How the Loan Officer Closed $20M from TikTok

Summary

Podcast Summary: How the Loan Officer Closed $20M from TikTok

Podcast: Mortgage Marketing Radio
Host: Geoff Zimpfer
Guest: Theoni (“Not Your Daddy’s Lender”)
Date: June 18, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode features Theoni, a dynamic loan officer and savvy social media creator who generated $20 million in mortgage loans primarily through TikTok. Theoni shares her journey, strategies for lead generation, her unique approach to social media content, and insights on personal branding for loan originators. The discussion emphasizes authenticity, advisory expertise over rate shopping, and the systems behind converting viral attention into real business.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

Theoni’s Origin Story and Path to Social Influence (01:35–04:39)

• Entered the mortgage industry at 18 (2016); began integrating social media seriously around 2019.
• Early content stemmed from her frustration that essential financial education wasn’t taught in schools.
• Used social media as a “one-to-many” educational tool, finding it easier than cold calling or traditional agent schmoozing.
• Grew Instagram to 27k and TikTok to 238k followers, leveraging both platforms for business growth.

“Content has always just been one of those things for me that I’m always thinking about. It’s so much easier to showcase something to one to many than one to one.” – Theoni (01:53)

TikTok as the Primary Business Driver (03:31–04:39)

• In 2024, her production was approximately $18–$20 million, with TikTok as the primary source.
• Initially balanced a salaried bank employee role, using that security to invest in content creation.

Building a Social-Focused Business Model (05:16–08:38)

• Early mistake: Focusing content too much on bypassing realtors, which unintentionally alienated potential partners.
• Shifted to an “and” approach: Social media amplifies, not replaces, traditional business development.
• Now leverages content to attract “stickier clients” rather than just chasing mass lead volume.

“TikTok and social media is an ‘and’ to your business. It’s not the only thing.” – Theoni (05:32)

Attracting the Right Clients, Not Just Any Leads (07:12–09:15)

• Quality over quantity: Alters messaging to reach clients who are more prepared and serious, avoiding DPA (down payment assistance) shoppers and rate hunters.
• Unapologetically calls DPA programs a “scam,” employing polarizing hooks for engagement and brand clarity.

“I straight up call [DPAs] a scam on my TikTok… Not everybody deserves a mortgage.” – Theoni (09:19/10:04)

The “Advisor First” Mindset (10:13–11:26)

• Emphasizes the responsibility of honest advisory—not pushing unqualified buyers into mortgages they can’t afford.
• Transparency about financial readiness, sometimes advising clients not to buy if it isn’t responsible.

“I have probably more access to people’s finances than their financial advisor does… I really think of myself as an advisor first.” – Theoni (10:48/10:13)

Strategically Partnering with Agents (11:55–14:43)

• Initially critical of US buyer-agent pathways; now appreciates agent partnerships while prioritizing direct-to-consumer leads.
• Consistent collaboration with 8–12 agents, most often through attraction via content, not active prospecting.
• Majority of agent relationships are outside her home state—her brand facilitates multi-state business via social media.

Expanding Outside the Local Market (15:07–17:13)

• Maintains agent relationships remotely through digital check-ins, pipeline updates, and engagement with their online content.
• Strong personal brand reassures out-of-state partners of her expertise and reliability.

“People just want to work with confident people… I think the realtor can focus on being the expert of the local, and then I can focus on the finances.” – Theoni (16:33)

Theoni’s Content Creation Process (18:22–22:34)

• Content ideas often come directly from live client conversations, emphasizing authenticity and immediacy.
• Videos are filmed “in the moment”—in the car, at home, wherever inspiration hits.
• Keeps a running note for content topics if immediate recording isn’t possible.

“People can feel when you make a certain type of content… that’s just where I post the content because people can feel that.” – Theoni (18:22)

• Employs “content sprints” for TikTok (two videos/day for two weeks) to drive growth and engagement.
• Instagram is primarily for nurturing, with 1–2 reels per week and daily stories.

Algorithm, Authenticity, and Cross-Platform Differences (20:52–21:51)

• TikTok rewards raw, in-the-moment videos; Instagram prefers professionalism and is used for deeper connection and nurturing existing followers.
• Rarely repurposes TikTok content for Instagram due to differing platform sensibilities.

Systems, AI, and Scaling Content (22:36–24:24)

• Uses ChatGPT to help script content ideas and mimic her voice—especially when translating complex industry knowledge into relatable narratives.
• Feeds GPT her own transcripts so it learns her tone and style, asking GPT to write as if it’s a FaceTime to a friend.

“Going Viral” vs. Building a Business (28:20–31:00)

• Warns against chasing viral fame without business systems and conversion funnels in place.
• Early viral experiences resulted in zero conversions without links, forms, or landing pages ready.

