Taking Over by Being Present: Free & Cheap Strategies to Achieve $96m — Joe Fitzpatrick, RI

00:00:00:03 - 00:00:19:05

Matt M.

Welcome to the Neighborhood Realtor podcast. With me, your host, Matt Muscat. This is a podcast for real estate industry professionals who are doers. Each episode will feature an interview with a top producer or someone who is doing things differently in an exciting way. For those who already know me or have read my books or blogs, my brand of marketing is tangible and repeatable.

00:00:19:11 - 00:00:41:22

Matt M.

Because smart salespeople don't need to reinvent the wheel. My promise to you is that in each episode you'll leave with one tangible idea that you can take to the bank. Hey, everybody, welcome to the show today and thanks to everyone who's been continually tuning in, we're up to a couple hundred downloads a week, which is absolutely fantastic. The more knowledge we're all able to share with each other, the more listings we're able to generate, more buyers are able to help.

00:00:42:02 - 00:01:01:14

Matt M.

We're going to single handedly end this like whatever, like two months downturn thing that we're in by closing more deals for marketing ideas like we're getting today. Today, I'm super excited. A good friend of mine who was on the podcast a couple of weeks ago, Josh May, referred me to a colleague, Joe Fitzpatrick. Joe serves the entire state of Rhode Island with his team.

00:01:01:14 - 00:01:16:13

Matt M.

Apparently the state is so small you can drive from one end to the other and not that long in time. So Joe can literally service the whole states. No agent in California has ever claimed to be able to do the same thing. No agent in Michigan could do the same thing. So I'm pumped to be talking to Joe today.

00:01:17:04 - 00:01:25:23

Matt M.

Our last time we talked, we we had a had a ton of notes. I learned a lot. So I think he's going be able to drop a couple knowledge bombs on all of you guys. So, Joe, welcome to the show.

00:01:26:16 - 00:01:42:03

Speaker 2

Thank you. Yes. Yes. The state of Rhode Island. You can go from north to south in about an hour and 15 minutes. So, yeah, not only is the state small and we love working the whole the whole all of it, but we have agents located all over the state as well, so we can cover anyone anywhere from Rhode Island.

00:01:42:03 - 00:01:44:14

Speaker 2

And we love paying referral fees.

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Matt M.

What a great way to set. I mean, usually people in the podcast seem like, Oh yeah, like some of your clients, but you're actually saying like, Hey, I want to pay you. I mean, so I think that's an offer for rent for anyone out there. And by the way, I've talked about this before on the show, but if you are a licensed real estate agent.

00:02:02:01 - 00:02:14:09

Matt M.

Stop, like so many people don't market to their friends and family once they move out of your little tiny market. But that's insane to me, right? Because I know most great agents I know get a lot of referrals every year. I get a.

00:02:14:09 - 00:02:33:05

Speaker 2

Lot of questions and it's literally part of my yeah, it's it's not only part of my listing presentation, but it's part of what I speak in front of people. One of the first things I'll bring up is part of the nuggets I like to give out is, you know, do you, do you want 6% listing? Do you want to.

00:02:33:12 - 00:02:56:22

Speaker 2

Are you strong protecting that 6%? How strongly do you defend that 6%? And then we talk about ways of of giving up 1% in exchange for referral. So it's actually going to this thing. But another way that you can increase your revenue is simply make it part of your presentation. Where are you going? I mean, when you walk into that home, you should be focused on the seller, not yourself.

00:02:57:08 - 00:03:16:03

Speaker 2

You should ask them what's important to them, but you should also ask them what are your plans, where you're going, and if those plans involve purchasing a property in another state, you've just earned yourself, you know, another or in this instance, about three quarters of a percent because you're getting a 25% referral fee on a 3% buyer.

00:03:16:14 - 00:03:34:23

Matt M.

So leverage too, right? Because you're not physically showing them a hundred houses yourself. So you're in essence getting a a fee, whether that's a ton of money or not a lot of money depending on your area. That's money that you're not necessarily doing the 30 to 40 hours of work you would have done previously. So when you go partner.

00:03:35:10 - 00:03:36:02

Speaker 2

One email.

00:03:36:09 - 00:03:52:00

Matt M.

One email. And I think part of it, too, like a good agent, will select a great referral source for you that someone that's like a similar personality, but just to make sure, like everyone should think about this right now, do your clients understand that you can be the connector for them for their real estate needs all around the world?

