📞 LIVE CALL-INS: 30 Years in Real Estate & STILL Leaving Money on the Table - Here's the Fix

Summary

Stay Paid Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: 📞 LIVE CALL-INS: 30 Years in Real Estate & STILL Leaving Money on the Table - Here's the Fix
Hosts: Luke Acree, Josh Stike, Stephen Acree, Cody Smith
Date: April 20, 2026
Main Theme:
This episode features live call-ins from agents and entrepreneurs looking for practical strategies to grow and optimize their real estate businesses. The team offers concrete networking and marketing advice to help listeners step away from the hustle-and-grind mentality, cultivate more profitable relationships, and make data-driven decisions—especially when managing large databases or building referral networks.

Key Discussions and Insights

1. Building a Referral-Based Networking Business (Megan, North Carolina)

Timestamp: 00:43 - 13:32

Background:

• Megan is an insurance agent and home organizer who connects with clients on a personal level (in-home meetings, hands-on help).
• She wants to grow her business by connecting local service providers (real estate agents, movers, mortgage brokers), become a central connector, and shift from a transactional model to long-term referral-based relationships.

Insights & Action Steps:

• Join or Create a Networking Group:
  • Leverage established organizations like BNI (Business Network International) to connect with one business per industry in your area.
    • “How do you get involved with a networking group that gets you access to all these other local businesses? BNI would be a great place. Or you can start your own…” – Luke Acree (03:59)
• Adopt the ‘Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook’ Philosophy:
  • Focus on giving and referring before asking for anything in return.
  • “If you want to get a lot of referrals, you have to be a great referrer.” – Luke (04:08)
• Build a System, Not Just Connections:
  • Move contacts out of your head and into a CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) or, at minimum, a spreadsheet for tracking and outreach.
    • “The problem is not the ability. The problem is just the system. So you gotta get it out of your head into…an Excel doc or CRM…” – Stephen Acree (06:50)
• Local Promotion Strategies:
  • Host live interviews or podcasts featuring local business owners.
  • Create a community Facebook group akin to a local Angie’s List.
  • List trusted local vendors on your website/newsletter.

Memorable Advice:

• “The only way to make the right decision is to make a freaking decision and then figure out what the data tells you after the fact.” – Luke (10:10)
• Start with the zone that needs you most; learn by doing and iterating.

Additional Key Points:

• Prioritize in-person connections if it fits your style.
• Tie every initiative back to measuring profit and ROI—track which partnerships actually bring value.

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2. Leveraging a Sphere of Influence After Decades in Business (Roseanne, California)

Timestamp: 13:32 - 34:42

Background:

• Roseanne is a 30-year real estate veteran, productivity coach at Keller Williams, active user of ReminderMedia magazines, and operates mainly by sphere of influence (SOI), not cold leads or geographic farming.
• Her challenge: how to expand reach and revitalize her database without overspending, especially in a market where inventory is tight and clients rarely move.

Insights & Action Steps:

• Tap Deeper into Existing Database:
  • Roseanne’s true opportunity: her 1200-contact database (though only 50 get her magazine).
  • Statistically, ~7% of a large database transacts each year (~84 deals among 1200 contacts).
  • “I actually think you could double down on your pro prospecting outreach to your 1200.” – Luke (19:10)
• Re-Engagement Strategies:
  • Authentic outreach: Text/call contacts as part of “cleaning up” your database, using transparency as the message.
    • “I’m actually going through all my contacts and relationships, kind of doing some spring cleaning… I realized I haven’t talked to you in years…” – Luke (21:10)
  • Host personal or community events: Use as a reason to reach out (e.g., client appreciation events, free photoshoots—use existing skills/interests).
    • “You need a reason to reach out. Two things…One is the authentic reach out…The second thing is an event. So throwing a client event.” – Luke (21:10-22:44)
• Cost-Effective Event Ideas:
  • Leverage existing passions (photography, art, cooking) to create memorable, low-cost events.
    • “I do a lot…I photograph a lot of events in Newport beach on boats. You could offer free family photos.” – Cody (22:56)
  • Start small and iterate—park picnics, ice cream socials, quarterly traditions.
• Database-Building Tactics:
  • Open houses: A proven, high-ROI way to build a database.
  • Online ads (Google, Facebook): Lower conversion, higher time commitment, but build pipeline over time (average 1-2% conversion rate, 18 calls per appointment).

