Welcome to the luxury code, where we decode the mindset, the marketing and the business approach of successful luxury brokers welcome to the luxury code. Today i've got the world famous ben block in the house, hello. What's up man hey? How are you dude? I am so excited. You're here and, of course, your former coach, why is he here? I went, he was not on the calendar, invite you know, i'm so sorry i'm so he was here.

I just threw him in. What's up coach, i like that this is a new tom ferry show. This is where we pit you with your old coach and then your coach will now complain to you exactly. Let me tell you all the things about ben that drove me nuts and the why i kicked him out of my schedule.

Okay, in all seriousness, we have uh. We've got an iconic person here on the show, we're talking luxury real estate, we're talking specifically maybe southern california. Now that you're also kind of in the desert. It sounds like yeah, but for the people that don't know ben who you are give them just a little back story.

What did you do before real estate? Why did you get in and why luxury versus anything else, um? Well, i'm known to be a grinder uh reason, for that is because i grew up in philadelphia and i moved to los angeles to be an actor after i graduated school and um. I got to a point where i was just like. I could not wait tables anymore and literally, someone said hey, you would be good at real estate and i was at that moment. I was like anything to get out of this place.

Yes, yes, so what year was that that was in like 2010? I think. Okay, yeah 2011 or so, and then i started asking around and someone said, the company doesn't matter, be heat seeking to a mentor, yes found my mentor and then my mentor was. I basically rode his coattails from keller williams, where he was for five years. I had been there for nine months, he's like i'm going to telus, which ultimately was purchased by douglas element.

He was like you should come with me. I think i said hey you burst me into this. I go where you go yeah exactly so he we were there for two years to like almost the day and then we went to the agency because he wanted to continue selling more things. I was there for nine months with him and then the rest is now history.

I've been at the agency now, i think, for like seven years, but so would you say solo or mentor kind of team? How did that work? It's an important distinction for somebody. That's new and listening, because this is how all the greats got there you know what's funny is when i meet younger people in the business that want mentorship, they kind of want it all they want mentorship, they want salary, they want benefits, handling leads for three and A half years i was on no salary of any kind with this man and i basically said i want to be on every call and i want to be. I want to run your business so at the very end he gave me, which now retroactively um. I probably could have used chris voss's book at the time sure, maybe like a simple mirror and label yeah.

Get me a few more points. Yes, what i hear you saying is you're bugging me, but basically, at the end um i said uh i launched every listing. Yes and i ran every escrow and um, i did that even longer than even some of his clients, they were saying like you should be out on your own. They were saying it to me um, but i did it because i wanted to hit the ground running and also my company at the time was only 60 agents and you couldn't be there sure um.

So i wanted them to. Let me stay and um so yeah. That's basically it i guess to answer your question more succinctly is i just wanted to crush and i was willing to do it for free right now. There are some like ben belak stories about calling expireds like getting started.

Like we talk about it even today, i did it today with a live show where i said the guy's like well. What what other ways can we get listings, and i literally said: if you're in the high end, there's actually expired listings and i strongly recommend you go out to them. If you have the right strategy, the right approach, the right brand, the right track record. You know all those things matter yeah, but i don't think you had any of those when you got started.

Calling expireds unpacked forest expires for the person. That's listening, i mean i first started door knocking when i was with the mentor, and i realized that my sphere of influence was full of uh people working in hospitality who could not afford to buy in los angeles and weren't homeowners, right and starving actors. So none of i i turned in one day and i said, look i think it's knock or die and he was like. I don't know what you mean.

I'm like. I have to do a knocker, i'm going to die. Dude like yes, i got ta go meet. I got ta go meet people because my spirit: how do you not get this? Yes, um? What's the old line like you, you can pick the doors you knock, but you can't necessarily pick your sphere they're already there i like that yeah.

So so, basically, what happened for me was around 2018 and this is gon na sound super bougie, but i'm gon na run with it. I was like i'm tired of selling houses at a million and a half two million bucks. I think that's an important distinction. That's an iconic, that's no! I think it's an iconic move.

Why is jason here um, so basically um he's your voice of reason. By the way. Please continue, because if you don't, i i'll i'll go off a bougie mountaintop that won't be good, um, okay, um. Okay, no, but so what happened was i got to a point where i said i want to sell things that are north of 10 million dollars, so what i realized was because my soi was, i did not have the benefits of nepotism, like someone's father being in The business or just growing up there sure yeah.

I went to the right school, you know everybody got ta, yeah or just being from l.a right um. I realized that my inn would be expired, because i knew that i could. At least i believed that i could convince the sellers that or no that we would both agree on. One principle thing was that the last agent didn't do a good job right.

So if i could navigate the gauntlet of the calls, if you could get the seller to say that's right, yes, if you can get them to say that that's right and um phil jones 101 right there! Well, it's funny too, because now my team - and i like we - we've been on like this six week - role, play thing where um, i'm they kind of, say what they like the person. That's that's the agent in the role play says what they what they wish. They had done better and then as the trainer. I expand on ideas, and i tell them like you're gon na feel it in this moment of the calls when the the homeowner's asking you to close them right.

