In today's episode we are joined by two guests, Tej Singh and Ellie McKay, and they tell us about an incredibly powerful form of leverage, Social media. Want to find out how you can use social media to benefit you? Make sure to tune in.
Social media is an incredibly powerful form of leverage and as we all know, wealth can only be built through leverage. In this week’s episode of WealthTalk, we have two guests - Tej Singh and Ellie McKay. Tune in to find out how you can use social media to build your reputation and attract investors to work with you.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:
>> REGISTER FOR THE WEALTHBUILDERS ACADEMY WEBINAR
>> WT85: Resilience and Relationships w/ Ellie McKay
>> ‘On A Mission’ Podcast [Ellie McKay]
>> ‘Tej Talks’ Podcast [Tej Singh]
>> Follow @wealthbuilders on Clubhouse
>> REGISTER HERE FOR FREE RESOURCES ACCESS
If you have been enjoying listening to WealthTalk -
The purpose of wealth talk is to educate, inform, and hopefully entertain you on the subject of building your wealth. Wealth builders recommends you should always take independent financial tax or legal advice before making any decisions around your finances.
Christian Rodwell 0:19
Welcome to Episode 107 of wealth talk. My name is Christian Rodwell, the membership director of wealth builders. And I'm joined today by our founder Mr. Kevin Whalen. Hi, Kevin.
Unknown Speaker 0:28
Good morning, Chris. Good to be with you today.
Christian Rodwell 0:30
Yes. And today, we are looking at the topic of building your reputation and finding investors through the power of social media. And we've got two guests on today.
Unknown Speaker 0:42
Well, social media is such an incredibly powerful form of leverage. And we know for sure that wealth can only be built with leverage. And this is an important one to be considering. But like many forms of leverage, Chris can be double edged, can cut both ways. So it's important you listen to the contributions from two great people from alien from Ted, and listen to the consistency of what they say. And then we'll wrap up with some of the key points at the end. But fascinating, though, to see how people have created incredible reputations have attracted investors, which has helped them build not just the wealth for themselves, but the wealth of their investors as well. So like all good wealth builders, were solving problems. We're entrepreneurs at heart always solving the problem of somebody else.
Christian Rodwell 1:36
And we know early Well, of course, Ellie's featured previously on wealth talk, and you hold a clubhouse event every week with value as well, Kevin, which has been building really nicely and last few months.
Unknown Speaker 1:47
Yeah, wealth Wednesdays, and we've really enjoyed it. I mean, Ellie's just a wizard this and so we work very well collaboratively. And so yes, we're experimenting. I mean, it is an experiment, but we're doing it every Wednesday, call it wealth Wednesday. So if you're on clubhouse tune in for that, but and also you get to kind of interact and ask questions. So you don't just hear a podcast, you get a live podcast straight to your home, and you can interact with us if you want to do that. But that's me nearly not not you, Chris on this one. That's because you're not an apple user. Right? That's right.
Unknown Speaker 2:23
Yeah. But
Unknown Speaker 2:24
Android's are coming for clubhouse, I think even this month, Aren't they so should be very slow. That's going to increase. But like all social media, you've just got to make decisions about what you want to do, why you want to do it, give some commitment of time, and energy and preparation, and it should pay dividends. And certainly now, I think Ellie is very clear that she's getting positive results from clubhouse. And you know, we're doing the same. And the podcast is another form of leverage to Chris. And I think we've had a bit of a milestone, too. I mean,
Christian Rodwell 2:57
we have we have just hit 100,000 downloads. So thank you so much for your contribution for listening every week. And we know we're downloaded in over 100 countries now, Kevin. So yeah, it's a great honor. For us, that was a really nice milestone to to achieve.
Unknown Speaker 3:16
Yeah, and we we didn't set out to achieve 100,000 downloads or under countries, just coincidentally, we just really decided that, you know, the journey that we're on, which is to be a guide to people and inspiration to people to help them build their wealth, we know how difficult life is, and why so few people make it and we wanted to make a difference. So it wasn't for monetization, we didn't expect that the podcast would lead to money, it doesn't lead to money. What it does, is it demonstrates our commitment, and it demonstrates our value, and our values. And and I think what that's doing, Chris is building the reputation of wealth builders and the reputation of you and the reputation of me, one podcast at a time. And in reality, that's one of the key lessons to learn that once you make a commitment and you show up consistently, then that's what you need to do in order to know keep true to your passion and your purpose. And so I'm pleased we're continuing to do that. And we will continue to do wealth Wednesdays and we'll continue to do the podcast. So let's hear what the what both le interridge what their results have been and what their views are.
Christian Rodwell 4:24
Yeah, so just before we head on over to our guests today, just want to remind you that we are holding a webinar on the third of June and that is to show you the launch of the brand new wealth builders Academy. So the evolution of our stem cell wealth program where we've been helping our members move from a place of financial insecurity to security to independence. And if you'd like to have a look inside and see all of the new changes and updates that we've made to the academy then do register by heading on over to wealth builders.co.uk forward slash Academy launch. Okay, right. So focusing On step five today, which is leverage leveraging technology, leveraging relationships, and let's head on over to our conversation with lm, MCI and tach Singh. Ellie, welcome back to off talk today.
Unknown Speaker 5:12
Thank you for having me. Christian. Great to be here.
