KGCI: Real Estate on Air - How to Build a Six-Figure Referral-Based Real Estate Business with Ali the Agent

Starting point is 00:00:00 I like, first of all, Ian, I like that you say bread and butter, because so many people use the bread and butter as if it's the main meal and it's not. Look, we're not peasants in the medieval era. Like, I'm sorry. Like, no, meat and potatoes is the main portion of the meal. The bread and butter is over here on the side. This is KGCI Real Estate on Air Live. Your weekly deep dive into the strategies, trends, and tools, shaping the real estate industry, from market updates to actionable strategies and exclusive interviews with top agents, we are here to unlock your full potential and help you thrive.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Thousands of agents trust KGCI every week. Now it's your turn. Let's go live. Here's Ian Wheatley. Welcome, welcome. It's Real Estate on Air Live. I'm Ian Wheatley. And today, a tale that underscores the power of social media in this wild world of real estate.

Starting point is 00:00:49 Imagine listing a one-bedroom apartment and deciding to showcase that on TikTok. Sounds pretty standard for 2025, yeah. But here's the twist. This particular video garnered a staggering 250,000 views across TikTok and Instagram, leading to 16 registered bidders for an auction. This property in question was a cozy apartment in Grove Hawthorne. Now, the agent behind this whole innovative marketing strategy, his name's Luke, he had noted that about a third of those inquiries were stemming from social media platforms.

Starting point is 00:01:23 And the cherry on top of it all is that the winning bidder wasn't even actively searching for a new home. when they stumbled upon the viral video just days before the auction. Now, this story isn't about a successful sale. It's a testament to the evolving landscape of real estate marketing. In today's digital age, a well-crafted social media post can turn to standard listing into a viral sensation, attracting attention from potential buyers far and wide. So fellow agents, let this be a reminder.

Starting point is 00:01:52 Embrace that power of social media. Your next buyer might just be one viral video way. If you're looking for what it's going to take to build a real estate brand, we have that all coming up Friday for a weekly Friday focus. Consider a part one of a two-parter one week from Friday. We'll follow that up with building a social media plan that wins. So if you want to build that social media leg of your business and be that brand in your market, that's coming up on our upcoming Friday focuses here on KGCI Real Estate on air. And speaking of leads from far and wide, what if you could become a top producing agent at your brokerage without selling a single home in your own market? Well, coming up on the show today, I'm going to be joined by Allie Garcette, aka Allie the agent on YouTube and Instagram.

Starting point is 00:02:39 She's built a referral-based business that spans the country fueled by social media systems and a military network. Today she shares how she turned outbound referrals into six-figure income stream. The system checklists. It keeps her business airtight and why YouTube changed everything for her. So if you're ready to work smarter, not harder, we got that coming your way about five minutes here on Real Estate on air live. Because if you're feeling like the market's trying to sprint right now and flip-flops, you ain't wrong. Altos research just showed us what your gut already knows. The spring market ain't given a full bloom. Inventories up, buyers are down, prices are confuzzled.

Starting point is 00:03:18 But don't panic. Just pivot. It's time for housing headlines. here on KGCI, Real Estate on Air Live. Yeah, so Altos Research is now forecasting a softer than expected spring market for 2025. Their latest data shows that inventory is up, both in total unsold homes and new listings, compared to this time last year. And that trend lines up pretty well with NAR's recent report about pending home sales being improved,

Starting point is 00:03:44 but sales prices are basically flat year over year. Here's what you as an agent should probably be taken away from this. If your clients have been saying, we've been waiting for prices to drive. they're not alone, but so far, we haven't seen that dip. And that said, economic pressure is building concerns about jobs, tariffs, inflation may start holding some more buyers back. And with inventory continuing to increase with no real signs of mortgage rate relief on the horizon, the market could flirt with light depreciation, very similar to what we saw briefly in the summer of 2023. So now is the time for agents to be managing expectations. Educate buyers on what flat pricing

Starting point is 00:04:21 really means. They may not get a discount, but they'll have more choices and more negotiating power, and that's a win if they're serious. According to some latest data by the National Association Realtors, baby boomers, once again, the largest share of home buyers in America, making a whopping 42% of home sales in the past year. Why? Well, they've got something that younger buyers simply don't have. Housing equity, according to NAR's Deputy Chief Economist. It really has to deal with housing equity. Baby boomers are really the winners in today's housing market. When we talk about that bifurcated housing market, we can see young millennials struggling to get in, really wanting to become first-time home buyers, but baby boomers have housing equity and they're making their moves

