I’ve been mildly obsessed lately with the traditional meets digital mix.
Especially now because tougher markets create new opportunities. This is when market share is gained. More visible, not less.
So, the unconventional approach is to increase the volume of communication, such as marketing, sales, service, etc.
Not wasting resources (time, money & energy).
Just more conversations. More activity.
Yet there’s only a handful of people who really get old-school & new-school marketing.
That’s why I couldn’t be happier to share today’s playbook with Wilson.
He’s literally built his entire business and brand on getting attention, both traditionally and digitally (without losing all of his profit to referral fees). He really gets it.
His focus is on generating his own leads and controlling the market (he is #1 in South SF and owns 10% of all transactions).
(Btw many asked for more data, so this one’s for you, lol)
So, whether you have time, money, or just the ambition to do more, these are systems anyone can implement today to win listings.
— Andrew
Playbook
When many think of farming, they think of mail, but it’s way more than that. It’s actually one of the few proven ways to get listing leads.
- Wilson Leung
Farming is Wilson's primary method for consistently getting listings in a specific geographic area
He targets single-family resale home neighborhoods, avoiding condos/townhomes due to solicitation restrictions
His current farm is in South San Francisco, which he's been working for 7-8 years
He's now expanding to new areas in San Mateo County
So, how does Wilson evaluate a market he wants to enter?
So these are the 3 key numbers he looks at:
Analyzes competition - looks for areas where top 3 agents don't have over 10% market share each
Considers turnover rate - aims for about 3% annual turnover (typical rate)
Evaluates owner-occupancy rates - prefers 80-90% owner-occupied
Assesses geographic challenges - chooses hilly areas other agents avoid
But once he’s chose a market, what does he expect?
He goes in with these expectations and commitments:
Monthly: 14 hours - visiting each door in the farm once a month, which means committing to those 14 hours every month.
Weekly: 4 hours - committing 10% of a full-time work week to farming (assuming a 40-hour work week)
Daily: He suggests splitting this into two 2-hour sessions per week
Results: Wilson mentions that it typically takes about 9 months to see the first paycheck from farming.
“You'll have a handful of listing opportunities in your farm."
He’s now bumping that up to 2x a month based on Andy Tse’s (#2 in the state of California) advice.
So, what’s the message and the content?
Campaign example:
1 newsletter a month
1 market update / recently sold a month
1 call-to-action angle like Rent vs. Sell
1 sold story / recently sold a month
Goals (Calls to Action):
request - home value, rent vs sell, keep or sell, maximize your value
get to an event
get on the newsletter list
etc.
What you can roughly expect for the cost (I ran this digitally, so if you use more local methods, then this will be lower)
How?
Click2mail
Lofty direct mail
Vistaprint
Mailshark
Postcardmania
Express Docs
Canva
EDDM
Local print
So, how can you combine traditional with digital like Wilson?
Wilson focused heavily on search based platforms like Googly My Business (100+ reviews), Yelp, his website, YouTube and then went big on social.
He focuses heavily on social proof on his social, ads, etc.
Script:
"Christina, would you mind writing a couple sentences on my Yelp page? Just search my name on Yelp and leave a brief review."
But he hired a “D-Rock,” aka a videographer, on staff, so they always had someone (for events, listings, content… anything).
Even when the market dipped he kept their videographer.