“Everybody wants to go viral, but nobody understands that there’s like systems behind these things… So going viral shouldn’t be the thing you really focus on.” – Theoni (28:51)

• Depth over width: Better to build a well-served, loyal audience than to chase raw follower numbers or views.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Content Mindset:

  “If your energy behind [social media] is a to-do list item, well, it’s just like laundry… no one’s going to get excited about the video that you post if it’s just a to-do thing.”
  — Theoni (27:36)

• On Confidence and Remote Business:

  “When you’re not confident—like when I’m confidently calling listing agents in California… very few ask, ‘Oh, where’s your office?’”
  — Theoni (16:33)

• On Authenticity:

  “TikTok likes to see you kind of like looking like you do every day. They don’t like the prim and proper… as close to a FaceTime call as it can be.”
  — Theoni (20:52)

• On Going Viral:

  “If you go viral right now… is your page set up for that? Because mine wasn’t. I posted a whole year and I went viral and I didn’t have a link in bio, I didn’t have a contact form. I converted nothing.”
  — Theoni (28:51)

• Coach’s Mantra:

  “You’re either going to choose to do it and you’re in it for the long haul or you choose not to and then you find something else.”
  — Theoni (27:36)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Theoni’s Backstory – 01:35
• Becoming a Social Media-Driven LO – 03:31
• Content Evolution & Realtor Relationships – 05:16, 11:55
• Lead Quality & Polarizing Opinions – 07:12, 09:19
• Advisor-First Mentality – 10:13
• Agent Partnerships & Multi-State Expansion – 14:43, 15:07
• Daily Content, Authenticity, & Sprints – 18:22, 20:07
• AI & Content Tools – 22:46
• Viral Growth vs. Conversion Systems – 28:20
• Closing Advice and Mindset – 27:36, 31:00

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Final Thoughts

This episode is an essential listen (or read) for mortgage professionals seeking tangible inspiration and strategy for building a personal brand, leveraging social video for real leads, and maintaining authenticity while scaling business. Theoni’s candidness, examples, and systematic approach offer a practical blueprint for digital-first business development in the mortgage industry.

Find Theoni:
TikTok & Instagram: [@theonithelender]

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For further detail, review, or inspiration, connect with Theoni and integrate these strategies for your own modern mortgage origination business.

Transcript

[Theoni]

So many people get angry at the economy and the way of the world, and I just think it's like a victim mindset. And it's. Nobody talks about the victim mindset when it comes to mortgages because, again, we all want it to feel achievable and we want to deliver good news all the time. Of course. But then there are also some people that, you know, right now are like, barely qualifying, maxing out their debt to income ratio. You know, you've been working them for six months and they're like, buying other cars or they're doing other things with their credit cards. And so I'm like, maybe, like, it's not the smart move. Like, you deserve a home. I've been delivering that kind of news because, again, I really think of myself as an advisor first. And so I have. So I kind of have been having a lot of those conversations recently where I tell people, I don't know if taking out a mortgage makes sense for you because you're already tight and now you're getting tighter. If I actually help you follow through with this.

[Podcast Host]

Theoni, not your daddy's lender, welcome to the show.

[Theoni]

Thank you. I am so, so excited for our chat today.

[Podcast Host]

So am I. It's been a long time coming, and you are just showing up on my feed with incredible amount of content and sassiness. And that's why I wanted to talk to you about, like, you know. Cause a lot of people see people do different things online with content. People, of course, struggle with producing content and creating a personal brand. But I want to just start. Give me your origin story. So if I'm looking at. I'm going to set the stage for people watching and listening right now. So on Instagram, you got. And by the way, we're not talking vanity metrics. I just want to give you the context so you can know the work that she's put into this. So Instagram, 27,000 followers. TikTok is the. Is the big daddy here. 238,000 followers, 2.8 million likes. What the hell's the backstory? Give us the origin story and how you. You got on this bandwagon.

[Theoni]

Yeah, so I got into the industry when I was 18, so as you can imagine, social media was just like a part of what I did as just a kid. Anyway, that's like what we all used it for. Once I got to college, I realized that I actually had this job and I went to college at the same time. So I realized I would. I was like kind of feeding into People almost borderline making fun of me for the fact that I was learning so much about credit and building equity and like what all this stuff meant that school wasn't teaching us. So I started posting about it on Instagram. And so content has always just been one of those things for me that I'm always thinking about. It's so much easier to showcase something to one to many than one to one. And so that was how I started was like I almost got annoyed that we were all in school not learning all these things that I was learning at, at work. And so I started posting heavily. Probably I would say like 5050 was like personal and business when I was in college. Once I graduated college I learned that it much easier for me to do that than cold call or sit with realtors that like I have nothing in common with. And I was 20 years old at the time. I didn't know what a 54 year old top producing agent like liked or what they would talk about. So I saw social media as my outlet. But I knew it was a long term play because no one was in the, in that space yet, especially not on TikTok. So TikTok I used for a year before anything popped off. But it was just me like having fun and learning as I went. And I knew it would because it's a numbers game, just like sales, just like calls, just like anything else work taught. But that is kind of how I started getting into it. And just like the last two years have I now organized systems and have analyzed my content to a point where I have it down to a T. But for at least three years I was just, I really was just winging it.