Memorable Quotes:

• “Don’t be discouraged by the amount of people that show up because… all the contacts you’re getting just from one event is well worth the spend.” – Cody (24:41)
• “Still do those intimate events—those are even better. But remember…this event is really about engaging the 1200.” – Luke (29:57)
• “We all like to believe that there’s a magic formula out there and that’s why we get shiny object syndrome.” – Luke (33:49)

Final Coaching Points:

• Focus on actions you enjoy to ensure they become sustainable, scalable practices.
• Always measure your activity against profitability and track conversions—know your numbers.
  • “You have to execute at 100% with confidence. And you’ll never execute at 100% with confidence if you do not know your numbers.” – Luke (13:18)
• Acknowledge that referral and SOI business is the most profitable and enjoyable.

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Notable Moments & Quotes

• Megan’s “accidental” home organization niche and passion for genuinely helping clients.
• “You’re a connector by nature…but it’s all in my head.” – Megan (06:34)
• Roseanne’s organic neighborhood farming and creative events—“I’m Italian, I make lasagna!” (29:45)
• Advice for new agents: Understand what the job really takes.
  • “Most people want to make $300,000 a year…but they don’t want that life.” – Luke (32:40)

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Timestamps to Key Segments

• 00:43 – 13:32: Megan (NC): Breaking out of the hustle–building network-based referrals
• 13:32 – 34:42: Roseanne (CA): Maximizing a 1200-person database & best event strategies

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Actionable Takeaways

• Create systems and get organized: Move contacts into CRM, design outreach and follow-up campaigns.
• Be a giver in your network: Refer others, spotlight local partners, nurture relationships intentionally.
• Host events for natural engagement: Both large-scale and intimate events are powerful for re-engagement, follow-up, and updating info.
• Iterate and measure: Make decisions, act, and let profit and data direct future steps.
• Know your numbers: Track every campaign and outreach for ROI; optimize accordingly.

---

Conclusion

This episode underscores the value of relationship-based selling over the hustle of lead-chasing. Whether you’re newer to the business or a seasoned pro, the major driver of sustainable growth and satisfaction in real estate is focusing on your sphere, systemizing your outreach, and boldly taking action—even in uncertainty. The panel’s candid advice, numbers-driven guidance, and actionable event tips offer a clear blueprint for unlocking the hidden value in your network.

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“The difference between top producers and mediocre producers is top producers take action. Take action on something you heard today.” – Luke Acree (35:11)

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Today we are answering your burning questions in real estate, business marketing and more. On these episodes, we take live calls from listeners of Stay Paid. If you want to have your question answered live on the show, make sure to follow us on Instagram @staypay podcast. Send us your message there or you can go to remindermedia.com ask and we will get you scheduled here on the show. My name is Josh Dyke, chief marketing officer at Reminder Media, joined as always by Luke Acre, president of Reminder Media and from the Acre Brothers Realty team founder and team lead, Stephen Acree and director of sales, Cody Smith. We are going to bring on Megan now from calling from North Carolina, I believe. Megan, how are you? Welcome.

[A]

I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. How are you? I have a bunch of questions so I'm going to try to consolidate it as best as I can. So I am an insurance agent and a home organizer and it happened by mistake. It just happened where one day I'm going in because I'm very much a kitchen table kind of agent. So I'm going into people's homes. I'm sitting there meeting dinner with them. I go to their sink, I start putting their dishes away and I reorganize their, their pantry by the time I leave.

[C]

And it just, Megan, I think that's a problem. I think you have a problem. You need to go to home organizers. Anonymous.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, no, that's what, that's why my friends love me to come over. So, so it's one of those things that, but it's something that I love to do because I think, I think they're synonymous. I think it goes hand in hand. When you have your home in order kind of it helps you to get your life in order kind of deal. And it, and it just kind of opens doors. You know, everybody has a block somewhere. So my question is I'm planning to like grow my business more. So like I said, I'm very much a hands on person. So it's more so through meeting people through in person magazine distribution, through Reminder Media and just like meeting local businesses especially like real estate agents and mortgage brokers and moving companies. So I could kind of put the home organization and insurance needs because it's life needs and some type of home organization needs at the same time.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

How would you structure something like this so it compounds into like long term relationships? Because I also kind of want to network these people together because real estate agents need movers and movers need more, you know, and then they need mortgage Brokers. So I kind of like want to be the connector between these people as well. So I want to. I kind of want to instill, like, long term relationships with my clients and long term relationships with the businesses that I work with. How can I do something like that and turn it into more like a referral and a networking business instead of just like this, you know, big hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle all the time.

