Welcome back to the Creator Spotlight podcast. Our guest today is Glenda Baker, a social media star and Atlanta realtor with three decades of experience in the industry.
Four years ago, Glenda blew up on TikTok, going from zero to 100,000 followers in 90 days. She's got over one million followers across socials. She hosts multiple podcasts, uh, and of course, has a newsletter.
So Glenda, how you doing? I am excited to be here, Francis. Thanks so much for having me. Of course.
Um, okay, so one thing that struck me from the start when I started researching you and watching some of your videos is you're this really talented storyteller, right? You're, you're very charismatic.
Uh, you, you know, you- you've got this character that you wanna listen to, right? So has that always, has that always been something you had or is that like a skill you developed? Where does this come from?
I-- you know, it... I, I didn't take any lessons, but my grandfather was an amazing storyteller. And he...
There was this one story he would tell, and I bet I'd heard that story 100 times, and it was about how his mother would go out to this meat house, and she would actually, like, cut the bacon off in the morning.
And my family is from Tennessee, the hills of Tennessee, and he talked about this tin roof, and he talked about the dew on the grass as he would walk out there with his mother, and when it rained, that he could hear these raindrops.
And I remember as a child just, it was like I was cold when he was telling the story.
Like, I could feel every part of it, and I think that it was just sitting and listening to my grandfather talk and tell stories of my family from Tennessee that maybe it just came naturally.
Um, I, it's, it's not anything that I, like, intend to do or plan to do. Mm-hmm. It just is kind of the way I talk. Yeah. A bit of the bard runs in your blood. Um- Yeah... that's... No, that's interesting.
It's interesting that you, like, are mentioning these specific details of, like, the rain on the tin roof, um, because I noticed something- Oh...
that that's something that you do a lot in your, in, like, the way you storytelling. Like, like, I watched...
I mean, I listened to a few podcasts you've been on, watched some of your videos, and there was, like, repeating details I noticed.
Like, obviously, I was looking for stuff about, like, your journey as, like, a content creator, and there was, there was, like, specific dates you would reference, like this date on this year. Um, and I, I...
So I don't know, the way you're explaining that, it's like this way of storytelling that sounds like you kind of, like, have just, you know, grew up kind of through osmosis. I think, I think it's like a...
That's like a thing families pass down, right? The way we talk, the way we, like- Yeah... relate to the world. Um, I was gonna ask if you... Like, 'cause you put out a lot of content, and I...
We'll get into more of that a little later, but do you ever... Are you, like, workshopping the stories you're gonna tell for your, for your videos behind the scenes?
Is it like, are you writing notes, or is it kind of just, you know, all in the mix up there and you just kind of extract it?
So used to it was all in my head, and then, um, as I started, like, creating content, like, on a regular basis, 'cause you gotta remember, like, when I started this, I was gonna make eight TikToks for a month.
So- Doesn't work like that... I was gonna release them twice a week, and for the first 90 days, that's what I did, was I just released on Tuesday and Thursday, and that was it. Um, and so then I started making...
And so it was all in my head. Mm-hmm. Then I started making notes in my notes app.
And then, um, I had an intern two years ago, and he goes, "Hey, why don't we create you a, uh, Google Form that I can put on your phone, and then that way when you have an idea, you can just put it in the form, and then when you sit down to record your...
you can pull up your sheet." Mm. And I was like, "Oh, okay. Do you know how to do that?" He's like, "Yeah, I can..." You know, he's a, you know, he's, I don't know, 18, 19 years old.
[laughs] He's like, "Yeah, Glenda, I can do it." Yeah. So, um, he, he made that for me, and, um, ever since then... I mean, it's, it's literally... You know, you think it's hilarious.
Now, look, I'm gonna show it to you, but if anybody is a hater on how many notifications I have, I don't wanna hear that. Just hush. She's a busy woman, you know? It's not your email. It's not your text messages.
[laughs] It's not your voicemail. Let me deal with the chaos that is my life. Let her code. Um, but on the front screen of my phone right there- Mm... it says video ideas. Oh, that's so good.
And you literally just click it, and it comes up, Google Docs. Wow. And it, what is the idea? And that's- That's so smart... that's literally all I do. I have an idea. I put the idea there.
Whatever was, like, the inspiration for it, whatever, like, jog, jog, uh, jogged my memory to get me to that- Yeah... whether it was a link or something that I heard or something that I saw, I put that there.
And then the next thing is what is the note or the caption summary? Like, where do you wanna go with this?
And it's, that's literally it, and then submit, and then the day that I record, we open the laptop and go through the list. I see what you did. That's, that's really smart. I... It's like...
'Cause I'll do that sometimes with ideas where it's just in the notes app, but then it's like, oh, then you've got these old notes that I forgot about these ones and et cetera. Having that form I think is, is...
'Cause then it's, like, one line for each thing, right? Yeah. Um, I might have to steal that. Yeah. So, okay. No charge for that too. No charge? [laughs] Um, okay, going back to...
So, you know, you said the, the first, uh, 90 days or whatever is two per week, Tuesdays, Thursdays. I wanna go back even before that. Okay. So I was on your, your YouTube channel, and it's back in 2016. Um-What was it?
