The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: COVID-19 Edition

Going to have some fun today. For those of you that are wanting to learn about the good, bad and ugly, Valerie does this normally. Every year. Is it an annual thing that you do, Val?

Every year, annually.

And it's one of the most well attended webinars that she does. It's very fun. It's a little embarrassing at times to see what people will post, but I think that by watching something like this it will help you not step in the doo doo of social media posting. Just to give you a heads up as we have more people on right now, we have the way that I have my set up here. If you are thinking about doing some video recordings or webinars for yourself when the time comes, I have an HD camera on a tripod in front of me. Behind that is a ring light that I've set up. If I took a picture going that way, it looks really ugly, but hopefully coming this way it looks good. So you can make any background really a good looking background if you have the right setup. Val, how are you set up?

Right now I'm using my laptop and my cheapo earphones and my laptop is balanced on the Webster's Dictionary and the biography of Laura and Barbara Bush. Super fancy.

See, you don't have to be fancy in order to look fancy. Alright, so we have more than 400 logged on right now, so we're ready to go. Val, why don't you give us. Oh first of all, for those of you that don't know Valerie Garcia, instead of her introducing herself, she is a national speaker, international speaker. She's one of the very best in the business. She's been around. Why gotta do that? Anyway, that's my photo before real estate, right before. I think I got my license that day. Now those curls unless. Unbelievable.

Valerie and I real estate real here and use our current headshots.

You know it's funny though, like I see some real estate photos on their, on their business cards and often they look that young in comparison to real life. Let's go back to the Photoshop. Point of what I was getting at is that Valerie and I have known each other for a long time. We're incredibly close. In fact, when I got married in 2018, Valerie happened to be there because she was a pretty important piece. She was the officiant at my wedding. So I know Val pretty well, she knows me pretty well and this is gonna be a lot of fun. So I hope you guys are gonna have a blast. Val, I'm gonna give this to you to take over and I Will. By the way, everybody, Val had presented this deck to us here at nexthome, but I didn't really look at those slides. So I'm gonna get real time reaction the same time that you are. So I'm excited about this and I cannot wait to see what's there. So, Val, it's all yours.

All right, let's jump right in. Alright, so I've got a disclaimer that I normally start with. Comments and images shown here today are all gathered off public social media sites. I have screenshotted or received screenshots from people of all of these things. We have made efforts to protect identities of the guilty. Also should note that the expressions that you're going to hear, the opinions expressed are mine alone. Take them with a grain of salt. And our whole goal with this session today is to educate and not shame. So. So like to start out with that good disclaimer.

And here's the other thing too. It's funny because you are actually doing something that the posters did not, which is protect their identity. I know. All right, go ahead.

As always, we start out with the good because we can learn a lot from the good and there's so many good things that are happening. And so we've got a lot of stuff that I want to share with you today that's good that we can learn from. That's really awesome that people are out there doing really good stuff. So this isn't. I know lots of people tune in for the shock value of the bad and the ugly, but we like to start with the good because there's some really good lessons to be learned. So I'm going to start with this one. So this one I titled Offer Help. I love this one from the Dart Homes team. This one came out pretty early on in the social distancing kind of timeline where this came out and it basically was just sharing. Are you working home? Here's an idea of how to structure your day. And honestly, for those of us that work from home, this is sort of a regular thing. But for people that have never worked from home, it can be a long parade of like eating your feelings and wearing pajamas. So it's really kind of nice to have an example of what you might do when you structure your day from home. So I loved that. I thought that was really proactive and helpful and I think that that's a great way to sort of share with people, hey, we're all in this together. I think a fun way, schedule in like eat your feelings between like, I don't know, 12 and 12:30. But, you know, it's super helpful to have an idea of how you structure your day. So I loved that.

I just want to just make a quick comment. I'm looking at this and I'm looking at the remote schedule and taking a shower to eight and all this stuff kind of layout. It's funny, if you shift mine about four hours later or maybe even six hours later in the day, you could start from the shower part in this quarantine section.

