This edition of 20 Questions is coming to you from a modern Vancouver real estate Ninja. Introducing, Elisha Sander.
All-star REALTOR® and local real estate celebrity, Elisha Sander, brings a fresh and modern vibe to real estate in Vancouver. By visiting one of her online marketing channels, you can instantly grasp her engaging, visual brand.
We’re so proud to have modern real estate ninjas like Elisha as part of the family. Visit Elisha’s Kitsilano Real Estate Website.
Elisha has a dedicated and friendly personality that compliments her beautiful visual brand – none of which seems to have happened by accident or without planning.
We’re going to show you that personality below, but before diving into our 20 questions with this Ninja, I thought I’d give you a closer look at 3 of Elisha Sander’s modern real estate marketing victories.
Marketing Victory #1 Instafame
Elisha has one of the most stunning Instagram profiles that I have ever seen in the real estate industry. She seems to innately understand the rules of Instagram; her even split of personal photos vs. professional photos is a nod to that fact. But an even bigger nod is that her following of 7,326 people (when I wrote this) regularly provides her with 300 – 900 likes PER PHOTO.
Instafame was not an exaggeration… I could go into a long drawn out conversation about the nuances of her Instagram success, because there are a lot of lessons to be learned from Elisha. Instead of reading my words, just go check out her Instagram account for yourself and you’ll instantly understand why she’s better than all of us on IG: @elishasander
Takeaway #1
Instagram is a community, and until you begin providing value to that community you won’t see your numbers grow. I personally know agents who have been on Instagram for 5 years (before it was cool) but still don’t even have 1,000 followers and their photos still only earn 10 or 20 likes per shot. It doesn’t have to be this way, you just need to create a plan to provide VALUE through your images.
Just look at Elisha… she posts beautifully styled photos of a few different “categories” of things. Listings, fashion, self portraits, community photos, etc. Her audience knows what to look forward to, and knows the photos will be great quality! Elisha also engages with her followers and actively gets involved with the entire Instagram community. Instagram is a very very powerful tool for real estate agents in 2017 to create brand awareness and trust with their market – especially with millenials (aka potential $$$.)
Marketing Victory #2 Blogging & Backlinks
Much like on her Instagram profile, Elisha has brought some brand personality and transparency into her blog. It’s refreshing to visit a REALTORS® blog who doesn’t only post canned market updates from the board. Elisha’s blog gives you a glimpse into her lifestyle, into the things that she finds important outside of real estate. After spending 10 minutes on Elisha’s blog, you get a feeling for the talented, motivated, and REAL person that she is behind the real estate brand.
Check out my 3 favourite articles on Elisha’s’ real estate blog:
- Decisions, Decisions: How to choose a new ‘hood’
- The 5am club: why I get up before the sun does.
- Finding your path: If you see a fork in the road, take it.
Takeaway #2
Your blog is an opportunity for you as a real estate agent to give readers a look at who they could be doing business with. On top of being connected to your market, and understanding the business, people these days also want to get to know YOU. People don’t buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it.
Keep that in mind when you’re blogging and you might just come up with a strategy similar to Elisha’s. Give your audience a REAL reason to work with you, beyond the basics. I mean, we all hope you know how to do the technical parts of your job… it’s the WHY that we as consumers want to understand before moving forward. Give them the WHY on your blog.
Marketing Victory #3 Clean & Simple Branded REALTOR® Website
One surefire way to lose the interest of your visitors is by trying to overload them with information upon arrival. Elisha has taken a different approach to her REALTOR® website. Upon arriving on www.elishasander.com you see a very clean layout consisting mainly of hi resolution images. These images link you to the important areas of Elisha’s website, while maintaining the overall brand strategy and consistency she is going for.
The top navigation of Elisha’s website is equally as clean and simple as the homepage. Featuring only six menu items, you can easily access any area of her website. Everything is very large and photo-oriented, & captures the visitor’s interest without being daunting or scary. This layout also affords Elisha the opportunity to very easily swap her call to action images to update her homepage.
Takeaway #3
As a REALTOR®, your website is the central hub of your online brand. It needs to be highly optimized to convert relevant traffic into leads. Thus, it is where you should send all of your traffic from social media, ads, etc. But what happens when they get to your site and everything is a mess? Well, it’s simple. They leave.
If you’re looking to bring your real estate brand full circle, start by optimizing your real estate website for the traffic. Imagine who your audience is, then consider your brand. Now with those two ideas, begin to create a website experience tailored to your audience which also represents your business accurately. You don’t need to follow Elisha’s layout exactly, there are many ways to re-adjust your website so it caters to the right people.
That being said, Elisha is a local agent who has figured out what her audience wants, and is providing that experience to them whether they are on her Instagram, her blog or her main real estate website. Be like Elisha.
We couldn’t be more proud to have Elisha in the Ninja family. She is an agile and passionate Ninja who sees the world through an opportunistic and forward-thinking lens. She has created a brand that rings true to herself and resonates strongly with her carefully selected niche market.
A brand that has become so popular that she’s even got a TV show on it’s way! (stay tuned for that!)
I know it may be difficult to accept, but Elisha (to the best of our knowledge) has the same number of hours in a day as you and I… so I guess you should know that if Elisha can do it, so can you.
Without further ado, I’d like to let Elisha reveal a bit more about herself by answering our 20 Questions!
1. What are you most excited about for the Summer?
Time with my family on the lake in Kelowna!
2. What’s the last photo taken on your phone?
A picture of the TV – because Master of None was on and its the funniest show.
3. If you were an animal, which animal would you be and why?
I usually would say penguin, but I think a leopard because they’re beautiful and unpredictable.
4. What’s your favourite neighbourhood in Vancouver?
Kitsilano of course!
5. If you could start learning a new skill or take up a new hobby today, what would it be?
A laser technician! haha I love skin treatments, In another life I would have been a dermatologist
6. If someone was making a film about your life, which famous actor would play you?
Jennifer lawrence
7. What might that movie be called?
“What is she talking about?”
8. What are three items you want with you if you were stranded on a deserted island?
Can I bring my iPhone? music, a book, my mascara… just in case.
9. When you think of the word successful, who is the first person that comes to mind?
My boyfriend.
10. If you could erect a giant billboard in the middle of Vancouver with anything on it, what would it display?
A sign that says “I’m the best REALTOR® ever”
11. What is one unique ritual you have in the morning?
I watch the office every single morning while i get ready.
12. Who is one person you wouldn’t mind ninja-kicking?
So many. but seriously, there’s a guy who hosts a food show and I’d love to ninja-kick him.
13. Name three people (alive or dead) that you’d like to invite to dinner.
My grandfather, Oprah, Gary Vaynerchuck.
14. It’s Saturday at 9:00 pm: What are you most likely doing and where?
Eating dinner at Nook in Kitsilano.
15. If you were not in Real Estate, what would you likely be doing today?
I have a pilot coming out for my show on HGTV this summer – and that’s my all time dream.
16. If you could time travel and witness any moment in the history of the world, what would it be?
When the first plane took off.
17. What’s one question you enjoy being asked?
What’s your passion?
18. What movie have you watched more than once?
SUPERBAD – 20 times or more.
19. If you could teleport back-and-forth between Vancouver and one other place in the world, where would that be?
Florence, Italy.
20. Would you mind telling us something cool about one of your active listings?
My listing on W 1st has one of the most beautiful views of the city! Watch a video of that listing here.
Contact Elisha Sander
W: www.elishasander.com | IG: @ElishaSander | FB: /ElishaSander
Feel free to leave a message for Elisha in the comments below, and we’ll be sure she receives it!
