Hey welcome back to the podcast. What, if i told you today we're going to unpack some video strategies and grow strategies with a young guy who, six years ago, gets into real estate sitting right to my left at the at the summit, he did 36 transactions. This first year, 83, the next 140. The next then started a team grew to 200, then 239, and this year we'll sell 333 transactions.

We want to talk about that growth, but, ladies and gentlemen, maryland super team leader, phil gerdes in the house. What's up man having fun man happy to be here, thank you, dude and i, like the casual look, i'm busting your chops on that i know hey. I i really want to talk uh specifically today about the december mastermind. We did yeah um.

You know it was a. It was an intense couple days right and everybody was super open. Super honest super revealing, but, but i want to know, maybe in the listeners want to know like what what was the takeaway, what was the action and then what was the result? Okay, uh first off takeaway was be yourself like that. That was really the kicker right.

Be yourself really dive into who you are and what you want to share with the masses. Yeah right offer the value but offer it from your perspective. Don't try and be something or someone else, yeah right. So when you say be yourself, were you not being yourself before on video because you've been doing video for a long time phil? So it's it's.

I was being myself and i've always been myself, but there's also always been this part that i said no, i don't. I don't want to really share that part. These other pieces of our identity, exactly right and my marketing manager has told me for some time. You know you've got to share that part.

People want to see that yeah uh and i've just given pushback and pushback, but i'm happy. I did yeah yeah. So so people don't really have context yet for what that means. Yeah, but but take us back to that december uh when all of a sudden, like you, you clearly had a moment and the moment for you was a new show yeah, so so, maybe for the listeners that are that are if they haven't checked you out on You know they've seen you at summit they've seen you january, it's like you know they get.

We get you up on stage as often as we can um for the people that don't know you uh you've been selling real estate for six years. You built this mega team. You were pretty early on video you're you're, like kind of my guy, when i'm like. I got an idea, i'm like where's phil curtis, because i know he'll shoot this right um.

What kind of content were you creating before december and so for context? Then what happened afterwards yeah so before december it was very much just uh core real estate content yeah. Some of it was, you know, adding humor and things like that, but it was very much core real estate content, what's happening right now, whether it's market updates listing videos around town things like that exactly. Why did we say that so like blah, because it was good because there were, it was the missing pieces right so like those were all there. But there were missing pieces of me that i wasn't giving out to the world and if you're looking to gain connections, then you really need to be true to who you are, because that's what people and that's what people are going to connect with right? That's what they end up knowing liking and trusting they'll say hey.

Can you help us yeah right? So what was the missing piece for you and then what is it that you added and what was the result uh, the short of it, is heart right, just really being willing to share my heart, because there's this motivational side of me that i really very intentionally Kept out of the real estate world um and, like i said my marketing manager has been pushing me to just release that part and and as hard as she's pushing. I was pushing back tenfold right. But then i came to this event and i watched and listened and took part in this conversation, this high-level video influencer conversation and it dawned on me. Like i had this general idea, i write a journal yeah and i don't write a long diary.

I just write one two sentences uh and i never shared it with anyone. I mean i didn't share it with anyone, anyone yeah and then i just said you know what i think i should start releasing this. I think these would be great videos if i was ever willing to open up on the the motivational side right that passion that connection uh. So i started sending the journal to people and they were like wow.

This is great, and then i came to this event and then it all opened up and conversations happened and and then uh. It turned into this idea that glenda had you know you should shout out to glenda bailey, shout out to glenda i'm a real estate agent from atlanta georgia, exactly oh, my stars and stripes, but it turned into what is now rated pg yeah, and that is literally Me reading my journal entry and then just being thrown back into the space. I was where i wrote it and then sort of reflecting on it, and i tell people people comment and call me and they're like phil man. That was great.

Thank you so much, and i'm like dude. That was for me right, like that, was just my way of getting through that and releasing it and the nice thing is. It helps other people too right so give us an example of of rated pg like what's an example of something from your diary that and then how would you frame it in a message, because this this sounds like nothing to do with real estate yeah it it? It almost isn't, it almost has nothing to do with real estate, except for the idea that when i'm walking down the street, people are yelling out of their car. Now, in my town, hey, i saw your rated pg today.

