Angie Javier, who has spent nearly a decade at realtor.com speaking with agents across the country, says that when she pulls up an agent's online presence in real time at events, on Zoom calls, she can't find 98% of them. Not their website. Not their profile. Not their social media. If a realtor.com spokesperson can't find you online, your potential clients definitely can't. So what's going wrong? The Online/Offline Divide According to Angie, most agents fall into one of two camps. The first group has been working in their sphere and doing traditional marketing for years, open house signs, flyers, mailers, and sees digital as unnecessary or intimidating. The second group went all-in on their website and online leads, but let their community presence go quiet. Business has slowed, and they don't know why. The agents who are consistently winning, Angie says, are the ones who have figured out how to blend both. It's not either/or, it's and. Start With a Plan That Actually Excites You When agents come to Angie feeling overwhelmed, her first piece of advice is always the same: make a plan. But not the kind of plan filled with transaction targets and lead counts. She shared the example of one of her top-producing clients who doesn't write "close 50 transactions" on his annual plan. He writes "take my family to Disney World" and "get my son a car before college." When you start with the life you want, the business strategy to get there starts to make sense in a different way. You're not just checking boxes, you're building toward something. Once the big vision is in place, Angie recommends using AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT to help break that plan into monthly and quarterly priorities. Stick it next to your computer. Follow it. Print Isn't Dead - But Spend It Wisely Before joining realtor.com , Angie worked at CoreFact, a print marketing company that specializes in hyper-local, geo-targeted farming. Her take on print is nuanced: she doesn't believe in dropping thousands on just-listed and just-sold postcards. But strategic, consistent print marketing in a defined geographic area? That still moves the needle. The key is understanding what you want to accomplish, what budget makes sense, and then committing to it long enough to see results. Print is a slow ROI, but it keeps your name in front of the right people. Your Online Presence Needs to Work for Humans and AI If you're not findable, you're not relevant. Angie's starting checklist for every agent: A free profile on realtor.com Your own website or landing page (not just a brokerage profile) A presence on at least one social media platform A bio that's been updated and optimized not just for buyers and sellers, but for AI tools That last one is increasingly critical. We're past the era of SEO. Today, Angie is talking about GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization), the emerging disciplines around getting your name recommended by AI tools when buyers and sellers are searching. If an AI can't parse your bio and connect you to your market, you won't show up in the conversations that matter. Don't Let Technology Take Over Angie's human-centric philosophy is simple: don't forget to be human. Pick up the phone. Not to pitch, but to genuinely check in. Notice when someone has lost a family member. Celebrate when their kid gets into their dream school. These are the moments that create the kind of trust that no algorithm can replicate. She keeps coming back to a Maya Angelou quote: people won't remember what you said, but they'll never forget how you made them feel. Use AI to get more efficient. Use that efficiency to be more present. That's the formula. Angie Javier is a content creator and national speaker at realtor.com . Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