[C]

Yeah, great question. It's so timing wise. It's so good.

[B]

Apropos.

[C]

Yeah, there you go. Apropos. That's why I need Josh. He's the one that knows the big words. We just interviewed the CEO of bni. So BNI is a business network international. They have what she say, 11,000 chapters all over the country. And BNI, for those who don't know, 50,000 members. Yeah, it's crazy. They basically, you know, form little groups in these, you know, local areas. And it's one business per group. So one electrician, one contractor, one real estate agent, one home cleaner organizer. And the purpose of the group is to share.

[B]

Referrals.

[C]

And so I would really point you to, you know, how do you get involved with a networking group that gets you access to all these other local businesses? BNI would be a great place. Or you can start your own, you know, type, you know, networking group. Now, the way you do it strategically is the Gary Vaynerchuk model, which is, if you want to get off the hustle model, get on the Gary Vayner truck, which is jab, jab, jab, right hook, which is give, give, give before you take. And the saying I always give to people is if you want to get a lot of referrals, you have to be a great referrer, right? And so how many times are you referring business to these other local businesses and what are you doing to help promote them? And so to be that local connector, there's a couple of ways I would do it. I'd start a networking group. I would go and start meeting these other business owners for cups of coffee to get to know them and then start promoting them. So a really easy one that a lot of people do is they'll interview them on a podcast. So. So you could start a podcast. You could go live every week on your Instagram and Facebook with the local real estate agent, the local financial advisor, the local home, you know, contractor or whatever, and you're promoting them on your Facebook, on your, you know, Instagram page. You could take it to the next level, create a little community group of local Businesses, kind of like the local Angie's List or the local next door page. And you could be the monitor of that Facebook group where you are, you know, getting these local businesses in. But it all starts with going, okay, let me make a list of my ideal targets. So all the local real estate agents that I want to reach out to, all the local cleaners, the local contractors, whoever you want to network with. And then going, okay, now let me do some outreach campaigns to them. But I would really encourage you. The best way to do it is through networking. And so I would join a BNI group, get that list together. Does that make sense, what I'm saying?

[A]

No, absolutely, absolutely. And I was, I was thinking about something similar like when I on my webpage having like, like a page that has like local referrals and stuff, and maybe starting some type of newsletter or some way that allows people to advertise or something along those lines if I'm, if I'm offering services. Plus I just tend to be a person that if I walk into a place and I'm like, oh yeah, I was just in so and so's office, you know, and you know, do, you know, so and so. And, and I kind of do wind up connecting people naturally, you know.

[C]

Yeah, you're a connector by nature and

[A]

that kind of connects people. And yeah, so it does feel natural. But I, yeah, it's like, but it's all on my head. So I need to put it in a place that, you know, people can actually, can actually see and be tangible.

[C]

You're answering your own question. You're literally identifying the problem. The problem is not the ability. The problem is just the system. So you got to get it out of your head into a sheet of paper, really an Excel Doc or CRM. And then from there you've got to do exactly what you've already said, which is start an outreach campaign to that list, which is great. So it's really just what's going to make you take the time to get it out of your head into a system. What's holding you back from the.

[A]

That. Yeah, I guess, I guess I keep on thinking I need to like literally walk in and shake these people's hands. Just so I like putting a face to a name, you know, I'm not like an over the phone person. I think I come across better in person than I do over the phone. You know, that's perfectly fine.

[C]

Have you made a list though of the businesses that you want to partner with?

[A]

And that's another thing I feel like I'm a transient. Like, you know, half the time I'm in one part of North Carolina, another time I'm in the other half. So it's kind of like. It's like, which. Which area do I want to focus on? Because there's one area that is like a smaller kind of neighborhood that I feel like they need it more. And then the other area is like, Charlotte. You know what I mean? So Charlotte, I think, has probably so many of these networks, and they probably have so many existing relationships where the other area is like, it's kind of a small town that I think they. They actually need somebody like me to come in and like, kind of connect the dots for them. But it's like, okay, which one, which one do I want to put more of my energy to? You know, that I think that's what's kind of holding me back a little bit.