So we we we've kind of like flow charted. It out in a way which now we're in the process of mapping out top to bottom, so they can have it on their wall um. But for me i just felt like it and if it was a 25 35 like massive listing, i could just tap the shoulder of someone at my company split it and then next time i don't need them okay, but back up, though, how did you were you Coaching at this point, no not back then okay, we started in 2012, okay, 2020.. Okay, so so how did you even get a 25 million dollar seller on the phone, or did you? What was your tax? I did to get it to get them well.

Actually, i got one for 8 million that had been with other agents like one that's currently on television and then um. I sold that in two weeks, one that's currently on yeah they're brothers um. They they couldn't sell it. I sold it in two weeks and then i got another one where um uh, that was 10, i mean it was.

It was several and how how vulcan, seven, okay and and just smiling and dialing. So i got and occasionally they answer the phone. No, no! No. Actually, if you buy the right data and there's lots of data sources, um they're gon na answer, they're gon na answer, if you put in the time they're gon na answer and um i mean, did i smile? No, i i role played like a crazy person.

I learned and then what happened was - and this is what i see my team doing in the six week - role play thing that we're doing is sure. After a while, you stop role playing you stop being like ring ring, hey it's so, and so you just drill the objection and the objection, because at the end of the day, there's really only like 10 objections and then your improv, mirroring and labeling is what gets You the appointment. Yes, so so, let's talk about the 10 objections, so you know uh we're going to list the same agent uh. You know we're going to take it off the market like how do you handle just those two basic ones, the two obvious ones? Well, i i always i tell my team and i'll tell everyone who's.

Listening before i get to my scripts. Everyone just like yeah, you're, right, yeah, well, yeah is when in doubt mirror yes, if the call's fast mirror your goal is to slow the call down. If you can slow it down, then you get a chance so um my um. My team mirrored me today when they were saying like good luck today, talking with tom, they were like.

What time are you going? I said one. He goes one o'clock and i was like yeah one o'clock. I started explaining one o'clock i need to get there. I got an uber, it's close.

I have to check out this whole thing. So, what's funny is that when the other person is explaining they're losing, i feel right. So, if they're explaining you're driving the call, so the less you talk, so i'm always like mirror, mirror jab, mirror label jab. So to answer your question: um we're just going to take it off the market.

This is uh from tom. Toole. Yeah totally makes sense that you're going to take it off the market after something doesn't sell for six months. You're gon na regroup, re-game plan.

But can i just ask you one quick question: what is your mindset taking your house off the market in what might be the best sellers market los angeles has ever seen. Well, we just thought it didn't work and we felt we staged it properly. We thought we did all the right things, but for whatever reason we had an offer early, but it was just totally unacceptable. So you did all the right things we felt we did and you you staged it, we staged it and we, you know we we like did some light painting some like cleanup as the agent recommended, and i felt i felt it was really show ready.

Um. We got an offer that was totally unacceptable and then it just kind of died so again mirror mirror, mirror jeff mays. I totally hear you and i agree with you, but i'm looking at the listing right now on zillow and i see some glaring marketing gaps. This is such a good one such a good.

I hope everyone wrote that down. I'm look give it to me again. I just say like i'm, looking at the listing right here on zillow, and i see some glaring marketing gaps and what i mean specifically by that is, we are in a battle of attention. Buyers are swiping through homes, with attention deficit, disorder on zillow, redfin and trulia.

With the same attention, uh deficit disorder that they're swiping through partners on match.com and if we don't emotionally captivate them, sorry, that's the one seller. You got the one single person in the room's giggling over here. Yes, but that's what that's what the seller! They usually laugh. There too, yeah - and i say if we don't emotionally captivate them and what i mean by that specifically, is if we don't show them at first contact how their life is going to improve by buying this house at this location, they're just gon na keep swiping, and That's the difference so by example, i'm seeing your beautiful pool as photo 36 they're out by photo four right.

So these small nuances are the differences between getting a house sold and pushing on the barriers of the local neighborhood record, and you and your last agent scratching your head and saying i'm just gon na. Take it off the market. So can i come by thursday or two or friday? I know i love it, so so someone listening right now, who you've seen probably the same thing i see ben i i want to get in the luxury market but like those sellers are different. Those buyers are different.

What say you they're not really different, and i've heard one of my friends and colleagues on this show talk about how they're different and, like you got to have the market knowledge and all that. But then how do you explain? Artie tavangarian, who is the best developer, in los angeles, all of the major sales um on sarban and the palisades. All these things for, like massive numbers, he's just hiring the company that has put his daughter that, where his daughter hangs a license right, so what i would say is um. Yes, you have to know your market um, but i would say that it's more important to be known first and then liked.

