I have a great idea for my fellow real estate agents out there.

It's called the Buyer's Eyes Strategy. Here's how it works:

When I have a client selling their house, I treat them as if they are a buyer in the market for a home in their price range. I put them in the MLS as if they are a real buyer, and they start receiving emails with new listings, price changes, and updates on pending or sold houses. This helps them stay informed, in real time, without having to wait for me to tell them what's going on.

I also get CC'd on the same emails, so I'm seeing what they're seeing. This allows us to have a productive conversation and make any necessary adjustments or changes to their selling strategy.

They start receiving these emails right away, and they'll get updates every day or every couple of days. This way, they become really familiar with the market and can make informed decisions about their own...

I recently learned a great secret about social media advertising from Gary V's head of marketing.

This strategy brought them a 160x return on investment, so it definitely works. Typically, we as business owners focus on creating the most creative and visually appealing ad, as well as targeting the right audience.

However, we often forget about engagement, which is the third important component...

The algorithm watches for engagement, and when it sees it, the algorithm promotes the post to more people. This is why some ads are successful and some aren't.

One way to "juice" engagement is to start with a core group of advocates and ask them to comment on the post. We can also ask our sphere of influence for help. We can say, "Hey guys, please comment on my ad if you like it. Let me know what you think."

Most people who are close to us are happy to help.

Engaging with comments is important. We should respond to...

I recently heard a great story about a real estate agent who moved to a new market and didn't know many people. She knew it would be challenging to succeed without a sphere of influence, so she came up with a brilliant strategy:

She researched the top 10 things people want to do in the area and created a video about each of them. She then posted the videos on YouTube and TikTok, and connected them to her website and blog.

By doing this, she was able to reach a wider audience and get her name out there.

She also used Facebook and Google pixels to remarket to people who visited her website, and started putting ads in front of them.

This strategy paid off, and it paid off big:

She went from zero to 10 million in business in just one year!

If you're interested in trying this strategy, don't worry - it's not technical or difficult. Everything you need to know can be found on YouTube, and most of it is free. The only cost is for ads, but...

Do you have a hospitality mindset?

I heard two stories that really brought this home.

The first story is about a restaurateur in New York City who overheard a group of four customers talking about how they had never had a hotdog in New York City, despite just having a $500 lunch at his high-end restaurant. The owner of the restaurant went to a hotdog vendor across the street, bought four hotdogs, had the chef cut them up and arrange them elegantly on a plate with all the condiments the customers wanted, and had the maitre d' bring it out to the customers. They were amazed, even though they had just eaten a five-star meal.

The second story is about Steve Wynn, who owns the Wynn Casinos in Las Vegas and all over the world. He implemented a process where all managers have a daily brainstorming session before every shift, and one of the things they discuss is positive experiences they've had with guests.

One of the stories that...

I have a quick question for you:

Are you marketing your marketing?

You might be wondering what I mean by that, right? Well, let me explain: As real estate agents, we do an amazing job for our clients. We use drone photography, staging, postcards, social media marketing, and more to showcase their properties. We go all out to sell their homes in record time and get them top dollar.

But who actually experiences all of this marketing? Sure, the buyers who purchase the property may see it, as well as a small group of people in our closest network. However, not everyone is seeing all of our marketing efforts. In fact, on social media, only about 4-6% of our audience is actually seeing our posts.

So, how do we market our marketing?

One approach is to create a success portfolio. Whenever you have a beautiful, photogenic listing, go all out and create a home book, do exclusive videography, Matterport, and everything else....

Did you know that more people in America have pets than children? It's true!

20 years ago, 48% of American families had kids at home. Today, that number is down to 40%.

On the other hand, the number of Americans with pets has increased dramatically, from 56% in 1988 to 70% today.

As REALTORS, this information is valuable to us because it affects our conversations with buyers. When talking to potential buyers, we should ask if they have pets and if their pet will impact their home buying decision. Many people will engage in conversation about their pet's needs and how important they are to the family.

But what if we took it a step further and specialized in working with families that have pets or selling homes with pet-friendly features?

This could be a complete differentiator in the market, as it's not a common focus for REALTORS. Sometimes we need to think outside the box to stand out.

If you want more ideas like this that help you...

I have a challenge for you today:

I want you to imagine that you're a buyer who just landed in your area and has no knowledge about any REALTORS in the marketplace. So, go ahead and search for homes for sale in your market and see what happens. You'll likely be directed to realtor.com or Zillow. Now, pretend you're a buyer and go through the process of searching for a home on these websites.

As you go through the process, you'll notice that the algorithms push you through a funnel. The first thing they'll ask you is what price point you're looking for. They'll give you a list of price points to choose from, and very rarely will buyers type in a specific price. Instead, they'll be guided to choose a range from a dropdown menu.

Then, the algorithms will ask about bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage before pushing the buyer further into the system. It's important for us as REALTORS to understand how the algorithms...

Do you want to be a better recruiter?

As a seasoned recruiter with over 30 years of experience, I can tell you the secret to successful recruiting is this:

Recruiting is like owning an NFL or NBA team.

You need to understand that recruiting is all about building relationships with people. People join people, not companies or brands. If they don't like you, they won't come to work for you.

So, first and foremost, you need to establish a career-long relationship with people in the marketplace.

To build these relationships, you need to have conversations with potential recruits. Top recruiters in the NBA, NFL, and NHL are cold-calling and creating connections with people. They're showing them the organization's value, passion, and vision of how they can help them win. Ultimately, people want to be with a winning team and need to see how you can help them make more money and make their life easier.

It's not all about commission...

People ask me all the time, Jim, how do you retain amazing agents? You've recruited and retained some of the best agents in America. They've stayed with you for years. You took a company from a hundred million to 1.4 billion over 10 years, created a company from 39 agents to one of the top companies in America. How'd you do it?

Well, the answer is, I want you to think about the people that work for you. Just think about the landscape of people that work for you today. And I want you to ask yourself, how many of those people consider you to be their personal friend? And if the answer is, I don't think any of them do, you have a problem because you're looking at them transactionally. And that's the first mistake.

It's the same mistake agents make when they look at their clients and customers transactionally too.

I look at the top agents in America. The top agents in America don't look at their buyers and sellers as buyers and sellers. They...

Hey guys, what's the best way to make your real estate marketing really pop, to come to life and generate more buyers and seller calls and emails and texts?

Well, the secret is using the AIDA approach, which stands for:

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

I want you to go back and measure all your marketing against this standard. It's simple and easy to understand.

It starts with Attention.

Is the marketing you're doing grabbing people's attention, shaking them and saying, Hey, you gotta look at me?When you look at marketing in magazines, on television, or on the internet, it has to break through the other 5,000 advertising messages the average American sees every day. So how do we break through? A lot of times, it's by asking a question, using photography, or creating visuals that are funny, ironic, or shocking. If it's the same old boring photos and headshots that you see with most realtors, it won't do that. We have to get outside the box.

The...