Glenda Live. You did six episodes- Glenda Live. Yeah. You did six episodes, and then you- Yeah... stopped. Um- Yeah...
and I, I wanna say before we get into, like, the how and, I want, so I wanna know how that came about and why you, why, why you stopped, but I wanna say first, like, going back, it's really interesting 'cause, like, it's the same you, right?
Like, there's that charisma there, but, like, the difference is there's no production value. It's like- No... you standing in your office, like, this full screen. There's no, like, lighting set up, et cetera.
What is so, like, my takeaway was, like, I mean, these have, like, 300 views each now. Like, basically nothing compared to what you get now on TikTok.
Um, but my takeaway was that, like, the idea was there, you just didn't have access to, like, the people who knew how to execute yet or something like that. But okay, so tell me, how did Glenda Live come about?
So sit down. I paid $450 for each of those videos. I had a professional come into my office and shoot that. So th- that's the thing is, like, you don't know what you don't know. Yeah.
And so, um, you know, $450, is that how much that costs? Okay. Um, and, you know, there was no lighting. Mm-hmm. And, and if you go back to 2016, um, you know, that is 10 years ago.
I am right hitting, um, hot flash central. Um, the 50 flashes are flashing early, and I, I mean, in one of them, I'm sweating profusely. Yeah.
It is so crazy, um, just to look back on them, and, like, the outfits I wore, like, what was I thinking? But you're right. Like, I knew, like, I love what I do. Mm-hmm.
And I love to talk to people, and I knew that I could bring that together on video. I just didn't know how to execute it. And, and, and I didn't know how to consume content. Mm-hmm.
I think that that's really a critical point is what you see now is me understanding how to consume content because from 2016, then I went to, from Glenda Live to Posts from the Porsche, which I loved, which was basically preaching from the Porsche, Porsche because I was ranting.
Mm-hmm. Um, but still, I didn't know how to consume content. And then once I, once I found out, figured out, "Oh, this is what I like to watch-" Well, wait, wait. "This is what I-" Sorry, real quick.
What, so were you, like, on... So this is 2016, and I think too- Yeah...
like, one, one thing I'll say about, like, production value and, like, whoever this person was you hired, like, the state of online content was so much different then, right? Yeah. TikTok didn't exist.
Like, you know, people weren't all, like, lit up. Phone cameras weren't as good- No... uh, all this stuff. But did you h- did you have, like, a personal relationship with social media then?
Because the way you're saying, like, you didn't know how to consume content, I'm getting that, like, you weren't on Instagram scrolling. Like- I was on Facebook. Yeah. Well, that was as big then still. I'm 57 years old.
Yeah. [laughs] In 2016, I was what? 49. Like, I'm liter- Like, I'm on Facebook, and I, I wasn't on Facebook like, like, I still, "What are you doing?" "I'm at the grocery store."
Like, I wasn't, like, I didn't understand the whole, the wh- the, the purpose of it. I didn't get it. I wasn't engaged with it. I would sometimes check it. I would sometimes not. But I liked that Gary Vee, and I- Yeah...
I liked him, and that was kind of like, oh, he just talks. I could... I love to talk. I could do that. And s- but, but I didn't, I, I didn't consume it. I wasn't engaged with social media. I didn't understand it.
And the, that's the difference between 2016 and 2020- Mm-hmm... was in those four years, number one, I learned how to consume, but number two, I also kind of
figured out what was, what was my voice. Where was I most effective? What were the people that followed me looking for? And so, um, people constantly come to me because I'm like Aunt Glitter. Like, like, I'm your aunt.
I'm, like, I'm everybody's mom's best friend. Mm-hmm. And so you can ask me the questions. There's no judgment. Like, I've been where you were. I'm not selling $250 million penthouses. I'm not selling $50 million houses.
I- we closed on a $250,000 condo today in Atlanta with first-time home buyers. Yeah. So I am relatable to a lot of people, and talking to those people, like, they talk.
They were like, "Oh, wait a minute. She sounds, like, reliable." Like- Well, how did... Wait, how did you figure this out? Like, were you talking to people who, like, like, cut...
You know, clients who'd seen your videos or whatever? Like, what, what did it take- No, I'm just talking about-... to learn that?... like, in general. Like- Mm. Yeah... just when I talk to people, like, everybody...
Like, Nikki Griner calls, sends me a text message the other day. She's like, "How do we know how much our..." This is my best friend from third grade.
Like, she's like, "How do we know how much our house is worth if we haven't done any updates, it's completely original, and everything that's selling around us is updated?" Well,
she's been my best friend since third grade. Yeah. She's heard me talk about real estate for 30 years, and she doesn't even know how to find the value of her home?
And that's the thing that really kind of clued into me was, like, like, as real estate agents, we think people know all about real estate. Yeah, you're immersed in it. Like, but we don't. Mm-hmm.
And here's Nikki Griner, my best friend. She has absolutely no... Sit down. Her sister-in-law's also a real estate agent. [laughs] And so that's the thing is, like, I think when I, when I say I talk to people- Mm...
on video like I talk to Nikki Griner-Like, that's how I talk, and that's why people, I think, bite into my content. I also think the way that I, um, sat... So I watched that Matthew Hussey. Mm-hmm.
