Real Estate Coach for Ryan Serhant Shares Instagram Strategy That Generates $14M

Summary

Stay Paid Podcast

Episode: Real Estate Coach for Ryan Serhant Shares Instagram Strategy That Generates $14M
Release Date: January 27, 2025
Hosts: Luke Acree & Joshua Steich
Guest: Dan McKinnon, Real Estate Professional, Entrepreneur, and Coach

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Introduction

The Stay Paid Podcast, hosted by Luke Acree and Joshua Steich, aims to empower agents and entrepreneurs by delving into the latest business trends and providing actionable insights for business growth and personal freedom. In this episode, the hosts welcome Dan McKinnon, a seasoned real estate expert and coach associated with Ryan Serhant's Sell It coaching platform.

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From Ad Agency to Real Estate: Leveraging Past Experiences

[03:07] Dan McKinnon:
"Understanding what makes people tick... understanding why people purchase and why people buy and the intention they do."

Dan McKinnon discusses his transition from running an ad agency for a decade to entering the real estate industry. He emphasizes the critical skills acquired in advertising—primarily understanding consumer behavior and sales processes. This foundational knowledge provided him with a competitive edge in real estate, allowing him to engage clients more effectively and avoid burnout by targeting the right opportunities.

[04:02] Luke Acre:
"The ultimate goal of any business is to build a business that attracts versus a business where you have to constantly grind."

Luke echoes the sentiment, highlighting the importance of creating an attracting business model rather than one relying solely on relentless effort.

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Mastering Instagram: The $14M Strategy

Dan shares his groundbreaking Instagram strategy that contributes to generating an impressive $14 million in annual revenue.

Organic Growth Over Paid Advertising
[06:12] Dan McKinnon:
"I get 70% of my business from Instagram... I do not pay Instagram for that. If anything, I made money off Instagram."

Despite a modest following of approximately 9,700 organic followers on his personal account, Dan attributes the majority of his business to Instagram efforts. He clarifies that his success is rooted in organic interactions rather than paid promotions.

Strategic Content Creation
[07:01] Dan McKinnon:
"I write love letters to my city, basically, through video. So it's like, I write just like, I love you, Sarasota."

Dan focuses on creating authentic, emotionally resonant content that celebrates his local community. By showcasing the beauty and unique aspects of Sarasota, he fosters a strong, organic following. His approach involves producing high-quality, cinematic videos that resonate with both locals and potential movers, encouraging shares and engagement.

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Content Strategy and Engagement

Authenticity and Value-Driven Content
[04:54] Dan McKinnon:
"90% of the reasons why marketing doesn't work for most agents... Most agents will make stuff that they find attractive or they like."

Dan criticizes the common marketing mistake where agents create content based on personal preferences rather than audience needs. He advocates for direct, value-driven content that addresses the specific interests and questions of the target audience, even if it doesn't always garner immediate likes or comments.

Consistency and Quality Over Quantity
[22:08] Dan McKinnon:
"I don't post every day... Social media works with me personally the best when I'm organic and authentic with it."

Rather than adhering to a strict posting schedule, Dan prioritizes quality and authenticity. He believes that meaningful, well-crafted posts have a more substantial impact and are more likely to be shared, thereby increasing organic reach.

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Holistic Coaching Approach

Comprehensive Business Structuring
[16:22] Dan McKinnon:
"It's a holistic business structured coaching. We start with that because that's the start of everything."

Dan’s coaching philosophy extends beyond content creation. He focuses on building a solid business foundation by identifying target personas (both buyers and sellers), understanding their behaviors and needs, and aligning business strategies accordingly. This comprehensive approach ensures that agents can seamlessly transition from content engagement to actual transactions.

Emphasis on Value and Problem-Solving
[21:06] Dan McKinnon:
"You're just trying to solve problems for people... If you don't know, go get the answer for them."

Dan stresses the importance of providing genuine value and problem-solving for clients. Instead of adhering to scripted sales pitches, he encourages agents to address real issues and questions, fostering trust and long-term relationships.

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Practical Tips and Tools for Effective Marketing

Utilizing Video Editing Tools
[27:12] Dan McKinnon:
"I use Cap Cut Pro... it looks like you're cinematic like crazy."

Dan recommends user-friendly video editing tools like Cap Cut Pro and Kino K for creating high-quality, cinematic content. These tools allow agents to produce professional-looking videos without the need for extensive technical expertise or expensive equipment.

Strategic Use of Hashtags and Engagement
[23:09] Luke Acre:
"You're really engaged, not just posting."

Beyond content creation, Dan highlights the importance of active engagement—commenting on posts, participating in conversations, and strategically using hashtags to increase visibility and foster community interaction.

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Building a Community and Long-Term Success

Creating Shareable Content
[25:05] Dan McKinnon:
"A lot of my stuff is like, I'll take a very simple one where it just says, like, so blessed to live in Sarasota."

