Stop Selling, Start Storytelling: Building Authority Online With Jason Cassity

Think building authority online means talking about your success? Think again.

In this episode of Not Nice, Clever, we’re sitting down with San Diego real estate powerhouse and edutainment video expert, Jason Cassity, to unpack the power of story-telling and why the best marketers don’t make it about themselves.

Jason shares the biggest mistakes real estate agents (and entrepreneurs in general) make when trying to build credibility, the tiny tweak that transforms your marketing from “just another sales pitch” to a compelling story, and why showing your value is always more powerful than telling.

We also dive into:

• The simplest way to generate referrals without feeling salesy
• Why social media works best when it feels human
•  The easiest 90-day strategy to become a market expert (and build confidence FAST)

Make sure to tune in til the end when Jason gives a masterclass in how to make the ask—without making it awkward when answering a Not Nice. Advice submission from a self-proclaimed "networking wallflower"

🎧 Tune in now and get ready to flip your content strategy upside down—in the best way possible.

Show notes:

• Follow Jason on Instagram
• Check out Jason and his team on their website

🏁 Connect With Us On Instagram!

• Not Nice Clever
• Candice Carcioppolo
• Kat Torre

📣 Amplify by Not Nice. Clever. is the ace up your sleeve. It's a hands on, workshop style delivery full of replicable frameworks, and actionable strategies that you team can put in place right away.

Find out more HERE.

🎙 Book Kat and Candice to speak at your next event, summit or workshop HERE

Transcript

 Anytime I have the ability to tell a story versus telling the outcome. I'll always try to tell a story 

You come off as very confident when you're talking about what you know, right? So like if you ask me a question about marketing I can probably talk for an hour about marketing without having to look anything up But if you ask me about 19th century french literature, I would have no idea And if I was on a podcast talking about that, I would fumble over my words and I would not appear confident Right and in your opinion jason, what's the biggest mistake people make when they are?

Trying to build authority online, real estate agents in general  are a little bit too about me, like about us and not about their clients. The smallest little tweak where if you make it about the clients and you're like, um, you know, it's how did Candace and Kat save 300, 000 on this or, or earn an extra 300, 000 on this?

Let me tell you their story. And then you're like, Hey, they met in college. I did this. And then you, you, you make the whole thing about them. You're still conveying the same information, but it's not about you. You know what I mean? And so like, it's just a smallest little tweak. I feel like agents in general could do with their marketing in general.

And take all of the marketing that we do about us and just turn it around and tell the client's story, right? Instead of just sold, um,  beat out seven other offers, uh, another one for me, right? Like, which was probably, I just explained like 99 percent of real estate marketing. You could say, like, how Daniel and Justine, um, got this amazing house in Linda Vista.

Um, by using an escalation clause, which helped them win a multiple offer situation. Let me tell you the story, right? Like that same little tweak, it's actually the same client. I just told you two different stories. It's the same exact client, but the way I just tweaked it just a tad, took all of the, um, Onus off of you, put it back on your clients and it completely softened the approach still gives you the authority.

Cause obviously you're the one telling the story. You're the one who like people read between the lines. They see, they know. Yeah. It's coming off your Instagram page, your Facebook page. They know, they know it's you. Um, you just don't need to make it about it. 

Totally. 

Of course. Yeah. 

Oh my goodness. That's the biggest key.  It,  obviously you could take a caption, right? I think there's 2, 200 characters in a caption or something like that. And like, you know, you could put the just listed post and you can just do that brokerage enabled graphic and you're checking the box. But if you could like tell the story of how your clients got this and that, and then in the caption, you have the ability to storytell that is like. 

That is the art of marketing that we do. Value can be very subjective, hard to pin down, very buzzwordy. I'd love to know kind of what has been your approach to it. Um, how do you break it down for yourself and for your team? So we'd say TTP, talk to people. And then it's like, and when you run out of that, you do TTMP, which is talk to more people.

We have so many things that we learned throughout our day about like, do this, do this, do this. And then at the core though, there's like.  But did you talk to enough people today? It's like hey stop buying leads stop doing this just buy people lunch and go out and talk  On today's episode of not nice, clever.

We're thrilled to welcome Jason Cassidy, a San Diego realtor and true master of edutainment video content. Jason has an incredible talent for zeroing in on exactly what his audience wants and needs to know from digital marketing to real estate. Jason knows how to take complex ideas and make them engaging, fun, and unforgettable.

So if you're ready to learn the secrets behind building trust and delivering value through your content, this episode is for you. So without Further ado, let's welcome to the show, Jason Cassidy.  Well, Jason, it feels like just yesterday we were hopping on Instagram live, talking about open houses and how they're dead in 2025.

And now it is 2025 and we have you. Well, Jason, it feels like just yesterday we were hopping on Instagram live, talking about open houses and how they're dead in 2025. And now it is 2025 and we have you joining the Clever Crew. Thank you for making the time. A hundred percent. Thanks for, thanks for having me.

I'm excited. Yeah. And also for our realtors and, uh, lenders in the Clever Crew, we don't know for sure if open houses are dead, but we were having a very interesting conversation.  This all stemmed from an Instagram story that of course I did while I was sitting in open house and it was dead.  And I was just like, there has to be a better way to like innovate this  from like, Hey, I need you to leave your house for three hours while I sit here and try to get buyer leads for other houses.

And so like, in any ways, it was basically the whole Instagram story thread, which like kind of took off, especially more on my Facebook too, where people were like. No, I love open houses the way they are. And I'm like, yeah, but it's not as good for the consumer. It's more for us. And so anyways, and then, yeah, Kat and I jumped on an Instagram live and talked about it.

