Real Estate Thought Leaders

“Agents want ease , they want relationships and they want to be part of something bigger than themselves.” That’s how John puts it. And that comes from hundreds of conversations with agents, building his revshare group and hosting his podcast, Real Estate Survival Guide. But what’s behind the shift? Part of it’s generational, part of it’s the last few years… the economy the uncertainty the lonelin...

The Real AI Opportunity in Real Estate w/Brandon Doyle For a tech-savvy agent, YouTuber and consultant to tech companies, you’d think Brandon would be “all in” on creating content with AI. Quite the opposite. “AI is great for improving your workflow and saving some time, but if you’re using [AI] for the actual creation, you’re doing it wrong. You’re just creating garbage and noise and in the long...

Do what other leaders won’t do. That’s where the big opportunities live. That’s what I took away from the chat with Marki. Well, that and my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing. You might know Marki from… * her years of pro speaking on AI and social selling * her podcast and membership * Hosting the NAR Drive podcast If so, you also know she’s going to be 100% herself, in any situation. So she d...

Levi and his partner have built 2 YouTube channels with a combined 60k subs. So when he says newer YouTubers have the advantage … that they’re building audiences even faster… that catches my attention. What are they doing differently, and what are they incorporating into their own growth strategy? Let’s get into it. Start With a High Performing Format. “Look outside of your market. I did a video…....

Scott Richard isn’t selling AI like the rest of the industry. The broker-turned-tech-founder is allergic to hype. And after scratching his own itch, he’s built tools that are so useful, agents and brokers sell themselves. Scott’s playbook is all about authenticity, live demos, and getting insanely specific about who he’s talking to. Here’s how he’s actually getting agents’ attention in a market wh...

Ray Wood has been around long enough to know what works with agents, and what doesn’t. The Aussie-Canadian direct response veteran behind AI Ad Machine has used every outreach tactic in the book. Cold calls, one-on-one calls, high-end sales presentations. But he’s finding that sometimes, agents want less personal attention. Here’s what Ray’s learned about reaching agents in 2025, plus the testing...

Facing critical decisions on your marketing and content strategy? Click below to learn about working with me in a 90-Day Strategy Sprint. Mike’s a self-admitted data guy. Not a sales or marketing guy. But he did 3 really smart things. And he ended up building a category king business and getting acquired by HousingWire. Here are the… Non-Obvious Insights from our Conversation: Behavior Signals Min...

This platform is about the non-obvious, the subversive, the counterintuitive stuff. That’s where Jess really stands out. We’re talking… * screenshotting troll comments and sharing them openly * posting on IG for years without selling anything * breaking the model of “accountability” coaching She also runs ListingsLab from a small Caribbean island. Is she the Bond villain of real estate coaching? T...

This week shares some tactics you can test in the next 30 days with zero change of strategy. The inspiration is a chat with DJ Paris about how he’s using Keeping It Real to reach and attract agents to the Chicago-based brokerage he serves. Now let’s get into the tactics… Video SMS for Cold Outreach “I now do video SMS... I think it’s actually less invasive than a text message... they can visually...

Mike’s most effective video wasn’t what I expected. But when YouTube comes up in my conversations with leaders, I hear a much bigger, unspoken question. “What does it cost to WIN on YouTube…In time, energy, money…and my SOUL?” That’s what I want to dig into in this edition. So here are the non-obvious insights from the chat with Mike and my analysis. Plan on $100k & 2 years minimum to “prime the s...

Here’s a short list of things Jay is NOT doing to promote his book… * speaking all over the country * shouting about how he hit #1 on Amazon * staying up til 2am giving his 10th podcast interview of the day But he’s also not coasting on the success of Millionaire Real Estate Agent and The ONE Thing. Jay is playing a different game. Here are the Non-Obvious Insights from our Conversation… Category...

Lars had a massive ad budget, a “closer” team, all the tech tools to max out ROAS.Still couldn’t get the conversion numbers he wanted. So he started taking sales calls with agents again. Over 150 this year. And what is he hearing from agents? Exhaustion .Not because agents are doing the fundamentals and it’s not working. They don’t even want to hear that fundamentals are the answer. So I asked Lar...

Reminder: The content is not for agents, this is a mastermind-style newsletter for real estate leaders, insiders and content creators. A place where we can openly discuss the challenges of reaching and engaging agents, building brands and dominating niches. You won’t find this content all over social media, so if it’s valuable, forward it to a friend. This week is a little detour into the world of...

For Tristan, community isn’t a tactic you bolt onto your marketing strategy. Everything starts with community. When you spend more than a decade immersed in building communities, can you blame him? He’s definitely had a lot of time to break down what works. Going from Lab Coat Agents to… * Masterminding community strategy for Follow Up Boss (pre-acquisition) * Consulting with bigger brands on comm...

Welcome to Real Estate Thought Leaders! This started with my obsession with one question (more on that below). That obsession led to this platform of newsletter + podcast. Most of the newsletters will be short. 3 non-obvious insights, some analysis from me, and an action step. But every month I’ll write a longer “deep dive” into a specific topic. Today’s newsletter is a deep dive. The question I’v...

Here’s an odd benefit of the shifting market… It may have handed you killer topics to engage agents. Using basic real estate skills that come so naturally, you don’t even think about them. That’s what hit me when talking to Meredith Fogle, team leader, author and host of “So You Want to be a Real Estate Agent.” Non-Obvious Insights from our Conversation: The shifting market exposed a huge skills g...

25,000 agents in Phoenix alone. Dominate that market and your podcast is automatically among the top in the country. Same for newsletter or YouTube channel. So that’s what Lance Billingsley is doing. As VP of Agent Development at Navi Title (AZ’s fastest growing title co), he’s out talking to agents every day. He wanted to build a show around the mindset of the top 13% of agents. But he’s starting...

Agents want you to get to the hook immediately . No fluff, no preamble and no promotion before value is given. Not just in Shorts and Reels, I’m seeing that extend to every form of content. This came up in a chat with Matt Bonelli and Garrett Frey, podcasters and founders of Life at Ten Tenths . If you don’t know their names, they’re the guys who walked away from hosting the Ninja Selling podcast…...

Of course, every tactic is dead depending on who you’re listening to. But when it’s coming from Dustin Brohm, who’s in the trenches every day creating content on the Massive Agent Podcast , it carries more weight. Non-Obvious Insights from our Conversation: Agents aren’t engaging with talking head videos like they used to “Talking head videos just suck. I posted one this morning, 20 minutes later,...

Josh is one of the OG’s of real estate podcasting, launching GSD Mode in 2013 (beating me to the game by about 2 years). He’s also sold 1,000s of homes and built a massive following by ignoring industry trends and focusing on what actually works. Non-Obvious Insights from our Conversation: Authenticity Trumps Production Value “I just started getting on a mic, speaking into Zoom or StreamYard or wh...

Hey! Matt Johnson here, thanks for checking out Real Estate Thought Leaders. This is a passion project to answer a few big questions my friends and agency clients are facing right now. How do we… * get agents’ attention? * create a sense of shared mission and community? * deal with marketing platforms getting more expensive and less effective? All while respond to massive shifts in technology, reg...