She Generates Half Her Business from Instagram | Marie Boatsman’s Proven Strategy

Summary

Stay Paid Podcast Summary Episode: She Generates Half Her Business from Instagram | Marie Boatman’s Proven Strategy
Release Date: May 19, 2025
Host/Author: ReminderMedia
Guests: Marie Boatman, Stephen Acree, and Cody Smith of the Acree Brothers Realty Team

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Introduction: Welcoming Marie Boatman

The episode kicks off with hosts Luke Acree and Joshua Stike introducing Marie Boatman, a top-producing real estate professional with over eight years of experience in helping clients buy and sell homes. Marie’s unique background in event and wedding planning contributes to her exceptional organizational skills and creative approach in real estate. Known for her strong social media presence and a business largely built on referrals, Marie shares valuable insights into her strategies for success.

Marie Boatman [01:06]: "I'm fiercely committed to helping my clients reach their goals with care and precision."

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Navigating the Current Real Estate Market

Marie discusses the unpredictable nature of the current real estate market, highlighting the challenges in pricing and the fluctuating buyer and seller psychology. She observes that while some listings receive multiple offers and sell quickly, others linger on the market without clear reasons.

Marie Boatman [03:21]: "Pricing has never been harder. It's tough."

Marie emphasizes the presence of low inventory, which continues to affect market dynamics. She notes that buyer behavior is driven by a mix of fear and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), leading to hesitancy in making decisions until market conditions seem more stable.

Marie Boatman [03:45]: "We do have really low inventory still for, you know, a normal market."

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Adapting Listing Presentations and Building Trust

To address the uncertainties in the market, Marie focuses on transparency and demonstrating her value through comprehensive marketing plans. She avoids aggressive cold lead generation, relying instead on referrals and her established sphere of influence. During listing appointments, Marie prioritizes showcasing her marketing strategies, particularly her emphasis on video and social media.

Marie Boatman [04:24]: "I really don't know what's gonna happen with your home. And so all we can do is like, here's my marketing plan."

Marie ensures sellers understand her commitment by dedicating significant time to create extensive video content, aiming to produce enough material to market the property effectively over several months.

Marie Boatman [05:34]: "I'm gonna shoot enough content where I will have stuff for four to six months, potentially more if needed."

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The Power of Video Marketing and Social Media

A significant portion of the discussion centers on video marketing as a crucial tool for real estate agents. Marie advocates for the consistent use of video to maximize property exposure and engage potential buyers across various platforms. She believes that video is no longer optional but a necessity in today’s digital landscape.

Marie Boatman [07:39]: "If agents aren't doing video, that's a miss right now."

Stephen Acree adds that while creating videos is essential, the challenge lies in effectively distributing them to reach the intended audience. He highlights the difficulty in garnering engagement on social media platforms, emphasizing the need for an active approach to video sharing.

Stephen Acree [09:48]: "It's like, how do you get that video out to your buyers and out to like the agents and stuff?"

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Content Planning and Consistency

Marie outlines her strategy for content creation, which involves categorizing her videos into different "buckets" such as listings, lifestyle, community, and trending topics. She emphasizes the importance of planning content in advance by meeting monthly with her videographer to brainstorm ideas that align with current trends and upcoming events.

Marie Boatman [15:49]: "Every week can be a little different because if I know I'm going into a week really listing heavy, I'm trying to make sure I'm marketing each listing while also potentially throwing in something funny or something community in between."

Marie advocates for posting multiple times a week, balancing listing videos with other engaging content to keep her audience interested and prevent monotony.

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Combining Social Media with Community Engagement

Marie highlights the synergy between her social media efforts and her community-focused activities. She believes that building strong relationships through client events, subscription boxes, and local engagements enhances her online presence and drives referrals.

Marie Boatman [27:06]: "If you want to really grow your business and you're not doing it from an expired or a cold calling or whatever, I think it is."

Marie shares her experience with subscription boxes, which she curates for her top clients, adding a personal touch that strengthens client relationships and encourages word-of-mouth referrals.

Marie Boatman [26:55]: "I deliver those and I do the COVID letter that's like, you know, basically like, here's why I put this in here. Here's why I like it, and thank you for your business and referrals."

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Overcoming Challenges: Time Management and Prioritization

The conversation delves into the common challenges real estate agents face, particularly time management and content prioritization. Marie describes her method of pre-scheduling shoot days and maximizing each session by creating varied content types to ensure efficiency and consistency.

Marie Boatman [18:30]: "The key is, we meet at the end of every month, and we plan out the next month."

Stephen and Cody discuss the struggle of maintaining a steady flow of content without overwhelming their schedules. Marie suggests integrating listing shoots with other content creation to optimize time and resources.