00:03:52:19 - 00:04:09:03

Matt M.

And if your clients don't know that, if your marketing hasn't spelled it out this year, that's your next couple posts, your next couple reals, the next couple topics of your lunch to learn as the next couple. That's your concept. I mean, I think it's a huge opportunity that most of us are doing a great job on, and I feel like now we've gone backwards.

00:04:09:03 - 00:04:25:22

Matt M.

We usually start with all of the set up information and then we go into the marketplace. But you guys have now already gotten one great idea from Joe and he's been on the show for 30 seconds, so that is what's to come in the rest of this episode. So, Joe, you know, you're in Rhode Island. We know you get some referral business.

00:04:25:22 - 00:04:38:13

Matt M.

We know you have a team because you said you had agents everywhere. Can you walk us through how long have you been in the business and what was your production like in 2021 and where are you headed in 2022? We're almost done with 2022. But where were you? Yes.

00:04:39:03 - 00:04:54:21

Speaker 2

So my name is Joe Fitzpatrick up in that Remax. I've been I've been with Remax since May of 2020 and also 2121. So we're looking at about 21 years of my I had my 20 year anniversary in May of 20.

00:04:54:21 - 00:04:55:20

Matt M.

Congratulations.

00:04:56:02 - 00:05:15:09

Speaker 2

Yeah, fantastic. I got licensed in 1996, so I was with Prudential Growing Properties for about four or five years before I went to Remax production level. We hit, I think 96 million, about 175 transactions in 2021.

00:05:15:14 - 00:05:24:03

Matt M.

Did you know, do you need to put like a pinky to your mouth, like Dr. Evil when you say that? Because that's like a pretty like saying like 100 million. That's like a pretty exciting number to say.

00:05:24:18 - 00:05:41:19

Speaker 2

Well, actually we're disappointed because our goal was 100 million and I think we ended up 3 million short this year. We get 100 million about a month ago. So I know we're going to hit about 110 million or 120 million this year. No, it's not it's not a pinky moment, because it's it's our expectation. This is our goal.

00:05:42:04 - 00:06:05:15

Speaker 2

We clearly set out probably in August or September of 2021, putting our goal sheets together with the ultimate goal of hitting a hundred million this year, which we did. So we are excited about it. It is exciting. It is worth celebrating. We do make a habit here. The Fitzpatrick team of celebrating a victory and small celebration for a small victory.

00:06:05:15 - 00:06:23:20

Speaker 2

A big celebration for a big victory. But no, we are matter of fact about it. Because we are. This is our goal. This is what we set out to do when we set a goal is on time. Yeah, it has to happen and we fully expect it to happen. And our goal this year was to make sure that we hit 100 million, which we did.

00:06:23:20 - 00:06:35:15

Speaker 2

Like I said, about a month ago. So we're excited, we're happy about it. But we are, as a matter of fact, about it. This is this is something that we set out to do and accomplish and fully expect it to do so well.

00:06:35:15 - 00:06:51:10

Matt M.

And, you know, the number one thing I heard there, you said it in between the lines that you did more. You're going to end this year, 2022, doing more business than you guys did in 2021. And I'm doing all these realtor meetings, all these presentations. And I ask like, Oh, what was your production like in 2021? And they're like, Oh, it was my best year ever rated.

00:06:51:17 - 00:07:10:24

Matt M.

So let's say it's a solid $10 million. Amazing, right? And then I'm like, Well, what about 2022? And they're like, Yeah, I'm going to end it like 7 million. But the market but the market, the thing is, like when you have a goal, there is no about the market because you can see every month where you guys are tracking and if you, you know, one month is totally okay if one ones don't.

00:07:11:06 - 00:07:21:03

Matt M.

But then you can set and figure out what work you need to put in to ensure that you hit your goal for the next month and make up for what whatever happened in the year. It's not the Yeah it's it's.

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Speaker 2

Not the positivity.

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Matt M.

It's the attitude of.

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Speaker 2

Yeah if there's no inventory, make your own inventory. I mean it we don't pay attention to the news, we don't pay attention to the noise. We don't pay attention to who's in government. We don't pay attention to who the president is. We don't pay attention to any of that stuff. It's all very simple. It's keep your head down, be consistent, work hard and ignore the noise.