Christian Rodwell 5:14
Yeah. So is Episode 85. Back in December when we last spoke. So how things been going since then for you?
Unknown Speaker 5:21
Yeah, pretty good to be honest. Well, we've had another lockdown halfway. So a lot has been tainted in the world. But in terms of the business, then yeah, I can't complain at all. Christian. It's been a very good year so far.
Christian Rodwell 5:31
Yeah. So I will definitely put the link to the show notes in the show notes for that episode. So anyone who wants to find out about your story and your journey to success early, they can check that out. But today, we're talking specifically about how you have used social media to basically find investors and raise investment money for for your projects and your business.
Unknown Speaker 5:52
Yeah, it really is a subject I'm hugely passionate about, as you know, and I could talk about it all day. So you might need to keep me rain, then.
Christian Rodwell 5:58
Yeah. So let's, I guess, let's start from the beginning, you know, how did you first realize that social media was was an outlet really, for you to be able to refinance?
Unknown Speaker 6:07
Well, my primary platform is LinkedIn. Through that platform alone, we have raised millions of pounds in terms of private investment, and attracted angel investment, joint venture partners and everything in between. But if you just said that, to me four years ago, I would have had a very different outlook. For me, LinkedIn was just an online CV. But when I actually went to do some property training, which was almost four years ago, one of my mentors said to me on day one, that you're a marketer first, and everything else second. And that really resonated with me on quite a deep level, because ultimately, people don't know who you are, then they're unable to do business with you. But at that time, I had very limiting beliefs about raising finance, I had limited experience within property. Although my husband and I had started investing in 2006, we actually had a very little success and had quite limiting beliefs to suppose around the value that the we could offer. But by taking action, and by starting to post on a regular and consistent basis, enabled me to start to understand the platform. I think perhaps where we have different from other people is that we've always treated social media as a job from day one, as opposed to an inconvenience or a bolt on to the eye see in inverted commerce, the proper work. And I think when you treat social media as an opportunity, rather than convenience, that's when the magic can really happen. Now, we hear a lot people talking about your clients or your potential avatar getting to like, know and trust you, and that happens through consistency. But just to dispel one of the common beliefs within property, specifically, a lot of people believe that you need to have an established track record before you can go out and start raising those funds. And I'm just here to say otherwise. Because by positioning ourselves as a preeminent authority by sharing our own journey, and by sharing our insights into the industry, and just sharing from a place of authenticity without actually raised hundreds of 1000s of pounds in private investment, before we picked up the keys to our first property. And as you know, Christian, over the last few years, we've went on to build our own multimillion pound portfolio. And we've done the built wealth for hundreds of our clients as well. But certainly from the start, it was a case of going deep on the platform, mastering the platform, seeing what works as well, because people don't like to be continually educated, and really just taking it from there.
Christian Rodwell 8:43
Okay, so so so what was the platform? What were those first steps that you took,
Unknown Speaker 8:47
in the first instance, it was LinkedIn, you will get mixed opinions on this. But for me, I think it's always better to master one platform. And then of course, you can move on to the other network quite established on on Instagram and on Facebook. But we do tend to find that you have a different audience. And all the platforms are really good for different things. And there's all sorts of opportunities that come from social media. And quite quickly, we realized it was about so much more than raising finance. But in terms of the discussion today, we do still find that LinkedIn is our primary platform for raising funds up until very recently. And as you know, because I collaborate with Kevin on this, but we also use a new social media audio app, which is called clubhouse. No, that came to the UK January this year. And yeah, we found that actually, that said, outperforming LinkedIn in terms of raising finance as well. So just another one to chuck into the mix for the listeners.
Christian Rodwell 9:46
Okay, and for anyone who's listening now, Ellie, who kind of knows that they need to get out there get themselves out a bit more on social media, but they, you know, they don't really know what to do. Is there a particular strategy or is it just a matter of doing something
Unknown Speaker 10:01
I think I don't want to sound too wishy washy about this because there absolutely is method to the madness. But that that only comes from, to perfect anything, you have to have some data, you know, you have to have things to test and measure. And that only comes from Stark. And so you really do need to start now and get perfect later. Look at what's working. And when I say I went deep on the platform, I would literally immerse myself for hours, if not days, looking at what, what was getting engagement, because ultimately, you can have the most informative video or an article in the world. But if you're not getting eyes on it, then you know, it's sort of falling on deaf ears, so to speak. So the first thing I would say is you need to have your short window in order and buy your short when do I mean your profile, your bio your about section that needs to be looking great. And then you need to really sort of identify what kind of content is actually getting traction, what's getting engagement. And actually, some of my best performing posts haven't been property specific. They may be about the entrepreneurial journey or the fact that we're trying to spin please during lockdown with a young family and multiple businesses and the sort of content that people can really relate to. But what you might want to do then is follow that up whether a call to action on your next post whilst you've got eyes on your profile. Ultimately, these posts can be getting 10s, if not hundreds of 1000s of views. So your every time that you have a highly engaged post, you've got a lot of connection requests, you're gaining a lot of followers. And it's really through doing that strategy that I've built up over, I think I've got around 35,000 followers on LinkedIn. But if I was just doing a lot of industry specific content, then I absolutely wouldn't have that following. And it is quite interesting as well. Because if you look at my social media, or any of my social media platforms, you'll see plenty of inverted commas social proof, you'll see professional videos, you'll see me walking around just with the iPhone phone with my husband mark, you'll see the the professional videos as well as the kind of amateur ones. But actually, they don't tend to be the posts that generate the most amount of inquiries which will go against the the conventional wisdom that they tend to hear within the industry. And actually, in 2019, we generated 4 million pounds in private investment from the platform. And that was without sharing any social proof in inverted commas. So yeah, just to say to the listeners, there's many different ways that you can do this. And there's many influencers of all got varying degrees of success that have found approaches that work from them. So I suppose it's about doing something that you're familiar with, people follow people that are going somewhere, and if you can get that across in your social media, whether that's through your written copy, whether that's through your videos, and then you know, ultimately, you've just got to find something that you feel comfortable with. And, of course, these these skills do need to learn to be unique, cultivated, we talk about your your elevator pitch or prefer to, you know, perfecting the art of public speaking. And when people think about public speaking, they often think about keynotes or standing in front of rooms with hundreds of people, but actually is any form of communication, whether that's interviews like this, whether it's a video walk groans that I was referring to earlier. So yeah, you absolutely need to master these skills. But I think in the first instance, it's just a case of getting comfortable with, with a platform that feels aligned with you and your message.
