Have you ever heard of the red car theory?
It’s simple.
We think we never see red cars.
However, not that I mentioned it, and you’re away from “red cars” (insert anything), so you pay more attention to them now.
Business and life are a lot like that.
The whole goal of the podcast and newsletter is often just to get you aware of opportunities for growth.
This week, I have 2 great opportunities for you.
The podcast is all about building a media company that sells real estate. It also includes 3+ marketing and sales strategies you can use to generate listing opportunities today.
But this week’s playbook is how to think as a leader.
Any leader going from 0 to 3, 3 to 30, or even 30 to 300.
I don’t know about you, but personally, I’d rather learn from someone who’s done it and made the mistakes than have to make those same mistakes myself.
That’s why this week, I wanted to share how to have organizational vs. tactical-level leadership like the Special Forces.
So if you want to build a team of any size or just want to become a better leader, you’ll enjoy this one.
— Andrew
Playbook
Leadership isn’t just for massive organizations; it’s for leading a Navy Seal team of 3 or 10.
It’s for your family.
Even in your community.
Levi Rodgers was a commander of Special Forces 18 in Afghanistan.
After being the lone survivor of a devastating IED explosion that lost him nearly everything, he spent 6 weeks in a coma.
“Four human beings died under my direction and I lived, I was the commander.
I was responsible for everything that happened or failed to happen
It's something that I own.
I have an obligation, a duty, to those men and their families to live the most amazing life that's ever been possible.
And you know, how would it feel if you were watching this and you were the father of one in a minute died in that attack, and you saw this guy, the lone survivor of this attack, and he was on the streets addicted to meth?
Just living a bad day, and not taking advantage of the opportunity he was given?”
The PTSD and thoughts alone could have sent him spiraling forever.
This is not a story of his journey.
This playbook is how someone who nearly lost everything got inspired to become a Realtor selling his $150,000 home
Inspired to become a realtor in 2011 after an agent's generosity and advice helped him make $150K on his own home sale learned from:
Struggling as a solo agent
Growing from 0 to 3 to 27 agents selling $95M in his 3rd year
Expanding & acquiring a franchise, and putting systems & leadership in place
To 300+ agents selling 2,700 homes & $940M a year across 3 markets
So let’s dive into how you can build an elite team like Levi regardless of size, market, or struggles.
Use these 2 types of leadership ex. from Special Forces:
Tactical Leadership:
More hands-on, direct involvement with day-to-day operations
Example: "When my whole organization would fit in one room, you know, I would walk the whole team step by step"
Involves direct interaction with agents, such as joining phone calls or providing immediate guidance
Suited for smaller teams or when addressing specific, immediate issues
Organizational Leadership:
Focused on higher-level management and strategy
Example: "Now organizational leadership, the message may be, hey, your mentors, your coaches, your leaders are going to walk you through this process. If you have any questions, get with them"
Involves delegating tasks to mentors and other leaders
Concentrates on overseeing the entire organization, setting direction, and solving systemic issues
More appropriate for larger teams or organizations
So we’ll start with tactical level leadership and then talk more about organizational level leadership.
Levi believes that when you build a strong culture, you win more listings and grow as a team.
He carries over his military leadership philosophy of putting people first, focusing on providing more opportunities for his team.
So these are 3 foundational systems he put in place to help build that culture:
5-day onboarding process so new agents learn how you work
Mentorship groups are pods (mini-teams) so you scale agent accountability
Accountability meetings to review each agent’s individual goals, and if they’re on or off track.
It’s the small details consistently that create the big outcomes.
When you go from 1 to 10 or 3 to 30 you need to start scaling communication.
If you don’t use something like Slack, you need to check it out.
Levi has numerous channels:
Leaders
Departments
Coaching groups
Pilot programs for new projects
Lead delivery for lead source management
Barriers channel for problem-solving
Broker questions
These create more collaboration throughout the team:
This shortens the distance between problem and solution by creating an encyclopedia of problems and solutions that team members can search and learn from.
Levi believes in making decisions based on data rather than emotion:
Regular review of metrics and KPIs
Weekly leadership meetings to go over performance data
What the accountability meetings look like:
Held with mentors
They go over every single appointment delivered by the organization
They go "connection by connection, metric by metric"
They track conversion rates, especially Zillow
Their main KPI is offer rates
When we notice trends in the data (like a drop in offer rates), we adjust their training and focus accordingly.
