Getting out of your comfort zone is fun!

If anyone got out of their comfort zone this year it was me!? From having everything I wanted in life to starting fresh, in a new country, with no connections, much less money and very few friends and relations.

I started a new career which meant going back to school – where I was the oldest by about 40 years, writing electronic exams which was hair raising and having to compete with people who had grown up in the digital age.

However every day was and still is a fun experience – I had two options – I could sit in my rocking chair and grow old or start a new life full of fun and stay young!

If you had told me even a year ago that I would be making Tik Tok's, barefoot and with curlers in my hair I would never have believed you. But here we are!

Watch my latest TikTok here .

Whether it’s a quick fun dance on TikTok or a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the life of a Florida Realtor or a Hirsch's Homestores team member, we’ve learned that when we?entertain, we connect with our audience on a deeper level.

?Gone are the days when you could market your product or service in newspapers and magazines – now social media is the way to go. ?TV and thank goodness, still the good old radio which is mostly live streamed.?

?We have gone from the old fashioned product-and-price scenario to what we call retail-tainment which is a cross between selling and entertainment.? We have found that our customers don’t want to be sold to, they want to be part of the whole experience.? They want to work the coffee machine before they buy, they want to taste the fries out the airfryer to see that they are crisp enough, they want to check that their dishes will fit in the dishwasher and that the fridge will be able to keep their veggies cool for longer while really freezing their ice cream.

?Its also necessary to provide more than the customer expects so at Hirschs' we have networking mornings, cooking demonstrations, housekeeper training - just to mention a few of the events we host regularly.

And after running all these for so many years I am now attending networking events for Realtors in Florida.

Staying relevant in the digital world is no longer an option, it’s a necessity and if this involves dancing and acting crazy on camera, its part of the fun.? The nice thing about digital marketing is that everyone is learning as they go – I made the mistake of taking a course in digital marketing but found that I was actually ?already far ahead of the instruction books that had been published as things are moving so fast, schools cant keep up!?

If you really don’t know where to start, then think about someone you admire and interview them.? I interview all the Mrs SA contestants and have such fun with them, learn a lot about them and what they do and also make sure they are on the path to help other women to gain more confidence.? We all show others that by telling them about our accomplishments, we do this, not to impress them but to impress upon them that if we can do it they can too.

It's been proven that humorous posts or a light hearted video is far more memorable in the eyes of the consumer (Watch here )– one needs to ensure that the advert – be it on social media, print or TV is relatable, engaging and the more vulnerable you can be – the better the audience will like it.

Getting out of your comfort zone is about embracing the unknown and being open to trying new things.? It means pushing yourself beyond your usual limits and in this way, not only you will grow personally but your brand will grow too.? Having played tennis and squash in my youth and then forgotten about it as time went on, I joined the local Pickle Ball group (called Padel in South Africa).? That was really different as you, arrived, put your racket into a groove and as soon as there were four rackets in a slot, you had to play with those people – they were at all different levels – mostly much better than me – and all different ages too!

I also took up a dance class and was introduced to “twerking” something I had never heard of but when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so before long I was twerking away to the beat.

At my age, the lesson is that you are never too old to learn something new and you are never too experienced to try something different.

At Hirsch's Homestore ?and with Margaret Hirsch International Realtor, I’ve seen firsthand that when we stop taking ourselves too seriously and start having fun, our audience connects with us more than ever. People want to laugh, to feel good, and to see the real humans behind the brand. When we bring joy to our marketing, whether it’s a dance, a joke, or a funny story, we’re building relationships that go far beyond the products we sell.

So, if you’re feeling hesitant to step into the world of social media, video marketing, or even TikTok, my advice is this:?just go for it!?You might feel a little awkward at first, but you’ll quickly discover that it’s not only a great way to connect with your audience—it’s also a lot of fun. Read the comments but don’t take them personally. See what people like and what they don’t and then fine tune your posts until you have something that is identifiably yours.

Let’s keep evolving, keep learning, and most importantly, let’s keep having fun.

Much Love,

Margaret Hirsch