No Deals in 2 Months, AI Chaos, and How to Reach Millennials | Your Questions Answered

Summary

Stay Paid Podcast: Episode Summary
Title: No Deals in 2 Months, AI Chaos, and How to Reach Millennials | Your Questions Answered
Release Date: June 9, 2025
Hosts: Luke Acri and Joshua Stike
Guests: Stephen Acree and Cody Smith of the Acre Brothers Realty Team

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of the Stay Paid Podcast, hosts Luke Acri and Joshua Stike are joined by Stephen Acree and Cody Smith from the Acre Brothers Realty Team, the leading real estate team in Lynchburg, Virginia. The episode centers around answering listener questions related to real estate, insurance marketing, mindset management, and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on marketing strategies.

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1. Marketing to Younger Demographics

Caller: Leslie Vaughn (01:05)
Location: Clearwater, Florida
Topic: Strategies for Marketing to the 25-40 Age Group

Leslie’s Challenge:
Leslie Vaughn, an insurance professional, is successfully targeting the 65+ Medicare demographic through traditional channels like magazines, postcards, and Facebook. However, she is concerned about reaching younger generations (25-40 years old) who are less responsive to traditional marketing methods.

Key Insights:

• Building a Targeted List:
  Luke Acri emphasizes the importance of building a list of the desired demographic. Instead of solely relying on social media platforms, focusing on acquiring names, addresses, and email addresses can provide more control and direct communication channels.
  “Do you have a list of the 25 to 40 year olds that you're talking about?... The key to all growing a business... is I gotta get the list and then hit the list.”
  (02:44)

• Engagement Through Relationships:
  Stephen Acree and Cody Smith highlight that fostering relationships and leveraging existing networks can be more effective than attempting to become influencers. Engaging with the target audience through genuine interactions builds trust and increases the likelihood of referrals.
  “You need to build the email list... You just need 150 people that actually know Leslie.”
  (07:03)

• Content Strategy:
  Luke suggests tailoring educational content specific to the age group’s needs, ensuring that the content resonates and is informative rather than purely promotional.
  “Put out content that's educational on the topic that you're an expert in.”
  (04:40)

Action Items for Leslie:

1. Expand the Database: Aim to grow the email list from 50 to 100, and eventually to 150 engaged contacts.
2. Segment the Audience: Categorize the list by age groups and tailor content accordingly.
3. Leverage Social Media: Engage with the target demographic on their preferred platforms by following and interacting with them.

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2. Maintaining a Positive Mindset in Real Estate

Caller: Linda (12:00)
Location: North of Atlanta, Georgia
Topic: Strategies to Maintain Optimism During Tough Times

Linda’s Struggle:
After a series of slow months with minimal closings, Linda, a seasoned real estate agent with 20 years of experience, is grappling with maintaining a positive mindset despite ongoing challenges.

Key Insights:

• Holistic Approach to Mindset:
  Joshua Stike and Luke Acri discuss the importance of holistic well-being—body, mind, and spirit—as foundational to maintaining a positive mindset.
  “What you input, you output... think about your body, mind, and spirit.”
  (13:32)

• Environment and Relationships:
  Surrounding oneself with positive, successful individuals can significantly impact one’s mindset. Luke emphasizes the importance of being in environments where others are achieving similar goals to foster growth through positive influence.
  “You're in the wrong room... spend your energy and time to get yourself into environments where people have are doing what you want to do.”
  (07:22)

• Continuous Learning and Mentorship:
  Engaging with mentors and coaches who are actively involved in the industry can provide practical advice and emotional support during tough times.
  “Put that down... find mentors in every area of your life.”
  (27:11)

Action Items for Linda:

1. Physical Wellness: Incorporate regular exercise and a healthy diet to enhance physical well-being.
2. Positive Inputs: Consume motivational content such as books, podcasts, and surround yourself with supportive peers.
3. Seek Mentorship: Connect with mentors who can provide guidance and support during challenging periods.

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3. The Impact of AI on Marketing

Caller: Tim (17:12)
Location: Denver, Colorado
Topic: How AI Will Disrupt Marketing Strategies

Tim’s Inquiry:
Tim is curious about the broad implications of AI on marketing and seeks insights into how it will disrupt current marketing practices.