Starting point is 00:05:07 in retirement. Dr. Jessica Losh speaking with Yahoo finance there, boomers, they're retiring, moving, and they're paying all cash. Meanwhile, the share of millennial buyers has dropped from 38% to just 29% despite millennials outnumbering baby boomers. So agents, if you're not marketing to boomers, you're missing a massive segment of the market. Cash buyers, downsizers, move-up buyers, relocators, all of it. Taylor, your message, especially on Facebook, to speak to their lifestyle, not just the transaction. And testifying before Congress, the chairman of the National Association of Home Builders sounded an alarm. Regulations are driving up new home prices, making it harder and more expensive for builders to get the job done.

Starting point is 00:05:51 A major pain point? Energy mandates, which the NAHB says could be handled better with incentives instead of hard requirements. According to their data, government regulation now makes up 25% of the cost of a newly built home. So agents, if you're working with those buyers frustrated by new construction prices, this is a great talking point. Educate them on what's behind the sticker shock and help them understand why builders are cautious about overbuilding. especially right now. And that's checking your housing headlines here on real estate on air live. I'm going to be good. KGCI Real Estate on Air.

Starting point is 00:06:31 I'm E. O'Eweeley. And we are joined by Allie Garcette, the host of the Allie, the agent podcast. You can see that on YouTube, as well as the agent goldmine. Allie does that with Shelby Johnson. Both those, you hear them right here on KGCI Real Estate on Air. Allie, thanks for checking in with us today. How's it going? Ian, thanks for the invite.

Starting point is 00:06:51 I'm stoked to be here. This is awesome. This is awesome. I've been looking forward to this for a couple of days now. We're here and we're talking about your personal journey and the success that you found with referrals. And for a lot of agents, and I'm going to include myself in this one, this is as much about me getting notes from you as it is about sharing the insights with the listeners. You hear about referrals, right? I've been, I've done a couple, I've referred out a couple of times.

Starting point is 00:07:19 I've received a couple of referrals. But the concept of building a business around that is something that I just have a hard time. I know a lot of agents have a hard time going. How is that even possible? But you've built an incredible business on referrals. Can you share a little bit first about what your journey was that led you to focus on referrals in the first place? Yeah. And so first I want to clarify the majority of my business is referrals.

Starting point is 00:07:48 and what I mean by referrals is outbound referrals, not inbound. You know, so I do, of course, help buyers and sellers too, but majority of my business, I made, you know, a capped and I've made icon just from outbound referrals. So I know of people look at a buy or sell in other states and other areas that I am not licensed in. So how I got into that was my military background. I spent active duty 10 years. You know, I separated in 2022 as a major in the Air Force.

Starting point is 00:08:18 worked in the office special investigations, working felony level crimes. And I took those skills and now we negotiate deals here and there. But because majority of my like sphere, my people, my network was all over the world. As I was putting some stuff out when I first got licensed in late 2021, the chances of people that were following me looking to also purchase in Tucson, Arizona were very, very slim to none, you know? I mean, I still ended up making icon my first year doing this full time, but that was because of outbound referrals. Majority of people that were following me were not looking to buy or sell in Tucson. They were PCSing from Malmstrom Air Force Base to Pensacola, Florida, from D.C. to Seattle. And it was just like everywhere I knew, like,

Starting point is 00:09:08 majority of the people that I knew were not geo, you know, in my area. So that's how I started. I was like, well, I know of really, really good agents in a lot of Air Force bases. And so why not connect the two? Like I can help my friend that's PCS and 2 DC not get sucked with somebody that doesn't know the VA loan out there. So I specialize in the VA loan and I specialize mainly in Air Force bases because that's my background. But since my business has grown, I have a couple of really, really good referral agents in the Navy and Coast Guard and Army here and there. So there are a couple things I heard right there. So they're number one, you're talking about folks following you.

Starting point is 00:09:50 So there's a social media element, which we'll tackle that in a little bit. There's a social media element. There is the sphere of influence that you have is geographically broad. For maybe an agent that's thinking about, thinking about, what one of the, is there, you were able to leverage both of those, right? So if you're thinking about that lead funnel, you're leveraging both of those. Was the social media the bigger driver? Or did you send an email blast like military dot mill wide to say, hey, by the way, I'm an agent?