That's what we're talking about.  Good times.  Well, aside from open houses, um,  in the new year, um, you know, you have, obviously have quite a presence online and also offline. Candice and I have had the pleasure of getting to know you at conferences, networks, and now we work together at sell it. I'm curious, you know, right now, what.

What, what is on your heart? Like, what are you, what can you not shut up about? Like, what does the Clevver crew need to pay attention to that? You are very passionate for it. Yeah, for sure. And I don't know if it's maybe not just one single thing. One thing I've been talking to my team a lot specifically about is like  simplifying. 

We have so many. Things that we learn throughout our day about like, do this, do this, do this. And then at the core though, there's like, but did you talk to enough people today? You know what I mean? And I think sometimes as real estate professionals, we just want to try all the new shiny objects and do all the types of stuff, but it's like, we, then we forget to make our five calls or do our three by five contacts, right?

It's like, did you talk to enough? So we'd say TTP, talk to people. And then it's like, and when you run out of that, you do TTMP, which is talk to more people. And so like,  literally that's the job. And I think sometimes me included, it's just like, we're like, Oh, okay, well, I have to do this thing on social or do this thing.

But I'm like, but did I actually just talk to 15 people today? Because that's at its core, our entire job. And so what social does is makes it easy, easier for us to have conversations at scale. But like every single day in this new year, like I'm planning out with my team. I'm setting aside two to three hours, at least three days a week to make sure I'm just talking to people.

Um, you know, someone told me like, I think it was Jimmy Burgess. He's like, buy, buy lunch, not leads. And it's like, that's such a good little like kind of thing. It's like, Hey, stop buying leads, stop doing this, just buy people lunch and go out and talk to them. And I think sometimes we forget that. And so that's going to be like my biggest focus for 2025  is, is literally just talk to more people. 

Yes, I love that. I was just on a consultation before we got on, and, um, this woman, solo agent, sold 35 houses this year. Um, like, she's, she's doing, she's doing good. She's doing great. She's increased her price point. She's sold 35 houses, and she's like, nervous about next year.  I'm like, why, why are you nervous about next year?

She's like, I just know that there's so many things that I'm not doing that I'm supposed to do. I was like, well, you hit your goal of selling 35 houses at the price point that you want. So why would you be nervous? Your people, her people are all from her sphere of influence. I was like, people obviously know I can trust you. 

If you just added one thing, Just one new thing next year, you're going to do better. Whatever that one thing is. You don't need to do a hundred new things. You don't need to, you know, add everything because she's like, I just feel like this agent's doing that. And this agent's doing that. And I'm like.  Put those binders on.

Put those binders on. Stay in your lane. You hit your goal. Let's come up with your next goal. And let's layer in one new way of marketing so that you can bring in leads from outside of your sphere of influence.  That's it. And that's the dream. 35 deals as a solo agent, that's like, and without lead gen, like without,  just because people like her.

Yeah. That's, that's literally the dream. I, I, I don't know if this math still works, but like I always try to say around 25 deals is kind of where I figure you need an assistant or some sort of help because that's two a month. If you have two escrows closing, that means you have two more in escrow and you're showing by your clients.

So that, that's about the point where you're starting to feel that, yeah, like I've got a 25. 25. Maybe some people can do 30 or 35, but their time, they'll have no time. Um, and so at 35 as a solo agent with no lead gen spend and just all database, that's, that's kind of like the max as a solo agent. And so like, and by the way, I don't know what market she's in, but she's probably making a comfortable living.

That's also a great  number for most people. Yeah. So like, I don't think, yeah, just you need to go on Tik TOK and point at numbers disappearing and stuff like that to get three extra deals, it's just probably cost. Benefit not worth it, but, um, shout out to her who did 35 deals as a solo. Yeah. Can I send this episode to her and then also send her the self sabotage episode?

It's that shiny object syndrome. It's like that comparison of being like, 10 things to market their business and I should be doing all of them. We also don't even know the data or really how many.  Yeah. Houses that person is sell or whatever it's, they're trying to sell. No, be like, show me the receipts and like also how happy you are and also, you know, that's it.

A hundred percent. Totally.  So Jason, you talk a lot about, um, providing value in your content. Yeah. Not just.  Content for content's sake. And I know value is a conversation you and I have had, um, you know, value can be very subjective, hard to pin down, very buzzwordy. I'd love to know kind of what has been your approach to it.

Um, how do you break it down for yourself and for your team? Yeah, for sure. I mean,  yeah. And content's always the toughest part too, because like. It might be really valuable to explain what the three contingencies are, but that doesn't make great content. So it's always tough. Cause it's, this is especially in this day and age of shorter form content.

It's like, how do I do something valuable in seven seconds? I don't understand. Like, I hate it. I hate short form content that, that, that that's what we're in right now. I prefer that everything, you know, be an eight minute explainer video. Cause that's just how I am personally, but that's not the game, right?

So we have to do it all in seven seconds. Well, then you just lose some of the value. That being said, what I tried to think about value. Both from an agent perspective, but also for my consumers is like, how can I give them something that they can't just readily find on Zillow or readily find somewhere else.

Right. So what I think about would be like, when I have a buyer client, um, obviously you set them up on a search and then we know when there's a three bed, two bath in Kensington, they'll get email notified or pinged via the thing. Well, how can I provide value to them more so? It's like, well, my network, that's one way.

So what I usually do is like all, you know, say Candace is looking for a three bed, two bath house in Kensington. I'll go on Google maps and I'll screenshot Kensington and use my finger and draw a circle around it. And then I'll, I'll say, Hey, I have this buyer. Her name is Candace. She's looking for a three bed, two bath in Kensington.