00:07:42:10 - 00:08:02:07

Speaker 2

So the market in and of itself doesn't make any difference to us. When the market's great and everybody selling houses puts out houses, there's nothing wrong with four or 5000. So we great. We'll take it, we'll process it, we'll make our clients happy. We'll get over a good deal. When the market shifts and it goes down, we lose a lot of fly by night agents and our market share goes up.

00:08:02:16 - 00:08:18:19

Speaker 2

That's why we're so consistent. So the market doesn't really matter to us because we know we just need to adapt and change to whatever is happening at that point. So the truth is we really don't pay attention to that stuff. Like I said of inventories low. You make your own inventory. It's it's what's we have systems in place for.

00:08:18:20 - 00:08:35:08

Matt M.

Let's go to that one point that you made. You set it twice and I want to drill down on that. You said you you don't wait for the market. You create your own inventory, you create your own opportunities. And this goes back to like a huge thing that I always teach on. It's week sales. People take what's given to them, right?

00:08:35:08 - 00:08:54:03

Matt M.

Like in the last couple of years, anyone who is a realtor or a lender could get easy business just by being a cool person and a good person that people trust. I think, you know, you can only get one or two deals a year off that the problem is now the agents who are actually closing deals are the ones that are creating those opportunities themselves.

00:08:54:10 - 00:09:14:17

Matt M.

They are finding opportunities and pitching them to people that didn't even know they needed an opportunity. You're number one when you do that. You're not competing with another agent. You're simply if the client wants the opportunity, they have to use you because it's your opportunity. So walk us through some examples of how you guys and how you coach your agents to kind of create those opportunities.

00:09:15:08 - 00:09:36:24

Speaker 2

Okay. Well, and a basis on an assumption that a buyer agent wants to do 18 to 20 transactions a year, which is what I think most people with goal setting are looking at. You're going to fall into six transactions a year and anyone can do it and they can walk around or sell six houses. Okay, The next six is where your hard work is going to get you.

00:09:37:05 - 00:10:02:22

Speaker 2

And then the third set of six we get to 18 is where you lean on me and Justine and our processes and our culture and what we've developed here. So we kind of structure it that way. But you know, you've got to have your pillars of business every talks with and I know Josh is a big component of this, but you look at your open houses, you look at your s a Y, you look at meeting strangers, giving a business card and trying to make new relationships.

00:10:02:22 - 00:10:17:02

Speaker 2

You look at the referrals. So whatever you determine your pillars of business to be, make sure that you know what they are promoted a plan to execute them. If you don't have that, then find help from us to come up with a plan and execute it. But at the end of the day, whatever your thing is, that it all comes down to the execution.

00:10:17:22 - 00:10:36:17

Speaker 2

You must understand where this is an is coming from. How do you plan and execute? So we had somebody come in the other day that suggested that, you know, you have why can't you do an open house every day? I don't have any buyers. I don't have any money. Okay. Social media is free. Open houses are free. Passing a business card is free.

00:10:38:03 - 00:10:58:06

Speaker 2

Introduce yourself to people that you see every day at the gym that you would rather not step out of your comfort zone. Say hello to is free so you don't need to have a $30,000 a month marketing budget. We have one and we use it effectively, but you don't need that. There are ways of generating these things. So if you're going to be in your office for 2 hours, we just talked to this yesterday.

00:10:58:06 - 00:11:20:09

Speaker 2

If you're going to be in your office for 2 hours prospecting and it's Tuesday from 4 to 6, just go to an open house, your expectation is zero. You bring in 2 hours of work with you, right? You're going to get your 2 hours done. You're going to get your phone now. You're going to go live and see you're in an open house and talk with a property and get a little social media activity and then a buyer may or may not walk in.

00:11:21:00 - 00:11:30:07

Speaker 2

So if your expectations are zero, you're getting 2 hours work done and he's doing a social media post. You've just had a productive afternoon whether somebody comes open house or not.

00:11:31:05 - 00:12:04:00

Matt M.

So huge because like you, you took a walk out of the like you take like out of the equation. You say, okay, I'm going to do this work anyways. But if I simply change the environments that I'm doing this work, I now have the opportunity statistically to meet a buyer or seller. And if I then multiply that effort out and say, okay, I'm going to do one open house today or I'm going to do five a week, then you can just figure out the math and say for every ten open houses, I get one listing in one buyer and then it is not luck, It is it is math.