Christian Rodwell 13:40
And, and and in terms of frequency. If someone's thinking now well, do I have to literally spend every day on there any tips for them in terms of like, how often they need to be present?
Unknown Speaker 13:50
Yes, I mean, it's like anything, there's no easy solution to this, everyone wants a magic bullet without putting in the work. And social media. As I said before, it has to be treated like a job. And this is where I see so many people going wrong, they will go on a campaign, they will be reasonably aggressive. They may post every day or several times a day for a couple of months, they'll just be starting to gain a bit of traction. But because they've not seen any tangible results as in money in the bank, they lose faith and they sort of back off a little bit and then a couple of months later, they might start another campaign. Whereas I think where we've excelled is through the consistency and the compound effect of taking that daily action. So to answer your question, Christian at the moment, I only post maybe once a day, sometimes twice a day, depending on what we've got going on or what message I have to share. But at the start it was a lot more frequently it was two or three times a day because I really wanted to dominate people's headspace. But again, I suppose it depends on what kind of level your listeners are playing. If you're just looking to raise funds for a single battle air or an individual project them Perhaps you don't need such an aggressive strategy. But we never got into this to play small, we were always looking at raising big sums of cash and connecting with large amounts of people. So yeah, your strategy may vary depending on what you're trying to achieve. And what does the process look
Christian Rodwell 15:16
like for you early, you know, after someone that has contacted you. So, you know, the social media, I guess, is just the first step of the kind of building that trust and relationship with someone and it might take a long time, right? If someone just seeing your posts before they actually reach out? Do you have a process that follows that?
Unknown Speaker 15:32
Yeah, we absolutely do. So we have a link to our web form. Usually when we do our calls to action, so people get the will complete that form. They then have to, which is just a basic fact, fame form investor fat fame form, we have a few qualifying questions we ask for for proof of funds and proof of eligibility to be able to invest in the first instance. And then from that point, we send the calendly link and book the call. But the point you made there was very interesting Christian, because actually what we tend to find through, we use LinkedIn as the example because that's, that's where we have raised the majority of our funds, but it can be very demoralized. And in particular, when you start with social media, because it can take time to gain that following and to start gain that traction and the momentum. But quite often, by the time people reach out to me, the message usually goes something like this. Le I've been following you for the last 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, I absolutely love your content. And I'm really keen to do something with you. I've got x amount of money, how do I sign up? And it's a very different kind of call to a cold website inquiry should we see? Now interestingly, question, and I really want to emphasize this point to your listeners, I always take five to 10 minutes at that point just to see whether that inquiry has engaged with my content over the last couple of months, and 95% of all the clients that we've on boarded through our social media platforms, they don't engage they're not walk home, my diehard fans or followers, they're lurkers, the watch in the wings, sometimes they're not even first line connections. So don't get demoralized and despondent, when you aren't necessarily getting the results that you want to achieve. Social media just like property is not get rich quick, people ultimately want to know that their money safe, they want to know that they can trust you. And the easiest way to sort of do that is through longevity, and then turning up day after day after day. And also, you know, we mentioned different approaches and different things that work but and the word authenticity, which does get bandied around a hell of a lot. But for us, we think it's very important to share a sort of warscroll insight into to what property development actually entails. And as you well know, Christian, we get thrown grenades, and it's how you deal with those grenades. And some of our best performing posts in terms of on boarded clients have been where we've shared some of the struggles, like not not so long ago, we had an instance where we are not going to the details, but we had to get rid of the builders mid job, which is something that you do not do lightly in the middle of an HMO. But we shared that journey with the, with our audience, we shared the reasons behind that how we came to this conclusion why it was no longer a sustainable working relationship. But then what we did as a business to, to to overcome that turn that project around and actually have a really positive outcome. And we on boarded so many clients from that people that have perhaps been on the cusp of wanting to reach out to us and the the can actually see how you resolve the problems as well as just sharing the the sort of shiny pictures of picking up a new set of keys, it should show in the real life behind the scenes insights into to what can go wrong, as well as what can go right in property.