The question I ask agents to consider is, How do I want my clients to feel  when they work with me? Not what do I want them to know  about me? Not what credentials do I want them to see? What do I want them to feel ? That question came up in one of my favorite conversations on this podcast with Scott Coligan, fractional CMO, brand consultant, and someone I've known since I hired him at Miller Coors back in 2007. Scott went on to build something called the Human Experience Method, a consumer research practice that was the opposite of a focus group. Instead of asking people manufactured questions in a sterile conference room, Scott's team embedded themselves in consumers' lives. They went into their homes. They went to work with them. They attended sober raves. (Yes, really.) The goal was to understand people, not targets, not demographics, people - as full human beings with rich, complex emotional lives. And what surprised him most from all of that research was their vulnerability. When people felt safe and heard, they opened up in ways that were closer to therapy sessions than interviews. That kind of trust-building, Scott realized, had enormous implications not just for consumer brands, but for any brand trying to build real relationships. So what does this mean for a real estate agent? Your Client Is Not a Lead The biggest mindset shift Scott talks about is moving from transactional thinking to human thinking. A buyer or seller isn't just a deal in your pipeline. They're a person going through one of the most emotionally charged experiences of their life. Scott's advice is to have real conversations with recent clients. Not a post-closing survey. An actual conversation. Ask them what they liked, what they didn't like, what they wish had been different, and how the experience made them feel. And then actually let that information change how you show up. You Are the Product. And the Packaging. One of the most useful frameworks Scott brings to this episode is the idea that for a real estate agent, the agent IS the product. The house isn't what you're selling. The house is the result of the product's promise. He uses Heywell, the functional beverage startup he now leads as a fractional CMO, as a case study. With no marketing budget, they had to rely on word of mouth and product experience. So they overinvested in the one thing that would do the most work: the packaging. It stands out on the shelf. It communicates what's inside. It builds immediate trust. For an agent, that's your website. Your social presence. The one channel that is the face of your business. Whatever it is, Scott says, make it look as good as it possibly can. Make sure it feels like you . And make sure the experience of navigating it is as easy as the experience of working with you — because every signal you send through that channel is either confirming your brand promise or contradicting it. Look Outside of Real Estate This is the part I think every agent needs to hear. If you're trying to figure out how to stand out, and you're doing it by looking at what other agents are doing, you've already lost. You're going to come up with something that looks and sounds exactly like what's already out there. Scott's approach is to look sideways. Look at hospitality. Look at concierge medical. Look at interior design. Look at bereavement services. Anywhere someone wants to feel cared for and advocated for. What are those brands doing to create that feeling? And what's missing in real estate? He points to Liquid Death as a favorite example of distinction done right. A canned water company that looked at rock bands and craft beer instead of other water brands and built a brand with actual personality. Real estate, he argues, has the same personality deficit. There's a lot of performative professionalism and not much realness. The question to ask yourself: Are you someone your clients would want to ride around with all weekend, looking at houses? Because that's the energy your brand needs to communicate. The Scrappy Research Hack That Costs Nothing One of my favorite practical takeaways from this conversation: create a separate Instagram account just for research. Follow the people, brands, places, and spaces that are connected to your ideal client community. Let the algorithm do its work. Spend a few minutes each week scrolling through that feed and absorbing the cultural conversation happening there. It's free, it's always with you, and it's a constant source of insight about what your people actually care about. Own What Makes You Different I'll leave you with what Scott said when I asked him for the best piece of career advice he ever received: Be yourself and lean into your strengths. He talked about spending years in a hyper-masculine corporate culture, feeling pressure to be someone he wasn't, and how the moment he stopped doing that and started owning his sensitivity, his empathy, and his creativity was the moment things clicked. Those weren't weaknesses to manage. They were his differentiation. I say this to my clients all the time: your weird is your wealth. You don't have to be for everybody. You just have to be unmistakably, consistently yourself. That's how you build a brand people trust. Scott Coligan is a fractional CMO and brand consultant currently leading marketing strategy for Heywell, a functional beverage startup. He previously developed the Human Experience Method at Miller Coors, a groundbreaking approach to consumer insights that changed how the organization understood its customers. Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

