HEATHER EWING: The CRE RUNdown
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HEATHER EWING: The CRE RUNdown
Ep. 53 Levi Blum - Harnessing LinkedIn for Commercial Real Estate Success and Entrepreneurial Growth
What happens when a tech-savvy individual transitions into the world of commercial real estate debt? Discover the fascinating journey of Levi Blum, who went from selling office equipment to building his own debt financing LLC, proving that resilience and adaptability are key ingredients to entrepreneurial success. Levi shares how he harnessed the power of LinkedIn to establish his brand and build connections in the industry. His insights provide a roadmap for using social media as a strategic tool in business development, especially in times of uncertainty like the COVID-19 pandemic.
The art of building relationships is about more than just hitting sales quotas. In a candid discussion, we unravel the transformative power of genuine connections that extend beyond immediate transactions. Levi and I share personal anecdotes to highlight how a shift from traditional sales tactics to a more relational approach can foster meaningful interactions. LinkedIn emerges as a powerful platform for nurturing these connections, offering opportunities for serendipitous introductions and long-term collaborations that provide both personal and professional rewards.
Networking is more than a buzzword; it’s a lifeline to professional development and personal growth. Levi emphasizes the importance of mentorship and engaging with professionals on LinkedIn, encouraging listeners to be proactive in seeking guidance and forming industry connections. Join us as we cultivate a community where reaching out leads to valuable learning experiences and relationships. Levi’s invitation to connect underscores the supportive network available to those ready to take the leap into entrepreneurship and beyond.
Heather Ewing. Welcome to Heather Ewing, the CRE Rundown. I am your host, heather Ewing, and today, from beautiful Brooklyn, new York, I have none other than Levi Bloom. He is a commercial real estate debt expert. Levi, welcome Levi.
Speaker 2:Bloom. Hi, good morning Heather. Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1:Heather Ewing. Definitely, it's my pleasure. So let's get into the backstory. We've connected through LinkedIn and share a little bit more with my audience of how you got into lending.
Speaker 2:Great question. I started many years ago 20 plus years ago working in sales. I like the idea of doing sales because it's basically connecting with people uh, people you never met before, like me and you, we never met, we didn't go to school together and um and connecting with people, getting to know sorry, getting to know what people do you know, business, how they got started that's something that I like very much. Networking I like that very much as well. As you know, I'm very active on LinkedIn and I did it. I started in the technology industry also started in 2003, 2002, as working for a company that was leasing office equipment to businesses. This is a very hard sell. I don't recommend that to anyone. I mean, and eventually that industry became very, you know, commodities-based. Nobody really cares what kind of brand. You can show off your watch or car and they sit at a barbecue and show off their copier. You know, have a Canon, you have a Xerox, you know it's pretty much the same as long as they do the same thing Pass paper from the first one side to the other side. Eventually, that industry turned into IT services and document management. I was in it for 18, 19 years and I was dying to get out of it.
Speaker 2:A year and a half before COVID, somebody introduced me to debt financing. And they're like you don't have to quit your day job, you can do that on the side. I was working for a very tiny company one person, you know one, there was two people in the company. Um, I learned a lot about financing and I was happy to be able to, at five o'clock going to other networking meetings, since I was trying to get out of that industry to talk about, you know, financing. And then what happened is when you talk to a cfo or an investor to get access to financing, even if you're not in the business today to get financing, everybody listens to you, they'll give you five minutes, versus when I used to talk to people about it services, most people were like you know, you have to talk to my it person. I have no idea what. You know, I'm relying to one, one person. Right? I felt like you know, I was very tempted to, you know, to do that full time. But you know I have a family, I have a wife and five children, so you can just quit your job.
Speaker 2:And then covid came, arrived, came whatever was sent to us, whatever, and everything closed down, especially in new york city, and I'm like. This is basically a message that I have to. You know, I might as well get started on my own business instead of just sitting around and, unfortunately, listen to. You know a lot of bad news and you know we lost a lot of people during covid. It was a chaos, especially in new york, um, so I opened up an llc, um, as you can see, I'm not 20 years old, I'm, you know, 50 years old.