Marie Boatman [21:24]: "We're figuring out what we're going to shoot for the month, we will pre-select like three shoot days for the month."

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Actionable Insights and Conclusion

As the episode wraps up, Marie emphasizes the importance of authentic engagement on social media. She advises agents to be present and responsive, fostering genuine connections rather than relying solely on automated posts.

Marie Boatman [30:15]: "Social is social media because it's social. Like you need to be there. Like be present, be engaged."

Hosts Luke Acree and Joshua Stike echo these sentiments, encouraging listeners to take immediate action. They stress the necessity of not only creating quality video content but also ensuring its active distribution and engagement to achieve significant business growth.

Luke Acree [32:18]: "Everybody should be doing video. So I'm just going to act like you're doing video. And like Marie said, you have no excuse."

Key Takeaways:

1. Embrace Video Marketing: Consistently create and share video content to maximize property exposure and engage potential clients.

2. Plan and Categorize Content: Organize video content into different themes and plan monthly to ensure variety and relevance.

3. Combine Online and Offline Strategies: Strengthen social media efforts with community engagement and personalized client care to build strong relationships and drive referrals.

4. Prioritize Time Management: Schedule dedicated content creation days and optimize each session to produce diverse content efficiently.

5. Authentic Engagement: Actively participate on social media platforms by responding to comments and messages to foster genuine connections.

Marie Boatman’s approach exemplifies how integrating strategic video marketing with meaningful community interactions can significantly enhance a real estate agent’s business. Her methods provide actionable steps for agents aiming to leverage the power of social media to achieve growth and create lasting client relationships.

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Connect with Marie Boatman:
Instagram: @MarieBRealty

For more insights and resources from this episode, visit staypaidpodcast.com.

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 Stike]

Welcome to Stay Paid. My name is Joshua Stike.

[Luke Acre]

And I'm Luke Acre.

[Joshua Stike]

We are joined today, as always, with Stephen Acree and Cody Smith of the Acree Brothers Realty team, the number one real estate team in Lynchburg, Virginia. I said we. I said I gotta stop introducing you guys.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, please do, because it's getting lame, getting old. I don't want to hear that they're number one again.

[Joshua Stike]

I have 100th time encouraging, better intro yet.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, ask. Ask Claude. That's what you need. Use some other AI, my man.

[Joshua Stike]

Well, our special guest today is Marie Boatman, a top producing real estate professional who's been helping clients buy and sell homes since 2006. With a background in event planning, event and wedding planning, Marie brings a unique blend of creativity, organization and attention to detail to every transaction. Known for her relentless dedication, standout social media presence, and a business built almost entirely on referrals, Maria's fiercely committed to helping her clients reach their goals with care and precision. Marie, welcome to Stay Paid.

[Marie Boatman]

Thank you. That was a very nice intro, except I didn't get the number one status like they did, so.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, come on, Josh.

[Marie Boatman]

Put number one. A little slap in the face.

[Luke Acre]

I feel this is going to be a great episode. Right off the bat. I will say this right. We hired somebody one time at Reminder Media for running our conference, as you remember this. And they came out of the wedding planning and event space.

[Joshua Stike]

They did.

[Luke Acre]

And they. You mentioned their name. I wasn't going to mention her name, but they silently quit on it. I shouldn't say silent. They quit. They just stopped showing up one day.

[Joshua Stike]

No, no, okay.

[Luke Acre]

I'm talking about the other one. I was like, it's not Heather. Just. No, not Heather. Just quit. Just literally quit. Didn't tell us anything like that. I was like, well, I thought wedding planning and event planning was hard. I guess working with Luke and Josh is harder. So, Marie, I don't know if that's an omen for this episode. It's going to be wild, but I'm.

[Marie Boatman]

Maybe I should just leave now. I don't know.

[Luke Acre]

We'll see if you hang up on us. I'm super excited to have you on the show. Got to meet you at the Tom Ferry conference. I think it was elite retreat, if I'm not mistaken, and got introduced to you. Obviously. Been following you on Instagram ever since. You are Crushing it on social. At least that's what it feels like to me. I want to pick your brain selfishly for Acre Brothers and rest of the agents listening, but really excited to have you on. I'm curious to get your take right now in your market. Like, is it inventory? Is it moving for you? Is it not? Are you actually having success? Because depending on the market I talk to, some people are winning and some are like, this is the worst market I've ever experienced.