[Podcast Host]

So you got into the industry in what year?

[Theoni]

2016.

[Podcast Host]

2016. And you started implementing in a real way social media. What year?

[Theoni]

2019.

[Podcast Host]

Is that correct? So, so today what is your primary source of business?

[Theoni]

Definitely TikTok.

[Podcast Host]

TikTok in 20. So I'm just pulling up redder here. So in 2024 it looks like you did about 40 loans for roughly 15 mil. Does that sound accurate?

[Theoni]

Yeah. So here, this, this is like the fun part of this side of things. Yeah, I used to say I love it because no one will ever know my real numbers. But that was before I was like doing the numbers and now that I am, it's hard. So I started at a bank and I was a loan partner essentially. So there were some that would go into my name, some that wouldn't, and then I do. Because I started at a bank. I made myself to be the lender that does lending in all 50 states because a lot of my content was revolving around that because I could for a long time. So now I get loans in every state, but they don't all go into my name. So I'm working on getting the licenses. Finally, the last like year and a half, I've been working on getting all of the licenses so that my production that is on these apps is actually accurate.

[Podcast Host]

Right. That's why I was kind of unpack this. And I don't want people to just focus on the numbers. But did you want to correct me then for 2024? If you factor in all those other additional loans that weren't necessarily, you know, attached to you was. Was the volume something different?

[Theoni]

I probably did around 18 to 20 million in 2024.

[Podcast Host]

All right, total. And your number one source is TikTok. Okay, let's unpack this. How do you get business from TikTok? Let's just say I'm a loan officer. You know, as you know, the average age of a loan officer is probably 50 something. But we have some obviously younger folks like yourself who've come into the industry. But I would say most aren't getting business from social media, let alone TikTok. Would you agree?

[Theoni]

Yeah, definitely.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, so let's start with what did, what do you want to pass on to them that you might think might be directional or instructional for them? Of was there a process you went through and you crossed the bridge and like lights go on and that. You know what I mean?

[Theoni]

Yeah. I think that when I started to make content, I try to remove the realtor too much. And so I was so focused on building my content that it almost was like hatred towards realtors instead of like, it sounds fun, it sounds funny. But like, I obviously, I love realtors and I, I do like, I work with, I work with a few that I found actually on TikTok that have referred me now and we work closely together. But I think that would be the biggest change is that TikTok and social media is an and to your business. It's not the only thing. I was very lucky in the position that I was in when I started. And I'll be transparent. I, I was a salaried employee because I was a loan partner. So I had the ability and the advantage to still like finesse and kind of build my platform as I was still getting paid. Whereas I know a lot of loan officers maybe don't have that right now. It's either do or die. And so I think that they think of content as, oh, I need to sprint through this so that I can see the results. But it should be an. And when I started switching over to thinking about how can I be a better advisor to agents and to people who direct to consumer, that's when I started seeing stickier clients. Right. Because I was at one point getting anywhere between 25 to 70 leads a week. And that sounds great, but if those leads were down payment assistance or people I didn't align with or just straight rate shoppers that thought I was, you know, the cheapest, lowest rate or whatever it was and it didn't matter. So I started switching the narrative a little bit where I would start to talk to people who were already pre approved or maybe working with an agent or a lender that they didn't like or just somebody who wanted the service behind, behind. And so I think that that's what a lot of people are missing out on. They want to be the Google instead of the advisor. And I think with being the advisor and the most smartest, you know, I always say I'm the best lender I know and that's just how I show up on my content. But once I started switching that in my content, I started seeing a much bigger conversion in these leads that I was bringing in and also where I was getting my business from.

[Podcast Host]

That's an interesting point you make. I've. I've actually been doing some studying lately on some of my content strategy and preparing to put some stuff out on YouTube specifically. One of the things that I've come across and you can swipe this if you want, but I call it the buyer readiness ladder or the mortgage readiness ladder. And to your point, yeah. Who is your content attracting? And if your content is attracting all those DPA bad credit types of people, what I'm hearing from you is you shifted your content to be more aligned with the people who've already gone through the process and know that they can buy a house and now they're just looking for the right person to work with.