I love a good debate, especially when it's with someone I genuinely respect. Marc Davison is the co-founder and creative director of 1000Watt, and when it comes to real estate branding and marketing, he is one of the smartest people I know. He's been building brands for 40+ years, he challenges assumptions for a living, and he is very, very good at asking the hard questions most people are afraid to answer. He is also, without question, anti-personal brand. I am very much pro-personal brand. So when we finally sat down to record together, we both knew we were heading straight into it, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. The "Deborah" Problem Marc's argument starts in the 1970s and 1980s, when real estate agents were part-timers. They didn't own their listings, their sold data, or their portfolios. All of that belonged to the broker. The only thing they could really promote was themselves. Marc's point is that today's agents are completely different from Deborah. They have books of business, listings, reviews, client experiences, and a defined philosophy. They're running real enterprises. And yet, so many of them are still building their marketing around their personalities rather than the actual brand assets they've created. "When you build a personal brand, that's all about you. I don't see me in it. There's no facade. It's just you and your business, and I don't love you or your business." Sounds harsh, right? Where I Differ I believe personal brand is still viable and necessary for independent agents who have stepped out from under the brokerage umbrella and need to own their market presence. The values, the point of view, the specific client experience you create, that is your brand. People hire agents because they know, like, and trust them - not because of how much business they do. Here's where Marc and I agree: the problem isn't having a personal brand. The problem is building your brand exclusively  around yourself instead of around the experience you create for your clients. "You're so busy telling everybody how great you are and what you sold," Marc said, "you're not telling them the story they want to hear about themselves." That's the shift. From "look at me" to "I see you." The Customer Experience Nobody's Mapping Marc's obsession with the client experience is really what drives differentiation. He spent all of 2024 mapping the buyer and seller experience end-to-end. While most agents are aware of these pain points, they invite clients into them and sometimes even create them. The "just sold" postcard is a perfect example: you send it out to get calls, someone calls you thinking their home is worth what yours sold for, and now you've started the conversation in a hole. You marketed the thing no one actually cares about, and missed the opportunity to tell the story they were actually asking about: how did it sell in five days? What did you do? That's the brand story. That's what builds trust before anyone ever picks up the phone. The Biggest Takeaway Whether you call it a personal brand or a professional profile (Marc prefers the latter), what you're really building is visibility, values, and reputation, wrapped in a strategy that helps your client see themselves in your brand, not just you. You don't have to choose between being yourself and being strategic. The best brands do both. Marc Davison is available at marc@1000watt.net . He responds to everyone. Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

In an era where automation, AI, and software dominate the business landscape, one concept is quietly becoming the most powerful differentiator: community. In this episode of Know Like Trust for Real Estate , Christine George sat down with community strategist Stacey Soleil to unpack what community actually means and why it matters more than ever. Stacey describes community as the connective tissue that links people, products, and purpose.  Without it, companies build tools but struggle to build loyalty. When community is present, customers stop behaving like users and start behaving like partners. Community vs. Support vs. Success Many organizations confuse community with customer support or customer success. But they serve very different roles: Support fixes problems. Customer success helps clients reach outcomes. Community creates belonging. When people feel connected to others using the same product or service, their behavior changes. They stay longer. They participate more. They advocate for the brand. Why Community Matters More in the Age of AI Technology is making businesses faster and more efficient. But efficiency alone doesn’t build loyalty. AI can answer questions, automate processes, and improve workflows. But it cannot create belonging. Community fills that gap by bringing people together around shared goals, shared challenges, and shared experiences. What This Means for Real Estate Professionals Here’s the key takeaway for real estate agents: you already have a community. Your past clients. Your referral partners. Your local network. Your social media audience. The opportunity isn’t to create something entirely new. The opportunity is to nurture and activate the community you already have. That might look like: Hosting events for your sphere Creating spaces for clients to connect with each other Sharing valuable insights consistently online Showing up with personality and authenticity When people feel like they belong, they stay. And when they stay, your brand becomes unforgettable. Connect with Stacey on Instagram Learn more about Cloze. Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

There’s a big difference between being good at what you do and being invited to speak about it. In this episode of Know Like Trust, I sit down with Kendall Bonner, nationally recognized speaker and founder of Industry Speaks Academy, to discuss what most aspiring speakers misunderstand. Most people think: “I’m experienced. I’m successful. Put me on stage.” But according to Kendall, that’s only one piece of the puzzle. The Three Credibilities To move from expert to industry contributor, you need: 1. Street Credibility - Proof you know what you’re doing. 2. Performance Credibility - A clear topic. A structured talk. Rehearsed delivery. Event organizers don’t book people. They book topics. 3. Referral Credibility - The signals. The media kit. The positioning that says: “I’m ready.” Without all three, there’s a credibility gap. The Biggest Mistake Speakers Make Kendall watched a speaker deliver a beautiful talk. Perfect delivery and emotional story, but zero impact. Why? Because the story never resonated with the audience. Speaking isn’t about telling your story. It’s about translating your story into lessons others can apply. Readiness Over Coaching What I love about Kendall’s approach is that she doesn’t just coach performance. She coaches readiness. To learn more about Kendall's Academy, visit the Industry Speaks Academy here. Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