Christian Rodwell 18:52
Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that earlier. Because, you know, we're talking about the benefits of social media here. Have you found any downsides at all to kind of putting yourself out there? Is there anything someone should be aware of before they start this?
Unknown Speaker 19:05
Yeah, I mean, you've got to be realistic. I think the style of my content is very effective, because I am quite vulnerable. In terms of my posts. I mentioned, some of my best performing posts aren't actually property related. I'm not a wallflower in real life. And I'm not a wallflower in social media. So what you see is what you get, and I call sort of strong minded people that tends to divide opinion it's like Mermaid, but by being my true self online that attracts the right kind of people to me. The downside of that, sadly, is when you do put your head above the parapet that does open you up to abuse, abuse, trolling, whatever you want to call it. And I think we've got to be careful as well. And what how we defined crawls because someone having a difference of opinion, tears, definitely not my definition of a troll. We're in a democratic state and I'm always open to conversation. But yeah, when you put yourself out there, you are going to To open yourself up to some criticism, and I think that one of the reasons I talk about the mindset so much in terms of my content is because it's very relevant. Without the strong mindset, you're building the foundations on sand. And that's as much for the social media side of the business as it is to the property development side of the business. Because it's a, it's a hell of a roller coaster, and you need to keep mentally strong, you can have one the where you might get 10 inquiries coming in, and then you might go two months without, without receiving one single inquiry. So I think it's being mindful of that, building up that resilience, and then just having that consistency.
Christian Rodwell 20:37
Yeah. So anyone who is still on the fence, barely listening. Now, if you were to just summarize the strategy, the benefits, what would what would you say to them?
Unknown Speaker 20:46
I mean, it's transformed their business, there's no two ways about it. We've funded all of our projects through private finance that was raised through our social media, and then of the referrals and the recommendations and the compound effect of that. And the opportunities that also come off the back of that Christian, like, getting on podcast like this, and speaking at events is all really under the social media umbrella. Because those opportunities wouldn't exist, how people not knowing who I was in the first instance. So yeah, be consistent, be authentic. Don't tell any lies, if you're at the start of your journey. And you do have limiting beliefs around raising finance. I can give you example, after example of people with no track record that are going out there and raising funds through demonstrating their knowledge and, and ultimately people buy from people, property, investors will always do their due diligence. So if you're sending them a deal, you know that they're going to be rigorously testing that anyway. So don't try to portray that you're something that you're not because you will soon come unstuck. But don't wait until you've got that established track record, please. Because if we waited to do that, I mean, so let me just give you a quick example, when we did our property training, which was nearly four years ago, now, we actually bought two properties within the four days of our property education, which I think you'll agree is pretty quick work. But the way the legal system works and various complications, we didn't pick up the keys to those properties for five months. But by the time were picked up those keys, we'd already raised several 100 1000s pounds of an investor finance, which enabled us to when to keep going and to keep that momentum going.
Christian Rodwell 22:24
Yeah, no, it's fantastic, Ellie, and really enjoyed hearing your insights today. So thank you, and I can't let you go without asking how can people follow you on social media if they want to find out more about what you do?
Unknown Speaker 22:36
Well, I get about Christian, you will find me on Insta on LinkedIn on clubhouse. I've got a YouTube channel, also got a podcast, the on demand podcast. So feel free to let me across all the platforms. I will.
Christian Rodwell 22:49
Thank you, Ellie. Thanks, Christian tach. Welcome to wealth talk today.
Unknown Speaker 22:55
Thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it. Happy to be here.
Christian Rodwell 22:58
Yeah. And I'm really, really pleased to have you on today. And of course, we're specifically looking at how people have used social media to raise investment today. And and I know you've obviously leverage the power of social media to good effect yourself. So So why don't we begin to hedge by Well, first of all, give our listeners a little bit of background to yourself. So so they know your story?
Unknown Speaker 23:20
Sure. So I started in property about I think it was two and a half years ago, I mean, with lockdown who knows what day and time and, you know, decade we're in, it just feels like one big collapse. So I've been doing it for you know, a few years now. And I purchase or have been purchasing single let you know, sort of passive in, you know, kind of quotation marks the Vita let's using the Brr method. So you know, I pull out all my money. Since the first deal of which I put in about 30,000 pounds of my own money. I have not used my own money. Since then. It's all been investor funds, which has built the portfolio up to currently 1.3 million. Finally, they're all remortgaged. They're all cash flowing. And that portfolio is kind of chapters kind of there. At the moment, I'm moving into kind of development conversions. And I also currently have a flip project going on at the moment, which is, you know, just to kind of normal refurb in a very cute old cottage. I'm also an author. I've got a book on Amazon, The testhorse Guide to property investing. My second book is about to be published. And our public speaker and podcaster. Yeah.
Christian Rodwell 24:31
So when was it that you realized that social media could be a platform to to help you actually raise funding?