Key Insights:

• Increased Efficiency and Volume:
  Joshua shares his experience using AI tools like ChatGPT to streamline content creation, significantly reducing the time required to produce show notes, email copy, and other marketing materials.
  “What used to take a day, now literally... it spit out everything for me.”
  (18:46)

• Enhanced Data Analysis:
  AI can analyze customer segmentation and engagement metrics more effectively, allowing for more tailored and impactful marketing campaigns.
  “Using AI to analyze different results and different customer segmentation.”
  (17:38)

• Sustained Competitive Advantage:
  Luke cautions that while AI is powerful, it should be integrated thoughtfully into daily operations to enhance, not overwhelm, existing processes.
  “The people who do that will win versus the people who are trying to implement AI 100%.”
  (21:49)

• Practical Implementation:
  Both hosts stress the importance of identifying daily tasks that AI can assist with, thus improving efficiency without losing the personal touch essential in marketing.
  “What are the tasks that we do every single day that we could look at AI helping us?”
  (19:47)

Action Items for Tim:

1. Identify Repetitive Tasks: Determine which marketing tasks can be automated or enhanced using AI tools.
2. Experiment with AI Tools: Utilize AI for content creation, data analysis, and customer segmentation to improve efficiency.
3. Stay Informed: Keep abreast of AI advancements to continuously integrate new capabilities into marketing strategies.

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4. Business Modeling and Legal Support in Real Estate

Caller: Michelle (24:35)
Location: Southern California
Topic: Seeking Help with Business Modeling, Taxes, and Legal Support

Michelle’s Challenge:
With over two decades in real estate, Michelle is seeking guidance on business modeling, tax, and legal support to safeguard her practice against potential liabilities.

Key Insights:

• Establishing Professional Relationships:
  Stephen Acree advises building strong relationships with legal professionals and tax accountants who can offer reliable advice and support when needed.
  “Be in relationship with an attorney that actually you're sending business to.”
  (26:06)

• Scripting and Managing Expectations:
  Setting clear expectations with clients about the scope of your expertise can prevent misunderstandings and potential liabilities.
  “It's the scripting... saying that you're not the plumber, but you have that contact.”
  (27:11)

• Investing in Professional Services:
  Luke shares his own experience, emphasizing the importance of hiring an accountant early to avoid future complications, highlighting that the long-term benefits outweigh the initial costs.
  “We should have gotten a great accountant early on because that was a headache.”
  (28:16)

• Comprehensive Business Coaching:
  Both hosts recommend seeking coaching from individuals who are actively engaged in their fields and understand the dynamic nature of real estate and business environments.
  “Find somebody who has done what you want to achieve and they're not too far removed from it.”
  (28:17)

Action Items for Michelle:

1. Engage Legal and Tax Professionals: Establish relationships with trusted attorneys and accountants specializing in real estate.
2. Set Clear Boundaries: Clearly communicate your role and expertise to clients, directing them to professionals when necessary.
3. Invest in Coaching: Seek out business coaches who are actively involved in real estate and can provide relevant, actionable advice.

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Conclusion

This episode of the Stay Paid Podcast offers invaluable insights for real estate professionals and entrepreneurs looking to navigate the challenges of marketing to younger demographics, maintaining a positive mindset during tough times, leveraging AI in marketing, and securing essential business support. The practical advice and actionable steps provided by Luke Acri, Joshua Stike, Stephen Acree, and Cody Smith empower listeners to enhance their business strategies and achieve sustained growth.

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Notable Quotes:

• Luke Acri on Building a List:
  “...you have to see if you can get that list because the key to all growing a business... is I gotta get the list and then hit the list.”
  (02:44)

• Joshua Stike on Positive Mindset:
  “What you input, you output... think about your body, mind, and spirit.”
  (13:32)

• Luke Acri on AI Implementation:
  “How do we start? We start by going, well, what are the tasks that we do every single day that we could look at AI helping us?”
  (19:47)

• Stephen Acree on Legal Relationships:
  “The key to like, confidence in this business is not knowing everything is going, hey, that's a great question. I can get you the answer.”
  (26:06)

For a deeper dive into these discussions, listeners are encouraged to tune into the full episode of the Stay Paid Podcast.

Transcript

[Joshua Stike]

Foreign welcome to Stay Paid. I'm Joshua Stike.

[Luke Acri]

And I'm Luke Acri.

[Joshua Stike]

And we have joining us as always, Stephen Acree and Cody Smith of the Acre Brothers realty team, the number one real estate team in Lynchburg, Virginia. Welcome, gentlemen.

[Stephen Acree]

Welcome, boys.

[Joshua Stike]

I'm excited for this.

[Luke Acri]

Yeah, this is a great episode.

[Joshua Stike]

We are going to be answering your listener questions live here on Stay Paid. This is going to be something that we're going to be doing more often.

[Luke Acri]

Yes.

[Joshua Stike]

Right. So if you've got questions, make sure to send those in. We'll be taking live calls with our listeners and answer their burning questions in real estate and business and leadership.