[Marie Boatman]

Yeah, this. Well, this is going to make me sound like I've not been doing real estate for eight and a half years, but I promise I have been. But it is all over the place and it is so unpredictable. Like, I'm seeing some listings, multiple offers fly off the market, others sitting. Sometimes there's a reason, but sometimes there's just not. And it's. That's the really hard thing to predict. I feel like pricing has never been harder. It's tough. And like the buyer and seller psychology right now is so crazy. I feel like buyers want just what others want. So if no offer comes in right away, then they just kind of sit and wait. But if an offer comes in right away, then all of a sudden everybody wants it. Because if they want it, I should want it too, too.

[Luke Acre]

Right?

[Marie Boatman]

And so I think it's a little bit of just scared. I mean, we're. I feel like we're a little frozen here right now with like, people just not knowing what to do, how to act, how things are going to be. And I know every state is very different because I talk to a lot of agents in other states and some are feeling this and some aren't, but it's definitely kind of what's going on here. But we do have really low inventory still for, you know, a normal market.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, it's. That's really common to what I'm hearing kind of across the nation. It's like there's this fear, underlying fear, but it's really this almost FOMO of like, I don't want to miss out. But at the same time, I'm waiting for the new normal. And everybody doesn't realize that, hey, guys, this might be the new normal. But when you have, you know, politics in play and everything that's happening from a market perspective there, it really makes you gun shy and it's really playing into the buyer psychology. I'm curious, how are you overcoming that in your Legion and your listing presentations? Like, how are you adapting in this market to try to stay on par.

[Marie Boatman]

With where you've been Yeah, I mean, I don't do a ton of like cold lead gen. I mean, pretty much like you said in the beginning, most of my business is referrals or sphere or they have followed me on social media for a long time. And so, you know, in a way, kind of know me, right? So I've been pretty lucky from like that aspect where I'm not typically going in fully blind and there's some rapport and, you know, they're willing to like, take my word and trust me. But it's hard with sellers, I will say, because I'm really sitting at every listing appoint almost like, like I said, I'm like, I promise I've been doing this for a long time. But it's also, I really don't know what's gonna happen with your home. And so all we can do is like, here's my marketing plan, here's what I'm going to do. You know, I'm gonna get the most eyes on your property that I can. And a big part of that is through video and social media. And so, like today after this, I'm going to shoot a new listing. And you know, I told those sellers, like, hey, I'm gonna be there six hours. I'm gonna shoot enough content where I will have stuff for four to six months, potentially more if needed. Hopefully we don't need that, but if we do, like, I'll have eight to 12 videos potentially in B roll that I can use to create stuff and just continue to get eyes on properties. So, you know, it's just.

[Luke Acre]

Are you taking, just for clarity for me, are you taking like a transparent kind of open approach to the seller going, hey, this is an interesting market, I'm not sure what's going to happen. And then you are showcasing your value essentially by the work that you're putting in and you're showing them every step of the way. What you're doing is kind of the tactic.

[Marie Boatman]

Yeah, I am. That's kind of the goal with sellers. And again, I'm lucky that most kind of know me or know of me before I walk in. But, you know, I'm trying to kind of take the approach of like, gone are the days where you can just like throw a home in the MLS and like, fingers crossed, let's hope that it sells right. And I think we have to be creative and for different agents, that's going to be different things. It might not be video focused. If it's not, I think that's a miss. But, you know, I think we have to Be getting as most eyes, the most eyes we can on every property right now. But yes, I'm just trying to be very transparent because I. I mean, I can study comparables all day, and I truthfully, I do, you know, and look at every single listing in a neighborhood, in an area. And how long did this one sit? How long did this one sit? How much over, how much under? And there's no rhyme or reason sometimes.

[Luke Acre]

For what the reason, though. I think tactically that's so good because you think of if. If we go back to what you said about your market and what you're feeling and what I'm seeing across the nation of fear, like, in fear, people don't want to be ripped off. They don't want to be misled or sold something. So, like, your tactic and approach of basically going, I don't know if this is going to work or not work, actually brings the calm to the market instead of somebody saying, I know exactly what you should be doing right now. Because the consumer almost knows at this point, that's not true because the market's literally changing every single day. So you're. You're playing in strategically. I mean, obviously you know what you're doing, but playing in strategically to the buyer psychology there. You mentioned every agent should be doing video. So that's where really where I want to focus this podcast is on video marketing on social media. What do you mean when you say you hope every agent's leaning into video? How do you think about marketing from a video perspective and social perspective?