Unknown Speaker 24:40
I think it may be seen other people kind of do it or say, Oh, hey, I, you know, I found an investor on social media. I found my business partner on social media. So that was one thing. I think he kind of came. I think it kind of came naturally in the sense that I thought, Okay, well hold on a minute. posting all this stuff, people are seeing my journey. They're connecting with me, they're seeing the highs, the lows, everything going wrong, everything going, right. They followed me from when I first started out, so they can see that, you know, I had no clue. And I slowly learned and made my way through. Surely this is building trust with people. Okay. Yeah, this must be. So you know, I sort of kept going, kept going. And then, you know, kept getting more followers and more listeners, and I thought, well hold on a minute, you know, I'm getting hundreds 1000s of whatever it was listens and views and, you know, followers and stuff from sitting here in my office, and you know, not really going anywhere. But I go to a networking event, I got to speak to 20 people, and you maybe meet to for coffee, and then you know, who knows how many you have to meet before someone invests. And I thought, you know, what, this, this online thing is kind of doing that networking job for me. So I had to kind of slow realization that maybe I should start talking about, you know, that I need money, and I'm working with investors. And let's see what happens. And yes, it was, it was pretty much organic. And then, you know, I raise money from it. And then I was like, Well, okay, this clearly works. You know, although it was only one time back then I was like, Well, here's my evidence, here's my case study to prove to myself that this works. And then it kind of snowballed from there.
Christian Rodwell 26:17
Yeah. So so so did you kind of think in your head that you you had to have some sort of strategy around this? Was there a specific way that you were posting and we've kind of planning things out? Or were you just putting stuff out there?
Unknown Speaker 26:30
No, I think, you know, early on, and I would say, to an extent, even to this day, I'm just putting content out that is useful, or that kind of helps me, you know, if a builder does something wrong, which is often, you know, if I can go and rant about it on my on my story, that's kind of like therapy for me, you know, because I can talk to, you know, 1000s of people who all understand and experience what I'm experiencing. And, you know, it kind of helps you get through these challenges and problems. So a lot of the time, it's just me sharing my life and my reality. You know, sometimes, yeah, I'll be lucky, right? You know, like, I did a beginner's week, a few weeks ago, okay, every post this week, is going to be about, you know, just stuff for beginners, absolute, you know, beginner stuff. You know, I just did some remortgages, I'll post about that. So a lot of it is like, what, what's happening in my life at the moment, and sometimes it's strategic in the sense of let me post like, I don't know, top three tips for raising finance. But no, there's no real strategy for like, you know, oh, I want to raise money. Let me, you know, post this up, I think I put subtle hints like, Oh, this was investor funded, you know, I have to pay this investor back late because of COVID. Or, you know, I dropped things like, you know, like that in, but there's not a Huh, what can I post and say, to raise money? Because I think it will just, you know, come across the kind of wrong way. Yeah, I don't think you need to necessarily be so explicit or obvious about it.
Christian Rodwell 28:02
Yeah. And what were the platforms that you you've leveraged the most, we decided, because social media, obviously, for someone listening now, who isn't using social media, it could be quite overwhelming, because there's just so much choice. So how do you define which platform you are going to use?
Unknown Speaker 28:18
Yes. So I think it was, you know, what is a pure and you know, I do this based off, like, I knew that I do a lot of things based off of efficiency, right? So am I going to get out more than what I've put in isn't going to be an efficient use of my time. So, you know, with the platform's I think, naturally, I gravitate towards Facebook first, because there's a big property community on the, you know, like, 10s of 1000s of people across multiple groups. So, you know, it's the place to be right, like, if you're gonna walk into a room full of investors, you're basically gonna walk into Facebook. And then I think Facebook, just for whatever reason, I think, because you can't schedule posts on it, like you can with Instagram, just kind of, I sort of lost my way with it and didn't post as much I'm still active on it consuming and commenting and liking but, um, you know, it just didn't, it just didn't kind of attract me as much. And then I looked at LinkedIn, and I just thought he was a little bit boring, a little bit stuffy. You know, I know people, you know, I know, you're going to have someone who does really, really well with LinkedIn. But for me, my personality, and it just didn't suit me. Instagram was the kind of winner and is the winner because it's just such a good balance. It's very visual, which means, I mean, I love writing and I can write so you know, but it is very visual, which means you can do a lot with very little, it supports, you know, almost all, you know, types of media. Now, they will guides on it, they got reels, you know, they're kind of, I'm sure they'll do some sort of audio thing, you've got lives, you know, and there's just so much in it that, you know, isn't on well, other platforms and so easy to use. But of course, they do by purpose, right? They want you addicted, they want, you know, to push out your way and you know, blah, blah, blah, whatever. So, like, for me, Instagram wins out. And like Facebook, Instagram has such a broad range of people who are on it, you know, like, Instagram is, you know, just anyone could be on it, you know, it's not niche, it's not specific to any sector or anything like that. So it kind of opens up your market for Well, your investor could be a postman, your investor could be an engineer, your investor could be anyone, you know, anyone who's alive, you know, within, obviously reason. And so, Instagram is just the most efficient use of time for me, you know, even just the direct messaging system as well. It's just so much easier. So, you know, for people starting out, look at your efficiency and look at what gives you the most results. Now, you know, if you're doing development, and you want to JV with an experienced person, or you know, you want a kind of serious investor, are you going to be on tik tok dancing around, you know, doing teenager stuff? I mean, you probably could raise money, because there's so many rich kids these days, but you'll probably know you're probably going to be on LinkedIn. So I think, you know, choose what's appropriate to you and choose what's efficient as well.