[Theoni]

Correct? Okay, yes, that's correct.

[Podcast Host]

So, so maybe it may be less leads but better quality.

[Theoni]

Correct. And I think that it's hard because we're so used to being, yes. Women and men in the industry.

[Podcast Host]

Ye.

[Theoni]

So then when you know, you remove that, you're like, well, you know, it's not that I won't help those people and I get that. But if it's between me or a different loan officer and it's a dpa, I'm not the best loan officer for that. Because I don't do them and I don't. I definitely don't do them enough, you know, to actually help somebody through that process. And so there's always going to be a lender that is better equipped for those things. And I think it's giving yourself permission to, like, that's okay. There's other lenders that, that's all they do. But more people need the advisory that, you know, comes with being a little bit more niche as well.

[Podcast Host]

So is that a conscious decision? Let's say you get some DPA people and you're like. Because, you know, some LLs will take them and they'll put them into the nurturing funnel for a year or whatever until they become ready. You're just like, no, I don't do that, but here I can refer you to somebody.

[Theoni]

So I think the way that now I have my content, I don't get the leads at all in my funnel. Yeah. So, I mean, I've made, I've made content before where I just call DPAs a scam because I personally just think they are. I, you know, I just, I just think that they are. I had, when I first got in the industry, I felt like I had to do them. So I've had a good, good amount of experience with them. It was very interesting, though, because it was right in 2019 when I started getting my own friends and leads and things like that. Then 20, 20 and 21 happened, and none of those people could refinance their rate because of the dpa. So I kind of just have a bad taste in my mouth for the DPAs because of that.

[Podcast Host]

So you used to post some content about that, about why DPAs are bad, so to speak.

[Theoni]

Yeah, I mean, I straight up call them a scam on my TikTok. So you kind of have to, like.

[Podcast Host]

By the way, that's another lesson in content as you, I'm sure, well know. It's like, you got to take a stand, right? You've got to become known for something. And sometimes just having that, that polarizing opinion is what attracts people to you.

[Theoni]

Yeah, I mean, I actually have a community called not your daddy's creator community. And one of the presentations I'm working on now are hooks and getting really good at your hook. And so usually what you just said, my hooks are very polariz because that is, I first take a stand in whether or not you want to agree or disagree. You usually listen for the whole video. And so I've made another one on how, you know, the American dream is dying and that people aren't owed. Like, everybody deserves a home, but not everybody deserves a mortgage. And those have been my hooks that have been popping off recently.

[Podcast Host]

Well, that's an interesting one. Not everybody deserves a mortgage. And that's because, I mean, obviously you have to qualify. Right. Number one, what's your, what's your position on that? I'm curious.

[Theoni]

Well, I think that what I'm seeing is so many people get angry at the economy and the way of the world, and I just think it's like a victim mindset. And it's. Nobody talks about the victim mindset when it comes to mortgages because again, we all want it to feel achievable and we want to deliver good news all the time. Of course. But then there are also some people that, you know, right now are like barely qualifying, maxing out their debt to income ratio. You know, you've been working them for six months and they're like buying other cars or they're doing other things with their credit cards. And so I'm like, maybe you just maybe, like it's not the smart move. Like you deserve a home, you deserve.

[Podcast Host]

Somewhere to be, you deserve shelter.

[Theoni]

Yeah, right, exactly. You deserve the shelter. But I don't know. And so when you kind. I've been delivering that kind of news because again, I really think of myself as an advisor first. And so I have probably more access to people's finances than their financial advisor does. Right. They can't pull credit, they can't see what's on there. They just have to trust that what they're saying is actually accurate. So I kind of have been having a lot of those conversations recently where I tell people I don't know if taking out a mortgage makes sense for you because you're already tight and now you're getting tighter. If I actually help you follow through.

[Podcast Host]

With this, it's a responsibility. Right. And I'm not sure you're at that stage where you might be ready for that responsibility.

[Theoni]

Right, exactly. Yeah. I mean, everybody wants to buy a house at like 5:20 credit with $10. And I'm like, that's, that's immature.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, well, it just shows a lack of understanding for how things actually work. You know, to what degree have they self educated themselves about how things actually work? So I think that's an interesting position. Yeah, I like it. I want to go back for a second to when you said earlier about how some of your content early on was kind of beating down the agents. Can you explain a little bit More what you mean about that. And then what was the actual shift?