[C]

Yeah. Choose the small town. That's just a paralysis by analysis. You know what I mean is, you've got to make a decision and execute because you'll learn the most through iteration, as you know, right? You. You're in business, so you know this. It's like you'll never be a perfect decision, but as you make the decision, you will learn whether or not you made it correctly or not. And so I would encourage you is you got to pick. Pick the zone. You've already said it out here, so I'm going to encourage you. Pick the small zone that needs you more, then build the list, get that into the CRM, then do the outreach, which for you, you know, God bless you. You want to go see people face to face, which is beautiful. So go door, knock, and meet all those people face to face, and then get an email drip going and get a Facebook live going. You know, you could start a podcast and start promoting them, and then see if there's a local BNI chapter in that little community that you can join. And right there, those are enough action items to keep you busy for the next day. And then after that, I'm just kidding, everybody. Maybe the next week. Okay, I'll give you a week to do it, but go execute on that and then see the results. How many of these people have referred me? How many relationships have I built? And then from there iterate and basically go, okay, is this scaling or is it not scaling? What is missing from this? But you're kind of stuck in. I hate to tell it to you, but you're stuck in. It's like you know exactly what to do. You're Just not doing it. And you're not doing it because you're afraid you're making the wrong decision. And the only way to make the right decision is to make a freaking decision and then figure out what the data tells you after the fact is

[A]

to make a decision right and figure out if it's right or wrong.

[C]

Exactly.

[A]

Thank you. No, that sometimes you need somebody else to tell you.

[B]

That's why we all have Luke.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

No, I love that.

[C]

Thank you now for sure. And sorry for the delay back and forth. I know there's a, a big delay here. It's almost like we're talking to you. You remember the old news where it's like, it's like they're in war torn Africa or something. It's like they're waiting there for. Yeah, 30 seconds. So sorry about that, Megan, but here's what I would say. That's exactly right. That's how it feels. So, so here's what I would tell you is you, you are self identifying what you need to do. I don't know the metrics of your business and you know, we don't have time in this, in this call to go over all the metrics, but the, the one boss we all have is, is the profit, right? And so as you build out these structures and you go execute on this whole being the connector networking where the business flows through, how do you know if it's working or not working? That's your economic model that you always have to then refer back to, which is, I started networking, I went to bni, I started all these things. Lu said, is it working or not? Well, how many deals came from that? How many deals, how much did that cost me to get those deals? Am I profitable on that if I'm not? What needs to be adjusted? But don't discount the idea and tactic if it's not up against the profitability. Because that's where a lot of people get on a weird, I don't know what you call it, like hamster wheel or weird like cycle where they're testing out a ton of different ideas but they're not having a backdrop that is appropriate to help them make that decision. And the backdrop needs to be profitability or at the very least revenue growth and how much revenue that's generating. Because you might have a way to, if you get to certain volumes, get better margins. But that's where I would encourage you to. That's how you'll ultimately know if what you're doing is working or not, is backed against the actual Profitability. And for any listener listening to this, if you don't know if your campaigns are producing profitability or not, that's your fundamental issue. Because you cannot like to really win in business. You have to execute at 100% with confidence. And you'll never execute at 100% with confidence if you do not know your numbers. And you got to know your numbers. And it's not a perfect thing. Even reminder media, where we're at with 300 employees, we still struggle with the same thing. I mean, Josh and I talk all the time. How do we not know if this is what we should do or not do? And it's got to be against the backdrop of profitability. And, and sometimes you sacrifice short term profitability for long term profitability. So in business, as you grow business. So it's not that it has to be profitable. Absolutely. In day one if you have a road to profitability, but most of the time for small business, lead with profitability. Because in small business, it's very hard to shoot for five years. Like Amazon lost money for 17 years. You don't have the ability to do that.

[A]

So I don't think I got 17 years to lose.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But if I. But if I turn out to be a billion dollar company, I'll let you know. Yeah, yeah.

[C]

Please, please do.

[B]

Thanks so much for calling in. Okay, take care.

[A]

Thank you.

[C]

Bye Bye.

[B]

All right, there you go. Make sure to get your questions answered here live on the podcast. You can go to remindermedia.com ask our guest today. We're going to call in here, Roseanne. Roseanne is calling from California, I believe. So Roseanne's got to be early for you. Roseanne's in real estate. Welcome to stay paid. Roseanne, how can we help you?

[C]

Hey, Roseanne, can you hear us?