Christian Rodwell 31:18
Yeah. And for someone listening right now, Ted, they, you know, they don't really know kind of what the process is, could you share a little bit about, you know, how you communicate? How do you build that relationship and that trust after that initial point of contact?
Unknown Speaker 31:35
Yeah. So I suppose there's, there's kind of two ways here, the first one, which is an easier, well, it's the hardest thing to do, but it's easier in my position, and for anyone in my position is, I don't do this have this thing where they say you need seven touch points before you make a sale, or before someone invest in you. I make five to six of them, without actually speaking to anyone meeting them, knowing their name, knowing how they look at anything, I've done, five or six, off the bat. And the sixth one comes along and people say, Ted, you've been following me for X amount of time, what did you ration? What's the rate? What's his security? Okay, I'll get back to your, hey, I want to invest those the majority of the conversations I have with investors, but I don't people listening to think it's easy, you know, people just appear, they can and they do, when you have a brand, when you're consistent when you've been doing it for so long. Of course, you know, people are gonna appear. And people, you know, are, yeah, people are gonna be sort of interested in what you're doing. And I think that's, you know, that's the kind of way I do it. Now, obviously, there's the other way, which is, you know, you meet people you speak to them, you, you build trust, through showing them case studies, showing them an investor pack, you know, going out to dinner with them, you know, some people meet each other families, you know, it's just like building a relationship with, with anyone in business, I suppose you're inviting them to the events you're hosting. But social media really is the easiest way to do that without lifting a finger.
Christian Rodwell 33:11
On a pick up on one of the points you made there consistency, Ted, and a lot of our listeners now will recognize you from your podcast, Ted Talks, and how big a part has that played in? in raising your profile?
Unknown Speaker 33:27
Yeah, so I think it's been huge, you know, what, what sort of other way could you reach, you know, 1000s 10s of millions of people globally, from one location with very, very minimal hardware and software and technology. Like, you can't. So, you know, it's one of these things where, you know, yeah, there's no other way I could do that. And it isn't really that hard, you know, to kind of do in terms of the doing the technical setup, etc, etc. And so for me, you know, it's been absolutely central to kind of everything. So, you know, people listen to it every week, you know, whenever they want, however they want. And they hear my voice every week, you know, mentioning that us investors mentioning that I'm doing this deal. And they all forms part of these, you know, seven touch points, along with, you know, other social media and YouTube and things like that. That basically means that, you know, like I said before, those six touch points are done before they ever speak to me. An audio I think, is quite a powerful form. Because, yes, it's not as strong as video because you can see someone's, you know, moving their hands and their body language, but you really do connect with someone through their voice.
Christian Rodwell 34:42
Yeah. And and as you say, showing up every week is so important, because I think, you know, there's some people who perhaps will jump on the social media bandwagon and then give up pretty soon because they don't see results. So you have to keep going with this.
Unknown Speaker 34:57
I mean, 100% I mean, I think when was it was it like Christmas time around, then everyone seemed to start up a property podcast have a little fancy launch older people goes, and then a week to three weeks later, oh, Where's everyone gone? Just tumbleweed, you know, like, so it's easy to be like, yeah, I'm gonna do it, but then making time for it being consistent editing and getting it up there doing the right things, you know, it takes a lot of consistency, which a lot of people don't want to do, because of the instant generation we live in, they don't see instant results from it. And it is a slow burner, because because it's not a social media, it's kind of a medium of communication. You know, you can't like with Facebook and LinkedIn or Instagram, you can kind of be social, and bring people to you and reach out to them and find them and do ads and all sorts of stuff. podcasting is pretty sort of dry, you know, in the sense that if I have a podcast, the only way you can find it, is maybe buy some, you know, keywords, and me sort of do some stuff there. But really, I need to say, hey, Christian, I've got a podcast, can you listen to it? Like, I've got to say it 2000 people like you. So, you know, it's kind of a compliment to another type of social media. And if you're not big on another platform, then it's going to be even harder to get people to the kind of podcasts you know, so it is, you know, it's not the easiest to do as a standalone, I would not recommend it as a standalone, at least not when you start up.
Christian Rodwell 36:25
So if you were to kind of look back now tadge look at the social media world and how it's impacted you in terms of being able to raise finance. Again, just to emphasize for people listening now the benefits of embracing social media, what would you say?
Unknown Speaker 36:41
Sure. So I think one of the biggest things is, is helping others. You know, because, you know, like someone listening to this podcast, we're helping them and then me in you and I listening someone else's podcast, they're helping us. And so I think it's about like, you know, we're gonna get help from people. So let's then put it back into the ether, and kind of support each other and kind of continue that community. Secondly, you know, you're going to raise investment finance from it, if you're doing it correctly. And if you're doing it ethically, and you know, you're kind of doing it consistently is the kind of biggest thing. Thirdly, it's good fun, you know, property can be really lonely, especially when you work alone. And yeah, you know, we just need to, yeah, sometimes just have someone to talk to, or, kind of rant to or share our experiences with or, hey, you know, we're good builder in this area. And, you know, as much as you know, social media does have negative sides. for mental health. It really can. It absolutely connects us especially in a world of, you know, social distancing and lockdowns.
Christian Rodwell 37:47
Yeah, what do you think holds people back edge?