[Theoni]

Yeah, so I used to make content about how it made no sense to go to realtors first. And I still kind of believe this. I'm not like, totally not, but I think we're the only country in the world that that's, that's usually how it works. Because I used to have people from Canada comment and be like, what do you mean? Like here you go to your lender first and they refer the agent. And so everywhere else, it seems like instead of the lenders chasing the realtors, it's the realtors that are chasing the lenders because people will just go to the lender first to get their finances in order. And so that's. I like, would make a lot of content on that because I tried to go direct to consumer and still am going direct to consumer. But when I started shifting that to just talking about the strategies behind why an agent is important and why a lender is important and kind of like how you work together, instead of just being like, come to me first and I'll tell you everything you need. I just like, no gate. I just didn't gatekeep any of that information. So when I started posting about that, I would see that more realtors that were aligned with how I work also ended up in my DMs smart play.

[Podcast Host]

And I think that speaks to, you know, this thing that we've been wishing or hoping was different for a long, long time, which is I want them to come to me first. Well, I mean, I haven't seen that happen. And I've been this. In this since 2003. And who knows if it's ever going to. Let's just face it, people, they want the house first. That's the first top of the funnel thing they go through. Let me, let's search. Let's get on Zillow. Let's do this. Let's go to Open House, like all that stuff. And then eventually, yeah, honey, we're ready. Let's get serious. And then we look at our financing. Right?

[Theoni]

Correct. Right, exactly. And that, and that's fine, too. I think that I just, I was just young and, like, angry because I had also been told that to be successful in this industry, you have to go on coffee dates and you have to spend lunches and, And I'm not saying those things don't work, but when I did them, I just didn't find anything in common with a lot of the top producers in my area. I just didn't really I didn't vibe.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, no, fair enough. Okay. So how many agents do you work with roughly right now?

[Theoni]

Probably like 8 to 12. Consistently.

[Podcast Host]

Consistently. Right, right, right. I was going to clarify because it's an open need to clarify that a little bit more because you could have 20 or 30 agents, but they're not sending you any business.

[Theoni]

Right, right.

[Podcast Host]

Are you actively prospecting agents in any way or are they just being attracted to you through your content?

[Theoni]

Just attraction? Yeah, that's pretty much it.

[Podcast Host]

Are you getting agents outside of your market as well?

[Theoni]

Definitely. So it's kind of hard. I actually probably do more outside of my market. I just live on the beaches of Delaware, but I don't do as much on the beaches of Delaware than when I did when I was with a bank. At that point it was more like second homes, like I just did around here. But once I started getting on TikTok, I basically do everywhere. So my top three biggest states are probably Cali, Texas, Florida, and then Maryland.

[Podcast Host]

And you have agent partners that you work with in those states outside of your state? Yeah. And how do you find that it goes? I want to, I want to address the, the perception that, you know, I think there's value to building your base in your backyard first. But I also want to address this little, this little issue of like, can you grow your business, referral business, Asian referral business? Look at, you're 3,000 miles away from Maryland to California. Like how does that work?

[Theoni]

I mean, I think it's just staying on top of them. I don't know. I don't know of an era maybe because I entered just all digitally first. I don't know how to really work when you're constantly meeting people in person. Now I'm a mom too. I don't even have the time. So I think it's just staying in front of them and checking in. My check ins are constant and a lot of times I work with people and real estate agents that are also on social. So our check ins are because they're posting about their daily lives and now I have something to slide into their DMs about and I'm talking to them about it. And every single week I have Mondays are my pipeline updates. So I call them. Sometimes I don't even have to call them because I'm already in their dm. So I'm just kind of piggybacking. It feels so fun to do it that way that I don't really have to like fit the time to do, you know, to stay ahead of Them because I feel like I'm already in front of them on social media. It's like my online business card.

[Podcast Host]

Well, I really wanted to just expand on that for a moment because I know there's some people listening right now that are thinking, how can I expand outside of my, my, my backyard, my footprint? And this is why we're seeing more Los get licensed in different states. Because in today's world, you can grow. Your case in point, proof of that, the difference is, is though you've got this personal brand, this place online, where they. Because if you didn't have your presence on TikTok or wherever else, like none of these, California, Texas, they wouldn't know you exist, right?

[Theoni]

No.

[Podcast Host]

So you'd have to be reaching out to them, which again, goes back to the point of why you should have a personal brand, why you should be putting content out there, is because you can attract, you can do exactly what the only did.

[Theoni]

Exactly. Yeah. And I, I also think that it's a, it's a nice reminder that people just want to work with confident people. And when you're not confident, like when I'm confidently calling, listing agents in California and saying, you know, I have this and this and this, very few ask, like, oh, where's your office? Are you local? Like, there are a couple. Of course there are people who care about that. But once give them the assurance that you're confident, you know what you're doing, you've done this before, you've worked in these areas before, then like, that's all they really need. And I know that this, that's a hesitation for a lot of lenders that I have talked to is, you know, how do you. Do you say that, you know, like what you're talking about in those areas? And I'm like, I think the realtor can focus on being the expert of like the local, and then I can focus on being the expert and the advisor when it comes to your finances.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I mean, let's just face it on our side, it's, it's math. You know what I mean? Does it work out and does the appraisal come in Right.