Totally.

But here's the thing about this. This is probably originally written. They likely created this themselves and then formatted it in their branding. I think it's important that people know that it's okay to just stop copying people and slapping your logo on there. Come up. This is a great time for original content. And putting something together like this would be really good. So that way nobody's. If they're copying you, then they copied you. But you being the original poster early on, as you mentioned, that's going to go a long way.

Yeah. And we're going to talk a ton about original content today because when we get to bad and ugly, you're going to see why it's important to like not just slap your logo or your hashtag on somebody else's stuff. Yeah. So let's keep it moving. I love this one. This is not real estate related, but this is a community sort of focused post. This is a small business in my neighborhood, so where I live now. And I love that they're sort of thinking outside the box. They can't offer the same services that they've been offering before. You can't physically go into their place, pick out some pottery and paint it or even have a party. And so they're struggling like a lot of small businesses to stay in business by thinking outside the box. And so one of the things they did was they offered these packages where you can pick your pottery. They'll put it all in a box with brushes and paint and instructions, and they'll deliver it to your doorstep. And then when everything calms down, they'll pick it up or you can drop it off and have it be put through the kiln. So I loved this. And I think the lesson that we take away from this is it's time to start thinking outside the box. There are other ways that we can help small businesses do their business and still stay in business and still continue to thrive. We're seeing starting to do this and restaurant supply companies starting to do sort of like boxed food and prepare your Own meals sort of thing, really sort of offering like, hey, I have this service. This is something that I do. I'm still showing people houses, just not necessarily in the traditional sense. And so we don't have to be so obvious about it. We don't have to be out there like all, hey, you know, we can't do this. But we can find ways to show people that we're still doing our job and adding value, even though it looks a little bit differently than it has in the past. I loved this example too of just community spirit at Homes Realty in Huntsville is doing this. They're calling it their front steps project. And so what they're doing is they want to keep their photographer in business. They have a wonderful in house photographer. And so one of the things that they're doing is they're offering family photos from the curb. So you can literally go on their website or email them and you can schedule a window and you get your family ready to sit on your front steps and the photographer comes by and takes a photo of your family from the curb and then provides it to you. And you could do a silly one or a formal one. But how awesome is that to like take that time when you're stuck at home to do something fun like that with your family. And then what I love is instead of a charge, they're asking for donations to the local food bank or a local charity. So that's really awesome as well. This was a great example too of just ways to kind of think outside the box and keep your people engaged and be human. This example was a local real estate agent who's doing lessons on how to bake bread on video over Zoom or via FaceTime. And so again, just kind of a fun way to engage with your people. Not necessarily having to sell something or be particularly salesy in this time, but just human. Like these are things that we're all struggling with. What do I do at home and what do I do with my kids and how do I stay busy and you know, like how do I learn to cook for some of us that are stuck at home extended periods for the first time. So great opportunities to again engage with your people. Loved this one as well. And I'm starting to see examples of this literally all over the place. Local organizations that are putting together concerts or choirs, musicians that are playing. And this was posted by a local real estate agent who is doing happy hour where they're having local musicians play and they're raising money for charities for musicians in their communities that are out of work. So again, awesome ways to sort of help and provide community and humanity to people outside of the norm of what they would normally be doing. This is a good, super good example of giving. This is a broker who stocked the fridge and the freezer and the pantry at his office for his own staff and agents who might be going without. And so sometimes, you know, we all think that we're in situations where we're prepared for everything and you know, maybe we aren't. And it's sometimes really awesome to just have a little bit of a helping hand. And so loved this example. Just thought this was really beautiful and human to provide people that you work with on a regular basis. This, this was awesome too. You know, creating opportunities right now to provide education is probably one of the most amazing opportunities that we have. Barbara Betts did this. She posted this yesterday, which was the quarantined realtor action plan. And it's just a three page document of all the things that you could be doing right now off the top of her head. And again, this is something that you could, you could borrow and you could adapt and you could share with others. You could make your own. There's lots of things that we all could be doing right now. And I think some of the most important reminders that were on there were things like shut off your drips and your automatic marketing. I just seeing so much, so much crap come through in drips right now that's so inappropriate and so tone deaf. And so if you've got automatic drips and you're paying somebody to push those out, it's time to take a look at those and reevaluate. And now's the time to start getting creative with that sort of stuff. So Imran, do I have you back? Are you there?