Starting point is 00:10:26 How did that get started? Good question. I would say it was, I would say if I were to put a number on it, 75% effort when I first got started on social media. Because that was the fastest way that I could do one to many marketing. And of course, how I ended up sealing the deal or actually connecting the clients to the buyer agent or clients to myself, helping to buy yourself, was then one to one. So as I was walking around base, you know, like, because when I first got started, I was still full-time active duty Air Force.

Starting point is 00:11:04 So I was still physically going into my job twice a week. It was during COVID. And, well, also I worked for myself, so I didn't have to go. It doesn't matter. So the days that I would go on to base and physically work from base, I was telling everyone I knew. Like, hey, by the way, I'm in real estate. So I know that you're PCSing next year, et cetera, et cetera. So that's how the one-on-one in-person conversations would start.

Starting point is 00:11:30 Very, very little did they, like very few times that they end up buying in Tucson. But mainly they had already been in Tucson. They had already purchased in Tucson. They weren't looking to purchase. I would help them sometimes on the sales side. But mainly it was, I want to keep my house, keep it as a rental. And then I also want to purchase on my next duty station. So that was the one on one side.

Starting point is 00:11:52 The one to many was more active. I had more closings from that. And that was posting on my Instagram. And at the time, I had already been active duty for maybe nine years. at the time. And I had lived in eight different stations. I had PCS eight different times. You know, like I lived all over the world. So I had a, you know, a bunch of different people. So I know that this is going to, as I'm talking about outbound referrals, those that will struggle with doing mainly outbound referrals are those that have only lived in one location their entire lives.

Starting point is 00:12:29 So I tried to look when I first got licensed. I was like, I've only been in Tucson for four years. yes, I have purchased in Tucson, but that's, you know, like I have a pretty limited knowledge compared to other real estate agents that are born and raised in Tucson. We had, so I tried, I tried to use what other people would consider my disadvantage as my advantage. You know, how can I play on this? And so I did that pretty much twofold. Like, one was starting a YouTube channel in the eyes of someone else that has also just moved here. You know, here's what I learned. Like, you actually can't do this. You actually could. do this or this you know things that locals wouldn't think of because that's all they know

Starting point is 00:13:10 and then similarly with the outbound referrals it's it's helping people that way if that makes sense i wrote a note to to to stay again uh using youtube as a geofarm if agents aren't doing that that is a great way to get ingratiated into a market and youtube is is the great search engine of our time. I think chat GPT is going to be going to replace Google. But if you're looking for content information, I think I think YouTube is kind of a place to be. We're chatting with Allie Garcette, host of the Allie, the Agent podcast,

Starting point is 00:13:49 and co-host of the Agent Goldmine. Both those are streaming here on KGCI Real Estate on Air, talking about how we can create strong referral networks. You know, Al, you mentioned a little bit about some of what the struggle is going to be for those agents that are kind of starting. from scratch being if they've only lived in one place they don't as they haven't kind of they haven't had they haven't been around um for an agent that's starting from scratch what's the first step that they could put into place to build a reliable that doesn't need to be you know the

Starting point is 00:14:26 the the meat and potatoes of their business but maybe the bread and butter right off to the side here How could they create a reliable referral network? I like it. First of all, Ian, I like that you say bread and butter, because so many people use the bread and butter as if it's the main meal and it's not. Look, we're not peasants in the medieval era. Like, I'm sorry. Like, no, meat and potatoes is the main portion of the meal. The bread and butter is over here on the side.

Starting point is 00:14:55 Yeah. Okay. So for new agents, and I will say I specialize in helping agents that are already making you know, 10 closings a year or around 100K a year. I help them double and triple that. But so I'm trying to think for for newer agents, well, first, I do have this this bundle that I actually just created. I have my outbound referral checklist. It is for sale, though. So if people wanted to hit me up, find me on Allie the Agent, Instagram, or on my YouTube channel, Allie the Agent. I'm more than happy to share that with you.

Starting point is 00:15:32 I it's all checklist like I am you know having spent a decade in the military I like my checklist I know exactly where I'm at with each client what my next step is there is no waking up in the middle of night thinking oh my gosh I forgot to send the buyer broker or oh my gosh we forgot to send the bins or the inspection report you know like there's none of that you just check the box and you know um so that's how I run my business you know it's like very very I don't know just black and white checklist just check the box you feel good me the double the dopamine and rush when you check the box. Here's the thing. A checklist is a great way to not make a mistake. Yeah. Checklist is not a great way to make a mistake. So you're using these checklists. So what would that checklist look like for that agent?

