We were lucky to catch up with Emilee Sutherland recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emilee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

I manage my own social media for my business and that is a strategic decision. I have a background in Marketing and Public Relations and I believe that social media is one of the most powerful tools a small business owner has at their fingertips. It’s an opportunity for you to connect to thousands, share knowledge and expertise, bring value to your clients (and future clients), and most of all, a place to show your authentic self.

A key component to good marketing is knowing your target audience. Who they are. What they do. How they spend their money. What they do in their free time. In Real Estate, it’s no different. You need to know WHO your client is. Not just where they live, and their budget. But, what is their personality like. What do they find funny? What do you they do for fun? Once you have that figured out – you essentially have a social media strategy. Sure you sell houses for a living. So feature the homes, feature your sales on social media. But that is only one portion. Social media allows you to CONNECT with your target market on so many levels. Providing them resources, information, things they are already googling. Sharing your life, who you are, what makes you happy outside of work is a way to show your authentic self, and connect with your market in a way that feels organic and real… because it IS. By showcasing yourself and staying true to who you are and how you run your business, you will automatically ATTRACT like minded individuals and your target audience.

I believe the key to success is leading with authenticity in all that you do. Sometimes that is hard when the only conversations you have with people are “strictly business.” Social media allows you to do all the business things, as well as creating a platform for audiences to actually connect with you.

If you run a small business, my biggest advice is to get on social media and be strategic with what you put out there. Not in a calculated/manipulative way, but with your target audience in mind. Break up the business with snippets into your life. Are you a sister and a friend? Share how that impacts your life and how you show up for your friends and family. Are you a lover of cocktails, life myself? Share some of your favorite recipes with your audience to try at home after a long day of looking at open houses. Be authentic, get creative, and start connecting!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been an entrepreneur all my life. I started my first business when I was about 9 years old and modeled it after my dad’s soccer camp business, but for babysitting. Kids Camp for Cool Kids! I got a taste of the entrepreneur lifestyle and have never looked back. I then started a few businesses after college that were quite successful and kept me busy and continuously learning… until covid. Covid caused a great shift in my industry and in my personal life as well. I needed a shift. I needed to take the skills I learned over the last decade and learn something new. To rejuvenate my entrepreneurial spirit.

Through a cosmic turn of events, I started working with a real estate team doing their marketing. Taking one of my degrees from college into practice and started working on and creating marketing strategies for a group of female agents. It was exactly what I needed at the time. From there, I got bit by the real estate bug so to speak, got licensed and am now a Realtor.

As an entrepreneur, throughout all my businesses, I used to respond to the question, “what do you do for a living?” with – I solve problems. That hasn’t changed one bit. As a real estate professional, one of the most important aspects of my job is to help my clients solve problems that arise during the buying or selling process. To do this, I always start by listening actively to my clients’ concerns and needs. By doing this, I can gain a deep understanding of their unique situation and provide customized solutions. Creating an exception experience from start to finish.

It’s incredible to me how listening, truly listening, has become a lost art in this world. People want to feel heard. Often, they don’t even need the problem solve (or there isn’t actually anything to solve), they just want someone to hear them. Acknowledge them. Look them in the eye and not speak. Just let them have their moment.

One of the most rewarding parts of my job is being able to offer creative solutions to my clients’ problems. Sometimes this involves finding a creative way to finance a property, negotiating with other parties, or identifying opportunities for renovation or improvement. Whatever the solution may be, I always strive to provide my clients with several options and to help them make an informed decision. The goal, as always, is to create an exceptional experience.

I’m proud of the business I have created. The experiences I give my clients, and I believe I can offer a luxurious experience to anyone, no matter the price point.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Covid was hard for everyone. Many people lost their jobs. Lost loved ones. Lost family members. So I want to start off by saying, I’m not special or unique. My pain is not worse or any sort of comparison to others. But it’s my pain. I owned a successful event planning company for 12 years when covid hit and essentially wiped out large scale events aka my livelihood. I also experienced deep betrayal pain with the destruction of my marriage. There were a lot of pieces to pick up. Rebuild. Completely start over. There were days where getting out of bed seemed harder than moving a mountain. But I kept getting up. I let myself be sad. I let myself mourn the many losses. But I was no one’s victim. I used the deep pain to motivate me to keep going. To create something even better than what was lost.

I strongly believe that when you operate from a mindset of abundance, you see the world and “bad things” that happen to you as opportunities to release. And do you know what happens when you release? You make space for incredible things to happen. You are finally ready to receive.

So I got to work. I started restructuring my team within my company. I learned a new skill. I took classes in real estate. I learned how real estate works and diversified my knowledge into additional assets and in turn income strategies. I started from the ground up. Joining a team and willing to get my hands dirty. From sweeping dirt from driveways, to dusting cobwebs and dirt from properties about to go on the market to reading the contracts over and over again so I knew exactly what was happening during a transaction. Showing up to every meeting and appointment even when I was completely drained and emotionally exhausted.

I still have a long way to go. But I am beyond proud of the life I have carved out for myself despite heartbreak and economic setbacks. And having overcome so much in just a short amount of time, I can definitively say that the key is to not look at the situation as a whole. Just look right down in front of yourself and take one step at a time. And keep going. Eventually you’ll turn around, and realize you’ve climbed a whole mountain.

How did you build your audience on social media?

For my social media is all about telling story. Whether you mean to or not, in our world today, your social media is your brand. Everything you put out there is representative of your brand. You may not be Adidas or Target. But YOU are a brand. And just like with those other brands, you want to show what you’re about. What drives you. What you are passionate about. What you do for a living. How you can serve your clients. And what you do for fun. Having a background in Marketing & PR gave me the groundwork of building my audience on social media. It all starts with knowing YOURSELF. From there, you need to know your audience. It’s a simple equation from there. Knowing yourself. What you’re about and what you’re not about combined with content specifically driven towards your audience. Add in authenticity and you’ve got yourself a recipe for success! It’s what I’ve done for all my business and it creates a space where you are not a slave to your device. You’re not obsessed with posting at the right time. You’re just being true to you. And that is the best formula in my opinion – for social media, and all of life to be honest    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theagencyre.com/agent/emilee-sutherland
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/emileesutherland_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilee.sutherland/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilee-sutherland-4760a110/