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Let's talk about building the right newsletter, the structure for it. I have right now five newsletters that I'm running. The one that has the most amount of people on it, it's about 300,000, right? Obviously, I run lab coat agents. That's our big one. Then I've got another one that's a little smaller, 120,000. It's my a brilliant tribe one, used to be a little larger, and then from there we scaled down. My smallest one that I have right now is 3,000. Everyone is opt in over the last 12 years. Of course, I want you to build newsletters because our newsletter for the consumer directly is 80,000 people that have opted in locally to where I live, Los Angeles, Ventura county, or maybe they moved, but they're still in the newsletter that I sent out. So I want you to build this because this is how you connect with people. People come back. You can reroute them to socials, you can. You can engage with them deeper, because when they get emails and they choose to open them, they are actually fully engaged. Newsletters are probably the secret weapon that you've been missing. Maybe, you know, you needed it. But let's go through this. I think I've got eight or nine steps here for you. Building out the newsletter for 2026 for you. I'm Tristan. This is your daily real estate. It's a podcast. It's a show. Five minutes, maybe a little more sometimes maybe a little less. Today I want to go over this. If you need this, this is episode 727. Just message me on Instagram. If you're watching it on Instagram, just say 727 and I'll send it over. Well, don't say it. Write it. Type it in 7:27. And I'll send this over to you. Number one, you need a warm opening that feels personal. I do this with my Brilliant Tribe newsletter, and I do this, and it has a 66% open ratio. Then I do this with my real estate prospecting newsletter, which is a little smaller, not 120,000. It's got 3,000 people in it. And that one also, that one has a 70% open ratio. And that gets really personal. With a warm opening means, hey, I was doing this this past week. Hey, I was talking to this person. All real situations. So I have to take time to build that out. Right. Number two, community spotlight. People love to feel rooted in where they live. Highlight something from the community each month. Now, out of the things that I'm telling you, you don't have to do all of them. I would say pick three, cycle through three of these and then use them. I like the warm connection at the beginning. Hey, I was doing this this weekend and I thought of this. Hey, I was doing this this week and I thought you could learn from this. But number two is Community Spotlight. What's happening in your community? Like our, our neighbors love to know what's happening, whether it's an event. Like we just had the Christmas lighting last week and it was a big deal. We had a massive, massive turnout and some people still didn't even know that that happened here. So things like that, what's happening in the community? Or spotlight, maybe the brand new listing in the area or something that's sold. Which kind of takes me into the next one. Market snapshot written in plain language. This one does very well for me. When I send this out to my 80,000 people from my database, the newsletter, I get a really good response back from the natural language that I use from, hey, the market's here. If you're in this area, watch out for this. If you're in this, this is what's happening. Easy. I think we overcomplicate the market snapshot and we try to sound really smart or maybe if we get it from or extract it from ChatGPT, we don't dumb it down. I would challenge you to put natural language and also in sixth grade language. That's what I would do next. Short educational tip. When it comes to an educational tip, if I'm sending out to the consumer directly, it's usually, hey, I just finished reading this book. What are you reading? Right? Or like we built out some newsletters for different clients. One of the clients is a lender that does very well up north and we just let people know what's happening in the mortgage world and explain certain things. Like what was it two weeks ago we had that 50 year mortgage. We went down and showed what a 50 year mortgage would look like with assumptions on what the mortgage rate would be and we showed the whole thing. I think that's educational and it's also trending, so it works. Next we got your current project or behind the scenes, people love to know what you're doing. People are naturally nosy, so why don't you give them a glimpse into your world? Hey, this week I was doing this. Hey, this week my family and I did this. I know a few agents that do this very well and showcase kind of like the back end of their life. Go ahead, throw that if that's you Again, I don't do this enough and I may do it here or there on Instagram stories, but not on newsletters for me. But if you're one for this one, do it next. One Featured property or client story. We're starting to do this with our brokerage Y Realty where we're showcasing one of our agents. Right that story so people get to know them. Featured property One of my friends, Tim. No, no, Jason Ferris up north in Fresno, he has a newsletter called Fres. Yes. Instead of Fresno. And he showcases a listing at the bottom and it's a featured property and he, he can do it for different clients or people or. And that one people love like that showcasing of that property does very well for him. Next community call to action. So we can have people do. Here's a here examples. Join a Facebook community group. Support a local business. Vote on next month's topic. Attend a small event that you're hosting. Just participate in this. I think sometimes we forget that call to actions are important. And if this newsletter is going out to your specific community, invite them to things. Invite them to get and work closer together, close with sincerity. And I do this very well on almost all of our newsletters. There are some that are just more business oriented. Right. But what I mean is thank them for being part of your world. I'm reading this so I don't miss anything. Tie back to your values, community service, connection, whatever it is. Right. And keep it warm and human. I think that's the part that we sometimes miss. Keeping things a little bit more human. There's a separation in thinking, well, I want to only be business. I want to be less human. I can't be both. Listen, people connect with you when you're just a lot more human, sincere, authentic, treat me like you know me, treat me like we're friends and then educate me at the same time. Anyway, that's the list. This is episode 727. If you need this, I've got these whole things itemized. I should have put numbers on them, but I didn't put numbers on them. But if you need it, message me. Have an awesome day.
Date: March 20, 2026
Host: Tristan Ahumada
In this concise and highly actionable episode, Tristan Ahumada breaks down his proven strategies for transforming a “boring” real estate newsletter into an engaging, community-driven tool that actually delivers value and connection. Drawing from his experience running multiple newsletters—with subscriber counts ranging from 3,000 to 300,000—Tristan lays out a step-by-step structure for agents, teams, and brokers to boost open rates, foster loyalty, and generate real interactions. The focus is on making newsletters personal, relevant, and authentic, driving home the idea that newsletters are the “secret weapon” many agents are missing.
On Newsletter Power:
“Newsletters are probably the secret weapon that you’ve been missing. Maybe, you know, you needed it.” (Tristan, 01:10)
On Personalization:
“You need a warm opening that feels personal. I do this with my Brilliant Tribe newsletter, and it has a 66% open ratio.” (Tristan, 01:35)
On Simplicity:
“I would challenge you to put natural language and also in sixth-grade language. That's what I would do next.” (Tristan, 02:55)
On Educational Value:
“We went down and showed what a 50-year mortgage would look like with assumptions on what the mortgage rate would be and we showed the whole thing. I think that’s educational and it's also trending, so it works.” (Tristan, 03:25)
On Human Connection:
“Listen, people connect with you when you’re just a lot more human, sincere, authentic, treat me like you know me, treat me like we’re friends and then educate me at the same time.” (Tristan, 06:10)
Tristan maintains an energetic, straightforward, and encouraging tone, emphasizing authenticity and real-world examples over rigid templates or jargon. The entire episode is packed with relatable anecdotes, clear advice, and encouragement to experiment with and own your personal style.
If your newsletter isn’t driving engagement, Tristan recommends revamping it with personal stories, genuine local content, clear educational value, regular calls to action, and—above all—humanity and authenticity. Newsletter success isn’t about frequency or flash, but about connection and consistency. Use these steps as a practical checklist, cycle through a few each issue, and never underestimate the power of a thoughtful email in today’s real estate world.