[D]

Yes. Hey, good morning. How are you? Let me get on camera. Hi, guys.

[C]

Good morning. Good morning. It's nice to meet you, too.

[D]

We are fans from sunny California. How are you? Hi.

[E]

Hi.

[C]

We're fantastic. And it is 70 degrees in Philly today. So we are also, we are thankful because I'm telling you, we needed some California sunshine this way. Otherwise we were going into a dark depression. It was going to be a dark place, Roseanne. But we are.

[A]

No, it's crazy.

[D]

I'm a sunshine person. I'm also licensed in Hawaii. So I go back, wow. So, yeah, it's like, okay, did you

[C]

just call in to make us jealous? Did you just call in to make us jealous of your life?

[D]

That's right. No. But you know it's been, been really hot out here. We've had some really hot weather. In fact, I have a listing in Palm Springs that I'll be out there this weekend. So I'm hoping, I'm hoping that it's not like way too hot. But the client is a long time investor friend, so I get to spend the night at the listing and just relax a little bit.

[C]

So, yeah, amazing.

[D]

It's really great to meet you. I watch your podcast, I use reminder media. I'm really, really honored to be here. So thanks for having me.

[C]

Yeah, we're excited to have you. And thank you so much for one, being a client and a listener. What can we help you with? Like, what's the blocker in your business right now, as you see it? What can we help you with?

[D]

So I have been in business, gosh, 30 years. And I, I am a productivity coach at my office at Keller Williams and Irvine. So I coach new agents, love it. And I use reminder media for my magazines, my digital branding, my email things. And I, I must say, my clients love it. So they say, hey, we save those recipes. Or they'll text me a picture of me on the COVID and say, oh, you're a superstar. So, you know, I've been doing it maybe almost a year now, and, and it really has worked for me, but my business all these years has been my sphere. Okay. And, and so primarily my, my spear and my, my question is, you know, as a seasoned, well established agent, I really don't do farming or outside Lead gen. Online lead gen. And what would it look like for me to put together a plan that doesn't cost me a Porsche payment every month? You know, and, and that reaches the right people. You know, it's tough here in Southern California right now. People are staying in their houses longer.

[C]

Yep.

[D]

You know, farming's a little harder. I walk my neighborhood, I know all my neighbors. You know, I went. One of my neighbors is an investor. He owns seven houses in the neighborhood. I met him mowing the lawn.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[D]

So.

[C]

So you're already a farmer, you're just not doing it with maybe marketing collateral.

[D]

It's more organic and social for me.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

Yeah, it's more organic.

[C]

And so can you give us a little picture into a couple things about your business? One is like, how many transactions do you usually do a year or volum zoom. So that gives us an idea of like what your marketing budget should be and kind of where to guide you.

[D]

Yeah, usually I'm doing anywhere between 7 and 12. It just really Depends. I'm not a big superstar agent, but in my market, you know that 7 to 12 can be, you know, $7 million.

[C]

That's amazing.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

You know, so our, our average house in SoCal is going to be, you know, 1.2.

[C]

That's amazing. I mean Cody, what's your average? 280 or.

[D]

Yeah. So, you know, where are you, Cody? What area are you in?

[E]

Central Virginia.

[D]

Okay. I lived in Virginia Beach. Yeah.

[E]

Awesome. You're always into the water. It sounds like smart.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

I left Virginia Beach. I have my license there. I let my license lapse there.

[C]

But so, okay, so you're doing around 7 million or more volume a year depending. How big is database right now?

[D]

Like my, my, my database that I send to my reminder media magazines is small. 50 people that are just in my core group that get the magazines. I always order extra to give to my hairdresser or carry them in my car to give to.

[C]

Do you have more people in your database in general? Like how big is that?

[D]

It's probably about 1200, something like that. 1200. Yeah, something. And then my phone, I, I'm phone, I'm text heavy. So, you know, on, on New Year's Day I'm texting everyone happy New Year and making appointments to have lunch. And that's kind of my sphere database, you know. Hey, how's it going? What can we do? You know. So I guess my biggest challenge would be what does that outside marketing look like to people? I don't know.

