For public speaking coach Eric Feng, teaching has been his passion ever since he could remember. He parlayed this innate ability into a successful career in which he is now a well-recognized personality within the financial service, real estate, and direct market industries.

In this episode of Stay Paid, Josh and Luke sit down with special guest Feng as he provides tactical advice on how to become highly sought after in your market.

Key Points 

• Finding your market is key for any business
• Q&A’s are one of the best types of Facebook content
• Not attaining perfection on social media is okay

About Eric Feng

In 2013, Feng spoke for the first time at the Million Dollar Roundtable Experience, a prestigious industry conference attended by 6,000 financial service professionals from all over Asia. Feng received his first standing ovation and his career as a sales strategist also took off. He became the go-to guy for those looking to become highly sought after in their market.

Today, he is a well-known personality in the financial service, real estate, and direct marketing industries in Asia, having spoken in over 20 cities in Asia, in front of more than 50,000 salespeople. He has also been invited to speak in Prague and Budapest.

Well-known for his book, The Future of Selling which details the new rules of selling in a world heavily disrupted by technology, Feng’s company was tasked by the Singapore government to develop a national-level sales program that will help prepare 160,000 salespeople in Singapore for that future.

Q: What is your journey?

A: Since the first grade I have always wanted to be a teacher. I attended The University of Pennsylvania for my undergraduate degree, and this is where I was introduced to the world of motivational speaking. I fell in love with the idea of being able to energetically inspire people while on stage.

Once I moved back to Singapore I took a job as a corporate trainer. I quickly realized the brutal truth, that until you become somebody, nobody appreciates you. Until I positioned myself as an authority, instead of a commodity, I wouldn’t be able to sustain a career as a trainer. This was my so-called introduction to personal branding.

As a result, I took a deep dive into my market. I studied what type of prospects I could target, and determined what topics I’m best at teaching. Then I started to work on my visibility, credibility, and popularity within those areas of expertise. To get people to like me, I started using Facebook as a means of teaching. I built my personal brand by capturing the attention of my prospects.

Q: How does a new real estate agent become an authority figure on Facebook?

A: The first step is to determine who you should approach. You should have a rough guide of two to three markets that you can approach. Next, you determine where the majority of your market lives—this helps you to select a social media platform to utilize. Lastly, you need to start putting out content. Content is the currency of the internet, and producing attention-grabbing content is key to building your personal brand. Your content should either teach your audience, be viral in nature, or be fun and entertaining.

It’s important to remember that you need to play the role of the learner. You should be reporting what you’ve learned in your new career to your audience. You can’t position yourself as an expert yet, because you’re not there. The content that you produce should be focused on your current journey as a new agent.

Q: How should agents translate educational content into actionable items for their audience?

A: If you’re on Facebook, the easiest thing you can do is create a Q&A for your audience. Use a high-quality image, and post the question on top of it. Let your audience know that if they have more questions, they can private message you. This way, you’re constantly inviting them to spend more time with you—this is a passive way of garnering leads. For a more active way, private message every person who likes your post. Ask them a question that pertains to the Q&A, and then ask them to meet to discuss it over a cup of coffee. This has the potential of turning into an appointment.

Q: What’s the number one mistake that you see?

A: That people expect perfection when it comes to social media. They’re typically ready to throw in the towel after putting out content and receiving minimal engagement. But, you must play by Facebook’s rules. Consider setting up a Business Page which allows you to run ads and monitor your analytics.

Q: What do you do every day to drive success in your life or business?

A: I strongly believe that how you begin your day determines how it will end. Every morning, I deliberately surround myself with positivity. I have a certain playlist of songs that I listen to, and I refuse to check my email. I take the first hour of my day to do things for myself.

Q: Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently in the beginning of your career?

A: Tell myself that if I keep walking forward, things will work out in the end. Every struggle that I have faced has set me up for success. Hang in there, and take the leap.

Q: How to connect with Eric?

A: Instagram: @ericgoesglobal

eBook: https://www.doubleyoursalesin2018.com

Action Items 

Following the podcast, our goal is to provide you with as many actionable tips as possible. For this episode, they include…

• Calling your clients, and asking them what they would want to learn from an industry-specific expert. Use this as leverage to start creating Facebook content.

 As always, take action on these tips!