[Marie Boatman]

I mean, I think there's a lot of aspects of that, because I don't just do the listing video stuff. I try to mix in community and lifestyle and, you know, your vibe attracts your tribe kind of a thing, which I know is so overused, but, like, truthfully, like, who am I creating videos for? Who's the audience? And then I think I have buckets of, you know, listing lifestyle trending funny, you know, community, small businesses, whatever it may be. But in terms of just listing video, which I was kind of referring to, you know, I think if agents aren't doing video, that's. That's a miss right now. And I don't think it necessarily, you know, obviously everyone has their opinions on platforms or where they're putting it, which is fine, but I think to some degree, we kind of owe it to our clients to be getting their homes out there, eyeballs on them, whatever that may mean. Whatever platform you're on, just, you know, doing your best, because we don't know Where a buyer is going to come from right now, it could come from, you know, another state that happens to see that. I mean, you just don't know.

[Luke Acre]

Is listening video in your mind. I'm curious, Stephen, you guys take. Because I saw you just did an open house. You had a great video for that that you posted over the weekend. I think it was. But do you see it as the new yard sign in a way of like, just like in a. You have to have a yard sign. Like, you have to sign. You need to have a listing video.

[Stephen Acree]

Well, there's a couple things here. So that the way I think about it is, you know, when buyers go through, they're first seen in online, right? And so obviously you want to stand out to the buyers for them to see it. But then they're also leaving the house after the showing, and the first thing they're doing is they're basically justifying their decision by going back online and going, is this the right house for us? So for me, it's like it's not just the video, but it's standing out. But then you have to get the video to people. I think that's people's biggest struggle because most people on social just don't get much engagement. Like, one of the videos we just posted only got 380, you know, something of use. And the neck, the one after that was like 2,000 views. So it's like, how do you get that video out to your buyers and out to like the agents and stuff? And I think it's a lot more of like an active approach than just like the video that you're doing for the. For the property. Would you agree with that?

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, I would.

[Marie Boatman]

I mean, one thing that just stood out and I will say, because my coach constantly has to remind me of this because I. It's hard not to get caught up in like the numbers and oh my gosh, this video didn't perform like you just said, that only got 350, 80 views. But, like, if we really step back and think about it, that's 380 eyeballs on a house that otherwise would not have had 300 eyeballs on it. Right. So I still think even. And I think agents get so hung up on that and it's hard not to. When you're looking at other people that are getting, you know, 100,000, you're like, what am I doing wrong? You know, but honestly, like, every market's going to be different. Everyone's fear and who follows them is going to be different. And I think we do have to remember that even 100 extra views is more people than are ever going to walk through that house. So it's really not a bad thing. But I do think. I think he's right. I think it's a, you know, how are you getting it out there? And I think there's. When I did my Tom Ferry Elite Retreat presentation, I shared just some, like, bonus ways to, like, get the video you're shooting out. Because if we're doing video, and obviously there's different types of video, and I'm not talking about the video where your photographer just comes in and shoots video. I'm talking about the video that you're either in or you're really, you know, doing vertical video and talking in it, whatever. But, you know, I think there's different ways you can be creative to get that out. Like he said, you know, if I have a listing in a new neighborhood and it's an area I'm familiar with, I'm texting it to neighbors, I'm DMing it to people I know that live in there. I'm putting it in newsletters. I'm, you know, so I think there's a way QR codes on postcards in the neighborhood so you can find ways to get these videos out. I think even outside of, like, the social channel you're on, how do you.

[Luke Acre]

Think about spending, like, how much you're willing to spend on a video? Because I'm just trying to think of, like, the blockers. For me or other agents, it's like, okay, I got this listing. Do you judge it off the listing price? Do you just do it? This is what we do standard, you know, for our real estate company. Like, how do you judge spend?

[Marie Boatman]

Just for me.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, Sorry. Yep.

[Marie Boatman]

So I do. I try to literally do kind of the same video plan for every home, but it's going to be different for each home. Right. So when I get a new listing signed, you know, I sit down with my videographer once a month. So if we know what's coming, we'll brainstorm. Okay, here's something that's kind of trending outside of real estate. How can we spin this and make this, like, real estate related? Like, a few months back, I did a severance inspired, like, you know, walkthrough video. Months ago, I think it was in January or February. And just like, coming up with Severance.

[Joshua Stike]

The TV show, like.

[Marie Boatman]

Yes. Yeah. So, like, what's trending at the time? Like, we'll sit and we'll think about. Okay, what's in April? Like today, you guys, I'm gonna dress in a bunny costume and I'm gonna do a Easter egg hunt with two kids in one of my listings. And I'm gonna hide the eggs.

[Luke Acre]

Oh, that's super smart.