[Luke Acri]

Yes, anything you want to know, we will try to answer it and we're going to answer it through the lens of what we would do. So no guarantees will be the right answer. But you're talking to some entrepreneurs, business people that not only run a very successful real estate company, but also run a very big marketing organization with about 300 employees. So we're going to answer the questions that way. We have our first caller calling in on the line.

[Joshua Stike]

Yes, we do.

[Luke Acri]

It's Leslie Vaughn. So we're going to bring her in. Man, it is so fantastic to have you on the show. Can you tell us where you're calling in from?

[Leslie Vaughn]

I'm calling from Clearwater, Florida.

[Luke Acri]

Okay. Love it. So what is your question? What can we help you with in your insurance business?

[Leslie Vaughn]

So my question is, of course I've told you, I'm all in with reminder media. I'm doing magazines, I'm doing postcards, and I've done the one year Facebook plan.

[Luke Acri]

Okay.

[Leslie Vaughn]

So I'm all in.

[Luke Acri]

Awesome.

[Leslie Vaughn]

My nervousness is right now in insurance. My, my focal group right now is people approaching 65 for Medicare. They're kind of easy. They're on Facebook. They are looking at stuff that's coming in the mail. They still are, but I have an age group coming up. My kids are 42 and 35. They don't look at marketing in the mail. They're not getting, they're not on Facebook. They're not answering stuff in the mail. They're not seeing regular TV ads. They're not listening to a radio for ad ads. How are, how does that look going forward for these kids that are in the 25 to or kids I'm older, obviously. These kids that are in like the 25 to 40 year old range as they're coming up, how do we market to them? Where, where's the avenues going for the.

[Luke Acri]

Future for this awesome Great, great question. One clarifying point for me. So I understand you're selling Medicare as one avenue. What else are you selling in insurance? Do you do property casualty or Health and Life?

[Leslie Vaughn]

No, I'm doing Health and Life. So I have health. I have ancillary. You know, I really liked my market. I'm in Medicare now because it's a quick one to get into, right?

[Luke Acri]

Yes.

[Leslie Vaughn]

My, my heart and soul is talking to young families for life insurance. What it can really do for your family. It's not just if you pass away, it'll pay off the house for whoever survives. There's more to it for how it can benefit your family. And that's where I want to go.

[Luke Acri]

Yep. Well, I'll answer the question for you the way I would think about it. Right. So this is how I ultimately. And I'm 37 years old and I'm still on Facebook. So that also tells you something about maybe the 40 years old, you know, they're still close to Facebook. Steve, how old are you?

[Stephen Acree]

33.

[Luke Acri]

33. And you're on Facebook. I see you there sometimes. I am definitely more on Instagram. But I would tell you, the key to all marketing, right, is the concept is you want to get people to know, like, and trust you. That's ultimately it. So the mediums of distribution are just ways to get known, ways to get liked, ways to get trusted. But the foundation of every marketing actually comes down to Leslie, have you built your list of people that you want to go after? And that is why you hear people talk all the time about your sphere, Right? You want to create this sphere. So I would then go, hey, do you have a list of the 25 to 40 year olds that you're talking about? Your friends, your kids, your friends, the kids, friends. Do you have that list? First activity that's even better than being on social is how do you actually connect with them to get their names, addresses and email addresses? Because it gets you to the more powerful platform, which is email. Because email, you control it. The algorithms are obviously controlled by TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and those could change any moment. But if you spend time actually going, hey, well, how do I develop a list of people? Even if it's only 10, even if it's only 20, how do I develop a list and then market to them through email? But then this is how you can think about social media. How do I go and actually friend them on social, whatever platform they're on, if they're on Instagram, and they probably are if they're 25 to 40, how do I follow them? And they can follow me back on Instagram and engage with their content. And the reason why I say that, and I don't mean this offensively, you're probably not going to put out a ton of content that the 25 to 27 year old.

[Leslie Vaughn]

Oh, I know. That's why I'm posing the question. I'm not exactly doing the influencer thing. I just, I don't have it in.

[Luke Acri]

Me and I probably wouldn't even try because it won't return the dividends. And this was, I think a lie in the industry right now that everybody has to be an influencer where that's just not true because not everybody's built to be an influencer. So what I would focus on if I were you is going, well, I have this, these, this audience of 25 to 40 year olds that I want to reach. You've got to see if you can get that list because the key to all growing a business for whether it's Reminder Media, Stephen Acre Brothers Realty, is I gotta get the list and then hit the list. And so the first step is can I get the names and addresses and can I go friend them on social and then can I engage with them on social by just commenting on their post, liking things, you know, not strangely, but just naturally through the flow of life. And then you put out three types of content, but really zone it in in my book is you put out content that's educational on the topic that you're an expert in. So like health and life insurance, if you're an expert in that, then you put out educational content on health and life insurance.