Second, the rest: you can rely on those people in your office, those affiliations right in those meetings, so i used to say to people and i still do like uh prospecting. You know i preach so much prospecting but that i think in the world we're in now uh, particularly while we're all getting pings so much on the phone etc. Is that you really got ta focus on being known? I you and i are like it's it's market. First prospecting: second market: first, you know who i am speaking of marketing.

You know the gentleman to our right here or your left yeah mark it first and then you follow up with phone calls and they're like oh. I know you it's just much like it's much easier, it's much easier coming when someone's friend refers, you or you're doing some client appreciation event, and someone brings a friend right. It's it is easier and as as much as i like to tell my you know, my belt of uh expired role play champion from summit 2016. right.

I think i still have that um and and as much as i think that is an art. I do think that making is just really loving on your soi is going to get you in the room and then you can bring in a closer right right. I wanted you to talk about the expired specifically because so many people that i talked to like okay, i want to get in like how do i do it? I'm like okay, you can take your database, you can scrub it against google maps and you can see who do i already know right like i can get there that way. Just through relationships i'm like or you could buy leads in that marketplace.

That's another option. We've seen a lot of people do that, certainly over the last you know seven to ten years, but the other ways i'm like expired. So you just you touched on it and went there and i loved it, because i think somebody needed to hear that. As a reminder to be gritty right, right, you'd be willing to do the work, it is a grind.

It is, i mean we started in our office um, one of our president billy rose started recently. This um thing like real estate stories in our office meeting and um. I told a crazy story recently, which i'm not going to go into here, but the thing is is like this person would not hire me no matter what and i wanted this listing more than anything and in the middle of a meeting that was about to start In the rain - and you don't go anywhere in the rain in socal, everyone thinks it's like a blizzard panic. I literally drove all the way up to malibu to get this very meaningful gift to this woman and she was chinese so, like i handed it over in a red box with my hands like this in the pouring rain, i mean you got ta grind.

If you wan na rise, otherwise you know you can be one of those agents who i talk to when i recruit and they're like i've, been in the business for 30 years, and i've done six hundred thousand in volume this year and i'm like cool word. It's six hundred thousand, you know, and but you will respect me because i've been doing this for 30 years for 30 years, you're like uh. Yes, yes, so if you want to see painful death, there are agents. I think that want to just make money.

Yes and that's fine, that's all good, but if you want to rise you're going to have to grind you just have to pick your grind right. Choose your heart! Baby! Choose your choose your heart! Exactly! You just said that recently yeah! So, let's, let's talk about iconic moves, the the thing that i know you. We know many of the same. You know luxury agents.

Here i mean i clients and shitty. You know the top agents in munich. They all they all did something in their career that they were. Like.

I don't know, this is gon na work and then they look back three or four years later and they're like yeah. That was me. I did that right, okay, that was the beginning, and i i can think of a couple of yours, but i'm curious for you. If i said you what have been the iconic moves that got you more well-known, a better brand.

You know more people talking about you being on the consideration set for more mega listings. Uh one was coaching. I appreciate that shameless self-promotion. Here's 25! Thank you! Yes, uh! No, no, actually uh, but what? What? Okay? So that's? Why that? But what was it uh? You know what an ex-girlfriend of mine was like: you should go to summit and i'll go with you.

Oh yeah love it and we came - and i was like, oh my god, i'm doing this all wrong. Really! Yes, specifically because i was like you know what i'm one of those agents and by the way, even at the agency in beverly hills, i see a few people who do this. They grind ground grind, they get under a contract, they don't delegate and then, as they approach false contingency removal as we call it in california, they start wigging out where's my pipeline, nothing else where's. My next deal coming in the name of it: poor, rich poor, rich poor rich.

So i was like i'm doing this wrong. I need a full pipeline, so coaching helped me with that and why i still coach today love it um. The other thing was making a serious dedication to loving on my sphere, which means a couple: random gifts per year, yeah and now we're getting back to these um. These client appreciation events, and what i realized was was that the venue was more important than what was going on there so now, just because of the type of city i live in, we're trying to do it at places like soho house um, san vicente bungalows.

If we can get a room, because people will that can't normally it's an iconic experience exactly and if they can't get in i'll, get them in. Basically, so that we're working on that and then of course, making a very um uh, unrelenting commitment to working the phones to grow the sphere, larger, yes and then, of course, my youtube stuff and then lastly, building a team. So five iconic moves right, the the acknowledgement that potentially there's a better way right. You can build a reputable and scalable business coaching pipeline.

All that stuff number. Two, though, was you said loving on your sphere, and you started by saying a couple of gifts. So did you read the book giftology? Did you hear the interview i did with the author or did was that just innately, something you were already um give to get you know, give to receive or surprise. To be honest, i didn't read a book on it um because i was like i i don't need to read a book.

I was going to give some gifts yeah. I get that so i would just start like. I was like i'm going to send a candle out and then i started sending like those things that you you know you touch your phone to and then it gives you a business card but that my logo on it yeah um. I don't remember where i don't.