[Marie Boatman]

I'm gonna hide the eggs in areas I want people to see. Right. So cool features, whatever it is. And I'm going to show up at the end in the Easter Bunny costume. But, you know, so I think it's trying to be creative with the different homes for me. But no matter the home, if it's 200,000, still going to get video. If it's 5 million, still going to get video, it's just going to get different style of video. Right. And I think I tell agents, like, yes, if you're going to do it consistently, consistently, and you have a videographer, it is expensive. But I do think there's a lot you can do with by yourself. Like, we all started somewhere. You know, when I first started doing it, I wasn't spending a ton of money on it. So I think just with how great even just Instagram reels are right now and just cap, cut or, you know, you can do so much. So I think for agents, it's don't get hung up in the early stages of even the spend. I think it's just doing the time is the spend. And that'll come back to you a thousand percent.

[Cody Smith]

Is that video person in house for you?

[Marie Boatman]

That's a really long story. He used to be. He's not now, but I'm still using the same person.

[Luke Acre]

Gotcha. I know, I know the pain of that, of the long story. I opened up stuff like that.

[Marie Boatman]

We need a whole podcast for that and some alcohol.

[Cody Smith]

No one common questions we get is like, hey, when, when is it time to bring that in house?

[Luke Acre]

Right.

[Cody Smith]

When is it time to make questions? So that's why I was kind of gearing towards of like, hey, how'd you make the decision? I guess at first, even though he's not with you, to make that plunge to hire someone on.

[Marie Boatman]

Yeah, mine is not in house right now because I'm using two different media companies. I'm using one to shoot listing photos, everything that goes in MLS, and I'm using another for all the social stuff, YouTube, Instagram, all of that. And that's the person I've worked. I mean, I've actually worked with Both for like 12 years, one, 13 the other. So it's been a long, long journey with both. Yeah. And so for me, it's like, yes, I probably could combine the two and just get one person. And, you know, there's been thoughts of that. It's just. I don't know if I'm quite there yet. I kind of like what I have going on right now. So I'm gonna stick this out for a long time. Obviously, I don't like change. I've used these same people forever, and I feel like if someone's doing a good job, like, I'm going to keep it, keep it going.

[Luke Acre]

Well, you build on chemistry. Like, I think people underestimate. You know, I never realized this because the lifespan of an executive usually, on average, if you Google, is like, really short. 18 months, two years, three years. But the best companies, like, a lot of their executive teams have been together for 15, 20 years. And you go, yeah, we're safe. No, but you go, oh, it makes sense. Because like a basketball team or any, you know, team, you get chemistry, intuition. Working together, just know each other and you kind of know, you know, I'm sure with video and content, you know, the shots, you know, the angles, the things that, you know will work or not work. I'm curious. Like, you look at your social, and I just feel like it's done really well. You know, you are getting great engagement, it looks like when you look at, like, planning out your content. And like today, for instance, or this week, like, how do you think about how often you're posting and you mentioned these buckets. Can you give me, like, Marie's cheat sheet of, hey, if I was coaching a real estate agent to do content today, these are like, the cheat sheet things I would give them.

[Marie Boatman]

Yeah, yeah. You're gonna see a messy look inside my brain right now. So what's gonna happen? It's all over the place. No, I think. I think stepping back first, it's really, you have to identify, like, who you are doing this for. Right? Who are you posting video for? Who's your sphere? Who's your tribe? What are you trying to get out of this? Because I think first you have to know that to know, like, what you're posting. Right? I think it's very easy to get caught up in the whole, oh, my gosh, this agent just did this video, and that's so cool. And like, oh, my gosh, I should do this. And I see those all the time. And then I have to really rein myself back and be like, okay, but that's not me. Like, that's not gonna hit my sphere. They're not gonna get it. Like, if I did Data stuff all day long, every day. I'd probably lose most of my followers just to be real, right? But, but for other agents that works really great. So I think you first of all have to know your purpose, know what you're trying to do. For me, it's staying in front of my sphere, my community, and marketing my listings, right. So if, if a video doesn't line up with any of that, then I'm not gonna do it. Um, so from there it's really like every week can be a little different because if I know I'm going into a week really listing heavy, I'm trying to make sure I'm marketing each listing while also potentially throwing in something funny or something community in between, you know, and then listings that I weeks that I don't have listings, I might still post one or two listing videos of things that have, you know, maybe been sitting a little bit or we got a new video. But then I'm doing a little more heavy community, funny trending, whatever it may be, right. And then I do a series of like design trends as well that I like to mix in. But I try to post like five times a week. Sometimes it's four, sometimes it's six, but within the listing video because that's a whole nother category. And this is a big thing I spoke about at Tom Ferry's Elite retreat was here's what I do at each listing video. So when I'm going to a listing video like today, like I'm doing a speed run, I'm doing an Easter Bunny video, I'm doing a feature video, I'm doing a YouTube video, right? I'm doing a few one line intros that I can use with B roll. So every listing I'm going to have things that I've pulled from my list. And in any given week I'm never going to post three speed runs or three. Here are five reasons I love this home. So I'm kind of mixing like a 5 reason with a speed run with a B roll every week, right? So it's like staying like, you know, not the same. Like I think we people want to see different. They want to see fun, they want to see engaging. So just trying to keep things like a little different. So when I'm planning out the week or the month, I'm like, okay, here are the, here are the non listing videos I know I have coming up. How can I sprinkle in listing videos and make sure I'm not doing like same kind of listing videos back to back? If that makes sense.