By focusing on content that residents are proud to share, Dan effectively leverages community pride to extend his reach beyond local boundaries. This strategy not only attracts potential clients but also reinforces his reputation as a community-focused agent.

Consistency Yields Results
[21:56] Dan McKinnon:
"Probably six to nine months."

Dan acknowledges that consistent, high-quality content creation typically takes six to nine months to yield significant business results, emphasizing the importance of patience and sustained effort in digital marketing.

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Closing Remarks and Actionable Insights

[34:09] Luke Acre:
"Your role is the advertising arm, the promotional arm of why people should live here."

In concluding the episode, Luke encourages agents to authentically showcase their communities, highlighting various angles such as lifestyle, investment potential, education, and local events. He reinforces the idea that understanding and communicating the unique value of one's locale is paramount to successful real estate marketing.

Key Takeaways:

• Authenticity is Crucial: Genuine, value-driven content resonates more with audiences than self-serving posts.
• Engagement Matters: Actively engaging with followers fosters community and trust.
• Consistency Leads to Success: Regular, high-quality content production builds a strong, organic following over time.
• Holistic Approach to Coaching: Addressing all facets of business—from target audience identification to content strategy—ensures comprehensive growth.

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Notable Quotes

• Dan McKinnon [03:07]:
  "Understanding what makes people tick... understanding why people purchase and why people buy and the intention they do."

• Luke Acre [04:02]:
  "The ultimate goal of any business is to build a business that attracts versus a business where you have to constantly grind."

• Dan McKinnon [06:12]:
  "I get 70% of my business from Instagram... I do not pay Instagram for that. If anything, I made money off Instagram."

• Dan McKinnon [04:54]:
  "90% of the reasons why marketing doesn't work for most agents... Most agents will make stuff that they find attractive or they like."

• Dan McKinnon [16:22]:
  "It's a holistic business structured coaching. We start with that because that's the start of everything."

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Connect with Dan McKinnon

• Instagram: @Dan_the_Realtor
• Website: Linktree

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This episode provides a comprehensive look into effective Instagram strategies for real estate professionals, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, strategic content creation, and holistic business coaching. Dan McKinnon's insights offer valuable guidance for agents aiming to elevate their digital presence and drive substantial business growth.

Transcript

[Luke Acre]

Welcome to the Stay Paid podcast where we help agents and entrepreneurs master the latest business trends to unlock growth and create a life of freedom. Brought to you by Reminder Media.

[Joshua Steich]

Welcome to Stay Paid. My name is Joshua Steich.

[Luke Acre]

And I'm Luke Akray. Sorry, guys, I got a little misfortune.

[Joshua Steich]

Yeah, we got a little lull to sleep there.

[Luke Acre]

Exactly.

[Joshua Steich]

Before we bring on our amazing guest today, we would love it if you would do the honor of heading over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, subscribe to stay Paid. Wherever you choose to listen to your podcast, drop us a review. We will read it here on the show. This review comes from Diamond Wash via Apple Podcast says podcast is helpful. 5 stars. Every episode has great tips to help you get going in your real estate business. I highly recommend listening. Thank you, Diamond Wash. We want to do a big push. We want to hear more from our listeners here in 2025. So Luke and I would love if you reach out to us. You can email us. Dan and Arielle, our podcast crew in one of our brainstorming sessions would be like, nobody listens to the end. Like, they tune you out because you keep saying it. Dan's like, you don't even tell people how to contact you. It's like, dan, I read it at the end of every show.

[Luke Acre]

We tell you how to contact us.

[Joshua Steich]

So make sure to send us an email. You can email us podcast Dan's not making it to the end podcastmindermedia.com or hit us up on Instagram. We're at Stay Paid Podcast. We would love to hear from your listeners and answer your questions. Send us any questions that you have that we can ask our our highly talented and experienced guests that we have here each and every week on the podcast. Speaking of which, returning Stephen Acrey and Cody Smith of the Acree Brothers Realty team, the number one real estate team in Lynchburg, Virginia. Welcome, gentlemen.

[Stephen Acrey]

They invited us back.

[Cody Smith]

Yeah, we made it.

[Dan McKinnon]

We're back.

[Joshua Steich]

It's official.

[Cody Smith]

Get rid of us.

[Luke Acre]

We still don't know.

[Joshua Steich]

We're going to add you to the regular intro. I'm Josh, he's Luke, CEO.

[Luke Acre]

Guys.

[Joshua Steich]

And our esteemed special guest today is Dan McKinnon. Dan is a seasoned real estate professional, entrepreneur and content creator based in Sarasota, Florida. As the leader of local Life Homes under Real broker, Dan has built a reputation for helping clients navigate the vibrant golf. Oh, excuse me. Gulf coast market. Beyond real estate, Dan is a dedicated coach and mentor, empowering other agents to grow their businesses with strategic systems, intentional content and a focus on Personal growth. As a speaker for Ryan Serhant and a coach for Sell It, Dan's influence extends nationally, where he helps professionals elevate their brands and amplify their voices and maximize opportunities in competitive markets. Dan, welcome to Stay Paid.

