What are the responsibilities of a real estate professional? These days, the answer isn’t so simple. From designing websites and logos, to blogging and social media, to managing all kinds of software, today’s real estate pros have a wider range of tasks than ever before. Sometimes, with all that extra work, agents lose sight of their most important priority: to grow their business. But Vija Williams has her eye on the prize. For Vija, the devil isn’t in the details: it’s in the big picture, with every transaction, every interaction, measured against a clear, long-term vision of success. As a real estate coach and leader to an award-winning team, Vija has helped dozens of agents build a more methodical, more thoughtful business. In this far-reaching interview, Vija Williams offers her tips for building a clear, confident real estate brand, and explains why long-term planning is the best way to achieve short-term success.

When asked why they don’t use content marketing to promote their businesses, real estate agents have all kinds of explanations. They say they’re too busy, or they tried it and it didn’t work, or their market is too competitive. But Katrina Benton is here to debunk all these excuses, and then some. A lifelong resident of Anchorage, Alaska, Katrina comes from a long line of real estate professionals. But unlike her father and grandfather, Katrina has invested heavily in digital marketing. That investment has helped her build a sustainable year-round practice in a highly seasonal market. Now, Katrina is taking her show on the road, helping agents in Texas, California, and Colorado use her content and tools to grow their own businesses. In this interview, Katrina Benton describes how agents can turn their content and tools into a full-fledged marketing system, and explains why being busy isn’t the same as being successful.

Real estate agents face a unique challenge in deciding where to hang out their shingle. Do you join a franchise for the brand recognition and resources? Do you opt for an indie brokerage with more flexibility and local authority? Or do you strike out on your own and start a new business? As it happens, Lindsay Reishman has done all three. Lindsay has worn a lot of hats in the real estate business. After years of working closely with consumers, first as an agent, then as a broker-owner, Lindsay sold his company to Compass, stepping out of day-to-day operations and into a management role. Today, he’s back in the saddle with a new sales team and a renewed focus on helping agents provide better service to their clients. In this interview, Lindsay Reishman discusses the process of reinventing his brand for a new venture, and offers up some words of caution and advice for brand new agents.

When it comes to advising new or aspiring agents, there are two persistent myths. Some folks say you can start earning right away in real estate. Others tell rookie it’ll be months before they make their first deal. But for Melissa Boucher, the first six months weren’t for making money: they were for learning. A year ago, Melissa left her first career as an oncology nurse in Seattle to become a full-time real estate agent. Instead of taking on clients right away, Melissa decided to spend time seeking out mentors and learning everything she could about her new trade. Not long ago, that decision paid off in a big way when Melissa landed a sprawling 99-acre listing in the San Juan Islands worth twenty million dollars. In this interview, first-year agent Melissa Boucher takes us through her journey to 20 million, and explains why open houses can be an untapped resource for connecting with sellers.

Real estate is built on personal branding. Whether you work for a major franchise or an indie brokerage, your first responsibility as an agent is growing your own list of clients and prospects. And with all that branding comes ego. It’s everywhere, from bus stop ads to websites and everywhere in between. Some would argue that ego is an asset—project confidence, they say, and your audience will take notice. But for Pat Hiban, ego has a way of coming back to haunt you. Pat should have something of an ego himself: he’s one of a few agents to have sold over a billion dollars worth of homes over the course of his career. But in an industry as speculative as real estate, Pat preaches the value of being conservative, as well as building strong systems behind the scenes to capitalize on every opportunity, no matter how small. In this interview, Pat Hiban reveals the potential costs of ego in real estate, and explains how an ego-killing decisions like price reductions can actually make your business stronger.

For many real estate agents, the 2008 housing crash was a disaster. Yet even in the darkest days, there were still corners of our industry that found a way to thrive. Distressed sales, for instance, made up almost a third of all real estate transactions in 2009, with real estate owned properties taking the biggest chunk of that market. And that was good news for Steve Jolly. A former home improvement contractor with a background in selling to businesses, Steve realized in 2005 that the REO market was a strong fit for his experience. Over the next few years, Steve closed hundreds of deals. But as the market recovered, the REO market began to shrink. Today, distressed sales are at a nine-year low nationwide. Yet Steve’s business is still booming, and it’s all thanks to clever marketing. No fan of traditional outbound marketing methods, Steve developed a direct marketing strategy that’s helped him close dozens of REO sales every year. He’s even written a book: “Kill Cold Calls.” In this interview, Steve Jolly explains his system for using digital marketing tools and content to generate and convert more leads, without resorting to cold calls.