Can you hear me?

I can hear you.

Oh my God.

It's always something.

Thank you everybody. By the way, when one of you says, oh, I can't hear you, trust me, we can see that. And getting through the 400 people that are telling me that we can't hear you. So I got to delete all these so that way I can find.

We'll just keep rolling. So I'm going to recap the good here before we jump into the bad. So find ways to offer, help, think outside the box, you know, offering the same services that you might offer but in a different way or reach out to the community that you serve and find ways to help them think outside the box. Lead the pack. Don't be the last person to jump on board with something, get out in front of it. It's time to innovate and teach. Support other people, you know, find ways to raise money or raise awareness or share information, give. And these are all of the good things that are happening right now. And I was just so pleased there was so much good because, you know, I always get nervous when I do this that I'm going to go in and I'm going to be like, this is all ugly. But there was some really good stuff. So I hope that you guys got some ideas from that and learned from that. So, Imran, are you ready to jump into the bad?

Yeah, I think everybody is real happy that we got our technical issues taken care of. In the meantime, we're going to remove for now team, so that way you all can focus on what's there and we don't have to. I'm just worried about the bandwidth issue. We literally have hundreds of people on this thing, so I think that could be part of it. But thank you for sticking with us through this workthrough. Val, go ahead.

All right, so here's the first bad. Now, typically when I do good, bad, ugly, I tell people the good is the stuff that you should adapt and copy and use and learn from, and the bad is stuff that we all need to improve. You know, even if you don't see yourself in some of these, chances are you've done something similar. And so this first one was an example that I grabbed that I just. I just. I'm seeing a lot of this right now using this situation as an opportunity to sell. So, Imran, what is your thought on that?

So the first thing that I looked at, I mean, we're all in the same boat. And the interesting part about it is I listen to a lot of different podcasts, and one of them is Shopify unofficial Shopify podcast, which talks about, you know, the online businesses. And we're sitting at home right now and we feel isolated and we think, oh, my goodness, the world is so changed and my sales have gone away. So we get desperate or we, you know, we panic. But I was listening to Shopify podcast and there's a drop of nearly 80%. 72% is what the actual number was of business that flowed through the top Shopify locations. So we're seeing it all the way around. So there's desperation for all people that are selling items or services. So you're not alone, but at the same time, you can stand out. And this is not one way to do it. I'm reading this Right now. And I'm, I'm feeling kind of. It feels icky, I guess, is what I would say. It feels icky reading that because you're. We're reading about the tragedies that are happening, but at the same time, this is being leveraged to say it's a good time to buy and I'm the one to help you.

Yeah, and the all caps now and the all caps today. I mean, it just feels a bit like, you know, it just feels a bit more like noise than help.

Yes.

Yeah. So, you know, take what you will from this, guys, but, you know, the massive amounts of all caps and hashtags and do this now and you know, get out of your house. And yeah, it is, I think. And I think now's the time for calm as opposed to panic. Now's the time to sell your house. You know, it just, it comes across as being. You're looking out for you as opposed to them. All right, here's the second one. I really can't wait to see what you think of these.

Okay.

Are they funny? Are these a flop?

If you can find humor on bad situations, you could survive this. Only Corona comes in the line.