If you know of anything coming up, please DM me and let me know. And then I'll just share that on social. Right. So I'm like, I'm doing something that she can't just readily do. I'm using my network, my social to try to find her an off market property or coming soon property that puts her in an advantageous position.

Cause anybody can just put her on a search for a three bed, two bath in Kensington. So how can I. Add value to the transaction with her as my buyer, right? So just little things like that. And, and by the way, I have a buyer letters have been around for a long time. You usually just mail them, you know, just like, you know, agents would just mail them out to a specific area.

I'm just trying to evolve that into social. Um, usually more same thing with like a seller, like before it's even on the market. I'll ping it to my social network and I'll just say, Hey, I've got this listing coming up in Kensington. It's a three bed, two bath. It'll be right around 1. 1. If you know anybody who's looking to move to the area and shoot me a message, maybe we can get them in there early.

And then you share that on social or you send that to your database so that everybody in your database is getting value from you that they can't just readily get somewhere else.  Yeah. Just humanizing it. Yeah, sure. Yeah, of course. Yep, exactly.  Yeah. And when I think about that, it seems like such a simple thing.

Like I could see a rebuttal for one of your team or even somebody in the club would be like, Oh, but really one Instagram story is valuable. How, why, why can't I do this or this or this, right? That like that agent, you were talking to Candace and wanted to do all the things. And it's like, no, like. Jason, how long, how many hours, how many thousands of hours did it take you to build that network that you are sharing that Instagram story to 10  years, right?

You're saving your client 10 years worth of relationship and network building by just sharing one Instagram story. That's what it is. Totally. Yeah. It's just, that's exactly right. Yeah. It's not for them. And the funny thing is, it's like for buyers specifically, when I send that screenshot and I post it, you know, not all the time, do they follow me or whatever?

Usually sometimes they do, but then I screenshot any replies that I get. Cause it, you know, and it might be from another agent. It could be from a client and I'll screenshot and then I'll send it to them. And it's like, and they see that I'm working for them because sometimes too, as agents, we do such a great job of saying how easy our job is and how we sold this house for.

You know, 300, 000 over asking in five hours. Well, they never saw all the sausage get made. They didn't see all the stuff that we put into it. Cause that's not how we've marketed for years, unfortunately. And so now it's like, when I do those little things, I'm going to, they see that I'm working for them. So I'm going to show them every reply that I got and just be like, Hey, this might be nothing, but we might have something here, but check this out.

We're getting answers so that they know that you're working for them too. You're showing value, um, just in what you're doing behind the scenes.  That is. So important to strengthening your relationship is letting people know that you are working for them and that you are advocating for them. You're asking for support.

You're reaching out.  Because otherwise they don't see why, why are they paying you, right? They can't see it. Um, so I love that you're just doing really small things that are really simple that allow them to see.  Working for them, especially in this day and age where we have to get our buyer representation agreement signed ahead of time.

So for the last 10 years, we just kind of got paid at the end and the buyer didn't have to worry about that or yada, yada. Now we have to explain our value up front. So when we're able to say, Hey, I had a client just like you, they were just looking in Kensington as well. Check out this video that I made for them.

And I shared, it got 212 comments and it got a seven appointments off market or something, you know, whatever it is that matters, then you're showing proof. Over what you're going to do versus just promising what you're going to do. Um, you know, I think that in this day and age, you have to get really, really good about articulating your value ahead of time and stuff like that.

Helps. And not to mention if they've seen you doing it for the last two years, it, then you don't even have to explain it. Cause they've just, they've seen what you do for your clients. So it just, it goes, it'll just help you later on when you have to, I mean, you have to get the contract signed up front now. 

Jason, can I ask you how you first got started in content? Like where did that come from? Um, yes. So 2012, late 2012 is when I got into the business. I got licensed in early 2013.  And so I was  26, I think at the time. Um, and so I was just like, you know, most agents probably just create an avatar of who they want to work with.

And oftentimes that's just them, you know, just so like, for me, it was, I wasn't even married yet, but I was, you know, I was at a is like, we're young professionals. We had a lot of similar. Friends in the same life kind of phase as we were. And so you start to think, okay, well, where do, where do I consume my content?

And at that time it wasn't, you know, it was Google and Zillow and social media. Those were probably where I would have started a search. So I, I did some Zillow leads to do some Google pay per click, and then I went heavy onto social media. And so 2012, 2013 was right. Also when Instagram got bought by Facebook.

Um, and so like I was organically just on Instagram, I think more and just, I grew with the, with the platform. I just used it every day because I was using it myself anyways. And so I just learned early that it's like, Oh, I can connect with not only other agents, but clients this way too. Um, and then I just kind of evolved with the platform.

So it was, it was 2012, 2013, I started doing videos in 2013.  It was a complete rip off of, um, Gary Vaynerchuk used to do a show called Ask Gary Vee, where he would, um, take like two or three questions about marketing and then answer them. And then, so I started Ask a Realtor and it was just basically, I was making up my own questions cause no one was asking me these questions or, or I would sometimes,  yeah, for sure.

I would go on Twitter and I would look. Um, to see if anybody had ever asked the questions. Um, and then secondarily, like sometimes my clients would ask me questions and then I would just like go pretend to ask myself those questions from like a fake account or something. And then I would just be like, okay, so, so and so, um, ask me da, da, da, da, da.

And then I would have like a screenshot of it from Twitter and I would just start answering real estate questions. I did like 25 of those episodes, but it just like, I just joked to someone who's like, my first hundred videos, like sucked, like it was either ripping off someone else. Yeah. Or like, you know, bad quality.

