“Your social media is not your trophy room. It’s your living room.”

Kayla said this in today’s episode, and we love it so much we might put it on a t-shirt! So many agents are posting listings, market updates, client testimonials, and guides like they’re hanging plaques on a wall, and then wondering why no one’s stopping to look.

The trophy room content checks the box. The living room content builds the relationship. And the relationship is what gets you the referral.

We’re doing a this-or-that breakdown of 10 swaps you can make this spring to shift from billboard to conversation.

Your Slight Edge Starts Here

We kicked off this episode with a story from one of our favorite books, The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. It’s called “The Beach Bum and the Millionaire”:

The author describes two paths his life could have taken: one where he dropped out of college, moved to Daytona Beach, and spent his days cutting golf greens and chasing a life that never quite came together. And another where he graduated at the top of his class, built a string of successful businesses, and created a life that was rich in every way.

The twist is that they’re the same person!

The slight edge we’re talking about today is made up of the small, consistent things you do (or don’t do) that compound over time into wildly different outcomes.

We’re bringing this up because spring is one of those seasons where it’s easy to fall into default mode. So today, we want to give you your slight edge — 10 this-or-that swaps that seem small but will absolutely change the trajectory of your business if you actually do them.

1. Ditch the Carousel (Or at Least Make It Yours)

Instead of posting a carousel post as-is, figure out how to make it completely yours.

And we don’t just mean adding a photo of yourself. We mean, how can you take the concept behind that carousel and bring it to life in a way no one else could?

One thing we’ve been doing that has genuinely resonated with people is pulling out a dry-erase board or a giant Post-it note and drawing the concept out. Like, actually drawing it!

In Draw to Win, Dan Roam says the goal of drawing ideas isn’t artistic perfection but clarity. A simple stick figure, a this-or-that comparison, or even a Venn diagram can help the idea click faster for someone watching.

Imagine you’re scrolling Instagram and suddenly you see a real estate agent sketching something out on a whiteboard. You stop and think, wait, what is she doing? That’s a pattern interrupt that gives you a slight edge over the agent who posted the same polished graphic everyone else is using.

There’s also something interesting happening right now culturally — people are craving analog. Even just holding a notebook instead of your phone while you’re talking to the camera gets attention, because it feels more human and real.

Not sure how to draw your concept? Paste your post idea into ChatGPT and ask it: “If I had to draw a picture to demonstrate this in under 60 seconds, what could that look like?”

2. Stop Searching for Content, And Just Take the Photo

We really need to rethink the habit of going to Dupe Photos every time we need an image, when your own photos will always, always work harder for you.

When you scroll and save photos you love, start asking yourself: What do I like about this? How is she sitting? What’s she holding? What’s in the background? And then, how can I recreate this with my actual life?

When you swap the stock photo for your own, your face is in it. Your brand colors are in it. Your on-brand beverage is in it — whether that’s a McDonald’s Diet Coke, a smoothie, a glass of wine, or a Chick-fil-A cup.

Chelsea talked about this in the episode: if someone sees your smoothie in your content enough times, they start to associate it with you. Smoothie → Chelsea. It becomes sticky and therefore memorable.

So this spring, commit to building a content library of your own photos. One on-brand photo that shows up consistently will do more for your brand than a hundred pretty stock images ever will.

3. Just Say What You Want to Say

Stop filtering your content until all the personality is gone. Stop turning a great thought into a polished graphic with a ChatGPT caption and no trace of you left in it. Just grab your beverage, find your cozy corner or your car (seriously, the front seat of your car is one of the best filming spots), and say the thing you wanted to say.

Post it to your stories first. If it turns out great, turn it into a reel.

That content might probably not get a ton of likes, but it will start a conversation in your DMs, which is the real goal.

And if you’re nervous about doing this, just remember that the more you practice talking on camera, the better you get at talking to clients in real life. Think of social media as your first showing. It’s the first time someone gets to decide if they want you sitting at their kitchen table. Show up there the way you’d want to show up in real life.

4. Your Listing Deserves Better Than a Generic Post

Instead of posting the professional photos and calling it a day, get on your stories, grab your beverage, and show us one thing; it could be one room or a specific feature, something that makes someone go, wait, I need to see more.

This creates a curiosity loop and also invites conversation.

Those professional listing photos are for the MLS. They exist so buyers’ agents can set up searches and buyers can see the home online, but your Instagram marketing strategy is a separate thing entirely, and it should feel that way.

One idea we love: the best and worst features of your new listing. Make it a reel, pop in some photos, and flip the “worst” into something fun. Like, it’s walking distance to this coffee shop so I’m going to be spending a lot more money there. There’s a pool, which means this is officially going to be the house everyone wants to hang out at all summer.

That hook gets attention, and with your city name attached, it’s going to reach the people who live where you live.

(P.S. — episode 17, “Basic Listing Posts? We Don’t Know Her,” has a ton more ideas on this if you want to go deeper.)

5. Make Your Market Update Actually Memorable

The market update is one of the most posted, least read pieces of content in real estate, and it doesn’t have to be that way.

Instead of the standard days-on-market, number-of-new-listings breakdown that any agent in your area could post, turn it into a series, give it a name, and brand it with something that’s yours.

Chelsea’s example: Coffee with Katie, every Monday. You grab your coffee, you give a quick, easy-to-understand snapshot of what’s happening in the market, and people start to expect it. That’s brand-building.