One of the first lessons we learn when entering the working world is what it really means to start at the bottom. Whether it’s writing parking tickets as a police officer, sweeping floors at a hair salon, or processing endless data at a corporate job, working your way up the ladder is an often unpleasant reality of most careers. But real estate is the exception. Irina Kim Sang has a great analogy for this. Irina started her real estate career by diving right into Miami’s luxury scene, and managed to build a highly successful business. For Irina, the real estate industry is like a high rise apartment building. In most careers, getting to the penthouse means taking the stairs from floor to floor. But in real estate, you can take an elevator straight to the top. The challenge, of course, is adjusting your business to fit a new perspective that’s much different from the ground floor. In this interview, Irina Kim Sang details how agents can accelerate success by focusing on one perspective, and explains why the best marketers are open to ideas from every industry.

In the age of digital marketing, where there’s so much choice and so many distractions, It’s easy to find a reason why a listing or a lead didn’t go your way. Maybe that buyer wasn’t actually ready. Or maybe that seller decided to list with an old friend. But for Tim and Julie Harris, there’s only one reason why your real estate business isn’t what you want it to be: and that’s you. Tim and Julie know a thing or two about what it takes to succeed in real estate. In their first year as real estate agents, they managed to sell more than a hundred homes, bringing in over ten million dollars. That success propelled them to a thriving real estate coaching business that’s helped thousands of agents improve their craft by taking ownership of their strengths and weaknesses. In this interview, Tim and Julie Harris describe the benefits of living a media-free life, and explain why taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong in your business is the key to building a successful real estate practice.

In an industry that runs on commission, it’s easy to see why a lot of real estate professionals have a hard time making a significant up-front investment in clients the may not lead to a sale. But that investment is a cornerstone of Brad Allen's business, from marketing to personnel and everywhere in between. Armed with the belief that one agent can’t be prolific and provide a high level of service, Brad started The ART of Real Estate to provide a superior end-to-end experience for clients. With a full staff that includes a listing coordinator, videographer, photographer, closing coordinator and more, Brad has built a modern, successful brokerage that’s greater than the sum of its parts. In this interview, Brad Allen discusses the importance of setting clear expectations with potential clients, and explains why a first-year agent’s top priority shouldn’t be selling houses.

Living in Hawaii is enough to make anyone a dreamer. But Matt Beall has his feet planted firmly on the ground. With a long-running television show on HGTV and an award-winning brokerage that encompasses all the islands, Matt has spent years building Hawaii Life, an incredible real estate business and a celebrated brand. But as polished as Hawaii Life’s image comes across, underneath that brand is an engine fueled by necessity and hard work. Years ago, Matt faced a dilemma: how would they connect with potential buyers on the mainland, thousands of miles across the ocean? The solution, of course, was online. Today, Hawaii Life has the most highly trafficked real estate website in Hawaii, and sits at the top of Google search results for Hawaii real estate—ahead of Zillow and Realtor.com. In this interview, Matt Beall explains why there’s no magic formula for building a great real estate brand online, and talks about why agents overlook their most precious resource: previous clients.

For most real estate agents, selling homes in the high six figures sounds like a pretty sweet gig. But Ben Bacal wanted more. As a young, hungry agent in Los Angeles, Ben decided that the the city’s most affluent neighborhoods were actually undervalued. But there was a problem: Ben, a Toronto native, didn’t have many connections in the luxury market. So, he went back to basics, driving door to door in Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and the Hollywood Hills, promising homeowners he could deliver a buyer. All he needed was a shot. Ben’s good old-fashioned door knocking finally paid off with a 20 million-dollar sale. Today, he continues to thrive on the high end with help from his new company: Roofshoot, a real estate video platform that promises to make rich media accessible to any agent. In this interview, Ben Bacal tells us the story of his road to $20 million, and offers up Roofshoot’s recipe for easy, effective real estate video.

When I was starting out in real estate, I learned pretty quickly that there’s a big difference between knowledge and experience, between earning your license and being an expert in your craft. In fact, most of the agents I’ve talked to have a similar story of realizing that they knew plenty about real estate, but next to nothing about running a real estate practice. That’s where Lee Davenport comes in. A former agent and broker in Atlanta, Lee faced the same hard truth when she was starting out. Today, as a leading real estate coach, Lee has made it her mission to fill that gap and help her clients develop the skills they need to do the real work of marketing and managing their businesses. In this interview, Lee explains why success begins with knowing what sets you apart, and why hiring outside help is actually one of the smartest decisions an agent can make.

In the world of digital marketing, content providers have something of a mixed reputation. On the one hand, real estate agents are struggling to find the time and the know-how to create great content that attracts prospects online. On the other hand, content providers are often dismissed as little more than “content mills,” promising front-page placement while churning out low-quality blog posts and articles. But Chris Craft begs to differ. As founder of Atlanta-based Nao Media, Chris has built a successful and ethical company that delivers high-quality, search-optimized content to real estate agents and other small businesses owners. In this interview, Chris takes us inside Nao Media’s content creation process, and offers some valuable strategies to help real estate professionals get more mileage out of their marketing.