Starting point is 00:16:19 Yeah. So the first thing is for outbound referrals, the first thing is finding a client. You know, like how do you even find someone that needs to purchase in a city that you don't live in? So that's, that just goes back. That's pretty much answered in any. marketing platform. So like anything, like YouTube, how to find clients. I actually just posted

Starting point is 00:16:39 today to post a video on my Allie the agent channel, which I is probably going to be aired maybe next week with KGCI of how to find more buyer and seller clients through your Instagram. And this is for outbound referrals and exactly what to say. So I literally tell you exactly what to say. So overall that's just like lead gen 101. YouTube, it does so, so well for this because people see your personality. And so once you find the client, that's like the first section of that checklist. The second section is how do you find an agent if you don't already have a good one and then define what good is to you, right? So in my case, a lot of my clients or my friends were military or are military. So they are going to be using the VA loan. So

Starting point is 00:17:26 therefore, I need to find an agent that has done at least six closings in the last year with the VA loan, that they know the ins and outs, that they don't fall for the myths. And I don't want to make this like just a military podcast, but there are a lot of misconceptions about the VA loan that a lot of people that are not in a military town, they don't know. So finding the VA, finding an agent is number two of that checklist, part two. Part three is making sure that your follow up on your side and on their side is good, which starts in that initial call, like me, calling, I don't know, Petra, saying, hey, Petra, I see that you are a real estate agent that focuses on the VA loan out in Newport, you know, whatever, Virginia. Just wanted to make sure that you have

Starting point is 00:18:16 done a couple of transactions. Can I ask about your transaction history in 2024? Like, how many closings did you do related to the VA loan? And just kind of getting a sense for them as far as how many closes they actually did, what they, how experience they are with the VA loan, making sure that they just like would be a match for your client and that they're knowledgeable and that you set out of that expectation that you would like for them to communicate with you. Because, Ian, I'll tell you what, there are, I had a post that went viral last month, less than a month ago. They got 1.3 million views.

Starting point is 00:18:50 and from that came almost 50 outbound referrals. And the amount of agents that do not reach out to me and say, hey, I establish contact. Or even worse, they don't say, hey, I haven't been able to get in contact with the client that you referred me. Like, it is not hard to stand out as a real estate agent. So for those that are getting inbound referrals, that referring agent, is trusting you with their reputation and their money. So because the last thing I'd want to do is refer one of my friends to an agent that says that they're good and then drops the ball.

Starting point is 00:19:32 And it happens all of the time. So again, back to the checklist is like establishing those expectations. Hey, can you make sure that if the client goes to you, let me know, you know, just basic, basic stuff. So, yeah. Basic communication there seems key. You know, you need, you know, there's, there's two, you know, new insights here for those that are, you know, just kind of checking in here to KGCI real estate on air. I meet Wheatley chatting with Ali Garcad, aka Ali, the agent on all things social and on YouTube, talking about building referral, outbound referral network, something you can start to build a business on, you know, Allie, there's two lead funnels. I think that's, that's, that's maybe a shock for some agents, right? Because, you know, you go, oh, great, I've got this, I've got this, I've got this lead.

Starting point is 00:20:20 I need to refer it out, then you need to go find that agent and also making sure that you're finding an agent that's going to be competence and communicative. Communicative, I think, is the most operative word there because you can't necessarily gauge competency if the agent on the other side of this is ghosting you half the time after you've referred this for this client out. would that communication be the biggest hurdle in building a business like this? And what may be some are those other common challenges that could come up over the course of having this outbound referral network that an agent could be building? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:21:05 100% communication is the biggest barrier on both ends. You know, like not just the receiving agent. It's also the client too. And that leads me to number two. The second biggest hurdle would be making sure that you're not sending clients too early. You know, like if they're just thinking about it, then, you know, at that point, me, as a receiving agent, I wouldn't want to receive a client that's just just thinking about it. I want somebody that's a little bit more hot. So what I try to do is I warm them up.

