From the trenches: lessons from Lisa Archer, co-founder of The Geeky Girls

This month’s “From the Trenches” post comes from Lisa Archer, co-founder of The Geeky Girls. Lisa is a licensed realtor in Charlotte, NC, where she is the Chief Opportunity Officer at Live Love Realty. Live Love Realty currently operates out of seven locations, with two more opening soon. The Charlotte office alone had $50 million in sales last year.

Lisa has spoken at multiple real estate conferences, including Inman Connect, Agent Reboot, and Keller Williams Mega Camp. She was also voted one of the Inman 100 Most Influential Leaders in Real Estate for 2013 and 2014, and one of the Swanepoel Power 200 for Social Media. We’re excited to have her share some of her expertise!

Q. Tell me a little about The Geeky Girls. When did you get the idea to start Geeky Girls? What was the inspiration behind that?

A. The Geeky Girls is a joint venture with one of my best friends, Laurie Davis. We teach and speak about two of our passions: Internet marketing and social media. We owe the name to Ben Kinney. He started the IMSD (Internet Marketing Specialist Designation) several years ago and we were early disciples. We wore the “Geeky” t-shirts to real estate events and the name stuck. We then started a blog, Twitter, and Facebook, and it’s only grown from there.

Q. What is something you do to set yourself apart from other agents (both on the web and in person)?

A. Live Love is a client centric office. We have always come from contribution. We listen and we care. Our motto is “Live where you Love, Love where you Live”.

We seek reviews from our clients. We treat them more like family. We want to know about the special days and dates in their lives. Are they getting married, having a baby, having a birthday? These are special days in their lives, and thus, they are special days to us.

Q. Have you always been interested in technology, internet marketing, and social media?

A. I was an early adopter. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter… I’ve had any and all accounts and have been very active. I even tease when I teach that I have no idea how to get into my MySpace account anymore, but I did have a buyer client find me there in 2012 and they bought a home.

Q. Is there still a place for offline promotional tactics in an increasingly digital marketplace? If so, which tactics do you see as still effective?

A. I love to do community events. We have had client parties, tailgate parties (partnered with one of our favorite charities- Purple Heart Homes). We also do door knocking and yard signs (not just our real estate signs).

Q. What advice would you give to a new real estate agent who wants to build their personal brand?

A. Be consistent, be present, pay attention to your clients where they are. Social media is about being social (it’s not called selling media!), and building a relationship with your clients where they are.

Q. Which apps do you find the most helpful (both for real estate and daily life)?

A. Dotloop, Facebook, Mail, Calendar (if its not on your calendar, it does not exist)

We are a very virtual real estate team. We utilize Dotloop to make everything easier on our clients. We are in markets where we are experiencing multiple offers. We need to get offers for them quickly. Being able to write and send offers virtually AND mobile has helped many of them win homes.

Facebook is one of my favorites because I communicate with the many divisions and members of my team through facebook groups. I can keep up with my clients quickly and easily and strengthen relationships with family, friends, clients and agents by having everyone in the right Facebook list.

Calendar (if its not in your schedule it does not exist)- imperative to not forget anything especially running a large team AND having 3 active kids. (I don’t miss baseball games or dance competitions)

The mail app helps me keep up with several email accounts especially on the go.

Q. Any further tips or tricks you’d like to share?

A. Buyers and Sellers are looking for help in their real estate needs. Be the solution. Be there to listen. In order for someone to hire you, they need to know they can trust you. That means they need to get to know and like you.