He gives dating advice, and everything was like, he was in an interview, and he was talking, and he was talk- And it was like he was talking to somebody, and it was like I couldn't look away. I was like, "Oh, my God."
Yeah, 'cause he's talking to you. Yeah, like, "I need to listen to this." And so I, I told Denver, I said, "Hey, I wanna have a microphone, and I wanna, like, like this guy." Yeah.
And so we started, and Denver was like, "Well, just look at the camera and talk." And I just couldn't do it. Yeah. Like, I just couldn't do it.
And so he put Sam in the chair, and I started talking real estate to Sam the lighting guy, and that was how kind of the whole thing was born. Oh, okay. But it was just, like, what would you tell your best friend?
What would you tell your best client? And what would you tell your therapist? Mm. Like, those are the buckets that I kinda talk in. Yeah. And so that's kind of how it came about. And so it was just like the...
Like, the, the thing that clicked was just you seeing this other video and being like, "This is... I'm hooked on this. This is what I need to reproduce."
And then at that point, too, you, like, knew the guy who could, like, set up the production for you. I don't know. I didn't know him. Oh. I had no idea. I... Like, I literally was scrolling through Instagram- [laughs]
... and this girl, who is absolutely beautiful, Paige Pace, she's a real estate agent. She's also, like, a model. Mm-hmm. And she, he had done a video for her. Sh- I see her video on Instagram.
I'm like, "Huh, that looks like a good video. She likes him. I, I could reach him." She had tagged him in the video. I sent him a message on Instagram. I said, "Hey, my name's Glenda Baker.
I wanna shoot real estate videos." And, um, he sent me a DM. He called me. He's like, "Lady..." He's like, "What are you looking for?" I said, "I wanna shoot TikTok videos."
And he goes, "You can do that with your phone." I said, "That's not really my style. I'd really like for you to come do it." I said, "How much is that gonna cost me?" And he told me, and I was like [gasps] [laughs]
"Oh my goodness gracious." Like, "Oh, I... Yeah, definitely." It's an investment. You know, it was more than that. I was like, "Oh, my God." Yeah. So I, um... That was in, that was February the 20th- Mm-hmm...
but I, um... No, no, no. That was February the 6th- February 2020... uh, of 2020. And I said, "Let me think about it." And then the pandemic hit, and nobody did anything. And then I was sitting... I never will forget.
I was sitting on my porch, my screen porch, and I was like, "I think we're gonna make it through. I think I'm gonna come out on the other end of this pandemic. I'm still gonna be a real estate agent.
I'm still gonna sell houses." And I sent him another message, a text message, and I said, "Hey, we talked a couple months ago. I wanna do those videos."
And so October the 7th, I posted my first video, and by the end of the year, I had 100,000 followers. Yeah. That's amazing. So, and, and that, as you said, just two a week. Yeah. Yeah. Tuesday.
But this is what's even better, is part of that, I... Denver sends me a text message, and he goes, "Do not post any more videos." And I'm like, "Oh, okay." And so I didn't post any video.
He goes, "I need to do some editing to the- Mm... to the videos." I said, "Okay." Well, I didn't post any videos for 10 days. And he sends me a text message. He goes, "Why aren't you posting your videos?"
I go, "Well, you told me not to post any videos." He goes, "Did you not look at the comments on the last video?" And I'm like, "No." He's like, "Everybody thinks you're stoned because your eyes are bloodshot." What?
[laughs] "Because I needed to go back in and remove, like, like, do red eye corrector." And I'm like, "What?" [laughs] And I'm like, and I'm like, "What is zooted?" He's like, "That's stoned."
[laughs] I didn't even know. So like, I had 10 days where I didn't post anything because I was like, "You told me not to post any videos. I didn't post them." Yeah.
And everyone thinks it's just 'cause you're, you're too busy getting stoned to, to make videos. [laughs] Yeah, yeah. And that, it was so funny because in that video, everybody was like, "Miss Glenda's zooted." Mm-hmm.
And I was like, "What does that mean?" [laughs] Like, I didn't even get it. [laughs] And I was like, uh, y- "Tell me you're 57 without telling me you're 57," right? Yeah. [laughs] Um, okay. So, uh, today...
So that was a few years ago. Today, I believe you're still making videos with Denver, right? Um, yeah. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I love Denver. So, so tell me what the process is like.
My, my understanding from what I've read, listened to, is that, like, once a month, you have, like, a full kinda work day where you come together and you record 30 to 50 videos worth of content.
Um, so tell me about that. Like, I wanna know, what's the crew? How many people are there? How are you structuring the session? What does, what does a content production day in Glenda's life look like?
So about four months ago, we went from a single camera to two cameras. Mm. Um, because, a- again, um, the way that MasterClass, I love the MasterClass short-form video team first. Mm-hmm.
And they had two cameras. And so I sent it to Denver, and I'm like, "Hey, I want two cameras." And he's like, "Okay."
[laughs] So it's, it's Denver, it's, uh, a second cameraman, and then it's somebody that helps with the lighting. So we have a crew of three, and we open up my, my... hit the laptop.