You know what it may have been from a colleague, i don't i'm not sure, but i just felt it was a way to stay in touch and to say i'm thinking about you in in 2018. I think i had glenda baker on stage and she talked about you know, 17 days before closing. A box of cupcakes would show up with a countdown 1 through 17., and i was like: oh that's, beautiful, right like it's, it's it's you remember it right. You hope that it closes on time because otherwise, here's an extra cupcake just in case right - here's, the contingency, cupcake, exactly here's the 2500 to you from the lender, cupcake um.

Sorry, we are real estate. Nerds right! Does that sound funny to anyone else? Yes, dot: com? Okay, so so a little giftology, client events. I have been the biggest advocate of client parties, and it's so like do you ever have the no one's ever gon na show up? They all eat svp, but no one's gon na show up and i'm on the hook. For like food and drinks in this location, well, we we stole a really good idea from soho house.

So house would do like a trivia night once a month, smart and what they would do is is the winning group their bill would be paid for. So basically, what we do is we do trivia and they'll be like let's say it's around the holidays, we'll do 10 questions that are really thanksgiving and hanukkah and christmas. Yes, yes, yes and then we'll we'll play like a small amount of uh, 20 songs and we'll give uh. And then i can't remember what the second round is, but basically a small amount, yeah sure, let's start with it, got ta vida by iron butterfly.

So basically we'll give prizes good prizes yeah at every round, so it's fun yeah and then also we'll have a step and repeat up and say: look if you give ben a a positive uh video review in front of our step and repeat we're gon na put You in a drawing to win an ipad today, love it, so we just make it fun for them they can win stuff and again, the venue is impossible too. So we do those two we do two of those a year. That's well! That's the plan, although covet put a uh sure, hamper in that, but i'm seeing everybody. I don't know about you with your coaching schedule, i'm seeing my clients racing back to it.

Mega open houses, like you, know, local local, hey this new listing, invite all the neighbors coming back in and i'm like you have to here. We go man, the world's normalizing. We took our mass off on the airplane. Like i know it's go time.

I was actually kind of heartbroken because i made a commitment to start really going hard on those right like heading into 2020. So when everything went down i was really heartbroken because i i was so i get really excited by new things for the business for sure. It's just it's just part of my personality needs to kind of be like uh, not just creatively but creatively within the the realm of entrepreneurial ship. I need to be excited by that potential shot in the arm 100 gon na get so i was excited by that.

It's every 18 months is what i find every 18 months. We need to add something new reinvent, something then, all of a sudden, your energy, like i can't sleep i want to go, i want to go. I want to do this again. I want to tell everybody about it: right, yeah, yeah, okay, so the fourth thing under iconic moves was your youtube channel and you fluffed that off like it was no big deal and then went right to teams.

I remember sitting in the room, so do you myself and jay abraham tom takes credit for this by the way. Every time i see him, he brings this moment up and he's got to memorialize on the podcast. He remembers the okay, but go ahead. Please i tried to talk him out of video, but the bastard did it anyway.

Oh god, i was like with a person like yours. You should be a writer yeah. You were like facebook, okay tell your version of the story, then. So basically we were at this podcast.

We were at this mastermind. Yes, no! No! No, please tell please tell it your way. I want to hear your way. Well, we were talking about preeminence we're talking about how do you scale, trust, yeah and remember we're sitting with this collection of some some pretty extraordinary characters in this industry.

I mean everybody that was there whether they were from hawaii or new york city. Everybody was somebody in their marketplace, but the thing that i kept saying to everybody was look. The thing that put me on the map was in 2007. I got in front of a flip video camera and went like this: hey welcome to life by design.

People like, why is your hand always coming away, i'm like, because i am the editor, it's the magic trick. Why does every video end like us right? But i look, i remember just talking to you and and as your personality continued to shine during that event, it was just obvious right that this was a waste of talent right unless you put yourself on video and i didn't care what platform, because i knew any Platform, you picked your chops, your personality, your world view your energy, your passion, i just knew it would explode thanks man that was okay, all right podcast's over thanks, because i said coaching was one of them. I got that one yeah, but what no so so so. But what was the decision and what have you done? Okay unpack for some of the details, so, basically, when, when we were in this uh mastermind, which i actually feel like you know, like part of the um, what are they called? What's that, like private group, the uh, the illuminati, because, like even done one exactly yeah, you do lots of masterminds, but not like that, one that one was inside.

I was like yeah, so basically um when we were in there. I actually there was a guy in there who he's like i was like. Am i in the right room? He like owned the brokerage. He had a team before, like this massive move to teams he owned the escrow company title but anyway.

Well, i remember jay had done this example and he we googled jay, yes, and he had like 4.3 trillion results exactly his name right. You were like that guy's someone and then we googled another agent in the room who was very successful and there was like eight results right and i was just like uh. Okay, i get it so um. I i remember when we were in there.