[Theoni]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

All right, well, that's, that's good. And I just want to. Once again, for everybody listening, this is again, why, if you're like, oh, you know, personal content and, you know, get over it, because this is how you're going to expand and grow your business outside of. And by the way, I remember, I interviewed, I don't know if it was Jennifer Beeston a long time ago. You know her, she's crushing.

[Theoni]

I've heard that name.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. So she's the number one VA lender in the country. She's got a massive YouTube channel. She gets over 150 applications per month from YouTube. Several years ago, I interviewed her, but one of the points, I think it was her that said this was the advantage of diversifying your sources of business. Because if one state falls off the map, look, California fires, like, let's just say you were. Market was la. Well, you know, what are you going to do when the fires hit la? Or your market was Florida or this or that? Like, that's the cool thing about diversifying across multiple states is you're not subject to all those local economic. All right, so let's talk about your content strategy. Right? How do you go from idea to post? Like, walk us through. Because, you know, that's the biggest challenge for a lot of people is what do I post? How do I get it out there, My production process, all that? How do you it do it?

[Theoni]

Yeah, so I'm very. There's a word and it'll come to me at one point, I think, like, I just. I go with the moment. So when I. When I talk to people all the time, I mean, we're constantly on our phone, so we all have conversations. People can feel when you make a certain type of content and they know if it's done during a content, like content day that's been planned or if it's true, where you just got off the phone with somebody and you cannot believe that they didn't know the IRS tax payments is, you know, something we add to our debt or that, you know, something like that. And so I take the momentum that I get and I gain from the calls that I'm on, and then I just go and create the content. So a lot of my TikTok content, as you can see, is me just showing up wherever I am. Sometimes I'm in the car, sometimes I'm a mom of two. So sometimes it's in the bathroom getting ready, sometimes it's me cutting a salad, sometimes it's eating ice cream after I get the kids down. And wherever I am, that's just where I post the content because people can feel that. So I just allow my daily talks to be part of my content. Now I do have a notes section in my phone that if for some reason I cannot make a piece of content at the time, I will write it down and then I just go back to it that same day, if not the next day, because I want that same feeling to be in my content when I create it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, that's very smart. And I don't have to say that I'm not good at that. I'm not good at the, in the moment, grab the phone and record. Even though the few times that I've done it, it's probably gotten more views than the kind of polished and prepared stuff. Not to say you can't get views with the other kind of, you know, structured stuff. But the point being is what you're trying to, I think highlight is people really love the authenticness. Right. The connection that this is just really, this is the only in the moment. Like, like you said it wasn't over published.

[Theoni]

Correct.

[Podcast Host]

But how many, what does your content posting schedule look like, how frequent?

[Theoni]

So I'll do these things called content sprints and that's when I'm trying to really bring in the leads and also like to get in the flow of it myself. So that'll be on T. TikTok. If you want to grow on TikTok, what you should be doing is content sprints. It's two videos a day for two weeks. It sounds like a lot, but when you do that, your account will grow and you just get better at being a communicator. You get better at seeing yourself, hearing yourself. You get better at telling stories. And it's a two week sprint. And then you have what I call like bingeable content where you can go back and study on your own content and see like what worked and what didn't. Instagram, I always have a story up and I'll probably post one to two reels a week.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, and are you posting different content as your reels or repurposing the same video from TikTok to Instagram?

[Theoni]

Yeah, I think of Instagram and TikTok a little bit differently. So I don't really repurpose a whole lot. TikTok likes to see you kind of like looking like you do every day. They don't like the prim and proper. They don't like, you know, they just, they as close to a FaceTime call as it can be on TikTok is what they like. So when I've tried to repurpose it just doesn't perform very well. On TikTok you have to earn every single view. So just because I have 200 some thousand followers doesn't mean that that many people are always going to be seeing it. It's a little bit different than Instagram. On Instagram they do like you to be a little bit more like professional looking and prim and proper and I think a little bit less every year, but it still is kind of the baseline there. So I see TikTok as my lead generation. It's where I get most of my leads. And then I see Instagram as my nurture. It's where I nurture the community that I have, which is why I have so fewer than TikTok. But the people who follow me on Instagram are much stickier because they know more about my life. I do not post about my kids or really my life on TikTok as much, but I will on Instagram and then.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, that's cool. All right, so then most of your content then is you'll do the sprints and things like that, but you're not necessarily having a batch film day, right?