When you’re building you have to be willing to change before you’re forced to change.
Levi’s belief in organizational adaptability is something I learned is massive.
Now when you’re scaling from 10 to 100 or 30 to 300, you have to have levels of leadership:
Leadership meetings:
Held every Thursday at 11:30 AM
Lasts 2-2.5 hours, sometimes up to 3 hours
Attended by all mentors, the managing broker, and Levi
They review connections and metrics on a weekly basis
Look at data from the last 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days
Make decisions based on activity over the last 180 days to account for seasonal fluctuations
Deep Dive with Levi:
Weekly session held every Tuesday at 10 AM for 2 hours
Attended by 120-170 people
Often focuses on issues identified through data analysis
Despite Levi’s level of scale now, he still has a tactical presence.
This is similar to the “Founder Mode” trend Brian Chesky & Paul Graham started in the tech & startup world.
Levi regularly walks the floor, engaging with agents directly
He meets every new agent that joins the company
Annual Planning Process:
Brings in an external facilitator (graphic recorder) for annual planning sessions
Conducts SWOT analysis and prioritizes actions
Creates visual representations of plans for ongoing reference
Here’s a quick look from a high level how Levi thinks of leadership.
Recruiting Philosophy:
Levi believes "most problems of real estate are solved through more people"
They focus on recruiting and training people to meet the demands of their lead-generation efforts
They have an open approach: "If you haven't committed a crime and you're legal and you're willing to be coachable, we probably want you"
They're open to both new and experienced agents, especially as market conditions have made teams more attractive to experienced agents
Levi meets with every new hire personally during onboarding
Organizational Structure:
President and Managing Broker, handling organizational details and staff management
Director of Buyer Agent Operations, leading the mentors
They have 8 mentors split between buyer and listing sides
Specialized roles include listing coordinators, listing facilitators, and a logistics coordinator
Full-time ISA team working 7 days a week
Agent Advisory Board to provide diverse agent perspectives
Levi remains heavily involved, focusing on future operations and business development while still engaging in some tactical leadership
This for me was a mini masterclass in leadership with Levi so I hope it helps you too!
If you want to dive deeper into Levi’s playbooks then check out his podcast on Breaking and Building Leaders!
In this media, brand & listing masterclass, we have Jason Cassity, the marketing genius who does marketing that actually works to get more listings.
Jason has been creating videos since 2016 and believes the new way to grow your business is to build a media company that sells real estate.
We cover👇
(0:00) Why building a business on brand beats ROI
(2:13) Stop creating content for agents, and create for local
(5:08) The secret to sounding natural on video without a script
(8:38) Why agents should make content about local developments
(10:53) How you can use digital to do traditional marketing 3.0
(14:07) Jason's famous "I Have a Buyer" campaign for getting listings
(17:46) How does Jason modernize the traditional "I have a buyer" letter campaign?
(20:54) The simple strategy to re-engage your database after interest rate drops?
(24:21) How to choose a local farm to market consistently
(26:43) Jason's marketing budget allocation rule of thumb
(29:28) Secret video hack to improve your postcards
(31:26) Why attracting clients beats chasing leads
(35:37) Building a team - team of pitchers vs. specialists?
(40:49) How to systemize operations with Google Spaces
(44:22) 4 foundational pieces every team needs
(47:44) How did Jason transition from being a "fly by the seat of your pants" agent to a systems-focused team leader?
(50:45) Jason's most challenging moment that changed his business
… and way more!
Jason shared many tactical and practical marketing strategies, whether you prefer digital or traditional. These strategies are useful if you want to build a media brand or get your next listing!
Let me know what you think of it!
Watch it now on Breaking and Building Leaders YouTube!
15 New High-Performing YouTube Video Topics
I made a list of the top 127 real estate YouTube channels, added 97 of the most recent highest-performing (outlier) videos to a hidden idea playlist, and then narrowed it down to 15 top-performing topics:
OVER 60? How to Sell Your Home in [City Name]: The Rules Have Changed!