Denver has access to the spreadsheet, and then we just go through that and create content. We shoot for four hours, and that results in about 30 to 50 videos. Wow. Short form. Yeah, short form. Yeah.
Um, so you've been doing that now for, like, three years. D- are you...
So you don't have to tell me, like, exactly how much it costs, but I'm curious to, like, to get an idea of what-Y- you know, ballpark figure, whatever you feel comfortable sharing.
How, like, what does it take to, to produce, to produce this? Yeah. So you gotta keep in mind, you're looking at probably somewhere between $5,000 and $7,500 a month- Mm-hmm... depending on how many videos you shoot.
So i- if you're looking for a videographer, you should find out, like, how much is the shoot session. Yeah. So that's the... That's them shooting the videos.
That's, you know, that's part of it, but the other part of it is the editing of the videos. Mm, which takes most of the time. Which takes a lot of time, 'cause I talk a lot.
[laughs] You've gotta go through hours and hours of video.
But I really hit the jackpot with Denver, because Denver is the unicorn that, number one, he is great at taking what is on my Google sheet, looking at it, and getting that, but also digging a little deeper
to, to pull back the layers of what it is and where I'm going. Mm. So he is a creative mind. Yeah. He is a filmmaker. He's, like, directing you. It's- Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
Uh, he's pulling out amazing content of the ideas that I have. Then he also is a talented videographer and filmmaker, and he is also an amazing editor.
So with Denver, I really hit this, the, the motherload, to be honest- Mm... because he has such a great skill set.
Now, Denver has, you know, working with me and working with a lot of other people, he has his own studio now. I go out to the studio. It's a lot more condensed. They... He doesn't come to my home anymore.
It's was much more, uh, labor intensive when they've gotta come over here, set up, then tear down. It just was crazy. So I go out to his studio. I'm there four hours. We go through the list.
We shoot the videos, and then I have videos delivered to me every week for four weeks. Wow. That's, that's, that's such an operation. Yeah. Um, you... So I think this is kind of the way you approach content.
So first, let's back off, um, of just this for a second. I think I wanna, I wanna make sure I know all the different parts of your, of your kinda content operation.
So there's your short-form video, uh, there's the Glenda's Guru podcast, the Glitter and Gay podcast, and the newsletter. Is that everything? Right. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
And I, I'm pretty sure you kind of batch all of these, except maybe the Glenda's Guru podcast.
Like, when I was watching, um, some of the Glitter and Gay podcasts, it's like, I think the most recent one, the finale, I think it's from May of this year, you say, like, oh, something about, like, "Oh, I'm excited to see, like, how our 2024 is," or whatever.
So I'm like, "Oh, this was recorded, like, in 2023 maybe or, like, January," whatever.
Um, so I guess my question is, like, uh, is, is batching content like this, like recording thing, like, you know, with the, with the Glitter and Gay, maybe it's like you're recording a whole season in a weekend.
I don't know. Um, you tell me. But, um, that's kind of what allows this to work, 'cause you're still doing all your real estate business full time, and this is, like, something you fit in and make time for.
Um, but now I'm kinda rambling here. So I guess my question is, like, tell me about, like, your process across your whole operation of, of batching content. Yeah. So you hit the nail on the head.
I am a full-time real estate agent, and I make a truckload of money selling real estate. And I think that that is something that is very interesting to me, but I see a lot of agents selling real estate to create content.
Mm. And, like, for me, like, are creating content, it like, they're not... Like, real estate is not their main focus. Yeah. They wanna be a social media influencer. Like, I am a real estate agent.
My passion lies with helping people achieve the American dream: buy, sell, and invest in real estate, period. The social media is a vehicle for me to reach more people than I would ever have the opportunity to- Yeah...
reach, period.
The social media for me is, it gets my voice, it gets my advice out to millions of people every single week in every walk of life, in every place in the world, and to me, that's the goal with my social media.
Um, and I do batch a- every single thing that I do. The only thing that is, um, not batched, and it is still kind of batched, and that is Glenda's Guru is shot weekly- Mm...
but it has a spot in the calendar where it doesn't move from. And so, um, so I am very orderly about everything. Yeah. I take one day to shoot, uh, my, my short-form content.
Glitter and Gay, Tyler and I spend a weekend together, either here or in the Hamptons, and shoot- Not bad... all of that.
And then, um, my newsletter, I actually meet with, um, uh, the person who takes everything out of my head, who takes my words and gets it into something that is grammatically correct and coherent for readers- Yeah...
because I write, believe it or not, if you read an email from me, if you read anything that I wrote, like, the way I speak is the way I write. Yeah.
And so, um, I work with Jen, and she helps bring all of my ideas and all of my words to life on paper, and I'm with her every Monday. Okay. I...
So I'm curious, like, which project is, like, I don't know, most gratifying or most fun for you to do? Like, what do you get the most out of doing of all these things?I love the short-form content. Yeah.
That without a shadow of a doubt. Last night I am at the Atlanta Open tennis, um, match here in Atlanta, watching Andy Rodda, uh, Andy Roddick and, uh, John Isner and the Bryan brothers play doubles.