[Dan McKinnon]

Thanks so much for having me. It's. It's so great to be on here. I mean, I remember back in the day watching your podcast. So you guys are back in the day? Back in the day, like, sorry about that. Yeah. Whenever you guys started, I. I was a benefit.

[Luke Acre]

We used to be good. And then, you know, it went downhill. I don't know where, but, you know.

[Dan McKinnon]

Okay, it's been bad lately, but it will get better now.

[Luke Acre]

It's all turned around. Trajectory. All right, man. So you were 10 years as an ad agency, and then you choose to get into real estate. What's the number one thing you feel helped you Running this ad agency that translated to real estate that gave you a competitive advantage or that has worked for you?

[Dan McKinnon]

Understanding what makes people tick. And I think at the end of the day, it's. I mean, it's a big question, but it's understanding why people purchase and why people buy and the intention they do. And I think that understanding a sales process and where to grab people and where to enter their life in that sales process is super important so you don't burn yourself out. And I think as real estate agents, we, in the beginning and even anytime really, we get excited about any kind of opportunity instead of actually feeling out how do they fit boxes of an actual purchasing client. So I think I've had years of helping other. Other clients work through their own issues and find out dead spots and kind of wasted times and things that burn you out to understanding that, you know, what are things that move the needle faster? What are the things that make people want to contact you instead of you contacting them? So it's kind of just been, you.

[Luke Acre]

Know, that's the ultimate goal of any business, is to build a business that attracts versus a business where you have to constantly grind. Um, I think getting in, you have to grind out to build up your sphere or to build your database, but ultimately, you should be building a business that attracts. I don't know if you found this to be true, because we obviously run a marketing company. I feel like the thing. The highest level skill that you need in sales and marketing is eq, which is the emotional intelligence to understand how your words, the visuals you use are affecting other people. And the number one way to be a great marketer is to put Yourself in the consumer's shoes, because you are being marketed too. But so many people market from what they want, not from the person who's actually receiving it. And that's where they fall down. Have you seen that play out that you just nailed?

[Dan McKinnon]

90% of the reasons why marketing doesn't work for most agents, because you don't. Most agents will make stuff that they find attractive or they like. They will make content that speaks to their friends or audience that is easy for them to get likes or whatever. The hard stuff is, the direct stuff, the stuff where we talk right to the audience and give them the answer they exactly know we know that they need to hear it. May not get the likes and the comments or the hoorah, but at the end of the day we're talking right to them. So I think that most people will steer away from what we really need to hunker down into because it's hard, because you actually have to put yourself into a situation to learn and learn how to communicate that and learn, learn how to have hard conversations. I think anyone in real estate knows that you only really have success when you have those really hard conversations.

[Luke Acre]

What are you finding right now? You know, we're entering into 2025 early stages here. What are you finding now for you, content wise, marketing wise or messaging that is working? Is it putting questions out on Instagram or like, are you utilizing all the features? Is it you're doing direct mail that is working for you? Like, what's working in your business?

[Dan McKinnon]

I'd say that, you know, Instagram is really big for me. I'm not going to deflect from that. Like, I think that we, I say we, me, me and my alter egos, I say that all the time too. We, me and myself and I, we see a good amount of new leads from different areas I've kind of been working on for the past year. That being said, I get 70% of my business from Instagram, so I close 70% of 14 to 20 million dollars a year from Instagram. Organic or paid or organic? I do not pay Instagram for that. If anything, I made money off Instagram.

[Luke Acre]

Can I ask a clarifying on that? Is that Instagram people that you actually have a relationship that you would consider to be your sphere or these are. You don't know these. Cold.

[Dan McKinnon]

Cold.

[Luke Acre]

Wow, that's crazy, man.

[Dan McKinnon]

I don't have a big following. I think I have 9,700 followers and they're all organic. I've never bought a follower. I come from this background, so I very much know how to. But no, everything, every conversation. I mean, I could pull up all the dms. I have a call later on this week. Hey, Dan, I've been following you for a while. Could we set up a call sometime? We're looking to move. Cool, that sounds great.

[Joshua Steich]

Is it from your per. Your Instagram or your local life? Your local life.