Real estate agents and consumers take many of today’s online search tools for granted. But back in the early 2000’s, before Google Maps and Zillow, there were few solutions for harnessing the power of the web. So Garron Selliken decided to take the initiative. An agent based in Portland, Oregon, Garron developed a set of tools that eventually became Homequest, one of the first map-based technology platforms for real estate. Today, Garron is bringing his problem-solving mindset and love of tech to M Realty, one of Portland’s premier real estate companies. Unlike most brokerages, M Realty offers its agents a a full in-house marketing platform, supporting their relationship building and listing promotion from start to finish with a dedicated team of professionals. And Garron’s approach seems to be working: the company currently supports 140 agents, and continues to grow quickly. In this interview, Garron tells us how his experience as both an agent and a developer has helped him craft the perfect practice for his team, and explains why you don’t have to go to extraordinary lengths to give clients an extraordinary experience.

Real estate agents are constantly told that they need a great website. And for the most part, they’ve listened. Today, over half of REALTORS say they’ve had a website for over 5 years. But that’s only part of the story. Once you have a website, how do you convince consumers to visit and use it? That’s the million-dollar question, and Lisa Archer has the answer. For a lot of folks in the real estate industry, Lisa needs no introduction. She’s been a favorite speaker, panelist, and tech geek on the conference circuit for years. But Lisa also has a killer real estate business that’s generated over a hundred million dollars in sales volume over the past three years. In this interview, Lisa reveals her secrets for driving website visitors, offers some surprising open house tips, and explains how social media can either be a major asset in your business, or hazardous to its health.

For many real estate agents, leads and deals are the currency of success. But we’d propose another, more valuable currency: loyalty. In this business, earning your clients’ loyalty can make the difference between one paycheck, and a lifetime of rewards. And if you run a team, loyalty isn’t just for consumers: it’s also for your agents and staff. That kind of trust can be hard to come by. But Jenny Wemert has it figured out. Jenny is consistently ranked one of the top 50 agents in Orlando, Florida, and now supports a team of 36 real estate professionals. Her success is all about loyalty, both from clients, who have given her over 400 five-star reviews on Zillow, and from team members who have been with the organization for years. In this interview, Jenny Wemert shares her secrets to earning loyalty in real estate, and explains why running a successful team often means taking a step back.

Between easy consumer access to tons of data, better tools for targeting prospects, and the culture of instant gratification on the internet, real estate has never been more competitive. That’s why being at the right place, at the right time for your real estate leads is so important—after all, if you don’t stay in touch, someone else will. So how do you track your prospects’ journey, craft the best message, and deliver it where they’re spending their time? It all starts with a great CRM tool. While you’re probably using CRM already, you may not be using it correctly. For Allen Bonde, Vice President of Marketing at Placester, your CRM isn’t just about pushing people toward a transaction: it’s about developing insights and creating value for your clients that will pay off far into the future. Allen has spent decades working with CRM technology, first as an engineer in corporate research and development, then as a marketer and marketing consultant for several highly successful companies. In this interview, Allen Bonde explains how your CRM can help you gather “small data” insights, stretch your real estate content, and generate a lifetime of value from your clients.

Years ago, the vast majority of people were content simply to own their own home. Today, however, more and more people are exploring the possibilities of real estate investing. Even after the harsh lessons of the 2008 real estate bubble, today’s consumers increasingly have access to an incredible amount of data and financing options to invest in a second home, a rental property, or a fixer upper. Nevertheless, it wasn’t always so easy. Twelve years ago, Joshua Dorkin was a real estate investor struggling to find the tools and resources he needed to keep up with his properties and make smart financial decisions. The pickings were slim. “I felt like there was no credible place that I could go to learn about real estate investing, without spending a fortune with some guy that just got out of some kind of snake oil class,” Joshua told us. After coming up short, Joshua decided to take matters into his own hands and start his own website. Today, BiggerPockets is a thriving community of over 500,000 experienced and aspiring real estate investors with a wealth of content around buying, managing, and selling investment properties. BiggerPockets isn’t just for consumers, either, Joshua explained. “I don't think somebody goes into being an agent saying, ‘Hey, I wanna be an agent for the rest of my life,’” he said. “We're all doing this to build wealth. Well, there are ways to use real estate and use the skills that you've got to build wealth through real estate, not just transactionally as an agent.” Nevertheless, Joshua told us, agents have a lot to learn. “I love agents. We all need agents,” he explained. “But the problem is that many new investors are following advice of agents who are not sophisticated enough to understand how to evaluate [an investment] themselves…You can stand up ahead of the pack as an agent by learning this stuff. It's not hard.” Whether you’re living from paycheck to paycheck and want for more from your real estate career, or just looking to reach a new audience with your business, Joshua’s content and community can help you do what most of us got into this business to do: build wealth through real estate. In this interview, Joshua Dorkin explains why a well-developed business plan is crucial to successful real estate investing, and outlines how agents can successfully attract and serve the modern investor.