Speaker 2:So I had to learn how to use social media properly. I used linkedin before, but I had no clue how to use it. So this is a message that I want to pass on. Also. You know, those uh tools, like you know, linkedin and other social media do work to you know, to connect with people and maybe to, um, you know, to get your name out there, um, but there's a way of doing it that's going to work and there's another way of doing it that's not going to work. So I had to take a couple classes and I had the time, you know, fortunately, kobe, we're, all you know, indoors and I took a couple classes.
Speaker 2:I learned how to do posting, how to post, what to post about. You know, uh, how to connect with people, how to get to connection to maybe a conversation on a DM and then the goal is to finish on a Zoom meeting. It's not going to work all the time, but the goal is basically post a lot. So you create a name out there. So people I'm going to reach out to you, connect to you and you're going to say who's this guy, levi Bloom. They're going to Google my name on LinkedIn and they're going to see that I'm very active every day, monday through Friday, most of the weeks I am posting, and they're going to see that my posts are usually between real estate, investment, financing and entrepreneur.
Speaker 2:Well, entrepreneur is a very, not easy job, you know. If you want to become an entrepreneur, to think that you can actually, you know, go on vacation and let your 10 workers work for you. That's not the way most successful, successful people started. The first few years you got to work very hard. It's you and yourself only, so it's very lonely sometimes and then when you go through a tough time, it's you and the walls and yourself.
Speaker 2:And I think and I made a lot of good connection on LinkedIn people that I follow they are you know that I keep in touch with and they, you know, they give you people. You know they're there a lot of times to give you a boost and you know, and help you to stay, you know, above ground when things are shaky. Right, I have two people that I follow, mostly, like you know, real estate investors. So you have to be very focused who you want to connect with. I didn't connect with my neighbors or the person that I went to school with. I connected mainly with real estate investors all over the country New York, I'm in America, sorry and then I do follow a few people. There are some LinkedIn gurus and I take a lot of tips from them. And here we are and that's how me and you connected it and we're friends now.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Well, I think that's a neat thing too, Kind of like we were talking about a little bit before. Linkedin is such. It's like the emporium right of all these different asset classes, different career arenas, synergistic opportunities, and it's a really nice way to learn about people, to start connecting, and that's also with the podcast that I love having this, because you get to have those conversations and really understand what does each person truly do and how can you best help them, and also how can you help your clients by connecting them. You know, whether it's yourself or other people that I've met through LinkedIn, that it's a terrific resource. And you had mentioned also about entrepreneurship and I think there's such a buzz about it. You hear the infamous take the leap and things of that nature being where you are at now right, You've been in it for a few years You're understanding more of the ropes, making changes, systems, things of that nature what's advice that you would give for someone that might be contemplating entrepreneurship or is maybe new to?
Speaker 2:the game. So, number one I'm going to say things the way they are. You know it's not going to be an easy ride. Number one I had I 20 plus years of sales background and I think sales is important because you're always selling. Number one marketing I had to learn myself. You know a lot of about marketing, that's. You know. Marketing can be putting a post I mean you had. There's a way of doing it that people want to read about it because it's going to be interesting. Um, it's a lot of um.
Speaker 2:You have to stay positive. Your mindset is basically 70 percent of what the day is going to look like. So if you wake up in the morning and you're like I don't see how I'm able to close one deal or make a new connection, your day is going to go bad. I used to. In my early days I used to always look like you know it's already 12 o'clock, I only have five hours to work. That's really too late. Should I work? Is it worth it? What I changed the way I'm thinking today is more like. You know it's 12 o'clock. I've been on my desk since 7.30. I spend X hours. You know six hours already and I've connected with people and I started also to celebrate not really a celebration, but I started to also um celebrating even make it one connection, like we're having today, this meeting me and you. This is something that I check into my you know daily task. That's gonna get me closer to my end goal.
