What exactly do real estate agents and brokers sell? It sounds like a simple question. But the truth is actually a lot more complicated. Just ask Leighton Dees. He’s the CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Generations in Alabama. For Leighton, real estate isn’t about selling homes: it’s about selling yourself. Your process, your personality, the special sauce that makes your clients’ experiences amazing.

Leighton knows a thing or two about success in this business. He’s been in the top 15 percent of Better Homes agents for three years running, and his company was named Most Innovative Real Estate Brokerage by Inman News in 2014.

In this interview, Leighton tells us why the best real estate companies spend so much time thinking about culture, and explains how strong systems built on experience can protect your business when things don’t go according to plan.

The Business Of You With Leighton Dees

Insights from the most brilliant minds in real estate.

The Marketing Genius Podcast takes you behind the scenes with the most brilliant minds in real estate to uncover the latest digital marketing tools and strategies for your online arsenal. Together with the leading real estate brokers, technologists, executives, and coaches behind today’s most exciting brands, host Seth Price (marketing strategist, keynote speaker, host of “The Craft of Marketing”) explore what it takes to generate leads, manage relationships, create great content, and build a winning brand on the web.

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What are the responsibilities of a real estate professional? These days, the answer isn’t so simple. From designing websites and logos, to blogging and social media, to managing all kinds of software, today’s real estate pros have a wider range of tasks than ever before. Sometimes, with all that extra work, agents lose sight of their most important priority: to grow their business.

But Vija Williams has her eye on the prize. For Vija, the devil isn’t in the details: it’s in the big picture, with every transaction, every interaction, measured against a clear, long-term vision of success. As a real estate coach and leader to an award-winning team, Vija has helped dozens of agents build a more methodical, more thoughtful business.

In this far-reaching interview, Vija Williams offers her tips for building a clear, confident real estate brand, and explains why long-term planning is the best way to achieve short-term success.

The Long Game with Vija Williams

When asked why they don’t use content marketing to promote their businesses, real estate agents have all kinds of explanations. They say they’re too busy, or they tried it and it didn’t work, or their market is too competitive. But Katrina Benton is here to debunk all these excuses, and then some.
 
A lifelong resident of Anchorage, Alaska, Katrina comes from a long line of real estate professionals. But unlike her father and grandfather, Katrina has invested heavily in digital marketing. That investment has helped her build a sustainable year-round practice in a highly seasonal market. Now, Katrina is taking her show on the road, helping agents in Texas, California, and Colorado use her content and tools to grow their own businesses.
 
In this interview, Katrina Benton describes how agents can turn their content and tools into a full-fledged marketing system, and explains why being busy isn’t the same as being successful.

A System for Success with Katrina Benton

Real estate agents face a unique challenge in deciding where to hang out their shingle. Do you join a franchise for the brand recognition and resources? Do you opt for an indie brokerage with more flexibility and local authority? Or do you strike out on your own and start a new business? As it happens, Lindsay Reishman has done all three.

Lindsay has worn a lot of hats in the real estate business. After years of working closely with consumers, first as an agent, then as a broker-owner, Lindsay sold his company to Compass, stepping out of day-to-day operations and into a management role. Today, he’s back in the saddle with a new sales team and a renewed focus on helping agents provide better service to their clients. 

In this interview, Lindsay Reishman discusses the process of reinventing his brand for a new venture, and offers up some words of caution and advice for brand new agents.

Starting Over with Lindsay Reishman

When it comes to advising new or aspiring agents, there are two persistent myths. Some folks say you can start earning right away in real estate. Others tell rookie it’ll be months before they make their first deal. But for Melissa Boucher, the first six months weren’t for making money: they were for learning.

A year ago, Melissa left her first career as an oncology nurse in Seattle to become a full-time real estate agent. Instead of taking on clients right away, Melissa decided to spend time seeking out mentors and learning everything she could about her new trade. Not long ago, that decision paid off in a big way when Melissa landed a sprawling 99-acre listing in the San Juan Islands worth twenty million dollars.

In this interview, first-year agent Melissa Boucher takes us through her journey to 20 million, and explains why open houses can be an untapped resource for connecting with sellers.

The Road to $20 Million with Melissa Boucher

Real estate is built on personal branding. Whether you work for a major franchise or an indie brokerage, your first responsibility as an agent is growing your own list of clients and prospects. And with all that branding comes ego. It’s everywhere, from bus stop ads to websites and everywhere in between. 

Some would argue that ego is an asset—project confidence, they say, and your audience will take notice. But for Pat Hiban, ego has a way of coming back to haunt you.

Pat should have something of an ego himself: he’s one of a few agents to have sold over a billion dollars worth of homes over the course of his career. But in an industry as speculative as real estate, Pat preaches the value of being conservative, as well as building strong systems behind the scenes to capitalize on every opportunity, no matter how small.

In this interview, Pat Hiban reveals the potential costs of ego in real estate, and explains how an ego-killing decisions like price reductions can actually make your business stronger.

The Business Of You With Leighton Dees

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