I just felt what the group and unj helped me to understand was again that my focus needed to be more on being known specifically, for one reason: the guys who are and gals who are on million dollar listing they're that we can easily see that they are At a certain height in their business, at least in sales volume sure, but then you look back at like the mauricio yamanski's, the billy rose blair chang these people that have been in the business for decades, right and they're crushing and what i realized was. I had two choices. I could either be on tv or be on youtube, or i could wait 30 years and hope and hope is not a strategy right. So i said i i have no choice based on what my ambitions are and that's why i chose to do the youtube route, see that's the strategy right there and it's your ambition, because i tell people all the time like like.

Should i geographic farm like yes, if you can wait 12 to 18 months, and you can do it for 10 or 20 years, you will control the it takes a decade, you'll control the marketplace or you can accelerate it. By doing this, they go yeah. Okay, yeah doing videos. Scary i mean, is it though, and the thing is i hate when i have to say like? Oh, i was an actor because then people come on they're like oh, he wasn't so easy for you.

I mean i wasn't tom cruise. I'm still a real estate agent yeah was so like. I really think that um, the more you do it it's just it's just what you do. It's not that hard and what i will say is that if you just try it and commit to it all of those things you were thinking about, they go away like on day two.

They do. They don't have to wait right. Okay, what videos? In your opinion, as his coach did he do that really could be deemed iconic. I i so.

The thing i was thinking about is his byline or the signature line. Give it to us. I want to hear it. Beverly hills super realtor i like when i wanted him to do it what's funny about that line, is that i didn't think of it at all.

There was no thought behind it, and sometimes i wake up in the morning like in tears, i'm like. Why did i do that? But i was like: there goes ben black super real. I know yeah i was like. I see i've seen some youtube videos and there's an intro right yeah i got ta have something like hey and i was like people say: hey guys.

So i was just like hey guys: ben bellack, beverly hills, super realtor and i've been saying it said it just stopped. I've been saying it since it literally, there was no thought truthfully like he would, through google analytics like what do people search for super real. Well, it's funny when you run a google ad like the default language, is an excellent real estate agent like that's the default but yeah. I digress.

Okay, i'll tell you so your videos, like you, do a lot of home tour videos and take people through some amazing properties. I remember this one video you did where you were touring a pretty popular home and at the end of it, there's a half pipe in the backyard. Oh, yes, oh yeah, and so you went barefoot skateboarding in a half pipe, and then i remember this is when we were working together. You published the video and had a kind of a generic thumbnail image on it.

Mm-Hmm and i watched like a 20 million compound in west hollywood, and i was like wow who cares right, i was like you need to read the thumbnail yeah. You did real estate right aficionado, yes, but then i was like change. The thumbnail do the half pipe, and so you did and then just flipping skyrocket into the views right. But that's, i think, that's what you do really well is you're an amazing tour guide.

When and i mean that in the highest phase, like you're amazing at walking people through a property pointing out details making it entertaining and you're one of the few people who, i think, does long form video at a really high level, thanks man, i appreciate it. I agree: that's my favorite piece of it. Yes, yes, um, what's crazy is um. I had a system with my expireds, where i just like.

Wake up in the morning turn to my phone move, everyone into a bucket, and then it puts them on like an auto, auto video text campaign and um. I ended up getting a response from this woman and then she was like we're gon na take two weeks off and i'm mirrored you know and then nothing really and then on that friday i had put another expired under contract and i was pumped so i just Sent her a video text, i'm like i know, you're taking some time off, but i just put this like 18 million dollar thing under contract with my buyer, and i just want to share the news with someone, because i'm pretty stoked have a great weekend. Yes, you know, because i don't care, i i want them to. Did you actually record it like that? Is that yeah pretty much? I actually love it.

I love that people people want to be chased, they want to be wanted. They want you to be excited about what you write and also i was credible. You know he just did it. I wasn't on the nose so um.

Basically they had me over and um. Then you know long story short. I get the listing. I sell this for eight million dollars and the um the owner, the husband ended up being the former ceo and president of coffee bean and he was so happy because they were trying to leave for so long and sell this house and um.

He said i will tell your story any way you want wow, so i took those questions that we got. I think at that one elite retreat. Yes - and i said i need you to film yourself answering these questions and he did it from his place in miami with this crazy ocean behind him. Yes, he filmed this amazing endorsement of mine, which we re-cut and now on every listing appointment i go to.

I go look at this level. Every agent is going to tell you they're number one at something, we're all good we're, i'm literally in the mesmerizing business and we're all going to try to out mesmerize you. But you know what, instead of me telling you how great i am i'm going to let john i'm gon na play the video that's great, but that's awesome yeah i mean i just think that so many people are just so gosh darn serious, yes, and i'm not Saying to not be serious, you have to take it seriously but be a human, but there's also the setup for that. Hey, i'm in the mesmerized business yeah every you're you're setting up the stage yeah for the punch right.