Speaker 2:My end goal is not to sell you anything, as you can tell people that are listening and watching us. I haven't mentioned a word about why you should be doing a business with me, and we mentioned that before we started recording. It is on LinkedIn. The goal is to network. So a lot of time I would reach out to people that are following me or they comment on my post and I'm like let's jump on a you know 10 minute or you know 10 minute five minutes um zoom meeting just to get to know each other. I'm not going to sell you anything. If you need financing, I will let you know what I do but my goal is and I've discovered discover so much about people once you're on a Zoom meeting together, which a lot of time ended up me being able to do some introduction. So three weeks ago which is very funny I spoke to a commercial real estate agent from Atlanta, georgia. That same day in the afternoon I was talking to a new real estate investor in Atlanta, georgia. I'm like would you be happy to make a connection with a commercial agent and the commercial agent would you be happy to speak to an investor which is locally? And they were both very happy. And then the connection and whatever happened happened.
Speaker 2:So my point is a lot of times we do not connect with people with the mindset that you know you're looking to close a deal, because if you have that mindset you're going to get burned very easily, very quickly. Of course you want to connect with people that you know you have something in common, so you know you're in the real estate. You know you. As far as I think, I remember you do commercial leasing real estate. You deal with investors.
Speaker 2:I deal with people that might be looking to purchase some commercial real estate in Milwaukee. This is where you are located and that's the goal. I mean as of today. You're not buying personal real estate. You're not going to reach out to me and I'm not moving to Milwaukee either. I mean as of now, so there's no need. We're not going to do out to me and I'm not moving to milwaukee either. I mean as of now. So there's no need.
Speaker 2:We're not going to do business together, but what we can do is refer people to each other and I think this is the goal of linkedin. That's why I like it a lot and my goal is to you know, be able to have, you know, three, four meetings daily and then, the main thing I will tell somebody once you have a meeting, put all the information on on theM so you have a summary. So when I speak to you next time, I'm not going to be like you know, fresh new conversation, I'm going to say you know, last time you spoke to me, we're about to take you out to the soccer game. And how was it? You know, whatever maybe the conversation, you just write a small summary. So it's going to be a continuation of the first or second or third conversation.
Speaker 1:I agree, and I think that level of thoughtfulness goes a long ways and it also ties into kind of you know what you're saying is it's much more of a relationship based journey and I think you know, when you hear of sales from back in the day, I think it was very much like push, you know, kind of like you're shoveling your agenda and kind of stuffing it Right and someone's supposed to accept it, whereas now I think it is much more relational and to me that's the interesting part, right, instead of just shooting everything everywhere, of really getting to know people and understanding what they do, how they do it, what's happening in life, maybe pivotal moments of time, upcoming travels, adventures, things of that nature and I think sales is one large adventure and, if you do like forming relationships and getting outside of your comfort zone and learning and all these different things, it can be a really rich and rewarding arena.
Speaker 1:And, as you had mentioned earlier, with entrepreneurship tied in with sales, it can be stressful, it can be lonely, especially in the beginning and all those different things. But now that you're settled in, what would you say helps you to de-stress after these busy days?
Speaker 2:What helps me? I mean, as I mentioned, I just look back at my day and instead of just looking like how many quotes that I put together and how many deals that I closed especially in the real estate environment, which 2024 is a little bit rough year for all of us rates went up. I mean, last week I had four clients that were looking to refinance. I put the best numbers that I was able to put together. The numbers did not add up properly and there's nothing I could have done, and last year was a lot of those. What I was looking at, I was going through my CRM and I was looking through it and I saw how many deals I was involved did not close, but how many deals I was involved last year which did not close. And it gave me a little comfort, basically to make me realize that I am working.
Speaker 2:I'm working very hard, you know. I'm also very consistent. That's my personality. I'm very disciplined. So I'm up at the same time every morning, you know, and then by 7.30, my post goes out and I start doing whatever I'm supposed to do and I go straight to 12 o'clock and then I think you have to, not only being on LinkedIn just to see how many sales you're going to make. Because if you focus on sales only and it's something that I had to work on myself so I really can talk about it Like before, when I worked in the corporate world, I worked for a family-owned business and then from there I went to work for Fortune 500.
Speaker 2:Everything was quota. What you're holding, if you're not meeting quota next year, next month, we're going to give you a warning letter. And I realized with the stress that was in that environment, you cannot be productive Versus when you work for yourself. As long as you're truthful to yourself, you get up in the morning, you do work, you have some kind of a schedule. What I recommend is to do the important things from 7.30 till 12, which is where your head is the most clear.