Starting point is 00:21:41 You know, I'm the one that's maintaining the relationship and like the checking in every quarter, maybe twice a year for three years, you know, before I'm like, okay, now this person is, has gotten their debt together or debt consolidation, whatever they need to do, you know, to get pre-approved. At this point, now I know that this person is ready. And maybe, maybe it's just because I'm a control freak and I need to be the one that sends someone that's ready to go because I don't trust other agents to also follow up with them for three years. you know, so maybe that's just me being type A, I guess. Actually, even though I consider myself type B, all the tests say I'm type B. But so that's like number, number one is communication. And then number two would be not sending somebody that's really not looking yet. Well, you know, here's the thing.

Starting point is 00:22:32 I mean, you're doing the nurture. And as a, as someone who is received, I've received all kinds of, leads, right? You know, you don't necessarily want to be the guy or gal that's receiving the lead that you have to do all the nurturing for. Like it's what was what was the point of accepting this, right? It becomes a very natural question when you've put in 30 hours of nurture work for them to decide that, oh, by the way, they aren't actually going to buy. It's that's about as useful as a as a paper click lead almost at that point. So no. I think that's just creating a strong network, but also goes back to more likely next time

Starting point is 00:23:18 Ali picks up the phone and says, hey, I have a referral for you. Are you interested? The agents are going to be more receptive to say yes, which is obviously going to be a whole part of this business. Thinking about, you know, some of those other common challenges and some of those other solutions. I mean, how do you handle a referral that turns into like a challenging client and maintaining that relationship with that receiving agent? So like someone that ghosts, you mean? Or define challenging? Someone that's just overly, a client that could be overly difficult.

Starting point is 00:24:01 Because the ghost, the ghosting is the ghosting, right? They're, they ghosted. They're gone, right? But those the clients that turn tricky in spite of your best nurturing effort, they're just they're just a tricky client. How do you manage that with that agent that's received received? Very short, I guess long story short, I move on to the next one. Because there's just not enough time of the day to focus on the, you know, it's just the 80-20 rule. So there are always going to be some clients that say that they want to. buy and then just never do that's just it's it as you know sales numbers game they're always going to be those that say that they will don't actually pull a trigger um in the beginning of my time you know when i

Starting point is 00:24:45 first got licensed i was nurturing and i would love on them and i you know what can i do to make you feel comfortable and there are some people that will never feel comfortable and that's okay i am not the agent for them so and i this this thought was like reinforced after reading the book which I highly recommend every agent read, The Full Fee Agent. And in Chapter 2, it talks about you are either the favorite or the fool. And I never want to be the fool.

Starting point is 00:25:13 The fool meaning as people, as clients, start looking up agents, they already have someone that they know that they're going to choose. They'll interview around just so they tell themselves that they've given themselves an open mind. They don't actually have an open mind. They already know, hey, I heard Ian Wheatley on KGCI.

Starting point is 00:25:31 like i hear he's he's on to shit i already know i want to hire him but just for my own due diligence i'll also interview someone else and so that other someone else gets that call saying hey i'm interviewing agents right off the bat that's a red flag for me um and i got that from the full fee agent you know like if you're calling you either call because you're interviewing agents or it's a come list me call and i at this point in my business i am only going on come list me calls or come help me buy call you know like i called you because i want you not because you not because I'm doing my due diligence. So that's like chapter two, like what goal that book is and the full fee agent. So if you are someone's favorite, which you can easily become a favorite on

Starting point is 00:26:12 social media and YouTube, which I highly recommend YouTube for everyone, is the easiest way I think to become a favorite. You can just say no to everyone else and not be worried about where your next check is coming from because you have so many other clients that know that they want to work with you and you only. That's brilliant advice right there. What is one habit or strategy that has consistently helped you generate the outbound referrals? I have posted a video every single day practically since I got licensed. And so it's going on three and a half years now. In 2023, I posted a real, sometimes even twice a day for the entire year.

Starting point is 00:27:03 you know, like, and I was still, I couldn't still, I couldn't go past the 30 closings a year mark. Like I couldn't break that third. Well, I did one year, but it doesn't matter. Like, I was still trying to like way, like double that, you know, like how am I? So that's what I realize. And I probably should have realized this way earlier. But Instagram, Facebook, real, like, it's all anything that is vertical, it's entertainment, anything that's horizontal is education.