And, um, you know, I'm, I'm walking out, these girls are walking in, s- five, six, seven women, and the girl is like, "Hey." And I'm like, I'm like, "Hey."
And I, and I'm thinking, you know, in my head, the Rolodex, like do I know her? Yeah. Is she on my tennis team? Did I play against her? Did I sell them a house? Do they live in the...
You know, I'm going through everything. And she goes, "Oh my gosh, I cannot believe it is you." She goes, "We absolutely love you." She goes, she... And I'm like, and I'm like, "Oh, thank you."
She goes, "I follow you on TikTok." And she is so excited. So it's like five, six, seven, eight girls and, and I looked at her as a joke and I said, "Are you a Ponytail girl?"
And she goes, "We are not Ponytail girls, but it is the name of our group text." [laughs] And so, like, that is like, I love that. Mm-hmm. Um, I'm at the baseball game two weeks ago, and this girl stops me.
And, I mean, you gotta keep in mind, I'm at the Braves baseball stadium, there's 45,000 people there. Yeah.
And this, this young girl, 27 years old, stops me, and she goes, "You made me and my husband believe that we could buy a house. You made us believe that we could be homeowners. Our parents have never, ever owned a house.
Either one of our parents have never owned a home. We grew up in rental houses, and listening to you, you have made my husband and I believe that we can be homeowners." That is why I do it. Like, to me- Yeah... like,
to help somebody, to inspire somebody to believe that they have the ability to be a homeowner, that they have the ability to create legendary wealth through real estate, that for me is what does it. Okay.
So what is your relationship with your audience? 'Cause clearly you're a relationship, you're a natural relationship builder in the one-on-one, in person, et cetera. But, like, at scale, like, are you...
I can't, I don't imagine you're, like, in the comments. I don't imagine you're in the DMs, et cetera. Maybe you are. I don't know. [laughs] I am. But, like... You are? You are. Tyler thinks I'm crazy.
He's like- That's insane... "You can't respond to these people on the DM, they'll keep DM'ing you." No way. [laughs] Um, but no, I'm in the comments, I'm in the DMs.
I mean, and, and what this, what is so crazy to me is that young lady last night from the tennis match, that young lady at the baseball game, they think they know me. Yeah. Like, like- That parasocial relationship...
like they know that we are in, they, they think we're in a relationship. And, like, my son works at a restaurant. Like, people will go in and they'll be like, "Are you Colleen Baker's son?
Is your mom a real estate agent?" Because I talk about my son on, on, on my videos. Yeah. And there's pictures of him on the videos. And so that's the thing is, like, they know my family, they know where I live.
Like, they know when I've had a bad day. They know that I live in my mom's dream home. Mm-hmm. Like, like I share with my people my life. Like- Yeah... they, like, they are my friends. And I think that that's,
like, like, this post to be perfect, this scripted reality, like nobody... If you're not a Kardashian, nobody wants to see that shit. Come on, give me a break. Yeah. They wanna see the trials and tribulations.
And I ha- and I feel like I have been, um, both real and raw with my audience to a point that they embrace me for good or bad. Yeah. And, um- Well, wait.
So this is, this is interesting to me, 'cause the way you're describing it, it's like this is, it's, it's like a, a big weight to carry, right? Like, sharing so much about yourself and your life and these details.
Uh, ju- just in that I don't think everybody can do that. It's, like, takes, it's, that's a lot of emotional energy to, like, give that out. But my question is, like, is there any downside? Like, are there...
D- do you ever feel like you wish you could put it all back in the box because, like, too many people know too much about you? Or what's, what are the downs- like, the upsides are so obvious, right?
But are there- Well-... ever any downsides of this? Yeah. I, I, I think the downside was, um, realizing that everybody in my circle wasn't in my corner. Mm-hmm.
Realizing that all the people that followed me don't love me, that some people follow me just to watch me fail. To laugh at you. Some people follow me, you know, for, for, for selfish reasons. Yeah.
And, uh, you know, 'cause for a long time, I thought, "Oh my gosh, all the people that follow me, they love me. That's why they follow me." You know? But do I ever wish that I could ch- change it back? Um,
you know, I, I, I don't because the upside outweighs the down- Mm-hmm... so much. I mean, it just, yeah. I mean, it just...
But no, I, I, I would, if I had to go back and change it, you know, I, I don't look back with regret, I look forward with reflection. That's good. Anything that I have, um, anything that's gone wrong,
um, whether it's my divorces or drinking or real estate or family, anything that's gone wrong, it was an amazing opportunity to learn. Mm-hmm.
You don't learn nearly as much from your success as you learn from your failure, and I honestly, truly believe that. That's not just a line of bullshit that I'm feeding to make myself- No, totally... feel better.
It's just the truthAnd I just feel like I learn so much. Um, and, and you know, I mean, even, and, and it's so funny, I was talking to somebody about this last night. Um, about 90 days ago- Mm-hmm...
I posted something and got, like, amazing hate. I mean- [laughs]... hate like you cannot believe. But those 471 comments raised my engagement 632%. Mm-hmm.
So after all of that hate, I just started stacking, like, up- like, content that had really performed well, and, um, and my engagement in 30 days went up 6,000%. Oh, 6,000? [laughs] Yeah.
