LeadingLane Podcast

Ashley Fredrick (00:00)
Welcome everyone to the leading that lane podcast. are fresh off of a conference. And as anyone knows, conferences are full of a boatload of information, sometimes a little bit of overwhelm and trying to figure out things to implement when you get home. But a lot of excitement, I think for a lot of people when they come home to so

One major thing that we covered, there was lots, but was a lot of content and being visible. And I think people are torn as to, you know, I think I saw a post the other day that was like, have to be a realtor, but you also have to do like 50 % content in order to stay relevant. So I think people are really struggling with.

Steven L Burch (00:22)
Thank

Ashley Fredrick (00:42)
know, the automation or how often do you post or is that the only way to be successful? So I thought that it would be a good idea to see how we feel about that. So Stephen, tell me what you think.

Steven L Burch (00:52)
Well, let's also say conference, there's a lot of people in. a lot of people in, which is great. But yeah, but I think really where, you know, like our take my takeaway is that it's all AI, it's all content, it's all this full structure. And I think really what happens is it's almost decision fatigue after you get back of like, OK, now what?

Ashley Fredrick (00:56)
Ha ha ha.

It's nice to be home.

Steven L Burch (01:18)
what do I have to go through my notes or I have to try to remember and have to try to piece it together. And I think people just then shut down. And I think that's kind of where people then have some guilt, if you will, of, I'm supposed to do this. I know I'm supposed to, but I'm not, because I don't know how, because it's overwhelming. So I think that, yes, content, you have to have content to be relevant because people need to be able to see you, right? Online is your resume. And I think that where...

and I personally have, I struggle with this. We've talked about this multiple times. I think that there's certain people that are overboard, showbodey, online, all about me, all about, like, there's not the value, in my opinion, that we're supposed to be delivering. So it's finding the happy medium, if you will, of what is it meant for you? And I think that's another key part here.

is even though that somebody else does the showbodey stuff or somebody else does, you know, three posts per day or whatever the formula is for them, that's their formula. That works for them and that's great. What does it work for you? What is your voice? What is your tone? What is your style? Like, what do you want to do that sits morally with you? And I think that once you truly do establish like, what is the message that you're wanting to deliver and what is the value?

value that you're wanting to deliver and does it fit that? And if it is a yes, then move forward. If it's a no, then move it to the side and don't even pay any attention to it anymore. So yeah, I don't know if I really answered your question. That's my rant on going for the content, but I know I struggle with it. I know that it's tough to, like how are people supposed to find me and hire me if I don't post? But also I get that ick of I don't want to be that sleazy salesperson online all the time.

What do I do?

Ashley Fredrick (03:07)
Yeah, think it

goes back to like the comparison is the thief of all joy, right? So like what works for someone might not work for you. think one thing that they focused on was more so of the value added content, which I do think is nice, right? Like if we can start posting stuff about, you know, how to increase value or how to, like, what does the current market look like? What do interest rates mean? Like, I remember I did one that like went over really well was when we had a hail storm and I was like, my gosh, like

Steven L Burch (03:11)
All right.

Ashley Fredrick (03:36)
You need to get people to your house. So no lie. went and looked at this house last week and I didn't know them by their house for me. They lived in the area where all the hill damage was. And so I was like, I'm assuming you have a new roof because of all the hill damage. he was like, no. Like our friends told us don't call the insurance company though. Your rates are going to go through the roof. So we didn't get a new roof. And I was like, well, so that's probably going to come up right. We're like,

Steven L Burch (03:50)
Okay.

Ashley Fredrick (04:01)
Maybe if I had known them beforehand, they would have seen my video and been like, oh my gosh, we should reach out. And I did have a lot of people who are like, should we call our insurance companies? Should we not? So I think trying to be more of a resource for people when things come up, I think that's how I would perceive the presence

Steven L Burch (04:17)
All

Ashley Fredrick (04:17)
to be. They talked a lot about the just listed and the just solds are kind of done its thing. I think that buyers and sellers still like to see that. So I think that I'll do it for that.

standpoint, but I do think if you can tell a story about the transaction is more helpful. Like it didn't just sell

Steven L Burch (04:32)
right.