'cause 20, even 2014, we were just kind of just, we didn't have quality like we do now. No. Um, and so I, it was all bad, but at the same time, it's like now 10 years later, I've done thousands of videos and I'm just comfortable and it's like I know how to set up, you know, lighting and stuff like that. So, um, but the point was I just kind of started because that's where I was organically.

So like, I,  I don't know, I, I, I never really got big or did stuff on. LinkedIn, because I never used LinkedIn. So it was like, I just, I went, picked the one or two places that I was already organically and just kind of just laid, laid into those, um, those areas and video marketing was big too. So like, I didn't just use the platform.

I put myself on video and put my face on it, which was, which was probably key.  Saying that like your first hundred videos sucks is so important for our Clevver crew to hear. Kat and I talk about this all the time. Like. Whatever, let them suck. We don't care. Just put in the reps, right? You will learn, you will get feedback, you will feel icky, you will learn what your style is and your vibe is, but you just have to get through that part.

Just like your first few weeks at the gym, right? They're gonna suck. You don't feel good. That's the exact way to do it. Yeah. You look at like a bodybuilder or someone and it's just like, okay, but they put 10 years into that or whatever they did. And so their first few times in the gym, they were not PRing either, you know?

And so like, I always wished that like, cause I always tell newer agents too. I'm like, Oh, document this point, this point of your life. Like the journey of a new agent. Like, I think people would love to see that. Not only that, but like when you're. 10 years from now, you can look back and like, that's all great.

You're gonna have so much great content. Like, could you imagine if there was like documented footage of like Kobe in the gym in high school or like junior high? Like how cool that would be? That would be one of my favorite documentaries ever. Yeah. That's like when he was failing or just wasn't learning or whatever.

He wasn't the biggest kid. And then just like what it grew into or, you know, any athlete or whatever, like the, the, the origin story. Like so many people have chances to document that origin story now, because now vlogs and we have, you know, obviously 4k cameras in our hand. So like, it's just so much easier to create content than it was even 10 years ago.

Yeah.  I saw this, um, recently. So when we moved from DC to Philly a couple months ago, I just literally a couple of days before moving day, made the decision to launch a weekly vlog on YouTube  for no other reason. Then I had never created native content for YouTube. I'd only just been reposting there and I wanted to challenge.

Challenge myself to see if I could do it. And so now I just dropped vlog number nine and then I'm like filming throughout for for number 10. And my challenge is I'm gonna do it for six months and see what happens. I have no other expectation than that, but what was really cool was Will, my partner watched the first couple of vlogs  like a week or two ago, and he was like, it's really cool to see.

How far we've come and how much better our apartment looks because right now,  right now we still don't have a dining table. We don't have a rug. Like I, I still have to hang up my shelves in my office and we're, we're so like hard on ourselves in the moment, but seeing what it looked like when we first moved in, we're like, damn, we're doing okay.

We're doing okay. It's so cool to look at yeah. Yeah. I mean, have you ever gone into like your archive on like Instagram even like from 10 years ago? It's like kind of cool like just to see my gosh Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it's fun.  I think a lot of times people are afraid to share because they think that  If they share this moment in time when they're not where they want to be.

Mm hmm. People are gonna stay stuck with them there instead of like  Continuing the journey with them.  And I think that that's such a wrong way of thinking about it because your people actually want to feel like they've been on this journey with you. And they've seen this growth and they feel like they're kind of part of that story. 

Um, so wherever you are in your journey, you should be.  Sharing because it's going to strengthen the relationships of the people around you. That's, that's exactly right. I can't tell you how many times I've had agents reach out to me and they're just like, I've watched you for 10 years. I've followed you for 10 years.

I've seen you grow. I've seen your business grow. Whatever it is. Where were the likes? Where was the comments? Yeah, straight up, right? And it's like, and, and it, but usually that is followed by, I have a referral for you. Right. There was something like that. And it's like, Hey, I've watched you for 10 years.

And sometimes I don't even know who they are. I've never seen them. I've never interacted with them. And, um, actually right after this call, I have a two or two 30, um, call from a buyer lead that from a client that I have the agent who referred me, I've never met. It's a social media. Right. And so it's just like, but they've probably just watched content for a year.

Yeah.  Has there ever been a moment that you've put out a piece of content either intentionally or accidentally or just organically, like if it was in your Instagram story and it went like quote unquote viral for you or like you, the response surprised you, like, was it something like mundane or unplanned or off the cuff?

Like, was there ever a moment like that? Yeah. So, I mean, the, the.  You can't predict the virality of it. So like the most viral one I've had was like my three favorite restaurants in San Diego, right? And it was just me talking about my three favorite restaurants. Oh, I would watch that. Because then it's like people coming to San Diego, they want to know.

And so they tag people and you know, all this stuff. And you get discussions in the comments about people saying, Oh, that place is terrible. Uh, I, my list was Hane Sushi. Um, do you know San Diego?  I live in San Diego, Jason. Jason, she lives in San Diego. Did I know this? I don't think I knew. I think you might have, you might have deleted it.

No, no, no. I did know this. You're right. She's trying to get me to move to San Diego. I saw you at, um, Top of the Hyatt, uh, recently. Yes. Okay. I did know this. Um, Hane Sushi in Bankers Hill, um, which is my favorite sushi spot. Um, born and raised, um, for a steakhouse. I actually like Cowboy Star better, but born and raised is a better vibe.