So, and I had been very stagnant. My- Yeah... my Instagram, my Instagram got stolen- Mm. Uh-oh... or, or hijacked in February for three weeks, and I was able to get it back, and then I was, like, shadowbanned for like...
excuse me, for like a month, and I just couldn't... I wasn't growing or anything.
And then I had posted that, and those 471 folks that talked shit in the comments and were mean and nasty, praise the Lord for them because those people got my engagement back up, and ever since that post, my engagement has blown up.
In the last 90 days, I've gotten over 100,000 followers on Instagram. Wow. Yeah. That's insane. W- going back to the original 100,000- Yeah... in 90 days. This is also...
Okay, so two things in there that kind of proved points we've been talking about. The way you keep saying 471 people in the comments, right? It's these, this detail-based storytelling that you just... It's just such a...
It's [laughs] what you do. Um, and then the other thing was, like, you were saying how, you know, y- you went from the failure. I was... That was making me think about the Glenda Live and then the post from the Porsche.
It's like you had to do those before- Wait, say that again... you could do this. Oh, um- Ask the part again.
No, I, I was just saying, like, Glenda Live and post from the Porsche, like, you had to do those, and those had to kind of flop on YouTube for you to get here and- Yeah... and do, like,
you know, I, I don't, I don't know what to call it now, the, just the, the Glenda Baker personality across social media. Like, you had to do those to get here, right? It's called Sugar and Spice Real Estate Advice. Oh.
[laughs] Oh, yeah? That's kind of its little... That's kind of its little hashtag. Okay. Um, again, yeah, you're exactly right. Like, like, I didn't know that, like, if I sweated on camera...
I mean, I always thought that, like... You know, Regis and Kathie Lee, they're old.
I would've thought they would've sweat, but it didn't show because they had great lighting, because they had people touching up their makeup. Like, I never...
That never even occurred to me that all that, like, crazy sweat or that the paisleys that were pink on my boobs would look like cow udders. [laughs] Like, you ne- like, y- those things never, ever occurred to me. Yeah.
So, and, and, and, and had those both been, you know, big hits or made any kind of dent in it, um, then I probably wouldn't have gotten to the short-form video. Mm-hmm. But ultimately for me, what I go back to is
I am never too old to learn. Yeah. I'm not too good to learn. Um, I, I, I want to... I'm curious by nature, and you... and numbers are my thing. My birthday's on the 13th. I share a birthday with Taylor Swift.
[laughs] And so I am very number-driven. Mm-hmm. Like, it's never I'm gonna be there at 6:15. I'm gonna be there at 6:11, or I'm gonna be there at 6:17.
Like, I am very precise with my numbers, and I am a numbers person, so I remember numbers. And plus, those 471 people talked shit, and I will never ever- [laughs]... forget that.
I mean, I probably screenshotted them, and like, you know, I was all whacked out about it. I mean, I was in the fetal position for like- Yeah... three days after that.
[laughs] But you know, I mean, that's the thing is, like, it just... Yeah, I learned so much, and I've never, ever... Like, I, I never would've learned
that, uh, those lessons that I learned in, on that day had that not happened. Yeah. And to me, it puts me so far ahead of the curve that it...
What happens is, is that all of those failures and all of those mistakes have put me so far ahead, it's almost impossible for you to catch up with me because you're not willing to fail.
You're too concerned about posts to be perfect. You're too concerned about that you said the right words.
You're too concerned about how did your hair look, you're too concerned about your lip gloss to, to put out content. I'm so far ahead of you because I'm just being myself. You'll never catch me. [laughs] That's...
I mean, uh, print that. We can end it here, you know. Print that, put it on some paper. Um, okay, we should talk about the newsletter, uh- Yeah... because ostensibly, you know, this is a newsletter.
This is a, a podcast and newsletter about newsletters- Yeah... kind of. Um, okay, so to situate the listeners, basically w- what, what your newsletter is, it, uh, comes out, I think, every Wednesday.
It's usually around 1,000, 1,500 words.
Um, the structure is, like, there's a little intro note, some commentary on the real estate world, then Story Time with Glenda, uh, which is, seems to be k- usually the biggest section.
It's, I mean, again, you're a storyteller. Um, and then there's a, a little Glendaism quote and some variation, but that's by and large what it is.
This weekly newsletter, you've been doing it for, I think, just over a year now. Uh, so how did it come about? Well, like, everybody asked me, like, "Do you have a newsletter? Do you have a newsletter?" Huh.
"Do you have a newsletter?" And I was like, "Oh, my gosh. Like, the last thing I need is one more thing to do," you know?
[laughs] And so, um, and so someone approached me and said, "Hey, you know, why don't you have a newsletter?"
And I was like, "Because I just, like, literally, I don't have the capacity to do it."And so, um, he, he said to me, Griff said to me, he's like, "What if I can come up with a concept- Mm...
where it wouldn't really, um, you know, beat you up. It wouldn't, you wouldn't be struggling to come up with content." Yeah, low lift for you. He's like, he's like, "You have a ton of content."
He's like, "There's no reason that you should struggle. Let me see if I can grease the wheels and make it easy f- for you." And so, and so that's what we did. We looked at some different options.