Ashley Fredrick (04:33)
like this happened or, know, I think I have one that's tomorrow and it's my third time working with that family. And so that means a lot to me. So I think if there can be better content behind it, but you know, I've it with some agents that I'm coaching that I'll hop on their social media and I'll be like, are you an agent? Because like, I have not seen one post.

Steven L Burch (04:35)
Okay.

Right.

Ashley Fredrick (04:54)
So like if we're just trying to stay top of mind with our sphere and we're not doing anything, but I'm, guilty of it too. ⁓ you know, when it comes back to just, I never want people to think that I'm showboaty or that, you know, there's any type of brand in which a lot of people will do like,

Steven L Burch (04:57)
Okay.

Ashley Fredrick (05:11)
I hate the tech talks that are like, I made X amount of dollars this month. And to me, that's such a load of bull crap. Cause it also doesn't talk about how much you spent. it doesn't talk about.

all the disasters that happen at midnight that people don't like to talk about or, know, so I think that a dollar figure has zero relationship statuses or, you know, whatnot.

Steven L Burch (05:34)
I think the big thing here too is like you hit the nail on head there. Your content, your value really is

Talk about the things that nobody wants to talk about. Talk about the things that everybody's shy or is hesitant or doesn't know necessarily how to approach it. And what that's going to do is one, it's gonna set you completely aside from everybody else. Everybody else is gonna do the same old thing, right? The just old, just, you know, whatever, just listed type of things. But talk about the pipe that broke last night.

And the sump pump went out, right? Like talk about the frustrations that you have at work, you know, with your property manager, not you, Shawnee, never you. But talk about these different things that like, whatever it is relevant for you, that people are gonna be like, huh, that's really happening. That's really going on. Talk about your compensation. Nobody wanted to talk about that.

But once you are able to talk about it more and put that out publicly, I think what that actually is doing is it's increasing your confidence. It's making sure that you're educating them as well. And this is when somebody else asks you a question about compensation or whatever the issue is going to be, whatever the topic is going to be. You're now ready and prepared because you've already done your research and you've already made your post about it and your stance about it. And so now you can have a full blown conversation versus probably your competitor is going to be.

all tripped up and not knowing how to really move forward and navigate that conversation.

Ashley Fredrick (07:03)
It's because people like to try to get an idea of who you are before they work with you if they're not already your clients. It's funny that you brought up this sub pump failure thing. So one thing we were talking about earlier was just, I think there's a time and a space for content, but I still think that it is a relationship based business. And if you have really good relationships with some of your clients, that's how you'll have repeat. So one of my clients, this was probably five years ago.

They had maybe moved in their house and it was maybe like two weeks after and their sub pump failed. And they called me, you know, not sure what to do. And I think I obviously sent Ben over to take care of him. But when Ben was there, he was like, like, you do know that today's Ashley's birthday and we had plans, but she wanted me to come over here instead. And they were like, my gosh, it was your birthday. You didn't have to do anything, know, blah, blah, blah, blah, right?

Steven L Burch (07:33)
Yeah.

Thanks, Ben.

Ashley Fredrick (07:54)
They've been my repeat clients. So now I think I've sold them like three other properties. They're selling their properties with me. So that had nothing to do with how often I was, I was posting on Facebook. It's because like I went out of my way to help them in a point where I didn't have to. So I think that there's still a sense of being there for your people that will trump some of those other things. I think that that's really more for like finding new people or reminding people you can talk to in a while that you're here to help them.

Steven L Burch (08:05)
No.

Right.

And I wrote down meaningful, right? Like these aren't just post and pray type of things. And this is when we talk about value and it's not just what can you offer them as far as, you're the market right now, stats, blah, blah value. Like you are the value. You as the person, you as the agent are the value. When you have meaningful relationships with people and they feel heard,

Right? Seen, they feel acknowledged, welcomed. Like that is what makes the connection in the relationship. like by you, you know, going out your way, sending Ben on your birthday, they know that you've valued them, right? Like you value them. So now that relationship is even stronger and it's continuing to evolve in a meaningful way. And so therefore now they're going to be your biggest cheerleaders.

you have to have the relationship because now they're going to be your biggest cheerleaders and they're going to be referring more and more people to you because how much of a value meaningful relationship you have with them.