[Cody Smith]

I was gonna. Do you schedule out your days? Like, do you schedule, like, a shooting day once a week? Or how do you do that?

[Marie Boatman]

Yeah, like, we typically. So this is what's really been so helpful this year for me is. And we used to do this. My video videographer and I got away from it, like, the last year and a half. And so we brought it back last, probably fall. And it's been like, key is, like, we meet at the end of every month, and we plan out the next month. So last month, end of March, we met. We were like, okay, what's in April? We have Easter. We have the NFL draft. We have. What do we have that we can create content around? And then what listings do I know I have and what, you know, what's kind of coming? And so I'll really try to base everything around that. But that's super helpful to kind of know what the month looks like going forward. If I'm doing small business shoots, like, I'll also try to make sure I sprinkle a couple of those in. And then I. I do still write my own verbiage and. And I post my own things. I don't schedule posts. I want to make sure that when I'm posting them, I am there and I'm engaged and I'm responding to people. And I'm also. If they're listings, I'm shooting those out to people that live in the neighborhood. I'm making sure I'm sharing them. I'm asking my brokerage to share. So I don't schedule anything just because I want. I think those first, like, few minutes are so important for the algorithm.

[Luke Acre]

That's a great idea, asking your brokerage to share, to reshare.

[Marie Boatman]

Oh, they probably are so annoyed with me, but it's like, can you share, please? I mean, Global Berkshire Hathaway likely hates me because every day I'm like, share this, do this, do this.

[Luke Acre]

That's fantastic. I love that you don't use AI at all for your captions or anything, or at least for sparking creativity. That's how I'm using it right now is basically to give me almost, like, ideas.

[Marie Boatman]

Yes, I do the same thing. Like, I'll. I kind of. I just talk to it because I'm way too busy to, like, actually type into it. So I'll just be like, hey, I'm posting this reel today with this. Here's what I want to say. Like, what? You know, is there something you can think of that's better? Or how can you make this better in my voice, you know, and typically I'm changing it anyway, but it's helpful.

[Luke Acre]

I'm insanely impressed. I think it's what you were gonna ask. Cody asked it. It was what was going through my mind, how organized you are and able to keep up with all of it for social. Because I think of you guys, Steve at Acrey Brothers, and it's like your biggest issue is like time and staying on.

[Stephen Acree]

We struggle so hard that we haven't found ourselves.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah.

[Stephen Acree]

She said you gotta know yourself first.

[Luke Acre]

So like Friday definitely have not found yourself, that is for sure. You're still lost. You came on three minutes late. No, the, the thing is though, that is the, that is the pain point for real estate agents is the pain point is like time management, blocking and tackling. And what do I prioritize?

[Stephen Acree]

It's like you said to like, you'll get a listing video and you'll have three or four listing videos that you, you know, have that week. But you're like, I know I can't post these all in a row.

[Luke Acre]

You know what I mean?

[Stephen Acree]

I don't have the content to get out there. It's just like, how do you, you know, how do you go about that?

[Cody Smith]

Yeah, we need the in between content.

[Marie Boatman]