[Joshua Stike]

That speaks to that audience.

[Luke Acri]

Exactly. That speaks to what should a 25 year old be thinking about right now when it comes to health and life insurance? Yeah, exactly. And you put that out, but know that they won't watch that if you're not engaging with them because you're not going to be putting out influencer based content. Right. There's no way you can just get on Instagram and do an educational post on, you know what 25 year old should be thinking about life insurance and it's going to blow up for you. That's probably not going to happen. But what will happen is if you take the time to do the first step, which is build the list, friend the people on social, get their names and addresses so you can send them an email, and then you put out the educational content, they actually might pay attention because you're engaging with them on social does that make sense?

[Leslie Vaughn]

Yes, yes, makes sense.

[Cody Smith]

The basis of the question is how can I get more clients in that demographic? Is that right? That's like the base.

[Leslie Vaughn]

Well, I'm planning. I'm planning ahead. Yeah, I'm planning ahead because right now my demographic is a little different. But I want to know over the next two years, how do I build that so I can target that demographic? And I see, you know, I see it changing. I see the trends changing. The kids aren't going to do what I'm used to doing for marketing.

[Luke Acri]

Yeah, right.

[Cody Smith]

So then, yeah, the, the question then you pose is like, all right, how can I get my social media game up in order to hit that? If that's the main way, which what Luke is proposing is that exact thing, it doesn't necessarily have to be social. Like, it doesn't have to be social media that you obtain that. It's by working your sphere and working that pillar, if you will.

[Luke Acri]

And I would say it's not going to be social for the majority of agents out there. And some listening might disagree with me, but I do not think it will be social for the majority of agents out there. It will be relationship. And social media is just an avenue to influence. Relationship, influence, trust. And the better use of your time is spent going, how do I build the email list? Or the following that I'm actually following Steven and Cody, who are in their 20s and 30s. I'm actually following them there and I'm engaging with their content. That is what will get you into their ecosystem. That when the timing's right, they might choose you as their agent, especially if you're putting out educational content. But the crux of my answer is all around build the list. Because in the list you get a build and get to know Cody, Luke, Stephen, Josh. And you don't need a thousand, two thousand people. You just need 150 people that actually know Leslie. Right. And actually engage with Leslie, because each of them are connected to six other people their age and, and more. And they will trust you and they'll refer you and all that stuff. That. That's really the case.

[Joshua Stike]

The other super important part with that generation is that they are the most likely to look you up online and form an opinion of trust or distrust almost immediately. And they're so like, they won't just look up your. Are you on Instagram? You have Instagram and social media. All right, so they won't just like look up your Instagram, they'll look at all of the comments on your Instagram. They'll look at your reviews. They will be able to research you faster than anybody because they're just so used to using the technology. So focusing on once you have the list, once you have the ability to get those items of value out there to your people and give them the content they, they want. Also making sure that you're looking at your online presence and that whenever they do look you up, there is enough there for them to build a trust to then, you know, obviously speak and do further business with you.

[Luke Acri]

And you said you're using the reminder media, social content, which is great. You have a bunch of ebooks in there, so make sure you get on with one of the marketing coaches. There's a ton of ebooks that have been created for insurance that are. The whole idea is to build trust is like things they should know about insurance. Same with educational content in your social media library that you can post. But your action items from this in my mind is to not overthink. How do I connect to this generation by being on TikTok necessarily is to just go, how do I grow the database? How do I grow the database? How big is Leslie's database today? How big's your database?

[Leslie Vaughn]

About 50. Again, I'm in my first year, so I'm just.

[Luke Acri]

Yeah, exactly. So you're, you're doing good. So next time we talk to you, how do you make sure you have a hundred in that database? Like that is the activity that is the better activity than the, oh, I gotta be producing all this content on TikTok or on Instagram. Even though you're gonna use that and there's gonna be, there are gonna be mediums of distribution you put content out on. But the real thing is like, hey, what is judging Leslie's success? I promise you, if you focus on growing that database from 50, 50 to 100 to 150, Leslie will dominate in the space. If you focus on just putting out content on social and just trying to put. Then you won't dominate in the space. You know why? Because everybody and their mother's trying to put content out on social. And what connects, you either have to be an incredible personality. Not saying you're not Leslie, but you have to be just this incredible influencer that's going to resonate and do great video editing. And nine times out of 10, that's not the average agent. So what you have to do is go, how do I build this list? So next month you should ask yourself, how many names did you add to the list? The following month you should ask you how many names. And then you should start segmenting your list by the age groups. And then you go, what am I posting for this age group in my list? Like, what. What educational content? And then you have the different lenses to where you can then go, okay, for my Instagram this week, I'm going to do a post on, hey, if you're 25 to 30 years old, this is what you should be thinking about when you're thinking about life insurance. But those who are 60 years old, I have a video coming next week that I'm going to post for you of what you should be thinking of because there are differences in between. And, like, you can start then thinking about your content, but think about it through the lens of the list. You have been amazing, Leslie. We really appreciate.