00:12:04:09 - 00:12:20:15

Matt M.

And I tell you again, it's the same thing all the time. If you're going to just work from home and be on an island by yourself, not only are you not going to pick up real estate, you're not going to hear the conversations happening in your office. You're also not going to get the freebies from the other big agent, your office that needs you to cover an open house over the weekend.

00:12:20:21 - 00:12:35:21

Matt M.

You're not going to get the freebie of the call in coming in and the receptionist sending it to you. But if you don't have the big office, that's okay. Some people listening aren't part of a brokerage like that, work at a coffee shop and make sure every single person in that coffee shop knows that that's your office. You're professional realtor.

00:12:36:01 - 00:12:52:08

Matt M.

This is how you do things. You will get business off of that if people know and you give people the opportunity to know, if you put your friggin headphones on and you turn the world off and you tell people, I don't want to socialize, it's not going to happen. So I love that you guys are doing that and that you have the same mindset.

00:12:52:14 - 00:13:10:06

Matt M.

And now a message from our sponsors. The neighborhood realtor is made possible by the generous support of TREADSTONE funding in neighborhood loans with locations all over the US neighborhood Loans believes in doing mortgages better, faster, smarter, and creating personal relationships with our clients and realtors.

00:13:10:20 - 00:13:29:01

Speaker 2

I love that idea. If you don't work in a big office, we have a response to every objection. Right. But you're right. Take your laptop, put a Remax sticker on the back side of it, grab some paper for you for your latest listing. Leave it all over the table. Have your Remax Cup or whatever agency you would like.

00:13:29:01 - 00:13:49:14

Speaker 2

Make sure that people know the guy that you pass in the gym every day. He's on the same bike at the same time that you completely ignore, stop and introduce yourself. Say hello the next day. Say, Hey, it's the weather out there. What a it's it doesn't matter. Say anything the third time. Just the fact that you're in real estate and it's all about the compound asset.

00:13:49:23 - 00:14:02:08

Speaker 2

Every little tiny thing we're asking you to do on a very subtle basis over a lob period of time will get you those six transactions that you really got to work for, that which is the final third.

00:14:02:22 - 00:14:20:04

Matt M.

You can add. That's what we're down to in any plan. And every plan needs some consistency. Even social media, I hear people asking like, go where you get your business. Oh, social me. I'm like, Well, what do you do specifically? And they can't answer that question. And it's because it's not part of their business plan. It's just what they what happens to fall into their lap.

00:14:20:14 - 00:14:35:24

Matt M.

So if you want social to be your thing, it needs to be in your calendar. You do a certain number of actions, a certain number of times, a certain time, number of times a week, and that will lead to results. So I love that. That's one of the biggest things I wanted to talk to you about, was your community.

00:14:36:03 - 00:14:54:00

Matt M.

So you're you're huge into sports, you're huge into a couple in particular, but your team is like everywhere. Like if I imagine that if I came to Rhode Island for a drink tonight and there were a couple great places with a couple of great games on, there are some like live events, I would see someone from your team there, I would see your advertisements.

00:14:54:00 - 00:15:00:24

Matt M.

I would see your sponsorships. Walk us through sports and the Joe Fitzpatrick team really quick in the in the local community specifically.

00:15:01:09 - 00:15:27:08

Speaker 2

Okay. Well, at some point about seven years ago, so about seven years into a ten year plan that I committed to. Right. So the community is very important to me. The community has given back to me. I do, in an altruistic nature, want to give back to my community. However, on a very subtle basis, we make sure that people know that we're in real estate, right?

00:15:27:08 - 00:15:47:04

Speaker 2

So, yes, if you go to an underage soccer game on Saturday morning or Y Road, you're going to see the Fitzpatrick team. If you go to a little League game that afternoon, you're going to see my back. If you go to Fort Adams and watch Newport will be they're all wearing jackets with the Fitzpatrick team on it. Now, the main logo, the key here is I give them a hat with Newport Rugby on it.

00:15:47:16 - 00:16:09:12

Speaker 2

That's the main logo. That's what they're wearing, that's what they're representing. But it says Fitzpatrick on the side. So you got to be a little subtle about it. You got to give them a reason to want to wear the gear and you have to follow up and be present. So six and a half years ago, I made a decision to spend $6,000 on Newport Beach jackets.