Right now because we really, that's key. And that's what I sprinkle in with community stuff, business stuff. And that fills my bucket of like staying in front of my sphere. And I have a big heart for small businesses, so I went that direction with like, what I'm doing in my free time with shooting. I have a really fun one this week that I'm going to be posting. But like, I love that stuff and, you know, I never expect anything out of those. Those are just me filling a bucket that I love and using my videographer to do that. And when I first started doing it, I never went into it thinking, oh, this is going to turn into like anything. And it honestly has been like a huge piece of my business. Just like even, just the rapport I've built with these business owners and, you know, they know a million agents. I'm never expecting them to refer me. But those relationships have been probably one of the best things I could have ever done. So I think we find, you know, wins and things sometimes that aren't even real estate and that we have a passion for. And that's why I'm like, for somebody else, it could be something completely, completely different. But I think you need to kind of find your thing and do it I did forget to answer. You asked me about video and batching and I think this kind of where that was going with scheduling. So when we do those meetings and we're figuring out what we're going to shoot for the month, we will pre select like three shoot days for the month. And you know, like I have one today, one at the end of the month. The end of the month 1. I was going to do some small business stuff, but now I had to plug it with two listings because there's just no other time for me to shoot. But I'll normally probably shoot like three to four times a month. Sometimes it's twice a week, sometimes it's just once. And then if it's twice a week, the next week I'll have nothing. Like next week I'm going to Rev B. So I don't have any shoots that week. But then I come back and I'm like two the following week. Right. So it's just filling them with listing video. And then I will try. If I'm in a community for that listing, what can I shoot while I'm there? Are there any trending things I can shoot in the house while I'm at that listing that aren't for that listing but that I can like make sure I'm getting as. I mean my whole thing is like, what can I do to get the most I can out of every shoot day, every listing video? Because I mean there's days I don't feel like doing it most a lot of the time. And I, you know, it's hard, it's hard to be on. It's kind of like a full time second job in a way, just with the shooting and the posting and the planning. But I mean it really is worth it. So much of my business last year I never sat down and like actually calculated like how much of my business was tied to Instagram until I had to do it for the Tom Ferry presentation. And I was just like mind blowing. Even if it was like not the main source but the secondary source, I mean it was, it was not quite half my business, but close.

[Cody Smith]

How long did it take you to build that crazy?

[Marie Boatman]

I mean, I have years. I went down a real crazy rabbit hole the other day and went to my very first Instagram post and scrolled all the way back up and watched that evolution. And it was not pretty, but there was. I mean the fun thing is like we were doing some funny stuff before funny stuff was ever, you know, there. So I think it's just be real, be You. I started doing video in 2012ish. But 14 was when I really was like, okay, there's something here. And I started doing listing videos with people in them and highlighting community. And I remember my first one, it took us like 10 hours to shoot. And it was a production, but, like, that kind of gave me a launching pad to be like, okay, like, there's something here. I can do this. Like, you know, and then you were early 2014.

[Luke Acre]

Yeah, you were early.

[Marie Boatman]

I had kids jumping in a pool. I had dogs. You know what I mean? It was like the whole trying to show off the house and this community and. And it's fun to go back and watch, but they've definitely evolved and changed. And I would say I really went all. All in, probably. And like. But somewhere between, like, 2017, 18, 19.

[Luke Acre]

All in, just as so I can understand kind of full context. Obviously, social is massive for you. Are you doing anything else for your sphere? Client events, other things like that that keep you also in front of them?

[Marie Boatman]

Yeah, I mean, I'm sending out magazines.

[Luke Acre]

Luke freaking love. I mean, I didn't want to set it up so easy, but if I put the golf. No.

[Marie Boatman]

No. I would say. I would say, like, I know social media is like a huge part of my business, but it's actually probably client care that is truly, like, where it is and what I've been doing the longest. I mean, I was doing. I've been doing Popeyes forever. I've done every cheesy thing you can ever think.

[Luke Acre]

Did you learn the Popeyes from Brian Buffini or does that come from someone else?

[Marie Boatman]

No, I don't actually know when I just.

[Luke Acre]

I got famous for it. I was just.

[Marie Boatman]

I know I got in the business 2006, and I just started, like, doing them, and they were cheesy as heck. And sometimes they still are. They've evolved, though. But, you know, it's. I do do client events. I do big ones. I do small ones. I, you know, just try to stay in front of my sphere. Like I said, I really do send out the magazines. I, you know, send out newsletters. I've been trying to be better about sending out postcards here and there, but it's just a lot of, like, you know, touches. So I do try to do Popeyes every month. I do a really cool. For my top 50A. This is a whole nother long conversation, but it's basically a box and it's a surprise box. Kind of like if you were to do a subscription box. Right. But I source and Hand select everything. And when I started doing these during.

[Luke Acre]

Like Covid, it's amazing.

[Marie Boatman]

During COVID I, like loved the only thing that really brought me joy were like those fun subscription boxes. It's like, oh, how do you find.

[Luke Acre]

The time to do all this crazy a subscription? And you curate it?

[Marie Boatman]

I curate it, yeah. And I did. I went into with really big goals of doing like once a quarter. And I realized after year one that it was not sustainable. So the second year I did three. The third year I did two. This year I'm going to do one. But I give it out to my top 5060. I've kind of stretched it to 60 a couple of times, but I have custom boxes made. I'll pick like my favorite local things or just what my favorite. Like my last one I did in the beginning of December and it was a mix of like, so I'm from Hawaii, so I picked a couple of fun like, things from Hawaii that like, I wanted to put in there. Some local things, wine, you know, and I deliver those and I do the COVID letter that's like, you know, basically like, here's why I put this in here. Here's why I like it, you know, and thank you for your business and referrals.