At its core, real estate is an entrepreneur’s dream. Agents enjoy incredible freedom to build their businesses as they see fit, facing bigger risks than most professions, but also greater potential rewards. Yet in an industry as diverse and individualistic as real estate, making the leap from agent to leader presents unique challenges. For Lee Adkins, the key to building a great team or brokerage is understanding that you can’t do it alone, nor should you. After several years in production as a real estate agent, Lee gave up selling to manage a real estate team full time. Under Lee’s guidance, the Atlanta Sold Sisters doubled their revenue in just two years. Today, with his consulting firm Amplified Solutions, Lee is helping real estate teams of all kinds establish the structure, culture, and strategies they need to break through. In this interview, Lee Adkins discusses the challenges and pitfalls of expanding your real estate business, and why the key to growth is embracing not just your strengths, but also your weaknesses.

What does it really take to achieve success in real estate? Is it a great website? More leads? A powerful personal brand? These are all important elements. But Tom Ferry believes the answer is something more obvious, and more difficult to pin down. A New York Times bestselling author and the top-rated real estate coach on Swanepoel’s Power 200 list, Tom is one of the most influential people in our industry, and a leading authority on what it takes to prosper in this business. For Tom, it all starts with crafting your personal definition of success—what you need, what you want, and what you’re willing to do to make it happen. As CEO of Tom Ferry - Your Coach, Tom has helped thousands of agents define success and put themselves on the path to achieving it. In this interview, Tom explains how ambition can actually get in the way of a successful real estate business, and points out why so many agents are leaving money on the table when it comes to nurturing leads.

When it comes to personal branding, real estate professionals walk a fine line. On one hand, agents need to differentiate themselves from a sea of competitors. On the other hand, they don’t want to do something that might alienate any potential client. The result is a lot of agents who play it safe, selling themselves with worn-out cliches. But for Leigh Brown, enough is enough. An award winning coach, author, and working agent with one of the most successful real estate teams in the country, Leigh preaches being authentic, even if it means opening yourself to criticism. Leigh’s no-nonsense attitude has made her a fan favorite among conference goers and students of the craft. In this interview, Leigh explains why it’s so important for real estate professionals to be real with themselves and their prospects, and how technology distracts agents from the real work of building a successful business.

By now, most real estate agents interested in marketing online know that content is king. They also know that success is about producing tons of great content. And that’s enough to make anyone hesitate. Blogging several times per week, forever—that sounds like a lot of work. That got me thinking, maybe there are some alternatives. In 2010, Dale Chumbley saw an opportunity to create digital content about his community of Vancouver, Washington. But instead of just setting up a blog, Dale issued himself a challenge: 365 days, 365 entries. The result was a year’s worth of amazing content that established Dale as a local expert. Nearly five years later, Dale continues to get leads and referrals from people who have discovered him through his online content. In this interview, Dale explains how his “365 things to do in Vancouver” project has paid off for his real estate business, and how breaking into video marketing for real estate is as simple as wishing someone a happy birthday.

In today’s tech-obsessed world, we’re often told that technology is the answer—to happiness, to health, to success. That’s certainly true in real estate, and it looks like agents and brokers are starting to listen. According to the NAR, the average agent spends about $850 a year on tech, while brokers spend over $1400. Of course, technology isn’t everything. Just ask Billy Ekofo. As director of leads management at Century21 Redwood Realty, Billy spends his days ensuring that agents across ten offices in the Washington DC area have the tools they need to connect with prospects online. But Billy will be the first to tell you that converting leads isn’t just about great software: it’s about making a real human connection with people who are looking for help. In this interview, Billy offers his insights on how to bring online leads into the real world, and explains why the best realtors think of themselves not just as agents, but as agents of change.

In the age of big corporations, there’s something special about a family business. That’s especially true of real estate, where family ties in business often come with a strong connection to the community. That’s certainly true of Tamara and Shannon Stone. Twenty years ago, Tamara decided to follow in her parents’ footsteps, entering the real estate business in her hometown of Kelowna, British Columbia. Shannon joined her in 2005, and together, they built The Stone Sisters, one of the most successful real estate teams in their market. Today, the Stone Sisters are leading producers at RE/MAX Kelowna, and consistently rank in the top 100 agents for RE/MAX in Western Canada. In this interview, Tamara and Shannon explain how new realtors can leverage experienced colleagues to get their business of the ground, and discuss why a money mindset is often a red flag when it comes to recruiting agents to join their team.