I like Cowboy Star better too. Yeah, it's a better steakhouse. Um, I don't, I'm not, whatever. I'm not sponsored. Um,  but born and raised is my, the maid of honor in my wedding. Ashley, my wife's best friend did the interior design. So basal studio, she won like awards for it and stuff like that. And so I'd be great place to have a martini rooftop.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. A hundred percent. I get a French 75 on the rooftop. It's great. Um, and then I put anime, uh, in there as well, which is also downtown as a, um, it's like an Asian fusion. It's, it's bomb. It's awesome.  Um, those are my three favorites.  That's our itinerary when I visit you. Yeah, I'm just saying.

I'm just gonna hit all those spots. You're set. Um, but like that one took off, right? And then there's, you know, but then there's also some collabs I've done with like Broke Agent or BAM and those took off. But at the same time, like the best, when it comes to like the people who actually matter, I don't say like the clients, the people that I'm engaging with, it's always the most mundane, like family oriented stuff that you wouldn't ever think.

And so like, The content, I think, is gonna do the best, never does. I did this one series where I, um, went inside, like, the house from Friends and the house from Twilight. Like, famous houses, like, from pop culture. Sucks. Didn't do, didn't do anything. I thought they were gonna be sick.  Um, but then I did this story where I was at an open house and I opened the fridge and there was like, um, a white claw in there and I did like a poll and it was like, should I drink the white claw or not?

And it was like the most engaging post I've ever done. And so like, that's the thing is like.  You don't know which content is going to do well. And so just post it all is, is kind of my, my take on that type of stuff. You know what I mean? And it's like, I always tell my clients, like my, my agents,  if you get to the end of the deal, the end of the year, and you do 20 deals a year, I don't know, just pick a number. 

Out of 365 days, that's only 20 days with, with closings. You don't know, but starting the year, you don't know which 20 are going to buy or sell with you. So you have to show up every single day and do the same eight to 10 things in order to get your 20 deals. It's the same thing with content at the end of the year.

If you post  365 pieces of content, again, that's a lot, but you don't know which seven are going to go viral and change your life, but you, so you can't just wait and try to guess and post those seven. You have to post all 365. Yeah,  that's so true.  I think there might be something with refrigerator content, because when I first went to New York, I met Kat in person for the first time when I was going to Surhant.

I, when I got there, I was on my Instagram stories, and I was like, Do you guys want to know what's in the fridge at Surhant? I was like, let's open it up. I got so many DMs. Everyone wants to know in there. I asked them like, guess what's inside? Do you know what's inside? And people loved it. And so now it's a thing.

Every time I go, I just open up the fridge. People are, this is like a little content hack too, for Asians specifically, but people are voyeurs, like they, they want to, that's what social is, like, they want to like live vicariously and see into something they're not supposed to see or see, yeah, so people like, if you have that type of content where it's like, Okay.

Can you guys, or do you want to see what's behind here? It always does really well. 

The fridge really? Food content also works. That too. Yeah. Food, fridge, anything along that. It's like so low barrier of entry. It's easy to like comment back on. It's not like, yeah. You don't have to think too deeply. Yep, exactly.  So. Jason, I'm curious because you mentioned when you first started, you weren't married yet, and I know you've got two kids now, you know, selfishly as Candace is, um, you know, going to become a mother and that's on the horizon for me, how, and I know a lot of our Clever Crew balance, parenthood and entrepreneurship, how.

How do you make that work? Like, how do you explain it to your kids? Do you bring them along for the ride? Like, what does that look like? What does that version look like for you? Yeah, they've come to start. So first of all, my kids are still young. They're four and three, right? So like, they're not really helped being yet per se.

Um, that being said, like they absolutely have gone to open houses with me and done stuff. We actually went back. I had a closing in La Jolla, um, last month. And then just last week I had to run up to the house to help the client. She got a package I had to put inside. And I took my son with me. Um, and he had gone to the open house like two months earlier or something.

And we pulled up to the house and he's like, are we back at this house? Is there still a video game downstairs? So like, they remember this type of stuff. Like he remembered everything from the open house.  And so I do include them, but they're still a little young to like, really kind of like help out. I'm  it's so funny.

Cause like, I think that the connection you get, like, so I'll show my kids on like,  But like, it's me playing in the backyard. It's not like really, I, I do have a little bit of a problem when people like use their kids, like in their marketing a little bit, you know, I always think about  having my kid where like not nice, clever onesie for the first year of her life. 

There's this one. Um, it's like, God, I don't want to say their name. It's like this jeweler here in San Diego. And they always have like their kids like in the ads, like reading a script and I'm like, come on, you can't use your kids. Oh yeah. That being said, like, but they're starting their Roth, you know, like, there's, there's reasons to pay your kids so they could be a millionaire by the time they're 30.

Having, but the same thing is like, people want to work with who they know, like, and trust. And so like the fact that like, I have kids is not a secret. And so like, obviously like seeing me be a dad or like doing something on the weekends with my kids is like, I. Absolutely fine to do like I, I will say like I'll include them and show them off and I feel like it does help to be honest, like the  to humanize you is that it's not just real estate all the time, 24 seven, like you have a wife and kids and like life and all this stuff. 

Yeah, going to a concert, staying out late at 38. There was no kids involved that night. We had a babysitter.  But like last night or two nights ago, we went to Moana too. And like, we were in the theater, you know what I mean? And my kid was just like, Going up and down on the, um, like the recliner and it was making the loudest noise.

Right. And so I took a video and like, I shared that and I was just like for two hours, he just made this noise. And like, I got so much like good feedback and content because it was, it was a funny moment. Relatable. Yeah, sure. Totally. Exactly.  Okay. So have them help out or come along for the ride, but not too much is, is, is a lesson for sure.