[C]

Yes, that makes sense. Well, one thing I will point out and then we'll get into outside marketing. Just want to make sure you see it as well. Is that your 1200 in your database. There's give or take 84 transactions that will take place over the course of a year with that size of a database. So there is a lot of opportunity still within your database. And so. And you're very, very good at relationships. I can already tell. Right. And getting to know people. So part of like true coaching that I would give to you is go, I actually think you could double down on your pro prospecting outreach to your 1200. But it's going to feel like almost like you're lead generating because of course those 1200 you don't know closely and you haven't maybe talked to them in years. And so it's almost gonna be like lead gen except you have already some intros that you can give a simple text message, you know, a simple DM message on social and reach out to them doing A call campaign just to, to catch up. So I would put that kind of note as I would actually start there if I were you versus going to straight anonymous people to grow your database. Because in essence, you're trying to grow your database so you can get the 7% that transact every year. I mean, that's what you're, you're, you're ultimately trying to do.

[D]

So that makes real good sense.

[C]

So on that vein, you want to have things that help you reach out to those 1200 people. So, you know, I'm assuming are all 1200 located near you? Majority of them, obviously. You probably have a few hundred that are maybe across the nation by now,

[D]

but across the nation, most are here in SoCal. You know, I have a big base from school. I'm also an artist. That's my side hustle. So, you know, and then I've just done networking for so long that, you know, it's just.

[C]

So you need a, you need a reason to reach out. Like that's your real. Okay, I haven't talked to these 1200 in years, potentially. How do I reach out to them? Two things. And Cody, Josh, you can throw in whatever you guys think. Two things that pop to my mind immediately is one is the authentic reach out. That's very transparent, which is I'm actually going through all my contacts and relationships, you know, kind of doing some spring cleaning. And I realized, oh my gosh, I haven't talked to you, Josh, in years. I just want to send you a text and check in and see how you're doing. It's so true. So authentic starts the convo. And it's an easy reason to reach out because you're. I love that, cleaning your database. And it's basically free. The second thing that pops into my mind is a event. So throwing a client event. And now you have a reason to invite everybody. Now it's terrifying because I'm going to invite 1200 people. That might cost me, but not nearly everybody is going to come. You probably majority won't come, but it gives you an easy way to invite. But you're going to have to choose an event that is, that kind of like is cost effective, I guess. And I'm not. I would have to think, think through. Maybe it's renting like a. Doing an ice cream trucks type social and you rent out that for a day and that's like a set type of price. People can come and roll through. I would have to think like, if you're going to invite 1200 people, you know, I don't know if you have any thoughts on the idea.

[D]

So living in Southern California and I, you know, I'm a photographer on the side, that's my, that's my side hustle. And I do a lot, I photograph a lot of events in Newport beach on boats.

[C]

You could offer free family photos.

[D]

Yeah, free family photos. Yeah, free, free, free portraits. Or put everybody on a boat and have a party.

[C]

Yeah, I love that. Can you add more expensive, add me to your database?

[D]

And I've been thinking about it and, and you just kind of lighted the, the ignited the light bulb. But you know, that's something that wouldn't be more than a few thousand dollars. You know, when you look at your marketing budget, you know, and everybody gets to eat at the taco bar and they get, you know, three hours out on the water and get to mingle and meet with each other, that would probably be my best idea.

[C]

Yeah, I love that.

[E]

Yeah. I mean, I think the event is the no brainer because what we say is like we actually don't care if anyone shows up because the part isn't them showing up. It's the opportunity to reach out twice, you know, calling them two months before the month, like the week before. The text message, the email, like all the contacts you're getting just from one event is well worth the spend depending on how much you're gonna spend to do that. But yeah, and then I like. Yeah, either one. I mean, if you want to spend the money on the, on the boat, I think it's a great idea. But I really like that photography idea because it's, it's who you are. Like that's a piece of you and it makes a lot of sense. Like of course you would do that. You're in photography. It's an easy thing for you to talk about and you can really correlate like when you're calling your story of like what you like to do with photos, so it become.

[D]

Yeah, I like that.

[E]

But either one's a great idea.

[C]

And then what I park would be cheaper.

[D]

I could put, you know, just go to the park, invite everybody.

[C]

Free family go down.

[D]

Free family. Be great.

[E]

Your first one, I would just because like you're gonna have some kinks in it because you haven't done it before. And so I would keep it on the cheaper side for your first one at least. And then if it's a, you know, a hit, do the other one in the summer or whatever have you. But we typically our play is we do four events a year. Because every quarter that gives us touch points that we can call quarterly on our events to have a friendly conversation. And then obviously things come up in that. And it's also a way to show appreciation. So it's such a benefit. But my advice would start with the cheaper one first. Play it because you're going to, you know, find out what you like, what you don't like. Yeah, the bigger one. And then people are used to it and you can even build up, hey, I've got another one coming. It's going to be a big, you know, thing on a boat. It's going to be a lot of fun and you can kind of like prep them to now always expect that, hey, Roseanne's going to have these events every year and then it starts, you know, being a thing.