Real estate teams are all the rage these days, and with good reason. Teams allow agents to grow their businesses and create more value for clients, without the added labor and overhead of starting your own brokerage. But that doesn’t mean building a team is easy. Rachel Adams knows from experience: her first real estate team failed after just eight months. But Rachel didn’t give up. She learned from the experience, building a new team with a clear vision. Today, Rachel is in the top 1 percent of all realtors in Placer and Sacramento counties, and has been ranked one of the top 1000 agents in the country by the Wall Street Journal. Rachel isn’t just a top producing agent: she also travels around the country, coaching others on how to create a winning mindset and a successful business. In this interview, Rachel explains the keys to building a successful real estate team, and details her personal journey to a more balanced life and career.

The stereotypical real estate agent is many things: at best, personable and full of local expertise; at worst, aggressive and obsessed with closing the deal. Rarely, however, do people think of real estate agents as being funny (with the possible exception of Phil Dunphy from Modern Family). In fact, the real estate business as a whole tends to take itself pretty seriously. Perhaps that’s to be expected—after all, real estate is one of the most tightly regulated industries out there. Still, with sitcoms poking fun at everything from the startup world, to civil service, to paper companies, there does seem to be a humor gap in real estate. That’s certainly what Eric Simon thought when he started his career as an agent in Los Angeles three years ago. As a new agent, Eric saw himself and his colleagues playing the role of successful real estate professional—smart suits, nice cars, fast-paced workdays—all while secretly struggling to make a living. “massive population of agents are doing 30, 40 grand a year, three or four sales,” Eric pointed out. Many of us might have come away discouraged by this experience. But Eric saw opportunity. Together with friend and fellow agent Wes Pinkston, Eric developed a creative outlet that reveals the human side of working in real estate. “A lot of agents put on this kind of mythological approach that all they're doing is selling homes and working for their client and then, there's no actual human being behind that person,” Eric told us. “So I wanted to make something that's authentic and show it to everybody. The result was The Broke Agent, is an entertainment website and media company providing an honest take on the sometimes ridiculous, occasionally pathetic, but always comedic side of life in the real estate business. From rap videos to articles on swearing etiquette, The Broke Agent both vents real estate agents’ frustrations and pokes fun at their foibles. Eric isn’t just a funny agent: he’s a skilled marketer who has built an incredible content machine in less than two years. “Funny is a drug. Funny is the gateway drug to content,” Eric explained. That drug seems to have caught on: The Broke Agent has been liked and shared by countless fans, earning over 55 thousand followers on Instagram alone. In this interview, Eric explains the pitfalls of adopting the typical real estate persona, and how modern agents should be using their personality and technology to craft a memorable brand that attracts the right people.

As any homebuyer or seller will tell you, moving isn’t easy. But what happens to real estate agents who move? When your community is your livelihood, starting over in a new city essentially means starting your career over. Agents who relocate are often faced with an entirely different market, and must build a whole new sphere of influence from scratch. But that didn’t scare Greg Fischer. After several years running a brokerage in his native Texas, and a few more building real estate software at Move Inc., Greg decided to fulfill his dream and settle in the Pacific Northwest. Greg has lived in Bend, Oregon for just a few months, but he’s already on pace to do $8 million in sales over the next year. In this interview, Greg details the careful preparation that helped him hit the ground running in an unfamiliar market, and explains how he’s using awesome content to build a new and unique personal brand.

As an industry built around independent contractors, real estate has always been a somewhat lonely business, with many agents scraping together the training they need to compete on their own. But Bernice Ross saw a better way. A college instructor turned broker with a PhD to match, Bernice put her skills to use in founding RealEstateCoach.com, one of the top training and coaching companies in the world. Bernice is a force in the real estate industry. From her years leading education initiatives at major brands like Keller Williams, to her celebrated training and coaching programs, to her work as a syndicated author and speaker, Bernice has been a constant voice for innovation and smart, tactical solutions to the challenges real estate professionals face. In this interview, Bernice explains the best way to talk to prospective clients about the market, and outlines the three things every new agent needs to master to achieve success in real estate.

If you asked most people what it means to be a real estate agent, they’d probably tell you it’s just a job like any other. But real estate is more than a job: it’s a business. That’s exactly what Shay Hata thought when she earned her license and started her real estate career in Chicago. Three years later, she’s poised to do $25 million in sales in 2016 alone. While she’s been an agent for a short time, Shay isn’t exactly a novice. She’s observed and supported her husband and fellow Marketing Genius Podcast guest Nobu Hata, first as an agent, then as Director of Digital Engagement for the National Association of REALTORS. Shay also has years of experience as a small business owner, and it’s that experience that’s enabled her to build a booming real estate business so quickly. In this interview, Shay takes us through her process for developing and sticking to a winning real estate business plan, her dedication to creating customer for life and how embracing content marketing helped her build the business the business of her dreams.

