Massive Agent Podcast Episode 416 – "How to Fully Control Your Lead Flow in 2026"

Host: Dustin Brohm
Date: December 11, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dustin Brohm addresses one of the most pressing issues for real estate agents and loan officers: becoming overly reliant on external sources—such as team leaders, lead generation platforms, and ad networks—for business. He argues that true business security, growth, and freedom come from owning your lead flow. Dustin breaks down common pitfalls, shares personal stories, and reveals a proven framework (centered on social media) that empowers agents to take back control and build a consistent, scalable flow of clients for 2026 and beyond.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Danger of Outsourcing Your Lead Flow

• Reliance on External Entities: Too many agents depend on team leaders, major portals like Zillow/homes.com, or ad products like PPC for their livelihood.
  • “Whoever controls your lead flow controls your income.” – Dustin Brohm [00:17]
• Real-World Consequences:
  • When an algorithm changes, lead source prices increase, or services get discontinued, agents who haven’t built their own channels can lose their business overnight.
    • Dustin shares about a small team’s reliance on Trulia: “...all of a sudden that lead source went away and we had it. We struggled that next year to make up for it because we got too reliant.” [07:14]
  • The Dave Ramsey ELP example: eXp agents lost a major referral channel without warning.
    • “There was one of my friends, 65% of their business came from Dave Ramsey’s ELP program. And that’s just gone.” [09:57]
• Supplement, Don’t Depend: There’s nothing wrong with augmenting your pipeline from external sources, but your business must have a foundational, independent engine.

The Core Asset: Your Network (and How to Reach It)

• Your Most Valuable Asset:
  • It’s not just who you know, but “the people who know you." Your network, and your ability to reach it efficiently, is everything. [10:38]
• Traditional Methods Work, But Lack Leverage:
  • Old-school prospecting (calls, postcards, pop-bys) works, but it’s “one to one.” It takes a lot of time and energy for relatively little reach.
  • “That golden question—who do you know who needs to buy or sell real estate—yeah, it works...but I just think there’s a much better way.” [11:29]

The Power and Leverage of Social Media

• Why Social Media is the Ultimate Tool:
  • Producing a single piece of valuable content (video, post, guide) takes minutes and can instantly reach hundreds, thousands, or more in your network.
    • “Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just record one video that takes you five minutes ... and 4300 people see it, or 43,000 ... It still took you the same eight minutes to create.” [13:36]
  • Unlike old-school methods, social media allows you to scale your outreach without scaling your workload.
• Types of Content That Work:
  • Educational, entertaining, or highly relevant items hold attention and create top-of-mind awareness.
  • Dustin recommends things like “Christmas lights map of the city lead magnet type thing—that’s a good idea this time of year.” [13:02]

The Simple Framework: Posting with Purpose and Formula

• Consistency & The Right Strategy:
  • Consistency and strategy are critical—not just “posting more,” but posting better.
    • “If what you’re doing now isn’t working, posting more is just going to get you more of nothing.” [18:45]
  • Analyze top performers and adopt a proven formula, then adjust for your own style and audience.
    • “You have to look at who’s doing really well with it, and then doing your own version of that and learning from them.” [18:23]
• Business Freedom and Choice:
  • The ability to “turn up the volume” on your own leads is the ultimate business freedom. You buy leads only by choice, not necessity.
    • “If you want to buy leads, it’s choice, not necessity.” [20:25]
• The "Five Deals a Month" Goal:
  • Mastering social means being able to count on steady, predictable deal flow: “If you’re not getting five deals a month, you have something that you just don’t know yet.” [17:40]

Action Steps and Challenge for Listeners

• Commit to a Different Approach in 2026:
  • Learn a new social media framework, personalize and consistently apply it.
  • Seek mentorship, feedback, and collaborate with others who are succeeding on social.
    • “If you can find someone who has the formula or ... their blueprint, I highly advise you to do that rather than trying to bump your head into the wall.” [23:22]
• Short-Term Commitment, Long-Term Payoff:
  • “If you really commit to that for the next three to six months, you will have the best year of your career and you’ll be in full control over your results.” [20:00]
• Dustin’s Personal Challenge:
  • If you want 2026 to be your best year, back it up with action: “Prove it through your action that you’re going to do that.” [22:58]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Main theme:
  • “Whoever controls your lead flow controls your income.” – Dustin Brohm [00:17]
• On dependency risk:
  • “Do you like being in this position? Do you like being beholden, being reliant on someone else? ... It’s totally—it makes a lot of sense to supplement where your leads come from ... but whoever controls your lead flow controls your income.” [10:05]
• On outdated prospecting:
  • “That golden question, who do you know who needs to buy or sell real estate ... is the color of shit ... it should be the ultimate brown question.” [11:29]
• On leveraging social:
  • “The ultimate leverage tool is sitting in your hand right now. But a lot of you ... just aren’t using it effectively.” [17:12]
  • “Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just record one video ... and 4300 people see it or 43,000 ... It still took you the same eight minutes to create.” [13:36]
• On posting strategy:
  • “If what you’re doing now isn’t working, posting more is just going to get you more of nothing.” [18:45]
• Biggest opportunity for 2026:
  • “I wish super fast exponential growth for you next year, but it’s going to take action now.” [23:46]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:17] – The danger of relying on others for lead flow
• [07:14] – Personal story: what happens when a lead source disappears
• [09:57] – Dave Ramsey ELP program example
• [10:38] – Your true asset: your network, and the challenge of reaching it
• [11:29] – Traditional prospecting: the “brown question”
• [13:02] – Leveraging social media, holiday example
• [13:36] – Explaining “one-to-many” leverage and the power of content
• [17:12] – The ultimate leverage tool sits in your hand
• [17:40] – “If you’re not getting five deals a month, you’re missing something”
• [18:23] – Follow the proven formula, adapt it to you
• [20:00] – Three to six months of commitment for long-term control
• [20:25] – Freedom: buy leads only by choice, not necessity
• [22:58] – The challenge: Action, not affirmation
• [23:22] – Seek blueprints from those already succeeding
• [23:46] – Closing encouragement: act now for exponential growth

Conclusion

Dustin’s message is clear and urgent: Take back control of your business by building direct relationships with your audience through strategically executed social media. Develop your own lead flow—don’t let tech platforms, team leaders, or external algorithms hold your future hostage. Learn from those who are already succeeding, seize proven frameworks, and show up differently in 2026. As Dustin puts it:

“If you really commit to that for the next three to six months, you will have the best year of your career and you’ll be in full control over your results.” [20:00]

Action Step:
Register for Dustin’s free “Clients from Social” masterclass at clientsfromsocial.com if you want to learn the specific formula to generate consistent monthly business from social media.