I mean, who knows, maybe if you have a teenager adult kids, then maybe you can put them to work, but that's true. 

Are there any content trends that you absolutely love that you think people should hop on or is there anything that gives you the egg that you're like, Ugh, don't do that. Well, it sounds like making your kids read scripts is not too much of them for you. Is there anything you know that you could share?

Um,  No, like, in a sense of, like, I think the best content is just, um, again, like,  value adding somehow. So, like, I, I, I probably over index on like educational content too, which again, some people do more entertainment. Some people do more emotional,  like I've never like gotten on and like, you know, cried and gone through my struggles per se, but like, I know a lot of people do that too.

It's just like, I don't, I don't really do that, but I know some people do and did do great with it. You know what I mean? Cause like there is something to be said about like opening up and being vulnerable, being emotional and stuff like that. Um, I'm, I've definitely been more analytical and maybe educational.

And so like, I'm, I'm the guy who's going to give you the three contingencies and what they mean. And like, even though it's not great content. Um, so I feel like anything, again, going back to like anything that you can add that someone can't readily get somewhere else. And I know that's weird, but like, instead of giving a 60 second market update or a market update, you would give the stats and then what that means from your angle.

Right. So it's like, instead of saying, Hey, the average market time went up from 25 days to 31 days. Most people stop there. And so, you know, most people, first of all, don't put out the content. And if they do, they put out some brokerage enabled graphic template. Yeah. Very, very few. Now we're down to like one or 2 percent that'll actually record themselves on camera saying it.

But like to take that to the next level, I would say, Hey, the average market time went up from 25 to 31. Days here in San Diego, what that means is that houses are sitting on the market just a tad bit longer. The reason is, is because there's actually more inventory on the market right now. And with rates going from six to seven, the buyers have actually, uh, or the, the mortgage applications have actually come down a little bit, which just means that if you're getting ready to sell your house, just anticipate about an extra week to two weeks on the market.

In fact, the fact that it's trending up means that I would say probably closer to two weeks. So if you're thinking about, you know, listing the house and then going into the next house, you need to add probably 10 to 14 days to that timeline. Right. So like,  So if you're planning on moving over spring break, then you need to contact me today.

Yeah. Right. So you do the calendar.  Yeah. Yeah. Some people, it's called the calendar close. Shout out to Sharon. But like he'll actually go to listing appointments with a blank calendar, like a desk calendar and say, okay, cool. So what's the, what's, what are we moving towards or you're going to Scottsdale.

You got this job. You need to be out by June 8th. Great. Okay. So let's work backwards. So the average escrow is about 30 days. It's going to be an average market time, about 31 days. It takes us about two weeks to get the house ready. Cause like you need to actually be under, under contract by here and you need to be listed by here and he'll like show what the calendar means.

You know what I mean? I love that like concept.  Reverse engineering is great. It makes it very tangible and concrete, right? And  people always think they have more time than they actually do in those situations, you know, in your head, but like, we can't expect them to read your mind. Totally. Yeah. Great. And that works for any industry too.

So if you're listening and you're like, but I'm not in real estate, like I, in my design studio, I do the exact same thing. I'm like, okay, so you have an event coming up  in April and in April, you want to put your best foot forward because you're creating events, swag, you're creating, um, presentations. You know, putting together the stage and you want to make sure everything's on brand.

Great. So, and I do the exact same thing. We look at a calendar. I'm like, this is when we need to actually start your project. And they're always shocked because they're trying to call me, you know, two weeks before the event. I'm like, no, this is not how this works. Your initial consults will be in April.

Their eyes open. And so I really do think it's like any industry can use that tactic. Yep. For sure.  One thing that comes up for our Clever Crew is they are at the 2012 stage of, of, of the journey, you know, when you were just starting out, um, however, the game has changed and evolved. There's so many platforms, there's so many nuances, um, and the need to.

Feel confident in asking for business in garnering business is rough, especially with comparisonitis. So what would you say to those in the clever crew that don't feel like they are authoritative or have credibility or, or, or aren't good enough to be able to go after. Sell side higher price, higher price, anything, any type of business.

What would you say? Yeah, good, good question. I always, I always try to remind myself of this, but also say it as like, don't compare your, your year three to someone else's year 15. Right. And so like, that's tough. Cause if, if I'm at year. 11 now or 12, you can't compare your year three to me, right. Or, or vice versa.

I look up to people who've been doing it for 20 years and wildly successful.  Um, and so like, you can never compare your year, whatever, to someone else's year, whatever. That being said, like if you're, if you need to manufacture credibility, that's almost easier nowadays than any other time in history, because you can actually just use.

Your team or your brokerages credibility. You don't always just have to use yourself. So if I've never sold a house in Coronado, well, I would immediately then go to my team members and see if they've ever sold a house in Coronado. And then I would immediately go to my brokerage and say, see who in my brokerage has ever sold a house in Coronado, and then I would just try to manufacture credibility around that.

Um, and I would just come out with a piece of content. That's like, Hey, my broker just sold the most houses in Coronado or whatever.  You know, we sold four houses in Coronado over the last three years. Right. So you can manufacture credibility pretty easy in our business because you can just utilize your team, your brokerage, um, you know, your, your business partners or whatever, in some form of like, you know, don't lie.

I just say, just change the wording a little bit to say my team, my group, my brokerage, right. You don't have to say me. Um, that being said, like, I think that  it's.  What you know, you come off as very confident when you're talking about what you know, right? So like, if you asked me a question about marketing, I can probably talk for an hour about marketing without having to look anything up.