You know it's amazing. What's that, like that's crazy, it is, i mean it, it really is something special yeah. You know, and i appreciate it because i know that it's not just this, it's this isn't about like fan stuff. This is about.

I saw it, it helped me it tucked. You touched me yeah exactly so so that's what it is i mean any. I could pull out a journal entry now, but i like off the top my head. I don't know um where you are there.

You are yeah right so like that could be an entry, but it's not just a saying for me. It's a time a moment where i may have emotional elements. There's that connection. What were you lost in in that moment right and just center yourself? Where you are there, you are, how do you connect with the exact thing you're doing and give yourself permission to actually be 100, as you say, unapologetically there? Yes right, so that that's just a small way of doing that now and then you turn it well.

How does it connect with real estate? Well, if you're a real estate agent, i would argue a statement like that has a huge connection, because you know in this field we're all over the place all the time and then the people that really deserve us. Like our family. We tend to not give them every part of us because we're so busy yeah, so a journal entry like that helps me just center, like when my son says dad. You want to 1v1 me on the basketball court absolutely and i'm going to leave my cell phone inside yeah right.

You know yeah, so yeah. I love it. So i mean you know, because i put out a lot of content where it's like hey. It's me and my mother-in-law dude or something - and you know she's 94 and it's it's funny how um a lot of people talk about like don't get your kids involved, don't get your family involved and it's a choice right to do that.

To not do that. Like i always had my kids on stage, i wanted to show them. This is what daddy does. This is what it means to to build a business.

That's what it means to love on your clients, yeah. I wanted them to understand that. What do you want people to understand as you're putting out this kind of content? I'm a person uh and and the thing you know, selling real estate. Sometimes, people look at it from the outside and they're like it's just like black and white, and much of it is contracts.

Things like that. You know processes systems, but the other side is not black and white at all. It's what the person selling or buying is actually feeling the stress: the pain, the uncertainty, the excitement, the wonder, the curiosity and you if you're pretending that you're. Just this black and white contract person, yeah you're missing the mark, like people need to know you are a human being that goes through things and yeah.

You might have a lot of followers, but you're still in it right, you're still going through the same stuff. They are you know i just last year we renovated a 6 500 square. Foot house, like literally, took the thing down to the exterior walls that was stressful, that's fun, yeah, but right like so that was a real. That was a time where, in my life there were more arguments.

There were more questions. There were more like what ifs there was: a ton of crazy excitement during the big milestone moments right, but the house took over that year, while building a business wow being there for my wife, while being there for my kids right. So i think it's important that people know like yeah. You want to buy a construction.

Well, not only do i know about how you're going to do the construction, but i know all the things you're going to feel yeah and all you need a therapist also you're going to need it you're going to need one, and i don't want to be it. So, yes, exactly so yeah, so going back to that december and literally we're you know we're having another mastermind right now with a bunch of the original crew and everybody sort of talking about the the changes, the adaptation, the adjustments, a lot of kudos to you know. Mutual friends for what they've accomplished um, you were really strong on tick tock. Prior to this right, no, not at all.

I was putting out content. I was uh, but my follower count was exactly 2708. How did you get that big? That was uh? You killed it yeah and i know some people were like wow. That's a lot, but it was, it wasn't.

Were you resistant to it like? Did you have that? You know because some people were like? Oh tick, tock. You know like 11 year olds, like those people were going to buy a house. Clearly they have dr glenda baker and everybody else is like killing on tick tock. But was there resistance to it, or did you just not have a show? You felt that was worthy of it.

I was uh everywhere i wasn't resistant. I wasn't like. I was resistant, believe it or not to instagram when it came out really. I really really was but tick tock.

I said well. I literally had this conversation. I said i'm not doing that again yeah. No, so i just started throwing things out there, but really who was i talking to yeah? You know like i didn't have.

I wasn't. I knew the importance of a tribe, but for some weird reason when it came to tick-tock, i wasn't talking to my tribe at all. I was just like throw it on the wall. Maybe it'll stick yeah see yeah yeah.

So what what was different now - because i mean you know we're all in this kind of group chat and literally like my first video over a million views everybody's like right, you know exactly so how how many videos was it in? Was it intentional? Did you just get lucky with the algorithm, because that's the beauty of tick tock right? Sometimes you just get lucky talk to us, tactically, like if i wanted to replicate some of your success. What are some of the moves? The plays that i would run to make that happen. So as soon as i left, we were just talking about it. I had an emergency meeting yeah.