Everybody loves a good success story, especially when there are major hurdles along the way. Amanda Todd has had a few of them. In 2013, Amanda suddenly found herself a single mother to three children, living in a new city, and realized that success was her only option. After earning her license, Amanda dove headlong into real estate, closing her first deal in 2014. Now, just two years later, Amanda has sold more than $30 million in real estate. Amanda is a testament of focus, determination and commitment. In this interview, Amanda shares her commitment to spending quality time with her kids, explains how she climbed from beginner to top producer in just a few years, and details the best way for new agents to introduce themselves to prospects and colleagues.

By now, social media plays a major role in the lives of many real estate agents and brokers. Some of us consider ourselves experts on using social media. Bill Lublin wrote the book. As CEO of The Social Media Marketing Institute, Bill was tasked with rewriting the NAR’s e-Pro technology certification back in 2010. Then, in 2015, he rewrote it again. But Bill isn’t just a social media expert: he’s also served as CEO of CENTURY 21 Advantage Gold in Philadelphia, one of the largest real estate firms in the US, for over thirty years. It’s no wonder Bill is a highly sought-after speaker and educator, or that he’s won dozens of awards, including being inducted into the REALTORS Hall of Fame. In this interview, Bill outlines the right way to talk about yourself and your business on social media, and explains why commission splits should be the least of your worries as an agent.

What exactly do real estate agents and brokers sell? It sounds like a simple question. But the truth is actually a lot more complicated. Just ask Leighton Dees. He’s the CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Generations in Alabama. For Leighton, real estate isn’t about selling homes: it’s about selling yourself. Your process, your personality, the special sauce that makes your clients’ experiences amazing. Leighton knows a thing or two about success in this business. He’s been in the top 15 percent of Better Homes agents for three years running, and his company was named Most Innovative Real Estate Brokerage by Inman News in 2014. In this interview, Leighton tells us why the best real estate companies spend so much time thinking about culture, and explains how strong systems built on experience can protect your business when things don’t go according to plan.

Years ago, real estate agents were the gatekeepers. If you wanted to know what was on the market, you had to go through them. But those gates are gone. Real estate consumers now have access to all the property data they could ever want. Today, you need to give them something unique, something they can’t Google—and Raj Qsar has a few ideas about how to do it. Raj is truly on the cutting edge of the real estate business. In 2015, Inman News named him one of the 33 People Who Are Changing The Real Estate Industry. As principal of The Boutique Real Estate Group in Orange County, California, Raj has led the charge to create content and experiences that provide value for real estate consumers far beyond the MLS. In this interview, Raj explains how video can tell powerful stories around your listings and neighborhoods, and describes how today’s brokers should be investing in each of their agents. For full episode description, visit: https://placester.com/podcast/raising-the-real-estate-bar-with-raj-qsar

For many real estate consumers, buying or selling a home feels like a blur—something that happens all at once. But every great real estate agent knows that a sale is the end of a long journey. The challenge, of course, is keeping prospects on the right path over weeks, months, even years. So what’s the secret? For Melanie Piche, it’s content, and lots of it. When she started in real estate eight years ago, Melanie wasn’t interested in cold-calling or door-knocking. Instead, she decided that the best way to build her business was by creating a wealth of great blog and social media posts that inspired confidence and attracted the right leads. Today, Melanie runs one of the top real estate teams in Toronto. In this interview, Melanie explains how effective content nurtures prospects in the long term, and how retargeting ads can help you sell to consumers who don’t even know they’re looking to buy.

These days, the real estate marketing conversation seems to revolve exclusively around the web, whether it’s websites, social media, or SEO. For Matt Wagner, however, the old standbys of radio and TV are still very much alive. A former marketing consultant for the biggest radio station owner in America, Matt saw an opportunity for real estate professionals build a local fan base and drive more qualified leads. In 2004, Matt founded Radio & Television Experts, which helps top agents all over the country use traditional media campaigns to unlock their potential. Today, Matt’s commercials run on hundreds of stations, boosting their online efforts. In this interview, Matt explains how radio and TV work together with a great website to produce stunning results, and what Duke’s basketball team can teach you about running a successful brokerage.

Many of today’s real estate professionals are overwhelmed by digital marketing. And who can blame them? Most folks don’t get into real estate because they like running facebook ads doing SEO or writing blog posts: they do it because they like selling homes and helping real people. But it doesnt have to be that way, Stacie Staub believes that with the right brokerage behind you, and the right approach to creating content, you can market your real estate business and still have time to build lasting relationships with clients. An active Realtor with an MBA and a Master’s degree in Marketing, Stacie knows real estate from all angles. As Director of Marketing at Live Urban Real Estate in Denver, Colorado, Stacie has helped build a brokerage that’s not only super innovative, but also rated one of the best places to work in her city for three years running. In this interview, Stacie explains the benefits of a marketing-focused brokerage, the value of Pinterest for real estate, and why every blog post is a long-term investment in the future of your business.

