an author writes a book for a specific audience, but it has a much, much broader application.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a really, really helpful book.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: The chapters are super, super short.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: You can read them in about a minute or two, and it's really, really great.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I also obviously want to recommend the Creative Real Estate Agent because even if you're not in real estate and you have no intention of being in real estate, it's really, really a great book for anybody who's running a business, which of course, because you're listening to the Profitable Writer podcast right now, you are a business owner.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_00: So don't don't ever forget the business side of what you do.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's really, really important.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure and grab both of those books.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: They will change your life in ways that uh that go beyond just the topic of the books themselves.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're really, really great reads.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: So many thanks to Anastasia for crafting some great books, but also for being an awesome guest today.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_00: Again, pick those books up.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: The links will be in the show notes.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, I will see you next time.