They're all like, there's a whole new batch of rider signs being hatched throughout this thing. Right. So the only Corona in this house comes with a lime. Beautiful home to be quarantined in $250 worth of toilet paper with the purchase of this house. Like, how do we feel about these rider signs for people that are, you know, potentially walking through these neighborhoods and taking a look at them? Are they funny?

Let me, let me give you some of the comments in the flop. Just no, super creepy, freaking, tacky, awful, not funny, boo. All this stuff. And so if we feel this way, we see another realtor or somebody that's in real estate doing this or even mortgage. I feel, you know, that's a writer, right? That only Corona and this house comes with a line. Somebody had to go log on, create this thing, order it, have it shipped by the company, and then probably puts it on there. I get it. We want to be funny, and some of us can be, but not at the expense of. I mean, this isn't like. I mean, people are suffering through this scenario. It doesn't have to be serious all the time, but we can't make absolute light of this. So especially when you're trying to get business or drum up business, it's okay if you want to be funny on a separate situation, but I don't know I. It's. It's tacky to me. More words, Val. Gross. Horrible. Oh, my God. So distasteful. An agent at a different brokerage did the 250 and toilet paper here, and the news reported it, and she was absolutely destroyed in the comments.

Yeah, and I think that's the thing, right? Like, that's the risk is that it only takes one person to be like, oh, you know, and it blows up. And so, yeah, you do. We have to be a little bit careful now that not everyone's going to approach things with the same sense of humor. And I think that, you know, a sense of humor is important, but being careful how we're using it. So let's look at the next one.

Hold on, Val. Just going back real quick. It says that here people have tagged her in posts like this. So when a post like this goes up and then you tag 85 other people, unless that person removes that tag, it's almost like they're complicit to whatever is posted there. So if you want to make a fool of yourself, make a fool of yourself. Don't attach me to it too.

Yeah, good point. Good point. All right, here's our next one. So I'm getting a ton of these now where, you know, everyone's doing virtual open houses. And so what's happening now is that people are inviting their entire Facebook list, so they're going in and like, inviting every single person they're friends with to their virtual open house. So this kind of spam is incredibly noisy right now. And also you're sending this to people in other states, potentially in cities where they're under stay at home orders, they're losing their jobs, and you're saying, hey, you know, like, I'm just gonna spam you all with an invitation to go through my house in Kansas City.

Yeah, yeah, not interested. I didn't want to. I don't want to go to it normally, and now I really don't want to go to it.

And I also think, like, the ramifications of this area, this is a good way to get yourself unfriended, unfollowed, blocked even, right? So we do have to be careful about what we're spamming and how that's coming across to people right now. And especially, like, if you're not being specific in the area and you're just spamming it to everybody, you're potentially sending it to people that aren't even interested outside of the area anyway.

Real interesting for me. You know, I. A lot, like, a lot of the people on this webinar have a lot of Facebook friends. And strangely enough, I've had no problem pulling the trigger of unfriending people lately because people are really. I don't know what they're doing, but it's causing me the point where I'm like, yeah, I don't, I don't, I definitely don't want this.

All right, so then we have this one. So this is an advertisement for an open house last weekend. Well, the weekend before last. And this is the photo that they're using to advertise the open house. Not the house itself, but instead the basket of cleaning products that you could win if you go to that open house. Thoughts?

Hmm. Let me just read this thing here. It's the COVID 19 basket enter to win if you come out to my open house in Alabama. Interesting. Okay, how do I feel about it? Well, in California, I don't know what it's like in Michigan or the states that you guys are in right now. They're not letting us go anywhere in the sense of like they've shut down all non essential businesses. Now. Somebody like myself, I personally am in pilates, have immune issues because of my previous health issues. So I, I'm scared to even leave my driveway. To think that this is the carrot that's going to get people to go around and leave their house to go into an open house. It's just. I think it's just tacky. That's my, that's my feeling. For those of you that are here. Yep, this exact word is tacky. Pathetic. These are what's coming through. Counterproductive. Duh. Donate that stuff and.