Ashley Fredrick (09:24)
Right. I wrote down relationships with people and I was actually thinking about this the other day. I think we have to talk about it more in our value proposition is it's actually the values that I have with contractors, but to me are worth like it's waiting gold. when we're in the middle of a transaction or even for like listing prep, you know, lot of contractors you'll call, say like they don't have time. And I normally say like,

Just tell them that I sent you and they'll make time for you. And they kind of laugh and they're like, my God, all I had to say was Ashley sent. And they were over here. I'm like, right. Because I take care of them. They take care of me. They know they're going to get paid. I send them people on a regular basis. like those relationships, we had one where, you know, the inspector called out a roof and. Well, roofs are a whole situation, right? And I called my guy and.

Really, it was matter of if the didn't get done in a week, then the transaction was dead in the water. We just happened to have a 62 degree day. Well, guess what? That contractor dropped everything they were doing, got that roof taken care of, and we moved on to closing. Like those are worth picking the right realtor that has those connections.

Steven L Burch (10:29)
100%. You know, I think it's going back to the decision fatigue and figuring out what do I post? What do I do? I think probably the mass majority of us, we know the relationship world. We know

the how to do a real estate transaction, right? Like we know how to do all of that. Where the decision fatigue comes into play is how do you now showcase that in a manner that doesn't come off with an ick and doesn't make others feel any sort of way? And I go back and forth on this because really social media is there for you. It's your social media. So what you want to post and broadcast, that's all that should matter. If they don't like it, there's that unfriend, unfollow button that they can do.

That shouldn't have any bearings on anything of what is going on here. But I think sometimes that we don't really necessarily see the things that others see in us, right? Like we don't see these, how that relationship with the contractor is such a big important thing or how writing out, know, the thank you cards and these thoughtful things, like we just do it. We don't slow down enough to say like,

That is something that is very unique about you. And that is what you should be showing. So I think that it's maybe actually having a conversation with a close friend, colleague, family member. Like ask for, not that you're looking for validation, but ask for the unique things about you that stand out. And yes, it's gonna feel a little bit weird because they're gonna talk about you, right? But those are now the things that you can make the content about you because other people are saying it about you.

And that's a case study that you can turn around and post.

Ashley Fredrick (12:07)
You we've talked about a content wheel before. I think that that would be a great part of, know, one of the pieces of the wheel would be like, what do people think? And you have to get that. And then there's like your content for, you know, a week. I think it goes back to, you know, people don't like to see themselves on video or whatnot. I think I've just gotten more in the habit of just posting and going. And we could critique ourselves like all day long, but I'm pretty much like,

Steven L Burch (12:18)
Mm-hmm.

Ashley Fredrick (12:34)
one and done unless I really F'd up. But people want to see like you tripping over, not like they want to see you tripping over words, but they want to see that you're not like a scripted, et cetera. They just want you to be you. And I think that if you think of something, you know, just tape it quick and maybe you don't post it that day, but you post it when you have time to, to bash it or whatnot. But I think just getting real with people is what people want at the end of the day.

Steven L Burch (12:52)
Nothing.

I think that's right. People want real. That we're in a world of fake. Look at all the AI. Look at all the videos that are. We have no idea if it's true or not like people want authentic people and that is your content. Right, that's the gold. Authentic content, authentic people. One thing that I learned at the conference and I've always heard about it, but never utilized it. Still haven't jumped into it.

but is the Notebook LM. Now, like that's on my list to get to. Markie Lemon, right? Like freaking love her. She's phenomenal. Her energy is amazing. I've seen her multiple times. I think we talked about her multiple times on here. I will never forget a couple of years ago that I think one of the first times I saw her, she basically said that, you know, I'm a competitor. We're all competitors in this room.

Ashley Fredrick (13:25)
down order to ask.