But if you ask me about 19. Century French literature, I would have no idea. And if I was on a podcast talking about that, I would fumble over my words and I would not appear confident. Right. And so like, if you're trying to raise a price point or you're trying to get into a specific neighborhood, I would take a week or two weeks, three weeks, a month and learn every single house in that's for sale in that everything that's sold.

And by the time, you know, market cycles only like 30 days usually. So by the time everything goes on, you could go after 90 days of going to every single house that's on the market. You will know every single house that's on the market. And so you'll be able to then be better than everyone else, better than every other agent.

When I started out, I used to go to the downtown. I had lived in downtown. I would go to the downtown caravan, which was like the new, the new listings for that week. And after about 60 days, I had seen everything. So then when I was talking to a client and they're like, Hey, I I'm looking in the legend building.

I'm like, Oh yeah, that's, you know, four or nine. I saw that. I actually toured it. It looks exactly like unit nine Oh nine, which just sold last month. Right? So like, it just, it only takes 60 net 60 to 90 days to really learn. So to, to master your market and, and then from there you can, obviously that also has 90 days worth of content cause you could just tour these houses as you're walking through them.

But, um, it doesn't take long to either learn the area or manufacture credibility in this day and age.  I love that you shared that because that brings to mind, I was listening to an, an audio book the other day, and it talked about how you only need to learn 2, 500 words to be conversational in any language.

And I'm like, Oh, I'm like, that's so much more approachable because learning Japanese is on one of my goals for 2025. And it just seems less overwhelming. Like you're saying you can know the market. You can know the new listing market in 60 to 90 days. You don't need the two decades of expertise that you see of the, you know, those names on the billboards and those names all over social like 60 to 90 days.

That's it. That's it. Yeah. And then you have to figure out how to show people that you know that. Correct. Yep. Yeah. And that's where the social comes in, you know, at the social. So you could be taking them on the journey the whole time, right? Correct. If you can just document it every single day, Hey, I'm going on this caravan.

This is where they show all the new listings that come with me. And then you do like a cat style vlog. And it's like, follow me, you know, a day, a day with me. And you do a vlog style that day. And it's like, Hey, here's the seven homes I toured. Here's like, I used to think, okay, this is on the West side, which means it's going to get afternoon sun.

It's like, I would like, when I was walking through, I would think about this type of stuff. And now when I'm a downtown Hondo, I'm like, Hey, here's what you need to think about. You know, it has a 24 hour door person. That means your HOA is going to be a little bit higher. It's on the Southwest side, which means from three to six, you're going to have a little bit more sun.

Baking. So if you work from home, it's. If you work from home, you want to be on this side. And it means that the, you know, in this building, the windowsills, they actually had substandard, um, glue on their windows. So the West facing units would have like the glue from the windowsills with tear drop, but like you learn that just by touring.

But you could literally learn that in like a 90 day span, like, right, it's, it's just if you for 90 days go on the downtown San Diego, I'm just saying downtown San Diego caravan, and you just learn every unit you would know downtown right now presently better than me who's been doing it for 10 years. 

There you go. You're welcome to agents. It's probably true for anything that you do for 90 days. Seriously. I was just thinking that because how long does it take to develop a habit? Not 21. That's bullshit. It's 60 days. 30 to 60, somewhere in there. More than 21 days. Not 21. People wonder why. They're like, I did it for three weeks.

I'm like, bitch. Yeah. It's more than 21. For sure. Let's put in some more. I've been making Candace crack up all day. She's been laughing.  She always has to get her curse word in. So there was that. Well, I'm reserving the F bomb for you, Jason, for not nice advice. If we want to, I'm going to, I'll keep it in the back pocket just in case.

Okay, there we go.  And in your opinion, Jason, what's the biggest mistake people make when they are trying to build authority online? Um,  I've always felt like, um,  Real estate agents in general  are a little bit too about me, like about us and not about their clients. So like, if you just sold something,  going back to that one, it's like record sale, 300, 000 over asking.

Right. It seems like the easy way to convey authority in this is like, I just sold this for 300, 000 over in 30 days or whatever,  but like. What other profession does that, right? Everybody else in the world who's watching that social is just like, God, this guy's so full of himself. Uh, whatever.  Whereas the smallest little tweak where if you make it about the clients and you're like, um, you know, it's how did Candace and Kat save 300, 000 on this or, or earn an extra 300, 000 on this?

Let me tell you their story. And then you're like, Hey, they met in college. It did this and then you, you, you make the whole thing about them. You're still conveying the same information, but it's not about you. You know what I mean? And so like, it's just a smallest little tweak. I feel like agents in general could do with their marketing in general and take all of the marketing that we do about us and just turn it around and tell the client's story, right?

Instead of just sold, um,  Beat out seven other offers. Uh, another one for me, right? Like, which was probably, I just explained like 99 percent of real estate marketing. You could say like how Daniel and Justine, um, got this amazing house in Linda Vista, um, by using an escalation clause, which helped them win a multiple offer situation.

Let me tell you the story, right? Like that same little tweak. You're, it's actually the same client. I just told you two different stories. It's the same exact client, but the way I just tweaked it just a tad took all of the, um, Owners off of you put it back on your clients and it completely softened the approach still gives you the authority because obviously you're the one Telling the story you're the one who like people read between the lines.

They're gonna ask you the question. They know Yeah, it's coming off your Instagram page your Facebook page. They know they know it's you You just don't need to make it about you and your audience can see themselves in your client's shoes. Totally Jason helped me because he helped them of course that transferable trust because you're using Storytelling which I don't think we've said that today Exactly.