So i'm not going to tell you because anybody like watch with john yeah and then it comes out, and then it comes up former ceo and president of coffee bean, like so there's more credibility. So, anyway, really i want to just touch on one thing: uh now it's like my podcast um on the youtube, thanks for having me on your show, is jason available, um, so um. What i wanted to touch on with youtube is that i don't know. I think that you can absolutely 1000 get leads in a market that isn't quite as saturated as mine and where people aren't online.

Looking for real estate porn um, like my market, yeah, yes, but the one thing that changed video for me and by the way the woman who i was just speaking of on my meeting with her. She quoted a video that i made of a like 2020 year and recap something about like it was like what what are you planning to do at the end of the year, and i said that she quoted it. So what i learned that video does for not only my soi but also the expired and cancelled, leads. Let's say that say: yes i'll meet with you, tuesday, you call them monday for some reason it doesn't happen.

It builds passive rapport and credibility in my stead like isn't this, don't you talk about this at your center? I taught you jason. Yes, then told me everything. I know, of course it's all from ben. That's why he had to leave my coaching schedule.

Yes, but it's so um, so i used to get a lot of um flack from other coaches, and you know people that do what i do and they would say you're putting all this content for free, you're, gon na tank, our industry, people were paying us. You know 400 to go to a seminar. Now you put everything out there for free and my response was, i can touch way more people and - and i was starting a new company. I was like putting myself on the map like hey like me or not here.

I am and enough people said i like that guy right and not everybody signs over coaching, not everybody goes through an event, but i got people over the world watching it's. It builds credibility and trust. That's how i look at not not only that. It's also a feedback loop because for sure you put video out there all the time, all the time, all the time.

Well, everybody else is waiting for behind the pay wall. You can watch our videos we're getting feedback in real time of what resonates where's engagement and how he likes. How many comments? How many shares the feedback that people say? I literally had somebody say to me after a recent podcast, okay you're laughing at having too much fun during the show. I was like what sorry someone will say it here.

Right right, i was like okay katie, make note no more fun on the show. Tyreese you got that in the show. No, it's producer says no more fun, no more fun. So that was you by the way that was for you, but also what i can do is like.

Let's say i have a video that has like a hundred thousand views or something whether you buy those views or not. You have the option to buy them. For example, we do agent pro tips on my team. You know like uh, which i stole from from uh.

His royal majesty, yes, uh, yes and and what i did what tom needs to do is tom needs to take one of those videos and put three hundred dollars into it, suddenly get a hundred thousand views and then on every recruiting meeting he can say: look what I'm doing with my agents and look how many views this is. Is it a little wrong? Maybe i mean anything you see here, but here's the thing too about youtube views the paid views. One views are like two to four cents for a 30-second view. That's right! They're, cheap yeah right in any market anywhere, no matter what and the other thing is, is i've noticed.

I have a lot of clients running youtube, ads, we're getting better watch completion rates on paid in-stream ads, the ones that are skippable than we are on organic videos. We're seeing 50 to 80 watch rates, wow, that's bananas, and it's because if you choose the right audience to target with the content that meets their needs, you're going to get them. They'll watch yeah, they'll watch it yes, um yeah and the other thing is like. If i have someone who is an expired and they're, let's say they say something aggressive to me: i'm like hey.

I just sold this right down the street from you. Here's the home door and i sold over 8 million bucks and then what are they going to do? Not click on the thumbnail that comes up in the preview of me with like a dinosaur behind me or whatever, aside from repurposing it across tick-tock and instagram, and every other platform um. You really can use it as a business card 100 check this out. Cheers might be incredible.

This is how i'm going to show your house it's it's a brand you've built this you've built a personal brand yeah, so it works so much aside from, like i hate when people say like how many leads are you getting and i'm like? I don't know you know what timmy smith says. I don't know my phone keeps ringing and people say: hey. Are you gon na come to my house and list it? What video are you gon na shoot? I mean that's, that's a good lead. Yeah! That's right! We'd like to sell our house - and we watched all your videos and what video are they gon na - be naked people dancing in our house.

Right, i mean yeah, that's it yeah, so i think and then and then after youtube. I think the team building portion, but very specifically yes, i had this wonder when, in my beta mode of of starting a team - yes, i had a guy who you know, because because i put a lot of content, i got a lot of dms of people saying Be my mentor sure, so i had a guy say all the right things. He was an actor, he was also waiting tables and he articulated exactly what he wanted and the values going to bring right and he really truly could never get over his imposter syndrome. Talking to people and stuff, but what's crazy was he ended up leaving the team because he felt bad.

He was getting so much support and nothing was happening. But what's crazy is we interesting? I know it actually was he kind of like bowed out yeah, but what's crazy is we started really using tracking and i would say to them how's calling going this week or whatever it may be yeah, but once the dialers were integrated into csu yeah how'd calling Go great really, i don't. I see zero three hours of power, yes immediately quit yeah, so that was also another big thing for me was making the putting the scoreboard up right. So we talk about the four disciplines of execution.