Steven L Burch (13:48)
I'm showing you the blueprint. I'm showing you everything that I do. And why am I doing that? Why am I getting up in front of my competitors and showing them my business plan? And she was like the hurt. What she said was one percent of you are actually going to do it. I was like, oh, that that one stung a little bit. One percent of you are actually going to do it. So she doesn't mind sharing everything because she knows nobody's really going to pick it up and run with it. And so I'm going to run with it.

Ashley Fredrick (14:03)
in Kansas City.

Steven L Burch (14:18)
I'm going to do notebook LM. Um, but she was able to show like along the lines of content, you know, using RPR, uh, using different resources, chat, TBT and throwing everything together. And she was able to stack a full blown, uh, workflow, an automation workflow from front to end that then produces. Podcast, uh, different posts, infographs.

all of these different things and was able to have the output of exactly how Markey would as an individual, like freaking phenomenal. And I think that's where, you know, last time we did our podcast, we were talking about the importance of going to conferences. And even if you weren't to do, you go to every single one, even if you have the breakouts and whatnot, like that is one piece right there that if I'm struggling with content that now I can implement into my business and there's no reason

Ashley Fredrick (14:52)
Yeah, it was.

Steven L Burch (15:13)
that I can't create content, I think the real thing question would be, can I post that content? What is holding me back from posting it? And I think that looking in the mirror right then and there to be able to see what is the real issue might get through some bullshit stories that you're telling yourself.

Ashley Fredrick (15:30)
Yeah, I think that, it's just a matter of getting out of your own, your own way. And I think that realizing that, you know, AI and all these extra tools are just supposed to be like an add on like, right. They're supposed to be a value add so that it can save you time. It can help you with ideas. Cause it is like overwhelming to think about what should I post? And I don't want to look just like someone else and what can I do so that people stay engaged? I think using those as.

tools, not to necessarily replace you, but just to help cut time. You the other thing that the other one that I downloaded this morning is it called like Wisp Flow. So it's like a video, like you record yourself. So it says that, you know, like recording yourself for, that's like four times faster than typing it. So I think it's called the whisper flow or Wisp.

Steven L Burch (16:07)
Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm

Ashley Fredrick (16:20)
flow, but more or less like starting to try to use like an actual dictating so that you're not actually typing things and that it'll save you 4 % of your time or whatnot. So I thought that was an interesting one.

Steven L Burch (16:24)
you

I mean,

that's huge, right? Like in the whole buzz around AI, like if you haven't got it yet of understanding that AI is not coming, it is already here. We are here in AI if you're not utilizing it, if you're not adapting, if you're not trying to learn, you don't have to go through and try to

master in a day. There's no way because it's constantly evolving. But if you are not evolving with it and you're getting stuck behind on the train, you're not even getting on the train. You're still on the side of the street there. Like you need to be able to jump on there, right? Like you have to jump on learn and be able to move forward. But AI is not going to replace people. What it's going to do and what it is doing is actually force multiplying.

It is amplifying the people that are actually utilizing it properly. And that is where the difference is going to be. You're going to be left behind for sure. And your competitors are going to go way further, way quicker than they ever have because now they have tools and resources available right at their fingertips to be able to make sure that they're going to get from point A to point Z way quicker than ever.

Ashley Fredrick (17:43)
I think, you know, like if someone's just looking for somewhere to start, mean, you know, Claude has now kind of came into the picture, like I still am using chat. I think there's probably parts for both, but just start somewhere, anywhere and start with, you know, one thing, if you will, that you want to try to master or one of the things that they mentioned was just think about something that you do repetitively, like what is something that you do all day, every day, or maybe it's something that you always do for

Steven L Burch (18:05)
you

Ashley Fredrick (18:09)
Listings or something you always do for a buyer. Can you tell chat like this is what I do for every single thing and like can they make something for you? Like is it a video? Is it a daily reminder to you I just had that conversation with our admin about some dates and deadlines and it's something she's supposed to be doing daily. So I just put it into chat and this is what you've been looking for. This is what you've been struggling with and you need help every day to check on that and it will tell you what it should or even it will be your own reminder. So we're just trying to find ways to make.

it so that we're more efficient or that we're not forgetful of certain things.