Most businesses don’t fail because they lack talent or tools. They fail because they misunderstand customer experience. In this episode, Elizabeth Dixon , former hospitality executive and author of The Power of the Customer Experience , joined me for a powerful conversation on why experience can’t be reduced to a training module. Elizabeth shares what she witnessed firsthand while leading hospitality at Chick-fil-A . Organizations were enamoured by what Chick-fil-A was doing and wanted a “magic pill” to fix their customer service challenges without addressing mindset, leadership, or culture. For solopreneurs, this is actually good news. You are  the culture. You decide how people feel when they work with you. Elizabeth outlines four critical mindsets: Excellence - doing the work people don’t see Empathy - stewarding emotions, not just transactions Empowerment - owning your role and authority Engagement - staying in the conversation instead of sitting on the sidelines The takeaway is simple but profound: if people don’t experience care within the organization, they can’t create it for customers. This episode is a reminder that trust isn’t built through marketing claims or missions posted on a wall. It’s built in moments. Connect with Elizabeth, and he book here. Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

When people talk about customer experience, they often focus on marketing, first impressions, or closing the deal. But according to Melissa Anderson, Director of Customer Success at MoxiWorks, the most important work begins after  the sale. In this episode of Know Like Trust for Real Estate, we discuss what it actually takes to guide clients through change, uncertainty, and high-stakes decisions, whether that’s onboarding new technology or buying and selling a home. Melissa explains why customer success is not about reacting to problems, but about understanding business goals, asking better discovery questions, and creating shared plans that bring clarity to every step of the process. Calm doesn’t come from pretending problems don’t exist. It comes from setting expectations early, outlining milestones, and holding everyone accountable together. This conversation is especially relevant for real estate agents who want to: Reduce client anxiety during transactions Avoid misalignment and last-minute surprises Build trust that leads to long-term referrals Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn. Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

Most real estate agents believe growth comes from doing more: more leads, more platforms, more noise. According to Brittany Hodak, that’s the opposite of how to grow. In this episode of Know Like Trust for Real Estate , Speaker, Author and Shark Tank celeb, Brittany Hodak explains why the biggest threat to modern businesses, especially service-based ones like real estate is apathy . When clients feel the experience was “fine,” they move on. No referral. No loyalty. No memory. The solution is intentional experience design. Brittany introduces her SUPER framework : Start with your story , not your stats. Understand their story . Show you care before proving expertise. Personalize the experience . Be high-touch. Exceed expectations  because just meeting them is forgettable. Repeat what works . Consistency compounds trust. One of the most powerful moments of the conversation for me was when she said, “I don’t care how many people are in your database. I care how many people have you  in theirs.” Ouch. That one really stuck with me. Real differentiation doesn’t come from being everywhere. It comes when people remember how you made them feel. That's when you start attracting real referrals. Get to know Brittany. Check out Brittany's Book, Creating Super Fans. Consider her masterclass specifically for real estate. Follow Brittany on Instagram. Want to be coached live on the podcast? I'd love to hear from you. Apply here: coachingwithchristinegeorge.com Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

Every few years, real estate faces a new “this will change everything” moment. AI is the latest and loudest. In this replay episode of Know Like Trust , Keith Robinson offers a refreshingly calm, practical take: AI will absolutely change how we work, but it won’t replace real estate agents anytime soon. Why? Because buying and selling a home isn’t a logic-only decision. It’s emotional, personal, and deeply human. In this conversation, we discuss: Why humans still rely on trusted advisors for big decisions How AI excels at efficiency, summaries, and conversation starters Where agents must level up  to stay relevant Why creativity and emotional intelligence are becoming the new differentiators The danger of chasing tools instead of strengthening relationships The takeaway is that AI can support the process, but trust  still drives the action. Want to be coached live on the podcast? I'd love to hear from you. Apply here: coachingwithchristinegeorge.com Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