Unknown Speaker 37:52
I think it's, like with anything, it's sort of fear and fear of the unknown. I mean, people say, Oh, I'm not really good on video. And, you know, it's a really basic response from me. But you know, when you were one years old, you couldn't talk, you know, new one years old, you couldn't use a computer you plucky learn how to. It's the same thing. You know, if you can learn to buy property, you can learn to do whatever your day job is, why can't you learn to be on video, and then that same sort of fear is, you know, our social media people gonna judge they are, it's gonna take so long that fear is a big big blocker that holds people back. And it's irrational. And I think, also another sort of thing, as well as fear, is kind of just like, you know, we live in this instant gratification world where you look at someone's, you know, 20 years in business, and it's your day to and you're like, oh, why am I not there? Why am I not driving? What they're driving? Why am I not? You know, raising money, like, you know, Teddy's in a few hours, why am I not doing this? And it's like, yeah, cuz you're day two, we're on year 20. So people just want things instantly, you know, across the board all over the world. And then that just leads to people being like, Oh, well, tells us I got a post for nine months, consistently, every single day. And I don't want to do that. And then, you know, they just don't do it. So yeah, fear and just not being bothered, I think are two of them. Yeah, yeah.
Christian Rodwell 39:20
Great words to leave on there. I think playing the long game is, is the word in all respects there. So to be good at anything, you have to be consistent, you have to play the long game. So, Ted, I really appreciate you sharing all of that with us today. And if someone wants to connect with you on social media, where should they head to? Yeah, so
Unknown Speaker 39:37
the best place to get me is Instagram. So it's at TED Talks. But you know, if you type in TED Talks property into Google or into your podcast player, you're something of mine should jump up and appear.
Christian Rodwell 39:48
Guy enjoyed listening to those different points of view there, although definitely some some similarities between what Ted and Ellie were saying there Kevin,
Unknown Speaker 39:56
were very much so I think we can pick out some of the common things consistency, Authenticity, although I think somebody thought that was an overused word I don't think it is. I think if you're genuine, if you're authentic with people hear your voice, and I think when when people hear your voice, they hear the tone, they hear the intention. It's not just sort of sales copy, if you like, they hear who you are. And I think that's really very important to both of them. And they're both excellent communicators, aren't they in their own way as well. And I just loved loved the point Ellie made, which was, you know, you're a marketer, first and foremost. And then everything else comes after that. What a point. That's a great point.
Christian Rodwell 40:37
Yeah. So before we pull out some of the wealth lessons, let's head on over to trustpilot. And pull out one of our latest reviews. And I'm looking at mine from Andrew, who has said, I've been with wealth builders, since I consolidated my various pensions into my company SAS in 2019, they will help for getting the paperwork sorted and training completed. And I've since had two really good strategy sessions with Paul since then, which have given me confidence, I'm on the right track. They've supported me using loan back and stock investments. And I'm now looking to bring some commercial property into the SAS. All in all very happy so far.
Unknown Speaker 41:14
Wow. Well, that's Paul Brooks, of course. And his team, who were on last week, or at least a few weeks ago was the backwardness as right. And, you know, it's just a great thing. It's another form of leverage Chris's net, turning old pensions into new, flipping them from where you are, to where you want to go. And this was a another good point that was made by our guests, wasn't it? Really, you got to tell people where you're going?
Christian Rodwell 41:39
Yeah, that's right. And I think very similar to the wealth journey, Kevin, we know, things that hold people back, overwhelmed, you know, bit of fear, just lack of knowledge, not understanding things. And that's kind of you know, what our guests were saying, as well in that social media can be learned, you've just got to start small, and then build your confidence from that,
Unknown Speaker 42:00
too, right. I mean, I think the case in point is no here, both of them saying exactly the same thing, but slightly different applications, different results, different combinations of ways they're embracing it. But none of them really had a clear strategy at the outset, they just made a commitment that it just made more sense, particularly if you think about lockdown, actually, you know, you can't network in a room anyway. And even if you could be think about the point that Ted makes, which is you can go into a room, not everybody likes to do that anyway, the network and meet 20 people, or do something online and meet 1000s I mean, crumbs, the the opportunity for leverage, you don't have to do an awful lot, you know, we just talked about 100,000 downloads, you'll have to do an awful lot, just make a regular commitment to do some thing, one thing, every 30 days, do one thing, just decide which one it is for you.
Christian Rodwell 42:58
And inside our membership program, we hold masterminds every month, Kevin, we're actually doing one for our members this week, can't we which very much is talking about, you know how to craft your story to attract investors. And Instagram in particular, which is the platform Ted used, really lends itself towards that, because it's very visual. In fact, there is a feature on there called Instagram stories, but, you know, understanding how to tell a story is going to serve you. Well, if you are looking to build up your reputation online.