00:16:09:12 - 00:16:29:18

Speaker 2

That reference Fitzpatrick I'm on it. People thought I was nuts, but we bought them, we distribute them. But then I showed up at the game and I introduced myself and I made sure that they knew who I was and that I was there. So it's not enough just to be a logo. You have to be there, talk to the parents, talk to the players, talk to the kids.

00:16:30:15 - 00:16:44:22

Speaker 2

We really have to be involved in these things, though. It helps that I am a family man and I have children that play these sports, but you don't necessarily need to be there, but you do have to be there. You have to be present. It's not just about having the ballot. They're having your local and everyone likes to be.

00:16:45:11 - 00:17:07:01

Matt M.

There has to be the number one mistake that 99% of businesses make, right? Like someone calls you, they ask you for a sponsorship. It sounds like a nice idea. It's not that expensive. So you do it and then you're getting any business out of it. So I didn't do it again. We didn't get any business off of it because you didn't show up and what I especially love about some of these sporting events that you guys make an effort to sponsor is it's not a one time thing, right?

00:17:07:01 - 00:17:27:18

Matt M.

Like you sponsor a team. There's a lot of games, there's practices. So whether your kids are on the team and you're showing up for practices and the games or it's it's a local team that you're truly interested in watching and then you show up just for the games. If you're present and then you talk to people, then it works to get you business.

00:17:27:18 - 00:17:33:16

Matt M.

But most people don't do the second part. They sponsor it, they write the check, and then they're pissed that nothing happened.

00:17:34:07 - 00:17:59:17

Speaker 2

But they both work. But being present and showing up is about ten times more effective than not doing so. So at some point it's a little more subtle. If you just advertise and stuff and you're not there. But it's it's a lot more effective if you're there. The $6,000 that we spend or 60 $500 we spent on those jackets resulted in almost a ten tax return of $80,000 in commissions over 11 transactions in the next three years.

00:17:59:17 - 00:18:18:03

Speaker 2

So we do, for the reason I mentioned this, is that I'm showing to you, I'm letting you, you and the people that watch your program know that we know our numbers. We do track these things. We do understand the impact of both the dollar spend in our community. But we had to clean it all, Clean it up Joe campaign, which we got a lot of things going.

00:18:18:03 - 00:18:36:18

Speaker 2

I got walk across the street and like a five year old girl and mom was, Oh, there's the trash guy. So we're not just putting our names on stuff. We are in the community. We are putting time and effort into picking up trash. We are putting time and effort into helping the community. We're very involved with the MLK, which is a local food bank.

00:18:37:02 - 00:18:56:18

Speaker 2

So there is an outreach, altruistic nature to this in the sense that I do genuinely care about my community, but there has to be a business sense to it as well because you do want to let people know that if they would like to reciprocate a referral to my business, my real estate company would be very much appreciated.

00:18:56:18 - 00:19:21:23

Speaker 2

And you know, and they want you every time you put your hand out to give something. They can't wait to give something back to you. It's like a revolving door. Next time you go to TJ Max or any sort of store like that in Michigan, Right. Sit in the parking lot for 2 minutes and you'll see this when somebody comes out, there's always a double door at these Nordstrom's or TJ Maxx, right?

00:19:22:08 - 00:19:42:01

Speaker 2

So when somebody comes out and they open the door for somebody to fit behind them, 99.99%, the person that walks through will then open the door and hold it for the person that just opened it for them. And then they both leave and they go to their separate cars and they never speak to each other again. But it's just that's the nature.

00:19:42:05 - 00:19:50:19

Speaker 2

Like if you do something for them, they want to do something for you. So give them an opportunity. Do so by at least letting them be aware of who you are, what you do for business.

00:19:51:04 - 00:20:07:05

Matt M.

Yeah, and look for we look for opportunities to tell them like how they can support you. Sometimes people do a really great job of of doing the right stuff and putting and being in the right places, but then we don't do a good enough job of really telling people how they could support us and communicating and what we're looking for.

00:20:07:11 - 00:20:19:09

Matt M.

Anything that can be an easy opportunity for many of us out there to add to our marketing plan. Tell me more about the trash thing. So you have a whole campaign around this. What's the name of it? How did it start and what do you guys actually do and how do you promote it?