Speaker 2:So this is where I'm going to be doing, you know, connecting with people, commenting, because commenting is very tiring, it's not exciting. I will tell people the process is not meant to be exciting. So you get, keep excited. You know, get yourself excited is when you think and you realize that this is part of the journey and the process will take you to where you want to get eventually. That's what keeps me going, because, let's be be real, commenting is not. You know it's hard. You got to read I try to comment on, you know. Let's say you know 60, 70 posts, posts, I reply, I reply. I reply to everybody that puts a comment on my post. So it's a lot of reading and you cannot just say thumbs up because you know whatever you put in, that's what you're going to get back.
Speaker 2:So if it comes up every time somebody put a comment on your, on your post. You people are not going to hang around. You know the goal of it is to start a conversation. That's the goal and I would tell people when you comment on somebody's post, if you have a question, ask the question in the comment and this is where the person is going to start replying.
Speaker 2:I did it this morning with a linkedin guru his name is jasmine alec, I think so and I commented. The first thing in the morning was like 7 am. I saw my phone. You know it comes up. Don't think it comes up on my phone, it's the LinkedIn. When the LinkedIn post comes up and I commented, he replied we had like five, six, you know, basically back and forth, and then other people that saw us talking to each other, they put some also some, some thumbs up etc. So the goal is that just it's commenting is fine. Of course you know we're gonna have a question you rather have. You know, good question is just ask a question, just to put a question there. But I think it's very important to start a conversation in the comments and hopefully more people get involved and this is people. You know people, people can see you as the expert you know. For you would be commercial. You know agents for a certain area. For me would be like debt financing, and others might be other things as well.
Speaker 1:Right, it creates almost like a mini forum within the post itself and certain questions to your point or information really do get traction and they take off. So it builds an energy of its own and it is kind of fun, to your point, of seeing all right you started with this element and where different people's questions or comments shift it to. So it is a great way to learn and highlight expertise without being salesy, right.
Speaker 1:So it's sharing those stories, as you do, and I also enjoy seeing people's stories of how they help people and where they started, the steps that they took and the end result, and I think that's very meaningful also because people that might be new to LinkedIn it also helps them to see there's a format and a pattern and a rhythm, because, as the old adage, success leaves clues. It does, and I would say, a superpower is definitely discipline and consistency, and that's something I have in common with you too of without it, I just don't know how people are ever going to get where they want to, and I, when I reflect back into my own life in the earlier years, I was not consistent and I wasn't disciplined. So it makes sense. So it's like, oh, thank goodness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think when I was working for larger companies. The problem is, even if you're consistent but you have so much stress in your head because your manager wants to see your numbers, it's all numbers oriented, like. One thing which I didn't like about working those places is you come on time in the morning, they don't really care. You leave after everybody because you work, you make the most phone calls, they don't care. It's all about number. I'm like you know, I didn't feel like it was a very fair environment, so that's why I'm happy where I am and I can me wrong. It's. You know, in some ways I have other stress because you're relying on you making sales in order to make some income. Um, I'm personally with, with my sales background and my personality, I do know how to connect and something that I have, whether I was born with it or whatever, developed that much later. Then I may be able to connect with people that I never met before and have a great conversation and at the end of the conversation we feel like, you know, we can pretty much we can be friends even if we don't do business together. So that's what I, you know, and I think also LinkedIn people not to realize it's not going to be an overnight. You know become. You know become wealthy or create. You know a become. You know become wealthy or create, you know, a 10,000 network around you. You know, overnight it's going to take time, it's going to. You have to prove yourself and you know, just celebrate Bless. You Celebrate small things. You know I made five new connections today.
Speaker 2:I sent out you know X amount of, you know, dms. And one thing that I posted yesterday which didn't have too many reaction, but I figure it was a super bowl and sundays. You know gary v is saying to somebody was trying, somebody was trying to get in touch with investors to get some you know funds basically, and gary told them, like how many dms you sent out per day? The guy says 25. So guy replies 25, it's not going to get you anywhere. You know, send out 70, 60, 80. He mentioned 100. It's also another thing that takes very, you know, a lot of time. What I do. I have templates that I already pre, you know, put together on the word documents. So I have a first message, a second message, what if they don, what if they reply, and so on and so forth. But it takes time, it's not automated and it takes a lot of time. You have to, you know, and it's not fun at all. You just have to keep on doing it.