Steven L Burch (18:42)
So I have been a huge fan of Claude, jumped into it and for the last month or two really just going all deep in it. So one of the things I think that like it was eye opening for me is being able to tell it to go through my emails, go through

my Fireflies, go through my Zoom transcripts, go through my Notion board, like go through everything, all the tools that I use every single day and do an audit and make sure that anything that I commit myself to saying that I'm going to do, that you note that, anything that somebody asks me to do, then that is noted and making sure that if I am checking off anything that is on my to-do list, you're reviewing it to see my status on it.

So it does that every single morning and I get a morning, I think it's called morning brief of here are the things that we're adding to your notion board that you said that you're gonna do. We'll go ahead and check this one off. You did a meeting with this agent so we can go ahead and mark that off. Like it's basically being my assistant, if you will, and making sure that I'm not over committing something and dropping the ball. And then also that helps me with my staff being able to say, well, you need to check in with.

Shawnee on this because she has a deadline coming up and then we haven't seen anything happen yet with a notion. So it's like my eyes and ears without me having to manually be there. And with Claude, what I've learned is not tell it what I think it should do, but rather what is the outcome that I'm after. And then once we tell it that outcome that you are after and then the struggles that I'm having, right, then it figures out the plan.

versus before, like in chat, what I was doing is trying to talk it through what I wanted. So once I figured out that and changed my mindset from chat over to Claude, holy hell, I've automated, I don't even know how much stuff, which is freaking amazing, but were there times that I was frustrated with it, that I didn't understand it completely, like that I did not give it the correct prompt 100%. But that's okay because I'm learning.

I have to give myself permission to be able to allow myself to learn.

Ashley Fredrick (20:54)
Yeah, I mean, I'll have to take some of your notes on Claude, but that was one of the other things I think that they really focused on at conference was your prompts. And then a lot of people are just like copy pasting and like, make this sound better, make this sound different. But if you could really like hone in on your prompt, like as a top reducing real estate broker in central Wisconsin, I need this to communicate X. So like the background that you've given it will obviously change the outcome.

Steven L Burch (21:20)
Something that Markie, like mind blown, did when she was talking about her stuff is she took the 2025 NAR buyer and seller, what is it called? Yeah, it's like, it's the guide, like basically all the statistics and everything else that they come up with. So she took that and threw it inside of chat. Okay, now you are the central Wisconsin top producing.

Ashley Fredrick (21:31)
book.

Yeah.

Steven L Burch (21:46)
and then now we know where the buyers and sellers and how they're performing and statistically where they find you and what they want and blah, Like, it legit puts everything together and spits out the end result based off of the most likely buyer is going to find you with this and here is how you should do it with your tone. Here's your nice little content. Like, ingenious, amazing.

Ashley Fredrick (22:09)
Yeah, I mean, again, I think that it's just a tool that can be used appropriately. And then along with that, right, just remembering that like the day to day functions of showing up for people and being there, like when you tie the two together, I think that that's really where you can stand out as an agent.

Steven L Burch (22:25)
And that's where it's to enhance you. And I think it's to get you from behind the computer to face to face and belly to belly and enhance what you're already knowing what you're good at doing. So I love it. I know there's even more and more AI stuff that's going to be coming. But I think it is very, very, very important to not lose sight that in this business, in this industry, in this world, it's all about people and helping one another.

and not to get lost in the technology, AI side of things.

Ashley Fredrick (22:57)
Yeah, I just had a conversation with someone that I think it's the time to like, go back to the basics. Uh, so yes, you're using the things to enhance you, but at the end of the day, like, what were the basics as far as. Talking to people updating your CRM, making sure that the compacts are in there, you know, all the things that we kind of forget about when we're running, you know, a hundred miles an hour. Um, so I think that.

Yes, the basics of what got you in real estate, talking to people, being seen, going places, and then now using AI to enhance that really is a way to set yourself apart.

Steven L Burch (23:32)
Absolutely. Well, I think this is a great topic for sure. And of course, if you have any tips on all about AI, so send me any of your wonderful prompts that you have or anything that you utilize to get things off of your plate and lean into AI, send it on over. I want to hear about it. I want to learn about it. And as always, we appreciate you tuning into the Leading Lane podcast.