00:20:20:01 - 00:20:38:16

Speaker 2

Matt, you're an excellent host. I'll tell you why. Because every time I want to bring something up, you get you get there ahead of me. But let me just tell you about the people don't know how the real estate or business works. They don't understand buyer agency. They don't know that there's a salary. They don't know how we get paid.

00:20:38:16 - 00:21:01:22

Speaker 2

They don't know about referrals. They may or may not care. But you should still take the time to explain how your business works and how referrals work and and keep you in mind. So I'm glad that you mentioned that. But the Clean It Up Joe campaign. So I went for a run on Sunday morning in July and I just happened to notice like all of the trash barrels were overflow going, you know, it didn't anger me.

00:21:01:22 - 00:21:05:21

Speaker 2

That's too strong a word, but it didn't sit right with me and I just didn't like it. And it was really.

00:21:06:04 - 00:21:07:10

Matt M.

It's real kids like.

00:21:07:20 - 00:21:25:08

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, 7:00 on a Sunday morning. And I came home and before I even showered, I got my phone out. I'd taken some pictures, was listened to music, and I just wrote this post and I said, you know what? I'm going to do something about this. And I think the Post actually says specifically, We're not doing a go fund me.

00:21:25:08 - 00:21:42:22

Speaker 2

We're not setting up $20 Venmo or any of that stuff. I'm like, I'm talking to four business owners right now. I said, I want five grand. I'll put a thousand and I want for people to match my thousand. Let's take this five grand. I'm going to go to city manager tomorrow morning and I'm going to say this isn't good enough.

00:21:43:08 - 00:21:59:17

Speaker 2

And if he gives me any excuse other than finances, I'm an a dig deeper into. But if he says it's not in the budget, I'm a handout five, I say, let's get this done. And if he tells me he can't do it for X, Y, Z, I'll just take the five and I'll take our square here every Saturday and Sunday morning.

00:21:59:17 - 00:22:05:19

Speaker 2

Let's get rid of this overflowing trash. This is not acceptable. And within 3 hours it was like $20,000.

00:22:06:00 - 00:22:06:12

Matt M.

Wow.

00:22:07:01 - 00:22:30:16

Speaker 2

Pledged in this in this full never. Monday morning it was like $16,000 of that $20, $20,000 in this Venmo account that I told people not to put money into because I just wanted the four people do it. And we rounded from there. We, we we got some guys involved that committed to every Saturday and Sunday morning going around these trash barrels and you could take a picture of the barrel and you could tag us on Instagram and we'd send our guys out there.

00:22:30:16 - 00:22:52:10

Speaker 2

You could text me. Anyway, there's a whole thing behind. It was only supposed to be a short term fix, but here we are three years later and it's going strong. People are still donating and we have a crew now that goes out there and does this and we serve cigaret receptacles. We drop off what we know is going to be the power to Kings Park and we bought a big huge water tank and a power washer.

00:22:52:10 - 00:23:17:16

Speaker 2

We power wash the bin. So the city of Newport does a great job and this was never a criticism. Anyone that doesn't sit on a city council or directly help their city on a daily basis doesn't have the right to criticize anybody else. What's not criticizing? I would simply say that this is something that has to happen in addition to as opposed to in lieu of what the city's already doing, we get overwhelmed in the summer months.

00:23:17:16 - 00:23:28:11

Speaker 2

I understand that that's not okay. And we need to make sure that we take care of this. So we did and it was a huge success. But anyway, long story short, I became the trash guy, so I kind of like that.

00:23:29:01 - 00:23:56:04

Matt M.

What you think? A couple of things there. So number one, any time you have the ability to create something and then it becomes self-sustaining because the entire community now doesn't want to live without this, right? Because it makes their city more beautiful. It's a better showcase when their family comes to visit them in the summer, etc.. I mean, this is the stuff that really solidifies your business as a pillar in the community because you created it.

00:23:56:04 - 00:24:14:22

Matt M.

And whether or not you want to lead it every year, which sounds like you are, but it's now a thing. And I think, number one, people could copy this, right? Like, I don't think Joe is going to come and hunt you down because you made your city in Nevada clean and you copied his idea. In fact, I'm pretty sure we would all be excited.

00:24:14:22 - 00:24:45:03

Matt M.