Extraordinary book execution number one is have a wildly important goal right. This is who we are that's. What we want to do number two is know and track the numbers right like know your kpis hey, it's 54 conversations to get a sale right and then you've got to have that scoreboard. The second you put a scoreboard up everybody's, like this yeah, and it just got real.

It just got real. Well, i'm not that competitive ben, like i don't really want my numbers up. Really you mean your number yeah yeah, it's uh, that that was a really big change for me, too and frankly, when i recruit - and i show people csu, the right agents want to join right. It's it that helps with recruiting too business.

People want to join yeah. They're, like i want to be held yeah, i want to be held accountable, wait what what is this? Did you create this on your own, oh yeah, today's show is brought to you by csu yeah, exactly i was. I wasn't being rude in the middle of this. I just went to your youtube channel to get a sense, so you joined in september of 2016, but i would argue, didn't do anything for a while.

No and then today, you're sitting at a a little just a little sub of 1.1 million views and and a lot of people get hung up. We're gon na come back to the team in a second, but a lot of people get hung up and like not enough, people are watching my stuff. I want from the both of you if, if someone says that and they feel like they're putting out quality content, should they spend 300 bucks every single time or which ones should they if they were to invest to, have more people, see their content? Wait in advertising? Yes, wait. I just took a console, and i've been wanting to talk to you about this, so because this moment are we doing this right? You may disagree actually, okay, okay, so i i was trying to understand because i kept getting these comments like what this channel should be like massive, and i was once we got a bunch of those i was like wait.

Maybe it should it be. Should i take this more seriously, so we took a consult with this guy who wrote a book called the youtube formula who works with mr beast: yeah yeah and his only clients remaining aside from like teaching coaching and stuff like that is youtube and google yeah. He still consults with them. So, as you guys know, i do actually what you recommend, because i didn't think of it.

You told me to do it both of you in separate ways and times which was home tours um driving tours and then i, the last mastermind. I went to with you in orange county uh. I would went my aha moment, um well, two of them, but one of them was the dave caldwell marketing right. So i started the market.

The market update. The markets are three minutes i just saw. I just was literally seeing your beverly hills market update and i'm like right. Yeah i've been doing it the moment we went.

I got home because i'm like i can do this with my teleprompter and on on my phone. Whatever is easy, so what he told me was - and i believe too buddy has an alternate opinion, but what he told me was is that i, if you want your, he said what is your goal, and i said i want more people that are looking to buy And sell los angeles to be on my channel right and he said that to do that and by the way this was his recommendation. I think you need to split your channels. He said i want you to leave your driving tours and your home tours on the main channel, and then i want you to create a separate channel for all of your agent pro tips for your market updates, et cetera, et cetera.

That are a little bit. More short form, yes, and he said then eventually you're going to prune away some of those videos, particularly those that are no longer relevant as they're, not um evergreen. As far as like the market, data goes yeah and you will just have driving tours and home tours, and he said the reason for that particularly was that when you spend money to advertise because people just naturally as human beings, more so than not are clicking skip Ads, it's messing with your retention and because of that, it's not helping you with the youtube referral engine, which is what we're all trying to hack all the time. So i thought it was interesting, we're just starting so he's like you can spend all the money you want on the market updates just keep the paid advertising away so just to be clear, two channels or two channels, sub channels.

On your main page, two two separate channels, two separate channels and um, i was really blown away to hear that because i was also liking the numbers that we were putting into the advertising. But i also felt like um, particularly from the people that i care about. The most in this arena telling me that you two included that the content was strong and i just felt like i was seeing other channels that had larger subscriber base that are putting out super boring stuff. So that's why we did this consult with him and i guess what i can say is to be continued i'll.

Let you know what happened always be testing yeah. What do you? What do you think so, i would say what he was advising is probably in keeping with what tubebuddy would mostly say. So i've done a fair bit of research. I'm sure this guy's done more than me, um.

What you describe is called a stealth channel and it's a pretty widely practiced thing. I have a stealth channel for running ads. Youtube's algorithm cares about three things. It cares about click-through rate.

If i see your video on youtube anywhere, did i click it to watch it or not? It cares about watch time if i did click it to watch it. How long am i watching it and then last it cares about audience retention that watch time gets annihilated. If people keep skipping your ad, but the thing is this is where it gets a little bit tricky like with my clients, i'm seeing 50 to 80 watch times on their videos, they're running for ads and so most people. I've listened to say, like there's nothing in the algorithm that says we're going to penalize you for running ads.

It's if the ads produce a negative organic result, because anything yeah, that's what his point was, but i think your bigger issue has to do with the audience. Retention variable so when he separated off content that was dissimilar from the tours youtube works, really really hard to understand. Who is this channel? What content do they make so they can drop drop into the recommendation engine and you had disparate content and so by separating the channels you're, giving your organic channel a chance to really find its own so to speak, and then to find that right target audience exactly And so i think it has more to do with that, because that audience retention is unique, because, basically, what it says in in my own simplistic terms is a brand new baby channel will never be more popular in any rankings than an established channel, but like on Tick, tock, that's not a thing. No, you can have no followers and go viral because they have they have a high virality coefficient, but youtube has that anchor.