[Leslie Vaughn]

Thank you guys so much.

[Luke Acri]

Linda.

[Joshua Stike]

Welcome to Stay paid.

[Luke Acri]

Let's go. I like Linda's energy already. Welcome. Thank you for. Thank you for calling in. I'm excited for this. So. So, Linda, can you tell us where you are located and how the year has been for you this far?

[Linda]

So I am north of Atlanta in Georgia, and the year has sucked.

[Luke Acri]

Tell us what's going on.

[Stephen Acree]

Why.

[Luke Acri]

Why is it sucked so far?

[Linda]

So in August, when all the fun stuff happened.

[Luke Acri]

It'S just tough.

[Linda]

I mean, real estate is tough. And I just had a. I've been doing this 20 years. I just had a I'm done, I'm done moment. So I had three closings in October, November, December. I did nothing. So it's my. It's literally my own fault. I understand that. And it is picking up, but it's just tough.

[Michelle]

It's just tough.

[Luke Acri]

So you're at a point where you feel like you're done or don't want to go on 20 years in. So tell me your question. Like, what can we help you with? What's the main thing you're searching for?

[Linda]

So keeping my mindset positive. All right. Does it look like I'm positive? Yes. Does it feel like I'm positive? No.

[Luke Acri]

No.

[Linda]

So because things are so crazy, my question is, what is the best way to keep your mindset optimistic when everything seems to be going crazy.

[Luke Acri]

So I can. Well, one, I feel for you because you are not alone. We have been there many, many times. Josh is going to say, I'm right there now, Linda.

[Joshua Stike]

I am in there right now.

[Luke Acri]

So, I mean, there have been periods of. And again, we're going to answer the question as if we're entering it for ourselves or for people on our team. Right. So because we have been there. Some of us maybe are currently there. I've had, you know, over 14 people quit on me in two weeks. We lost a $1.4 million account one time from a print error that we did. That was a depressing day. So we've been through the ringer at Reminder Media as well. Here's what I will tell you is that I have found there's not necessarily a magic solution, but I believe in the principle myself of, you know, input. What you input, you output. And the key to all of life is if you want to have a positive mindset, if you want to be able to prevail in adversity, the problem is you can't fake that. And there's a lot of people out there, and this is my belief. They'll tell you, oh, you got to give yourself affirmations in the mirror. You got to fake it till you make it. I think that's a bunch of BS because it's built on nothing. And true confidence comes through integrity, and integrity comes from doing the work. And so my challenge, really, to my team, myself, and you, Linda, would be, what are you feeding yourself from a mindset perspective, and I think your body, mind, and spirit, right? So your body wise, what are you eating? Are you getting to the gym so you physically feel good? And are you active? If you think about your. Your mindset, there's a lot of things that play into that. So the books you're reading, the podcast you're listening to, but here's a big one, and probably the key that I would give you, the friends that you are surrounding yourself with, who are those people? And do you constantly find yourself in rooms of people that are your level or lower? And I would challenge you, as the saying goes, you're in the wrong room. If you're in a room where you're around people that are the same as you, you've got. It doesn't mean you don't love those people, but you've got to spend your energy and time to get yourself into environments where people have are doing what you want to do. So you can elevate by osmosis, just by mimicking where they're at. And then also think about what you're watching, what you're listening to, because your mind is a bank account. So ultimately, what you're feeling right now is because of the lack of deposits that you have put in over the recent years, because when you face that adversity and you want to give up, you're going internally and you're searching for the, you know, motivation. You're searching for the passion. And that's going to come from what have you fed into that bank account of what you're looking for. And so my challenge first to you would go, go to the friendship. Find a mentor that, you know, maybe is succeeding in this market. And it will require you to be vulnerable. But ask them, and this is why coaching is so powerful. Ask them, hey, will you help me in this time? Because, and then look to, okay, what am I reading? What am I listening to? How do I fill myself with positivity? Because that really is the key. Because you're not alone. Everybody is feeling that 71% of agents haven't done a deal in the last year. But there are people in teams like Cody and Steven. They've done 97 deals this year. They have five agents on the team. You know, they closed, I think 26 or so in March. And that's not to brag on them, but there are people closing deals. So then it gets down to the tactics of what they're doing. So I'm going to thank you so much for calling in. This has been amazing. Let's connect. We needed it too. Excited to have you on Stay Paid. Can you tell us where you are calling in from?