Starting point is 00:27:32 and how you become someone's favorite is when they see you, when they play you on their TV and their living room. And they're not playing Instagram, their living room. They're playing YouTube. So get your butt on YouTube. So once I started getting my butt on YouTube, that's when things started to pick up even more. And I was actually talking to this just earlier an hour ago with someone that joined my community. Because now I have a community of like 85 agents, which is dope.

Starting point is 00:28:00 and someone is also focusing a lot on YouTube. And they're like, well, I wish we could talk to them. You're like, I wish it was a little bit more social in the fact that we could DM each other. And I think that's what I like about YouTube is that you cannot do that. It almost adds that extra layer of formality or like authority in that it, that extra barrier that I can't just find Ian Wheatley on YouTube and just send him a quick message like you can on Instagram. it's it's harder to get a hold of Ian therefore Ian can make his own rules like I do you know like

Starting point is 00:28:34 you cannot the only way to book a call with me or to talk to me is to book a call on my calendar and the only way to do that is watching my YouTube and literally click on the link so therefore there's no quick like hey what do you think of this property and you'll get this like I used to get this all the time people from Google you know or people found your number on Google what do you think about this property I'm like who are you what is this like what city you know like yeah um so there's none of that anymore you just create your own rules when you're on youtube i love it i i like that that there's other people out here that has have found uh value in the vertical found value in the vertical because there is still a lot of value in being a vertical

Starting point is 00:29:14 video there's a you know the big all the marketing people will tell you to to do the shorts and do the reels and and do the horizontal stuff but there is absolutely still value in in being vertical Checking in with Ellie Garcette here on KGCI, Real Estate on air. Allie, you've been dropping some bombs. If there was a single takeaway that an agent could walk away with from this conversation about how they could implement more outbound referrals in their business, what do you think that would be? Ooh, man, I could answer this in a couple of different ways.

Starting point is 00:29:52 I'm going to combine this in two. the first part being it's combine make a combination of one to many marketing and one to one to one you know the one to many is enough for you to start getting higher in the ranks to become somebody's favorite but the one to one is going to be the the thing that seals the deal so put enough content like information valuable information out there where people start seeing you as a thought leader or somebody that's knowledgeable in in whatever space you know it could be USDA it could be farming it could be whatever mine happens to be VA loans um which is all over the country but so is farming you know so is USDA in some parts um whatever you can talk about for hours just go all in on

Starting point is 00:30:41 whether it's soccer moms you know like it could be anything um put almost like real estate is one thing But whatever hobby or subject matter you have a little bit of information on that you know you can talk about and would like to research further, go in on that to do the one to many and then end up with the one to one to one to seal the deal and connect them to an agent. For those that are two, so that's like the first half of that. The second half would be just video. I really think that video does so much better than just market updates. If you wanted to, you could start a YouTube channel that has market updates for all the major cities or whatever cities you want to focus on. And then, of course, be very clear and be like, hey, I don't live in Orlando, Florida,

Starting point is 00:31:34 but I know how to analyze the data. So here you go. As long as you don't kill somebody with just numbers, because that's not what clients want to hear. They don't want to be killed with numbers. want layman's terms. What does the market mean for them as a buyer? So as long as you can just, I don't want to say dumb things down, but the third grade reading level is apparently where we should be speaking to. And that's where people are coming down and like realizing, hey,

Starting point is 00:31:56 maybe I shouldn't talk like a doctor if I'm trying to get clients because they don't understand me. So just being yourself overall on video and then just thinking about the one to many and one to one. And if you want my checklist, I started a school channel for that as well. Ellie Garcette, finder at Allie the Agent on YouTube and Instagram. You can hear her, Allie the Agent podcast right here on KGCI, Real Estate on Air. Be sure to join her and Shelby Johnson for their Agent Goldmine podcast streaming here as well on KGCI, Real Estate on air. Hoping you were taking some notes, but if you weren't, I'm not going to shame you. Here are my top five takeaways from my conversation with Ali Garcette heard here on Real Estate on Air Live.

Starting point is 00:32:35 Number one, you can build a high volume business without local buyers or sellers. Ellie became what she's an EXP realty agent, what they call an icon agent, almost entirely through outbound referrals, not with traditional transactions. So she leveraged her national military network and sent clients to trusted agents across the U.S., collecting the referral income from states where she wasn't even licensed in. So agents, keep in mind, your network does not need to live where you do. Focus on a niche and connect people with agents that you trust. Number two, use one to many marketing to create demand, then close one-to-one. Allie built awareness and interest using Instagram and YouTube while still working full-time in the military. When people reached out to her, she transitioned to one-to-one connection to close and refer them.