[C]

And one of the best growing Roseanne about the event is when you call Josh, who you haven't talked to in a year, you can say, well, you know, invite him. Say, I can't believe, you know, you could almost combine the two, you know, doing some spring cleaning. I'm inviting people. I want to get together with people. I wanted to invite you. We haven't talked a while. Catch up and then go, hey, I want to make sure I have the right email for you. I want to make sure I have the right address to send you the information. And it's so natural. It's not like I'm trying to sell you. It's like, yeah, I want to get you the information for the event. So I have your email as Josh Dike at, you know, remindermedia.com is that still your email? And boom, now you can update the event emails for every phone call that you make or the text message that you're sending. So I would start there because there's 84 give or take transactions. If you look at like 7% transact annually usually from a database, you just got to find them. That's the, that's the hard part. Right? You got to find, well, who are the 84 or, you know, give or take that are going to transact and you're doing seven to 12 transactions. So it is not far fetched to believe you could go to 14 transactions. Not easy. But they're there if you do the little more effort.

[D]

Yeah, they're there a little more effort.

[C]

Right. So then if we were giving you. So that's where I would actually suggest you do spend your time energy to get to the genesis of your actual like, ask of like, well, what should I do from a marketing perspective to Build my database. You can do farming which is you know, traditionally picking a geographic zip code or you know, a niche demographic. Maybe you want to work with certain price points or certain types of buyers and you can do that. That is a long term play and it usually takes years, it usually takes 18 months to 24 months to even get it going. So you are going to be spending and I always tell people you need one touch a month minimum goals to get the two touches. So you have to think about well, how many people could I hit to afford to mail them a mail or a postcard once every month or. And that would be there. The way Acre Brothers has done it, we do open houses, builds the database massively. So you know, I don't know if you have open houses you can run.

[D]

I do.

[C]

So I mean if you run an open house a weekend, you're going to build your database. Number two would be Google Ads and Facebook ads is what we now those are low conversion. Google is going to be What Cody? Probably 4%, 5%, 4%.

[E]

Facebook's like 2, 3.

[D]

Yeah, I've done those before, you know and it can get frustrating.

[C]

Yeah, it just takes a lot of calls.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

You would really love the events too. And that's a big piece of it. Like what's something you're actually gonna do and love it and do it over and over. Yeah, I think your personality, the events is such a. And you've already got a. Like if you didn't have a big database I probably would say hey, this might not be the play yet. Build yourself. So we've got already, you know, 1200 in there that I mean this is, you know, I think the, the play to go with is what I would focus on at first. Yeah. My encouragement is just don't be discouraged by the amount of people that show up because we have, we had 206 people show register for our pie event and we had probably 120, maybe 100 actually show up. So you're just going to have a bunch of. Yeah, about a 50 show up rate. But then we had the opportunity to then go hand deliver them and reach out and say hey, you didn't get your pie. Can I come bring it by. So and again it's all about the opportunity of talking because I mean we talked to thousands, literally thousands of people through this buy event. And that was because of the pre communication.

[C]

Yeah, love that.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And for me it's been a lot of oh, I have two events to go to on one night. Which one should I go to and I'll, I'll make an executive decision and that decision ends up where I'm going to get a couple of people who are ready to do something because putting it in front of my insurance agent or whatever that looks like it's been more small intimate groups or some. I, I was doing girls champagne events and so I, I'm Italian, I make lasagna, you know and I'll, and I'll go buy a bunch of champagne.

[C]

I wish, I wish I was your client campaign.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah. And it's worked for me because it's something I enjoy.

[C]

Yeah. Still do. Those intimate events, those are even better. But remember the premise of your ask is like you, you have, you have good business from your current database but it tends to be too small. But you have 1200 that you really need to engage. So this event is really about engaging the 1200. That's really what, this event that you're gonna plan and execute. It's almost a lead gen strategy. I gotta go re engage these 1200. And then if you go to a Google or Facebook, you've done it before. It's just so everybody listening has the numbers. You know, Cody said it, you know, Facebook's 1 to 2% conversion, 10 months on average to convert. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. And then you know, I think the last time we checked it was like 18 calls to appointment or something like that. So it's heavy calls, low conversion, but it builds. Your database will spend 20 to $25,000 in a year on Facebook ads, get 1800 to 2000 leads, but you're going to close 20 to 30 deals in that range at least. That's a creepy brothers numbers that type of range.