[Tim]

Sure. I'm in Denver, Colorado.

[Luke Acri]

Love that. Well, what is your question? What can we help you with? We're going to give you our advice from building our businesses, but we'd love to know kind of where's your biggest struggle or, you know, pain point that you want solved? Sure.

[Tim]

Well, I'm really fascinated by AI and so my question is fairly broad. Honestly, you could probably talk about it for weeks, but how do you think AI is going to disrupt marketing?

[Joshua Stike]

Well, we did just talk about this. We recorded an interview later today, spent 40 minutes talking with Jason Pantana. So definitely make sure to check that out. That comes out here in the beginning of May, but absolutely, I mean, in terms of how it will disrupt marketing, I think that the biggest thing that it's going to do is just create more parity right in the, in the business and in the industry. So what you can do, or one of the interesting things that we're even spending a lot more time doing is using AI to analyze different results and different customer segmentation. So this is something I was just talking with our, our director of marketing and our marketing operations director last night was being able to actually segment our list for our email. What are people actually engaging with? How are they then, how can we then tailor Those messages to connect with better with those people in order to amplify the marketing results. But I mean, other examples, obviously, is just the pure volume that you'll be able to put out with marketing. Like one real world example is we used to listen to this podcast, you know, spend an hour listening to it.

[Luke Acri]

And then it was painful, man, listening to this thing for an hour, listening.

[Joshua Stike]

To it again, just to come up with show notes and get all of the resources and get all of the links and come up with the titles and come up with the email copy and the description and YouTube and everything. Now I literally take the transcript from our application, Riverside, that we record in, put that in the CHAT GPT, and we've primed chatgpt basically with. Here are all of the articles, all of the show notes, all of the things that we really liked that we wrote before. Write me now show notes for this episode in that same style. And what used to take a day, now, literally, I laughed about it because the other night I uploaded the file right before dinner and I was like getting ready to just head to dinner and uploaded it and boom. Yeah, it spit out everything for me. So the. The speed in which you can create content, the. The volume in which you can create content, but then most importantly is the analysis that ChatGPT can give you that would normally spend, you know, tons of time and end up missing certain things that you might normally not normally see in your marketing.

[Luke Acri]

Right, Yeah, I think. I think Jason Pantana said this on the show, but I know it's Amazon's founder. Jeff Bezos got back into Amazon to work on AI because he sees it as electricity, essentially, like it's going to power everything. So he wants to be working on the forefront of that. So that just shows you the power of it to bring someone like Jeff Bezos back into it. The way I think about it, and this is what I would share with you, because it's very hard to take a bunch of info and knowledge and translate it into implementation. And that's where most people fall down. They can learn and they can have an idea and they can have head knowledge, but they can't translate it to heart knowledge, which actually puts it under, you know, practical application. And so I always share people. It's like reminder media. How are we implementing AI? Well, Josh just gave you a couple examples, but where do we start? We start by going, well, what are the tasks that we do every single day that we could look at AI helping us? Maybe not replace, but automate, make it more effective. You Know, Josh mentioned you know, things like analyzing marketing or content. I wrote a blog yesterday where I just freeform thought, you know, real quick and then I threw it into AI and it did a whole blog for me. So like, my thing to you would be AI is almost overwhelming in all that it can do. In every six months it is doubling in power, like it is doubling in its capabilities and it's even over my head. So how do you actually translate that to everyday life? I would encourage you, hey, what do you do every single day? And how can you take one of those tasks and utilize, utilize AI in that task to make you 15%, 20% more effective. And my belief is, and we'll see if it plays true, call back in, in, you know, five years and let's see where we're at. Maybe robots talking to you here. But my view is that those people who do that will win versus the people who are trying to implement AI 100%. Because it's almost too overwhelming to implement it 100%.

[Tim]

Right? Yeah, yeah. I see it as a tool that can be used in a number of ways. So it's all about the person using the tool. So it's really.

[Luke Acri]

And then use it like the benefit. And I don't know if you see this Josh, is like the benefit is it can be conversational versus search is like just you telling Google this is what I'm looking for. And then you trying to refine your search versus you actually talking to whether it's literally talking to it because of the voice feature or actually responding to the stuff that it is giving you to help you understand it more. And that is what is so effective about, you know, utilizing AI for content or search or any of those things is you can actually respond to it. So I always encourage people is like ask it and then refine on your ask.

[Joshua Stike]

Yeah, the ability to be able to put in, you know, if you need to send an email out, right. You want somebody to open that email and you want somebody to click through that email and do the action that you're trying to get from a marketing perspective, you don't have to come up with 50 subject lines. You can get Chat GT Chat GPT to write you 50 different subject lines in different styles and different tonality and different formatting and all of those different things. So you just get all of that time back to focus on looking at what's actually working your business and how can you continue to, to implement more things there.

