We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jess Lenouvel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jess thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

If you take a look at the real estate industry as a whole, it’s a pretty dated industry. It’s an industry filled with ideas that the only way to be successful is to constantly hustle and grind. The industry pushes agents to wear being busy as a badge of honour. The more cold calls you make in a day, the more emails you answer, the more postcards you send out, or the more homes you show, defines your value in the industry.

It pushes the idea that the busier you are the more successful you look. However, that’s not the case. All that narrative is doing is pushing agents to fall victim to the toxic hustle culture within the industry. It’s made to seem normal that missing out on memories with your loved ones is just part of the job or spending all your time working in your business is what’s supposed to happen.

Most people get into real estate for unlimited freedom and income and in reality, they end up losing their freedom in the process because they’re building their business based off of old school strategies that are not scaleable. Especially when you take a look at marketing, agents are still learning how to market their businesses like they’re selling real estate back in the 80s. How you market your real estate business today vs years ago is completely different. We don’t need to rely on 1 to 1 marketing strategies that take hours away from our day.

We need to leverage the technology that we have and put systems in place to help generate and nurture leads so that we’re using marketing strategies that market 1 to many. Agents need to learn how to build relationships online to reach their ideal clients. They need to show up where their clients spend most of their time. And they need to show up authentically as themselves.

The perfect and professional realtor image no longer needs to be a thing. We need to remember that real estate is a human-based industry. Humans connect with humans. We need that emotional connection to build relationships and connections to attract more clients.

Your potential clients need to know, like, and trust you in order to want to work with you. But, when you’re trying to fit into the mould of the stereotypical real estate agent, your authenticity gets lost and you begin to look like every other agent. Being personal and authentic in your marketing and speaking to your client’s wants, needs, pains, and desires is what makes you stand out as an agent. Not being salesly or using scarcity-driven marketing.

The way we teach things in The Listings Lab is completely different than what’s being taught in the industry. We teach agents how to leverage online marketing and systems to help nurture their leads so they don’t have to spend hours of their day cold calling or chasing leads. We teach agents how to show up authentically in their marketing to attract more clients. We teach agents how to grow and scale their businesses using systems so that they can gain back freedom in their lives so they don’t have to keep missing out on things.

The Listings Lab is built around the idea that agents don’t need to work harder to build a successful 7-Figure business – they just need to leverage attraction marketing and systems to build consistency, predictability, and unlimited scalability into their businesses. Being busy isn’t a badge of honor and building your business based on burnout isn’t scalable. There are better ways to grow your business that’ll allow you to still be successful and have the life you’ve always wanted.

My story is proof of that. And I’ve helped thousands of agents do the same.

Jess, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Jess Lenouvel, a real estate marketing expert and acclaimed public speaker. I’m also the founder of The Listings Lab and best-selling author of More Money, Less Hustle: Becoming The 7-Figure Real Estate Agent.

Before starting The Listings Lab, I was in the real estate industry for over 15 years. I had a multiple 7-figure real estate business and in my last 5 years alone, I sold over $300 million worth of property. I was one of the few female realtors killing it in my niche.

However, like most agents, I became the “always on” realtor. The agent who would constantly hustle and grind every single moment of the day. I was cold calling, manual prospecting, chasing leads – you name it, I was doing it. My laptop and cell phone basically became an extension of my body. My real estate business consumed my entire life. I was working 24/7 and I was miserable. I had no systems and no help. I was burned out and I was tired.

The way I grew my business wasn’t scalable. I was already working 70+ hour weeks. I couldn’t work any more hours. It was impossible. But I kept doing what I thought was “expected” of me – what all agents were taught to do… hustle for success. But all the while I was sacrificing my life, sanity, and relationships to keep up this facade of the “happy successful realtor”.

My breaking point? When I began prioritizing leads – strangers – over my loved ones. I saw the hurt in their eyes and I knew things needed to change. I still wanted to be successful, but I didn’t want to ruin my life or my relationships to get there. I didn’t want to live an “either/or” life—I wanted to live an “and” life, meaning I could have success and still enjoy life.

So I dedicated myself to learning everything I could about digital marketing because I knew the old-school way of real estate marketing was not what I wanted to keep doing. I knew there was a better way.

So I started looking at strategies that were being used outside of real estate. I became obsessed with improving my business and leveraging tools and systems that helped me do things that were sustainable and scalable. I even grew a small team at one point! I started using Facebook to build and leverage relationships online while I was still figuring out the business.

Fast forward a few years and ALL of my business was coming from digital sources in one of the most competitive markets in North America – a market that had over 40,000 other licensed real estate agents. I was running a multiple 7-figure business that no longer relied on me. I was finally happy. I was able to have a successful business AND live the life I always wanted.

Agents in my office saw how I was transforming my business and started coming to me more and more for advice. The more coaching I did, the more passionate I became and I knew that I wanted to make this a part of my everyday life. I saw the impact that I was having and I was hooked. In 2017, I made the decision to start mentoring other agents who were struggling with their businesses, using the same strategies I had learnt and implemented in my own business.