[Dan McKinnon]

No, the local life one's. Like, I don't even think I've logged in that in forever, but I run another page called All Sarasota, which has like 36,000 followers. And it's a media. It's basically a media company that I've kind of started a while ago. And I run that. I ran that in the beginning to. As you guys know, in marketing, I ran All Sarasota to work up a lookalike audience when Meta took away our targeting. So I basically started a local page to garner an audience that I could retarget and advertise to at a smaller marketing dollar than just doing it as an advertiser or as a real estate agent. And so that's what I did there. But then that kind of grew and has a massive following. So I do get. I've gotten like, I got a 2 1/2 million dollar listing this past year. From that, I get a handful of things because I know the businesses I share. I don't share any real estate on that page. I only share local stuff. I love small businesses because I've always been in that realm. So I always promote small businesses for free. Like, it's no. There's no thing to it. It just has to be like, you know, you. I'm not going to promote just like anything. It's not going to be like buy. It's going to be like something part of their business. I'm going to be like, hey, this is really cool. Go check it out. So we have a really cool following from that. So now I know a lot of the business owners. So the business owners know me as the guy that's helping them out. And then they go, hey, how can I help you out? I'm like, well, I'm actually a real estate agent, so if you ever know anyone or whatever, which most these people are serving up 200 cups of coffee a day and mention my name all the time. So to be fair, I do get some business out of that, but it's not a ton, a lot. All my bread and butter does come from Dan the Realtor, where people just message me and say, hey, we've been following you for A long period of time. Like, I don't live in a big area. So 9,700 followers is, like, it's. It's a larger following. Like, if you had a. No one's gonna believe you if you have 30,000 followers as a real estate agent here. Because it's just not the. We have older people. It's just, like, not the real estate. So I do have a big following for local people, and that translates into a lot of relocation and a lot of people being like, hey, we saw you marketed this house, and we really liked it. Can you come over and tell us, like, how much our house is worth?

[Stephen Acrey]

How did you. How did you get that following? Like, organic?

[Dan McKinnon]

Which one?

[Stephen Acrey]

The 9,700.

[Dan McKinnon]

Making local content. Okay. Making content that I've never. I think I've made, like, maybe three or four pieces with bam. Because I do stuff with bam, but, like, I. I rarely put stuff out for realtors. I only put stuff out for people that are, like, local. I do a lot of stuff that's, like, faceless. That's like. I write, like, love letters to my city, basically, through video. So it's like, I write just like, I love you, Sarasota. And I'll show, like, badass clips, and I use shock and awe. So basically, like, if you can grab shock and awe, people are gonna want to go share it. So then people will share my stuff, and I'll just get a following from that.

[Stephen Acrey]

And are you putting together the content? Like, are you editing and all that good stuff?

[Dan McKinnon]

Other than my listing videos, which are shot by my videographer that I have here, which. Those are awesome. He does an incredible job. So it's such different content on my listing videos, but everything else I'm personally doing myself, I fly my own drone. I edit the videos, but that comes from the background. Like, I'm trained in advertising, so I know what people are looking for in eyes and, like.

[Luke Acre]

And you enjoy that?

[Dan McKinnon]

Yeah, unfortunately, I don't. I don't have the time for it as much. So, like, as I'm expanding, I think that, y'all know, on the show, it's like, as you expand, you kind of lose some of those passion projects. So I am losing a little bit as I. As I do more, but I do pretty produce all the stuff.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, I've always been impressed with your Instagram because a lot of the agents that have followings and that are in the community that we're in, like, bam and all the connections, they're advertising to other agents, but you're really Advertising to your local people because of the content that I. I watch you put out. So you are a great follow. What is your handle so people can follow you on Instagram?

[Dan McKinnon]

It's Dan the Realtor, but it's Dan Underscore. The Underscore Realtor. But if you just type in Dan the Realtor, I think that's. I'm, like, the only one.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, because you're a great follow of, like, content that a real estate agent should be putting out if you want to earn business and real estate, which I think is awesome.

[Dan McKinnon]

And I think it's. I think it's important, though, because we've. We've gone through this, and I think that it's kind of funny because you said it before the call. It's like, you know, I became a real estate coach, but I was like, the first person to be like, you know, all these freaking real estate coaches out there, like, why do we need them when everyone else can just be their own creative self, you know? You know, like, you don't need this huge platform or this, like, crazy coaching to, like, make this content for the realtors. Just show your freaking city. Just show the place you live, man. Like, and that's one of the biggest things I. You know, I talk a lot about my content because. And I don't. It's not. It's the farthest thing from, like, brain chattering. It's the most easy content to film ever. But the thing about it is it has passion behind it. It has. I like showing off the things I love because I do that. I tend to make it a little bit better than most people because I'm passionate. Now. If I was in upstate New York, everybody be like, oh, my God. You wouldn't be able to show that because you're not the gorgeous beaches. You're. You better know that.

[Luke Acre]

I would.

[Dan McKinnon]

I'd go to a hiking trail. I'd go to the fountains. I'd go to the Here. Ohio. Cool. Show it to me. And it's.

[Luke Acre]

There's nothing in Ohio, man. There's nothing.

[Dan McKinnon]

You're actually right on that. Forget Ohio.

[Luke Acre]

Anyways.

[Dan McKinnon]

Just kidding.

[Luke Acre]

My Ohio agents.

[Dan McKinnon]

Yeah, well, let's go.