[Luke Acri]

So two hacks I'll give you as we wrap up because we'll have the next caller. But one is make sure you prime your, you know, call it bot. Whatever one you choose to use. Let's just say you're using ChatGPT. So, you know, ways you can do that. But one is like, what is the task that you want it to do? Have it take on that role. So, like, when I, you know, was preparing for teaching that I was doing at my church, you know, I wanted to take on the role of a pastor and in study these, you know, books and all this stuff, and you can kind of prime it so it knows the knowledge base. Or you can go. And the second tip would be go to explore GPTs. And there's already tons of GPTs that people have spent a ton of time priming. There's recruiter GPT, CFO GPTs. There's a ton. Now, the scary thing is, can I actually trust what these people have actually primed it to do? But I would. I would encourage people think about it that way. Get really good at prompting. But, Tim, thank you so much for your question. Awesome question, and I think it is very applicable because if you're not using AI, you will be replaced by the people who are using AI. So get using IT people, because it will help you in your business.

[Joshua Stike]

Thank you.

[Tim]

Thank you.

[Luke Acri]

Thanks. Appreciate it. Have a great one.

[Tim]

Yeah, you too.

[Luke Acri]

Michelle, welcome.

[Michelle]

Hi, guys. How's it going this morning?

[Luke Acri]

Oh, man, it's going fantastic. Thank you so much for being on the show and calling in. Can you tell us where you're calling in from and how long you've been in real estate?

[Michelle]

So I originally got my license in 97 and I'm calling in from Southern California. Sunny. Sunny.

[Luke Acri]

Oh, nice.

[Michelle]

Yeah.

[Luke Acri]

You know, I appreciate you calling in. So tell us what your question is. What. What can we help you with? What problem are you facing in business or what do you want to know that we can help you with?

[Michelle]

So I just wondered where a real estate agent like me might go to get some help with my business modeling and business help. Taxes, legal help, that kind of thing. You know, our industry is kind of unique in that way for a lot of it. So, you know, just the regular run of the mill won't view a lot of the times.

[Cody Smith]

Yeah. So what specific, like, legal things are you talking about?

[Michelle]

Oh, just things like. So I have protection for my clients. But a lot of times there's things that occur to me that could have happened differently or, you know, that might. I might need some help. Maybe they didn't understand something. One example Was this. I was at a, I was at an event and one woman came up to me and she said, oh, you're a real estate agent. I need a new one. Because mine, I bought a house and the plumbing was bad and she knew it was bad. She had to know it was bad. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm a real estate agent, not a plumber, you.

[Luke Acri]

Know what I mean?

[Michelle]

And I said, you know what? She may not have known. We don't know all the construction thing, but I was just thinking, you know, what if I needed to defend myself about something like that? Like, you know what I mean?

[Stephen Acree]

And that's a great question. And a lot of your question comes down to like scripting, right? And setting up the expectation that you are not the tax professional, you are not the plumber, all that good stuff. But I would say this is where the importance of relationships come in. Like, you do need a relationship with an attorney that actually you're sending business to. They're making money in other aspects of you sending. Like if they're connected to title, for instance, you're sending a lot of money to the title company, which benefits a lot of times the attorney. So therefore you can be in relationship with that attorney because you're giving in different ways and they can be in relationship with you to give you free legal advice, right? Because most attorneys, when you call them, they're not making any money. And so the hard part there is they're just not going to answer any of your questions. They're not going to answer your phone call. And so you just need to be in good relationship with the legal professional that can answer those questions. Because the key to like, confidence in this business is not knowing everything is going, hey, that's a great question. I can get you the answer, right? And that's, that's the scripting. It's the expectation beforehand, saying that you're not, you know, the, the plumber, but you have that contact, you have that relationship with.

[Michelle]

Yeah, yeah. And you're exactly right. I, I will look into that and you know, just helping educate the, the public, you know, like you said, managing expectations. But a lot of times they don't understand, you know, they, you come in with this, you know, superhero cape on, and then, you know, and you need.

[Stephen Acree]

To be the superhero, right? So I'm not saying don't be the superhero. The superhero, though, doesn't know everything, right?

[Michelle]

But they know where to find it.

[Stephen Acree]

Knows how to get and find that information and then to communicate it clearly to the consumer. That. That's the answer.

[Michelle]

Yes, absolutely.

[Cody Smith]

And typically, the easiest way to do that, like you said, is like, do you have a specific closing company that you use? I do anything. And are they attorneys as well? Are they just.

