During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer grills the Founder of Berman Media PD, Michelle Berman, about how real estate agents can use Instagram to establish their authority. Michelle built her business through DM engagement and now she teaches agents how to grow their Instagram presence and bring in more leads! Episode Highlights:  Instagram is the future of social media and because of that, business owners and marketers everywhere need to become proficient with it. Customer relations in a social media space was a very under-explored area, inspiring Michelle to dive in completely. Michelle saw many problems with the money to results ratio that she was seeing at her marketing firm, thus leading to the creation of Berman Media PD. Michelle’s swimming career took her from California all the way to Rutgers University. The whirlwind of emotional experiences that Michelle experienced during 9/11 led to her acceptance into a journalism program dedicated to honoring the 10th anniversary. Learning how to navigate social media platforms in an appropriate, professional, and effective manner influenced Michelle’s career choice. Michelle’s professional portfolio gave her the confidence to go out on her own, learning from her mistakes as she went. In 2018, social media influencing took a massive hit, so Michelle decided to reach out to a coach to help guide her through. In many corporate industries, age and experience can be a handicap, but Michelle uses that to her advantage. Michelle believes that people approach Instagram from a strictly professional perspective instead of putting their clients into the equation. The Instagram Power Method Program takes real estate agents through a transformational journey that helps them find what makes them different. Base your content on your clients’ pain points; show them that you can fix their problems. Most businesses know that they need to use social media but just don’t know how to do it effectively. Michelle specializes in working with real estate agents and loan officers to replace their marketing strategies with tactical Instagram marketing techniques. Content creation, and how to use that content effectively, is what clients will learn when working with Michelle. Michelle breaks down the top-of-funnel, middle-of-funnel, and bottom-of-funnel lead system, and where social media sits in that system. Younger generations are using Instagram as a search engine, not just for mindless content. Find out where your ideal clients live on social media and figure out a way to live there through the use of hashtags for engagement. Every single person that uses Instagram to market is using it for their own individual purpose. Somebody who already understands the power and necessity of Instagram is the kind of student that Michelle loves to work with. Implore these strategies and you will see that you are no longer spending so much time chasing your business. Real estate agents feel that if they work in a niche and specialize, it will stop people from reaching out to them. Michelle’s program teaches students how to niche down, strategically brand correctly, and how to create leads through engagement. The opportunity to change people’s lives for the better motivates Michelle to educate her students every day. Go all-in on social media marketing right now because you’ll be there in two years anyway. You should trust yourself enough to niche down and know that it will make you more successful. Identify your ideal clients and where they are coming from so that you can start engaging in that world and building trust. 3 Key Points: Instagram is the future of social media marketing, allowing real estate agents to find the world that their ideal clients live in and engage with that world. Michelle sells herself on the fact that she has built her entire career on making connections in her DMs and her ability to teach others how to do the same. While most people think of Instagram as a