[Luke Acre]

So good. I. I wanted to ask you because I had a strong feeling, you know, I've known of. Obviously I knew you were magazine, but I had a strong feeling you did a ton of other stuff because I find with top producers like yourself, they just, their social works insanely well because they also do all the like Popeyes and client events in that subscription box. I mean, it's just amazing. And that's what fuels the social to really work. And I always want to make that clear to people listening because I think if you just try to do social, it's not that it won't work, it's, you know, do that. But it needs the also actual community stuff where you're out and about talking to these people, building relationship with them, and that just makes your social go to new levels.

[Marie Boatman]

I 1000% agree. And I mean, that's what I really saw take off during COVID because I was just sitting there kind of frozen, like, what can I do? And I started doing like local pickup events after school. Like, come get a free cookie from this bakery. It's Mother's day. Sign up. First 50 people get wine and flowers. And I was just setting up tables outside of businesses, like there. But then you combine being in the community with the stuff you're doing on video. And it's kind of the perfect storm. And then if you're hitting your clients with this gifting and these keep in touch things, they're telling everybody about that. So those people are seeing you, you know, here and then they're hearing about you here. And it just kind of, I mean, it's really true. Whatever they say about like, I kind of hate the community mayor thing, but like, you know, it's like if they. People see you everywhere, right? I mean that's really the goal is like if you want to really grow your business and you're not doing it from an expired or a cold calling or whatever. I think, I think it is. There's so much truth to they, they need to see you every. And I think the other thing that I think people forget is like, it's relentless hard work. Right? I mean you, you can't just do one thing and expect it to just go without helping it. Like you have to help it. That's why it's like the posting, you need to be there. You need to. I think it's a huge miss for people. I see people doing great videos, but they're having someone else post it or their auto and then they're not even responding to comments and they're not responding to DMs. And I'm like, social is social media because it's social. Like you need to be there. Like be present, be engaged. Like I. It's. Yeah, yeah, it is time.

[Luke Acre]

So, so well said it is too. Because I think real estate agents, they walk a fine line of, you know, they're not a super respected industry. No offense. Right. It's just not a respected industry. I think you got car salesmen, insurance salespeople. We work with all of them. And it's like the, the battle you face is if you don't build the relationship, your videos will be salesy. If you build the relationship, your videos are helpful and like that is the difference is all in the relationship. But I don't think there's enough agents seeing that or making that connection. They're not connecting that dot of like, no, no, no, no. You can't just do the video because you're the insurance person doing the insurance video. And it's like, it only works if you have the relationship. If you've given back to the community. I think of like, you remind me so much of like just because you guys are so talented on social. Shannon Gillette, and it's like a very, very similar thing of her. She's so involved in her community with. I think it's her purpose movement and all the other stuff that she's doing. And it's that very similar thread of like all the other stuff just works dramatically well because of that.

[Marie Boatman]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Joshua Stike]

Well, Marie, you are a true testament of the hard work and the results that come from it. Before we close out here, thank you so much for coming on the show. Let people know how can connect with you and follow you.

[Marie Boatman]

I mean Instagram, Marie B Realty start there.

[Joshua Stike]

Realty little rhyme there. Steve and Cody, thank you so much for joining us today as well and thank you all for listening. You can dive deeper into this episode. Get the links and the video and the show notes [e-mail] if you enjoyed this episode and want to show your support, head on over to YouTube like this video and subscribe to the Reminder Media YouTube channel. If you want to get hold of me or Luke, you can email [e-mail] and of course you can follow us on social media as well. We are at Stay Paid podcast for this episode of Stay Paid. I'm Joshua Stykey.

[Luke Acre]

Guys, I'm Luke Green. Marie, thank you so much. Really appreciate you coming on a ton of golden nuggets. My action item for the audience listening to this because everybody should be doing video. So I'm just going to act like you're doing video. And like Marie said, you have no excuse. I mean you have cap cut, you have captioned I made an AI twin of myself on caption in like a couple of minutes and realized, oh my gosh, you won't even have to be in the videos anymore. It will just be an AI twin soon. But here's the real golden nugget that you got is your video you need but you got to get your video out there. And if you listen to Marie and I think Steven, you mentioned it too, they will take the video and DM it to the neighbors in that area. I loved Marie saying to her brokerage re share my listing post reshare it. I think that's an incredible action item. Get the actual video out there to people. Get the post out there. Remember the difference between top producers and mediocre producers in every business. Stop producers take action. Take action on that today.