[Luke Acri]

No.

[Michelle]

So out here in California, it doesn't work like that. Our escrow and our title are separate and the attorneys are separate. So.

[Stephen Acree]

Yeah.

[Luke Acri]

So you just.

[Stephen Acree]

You got to find a way to benefit them. Right. And be in relationship with them in another way in order for them to answer your phone call and give you that quick, you know, legal advice that you need.

[Michelle]

Yeah, that's great advice.

[Luke Acri]

I think that's a good. A good point. In business in general, it's obviously business and growing your real estate business about relationships, but also your partnership's the same. It's relationship. And relationships take time. So usually when you need somebody, it's not the time you are supposed to build a relationship with them. You have hoped to have done the due diligence. But I think the practical application is, you know, you sit down and go, okay, do I have a relationship with a real estate attorney? And if I don't, how do I get to know some real estate attorneys in the area? And then how do I help them? And it can be simple, you know, spreading their brand and helping to market them or helping to promote them, helping to, you know, refer them business. It doesn't have to be about you taking, but you basically promoting them would be the key. I know for sure you're extremely smart of saying, hey, how do I do my business model and actually get into, you know, protecting myself? Because I know we have gone through the ringer a couple of times. One thing I wish we would have done differently with Acre Brothers and especially the flip side of the business in the investing side of this, this is accounting. We should have gotten a great account early on because that was a headache. Like, we use QuickBooks now and, you know, it's finally gotten cleaned up. But it was worth the money to spend on the accountant, and we did not do it. And we should have because the amount of money it cost us in the long run, in time and headache is just so much worse. And so that's one lesson learned in the tre Bunch of going, you know, and Stephen, to your credit, man, you were the one who told me, probably a couple years into it, we need to hire the accountant. I was like, we don't need to hire an accountant. We got this. Yeah, we're just flipping houses. And I was like, we don't need that. And it turns Out. Yeah, that would have been much wiser. So you really should have a good, trusted, you know, tax accountant. You should have a good trusted attorney. And those like anything in life, they take relationship building. Sometimes you have to go through multiple relationships to find the one that is with you. So don't feel like if you don't work on the first one, you can't get another person. But it's critical that you put that down. And then from the business modeling perspective, you know, I would encourage you to look into, you know, like coaching because, you know, and coaching doesn't just have to be the Tom Ferry coaching of the world of Brian Buffini. I think those are great. Coaching can be who is the agent in your office or who is an agent in your area or team that has the life you want to have. From a business perspective, don't choose, choose people that aren't living the life you want to live because they're going to get you something that you don't want, right? So you need to get and find somebody who can help you. And the, the scariest thing about coaching, and this is from us saying it and we're giving coaching, is it's, you can get a lot of bad coaching because the person is disconnected from the actual work, right? That they're too far removed from what they're actually teaching you to do, right? So the best sales coaches are still selling, the best marketers are still creating marketing, right? It's you want to find somebody who has done what you want to achieve and they're not too far removed from it because there are so many variables from technology to the things that just change in economics and environments and markets that if you can find somebody that's not too far removed but has accomplished what you want, that's the type of coach you're looking for. So I would just encourage you. Two practical pieces of advice is one, write down, okay, lesson number one. Michelle's got to go find a real estate attorney and build relationships with them. You got to find a good tax accountant or, you know, whatever you need accounting wise. But then you have to go and say, hey, who in my area could help mentor me? Because the greatest people have mentors in every area of their life. They have a spiritual mentor, they have a relationship mentor, they have a business mentor. And then when you get really nuanced, you might have a marketing mentor, you might have a sales mentor, you might have like the more mentors you can have in your life for specific niches, it will help you. At least it has for me. But great question, Michelle. It's awesome.

[Michelle]

That's great advice. Thank you. I'm going to look into that actually. I'm going to take action today.

[Luke Acri]

Yeah, I love it. Michelle, let's friend on social if we're not already friends on social. If you can shoot me a dm, I would love to connect with you and let's stay connected because if we can help you and help you in those relationships, stuff like that, we would love to. But I really appreciate you coming on the show as well.

[Michelle]

I would absolutely love that as well. You guys have a great day and thanks for taking my question. Appreciate it.

[Joshua Stike]

You can get your questions in email [e-mail] we're working on a phone number.

[Luke Acri]

Yeah. Or DM us@staypay podcast on Instagram. You know, DM us there and we will get those questions lined up. The way we're doing it is we're bringing people live on the show. I think we have a backlog of a couple hundred questions. That doesn't mean all of the people will get on the show, but we would love to get really time based and relevant questions. So if you're dealing something within the industry right now, you know, email us and also go to our Instagram Staypay podcast and DM us there.