On this week’s episode of The Walk Thru, Byron Lazine and The Broke Agent – back from his 57th wedding of the year – join Katie Day of Move Me to Texas (Real Brokerage), for her second week in a row, and Chris Smith, author of four bestselling business books.

Tragedy in Texas

The conversation opened with the news of the tragic shooting at a Texas elementary school.

The news broke right on the heels of Broke Agent Media’s “breaking news” post on reality TV, which brought up the question of how to handle tragedy on social media from a real estate perspective – and what to post, if anything.

Alluding to a chart from Chris’ newest book, The Conversion Code – “The Most and Least Trusted Professions” – Byron pointed out that marketers and salespeople are trusted by 3% of people. Byron and Eric both expressed concern that continuing to post business-as-usual content on social media would double down on the public’s perception of them as tone-deaf.

Chris agreed it was a tone-deaf post from a tone-deaf industry, but encouraged them to join the conversation.

“It’s actually now tone-deaf not to post about it – whereas before it would be tone-deaf to even go there. That’s a change.”

Chris Smith

Short of having a button that pauses all the automated daily marketing content, all you can do is go with your gut and try to add value by engaging with the conversation and, if possible, providing actionable information (e.g., links for donating).

Housing Market Deflation

Tyler Durden wrote an article on Zero Hedge – “The Air is Coming Out of the Housing Bubble” and Byron broke down the stats on new single-family home sales:

  • Down by 16.6% for March
  • Down 26.9% year on year, and at their lowest level since the lockdown in April of 2020. 
  • Unsold inventory of new homes spiked by 34K – a historic month-to-month leap. 
  • 440,000 unsold new homes – the highest level since May 2008

Given these numbers, Byron brought up the issue of recession – whether we’re in one or whether one is coming. In 4 of the last 6 recessions, real estate values have gone up.

Katie admitted there isn’t a ton of inventory out there but she doesn’t think we’re in a downward spiral. It’s slowed down compared to the hyper-fast market for all of 2020-2021 – so, with things a bit slower. But they’re still moving forward.

Chris brought up Coinbase, which is a bit of a sore spot right now, especially for Eric. After comparing the housing market to crypto, he moved on to the issue of inflation, saying, “Even if real estate’s appreciating at 5 to 7%, at least your money’s not going backwards.”

“History is a great indicator of the future.”

Byron Lazine

Ultimately, the numbers point to growth. 

Are Long Videos Dead?

Chris brought up “the TikTok Trial” and how it’s fueled the Johnny Depp craze. If you watch the live-stream video of the trial, it’s boring. On TikTok, it’s bite-size, it’s compelling, the add-ons, the music, the sort of eco-system that gets added on top of it. This trial takes TikTok mainstream. 

Byron admitted to searching TikTok for more bite-size pieces of the trial. He also mentioned the competition between Instagram and TikTok. Katie still relies heavily on Instagram Reels and doesn’t see the platform slowing down anytime soon, which is good news for The Broke Agent.

“TikTok is the epicenter of internet culture. Because of that, it’s gonna be insanely relevant, across generations, for years to come.”

Chris Smith

How to Increase Link Clicks

Next up is the BAM article by The Broke Agent: “Three Ways to Get More Link Clicks on Instagram.”

Step #1 – Always rename your link with a call to action (CTA). 

Step #2 – Set up your link. Use something like a cover photo to introduce what you’re talking about. 

Step #3 – Try to avoid putting multiple links in the same story.

Another tip: Use stickers & gifs to point to your actual links (arrows, etc.)

Chris agreed Eric’s advice is spot-on, adding that 89% of campaigns with a CTA outperform those without one.

Chris’ Books

Katie recently shared Chris’ book, Exactly What To Say, co-authored w/ Phil M Jones – on her Instagram Story. And now, Chris’ newest book, The Conversion Code (theconversioncode.com), is available on Amazon.

Watch the full episode to enjoy the whole conversation.

Have any topics you’d like us to discuss next week? Post them on Discord.

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