[Theoni]

No, yeah, we used to, as a, as a branch, we might get back into it. We kind of took a little relapse after I had my daughter and then I couldn't really get back into it. But it was a great way to get the team together. They were fun. But that shouldn't be your only source of content. So even though we would do that as well, the like talking head style, it wouldn't be the only thing that we post. Because if you only have talking head style, no one's going to resonate with that. You kind of look like a bot. You look like not a real person.

[Podcast Host]

Because there's no kind of like day in the life. Oh, this is like her in her average day. Everything's like polished and prepped. Yeah, all that.

[Theoni]

Right.

[Podcast Host]

Do you use any AI tools in regards to content scripting, idea generation? Let's take that before we get into editing. But just. Yeah, that.

[Theoni]

The only thing I probably will use is ChatGPT knows my voice when it comes to how I speak on my TikTok videos. So if there's ever a topic, like I'm actually working on one right now about inspectors. And it was an inspector who I talked about, who I talked to and he said something like, of course inspection reports are going to have something on them, but they. That people get spooked so easily. But if we give you a report that has nothing on them, then, you know, you would feel like you just got ripped off because you just paid for an inspection report. Nothing showed it and all the things. And I was like, how do I turn that into, you know, relevant to what I teach and what I know? And so I fed that to Chat gbt and I've done a lot of work where I've taken transcriptions of my videos and then fed it to chat gbt. So it knows my style, it knows how I talk. And then I've like, asked it when I get to stuck on how to deliver. And when I ask it how to deliver, it's how do you. How can I make this a FaceTime call to my best friend who has no idea about anything related to real estate. And so that's been really cool. I use it all the time for pretty much everything. So it's really cool that it knows when to plug in other pieces of my life as well, which has been nice. So the more I use it, the more I feel like it just knows me. It's my like little assistant.

[Podcast Host]

Do you ever. I'm curious. I've been experimenting with this myself lately is I will take videos from other creators, not necessarily in the industry either from outside. And there's a, you know, kind of a framework you can prompt GPT for taking this idea which. Which, you know, got a lot of engagement and repurposing that. Have you ever experimented with that?

[Theoni]

No. That's interesting.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

[Theoni]

I feel like. I feel like it would probably spit out some pretty interesting things because there's. I mean, there's a framework for any video to perform if you want it to perform.

[Podcast Host]

Right? Exactly. All right. Don't want to go off the rails there. That'd be a separate podcast. I do. Okay, real quick then. The difference in terms of posting your. Are you doing mostly shorts? Right?

[Theoni]

My videos are probably like on average two to four minutes long.

[Podcast Host]

Okay. All right.

[Theoni]

Well, they're pretty long.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, for sure. A quick tip on. Let me just go to your reels here on Instagram. I've always been curious about this and it looks like this is just a straight up in the moment question. You know, this whole premise that your thumbnails for your short videos should have a headline on it. Right. Or kind of selling the short, you know what I mean?

[Theoni]

Mm.

[Podcast Host]

Do you have any take on that? Because I'm looking at some do, some don't. So is this just you just like. Nope, I'm just posting and it's working.

[Theoni]

You mean the pin post?

[Podcast Host]

No. Any posts? Like some of your posts have like, you know, the caption on the. On the video frame, I'm not your daddy's lender or what is another one here? Closing, Closing costs explained.

[Theoni]

You know, on Instagram, I probably could be better about doing it on TikTok. I'm very religious about it because I have. Have so much content that I like to think when somebody finds me, they binge my content. And so I try to make it as easy as possible for them to. It's almost like a Netflix series. You want to know what that's going to be about?

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Theoni]

So I would, I would imagine if you're doing my method on TikTok, on Instagram, you should be doing that. But it's a little different. My, my content is not the same as it is on both platforms.

[Podcast Host]

Right. And I can just say so the way the Netflix thing, 100, like I'm here on my desktop and I'm scrolling your tick tock and it allows me to look at the titles, which is basically like browsing Netflix. Oh, does this look good? Right? So that's a key point by the way, for a lot of people. I need to get better. Better at that as well is like, yeah, you gotta, you gotta understand where's the consumer coming in. If there's no like caption square headline thing on your video frame for that, you know, scroll. Probably gonna scroll right by it.

[Theoni]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I don't know if this video is gonna want. What is this? Oh, it's a cool face. Let me click for three seconds.

[Theoni]

Right? Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

That's all good stuff. So you don't just to hammer this home. You're not not putting content creation in a calendar, right?

[Theoni]

No.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Wow. Okay. So a lot of people's minds are just like, wait, what? How do you do that? And how do you close loans and like, how do you do it all?