[Luke Acre]

Let's go a little deeper on this whole coaching thing because you. You decided to become one of the first coaches with Sell it, which is Sirhant's coaching platform. And what I find interesting there is you're not part of Sir Hunt the brokerage. You're part of Real, but you're doing this coaching, which is pretty impressive. So it shows that they sell a lot in you. Why do you think they selected you as one of the coaches? What is it that you bring to the table from a coaching perspective? Because like you said, man, everybody is in the coaching now. It's crazy.

[Dan McKinnon]

Yeah, I think that. I think I got selected and kind of interviewed. There was a wild process. I wasn't looking at doing that. I wasn't looking at ever becoming a real estate coach. I left. I had Bill Pipes as a, as a coach a long time ago. And you know, he was a badass. And it was really. I need to get.

[Luke Acre]

I need to get Bill on the show, man. Maybe you can help me do that. Because he's like that extreme sales warrior.

[Dan McKinnon]

I'll send a, a message to him after this and let him know that we, we popped up on and I'll tell.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, he's.

[Dan McKinnon]

No, he's. He's a great dude. And I think that he put some fire under me because I have, you know, a lot of that passion inside to, to kind of really become something different. I've had some kind of crazy things in the mental past. I've been sober for six and a half years, so there's been some crazy, crazy changes in my life that kind of make me, you know, I've gone through some mental things, mental warrior stuff. So Bill is kind of right up my alley when it comes to that. So when I left his coaching with. With Tom Ferry and he kind of left and did his thing, I kind of found myself out there. Fast forward, you know, I think that I kind of started not creating, you know, a community, but I had a good amount of places I was talking and people I was working with, just mentoring through real and stuff like that. And then someone had come across it that was in the sell it world. And I was on a podcast with some people that were in sell it and they just kind of found me. Long story short, they interviewed me and I think that they found that I was just different. Um, I'm a little bit different of a voice because of my background. Um, I'm very direct. I don't really. I care about this industry. Um, and I think that it just. It's one of those things where you need a coach that is a little bit different and not reading the same script. And I think the stuff I coach on is more like, how do we find the mid sales funnel content topics to talk about and how do we push them out there to get better organic results? Like, you mean. So, like there. That's. Not many coaches are Teaching on that stuff. And the ones that are. I applaud you because you're. You're teaching foundational business tactics. You know, I mean, I think that that's more important, but I think that they just thought that I was interesting. I don't. I don't know. I think that there's a handful of backgrounds, stuff like that. But yeah, that's been cool so far. There's a. There's six of us. We started. They've really changed up their stuff. So if everybody knew sell it before sell it was a big sales program. Now they've really shifted to just real estate. So as much as they do still have a brand program, for some people, it really is shifting to just real estate. Coaching. I do 30 minute coaching calls with. Right now I have 12 clients, so I do 30 minute coaching calls a week with them. And yeah, it's been really great. So, like, international. So I have some clients out of the United States. I have some clients, you know, a handful in the United States, West Coast, East Coast. So it's been a lot of fun. I try to keep it. I think that's been the best part, is that I think that my clients get a lot out of it because I know all of this dissatisfaction I had in coaching after I left Bill, and I was just like, I really need more. I need something to really line me up. So that's what I've been delivering.

[Cody Smith]

So would you say the basis of your coaching is just content? Like teaching people how to do content online?

[Dan McKinnon]

No, I would say it's. It's a holistic business structured coaching. We start with that because that's the start of everything. We start with, you know, what are we selling? So your communities. Tell me about the communities we want to start selling and which ones you are. Who's your buyer Persona? Who's your seller Persona? Tell me all about them so we can figure out who are we selling to, Their frequency, their attitude, their language, and then, you know, what are we selling, how to sell it. And then we figure out all the stuff from. From the middle of the sales funnel. Like I said, it's like we don't want to be up here. We don't want to be selling homes in Miami. We want to, you know, find luxury condo buildings in Brickell. You know, I mean, so, yeah, and that then translates into conversations, right? The more we know about our areas and the people, then we. The more we know about what they're thinking. And that turns from content into conversations, and that conversation then turns into transactions. So it's more than just like content, like, sure, I don't know what to post. Like, that's the reason we do all this is so you know what to post. But then you also know what to talk about when you cold call or when you go to do a community event or you do anything else, because the same questions are googling, they're going to actually ask in real life.

[Luke Acre]

It's interesting because you hear people say there's riches and niches and really what that comes down to is what you're talking about. I don't want people to miss the golden nugget of going. When you understand your niche, who your ideal target audience is, the Persona, now you know how to talk to them. You should figure out where these people spend their time so you know what mediums to market to them through. And now ultimately your messaging can resonate more in your servicing and your value prop can be adjusted and put towards that buyer or that seller Persona. Most people are going out there and mass blasting. They're, they're spraying and praying basically with all their marketing. And they don't realize that, hey, you really should take the time to develop your niche because your niche will dictate every other strategy that you do. But it's so hard to develop your niche when you're early on because you don't know what your niche is. So, so what do you tell somebody that's like, well, I don't know, I just got into real estate. What do I do? Like, what's the thought process there?