Uh, we came up with Beehive, and, and it has worked amazingly well. Um, we have about 5,000, uh, a- almost 5,000 subscribers.
What I love is over 50% of the newsletter, newsletters are opened weekly. Which is, uh, quite high. That is very good. Um, and then we have a decent click-through rate. To me, i- it's somewhere between 7 and 10%.
Also very good. See, in my head, it's not good. Yeah. You know, I, I want, I want 100 p- people, 100% of the people to click to open it. Mm-hmm. I want 70% of the people to click through.
Like, to me, in my head, like, I want it to be more, but I have to remind myself... And, and, and again, you know, I'm a real estate agent. Yeah.
But when TikTok reached out to me, they're like, "We can't figure out why people like you, because you don't do anything. You don't dance, you don't sing, you don't DIY." Hmm.
"Like, you just talk about real estate, and you have this sticky that, that nobody will leave once they start following you. It's like they can't look away." Mm-hmm.
And, and it's kind of happened that similar way with the newsletter. We have very few unsubscribes, which is great. Um, and, and we have a lot of people that open it.
And what I really want people to understand is what is in the newsletter is different than the short form content. Yeah, because it's, it's less... Is it less batched than the other ones?
Like, what's- It, it, it's, it's done weekly. Oh, okay, yeah. Like, it's not, it, like, there is no delay time on it. Mm-hmm. Like, what comes in my head on Monday, what comes out my mouth, comes onto paper- Yeah...
on, on Wednesday. What's- And so- So wait, I, I would love to hear the process, 'cause you were saying earlier you have somebody who you work with to write it, which, um, I've, I've, I've, I've talked to a lot of people.
Like, I, I talked to some people who write their own, I talked to some people who edit and, like, you know, manage other writers writing 'em.
Um, but I've, I've been interested to talk to somebody who like, who kind of has a, a writer they work with. Um, I, I'm just very fascinated by the process. Yeah. And, and this is the...
What I love about Jen, the writer that I work with- Mm-hmm... is that it's almost like a therapy session. Oh, yeah. And, and it's like, it's like a documentary. So in, in my head, it's like, it's like therapy.
Well, you were saying, you know, everything you do, it's, you talk to your friend, your client, or your therapist, and so this is- Exactly... you talking to your therapist.
Well, and it's p- it's perfect, because it's, it's a documentary/therapy, and it really is someone who's getting what's inside my head in that moment out. Mm-hmm.
And that is, to me, that has really been the magic behind the newsletter. It's been, um, the relationship with Jen. It was so funny, because we started with a bunch of cooks in the kitchen. Oh, okay.
And, and that annoyed the hell out of me.
[laughs] Because this one would send a text, and that one would send a text, and finally I just picked up the phone and I called Jen and I said, "Hey, how would you feel if we just set up a phone call every week, and I can just talk to you about what's on my mind about real estate, and that's how we make the newsletter?"
Mm. And she's like, "I think that's a phenomenal idea." I said, "Great, then let's do this. I'll let everybody know this is how we're gonna handle it moving forward." And she's like, "You haven't talked to anybody yet?"
I'm like, "No. Mm-mm." I said, "I figured I'd see if you were in the boat, and if you were in the boat, then I'd go back to them and tell them this is what we were gonna do."
And that, and it literally has worked out so much better. I feel like that the content is so much fresher. I feel like- Mm... that the content is just, um... It's, it's your opportunity, the reader, to be in my head.
Yeah. No, that's, that's amazing. I think that that, like, kind of dictating weekly schedule too i- is really smart. Um, I guess I wanna move on now to the business side, the business of being Glenda Baker.
Um, I, I think, right, there's kind of two parts to your business. There's real estate and there's content, and I imagine...
I mean, of course the content is there to feed the real estate, but now again, it, this is becoming its own thing. Um, what percentage would you say o- of your income...
Do, like, do you make income directly from the content too? What percentage is just real estate versus just content?
Uh, and then I don- I'm also curious what percentage, uh, of real estate business now comes through your content. So those are two very separate questions, and I wanna kinda talk through how I look at it- Okay...
so that you understand my answer. So for me, um, content income is not income from real estate transactions. Okay. Okay?
So content income is collaborations and sponsorships and stuff like that. So all of that equals about 15% on top of, or 15% of what I would make- Mm-hmm... in real estate. Yeah.
So let's say that I made, uh, $100 in real estate. 15, I make an, an additional $15 making content. Yeah. Okay? So I keep them separate. I have separate bank accounts.
Everything is separate because-What I didn't want to do is I didn't want to confuse myself that, number one, I was distracted from my real estate business by making... by trying to be a social media star. Yeah.
And [ding] that's money that I never, ever thought I'd have in my lifetime. Like, come on. Like, whoever thought that somebody would pay me to make a video?
[laughs] Whoever thought that somebody would pay me to come and talk to real estate agents? Like, that's money I never thought I would have. So all that money goes in a bank account, and it's completely separate.
Then there's the money that I make from Joe, who was 53 days from TikTok to closing on- [laughs]... his $700,000 condo. That's $21,000, right?
So, um, sit down, 'cause nearly 30% of my business comes from social media. Uh- Yeah... wait. So, uh, when...