In the real estate marketing world, we spend a lot of time talking about tools and strategies for succeeding online. But we often forget about the most important piece of the puzzle: motivation. For Jared James, the key to success is being motivated to take risks and do what’s necessary to grow your business, no matter how hard or how uncomfortable. As one of the top real estate coaches in the country, Jared has motivated thousands of real estate professionals to achieve their goals, whether that means more sales, more clients, or starting a new brokerage. Jared’s clients pay top dollar for his coaching and marketing programs, but today he’s sharing his expertise with our audience for free. In this interview, Jared breaks down why so many people neglect the real work of improving their craft, and how a strong online presence can help even the newest agents position themselves as pros.

What’s the purpose of a real estate broker? It’s a question that both agents and entrepreneurs are asking a lot these days. Some say traditional brokerages are a thing of the past. But for Pam O’Connor, brokers have never been more relevant — and she’s making sure they stay that way. Pam has been named one of the top 25 most influential people in real estate by both the NAR and Swanepoel, and it’s easy to see why. As president of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Pam oversees a network of the most successful independent brokerages around the globe. LeadingRE companies generate an astounding $330 billion in annual home sales. That’s partly due to the high bar LeadingRE has set for its members when it comes to digital marketing. In this interview, Pam explains why there’s never been a better time to join or start an independent brokerage, and why referrals are worthless without the right systems to capitalize on them.

The last few years have seen tons of advances in how buyers search for homes online. But renters: that’s another story. Today, nearly 40 percent of Americans rent their homes, and many of them feel like second-class citizens when it comes to finding a place to live. But for Sarah Jones and Zach Schabot of Bamboo Realty, renters come first. While others have dismissed the rental market, Bamboo Realty has figured out a way not only to profit, but to turn those renters into furture buyers and raving fans. Bamboo Realty has expanding to include five offices in Texas, Colorado, and North Carolina. And Bamboo’s success is no accident: it’s the result of a thoughtful culture and a keen understanding of how Millennials think about home ownership. In this interview, Sarah and Zach discuss what it takes to build a company with a strong, effective culture, and why the secret to connecting with folks online is just to lighten up. Visit our website: plcstr.com/1MXOycY Download on iTunes: plcstr.com/1O9knUi

These are exciting times for the real estate industry. New startups, new tools, and new business models are changing the way real estate professionals engage with consumers. But Tom Flanagan thinks we need even more innovation in the real estate space, and believes we’re right on the edge of a major shift in how agents and brokers do business. As Vice President of Technology at Alain Pinel Realtors in Silicon Valley, Tom certainly has his finger on the pulse of tech. He’s been named one of the 100 most influential people in real estate by Inman News, and he’s been a featured speaker at events like Real Estate Connect and the Google IT Summit. In this interview, Tom breaks down what today’s new agents need to do to get off to a strong start, and explains why the internet of things is “the next big thing” for our industry.

It’s no secret that video is an incredibly powerful medium for marketers of all stripes. Unfortunately, a lot of agents and brokers are afraid to make the leap from dreaming about it, to actually doing it. But Marguerite Giguere and Anne Jones want you to know that video is easier than you think—and the benefits are too great to ignore. Based in Tacoma, Washington, Marguerite and Anne are standout agents and experts in engaging their community not just with video, but also through podcasts, Instagram, and more. In this interview, we sat down with Marguerite and Anne to talk about the value of giving away your real estate expertise, and how a great video can help you win new clients before they even meet you. Visit our website: plcstr.com/1MXOycY Download on iTunes: plcstr.com/1O9knUi

Today, we’re speaking with Jack Miller. He’s the CEO of T3 Experts, a consulting firm that empowers real estate agents, brokers, and companies of all sizes to build better marketing systems. Jack is an institution in the real estate industry, but his first love is technology. In fact, Jack started his career as an engineer, building hardware and software before diving into the real estate industry as head of software development for Keller Williams. Since then, Jack has stepped out from behind his computer and jumped into the trenches with real estate professionals, helping them understand the what, why, and how of using technology to improve and grow their businesses. In this interview, we sat down with Jack to talk about the the challenges and choices facing today’s broker, the real estate industry’s “race to the bottom,” and the four factors that separate a mediocre real estate company from a successful one. For full show notes, visit: https://placester.com/podcast/building-a-better-brokerage-with-jack-miller/ Visit our website: plcstr.com/1MXOycY Download on iTunes: plcstr.com/1O9knUi

It goes without saying that the National Association of Realtors is a major force in the real estate industry. For some, it’s not always a welcome one. But Nobu Hata believes the NAR can be a force for positive change, especially when it comes to digital marketing. As Director of Digital Engagement, Nobu helps agents and brokers on the ground understand how digital is changing the way they work, and what they need to do to be successful. Nobu knows what it means to be an agent: he spent seven years selling homes in Minneapolis before joining the NAR in 2012. Now, Nobu spends his days monitoring the latest trends and educating real estate professionals about what it takes to stay competitive in today’s market. In this interview, Nobu explains how new agents can audit their online presence, and what it takes to create valuable content that gets consumers out from behind their computers.