[Dan McKinnon]

Ah, that's good. Start with the questions that you can answer. That's what I start with. Start with the things you can answer. So for me, I started selling in Sarasota when I moved here. My wife and I moved here from the east coast of Florida. We lived in Boca Raton area, Delray beach on the east coast of Florida. And we moved here and I had got my real estate license, so I was kind of in that fact too. And what I could explain to people was why I fell in love with the area. That's it. I didn't know where any neighborhoods were. I didn't know where any of the stuff was, but I knew that a couple reasons, why my family, I have three kids, why my family, why we moved here with our two kids, and why it was important for us and all the pieces of that. And then I started finding out what was missing in my city. Like, what was missing. Like people. No one was talking about events, okay? But there's events happening. So Should I talk about them? So you find the missing pieces? Because there's always. Here's the thing. I could sit and wallow about all the stuff I don't know, or I could go find about the things that no one knows about that they're looking for. And I can answer those because the worst case scenario is I service someone and they go, do you know about this, too? And I was like, nah, I can. I can find out and I can give you a call later. Is that cool? Yeah, of course. No one's ever said no to that. But find a place of value that you can bring first. So it's like, hey, I love going to the beach. I want to tell you all about this. And it doesn't have to be something you absolutely love. It just it's. It's an in. You know what I mean? And some people say, like, Dan, I'm not as passionate about the beach or about this as you. Are you passionate about money? Because this is about transactions. Because, like, you don't have to, like. Like, if your city, like, people literally asked me the other day, it's like, is it hard selling to old people? Because, like, most of my people are very old. Like, it's 55. Like, most of my area is very much older. I'm a pretty young dude. My lifestyle's young. And I. Do I like it? No. Do I like money? Yes. Like, that's the end of the answer. You know what I mean? So it's like one of those things. At the end of the day, that's what you find. You find what you can give, and then you just learn how to give more. Yeah, because when you said it, too, it's so funny, when you said it, you were like, you find all these people that. That don't know how to niche down, and those are the same people that you have an audience and we have a thousand people. And then the speaker on stage goes, you just need to start giving value. And everyone goes, oh, yeah, I need to start giving value. It's like, dude, what were you doing in the first place putting shit out that wasn't valuable? Like, what were you do. Did you think that everyone was just gonna applaud you and just. I don't know. And I just think that it's. If you come from a place of value, from everything, and actually put effort into this, not many people are going to wonder what you don't know, especially if they're new.

[Luke Acre]

Especially the issue, though, because, Steven, you've talked about this in our compost of like, agents don't recognize the value that they bring to the table. So they're in essence trying to. They almost believe that there's this script that they have to do or way they have to do content or pitching or whatever to present a value where it's like, no, no, no. Like, you're just trying to solve problems for people. You're just, if you don't know, go get the answer for them. And so many people fail at that.

[Dan McKinnon]

Yeah.

[Stephen Acrey]

And I think it's though, it's the. The hard part is the consistency of doing it. So, like, I'm. I'm curious, like, how long it took you to see results from going out to these businesses, going and preaching lifestyle in Sarasota. Right. Like, how long did it take you before you saw any conversion from that?

[Dan McKinnon]

Probably six to nine months.

[Stephen Acrey]

Six, nine months.

[Dan McKinnon]

Okay. And then. Okay, well, let's quantity.

[Stephen Acrey]

Like, how much are you pushing out with your content as well?

[Dan McKinnon]

I don't post every day. I don't follow a rhythm. I find social media works with me personally the best when I'm organic and authentic with it. Okay. I don't post things that are scheduled. I don't. That's just me. That's always been me on other accounts. Like, my other stuff is different. When I coach, it's different. It's just the way I roll. And to be honest, I think I've only posted like, it's under a thousand posts in the past five years.

[Stephen Acrey]

Okay, so then it is probably that's still a decent amount of posts, but it still then would be quality. Right. That's engaging every single value you've niched in. Right. On what people want. And so would you focus on like posting quality? Obviously would. Right. But it's like if we look at that, we go authentically, you know, how much do we need to post quality? You get 9,700 followers from the, you know, quality post that you're putting out there. They're just clicking on it and following you just from that organic posting.

[Dan McKinnon]

Yeah. And.

[Luke Acre]

But you're also really engaging. Like, at least this has been my experience interacting with you. We got to know each other through social, all that stuff. Well, like, you're commenting all the time, or at least I see your comments everywhere. You're really engaged, not just posting.