[D]

And how does the ROI look on that?

[C]

I mean it's actually very solid if you don't probably factor in time.

[E]

Right.

[C]

If you're not factoring because you have sweat equity. Right. So is it the best use of your time? Absolutely not. Referrals are the best use of your time. Running an open house is better use of your time. Yeah, but, but most of us, this is what I always, you know, laugh with agents is they're like I don't want to do this, not a good use of time. I said perfect. So you're calling for referrals all day. That's what you're doing. It's like you and I both know you run out of people to call by 10 o' clock and you twiddle your thumbs and go do operational stuff that doesn't generate you money. What you have to do is actually go do the activity that's more of the grind so you can have more better opportunities. And that's where, as you know, you're a productivity coach. That's where agents fail is they keep thinking like, like Acre Brothers. We don't want a single agent to ever call a cold lead, but the only reason we do is because we don't have any more warm leads.

[D]

They don't have anyone to speak to.

[C]

Yeah. So we gotta go cold to try to get the bucket of warm bigger. And that's where most people fail, is they stop and we don't.

[D]

Yeah. And it's interesting when I'm training new agents or even interviewing a new agent, and I'll say, well, why. Why did you want to get into real estate? And recently, one young man, he was real cute. He's 19, you know, and he's got a lot of potential. And he says, well, I want to wear one of those fancy suits. I laughed so hard and I said, well, what are you going to do to get that fancy suit? You know, what are the activities that you're going to do? And I think that's the biggest thing is do the work, right? Do the work, take the time and. And sitting. I'll be sitting in front of my phone texting after my training class today.

[C]

So I love that. I always. I interviewed a guy the other day when I was writing this book on teams for the industry, and it's a team leader. And we were talking about recruiting and he said something that was really great. He said, everybody will tell you what their goal is. Your job is to explain to them what their life will look like to get that goal. And he said, most people want, you know, make $300,000 a year, but they don't understand what life looks like to make 300,000 dol. Thousand dollars a year. And they don't want that life. They don't like, want that type of activity. They don't want that type of work that it will take. And so your job almost is to try to explain to people, hey, if that's what you want, here's usually what life looks like for people who have that. Do you want that life? And I thought that was powerful.

[D]

It's also about the focus too, because, you know, with us at Keller Williams, you know, Gary Keller's no slouch and. And, you know, I'll teach the one thing. It's like, what is your one thing that you're going to focus on? That's going to drive forward today.

[C]

Yes.

[D]

You know, and, and I think that's when people get glassy eyed, you know, you know, the one thing isn't lying on the beach or, you know, we

[C]

all like to believe that there's a magic formula out there and that's why we all get shiny object syndrome. But I can tell right away, I mean, obviously phenomenal personality. You've been in the business 30 years. You know how to do this and build relationships. I think you just need to push harder into your sphere because you can go from 7 to 14 pretty easily. I think if you just up your activity and client events would be the way. I would up that activity if I was you.

[D]

Sounds great. I would. I'm, I'm gonna do that. I, I think I'll plan like a late spring fall portrait session for April, you know, and do like fall, spring and fall portraits in the park. I think that's a great start.

[C]

Yep. Love it. Roseanne, thank you so much. Let's connect on Facebook or, you know, we can follow each other.

[D]

Absolutely. It's great to meet you guys. Have a great day. Than warm for you.

[C]

Take care.

[A]

All right.

[D]

All right.

[A]

Bye. Bye.

[C]

Yeah, she's awesome. So great personality. Just great connector built for client events. 100%.

[B]

Such a good personality. You can get your questions answered live here on stay paid. Go to remindermedia.com ask and we will get you scheduled here on the show. If you want to get hold of me or Luke, email us podcast remindermedia.com Please follow us on social media. We're at stay paid podcast for this episode of stay paid. I'm Josh Dyke.

[C]

Guys. I'm Luke Acre. Hey, the difference between top producers and mediocre producers is top producers take action. Take action on something you heard today.

[E]

Sa.