I had all of my staff my entire meetings meeting with my company right so coming out of the last decade. Coming out of the last december mastermind emergency meeting, that's that's one way to scare you don't ever go to a tom barry, no more emergency meetings. So it's funny when i was coming here um. One of my agents said: oh, the staff's gon na hate you when you get back because you're gon na have all these things, which i always do, i'm inspired right um.

So i and i love my my staff, like these guys on a sunday with one day's notice, said all right, we'll be at your house. Yeah they just don't they don't have to do that. Yeah. You know um.

So that's my culture, man, it's culture! That's community! That's connection it's it's like i'm. Looking to my team right, you all listening. What are you guys doing on sunday here? We go exactly see ya um. So what so? What took place at that emergency meeting? We just talked about what we're doing uh and and the idea like our mission this year, is to be the new standard right.

It's just where everyone strives for 10, we start at 10.. So what are we currently doing and then how do we now take that to a starting point of 10. yeah and then, when we get there now, what do we do because level 11. yeah exactly right so um? So we broke things down and built plans and systems and talked about things and - and i had pages and pages of notes, but the nice thing was they were like bringing in oh no.

This should be this, and this could be this and right. So a collaborative meeting, yeah yeah yeah, you know, let me tell you what we're doing now exactly so. So what was the? What was the tactical things you did differently and was it just on tick tock, or did you put spread that love everywhere? We spread it everywhere across it actually wasn't even just video. It was across our systems as a whole as a company right and then, when it came to tick, tock instagram things like that.

We just looked at the videos. We were shooting. We looked at the videos. I was resistant to shooting.

Like i mean rated, pg is literally a video. I've been resistant to shooting right uh. We looked at how we're gon na do it like for now everything we do is now bat shot now. I've you've said it forever right yeah, but it was more like okay, we're gon na shoot a video, let's just shoot it yeah.

Now it's bat shot like here's six hours, we're gon na shoot, 40 videos, and that's it like dig in right, um and what i've? What i've learned is my marketing manager and my videographer. They have learned me more because shooting these like this is real for me, yeah and now it's like a video will end in my videographer who was like whoa like he'll step out. That was real, yeah, so um, so tactically, it was figure out what we are going to do right. Not how just what are we going to do? What do we do like a plan for a show? What kind of content who is the audience? Do you mean like that, or what do you mean? I mean not so much what the plan is yet, but who are we talking to yeah and how will we and and what will we do to talk to them? Yes, right after we figured out that - and we were in agreement like this - is who we want to speak to uh, then this is what we want to share.

How are we actually going to do it now? What's the system behind it that is actually going to make this work and who's responsible for it single throughout the choke like what's the timelines, everything yeah but then also can we commit to it like? Is this a one-hit wonder right, yeah right like? Are we truly going to be committed to it? Do we have to replace this with something else? Something else has to take the back burner or what other projects so true like scoping project management, which is brilliant yeah, and now i love it, because i keep talking about my marketing manager, but i don't even know when we're shooting rated pgs yeah. She just sends me hey next week, tuesday, it's all day, you know - and i and i love that, so it takes away the pressure of me having yeah. We just revamp things, but it's not sitting on my shoulders alone. So is rated pg, always a journal entry.

Every single one, a journal entry, do you find yourself um. I have a book somewhere around here, uh the war of art. Have you read that book? Yet? Oh, i really have to check that out because, because, as a fellow creator, so the war of art versus the art of war right, the war of art, is it's as a creator. We we run into this hallucination called writer's block.

The key word is we run into a hallucination. I don't know what else to talk about right, which is so silly because we have to do is just ask people. What should i be talking about or go on? It's like who's got a question right um, but the whole book is like how do you move beyond that barrier? And one of the most one of the most important elements is writers have to write. Yeah videographers have to shoot.

Videos, like you have to like put in those reps over and over and over i'll get to the book. I got copies of you. No, i was showing you oh yeah. Yeah, let's go.

Are you writing all the time? I'm writing all the time. My journal right here i write the day and i just write the message see it's so perfect and that's how i stay out of the writer's block bingo, because writer's got it right. You've got to always be gentle, like you'd, be in your car, walking out of appointment and going i just got my butt kicked right. Okay, what's that? What's the thought here? Yes, bam right now that becomes a pg all right yeah, because if i wait until the end of the day to do it, yeah one i'm not going to do it and two.