Speaker 1:But I think at the same time, you know kudos to you, because we've all had that where you connect with someone and then suddenly you get this laundry list type of text back and it's like, oh, you know, I'm like how did I fall for that one? And it's just like you want nothing to do with it after that, because it's a big turnoff.
Speaker 1:And I agree with you completely of building the relationships, and it takes time and and that it is gratifying for that reason too. But as we wrap this up, Levi, you've got your pros and cons right of social media. What, to you, does living fully mean? What is that fuel within you that keeps you being disciplined and consistent in helping all your great clients?
Speaker 2:Number one I like helping people. I mean when I close a, when I finance a deal whether it's a single family, four units, you know, 20, 40 units I like to go through the process. It's very fulfilling when you help somebody who came, whether they have experience or no experience. They came up to me, which means that they have some kind of trust whether it's from LinkedIn, from other places, referrals and they pretty much feel comfortable doing business with me. And when I take those people from point A all the way to point Z, there's a satisfaction about closing a deal. I feel like I'm part of the team that closed the deal together with them.
Speaker 2:Right, right, the way I work is three people involved in the transaction is myself a borrower and the wholesaler that I work with who underwrites my deals. So what happens when three people are involved is less a chance for things to fall through the cracks. So if something goes wrong, I'm the only one that can look in the mirror and say you know, there was a mess up, I have to fix it, instead of only one that can look in the mirror and say you know, there was a mess up, I have, I have to fix it, instead of waiting for other people. You know, this guy went on vacation, this lady's not feeling well, this man is on hospital, which I had that in the past when I was working for larger companies. So I like that much, very much.
Speaker 2:Um, I'm, I, I feel that I have it with, you know, within me to succeed. Uh, not that I'm better than anybody else, but I feel like you know, I work me to succeed. Not that I'm better than anybody else, but I feel like, you know, I'm working very hard. I have the sales background and I believe in myself as well. I like my product. I love closing a deal, financing a property, and you know there's a big satisfaction to that and I think that's what keeps me going. And besides work, I mean I have a family. I tried to take care of myself. We spoke, you know I'm not gonna have time. We spoke about, you know, running also. So you right about running, which I've been slacking then lately because of the cold.
Speaker 1:Well, if you need a plan, you know who to reach out to happy to help.
Speaker 2:Thank, you, thank you very much and that's what keeps me going every day. I mean, in the 2024 was the one of my worst year and every day you know I was very consistent 7.30,. I had my post going out, connecting, commenting, and hopefully the goal is for whatever seeds that I plant in 2024 should see the.
Speaker 1:I know I should see the fruit of my labor in 2025. And I have no doubt that you will so with the great attitude and the discipline and the consistency I know you'll hit that goal. So yes, levi, thank you so much for joining me today. Please share. How can people best connect with you?
Speaker 2:And other ways. I mean LinkedIn has all my information, my phone number, my email address, you know. Look up Levi Bloom, l-e-v-i-b-l-u-m. You can look me up if you reach out to me. If you have a question about financing, I'm not pushy, I'm not going to force you to do business with me.
Speaker 2:If you're looking for a quote, I can give you a quote on a smaller project. I can give you a quote in five minutes. You know one to four units very quickly. So you have an idea, kind of final quote, of course, but you have an idea. Like my monthly payment will be $3,000. I'm making an offer for X amount. So and then, if you're talking about larger project, which I work with agencies, that will take a little more time than just you know five minutes. But look out, you know, look me up on LinkedIn. Reach out to me, even if you have a question. I don't mind answering question. Even if you don't have experience, I don't mind educating you a little bit. So feel free to reach out, connect with me and looking forward to be out there on LinkedIn and connect with more people.
Speaker 1:Perfect. Well, Levi, thank you again for joining me.
Speaker 2:My pleasure. Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 1:You bet Bye-bye.