Why Tom Ferry Marketing Techniques are KILLING The Real Estate Industry

If you are anything like me, you are frustrated with the state of the real estate industry and its so-called coaches. Everywhere you look there is someone telling you what you need to do to blow up your real estate business. “You need to get billboards and fliers!” “You need to have at least ten thousand followers on TikTok or you are nobody!” Who came up with all this stuff?! Funny enough, the people with all these followers and billboards usually are not the ones closing deals, so why are we looking to them for advice?

Let’s get real about why some of the leading real estate coaches are just blowing smoke.

1. A business model based on popularity

Ok, I would love to say that we are all adults here and this isn’t high school, and that nobody cares about being voted prom queen anymore. But honestly, that may not be true, because even as adults and people trying to run businesses, we still seem to think being popular will solve all of our problems. The secret being kept from you is that all of the followers in the world, and all of the liked Instagram and TikTok videos, can’t close deals.

Coaches who dominate TikTok with millions of followers are posting videos saying they can’t wait to go knock on doors. You have millions of people who think you rock and you still have to go chase business? What’s going on here?!

2. Followers do not translate to closed deals

If you attend nearly any real estate coaching seminar you will leave with one thing drilled into your skull – you must have a huge social media following to be successful. You might leave feeling pretty defeated and well, unpopular. You might be thinking “I only have a few hundred people that follow my Instagram or TikTok…and it’s mostly my mom and her friends!” You’re made to feel like without this huge social media following you will never make a sale.

But here’s a secret, the people on the stage telling you this are not making sales from their giant following either, so why are we taking advice from people who are not closing deals? You would never become a surgeon by learning from people who have never been in an operating room, so why do we think people who are not successful realtors can teach us how to be successful realtors?

3. Age-old marketing tactics that don’t work

Some of these coaches will tell you real estate is a pay to play game. If you are not willing to shell out thousands of dollars to plaster your face all over bus stop benches and billboards, or to stuff every mailbox full of unsolicited fliers (again, with your smiling face all over them) then you will just never be a successful realtor. This just isn’t true. When was the last time you were driving down the highway and thought

“Oh good, I can tell from his billboard that John Doe is the man to call when I get in an 18-wheeler accident!” Never. Even if, heaven forbid, you did need his service, you probably wouldn’t call him.

These marketing tactics may solicit a few calls now and then, but they will never even make back what you paid for them.

4. Why short form content just doesn’t work

When you are trying to connect with people, and create potential business relationships, short form content just doesn’t give you a big enough canvas to work on. You need to be able to let people know you are real, and you know how hard it is to buy a house right now. You are not going to show up knocking on their door, dripping with fake, saccharine charm and a smile full of shiny veneers. You are going to help them find a home. You are going to help them find the right part of town to live in. You are going to help them figure out how they can finance, or where they will have the most luck in their price range.

Getting real with people, and answering consumer questions, is the only way to truly translate viewership into business. Make some long form content, make some connections with people, and go out and make some sales.

If you want to learn more about partnering with us at eXp Realty, getting all of our training and coaching 100% free, or letting us help you blow up your business shoot me an e-mail to [email protected]!