Unknown Speaker 43:28
Yeah, what do you use Instagram, or whether the whole social media thing fills you with dread? It doesn't really matter. In the end, I think again, another good point, Tasmania both made some great points, actually, is to get people interested, you know, you got to tell them where you're going, which means tell them a story. So what do you craft the story? Inside Instagram? First of all, you got to craft it inside your head, like everything good happens twice, once in your head. And then secondly, when it comes to taking some action, to craft your story, certainly the mastermind we'll be doing this Wednesday, I think, for our group is you know, the we call it internally the hero's journey, don't we trying to solve the problem of somebody else who becomes the hero. And in this case, le interridge are trying to solve the problem of investors, you know, so what are their problems? Well, then got enough return on cash. They're frustrated and fed up with the roller coaster ride to the stock market. They're looking for something to do looking for somebody to trust, but they don't necessarily want to network in rooms. And even if they could, it's not their wealth dynamic. You know, not everybody wants to work the room, do they? Many people just quiet and I've got great stories to tell, but they don't want to shout it from the rooftops. They'd rather do it very quietly in social media, which is just an easy way to do that. So So I think it's As long as you can be clear on what it is you're trying to get the message across and clear who it is that solution is aimed at, then you're telling a story. And we just love telling a story. And we love and wealth builders being the guide. And that's what tells Janelle you're trying to be as a guide to other people to not just share with them what they are doing, you know, as individuals, but also how if they work together, they can both achieve something that on their own, neither of them would achieve, you know, so the investor doesn't get a great return unless they get their money working, and the property owner doesn't get more property unless they find more money. Because in property, we know, you have a country you're in buying real estate, buying property is expensive, and everybody runs out of money before they run out of ambition. So you have to find a way to put funding fairly and squarely in your plan. And the best way to do that is to tell people the story of the journey that you're on, and you don't need to be too far ahead of other people, as Ted was mentioning, you know, not to be so well established that it's untrue, you don't have to be some sort of Guru, the opposite because you know, gurus don't often tell all of the warts and all stories do they. But both alien teach both said the same thing didn't know that. Sometimes some of the best posts they do, or when they're ranting, or when they're saying, hey, this went wrong, because that's what really happens in the world. You know, you try and build your wealth, things will not go according to plan. They never ever, ever go according to plan. And that's part of the journey.
Christian Rodwell 46:44
Yeah, just being being honest, being vulnerable, and focusing on helping others and we know in business, you have to create value have to be helping others. And I guess it could be easy Kevin, for someone who wants to raise money to to kind of come at it from the other angle and be very much about me, me, me. But that's certainly not the right way to approach it.
Unknown Speaker 47:02
Well, yeah. And then we had a, we had a review just recently, didn't we, from Steve was a to said, you know, you've who was in exactly in this position. And he said, you know, you've helped me focus on the customer, not me. And so many people in, in property in particular, because they're focused on the deal, the opportunity, they focus on themselves, they don't focus on the outcome for the people. And, you know, we try and help those people to, to see that because we know magic happens when people do connect, collaborate and do good work. But in the end, Chris, you've got to do good work. There's no point having a great social media presence if you do not deliver. So you have to be willing to build your reputation, not just one post at a time. But also one relationship at a time and one project at a time, you've got to consistently give great value to others. And if you do that, the world will help you. If you don't do that the world will find you out.
Christian Rodwell 48:00
I think that sums things up very nicely, Kevin. So any further points that you picked up that you think are pertinent to share before we sign off this week?
Unknown Speaker 48:10
Well, I think I like to point or barely making the relation to compounding, you know, I get the compound effect of doing something every day. And this is true of wealth, you know, also often all too often in wealth. People want to measure the result. They want to measure the result today, you know, it's like being a farmer and you want the crop to be ready a week after you're planted doesn't work that way. Wealth doesn't work that way. relationships don't work that way. Everything takes time. And so you have to delay that gratification of being worried about what happens on this post or that post. Remember, also early made a point about that thing? I think in our own unique style, she calls them the lurkers, you know, those people who kind of follow you from afar, but don't follow you up close. And then something you know, for whatever reason the the planets align, circumstances conspire, and you get to a place where someone says, Hey, I'm ready now. And they reach out, we find this in wealth builders to done we will have somebody will, perhaps hear a podcast or they'll hear a review, or they'll hear something and say, well, now's the time to get in touch. And they get in touch and say, hey, I've been following your podcast for this period of time, or I've been following you Kevin for this period of time, or whatever they're saying, but what we know is the consistency of doing many things well, but but binding that to the authenticity, and the integrity, unimpeachable integrity really, of doing the right thing in every situation never shortcutting anyone The only shortcuts we want on interact intellectual ones, to help people learn lessons. So I hope there was some great lessons from alien Taj. I certainly learned a lot. I'm not saying I'm an expert on it. These things you know, we use LinkedIn, we use the podcast, we're using clubhouse. I don't think we're, we're experts in Instagram, that's for sure. And it's interesting that he taught me a lesson or two. So I think that's just being humble isn't listening to what other people do, and decide whether you want to apply it or whether you just want to acknowledge that they're good at what they do and let them get on with it.
Christian Rodwell 50:20
So we hope you found that interesting and insightful today picks up some tips to help you along your journey. And of course, today is just one small piece of the overall wealth building journey from A to B. And if you'd like to see the entire roadmap from start to finish, then don't forget to join us on that webinar on the third of June. And you can head to wealth builders.co.uk forward slash Academy launch and register your place now. So thank you for listening today. Thank you, Kevin. And we'll catch up on wealth talk Same time, same place next week.
Unknown Speaker 50:49
Until then, my friend see you.
Unknown Speaker 50:55
We hope you enjoy today's episode. Don't forget that we are constantly updating our resources inside the wealth builders membership site to help you create, build and protect your wealth. Head over to wealth builders.co.uk slash membership right now for free access. That's wealth builders.co.uk slash membership