[Dan McKinnon]

It's. But I think that that's intention with the program. Right. Like, I have a lot of intention going into my day with Instagram. I'm not spending all day on there, but I do post certain comments on Certain threads, certain ways to get certain attraction. I post certain things to, like, everything I post. My goal is to get 50 shares. It's not always. Like, I'm not, like, I'm never gonna hit that goal, but, like, my goal on my personal one is to get 50 shares on that post. Now, that's crazy because, like, who the hell would post just in, like, random things, but sometimes I'll get it. Like, I found magic in, like, anytime I get over 300 shares, the post goes really well. You know what I mean? So there's like, certain things that I'm doing, but, like, I don't care. My basics are I don't ever post anything. It doesn't, like, make me feel good. Like, feel good. Like, I want to feel. I want the music. I'm like a cinematic dude. It comes from the advertising. I'm a creative guy. So, like, my content. I would much rather post something that just makes everyone day better and just feels good, because that's just me. Secondly, I want it so people here want to share it to show off the area. Because everyone that lives here is like, this glorious thing to show off that they live here. So I do a lot of that. Because then here's the thing. I know most of these people don't live here full time, so when they share it, they're sharing to a bunch of other people in Ohio, New York, Canada, wherever else. So the goal for me is to get in front of those eyes. And so how do I do that? I create stuff that's shareable to them so they can either show off the area, show family or friends to come down for a visit, or things like that. So it's. It's very strategic where, like, my intention's not even close to just like, what am I going to say in this post? It's, like, very stacked. Yeah.

[Stephen Acrey]

And how do you get them to share? Like, what would be a nugget there to engage with your audience to, you.

[Dan McKinnon]

Know, hopefully they'll share the post, make good quality. Like, I don't make. Because, like, whenever you see something really good and it would really good is subjective.

[Joshua Steich]

You want to share.

[Dan McKinnon]

A lot of my stuff is like, I'll take a very simple one where it just says, like, so blessed to live in Sarasota. And it's literally just a video of waves hitting.

[Luke Acre]

I don't literally pull that. I'm going through your Instagram right now. And it says, life goes by fast. Might as well love where you live. How many has 6 shares, 89 hearts, 7 comments. I love your page because your page is realistic and you're getting 70% of 15 to 20 million in volume coming from this page. You're not. You don't have 10 huge thousands of views, but you. But you're engaged. There's a reason why we call this paradise. Yeah. And then you have the waves crashing. So. So you just got. It's like you have really done a great job of honing into why you love where you live.

[Dan McKinnon]

And then I think I. I also like to push back creatively on the action. Like all these. The way too quick flashing cuts and all like the, the fancy stuff. Like I really like pushing back on just like nature and life is beautiful. So if you can like take that. And so for me it's. I do mix a lot of cinematic stuff. I try to mix like music that hits to my audience and a little bit older, but at the end of the day it's just finding things that people would find interesting. Now if, if I was in a different area, I might push more things that are like community focused or events coming up or like this is what it looks like. Or there's a guy named Sean Guy in. In. In Louisiana and he is awesome at this. Like, he only does like, here's the next event and he just shows his. Like he's a funny dude and he's just doing a green screen. He gets so many shares on that. But he's very simple. The same where it's authentic, it is realistic. It is just. It's a normal dude that you're talking to in the town.

[Joshua Steich]

Do you do any like. For people listening in terms of. When you mentioned cinematic type of content, are you editing those videos? Are you using like professional software? Do you have any tips or tools?

[Dan McKinnon]

Yeah, so I use. Yeah, so I use. I love Cap Cut. Cap Cut Pro is like the best. And I'm a guy that came from the background of using Adobe. So I'm like one of those Adobe Premier. Oh, I'm a prepare, you know, Photoshop and Illustrator. I've wasted so much time in my life doing that stuff. I still have Premiere on my computer and I still use it. But capcut on my phone is just like a godsend to be honest. If you're not that creative, go to the templates. There's a ton of really good templates. You can just drop clips in there and it looks like you're cinematic like crazy. No, I use this app called Let me see if I can show it on my screen. It's called Kino K I N O. And it's an app that takes your iPhone camera and it shoots it in log. And it actually has some luts, which log format is a format that cameras shoot most. Most like larger movie type cameras shooting like log. And then they'll take log format, which has like no color in it, and they'll recolor it to like match life. Because technically, lenses on cameras don't really shoot life how it seems. And so you have to recorrect them. So that being said, log gives us the most amount of. Then we kind of have this, a lut, which is like some settings that go over it. It's kind of like a templated. It all does it in that app for me on my iPhone. And so it shoots a lot of this. It actually shoots like it's cinematic. So. And they'll have like, for most people, they see them as just like filters, but filters are luts in the professional world. So if it's. I think it's like 10 bucks for like all the stuff, you can download it for free. I use it for all my video. You can. It's super clear. It has a really cool look to it. And then, like I said, you just go in, cap, cut and. And figure out if you ever want to do clips, keep everything synchronous, or I guess that's a word. So, like, if you're going to cut six videos, do it every. Every second. You know, every one and a half seconds, every two seconds. I'm like that if. Just do it. Put any song to it, and most of the time they're going to hit. And who cares if it doesn't just hit post.

[Joshua Steich]

Very cool.