So, I mean, let's say, uh, almost four years ago, three and a half years ago is when you really started to take off. How has that percentage point grown over the past few years? It's called zero to 30%. Really? Wow.
Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing, which goes back to you being, I think as you said it, like, this, the, the real estate aunt. Everybody is like, you're- Yeah... you're the one. You're the go-to.
You're, like, the, the trustworthy person- Yeah... in the space. Yeah. Exactly. I have a few more questions, but I know we're gonna, we're getting over time, so I think the one big one is where you see this going.
Like, so, I don't know. I'm not, I'm not gonna say, like, one year, five year, 10 year, but, like, just kind of over the next few years, do you see yourself dedicating more time to content?
'Cause I know you said that, like, the, the, the goal is to sell real estate at the end of the day. Yeah. And this is, like, a, a, a part of that. But, like, I don't know.
I think of, like, content, and when I think of content in real estate, obviously I think of stuff like Selling Sunset, right?
Where it's like, that seems more like these people become, like, reality TV stars much more than they are real estate agents. I don't know.
But point being, um, is there a version of this where you, like, lean more into the media business side and, like, step out of real estate a bit? Or I'll stop talking now. Where, where are you going with this?
So I've been approached to do television.
Um, I was approached to do a show, and it was pitched to me that it was gonna be somewhere between The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Selling Sunset, and I was like, "I am not your avatar." [laughs] Um, it's just I...
That is not me. Like- Yeah... you know, it, it was interesting. Um, oh, gosh. I had the opportunity to have a great conversation with somebody I met on social media,
and he is being approached to do, uh, reality television, and he asked me, he's like, "Why haven't you done reality TV?" And I said, "Oh, my stars and stripes. I have way too many skeletons in my closet."
I said, "But I don't want my children exposed to that." Mm. And that's, that's not... I- I'm not walking around in septic fields in stilettos.
Like, I don't even own a pair of stilettos 'cause I cannot balance on the shoes that I have, for God's sake. Well, this is wa- Right?
This is really interesting too, 'cause when, a little bit ago we were talking about, like, any downsides to, like, blowing up on social media, et cetera, and it sounded like not necessarily, but that to do this would then be a step too far- Oh, yeah...
and exposure of your life to too big of an audience. Well, no, no, no. It... No. It's not that it's too big of an audience. Do you realize that I have 350,000 views per day on average across- Yeah... my video catalog?
Two and a half million views a week. I have more views on my videos than the majority of reality television houses per week. [laughs] That's, that's true. [laughs] So it's, it's not...
The key is it is not about the exposure. It's about the ability to control the narrative. Mm. Yeah. And that is really the hard line in the sand for me, is that it is... I, I've seen a...
There's an amazing real estate agent here in Atlanta, very talented real estate agent, and here she gets on a show and they make her look like she doesn't know her head from a hole in the ground.
And it would be way too easy for somebody to edit me for their own agenda. Yeah. And that is what I love about short-form content. It is the only person editing it for an agenda is me. You hired Denver.
You know, you're not the talent. I, I, I hired Denver. You're the boss and the talent. And, and, and that trust and that relationship that he's going to edit me true to me- Mm-hmm... is really critical.
So being on, being on television to me doesn't give me an advantage. It doesn't give me more exposure. Mm.
I was a global ambassador for Inman, which is a very large, uh, real estate, um, uh, indust- uh, industry, like, let's call it the CNN of real estate. Mm-hmm.
And of those, uh, global ambassadors, I was the only one who wasn't on television.
And so for me, you know, the, the engagement that I have with my, with my audience and the viewership that I have with my audience gives me all the exposure that I want.
So, um, I, I don't see that I would ever do television, but I have no intention of, of stopping the creation train. Yeah. It really feeds my spirit. It feeds my soul.
It feeds the creative part of my brain, and, uh, it, it, uh, I'm so curious, um, in my consumption,
and I always wa- I'm always looking for more ways to reach people and to, to tell them the truth about real estate, to inspire them, impact them, and inform them about real estate.
And, and, and that's really, that is the mission statement, is how many people can I touch, how many people can I inspire, how many people can I impact with my voice about real estate or the trials and tribulations that I've been through personally?
Yeah. So that, that, that is the single agenda, because, you know- And to do that while owning your narrative. Yeah. Uh, uh, control. N- Owning it and controlling it. Yeah.
And, and maybe people will say she's a control freak.
Yes, absolutely, I'm a control freak, but ultimately for me, I want people to know the truth about real estate, and let me assure you, it has nothing to do with stilettos and septic fields. We'll leave it right there.
[laughs] Um, perfect. Uh, where should people go to find you? You know, I have trained Google, so if you just put in- [laughs]... G-L-E-N-N-D-A, you can follow me wherever you are most comfortable.
Really, it's #GoogleGlenda, and I started that about two years ago, and if you c- if you put in Glenda into Google, it will show you everywhere that I am, and you can find out all the dirty secrets right there.
There we go. This has been the Creator Spotlight Podcast. Our guest today has been Glenda, with two N's, don't forget it, Baker, um, and I have been your host, Branson Cyr. I'll see you next week.
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