And in 2018, The Listings Lab was born. My team and I have helped mentor thousands of agents across North America. We’re teaching agents how to market their business effectively to attract their ideal clients. We’re teaching agents a new way of running their business that doesn’t require them to constantly hustle and grind for success. We’re showing agents how to leverage effective marketing and systems to make their lives easier – to have a business that works for them.

Our goal is to help agents learn how to build sustainability and predictability in their businesses by attracting high-quality leads using organic and paid marketing. No more cold calling, door knocking, or salesy marketing tactics. We’re all about teaching agents how to be authentic in their marketing and how to create relationships at scale by taking leads on a psychological journey to help nurture them from stranger to client. We’re helping agents move away from the industry standard that they have to “live to work”.

Everything we do in The Listings Lab is all about consistency, predictability, and unlimited scalability. And that’s what we’re most proud of. Teaching agents how to build and scale their businesses to 7-figures WITHOUT sacrificing their lives in the process.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After being in real estate for over 15 years I needed a change.

I wanted to make an impact with my life and when I thought of my journey and my future in real estate, it didn’t motivate me. I’d lost my passion. When I looked back on all the years spent growing and scaling my business I was proud. I was proud to see how far I’ve come and how many families and individuals I’ve helped. I still loved selling real estate but I didn’t light a fire in me like it used to. I knew I wanted to do more. I wanted to make a change in the industry.

I knew so many agents around me who were struggling with their businesses. They were going down the same path I had once gone down – trying to grow and scale their business using old-school tactics that would only lead them to burnout.

When I wasn’t working on my business I would spend my days helping agents, showing them systems and marketing techniques that they could implement to help turn their businesses around. I was helping them gain back their freedom. And those were the days that brought me excitement and joy. I saw my potential. I saw the impact I had. The change I could help create. For a couple of years leading up to 2017, I would continue to mentor agents on the side for free.

Then one day, while I was away on vacation in Hawaii with my husband, Yves, I made the decision that I was done with my real estate business. I wanted to mentor agents full-time. I knew that this was my calling – it was what I was passionate about.

I thought Yves was going to think I was crazy since I was willing to give up a thriving business. But he didn’t, because he saw the value behind what I was doing. He knew the potential I had to help other agents achieve the same freedom. He was on board and we began working on a plan to make this happen. Within a year The Listings Lab was created.

I knew this pivot in my life and in my career was essential in my journey. And I don’t regret it one bit. I’m doing what I love and what I’m passionate about. I’m helping agents all across North America transform their businesses and lives.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my audience on social media the same way I teach others and it’s all based on ethical and attraction marketing. No more manipulation, stretching the truth, or playing off people’s fears of scarcity!

While I was growing my real estate business, I knew there was a better way to build an audience than the old-school way of marketing. Social media was just starting up and everyone was on it. I knew I could leverage that and start reaching people all at once. Instead of 1 to 1 marketing, I began marketing 1 to many. But, I knew I had to do it strategically so I could stand out from the crowd. I wanted my audience to notice me and recognize that I was there speaking to only them.

To do that I came up with The Listings Lab Method which uses Relevancy, Omnipresence, and Intimacy. These were the 3 things that allowed me to build my audience in an unlimitedly scalable way on social media.

I first learned the importance of being Relevant to your audience. Then, I learned that Omnipresence was a key reason why successful people in other industries were able to build million-dollar brands – seemingly overnight. Then the final piece of the puzzle, the piece that I connected with the most… I learned that Intimacy was the most powerful tool to create connection. These were the 3 things that made the biggest impact on growing my audience. They are timeless foundations that anyone in any industry can use to grow their business online.

So if you’re looking to start building your social media presence for your business, here are my top 3 tips for you to implement right away to make a difference.

Tip #1: Understand who you’re talking to. This is the #1 most important thing I can tell you. Who do you work with specifically or who do you want to be attracting here? Every single thing you put out there is for that person… your ideal client. When you try to speak to everyone, your message becomes noise because it’s vague.

Create valuable content that your ideal client would want to hear, not what YOU want to put out there. This isn’t about you. Know your ideal client like the back of your hand. If you’re struggling with content, then you’re not putting yourself in their shoes and you don’t know them well enough.

Also, remember that your content isn’t all business. Share your story too and be your authentic self. Perfectionism is boring. Authenticity wins every time.

Tip #2: Stop copying others…I promise you, they’re likely not doing it well either and their messaging isn’t going to be right for you, your audience, or the demographic that you’re targeting. You want to be speaking in YOUR VOICE, not in someone else’s.

Spend your time creating for your audience and not consuming content from others. If you’re looking for inspiration, follow successful people in other industries.

Tip #3: Interact with your audience. Respond to comments (this goes for ads too), respond to every single DM you get (that’s not spam)…create relationships with the people following you. Talk to them, give advice, and help them to feel connected to you.

If you follow my advice and build your audience using Relevancy, Omnipresence, and Intimacy, you’ll position yourself in front of your audience in a way that makes you their only choice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thelistingslab.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jesslenouvel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheListingsLab

Image Credits
Jennifer Johnson – JJ Media Productions