[Theoni]

I have an amazing team. I will shout out to my team who we've built this thing the last three years and it's been a lot of leads and no conversion and then some conversion, little leads. So it's really cool to get to a point where now I. It's almost like a faucet that you can turn on how much comes in and how much doesn't. I know, I'm very thankful for that. But that's also something that I've been building for a long time. And finally I like the last year have been seeing some true results and fruits of my labor after tweaking so much. So, you know, just as easy as it probably looks because I'm so established now. Just know that I started somewhere too with the cringy videos and watching my videos have also been cringy when I first started. So everybody starts somewhere. But just like anything that you do, any plan of action takes a little bit of time. And so I'm just thankful that finally, you know, three, four years later of creating, I'm seeing some serious results in my business.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I want to tap on that real quick for a second. So to set that frame for people because I think that's what they're not prepared for or they want to try it. Like, oh, I'm going to try social media. I'm going to try posting seven videos and see what happens. How would you coach them on what to expect for timeline?

[Theoni]

So I always say that if you can't integrate social media into your day to day life, at least like getting good with stories or, you know, picking something, then it's never going to work for you because of the energy that's behind it. If your energy behind it is a, it's a to do list item, well, it's just like laundry, right? Like nobody gets excited about laundry. So no one's going to get excited about the video that you post if it's just a to do thing on your, you know, on your list. And so I think that I hear that a lot too. And I think it's just a choice. Like, like some people choose to call real estate agents. Nobody chooses to call real estate agents for one week and then never again. So I don't know why we're doing the same thing with social media. You're either going to choose to do it and you're in it for the long haul or you choose not to and then you find something else to do.

[Podcast Host]

Wow, there's, there's my highlight clip right there. Okay, let me close out on this. I've been having conversations with people about this premise where there seems to be an emphasis and focus on quote unquote going viral. And the conversations I've been having with some people are where there seems to be a focus on views versus conversion. And I'm wondering, like, how would you respond to. I know I didn't give you much specifics around that, but I know you're wise enough in this to know where I'm going and what is, what is your hot take on that?

[Theoni]

Yeah, I love this question so much because I, for a long time when people ask me, like, why I started creating content, no one will tell you the truth, but I just wanted to go viral. Like I just wanted to be as famous as I could be. And that sounds awful now because obviously that has changed. But when I first started, that was the push that got me through creating so much after. No results. No results, no results. So, like just to say that if that's your push is going viral right now, that's great. But if you go viral right now, I always ask people, is your. Is your page set up for that? Because mine wasn't. I posted a whole year and I went viral and I didn't have a link in bio, I didn't have a contact form. I converted nothing. I got like 250 emails of people being like, help me. Can you help me here? I have the situation, and I couldn't do anything with that. So everybody wants to go viral, but nobody understands that there's, like, systems behind these things. There are landing pages you need, there's calendar setups. Like, your page has to have enough content that when or if something goes viral, they can go to your page and they see that you are an expert in what you're saying and what you're doing. So that is the part that people don't think about, because they think, if I go viral, like, it's easy for Theon to say all these things because she goes viral all the time. She gets all these leads, but I also have systems in place that allow me to convert. So going viral shouldn't be the thing you really focus on, even though it's probably the thing that gets you through creating, because you're like, oh, maybe it's this one, because you don't know which one it's going to be, right? You don't. You have no idea which one takes off. But then also at the same time, if you are just creating content, you'll start to build an audience that is so aligned with your messaging and what you're. What you're creating. And you've probably seen this. A room of a thousand people is a lot of people. So a thousand followers, you're talking to those people. And on Instagram, it's a little different, because it really is that many people that you're talking to and that many people that see your content. TikTok's different. Like I said, you earn every single view, so you're talking to new people. So if you're starting out and you're thinking, oh, I need to go viral, maybe start with your Instagram community first, because that's a lot of people that most. Most people have that many followers. So it's always about going deep. It's not going wide. But if you're trying to go wide, make sure your accounts are primed to be able to convert and actually benefit from all of the content you're putting out there.

[Podcast Host]

Love that. Great lesson. Great lesson. Well, on that note, let's just put a cap on that and just say the only thank you so much for taking time for your busy day. A lot of wisdom here. Thanks for sharing it with our community.

[Theoni]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Podcast Host]

We're going to put the links to your TikTok and your Instagram in the show notes, but if you want to go there right now it's theonithelender on both TikTok and Instagram. But check, check the link in the show notes. And by the way, if you DM her and just let her know, share one takeaway you got from this episode. Let her know that you heard it here and you know what impact she made for you today.

[Theoni]

Yeah, I'd Love that. My DMs are always open.

[Podcast Host]

Awesome everybody. Thanks for tuning in. You know what to do if you like this episode. Hey, share it with somebody or leave us a review. We'll see you on the next one. Bye for now.