If i do it, it's not the same thing it was. You lose the emotion. Yes, the emotion of, what's so real, because when you anchor to that emotion and then you go back to that moment - you're, like oh man or like or like elated, enjoy right or like feeling the resistance of business in life. And how do i keep it like? Exactly that, that's what i think that's what people are connecting with.

I agree. So, what's it like walking down the street and having people literally go dude, i watch it. You know like, what's that, like it's cool how's, your wife, reacting to it, she doesn't want anything to do with it. There is a reason you do not see my wife on camera, she she loves being a great wife and a great mom yeah and our and our ceo, our cfo ceo, but that's so funny you and our same exact thing like my wife's, like you.

Do you i'll just manage the money? That's it exactly. I'm like all right, i'm your puppet! Okay! I got it. This is cool. I don't know how to get to my money.

She manages everything. That's yeah, i love it. Yeah stress free, your wife and i both have accounts in switzerland. That's what i heard yes um, but so she very much just stays in her lane.

Our beauty. I met my wife when i was 14. She was 13. like the beauty of our relationship.

Is we understand where we're great and we do everything we can to stay in that lane? Sometimes we fall out, but we do what we can to stay in those lanes um, but so she doesn't want anything to do with my kids. You'll start seeing them more. You know i remember seeing them early yeah yeah. I used to do a lot with them, um and and now you know they went through this phase, where they're kind of yeah growing a little more fine and they're they're routing so yeah so you'll start.

Seeing me pull them in a little more um, but what i'm really excited, because this rated pg per perspective that we took we're going to release something new. But it's all about real estate yeah. But it's not just and there's nothing wrong with. I used to do like here's a topic like did.

You know well right, but now it's going to be now that real estate moment, i'm writing it like a journal entry. So now i will release a real estate version of rated pg. That's just this. Was the entry in that moment? This is what happened.

This is the behind the scene thought yeah. This is how we got through it. This is how the client got through it, so i'm pumped about that. So i want to know from the audience.

So do me a favor, give us a comment here. You know. Is there something that you have been holding back and not sharing in terms of content, and you don't have to share in the comments like what that is, but i'm just like give us a yes or no, like you know, hey am i truly sharing my whole Self, or am i kind of holding back trying to be as professional as possible and i'm not i'm not mocking that, like that's, usually what i hear from people right, similar to your situation, yeah, i want to know that and make sure you check out. Phil's youtube channel check them out on instagram check them out on tiktok.

Do all that stuff as well um all right so so has it worked? Yes, how do you know? It's worked, the the the numbers like the math works, so instagram. We we came here with 14 000 followers and jason was saying earlier. He pointed out, it was not like people hear 14 000 are like well that's great. It was a very stagnant for several years.

Fourteen thousand followers yeah it jumped to over twenty one thousand right. So six thousand plus yeah tick tock, however, went from exactly two thousand seven hundred and eight to now over one hundred and 000 followers wow and it was like wow just a massive hit. Yes - and i would argue that the consistency of of uh the post were huge, the the type of content was huge people. Seeing a true self was huge right and you know, and and then we we take that and we transfer it to.

How do you convert it into your field, but i think that while conversion into the field is important, the purpose of the video is more important. Yeah touch like what was your your connection. We talked about it yeah yeah, so i was thinking back to uh brad mccollum in that meeting in december i was like yeah, i'm killing mindset monday and he was like what he's like. That's the one that speaks to my heart and i was like.

Oh okay. I guess we'll keep doing it. You heard that, like i was like, i literally had it on the cut board. I love i watch mindset monday when i work out.

I appreciate that yeah, but, like that's part of my intentions like i want to touch people in that way. That is, that has nothing to do with like how to grow your team and how to make more money, how to do more deals, but just like trying to get people's mindset right. That's what so much of what i see you doing yeah and for me it's inspiring to watch right, i mean hey cause. I know you and we've hung out right.

So it's yeah. So it's i'm like look my guy like he's killing right now, um! So so talk we're gon na totally go different direction. Just for a second uh maryland state laws says you can't build a team for, and you have to be an agent for three years, three years, yeah right, so you were chomping at the bed yeah and i think you're. You may be one of the only people.