[City Name]’s Most Exclusive Neighborhood Tour
BEST New Developments in [City Name]
Top Reasons People REGRET Moving to [City Name]
INSIDE [City Name]‘s Most Luxurious High-Rise Money Can Buy
UNSOLD HOMES SURGE 500% as RECORD CONTRACTS CANCELLED | [City Name] Housing Update
My Thoughts Just Shifted On The Housing Market in [City Name]
The Way You Buy a Home in [City Name] Just Changed FOREVER
Where Do [City Name]’s ULTRA Wealthy Live?
INSIDE a $[X]M Custom Luxury Home in [City/Neighborhood Name]
Everything NEW or COMING SOON to [City Name] in 2024-2025
Explore [City/Neighborhood Name]‘s Best Residential Offering | A $[X]M Masterpiece
Touring the MOST EXPENSIVE HOUSE in [City Name]!
The Most Affordable Neighborhoods in [City Name] (2024)
[City Name]’ Most Underrated Neighborhood (Don’t Tell Anyone)
Use this to inspire your next videos or titles!
Instagram Lead Gen Strategies To Use After You Build an Audience
If you don’t know Neel Dhingra, he’s built a large brand in the real estate industry using his Instagram.
I noticed lately, he’s been creating lead gen, ad-type, organic videos.
Here’s a quick rundown of his strategy:
Attention - want to buy but need a lower rate (affordability)
Empathy - affordability “worried about high rates, and high payments” get below market rate
Action - link to a custom map of homes, super high-value lead magnet, Manychat “HOME”
Distribution - organic social & paid
This 1 post got 374 comments (half are leads, half are his response) since he’s built up the equity with his audience.
1 post = 187 new emails in his database.
His Trump vs. Harris video (which actually isn’t political just the hook leverages it for relevancy) got 1,066 comments (half are leads) from Instagram.
1 post = 533 new emails.
Next week, I’ll share either one Ken used to consistently generate conversations from Instagram that’s helped another agent, Brandon, close $15M this year from IG.
Or the Instagram story hack to generate appointments
So stay tuned!
In partnership with Listing Leads
With home sales still down nearly 30% in most markets and 1 withdrawn for every 2 sales, now is the time to keep building your Listing Lead pipeline (and here’s how).
1 Agent in 1 day:
15 Zestimate market analysis (ZMA) text, email, or letter
20 Zestimate versus agent (ZVA) text, email, or letter
20 magic buyer letters (MBL)
12 bday cards to SOI
Profit and Loss for August
Using these Listing Leads campaigns generated 2 listings and 1 buy side.
Want to get more listings this week?
Use Code “ANDREW” to get 50% off (ON TOP of a 7-day free trial), and instant access to these campaigns now.
On-the-street interviews have always proven to do well. (Olga).
This trend has been going on for 6 months and works because it makes you curious why “don’t buy these” homes? What homes (Jackie)
Negative videos generally create a negative experience where people don’t return & people just come to argue, but this one is a better way of talking about areas you don’t work. (Kelly)
Home tours that find alternative hooks vs. just using the price will stand out. The price isn’t bad. It’s just more common. (Paul)
Packaging, aka topic + thumbnail + title, is all about psychology.
Which content did you like best in this newsletter?
Rapid Fire:
Custom home door hanger to win listings (part 2 of 5 of a marketing campaign to generate a $5M listing) (Instagram post)
The green screen reel anyone can make to generate 190,000 views on Instagram (Instagram reel)
The underrated lifestyle home tour video that can win you listings even after it’s sold (Newsletter playbook)
5 creative ways to 2X your database for free (YouTube video)
The golden hour of referrals script 7 days after closing (Facebook post)
An interesting new AI “Canva” of ads software (paid software)
How a $42M company built a strong team culture with 85 remote people (Twitter/X)
Why leaders obsess over the details even at $6B - Brian Chesky on Founder Mode (YouTube podcast)
That's it for today!
If you have any questions about marketing, building your brand, etc., then reply & let me know.
Time to build for 2025!
Andrew Bayon
P.S. Want to scale your time by scaling your marketing? Reply with “VIDEO” and I’ll send a video showing how we help attract listings with content.
Or you can schedule a time to chat.