But in general, we all live places that there's something that the community just needs a little bit more of, or even even seasonally could be better in certain months. Why couldn't you, as the community or local expert, be the person that does this? And also, you know, I'm getting from people all the time like, oh, yeah, I would be more active on social media, but I don't know what to post about, post about your community, posts about things and needs posts or other things you notice and post about, you know, what's good about it and more stuff will come to it.

00:24:45:03 - 00:24:56:02

Matt M.

It makes you more engaged and it's it's a great way to give back to the area where housing prices contributes towards your career. So Joe, that that's absolutely fantastic.

00:24:57:14 - 00:25:15:10

Speaker 2

If you don't want to post about just what happened you today, people like I don't like how I look on video and don't watch it. Take your phone out. Pick it up for a vertical. Something happened to you today. I went to a home inspection X, y, z, provide some level of value on any any anything that's a value.

00:25:15:23 - 00:25:31:05

Speaker 2

Post it and be consistent about it. And if you don't like how you look on camera, get over it. That's how you look. The only person that doesn't know, the only person that doesn't know how you look. The result of you not posting a sale is you. Everybody else sees what you're saying and.

00:25:31:12 - 00:25:53:12

Matt M.

What's actually here is that your friends want to see you on video because it's real and they kind of want to tease you on the inside a little bit. Really. Like we want our friend singer videos because they're going to click on it just to like maybe like text, just like a haha. That was funny, but that's the kind of thing that grows your brand and that's kind of thing that lets people know that you're relevant thing to say that you're still active.

00:25:54:01 - 00:26:16:20

Speaker 2

Etc. You want anyone other than me, Matt and my mom that actually watches this go to actually, if it's Remax, look at my content and tell me if I don't look like a complete idiot. And some of these it doesn't matter. It's about the consistency. Get your message out there. The videos can be funny. The videos can be, well, either they actually have to be funny or provide value, but at least be consistent.

00:26:16:20 - 00:26:45:08

Speaker 2

It doesn't have to be. You don't have to have your own HBO comedy special to post every day. Just provide little bits of value and things that you think people will find interesting and get consistent with it and your followings will grow. And if you don't think followings on Instagram growth on Instagram equals sales on some level, then then you're you're sadly mistaken that the ROI of not doing Instagram right now is that you, you know, you won't be in business, you won't exist in 2023 if you don't figure this out.

00:26:45:13 - 00:26:51:12

Speaker 2

On some level, that's the reliance of spending money on video, is that you still exist, you still exist.

00:26:51:12 - 00:27:19:05

Matt M.

In your show and you're showing the world. I think another piece too, is like when clients see that you're investing and putting time into your own personal marketing. I think they kind of get the fact that you're probably also going to market their house, whereas you take that to the other side. If I'm about to interview you as my realtor to sell my biggest financial asset and I see that you haven't even put the time in to market yourself professionally, why would you market my house if you're not even marketing yourself?

00:27:19:05 - 00:27:29:16

Matt M.

It makes no, it makes no sense to me. So I think you always have to start at home marketing. You should start at home, and that becomes then the representation of what your clients can then start to expect from you.

00:27:29:22 - 00:27:50:04

Speaker 2

And once you do that, I'm sorry that so I think I cut you off there for a sec. Once you start to do that though, then you could use that to leverage against other agents that you know aren't doing it. I always like to go first or I've got a listing presentation 99% people like the last I looked of first because I like to set up the next two agents.

00:27:50:19 - 00:28:15:00

Speaker 2

First of all, I usually visits with the listing. Previously the two agents become mute, but if they don't and you are working on your social media and you do have videos and you do market properties and you do have views and you're showing them to the prospective lister. So here's more. Here's my latest listing. And if you really want to be a bit cheeky, then why don't you put a few hundred books behind one particular one and use that one as your example, Right?

00:28:15:12 - 00:28:34:14

Speaker 2

If you put two or 300 bucks into YouTube, you'll get five or 6000 views on on somebody else's listing. But is that when are you going to show that and just say, Hey, when that comes tomorrow, I'll do me a favor. I want you to ask him to show you the video of his latest that is listing, right, Because you just shown yours.

00:28:34:14 - 00:29:03:05

Speaker 2

It's beautiful. It's drawn footage, high quality video, 6000 views match as up tomorrow, 99% chance he doesn't have a video. If he does, he doesn't know where it is or how to find it. And if he does, it's got 11 views. So you've just made yourself look fantastic and then pointed out that matters. Even have a video. And this is so this is what sets you apart and you're justifying your values.