I know that, like on the like day, you know three into one day: you were like 14 people on the team. Right, like you, went real, quick, real, fast, high level um, just being mindful of time on this show share, share the three biggest mistakes. If someone was looking to build a team, what are the three mistakes that got to avoid um a little bit more down the line where i am now thinking that the go early stage? Okay, so early stage um? What is it called when you're like doing everything for someone um doing everything for something yeah, but the curse to that is, are you empowering yes right and, and that's so i did so, did you do the work for them, or did you hand them the work And then micromanage the on the work micromanage, the out of them before you send it. Let me see before this.

Let me see it's like. I don't trust you. I don't trust you. I don't trust you.

I don't trust you now good. Do good work yeah, but deep down inside. I trust you. I just don't know how to show you that idea, yeah right so uh.

I think that was how did you get over that pain, realizing how bad that hurts them? Yes, and their growth and their ability? Because the truth is their their ability to do the thing is their their belief in their self themselves is not, and that's my fault, yeah yeah yeah, so you actually installed that i created pretty tragic yeah, so number one is, is trust and let people essentially let Them make mistakes, that's how people get better right. That's that's how you got to be pg yeah. What was mistake? Number two uh mistake: number two um setting too low of goals. Hmm, i would say that i for me the goals that i set.

I hit yeah and i'm like damn yeah. That was a terrible decision. It was a to-do list, not a goal right like hey we're going to the moon. Like oh yeah, i mean like if we yeah so so setting go, and you hear things like this.

All the time, but the reality is my first year 36 units. That tells me i absolutely could have done 45. 100 yeah, it's just. I just yeah didn't yeah right so setting too low of goals for me and then not setting helping my team set strong enough goals, initially to really show them their strength of their power right and that's that can be a spirit of lack that could be fear That can be a lot of different reasons, but ultimately, being really conscious of this is my goal: build out the plan and trust it just do the work right.

We talked like last time. Confidence is earned by doing the work. Yes right. So, yes, i would say that's number, two.

Okay, that was number three number three still on the early side, right, yeah um, not having an assistant day one. What do you mean? You had a team? You didn't have an assistant, i didn't have a team. Oh you mean from having a team yeah, i'm sorry i'm going early, oh okay! So then not hiring all the appropriate staff from day one yeah so likely when people have a team they're having an assistant. Yes, but do you really see that they go you're the marketing director transaction coordinator, listing launcher and my runner and and the person's like they can't do anything really effectively? Yes, and then you get frustrated and you're still working until 11 o'clock at night.

Exactly so so. Having the people in place to to actually get you where you want to be, i think that when you're, when you start a team, you have this idea of what it's going to be like and a lot of people just live in the idea of what it's Going to be like, as opposed to this is the plan of how we're going to get to what it's going to be like right and don't be scared to spend the money on the plan right. You know because if, if you're in a position like me, first of all tom, i didn't know that you had to be a real estate agent for three years before you could have a team i literally walked in and was like yeah i'm starting to team. My brother was like no you're not like what do you mean yeah, exactly yeah, so what did that do? For me? It gave me three years to make sure that financially, i was prepared right right, secure everything already had systems in place already getting organized.

You were building towards what you wanted exactly right right. So when the switch hit agents were there, staff was there and then, if i do like a 3a fire people yeah like if it's not working, you are hurting yourself and them by not just letting them go, and fire is a hard word. But the reality is like. I can love you on your way out, and i can love you when you're out, we don't have to be enemies.

Yeah like let's just it just didn't work here. It just didn't work right right. I want you to be happy. You're not happy here, i'm not happy here.

Let's make a change, let's make a change and then, when i see you, let's be friends, love it yeah love it all right! Lots of value on this show uh, so phil. What's the best place for them to follow. You is it phil, gertis everywhere it's at phil, gertis everywhere and then on instagram we do have a team. Tick tock would be the gerdes team, yeah instagram team tico.

We have a team instagram at the gerdes team. Yes, there you go all right, so hey guys make sure you like subscribe share. This, give us more comments, always we're always looking to to bring you more value from people like phil phil. Thank you so much for being on the show man, let's jump back to the mastermind.

Let's do it! Thank you guys, we're out you.