[Luke Acre]

That's great. It's funny, I'm looking at like a crew Brothers Stephen, the Instagram page, and I'm realizing, you know, good content and stuff like that, because I know we do some content for you guys, but what's missing is why you love Lynchburg. Like, that is such a golden nugget of. Every real estate agent should be writing the love letter to their town, in essence. And like, that is essentially your role. You're, you're. You're the advertising arm, the promotional arm of why people should live here. And there's so many angles. There's the, you know, the actual nature and beauty. There's the investing angle of, you know, what you can. The equity and in the cost. There's the school angle for your kids. There's the event angle, the parks angle. I mean, so many angles.

[Dan McKinnon]

And here's the thing though, it's like off of that look, that's all service based, as in I'm being of service to you. I'm bringing value by answering all those questions. Because to be honest, we live in a very fragmented world. Think about it, we have Google is the only place we go and we, we look for it. Unless you're using chat for things like ChatGPT, most people are used to never search nowadays, but you're going to go to Google and you're just going to kind of get whatever it serves up for us as answers. So we're super fragmented in the fact that like some people are on Instagram, some people are on X, some people are on TikTok. It's so all over the place. But if you can really bring down the basic answers of what people are looking for, that's what they're going to find is because that's what you're answering instead of trying to be everywhere for everything or be viral on one place.

[Luke Acre]

I love that. Yeah. So good.

[Joshua Steich]

Awesome. Dan, great stuff. Thank you so much for joining us today. Before we do close out, I know people can reach you on Instagram. You can mention that anywhere else that people can connect with you.

[Dan McKinnon]

Oh man, not really. I just, I'm busy.

[Joshua Steich]

Dan Underscore. The underscore Realtor.

[Cody Smith]

No, I checked out your link tree earlier. I thought that was sick too. Like you had a way to like really learn about you and find out.

[Dan McKinnon]

So yeah, yeah, you hit me on the link tree. Like I said, a lot of my stuff comes from Instagram so I try to put it in there, try to be updated in the link tree. I'm glad that it's up somewhat updated. But no, I'm definitely available if you're watching this, you know, when it comes out or even two years from now if we're in the year 2026 and I still have an awesome full head of hair, still hit me up in Instagram. I'm always available for, you know, people just mentioned that you saw me on here and, and that's a good reason for me to open up the message and to respond to you. But I'm always open to, you know, a helpful conversation. I haven't always been in this industry. It's been a fast go of it. But one of those things are it's finding the people and the community around you that will help you, build you up is the most important thing. So hit me up on Instagram, I'll be there. And I really appreciate you guys having me on you guys have such an awesome show. I think you guys really give some awesome value. Hopefully Dan listens to the end to hear this part, but I, I think that with him you got along well. So, yeah, I think you guys have been doing some stuff for a long, long period of time, which shows how into this you are. And I just really hope to see the show continue on because it's just. I appreciate it, but it just, it's really cool to see, you know, even from when I kind of started in, in real estate, to know you guys are here and to now kind of come full circle and be on the show. I appreciate having me on and, and good luck to you guys, you know, as you guys go on.

[Luke Acre]

Awesome.

[Joshua Steich]

Thank you, Dan, Steven, Cody, thank you for joining us as well. How could people connect with you, follow you?

[Stephen Acrey]

Yeah, we actually just got a call the other day, someone, you know, looking into the Facebook ads and Reminder Media magazine. So feel free to reach out to us. You know, we'd appreciate a call. 434-216-5306. Love to talk to you about your operation, what you're doing that's successful, and we can share some of our tips as well.

[Joshua Steich]

Very cool. We appreciate it and thank you all so much for listening. You can head on over to staypaidpodcast.com for the show notes of this episode and all of our episodes. And if you like this episode want to show your support, go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Drop us a review along with a comment. And the best way to support the show is to share this episode with somebody that you know. If you want to get hold of me or Luke or ask us a question or send us a note, email us podcast reminder media dot com, shoot us a DM on Instagram. We are at Stay Paid podcast for this episode of Stay Paid. I'm Joshua Stike.

[Luke Acre]

Guys, I'm Luke Acre. Dan, man, awesome. I'm so glad we had you on. I. I love your style, too, because you're the real deal. Like, there's no facade there. It's like, go check out his Instagram. The guy's crushing it. And it's. It's really replicable, like, meaning you can do what Dan is doing, which is awesome. I think that's right. Ryan Serhant probably wanted you to come on as a coach because you can actually teach people stuff that they can accomplish that won't take, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars or immense amount of equipment and time. So please go follow him. Here's my action item for you. You already heard it. You need to write the love letter to your city, to your town, to your area, and that needs to be displayed on your social. You need to think and go look at your social right now and go, how do I tell people how amazing it is to live in this area? And there's so many different angles of content that you can do. Remember the difference between top producers and mediocre producers in every business. Stop.

[Dan McKinnon]

Producers.

[Luke Acre]

Take action. Take action on that.