00:29:03:05 - 00:29:23:16

Matt M.

That's so it's so funny that you mentioned going first, because I always want to go first because I want to leave behind the list of questions that I want the seller to ask the next couple agents because if I control the questions, I can prepare an effort into my answers to those questions, and they already know the answers.

00:29:24:03 - 00:29:46:17

Matt M.

But the next person going in is not going to be prepared for your specific list of questions until they've competed against you 30 times. So instead, you're basically like, it's almost like you're you're the person interviewing, but you're giving your clients the interview questions and making it such that no one else other than you has the perfect set of answers.

00:29:47:03 - 00:29:47:19

Matt M.

I'm just setting.

00:29:47:19 - 00:30:09:18

Speaker 2

The expectation before they even get there. If they're screwed, they haven't got a hope in hell because I'm highlighting all the things that they should be doing that they're not. And I'm showing that we are doing those things. Like I said, once you get in the habit of protecting your 6% and that becomes your, your thing, your your listing presentation goes up a level anyway.

00:30:10:02 - 00:30:27:09

Speaker 2

And typically in those scenarios, by the time I've done my listing presentation that the commission has moved because they understand they're getting tremendous value compared to anybody else. So but if you really have to and you're out there and you need to, you know, you're never going to talk bad about your competition ever. I've never done that in my life.

00:30:27:09 - 00:30:46:21

Speaker 2

Nobody in my team will ever talk badly about another agent, my market. But it is okay to point out that you do things that they don't and and let them illustrate and prove that themselves by going through the process of asking them the same questions you've just prepared yourself for. So if you're out there listening to this and you like to go last, which a lot of people do go first.

00:30:47:12 - 00:31:04:09

Matt M.

Go first. I mean, you're it's literally like asking someone to play a game with you where you've written the rules or rewritten the rules before the next competitor starts. It's like an unfair advantage. And I absolutely love that. Well, Joe, I just want to say huge Thanks for taking the time with us today. I know selling 100 and plus million dollars of homes.

00:31:04:15 - 00:31:16:10

Matt M.

You're a busy guy. So thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for sharing all this information with people out there. If someone, an agent out there around the world wants to get a referral to you or just wants to connect, what's the best way for them to do so?

00:31:17:05 - 00:31:31:09

Speaker 2

By the way, connect with me any time you like. I speak to real estate agents five or six times a week, it's part of what I do as part of our network. And I love talking to agents. So if anything I said today is interesting to you, not sure about you want to follow up on it. You want to give me some input?

00:31:31:09 - 00:31:49:14

Speaker 2

You'd like some input. Just feel to reach out. Reach out to me. I think the best bet is probably go to Instagram at Joey Fitz. Remax is my handle, but the team is at Fitzpatrick. Team and you can send me a direct message there. We can connect via email or text from there or just go to our website Fitzpatrick Remax dot com.

00:31:50:04 - 00:32:11:10

Matt M.

When it really is that easy to find you, I pulled you up in about 30 seconds on my phone, about 2 seconds. Really excited to be connected with you also. So Joe, thanks for being on the show today. Everybody listening. If you want to continue to get great guests like Joe, who can tell you how to set up a community cleanup program, you can teach you how to go first and win lever review of the podcast.

00:32:11:10 - 00:32:27:06

Matt M.

It helps me get better quality guests like Joe and it helps us have some fun. So I don't make money off this. I do it because I want people in my market to learn what people in other markets are doing to boost my home values, because that's what matters to me. So everyone, thanks for listening and enjoy the weekend.

00:32:28:00 - 00:32:28:24

Speaker 2

Awesome. Thank you, ma'am.

00:32:29:06 - 00:32:51:21

Matt M.

Thanks for listening and a huge thank you to our sponsors, Neighborhood Loans and Treadstone Mortgage. With offices around the U.S., their loan officers offer a realtor centric focus personal communication from real humans plus on time closings that frankly are faster than most of the mortgage companies want to be connected to. Great ELO message. Meet your host for more information and I will connect you with a loan officer in your neighborhood.

00:32:52:14 - 00:33:04:23

Matt M.

One more Marketing Tips. Check out my book on Amazon Tag The Tangible Action Guide for Real Estate Marketing. And finally, if you want to support the show and hear even better guests, leave this review on the podcast platform for us and on.