Starting point is 00:33:28 So agents, create consistent content to position yourself as the expert, but don't skip that personal follow-up that seals the deal. three use systems and checklists to stay sharp and scalable. Allie's military background shaped how she runs her real estate business. Everything is checklist based. Everything is tracked. She tracks the referral stages, sets expectations with the receiving agents, and follows up diligently. So agents, if you want consistent income from referrals, treat them like a transaction, track everything, communicate clearly, and follow through. Number four, YouTube builds authority, and authority attracts ready clients. After posting daily reels for over a year, Allie realized that YouTube was the game changer for her.

Starting point is 00:34:20 Why? Well, horizontal video is education, while vertical is entertainment. YouTube brought her more qualified leads and greater control over her time. So agents, if you're serious about scaling, get serious about YouTube. It does create a deeper connection and it does filter out for more serious leads. And number five, be the favorite. Don't bother competing. Allie lives by that favorite or fool principle. You heard that come through a couple of times in that conversation.

Starting point is 00:34:50 So either the client already knows that they want to work with you because of your persistence, your personality, your proof, your perspective, or you're just feeling. a quota for an interview. So agents, social media isn't just about reach. It's about pre-selling. Show up as the agent that people want before they start shopping around. And if you need help with that last one, I know how I can help. This week's Friday focus, it's all about building a brand. What is a brand? What makes it effective? And how can you do it? It's all covered in six straight hours of content featuring Allie Garcette, Shelby Johnson, Amberjoy, and even Holly kitchens who will be giving you the step by step that's all coming up friday here on k gci real estate on air all righty time for our favorite segments here on real estate on air live it's

Starting point is 00:35:37 time for real estate confessions this is where we give you the hilarious cringe worthy and totally real moments that really only happen when you work in real estate these stories come from agents just like you and yes you will stay totally anonymous so if you've got a story that made you laugh sweater second guess the career we will want to hear it, DM us on Facebook and Instagram, or you can email me at info at real estate onair.com, and we'll feature your story in next week's show. Because let's be honest, this business, it's chaotic, and you're not the only one out there faking confidence in praying the key actually fits in that lock. But before we get started, we need to get one thing straight.

Starting point is 00:36:17 Real estate confessions features stories from the wild world of real estate. Names and details may have been changed to protect the innocent, and occasionally the not-so-we. innocent. All confessions are shared in good humor and do not reflect the opinions of KGCI real estate on air, its hosts, or affiliates. No agent's licenses were harmed in the making of this segment. Enjoy responsibly. All right. You're covered. It's time for real estate confessions because in real estate, truth is stranger than fiction. I once turned on a ceiling fan during a showing and sent three decorative paper lanterns flying, like low-budget UFOs.

Starting point is 00:37:03 I still apologize to the listing agent, like I broke a Picasso. Showed up to a listing and confidently opened what I thought was a front door. It was a neighbor's garage. We made eye contact. I backed away like Homer into the hedge. I once brought the wrong client to the right showing.

Starting point is 00:37:24 They got halfway through the house tour before saying, This is really nice. But I'm not pre-approved. yet. And that's how I invented Speed Prequel Thursday. Did a virtual tour from a vacant listing. Didn't realize I was standing directly in front of a mirrored wall. Yes, I was wearing gym shorts. No, I didn't notice until the client did. Uploaded my new listing, accidentally included a photo of my dog, lying on the staging bed. The caption, Spacious Primary Suite. My phone blew up

Starting point is 00:38:01 with comments like, is the dog included? Wacky, wonky, totally cringeworthy. If you have a real estate confession, send us a message on Facebook and Instagram and be sure to follow KGCI, Real Estate on Air. That's a wrap on this week's Real Estate on Air live. Big thanks to Allie, the agent on Instagram and YouTube for sharing her checklists and systems that built a massive referral business. You can do it too.

Starting point is 00:38:27 And don't forget that we are all about what is a real estate brand this week for our weekly Friday focus. That's coming up Friday here on KGCI, Real Estate on Air. I'm Ian Wheatley. This is Real Estate on Air live. Be good.

KGCI: Real Estate on Air - How to Build a Six-Figure Referral-Based Real Estate Business with Ali the Agent

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