We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ertugrul Ertuc. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ertugrul below.
Ertugrul, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?
It simply takes lots of hard work and dedication, especially if you are at the beginning and starting a new journey. This can be establishing a new life in another country from zero, your small business or a new line of work. Also, hard work alone isn’t enough. You have to have lots of patience with all the failures or ups and downs that you will face on the road to success. At least that is how my experience was. But at the end, my hard work always paid of with my dedication. That dedication came from having the discipline and not giving up. There were many times that I thought I wasn’t going to make it happen, but kept going. The situations that I found myself in made such an impact on me that success was the only option and nothing else.
Overall, I believe certain situations will force you to be successful. If you have the mindset that you must do whatever it takes to be successful then you will have that at the end. Here is my background story for that.
I had no English, and I did not have a single contact when I came to America back in 2009. My goal was to learn the language and take the next step afterwards If I can. It was a start from scratch and the beginning of very tough times ahead, which I couldn’t plan or imagine at that time. I was trying to learn English and get familiar with the culture and everything else. I went through such hard times financially and mentally just to be able to stand on my own feet. I was alone in a foreign country without anyone’s help, but I had to work everything out.
It might sound crazy, but I financially had such hardship that I couldn’t even afford a $150 bike for 2 years. I financially just couldn’t. I was trying to get better, but it wasn’t easy with all the circumstances at that time. The thing is that I did not know anyone in the country, not a single contact that maybe could offer a little help. I thought about asking my family for help from my home country Turkey, but I did not want them to struggle financially because of me, especially since my sister was going to college, which was a big expense for them.
That is why my lunch was only two apple pies from McDonald’s for quite a long time. And I couldn’t tell them everything I was going through because I knew that would upset them, especially my mom. I knew she would say, just quit and come back home; why do you have to go through all this? The situation put me in a place where I needed such responsibility and dedication to succeed.
Since I came all this way – 10,000 Km away from home – I needed to succeed. Failure wasn’t an option. That is why whenever I go to McDonald’s and eat an apple pie now, it tastes like a struggle, hard work, and dedication. I still love the pies, though. But as time passed, I worked harder and harder with a lot of effort to learn more to step up.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was always interested in real estate since I had a civil engineering background. And I did subleasing for years, as It came out of a simple budgeting situation when I was working 7 days in a week and also trying to take my master classes and pay my tuition on time back in my early days in the states.. I was simply trying to pay less rent to be able pay my masters. So, I had quite the experience from subleasing situation and basically help paid off my masters. Then fast forward, I met with my girlfriend back in 2016 (My Wife) and we moved in together. We got married in 2019, and then the covid happened. Covid pushed us a little bit to buy our house earlier than we thought, and we got into that at the right time, right before the real estate market went crazy and housing became less affordable. Then, I ended my subleasing situation. It became obvious that I liked to be in real estate after buying our house and seeing all the processes. But I also learned that later, my subleasing case was a solid investment strategy for those who like to get started in real estate investing. My investment wasn’t serious or big, but it worked out for me, for my tuition pay off and also the road trips that I took around the states. Then, I got my real estate license in Maryland and started learning all aspects from different angles. Since then, I have learned a lot and met many new people.
Now, I am working as a full-time real estate agent with over 5000 people in my sphere at the heart of the Maryland Real Estate market, Montgomery County. I want to keep sharing my background and story to inspire the people who are currently struggling as I did back in the day. This can be an example for many who have nothing at the beginning but are dedicated to work hard with lots of effort to achieve their American Dream.
Everyone also knows me as Ertuce. It is the short version of my name and last name together. A Real Estate Agent, Real Estate Investor, and A Social Media Creator. For real estate inside and out, I specialize in Residential Homes and Investment Properties. With a degree in Civil Engineering, I understand all aspects of home construction. With an MBA in finance, I understand how to evaluate a home’s investment potential. And as an experienced agent, I know what it takes to have a successful transaction, whether buying, selling, or renting. My Buyers appreciate my keen ability to see potential physical problems that may arise in a property. And My Sellers value my skills in promoting their properties on social media. But I understand that real estate is about much more than skill; it’s about bonding with people and helping them reach their goals. I am very dedicated and hard-working to provide the highest level of real estate service available in the area with being honest and helpful. My brand is my personality and my character. I always give my people the most honest, real, and helpful insights so this can help them in the best way in their journeys.
I want our readers to know that I will be happy to help them in the best way possible with my hard work and dedication if they need any assistance with their real estate journey. And I want to tell them, don’t hesitate to follow and support my social media if they are interested in real estate and also love road trips. I share useful information on my Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Like we talked at the beginning for success, This will also take lots of hard work, consistency and time. I have been creating social media content for the last 5 years and it has been such a journey with all ups and downs, trial and errors. I started my social media journey with only Instagram back in 2018 and then it spread out to Youtube, Tiktok and Facebook within the time. I have learned a lot along the way regarding how to provide value to people and grow your audience. I would like to mention three main points that helped me a lot in this process. First one is providing educational and valuable information to your sphere so they get informed. Second one is talking about real life stories or similar interesting events depending on the context related to your business. So you basically connect with them on the issues or problems that they face everyday. And third one and the last one is providing solutions to every topic or subject that you talk about. Because we all need results at the end of the day.
After 5 years in the making, Now, I have a very large audience on different platforms (Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, Facebook) that brings me many clients who like to buy and sell or invest in real estate. My social media presence also brought many different business opportunities outside the real estate as well that I was able to connect with likeminded people and do business. I would like to say that Social Media is still evolving and with full of opportunities. The important thing is that being able to adapt with the changes and take your position to the next level.
This is what I would suggest to anyone who likes to start or improve their social media journeys. First off, you should start creating content immediately and make it your daily and weekly routine if you like to be recognized by a specific audience soon. For starting point, not tomorrow, not next week or not after getting the fancy phone and camera. The key is just start from somewhere and it will evolve in the time with the things that you will learn. You content naturally wont be great at the beginning but you will make progress to make it better. Also the speed is the key when it comes to social media. You will learn how to express yourself front of the camera very concisely and effectively to get your audience’s attention. Plus, each time you will see how you could make the quality of the content better for the better reach. All this will take lots and lots practice, time and effort but it will pay off later. I have also want to mention about discipline and consistency again for also the social media. To be in control and grow, you must be consistent with your content. It usually takes quite a time to have a large audience. For example, I grow to 110K Subscribers on my Youtube Channel in course of the 3 Years. It definitely did not happen at one night.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Simply there are three main reasons. First one is being honest and straightforward with my clients. I would tell them all the best possible scenarios what could work for them in a most beneficial way in the process either if its a buying or selling. Second one is actually part of the first one. I use my technical knowledge and also market data to tell them about the best possible scenarios depending on the current market conditions instead of talking out of emotions. And third one and the last one is I provide the best possible results for them as expected. Because especially in real estate business things can go side ways pretty easily if you don’t have enough experience or market knowledge. Because you start a buying or selling process and if you do not get the results in considerable amount of time, then it is waste of time and effort for them and also for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ertuce.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ertuce.tv/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ertuce.tv/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ertugrulertuc
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ertuce
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ertuce