What does it really mean to build a personal brand? For some real estate professionals, it’s all about slick logos and corporate professionalism. For Kim Colaprete and Chavi Hohm of Team Diva Real Estate in Seattle, it’s all about community, fun and the occasional drag queen. Kim and Chavi have created an unforgettable brand that’s made Team Diva a Seattle institution, and they back it all up with a proven track record. They’re top producers in their Coldwell Banker Bain affiliate, they’ve been included in Inman News’ 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders list, and they teach courses in digital marketing in Seattle and across the country. In this interview, the Divas give us their views on building your real estate brand, the benefits of working through a recession, and the pros of being partners both in business and in life. For full show notes, visit: placester.com/podcast/crafting-an-unforgettable-brand-with-kim-colaprete-chavi-hohm/ -Matt & Seth Visit our website: plcstr.com/1MXOycY Download on iTunes: plcstr.com/1O9knUi

From grade school, to studying for your real estate exam, we’ve all had those awful school experiences—the dingy classrooms, the boring materials and the outdated methods. As director of the Go School at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Go Realty in Raleigh, NC, Alyssa Hellman is working to change all that by making continuing education valuable and enjoyable for today’s agents. BHGRE Go Realty is one of the fastest-growing real estate companies in the country, and talking with Alyssa, it’s easy to see why. In this interview, Alyssa reveals her secrets for handling online leads, and explains why building a great brand sometimes means saying no to new business. For full show notes, visit: https://placester.com/podcast/mastering-online-leads-alyssa-hellman/. -Matt & Seth Visit our website: plcstr.com/1MXOycY Download on iTunes: plcstr.com/1O9knUi

Dan Stewart is the Founder and CEO of Happy Grasshopper. For those of you that don’t know Happy Grasshopper, it’s the tool that’s changing the email marketing landscape by having the real, human conversations you wish you could be having with customers for you. This stuff really works. We’ve seen it in action, and we’ve spoken to Dan’s customers. In this interview, we talk to Dan about how personalization is the future of connecting with your audience, and why most marketers spend too much time sending messages that make them feel good, when they should send email that actually creates conversations. For full show notes, visit: placester.com/podcast/creating-conversations-with-dan-stewart/. -Matt & Seth Visit our website: plcstr.com/1MXOycY Download on iTunes: plcstr.com/1O9knUi

Katie Lance is one of the most sought-after marketing consultants in the industry. If you don’t know Katie, you should: She’s the former social media director and chief strategist for Inman News, and she speaks at marketing events all across the country. Huge brands like RE/MAX, DocuSign, and Homekeepr have hired Katie to help them tell their stories and engage with audiences on social media. But today, she’s giving away her expertise for free. In this interview, you’ll hear Katie’s best tips on how to build a successful and affordable content strategy, and why video is a must-have part of that strategy. This is an episode you won’t want to miss. For full show notes, visit: placester.com/podcast/developing-a-digital-strategy-with-katie-lance/. -Matt & Seth Visit our website: plcstr.com/1MXOycY Download on iTunes: plcstr.com/1O9knUi

Chris Smith and Jimmy Mackin are two of the biggest names in real estate tech. Jimmy founded Frugyl, and Chris was the Chief Evangelist at Inman News and Chief Peopleworker at dotloop. In 2012, they joined forces to create Curaytor, a marketing firm that works with some of the top real estate teams in the country. Chris and Jimmy are on a mission to put an end to bad real estate marketing. In this interview, you’ll hear them lay down some truths about what it really takes to build a great real estate business, and how today’s agents can overcome digital overload. For full show notes, visit: placester.com/podcast/marketing-that-doesnt-suck-with-chris-smith-jimmy-mackin/. -Matt & Seth Visit our website: plcstr.com/1MXOycY Download on iTunes: plcstr.com/1O9knUi

Jeff Turner is the President of RealSatisfied, which is an awesome tool for getting valuable feedback from real estate customers. We all know how important online reviews are in today’s world. But while most platforms are content to offer a one-to-five-star rating and a paragraph, Jeff is going deeper to help real estate agents and brokers collect meaningful reviews they can use to improve their businesses. In this interview, Jeff tells us the secret to anticipating your clients’ needs, and what your social media audience really wants from you. For full show notes, visit: https://placester.com/podcast/the-secret-to-satisfying-your-clients-with-jeff-turner/. -Matt & Seth Visit our website: http://plcstr.com/1MXOycY Download on iTunes: http://plcstr.com/1O9knUi