Wilson’s Monthly Calendar example:
The team:
Daily: Team huddle, share wins and gratitude on Instagram Stories
Mon-Fri: 2-hour farming sessions (twice a week, 4 hours total)
Wednesday: Coaching day, live stream portions of coaching sessions
Weekly:
Create and schedule social media content (property journeys, market updates, testimonials)
Monitor and respond to online reviews (Google, Yelp)
Update website content and optimize SEO
Bi-weekly:
Send postcards to farm area (1,000 doors)
Convert postcard content to email format and send
Monthly:
Send newsletter to email list
Send market update / recently sold to farm area
Create and share Rent vs. Sell comparison content
Feature a local South San Francisco or San Mate County business
Share San Mateo County area updates
Create and share a sold story / recently sold property highlight
Aim to add 8 quality contacts to database from digital outreach
Create long-form educational YouTube video
Repurpose YouTube content for Instagram and Facebook
Review and adjust Google Ads for local searches
This is what the content looks like:
Video Strategy
YouTube focus: Long-form educational content
Topics: Market updates, home improvement tips, local area insights
Goal: Repurpose content across platforms (Instagram, Facebook)
Client Education
Repurpose home buying workshop recording for lead nurturing
Create content addressing market changes (e.g., interest rates, lawsuits)
Event Marketing
Digital promotion for annual events: a) 2 neighborhood picnics b) 1 shred day (post-tax season) c) 1 movie day (Disney/Pixar, 290-seat theater booking) d) Educational events (e.g., home buying workshop)
Email Marketing
Monthly market updates to farm area (1,000 doors)
Bi-weekly postcards converted to email format
Advertising
Minimal spend on traditional social media ads
Focus on Google Ads for local "South City" and "San Bruno" searches
So this is an example how you can turn it into quarterly campaigns & KPI’s to hit:
Database building goals:
Goal: Add 1-2 quality contacts per hour of farming
Potential: 8 new contacts per month, nearly 100 per year
Conversion metrics:
Aims for 10% market share in his farm area
Acknowledges “losing” 90% is normal and not a failure
Want to learn more about Wilson’s social media content strategy that helps him go viral locally? Then check out the “Coming Soon” (local development & area update) content playbook.
It’s the same playbook Ken runs with the Orlando Real (169,000+ followers).
But if you want to dive deeper into Wilson’s playbooks then check out his recent podcast on Breaking and Building Leaders!
In this old school & new school real estate marketing masterclass, meet Wilson Leung, the founder of OWN Real Estate and leader of the #1 residential real estate team in South SF/San Mateo County. With over $1.1 billion in sales and 1000 families helped, Wilson is here to share his unconventional strategies for success.
The Real Estate Marketing Mastermind: How To Build A $100 Million Team By Targeting The "Wrong" Neighborhoods!
We talked about👇
(00:00) Behind 1.1 billion in sales to helping 1000 families & the power of attention
(02:13) The importance of intentional communication to set expectations
(03:34) How does Wilson approach unique listings? $1.4 million inherited property story
(04:32) Three key factors for vendor relationships and accountability
(07:43) Why Wilson targeted different neighborhoods for strategic farming explained
(10:42) The danger of the “hamster wheel” in real estate & how to avoid it
(13:25) Creating good vs. negative attention
(15:56) Why Wilson maintains a videographer despite market contraction
(20:03) Short-form vs. long-form content - why short?
(26:35) How hiring staff at 40% of GCI pushed Wilson to grow his business
(31:22) The pitfall of only showing your best online
(34:08) Wilson’s approach to adding value for developers
(37:54) Creating your own market
… and way more!
Watch it now on Breaking and Building Leaders YouTube!
Underrated conversation starter emails
Jimmy Mackin and Tom Ferry share these “conversation starter” emails often:
Timely
Relevant
Value (information) first
Great copywriting
Easy to consume
Easy to hit send
I think “digital prospecting” with email is still underrated.
Homebuyer & homeowner (seller) seminars or webinars are becoming more common ways to take digital to traditional.
So you can get “face-to-face time” without being salesly. You can provide value and earn their business.
While seminars are more common in the coaching/education, marketing, etc., space, they aren’t new.
As you saw, Wilson makes them a regular practice in his business to “own” his lead gen.
You can check out a few real estate examples if you want to do the same.
Rapid Fire:
ElevenLabs is becoming the go-to AI for voice (they launched a voice isolator if you have audio issues and a new Reader app).
Long form (10-30 minutes) house tours are becoming more common
How you market your listings says a lot… or little to future sellers
Alex Hormozi’s business content on YouTube is some of the best. It’s free too (Paid ads example).
Businesses have to start acting like media companies ($75 million exit founder’s advice).
How could we improve this email?
That's it for today!
But if you have any questions, then reply & let me know.
(This helps me create the right type of content, hearing what you actually care about)
Let's have an amazing week!
Andrew Bayon
P.S. Want us to execute for you and be your marketing team so you can focus on your clients and team? Reply with “VIDEO” and I’ll send a video showing what we do.
Or you can schedule a time to chat, during which I’ll give you a complimentary marketing strategy you can implement.
Are you looking for work? We’re hiring creatives (Video editors, Thumbnail designers, Ghostwriters, Social Media/YouTube Managers, and more). Just reply with “JOBS,” and I’ll send you our job board for you to apply to.