Seth Price is the CMO of RealScout and the author of The Road to Recognition . Seth has been shaping how real estate professionals market themselves for more than a decade. Now he’s on a mission to help agents embrace AI as their biggest competitive advantage. In our conversation, Seth explained why personal brand is now the only  true differentiator agents have left. With AI platforms acting as intermediaries between consumers and their search behavior, name recognition becomes everything. As Seth put it, “If someone isn’t asking for Christine’s Pizza, the algorithm will serve whatever benefits it, not you.”   We also explored: Why agents must treat brand building as part of the job Brand isn’t a logo. It’s the system that keeps working even when you’re sleeping. Social content, nurture systems, and consistent messaging are long-term assets. The real role of AI in an agent’s business AI isn’t replacing agents. It’s replacing inefficiency. It’s the modern assistant who helps refine your writing, strategize your content, analyze your tools, and automate your workflows. Why TikTok and LinkedIn are the highest upside platforms right now Seth believes agents underestimate platforms where organic reach is still powerful and unpredictable. How RealScout is quietly shaping the future of client experience RealScout’s focus on consumer-first search, signal tracking, and nurturing makes it one of the only tools that works even when you’re not. His three reminders for staying grounded in a fast-changing world Calm the noise. Focus your mind. Put in the work. You can manifest the future you want, but you still have to till the soil. Follow Seth on LinkedIn. Learn more about RealScout. Want to be coached live on the podcast? I'd love to hear from you. Apply here: coachingwithchristinegeorge.com Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

Sometimes the most powerful tools are the ones we’re already using, so this week I’m bringing back this conversation with my friends at  Constant Contact , Stephanie Alfonso, and Dave Charest. We talked about how email newsletters do far more than “keep in touch.” They reveal patterns, intentions, and behaviors that help you understand where your clients are in their buying or selling process. The right content paired with consistent sending can show you who’s getting ready to list, who’s thinking about buying, and who’s quietly gathering information. You’ll hear about: The shift toward AI-driven insights and automation in email marketing Why certain types of content uncover seller intent How surveys and calls-to-action warm your database Why open rates aren’t the end-all metric anymore The balance between personality and value in every email Your newsletter is your direct line to understanding your people and showing up for them in a way that feels human, helpful, and aligned with your brand. Want to be coached live on the podcast? I'd love to hear from you. Apply here: coachingwithchristinegeorge.com Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel

There’s a shift happening in leadership, and it’s one every real estate brokerage should be paying attention to. In this week’s REPLAY of Know Like Trust , Christine talks with Laura O’Connor , collaborative strategist and co-author of The Shift to Fractional Leadership . They explore how companies are bringing in top-tier talent on a fractional basis to solve specific challenges, mentor internal teams, and drive measurable growth, all without committing to a full-time salary. Laura shares why this model is booming in the real estate industry, how to know if your brokerage is ready for it, and what pitfalls to avoid when hiring a fractional leader. Fractional leadership offers a smarter, more flexible way to grow. Want to be coached live on the podcast? I'd love to hear from you. Apply here: coachingwithchristinegeorge.com Rate, Review, Follow & Share! "Christine has a warm and welcoming style that brings out the best of her guests and shares it brilliantly with all her listeners." - If you're feeling all the feels too, please stop by the podcast, rate it and leave us a review.  It really does help boost the show. Apply now for a free coaching session on the Know Like Trust for Real Estate Podcast and get personalized help with your real estate business. Here are all the ways to connect: Christine George Instagram Sign up for The Sunbeam newsletter: postandbeamcreative.com Post & Beam YouTube Channel