That says, we want slow, steady growth, but anybody who's doing youtube. Anybody i talked to. They hit a certain point where it's like all of a sudden, the iceberg just pierced through the top of the yeah totally right, and it won't stop once we get trying to do very simply. I'm trying to help google and um youtube index me as easily as possible, and i want to make sure that my my vision for their place in the index is aligned with my business goals.

Yes, so that's that's why we're trying? Well, i i think it's i mean given the like agent-facing content should, i think, totally be separated. I think it's going to confuse youtube about what your channel totally yeah. I think tom tools found the same thing yeah in that discussion recently like a lot of people that are creating content unless your page is just set up for recruiting. Yes right, but in this case you want.

I want people to validate i'm the best listing agent and then they're like. Why is he trading real estate agents on this planet? Exactly? What is this golf videos all about our worst case, because you know how they refer your next video? I don't want them referring an agent pro tips, video exactly after are you calling expired listings? Here's the five most important they're like. Is that what i am yeah is that how he reached me? No, it's like when i when we're watching the kardashians i yell to my girlfriend i'll, be like get me out of this that'll be the same thing. I don't want that happening on my youtube channel right right, okay, so so, let's recap you couldn't make it as a waiter, so you became a real estate agent right.

Do you realize we were both waiting tables in the same year and both of us had tables? Tell us to go into real estate. That's awesome, yeah! That is awesome. That's awesome! Yeah! We were meant for we were meant for you, okay, this is i'm gon na put this on you, so you guys can be matching matching yeah. Okay.

There we go all right. Looking good couldn't make it as an actor got into real estate. I love the fact you spent three or four years being a mentee and really getting greedy and learning the business, because there that's a lost art for a lot of people. Everybody wants it so fast and it just it can happen, but it's highly unlikely very unlikely.

You did all the hard stuff you knocked on doors. You called expireds. You figured out all the stuff that makes people great at this business, so the the layups become infinitely easier yeah when you've gone through the you know, detroit pistons, to make a layup and they're exactly banging on you, michael jordan right. But then the iconic moves, like you know, getting a coach, the realization that there's more to be done out there right.

The second one was loving on your sphere, which is so great to hear after expires, because some people think oh, if he or she does expireds they're just a sniper. That's all they do they're, not really loving on their clients, so that the events and then video and then building your team, which we only talked about a tad. We may have to have you on the show again and really one last story greatest listing you ever sold worst deal. You ever did in the high end, they're, actually the same, and i'm going to humanize myself and also probably make people not want to do luxury.

I cold called a house that was 20 million dollars. I got the meeting um i brought mauricio along with me, who, by the way, was celebrating, i think, is 50th in um uh in aspen. So, like i literally brought two ipads one for my presentation and one with him on yes, uh and like he was like definitely partying like a flannel shirt like all this hair coming out of his shirt and like it's getting an afro dude. Why am i bringing you this you're, not like behold, mauricio um, i mentioned he's like hey, what's going on um well anyway, so um we got this listing.

The biggest agent on the planet was unable to sell it. An agent on million dollar listing was unable to sell it. Not only do i sell this, but i sell it to my own buyer and the one thing about my own buyer that he was that he knew about was title and we had a a, not clean title. So it took a lot on that yeah yeah.

So we took a lot of it was going to take a lot of time to clear it up, but basically there was um and by the way these these sellers were um, notoriously difficult known to be such even in town, yes and um. This was gon na, be like a huge leverage point for me. I was gon na spend a million dollars marketing. You know i'm like yes, you know so so anyway, that said um we uh, we finally get there and we're approaching a close, which was already going to be a long close and they had announced like a sale at the courthouse steps and the sellers kept saying.

It's going away, it's going to go away, it's going to go away, and i had worked on this for like 15 16 months in like a lot of of just aggravation and because our buyer uniquely understood title because what he used to do in his 20s um. He just kept watching and watching and it even though the seller said it's not going to go, it went and he went to the courthouse steps and he bought the house, and i made no commission and no credit yeah yeah. What's the lesson the lesson is: is who cares fill your pipeline? I mean i was like bummed and, like i really wanted it but like if you're not. You said this on your mindset, monday, which i actually just played for my team yesterday, because the market's shifting in its dynamic right now right is um.

You know you got ta, you got ta choose your hard and you have to show up right. Tell the truth. Oh, don't be attached to the outcome, don't be attached to the outcome, so yeah um, you know was i bummed? Yes, do. I still make a good amount of money yeah.

I do. I have other things i'm enjoying and fulfilled from transferring my skills to my team. I have other very large listings. Did i really want to be able to say i double ended, a deal for which would have been like 35 million dollars? Yes, but like it'll come - and i did still cold call my way into that - that's impressive, it is you know what.

First of all, i appreciate the humility right.