And the key to making it watchable is third-grade language. Seriously — take your market stats, put them in ChatGPT, and ask it to explain them to a third grader. You’ll get examples like: there aren’t many homes for sale right now, but a lot of people want to buy. So when a good one hits the market, it goes fast, kind of like when there are only a few cookies left on the plate.

That’s a market update people will actually remember. Especially, if you’re eating a cookie while you say it!

The goal is a market update that could only come from you, not one that any agent in your zip code could have posted.

6. Tell a Story in Your Emails

If you look back at your last few emails and think, could any other agent in my market have sent this, and the answer is even a little bit yes, it’s time to revise.

Your database doesn’t want a spring checklist. They don’t want ChatGPT’s version of “April is here, and the market is heating up!” They want to hear from you. Something that happened to you last week, last weekend, yesterday.

It could be a client question that surprised you. It could be that your tulips finally came up. It could be that you turned your old office into a playroom, and it’s your favorite feature of your house. It doesn’t have to be profound, just yours.

If you’re not sure how to pull a story out of thin air, try 750words.com. It’s a tool that prompts you to just write until you hit 750 words. Then, bring it into ChatGPT and say, how could I shape this into an email? (Just don’t copy it verbatim; use it as a guide to find your story.)

7. Stop Promoting Your Guide Like a Billboard

If you have a spring guide — a local event list, a home refresh checklist, a neighborhood resource — that’s amazing. Grow that email list! But the way you promote it matters just as much as the guide itself.

Instead of posting about it directly (here’s my guide, go get it, link in bio), weave it into everything you’re already doing.

Think of it like baking a cake. You can’t just eat a bowl of flour, but without the flour, the cake doesn’t hold together. Your guide is the flour. It needs to be baked into the content, not served on its own.

So when you’re posting about spring cleaning, mention the guide. When you’re sharing a story about picking up flowers at your local greenhouse, mention the guide. When you’re on your stories talking about your weekend, mention the guide. Every time you bring it up is another chance for someone to find it, and another chance for you to be memorable.

And make it easy! People get distracted. The car line starts moving, they put their phone down, and they forget. If someone wants your guide, they should be able to find it, no matter where they land on your feed.

Link it in your bio. Add it to your ManyChat automations. Put it in your stories with a link sticker. Don’t make them work for it.

Your spring guide should feel less like a launch and more like a natural part of who you are this season.

8. Do the Spring Cleaning, And Then Post It.

Instead of writing a post about spring cleaning tips, just actually do the spring cleaning and bring us along.

Prop your phone up on a stack of cookbooks. Do a time-lapse. Wipe down the counters. Make the bed.

And while you’re doing it, share something: a market update, a tip for sellers, a thought you’ve been meaning to say. Your brain wants to close the loop when it watches something get clean, and that means people literally cannot look away until it’s done.

The best part is that you were going to clean your house anyway. This is just killing two birds with one stone. Give it a little music, maybe a voiceover, and you’ve got a piece of content that’s more memorable than any “5 Spring Cleaning Tips” graphic ever will be.

9. Weave in Your Testimonials — Don’t Frame Them

Nobody is stopping their scroll to read a client testimonial graphic. We know you’re proud of it. We would be too. But the truth is, even the most glowing five-star review gets ignored when it’s presented like a trophy.

What works instead: weave it in.

Five things I loved about real estate this week, and one of those things is a screenshot of a text your client sent you that says, this was the best experience I’ve ever had. That’s it. A screenshot. A sentence. A little pop of proof in the middle of content people are already watching.

It doesn’t have to be the star of the post. It just has to be in there. Add it to slide three of your carousel. Drop it into your stories. Screenshot a one-liner from a Google review and use it as a B-roll overlay.

Think of your testimonials like sprinkles on a cake. You wouldn’t dump them all in one spot. You’d scatter them everywhere so every bite gets a little. That’s how your social media should feel, like proof of your work is just naturally, casually everywhere, not like you’re standing next to your plaques asking people to look.

10. Lead With the Payoff, Not the Problem

So many agents spend their content energy addressing objections — interest rates are high, inventory is low, is now even a good time to buy? And while that comes from a good place (you want to be helpful!), when you lead with the obstacle, you keep people focused on the obstacle.

People move for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with the market.

They want a pool.

They want to be closer to their kids’ school.

They want to walk to coffee every morning.

They want more land, a different neighborhood, a fresh start.

They want what life looks like on the other side of packing up and moving.

Your job is to show them that.

Instead of talking about why it’s hard to move right now, show them what it looks like when someone decides to move anyway. Show them the payoff. The porch they’ve always wanted. The neighborhood that finally feels like theirs. The life that opened up when they stopped letting an interest rate make their decisions for them.

Kayla said it perfectly: there’s the person with their arms crossed, skeptical, listing every reason it doesn’t make sense to move. And then there’s the person who says, I don’t know how yet, but I really want this. Which conversation is more productive?

Make a list of 30 payoffs — real reasons real people move — and start leading with those. You’ll attract people who are ready, inspired, and already half sold on the idea.

That’s the modern agent mindset.

Pick One Thing and Start

Pick one of these swaps and do it this week. Put a reminder in your calendar to come back to this episode in two weeks and pick another one.

Chelsea shared a quote at the end of the episode that we want to leave you with: decide today that you care more about the journey than the result. When you’re focused on the outcome — did I get a lead, did I get enough likes, did anyone even see this — it’ll stop you from showing up. But when you fall in love with the process of showing up this way, the results come. They always do.

You don’t have to be a different agent. You just have to do things a little differently.

That’s your slight edge.

This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz.