KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Scalling Your Business in the Digital Era

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

Just showing up to places has been providing me a lot of great opportunities to meet people and be around to certain stuff. I think the scripting process has been the overall game changer for me. If you don't have that support, live to your true purpose. Be that person that you wish you had. Welcome back to the Reveal podcast. I'm your host, Jessica Nieto. We have a young, dynamic entrepreneur in the studio today, my friend, Otis, Jackson the third, founder of 3X digital. This isn't going to be any conversation today.

It's a deep dive into the world of how choosing the entrepreneurial path is not ever the easiest path. And the same applies to getting started with content creation and coming out of your comfort zone to be you. You will learn about the power of persistence and perseverance during this conversation because Otis is a content strategist guru with a story that is packed with lessons on pushing beyond boundaries. Whether you're an introvert stepping into the spotlight or an established entrepreneur looking to revamp your digital presence, Otis's insights as a digital content strategist are gold. Let's dive right in and discover how you can apply some of these strategies to your own entrepreneurial journey. Otis, Jackson, welcome to the reveal podcast. I'm so excited

have you in the studio. Welcome. Hey, and I'm happy to be here. Otis, so funny how we met. We actually met in person, but we got connected through Facebook, one of our favorite platforms. And we connected doing what we do best, which is building deeper connections, building relationships in this industry. We'll get more into what we're calling the industry. But the industry of content creation. And so, Otis, you are the owner-founder of 3X digital. And we got in contact through DMs, really. We were following and engaging in each other's content. But I reached out to you and said, I want to hear more about your story and had to, of course, invite you to the podcast so we could share your story with my audience. So thank you for being here. Give us a little bit of

juice on today. Tell us about what you're working on now and where you're going as a content strategist. So right now I'm working on pushing more of my content out, just getting some information out on my thought process to help businesses take that. And so, they can use that in their own strategy to grow. And also, starting off, I started a year ago. I go right into getting reps in and providing that information as a service to clients right away. But to build my own, help myself build my own brand to reach more people, I just got to start

putting more content out of myself and with that, providing that information. So tell me, from a year ago from today, I'm excited to highlight a young entrepreneur. You are truly embody the spirit. of an entrepreneur because at any cost, obviously you have to juggle a lot of things, but at any cost, what you said there was that you want to help, you want to help more people. But you also want to lead by examples. Hey, I can do your content. I can help you with a strategy, but check my content out because that's like the proof right there.

So how do you, as a young entrepreneur, business owner, how do you stay organized with where you're putting your focus, divided between your content and people? picking up new clients, all the things. It's been a challenging tax so far, but it's something in the last two months I've been able to get a grasp on. Early on, I did get a lot of reps of providing content. So I developed a system for myself of streamlining, working for my clients, so I can block out to about two, three hours a day to either script my content and filming and putting it out.

I think the scripting process for me has been the overall game changer for me. So that way, when I go to record, I know exactly what I want to talk about. I know the whole purpose of the video. It takes the guessing out of it for me so I can just push it out in record time and then so I can focus on providing value for the clients that I have. I love that. And so this audience is specific to everyone inside the real estate industry, but many real estate agents. And I know we met in person at an event where it was primarily real estate agents. So what is some of the first advice when you connect with a client? What do you walk them through in terms of why strategy is important with creating content? Just where the environment of social media is definitely a place where

people connect with people. And the first thing I will say is what do you represent? What do you want people? What is the energy that you give to people? What are you about? Not necessarily the business itself, but you as a person, how do you connect with people? How do you draw people to you? And then now, okay, how do you combine it with the business? Because it's not, I feel as most entrepreneurs of businesses when they approach social media, they just want to post about what they do and what they do and what they, but not necessarily the connection of how to communicate with certain people. You can use social media of how you connect and talking in person. You can bring that same energy and same voice of social media. And it's about connection.

And it's about sharing with people why you do it. I think it's Simon Sinek talks about, right? People don't buy what you do. They buy why you do it and how you can convey that message to people. So you attract people that believe in similar things, have similar core values. So you're doing content strategy. Let's talk a little bit more about you as an entrepreneur. That's what we love to highlight here at the reveal podcast is revealing not just the success story of how you're building a successful business, which we could talk about all day long, but more about where you got stuck, where you felt frustrated. And I noticed I was checking out your older social, like your older self, younger self, but older version. And you were quite a football star in high school. And what I

noticed is that you had a lot of love around you, a lot of family. Not everybody has that. And it's something that it seems you were blessed with that you shared with me. You just love your family to death. Absolutely. What advice? could you give an entrepreneur that doesn't have that level of support? Because we all face challenges. But without that level of support, what advice could you give them to build those people around them and build that around them? Energy attracts. So if you don't have that support, live to your true purpose. Be that person that you wish you had. And those type of people will attract. Just stay true to your purpose. because it's a lot of negative things that get drawn to, but stay on your path and figure out

what a lot of stuff means to you and stay true to that path. Even with just having a support and just being able to meet people like you, I've just been able to, that's just been a model that I stuck to just as I've been going out to the world by myself and away from family and everything and having to make the connection. Like I went to the whole, I went 12 hours away from home to the East Coast to my grad school, by myself to a whole other area. And I was just like one thing I wanted to stay true to myself. And I attracted the right people, the right mindset,

just having a conversation. People side, that's anybody that doesn't have that support, just stay true to yourself. And the people that you wish you had will come to you. I love that. Now, I'm going to call you to the table on this one to go a little deeper on that advice because it's absolutely true. They will come to you.

But you, I know for a fact, put in the work to put yourself in the rooms and the places for those people to attract those people. Let's really break down that strategy. Give us an example. Okay, these are the kind of people I want to be around. This is what I'm trying to attract. This is who I'm trying to network. And then go. How do you get started? Absolutely. So I'm going to give a real life example of how you said, we met each other in person for the first time. That was an event, hour and a half away from me. I popped up on my Facebook where I was at, I had just started my business. Real estate is something that I said I wanted to learn and get more knowledge on.

So I saw an opportunity where it was a real estate event. So I just showed up. I didn't know who exactly was going to be there, the type of people of anything. I just know that it was a chance for me to learn something from people that is in the business of doing it. And I feel like that's the biggest thing for me. I want to learn about people that's actually doing it. And then I get there and I meet you. I meet a whole bunch of amazing people. And I'm just like, wow.

I'm like, this is exactly where I need to be. So the big thing for me is anything that I'm interested in. I know I have a goal after. I just show up. I just show up. And that's just the biggest thing for me. Just showing up to places has been providing me a lot of great opportunities to meet people and be around and certain stuff.

So it's just identifying what I want. And when I have a chance or opportunity to go and be around certain places, I make sure sometimes it's awesome. Sometimes it's not. But it's just one of those things like I'm going to keep showing up. That's so real. Sometimes it's not. You're like, this got weird.

I'm leaving. They're not all going to be great. Right, right. I love that. And so it's almost like a diet, right? If you want to be this new version of yourself, you want to create this success in your business, you've got to add these certain things to your diet. And one of them is you've got to go and get in those rooms so that you can, number one,

you're talking about being in a forever learning attitude, right? I'm always learning. I'm always wanting to learn new things. And I'm wanting to be around people that have either already achieved what I want to achieve or have mastered what I want to know more about or who are also interested in the same things that I'm interested in learning more about. Absolutely. So I love that.

So you talked about just jumping on Facebook, Eventbrite, community pages, finding an event where you can go and network with people. So that's a number one. That's easy. Now let's talk about next step. And you shared something with me in a previous conversation when we were on the phone. That was super special to me. And one of my purpose is I really want to have a good impact on people.

And that could be intimidating. So like for you, for example, you have a deal. degree or you've gone to college, right? And you've actually learned about being a content strategist or whatever elements of that. It can still be intimidating when you're leading people, right? That you're leading them with good information. That for me, yeah, because if you lead them down the wrong road, it can have a very negative impact on them. And when we first met, you shared something with me that I don't often get to hear because you don't always hear from people and you're so sweet to share it with me that I made an impact on you because you're more of an

introverted type of person. So what advice would you give for the entrepreneurs that are that introverted style and how exposing yourself to people in this way in terms of getting in these rooms to hear things? What advice could you give that introverted entrepreneur? and I don't just talk to people. Like you, as I mentioned before, you were the first person that said anything to me. Like you said, hey, a quick conversation again. Like, I'm introverted, so I didn't expect any to get spoken to. I'm just trying to get to the table and see the event.

But you made it a point to stop me and talk to me. And that was something that was huge to me. And that was a game changer mentally for me because it was like, You have a contagious energy, very bright. And then also, I didn't even know you were a speaker. I didn't know any, I didn't know you were a speaker or anything. And I got up there and seeing you speed, you gave a great presentation. And I was like, a lot of people that give presentations, they're not so quick to be, to talk right of the way.

And it was just awesome to see that you were like this amazing person to do that. And that just just taught me like, yeah, you just never know who you're coming across. A conversation can go a long way. just hearing, talking to people, it can be your best, it can be your best friend. You don't have to do everything yourself, just meeting people. And a lot of people are there to help. And it's me just being introverted. I'm always, I feel, I know a lot of introverts feel like you have to do everything yourself.

You can't really rely or you don't want to reach out to people from help. You feel like, okay, like, I just want to, I want to do this. I want to do that. But knowing that if you're trying to get some places, you have to be extrovert. You have to meet some places. So it's just about just about. It's being comfortable with being uncomfortable. And if speaking and speaking with people is being uncomfortable for you,

it's the greatest uncomfortability to be a... It's the most joyous uncomfortableness. Well, you just have a contagious laugh. When we first connected, the second time we connected over the phone, I could talk to you for hours. We were laughing and having a good time. It's so funny. One thing that's really stumped me in my journey has been my own perception of what,

not just what people think of me, but just my value that I have to offer to connect the people in a deeper way. And I think that's something where you don't really know what other people are seeking. And often times, people don't know what they need or what they want either. And so you won't know until you get into conversation. Absolutely. And it's like one of those things of being an entrepreneur. Like you only can go as far as what you don't know.

I mean, what you know. So it's like speaking to people. And also it was just crazy for me to be not wanting to be to go talk. And I was going to a networking event where I wanted to learn. So it was just like, so it was just also I'm so happy that you did stop me. Come on. Come on. Hey, Otis.

Come out. You were like hiding. You're trying to hide. in plain sight. Absolutely. You were like, hey, I see you come here. I'm like, okay. I just broke you now.

I'm like, oh, this is here. So it was like one of things. Thank you. It takes all kinds, though, right? For me, another thing that's used to hang me up a lot in my journey was that I felt like I was a lot. I'm like, oh, my coming in hot for people sometimes. And it'll turn people off.

But that's actually one of the reasons why I started enjoying speaking. I was invited to speak. I don't know how many, I don't know, I'm going to count many years ago it was, but however many years ago it was the first time that I spoke, I was a mess. And many times after, I was just huge fear of speaking. But what I've learned that's changed it for me is that if I ever stop being nervous, then I shouldn't be doing it because it's important to me.

It means a lot to me. I'm excited. But the other, the selfish piece of it, the part that I loved was that when you do public speaking or you present or have any type of authority over a topic, like when you have a microphone, which is why you have to be careful, right? Good information. But when you are given that opportunity to speak to people, I don't have to go introduce myself to everyone. People want to talk to you. People want to learn more about because people get to know you a little bit, right? And so going back to content and storytelling and being our authentic selves, right,

2023 word of the year. But I think authentic wasn't the word of the year for no reason. Maybe it seems cliche or cheesy, but it's really through a lot of hard times that people were going through in those past few years that coming out and being vulnerable and sharing your story is part of how we can heal a lot of stuff and how we can grow collectively. So you've been putting yourself out there. You've been growing this business. Take me to a place where you just wanted to say, forget it.

Forget it. I'm going to get a job. Has that happened? Yes. Yes, plenty of times, actually. Okay. I'll probably say before I got my first high ticket client, because what I do, like, I bring it as a high ticket service.

That's how I place my value. I bring as a high ticket service. And I'm in a small town, literally 60,000 people. So it was just hard to sell a high ticket service when I know when I see the value in it and other people don't see it. I was getting frustrated because I'm like, I see how great the potential. Not even just how great of what I do was just the opportunity for other business to partaking it. And I want, again, I'm more about I wanted to help. I wanted to help.

So people weren't seeing the value. I was getting told. Yeah, I don't really see the value in it. Value in it and everything. So I'm like. They didn't know what they needed. Yeah, they didn't know. And that's what I took it upon myself.

So I had a quick, it lasted like very short, but I did have a quick moment where I'm like, this is taking longer than, this is taking longer than I expect that it's harder. I don't know how to convince people that what I was doing. What I'm doing is valuable. And then I just had to look at the bigger picture. I'm like, at that point, I'm only four or five months in. I was like, I don't even get, that's no time compared to a lot of people doing years plus to they get to a point where they're doing something.

doing what they wanted. So I had to just get out my own way and realize that, okay, what can I do to make this situation better? I wasn't communicating the way that communicated value. I didn't know how to speak to people. I didn't know how to communicate the value or something. I just, I know how to tell people about it. So at that moment, I think that was about right before the Juneteenth event, I just got into learning. That was a turning point for me where I had to just learn conversation, storytelling, just so I know how to communicate. Kitchen value. Exactly.

Because I was in my own way. And even though I felt like in that moment when I was thinking about pivot, I was putting the blame on other people saying, oh, they just don't see the value. It's their fault. But meanwhile, it was something I could have did better. And that's just being a better communicator. Wow. That's probably number one advice for people.

And as real as any business that you're in, you think, where everybody gets stuck is is blaming others. Oh, yeah. What can we do? What will we do? Oh, I love that. I want to stay there, but let's go into the communication.

So when you decided that there was something maybe you could do differently, you went to seek out a little bit of like skill, right? You wanted to polish your skills. You wanted to become a master of communicating your value or the value of what you were selling. So where did you seek that? Did you listen to one person? Did you listen to five people?

What podcast books? What did you do? So at that moment, the first thing was the Juneteenth event. What was said there, that resonated me. And then I got home. It was YouTube. Myron Golden was the first person I came across on YouTube. Gary Vanderchuk, just on the social media aspects.

But it was just overall self-help books. I definitely on YouTube, YouTube heavy. I'm like, I'm a hit on a YouTube heavy. It was definitely just listening to, I learned car sales, to be honest. Like, I was like looking at car sales video. And then just any online selling, just any opportunity because I was just wide-eyed. So I didn't want to, I didn't have any like specific like, I want to listen to this specific person. Like I was just trying to take out, take in all information and then just decipher, okay, what makes sense to me.

and aligns with me. So I just didn't want to just exclude anything and it could have been helpful. Like I learned from any and everybody. That's the key right there. So it's taking in all the information so you can expand your awareness so that you can create your own or define your own philosophy

and be able to articulate to yourself, okay, like I've got this arsenal. Like I've got some more knowledge. Now how am I going to execute what I know? Absolutely. That's key right there. because it's like not every vitamin or every prescription that's prescribed will work for everybody or solve every problem.

That's what I've learned is, and especially there's so much information out there. So you have to be careful. Like, I'm always willing to review or hear or learn information. And then you have to put it through that filter. Is this part of who I am? Is this aligned with my values? It's just my style. But I love what you said about the car salesman.

I loved and was addicted to lots of different little sales jobs when I was younger, but one of them, probably the most valuable because otherwise I would have never received this type of training was selling. I got an extra job. I don't know how old I was. I had so many jobs all the time between the age of 14 and my early 20s. So I don't remember the age, but it was the kiosk cell phone sales. Man, they had us go through the whole binder, the whole sales.

training, you know, all the things that chips. And the one tip that I remember, and I obviously don't use this exactly the way that they taught it or that I implemented it in that job. But as people go by, as they walk by in the mall, you wouldn't say, hey, some of them are like, hey, you want to try a sample. That doesn't work. But if you say, hey, Raiders, or what's up with that? Oh, I love that red on you. Then they're like, what? And then boom. And then you'd get them, you'd pop something out in your hand, something for them. touch or grab and then bam you got them and then that's it you know but you talk you never talk about cell phones and right that same thing applies though right it's that innate thing inside human beings

to get to connect to something instantly or not absolutely or to reject it entirely so talk to us about that as you're talking to a bunch of real estate agents or other people other entrepreneurs that or even staff. I always say entrepreneur, but I feel like anyone who has an entrepreneurial spirit, they may have a job right now, but we're talking to you too, right? We're not leaving you out because you have a job now. Talk to us about how to grab attention with content. Okay. It's just start of once you identify or hone in to who you are. I think that's the first step. You got to understand who you are, what you represent, because now it's just about how do you attention relate is about being relatable so if you're trying to be and on and on social media like

just bringing up the authenticity or word it's just being authentic it's just it's easy to pinpoint on social media if that's the real them or they're pretending so i think that's so to grab attention you just have to you have to be yourself because now it's just social media you have access to people all over the place from this background that do this, that do that. It's just about, again, being that going back to not trying to be introverted and being extroverted, you just have to put yourself out there because you're not thought, you have to have that mindset that it's a lot more people out there just like you. That had, that probably had the same experience, that probably had the same experiences

or experience something that puts you through the same emotions. Yeah. Absolutely. So you just have to tell your, you just have to tell your story and just communicate in your way. And the good thing about social media, though your content will get pushed out to those type of people and you will attract and you will attract that type of people. So it's just,

that's how you gain attention just by being your genuine self. That's why you just got the rise of content creators of, aside from the business, but like people that just document themselves getting ready for the day or going to the grocery store because that stuff that people do every day. They're not the only one that do it, but they just document it and show it and present to the world.

So it's just about how do you get attention? mention, present your personality, present you, present you have to be, you just present yourself, but again, it's about coming out your shell and showing the world, you. Let's talk about courage then. So the next step is you get it, right, you got to do it. You got to put yourself out there. You were in it, we talked a little bit about sports, and you got Bryant behind you. So tell me, what did you learn in sports that you're applying Being an entrepreneur. I know I see you light up because it's a special place.

For me, it's a direct correlation, a direct correlation. The discipline, just being accountable for your own actions, just sports like it's never, you're a part of a team and you have a job to do, especially with football. Like I played defensive back, either me not doing my job to the best of my ability, the team. It doesn't just cost me. It costs the team. So just having that mindset of when being an entrepreneur and when entrepreneur and growing a business, I understand it's a team and I have to be on point whether it's for my clients or it's for my team or my network. I make sure I do my job to the best of my ability. There's no, I don't believe in doing anything 50% is either all in or all out. If you're not going to do it 100%, you just don't do it. And that just stands from like my mom,

used to tell me growing up, like, if you're going to do something, do it. And that stuck with me through football and just the biggest takeaway, again, going back to the discipline, being an entrepreneur is, it's tough because you don't have any, it's all on you. You don't have anybody saying, you wake up without a job in the morning. Exactly. Like, whether you succeed, whether you put food on the table is all depending on you. And it comes down to discipline, just your daily habits. I feel like football, the daily habits of having to be somewhere at a certain time, being on time, doing stuff the right way, motive me to be an entrepreneur because that's just how I have to operate as an entrepreneur. I set my own schedule, but I have to follow that own schedule.

Everybody think being an entrepreneur is, you get to have your own schedule, you got this so much freedom. You do got it. But that's the downside of it too, because if you're not disciplined with yourself and attacking goals and just, that time, that can be your biggest down for them. It's so funny. How many entrepreneurs, one of the number one topics you ask them, what do you need help with? Time management.

And they don't have any gravity, right? There's no gravity. The key is exactly what you said is it's your habits. It's the tasks. It's where your focus is. And then the time problem solves itself. Like it becomes a superpower, right? Wow, I love that.

We talked about what you learn from sports, but let's talk about, let's talk about victory. How do you celebrate those milestones, especially when you're a solo entrepreneur? So until you have staff or people around you that want to celebrate you or peers, colleagues, clients, whatever it is, you reach milestones. Are you celebrating? Are you celebrating victories? See, that's, and that's what I'm not doing. That's what I'm not doing. And it's something I need to get better at. It's definitely something that, you know, transition from football. That's something that also stuck with me too. Just like, I always have the next thing mentality and it's okay. Something goes wrong. Okay, I think about it for two seconds. I figure out what happened,

move on to the next thing. How can I make it better? Same thing with a win. I might get happy in the moment, but if I were a couple hours later, I'm moving on to the next thing and trying to also learn from that also. Like, why did it go right? So it's just like, now, that just to not get caught up in everything. That's just one thing I've been trying to work on. Like when something goes my way, just celebrate that win, especially being an entrepreneur because it's something that you created.

So I need to appreciate that a lot more. I love that. I read in a book that when you create something, you're not taking anything away, right? You're creating more. So it's exponentially, it's never ending. But yeah, these are good reminders, though, to celebrate the wins.

I get really bad at it sometimes. Sometimes, especially when you create a lot of success, you could actually have more success than anybody has in months or a year. And yet you just brush right past it. You just keep going. Which is fine. I think it's sometimes like football, you win a championship. You win a championship.

And some of these things that we're doing as entrepreneurs, they're championships. Oh, they're championships. Absolutely. They're championships. And it's just so easy to just brush it up. And it's just like it takes. And just going back to support thing, I feel like that. That's why having just great people around you because sometimes like even if it could be the might,

something can go wrong out of the many things that went right. And I'm focused on, okay, what we're wrong, how to make it better. And my support and the man, you just did this and that. Relax. It's not like, just take a moment and breathe for a second. And I'm like, I'm so real. This is the reveal podcast. And you've been super transparent and vulnerable for everyone.

So I want to thank you so much for that. But what do you want to put out into the universe and share with the audience, something that you're working on, the value that you've been working on in terms of how you offer it and how you articulate it? How can people get in touch with you? What's the best way to get in touch with you? And if they want to collaborate or work with you or hire you, what is the thing that you offer? Okay. I'm going to start off with how to reach out to me. You can reach out to me on social media.

Instagram is at OJ3 and then I think everything else is I think I just, Otis Jackson the third. Otis Jackson, look them up. Yeah. And it's OJ33 because you're the third, right? Which I'd love to talk about another time. But it's at OJTHR E, E, or is it three E's? Three E's? Yep. Yep. Okay, so OJTHR E E E E. Three E's. I love that. Yeah. Okay. So that's Instagram and then Google. It's Otis Jackson, the third. Mm-hmm. And that's the way to find me. What I'm working on next, just putting more valuable content on there, just more about connecting, just giving information on how different businesses or entrepreneurs, creators can take advantage of social media. Like, one of the greatest things right now. You can use it the right way.

So my goal is to help people look at it from a different perspective other than just scrolling and just being entertained. You can make it work to your advantage. So I'll be posted content about how to do that. Reaching out to me on those platforms, just send me a DM. I'm on there. I love to have a conversation with anybody. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Just comment on anything like I'll or just send me a DM. We can talk. I love it. I learned so much from you every time we're connected. I learn a lot about content and what it takes to really make a difference and to make an impact on these platforms and show up as something unique and different. from everything else so that you can create some engagement.

So I'm excited. I'm also just grateful for our friendship, Otis. So thank you so much. Thanks for being on the Reveal podcast. I look forward to having you back. You shared that. But you shared that with me that this is the third time you've been a guest on a podcast. And we were joking and laughing before we got started about how you look at some of the old

stuff you create and you go, ooh, I want a rematch or I want to do it over. How did this one go for you? It did a little better. I did a lot better. You were amazing. I was like, I'm very self-critical. So I'm going to watch it and be like, man, let's do it again. I'm very self-critical. So I was like, but I definitely felt a lot better, a lot comfortable.

But that's thanks to you and just your energy. Thank you. Definitely been a playful for me. Oh, yeah. You made me feel very comfortable. Good. My favorite part is that every single time I have someone on that I think I know, a little bit. And then I learned 45 minutes an hour worth of more about them. And then makes me want

to invite you back as a guest again real quick. So thanks again, Otis. Look forward. And we'll have all of your social stuff down below for people to click on, follow you, stay connected and get some strategy behind what they're doing on social platform. So take care, Otis. We'll see you soon. As we wrap up this episode of the Reveal podcast, I'm reminded of a quote by Albert Einstein. imagination is more important than knowledge for knowledge is limited whereas imagination embraces the entire world stimulating progress and giving birth to evolution so remember every story we share every insight we gain brings us closer to understanding the vast and vibrant world of entrepreneurship don't miss out on the journey of collective growth and discovery subscribe now

hit that button below and let's continue to find strength and inspiration in our shared experiences. I'm Jessica Nieto, and I can't wait to explore more empowering stories with you in our next episode. Stay inspired and connected.