Storytelling. But that is what we're talking about. Oh my goodness. That's the biggest key. It's everything.  Obviously you could take a caption, right? I think there's 2, 200 characters in a caption or something like that. And like, you know, you could put the just listed post and you can just do that brokerage enabled graphic and you're checking the box.

But if you could like tell the story of how your clients got this and that, and then in the caption, you have the ability to storytell. I read a book. Um, it's, it's on my Mount Rushmore. It's called stories that stick by Kendra Hall. Um, Yeah. Do you know this book? Oh, I read it. We, we saw her speak at forward.

So Kendra is on my Mount Rushmore. So I saw her speak at Inman connect in San Francisco in 2017. And it was like, it wasn't, it was the, not a main stage. It was a side stage, but it was still like a 20 or 30 minutes solo. And it goes as hands down the best Inman thing I've ever seen. The bed stage speaking I've ever seen.

She did so fantastic that I went and bought her book. Follow her on social media bot or like her follow up books. I'm looking at my thing. I don't, I have her newer book right back here, but, um, it goes through the process of creating a story. It's like, Hey, this was the normal, then this thing happened and this is the new normal.

Here's how you tell. And ever since that point,  anytime I have the ability to tell a story versus telling the outcome, I'll always try to tell a story that is like, that is the, the art of marketing that we do, I think.  Yeah, totally.  I love that. Yeah, no, stories that stick. It was good. I remember her talking about to like the four elements of a good story and one of them being an underdog.

Yeah. I'm like, yes. Everybody loves an underdog. Everybody loves a comeback story. Yep. They love to root for David, you know, not Goliath. Yep. I, I just, I don't know. In the book she talked about her husband, um, getting a cologne and it was this cologne where it was like a hundred dollar bottle of cologne. It was there in New York and she, he was like, I'm not spending a hundred dollars on a bottle of cologne.

Why would I ever do that? And she's like, but if she wanted him to do it, she liked the smell or whatever.  And then so then she took him into the store and the shopkeeper owner or whatever told the story about how this was the cologne that JFK used and it was the cologne that he had on when Marilyn Monroe and like all this stuff basically it was like a 30 minute story about how this cologne is like like heralded cologne that like JFK and he made it all cool.

And the guy and the husband bought the cologne and he walked out and he's like, wait, I thought you didn't want the cologne. He's like, I, I had to have the cologne. And so like the story she told there was just so amazing how the shopkeeper basically sold him via storytelling of, of explaining like everything behind the cologne.

And so like, I remember that stuck with me. It's just like, Oh my God, you could sell anything. Like if you know how to properly storytell. The story was the value. Yeah, for sure. Value that they're willing to pay for. Correct. Exactly. Yeah.  Okay.  Mic drop. 

So not nice advice. I think we're ready. We're ready. We are. Go ahead. Why don't you go ahead and do the honors of reading this? Okay. Oh, I see her name. I identify with you. This is from Jason Networking Wallflower. Okay. So she says this year a big goal of mine is to grow my referral business But I don't want to seem pushy or desperate How can I create a system that naturally encourages clients to refer me without making it awkward or uncomfortable for either of us?

Are there specific strategies or incentives, giveaways, ways that I can ask for referrals that feel authentic to me and easy to implement?  Um, so you're asking me to answer that, but straight up. So I don't know if she's meaning, um, from past clients, fear referrals, or if she means agent to agent, I'm going to assume past clients.

Sounds like past clients. It sounds like past clients. So the, the, the best way I've found to do that is to, it's almost like not compliment sandwich, but like you, you hype up the client, right. And in a sense, it's like,  Candace, what an amazing time we had together. It was so fun. Like dah, dah, dah. I am very picky and choosy, like with who I work with.

And so like working with someone like you has been amazing to me. Like I don't just broadly market, like I work, my best clients usually refer me, but my best clients, if you ever come across somebody just like you, please send them my way because I had such a fun time working with you. I know I could help them in the best way possible.

Right. And so like, it gives you the, the, the onus to like, ask for something. Cause you're also including the compliment. Right. In a sense. Um, but it's not super pushy to where you're like, give me a list of three people right now. I'm just saying like, Hey, in the future, if anybody who you think would be amazing fit with me, they here's the caveat, they have to be exactly like you, right.

There's something along those lines where you're like, you're getting them the compliment in there as well. I think that that's always worked really, really well. Um, with like the client base. Do you have any specific ongoing strategies that you use for like, because you can have that one time conversation, is there anything else that goes on?

Maybe over a period of time. Yes. Um, I'm taking, I'm, I'm going to share an idea that Katie, um, day, who's a good friend of mine in Houston does, um, because she does it better than I do. And I've just started to do this, but she put, so her team in Houston is the move me to Texas team, and then she created a Facebook group called moved me to Texas and it's for all of her past clients.

And so, or like we don't say past clients anymore, obviously that's actually a funny thing that's private clients. So it's basically her entire teams. Um, Database of private clients. These are all people who they've helped by, um, in Houston. And so in that private group, it's basically just like, Hey, once a quarter, they drop a Starbucks QR code or they drop, Hey, here's our holiday party.

Here's the, you know, you, the first 100 people get two free drinks, whatever. And so like everything that they're doing goes on in this Facebook group. Um, and it's, it's tied to  people like, it's called moved me to Texas because their thing is moving. And so like. Building some sort of community with your private clients.

Again, these are never past clients. These are all your clients for life. So stop calling them past clients, call them private clients. And then give them something I'd say at least on a quarterly basis, if not more often, um, where it's like, Hey, because you're my private client, um, I giving you this, whether it be a Starbucks, a hundred dollars, Starbucks gift card.

First, you know, first 20 people to use it gets to use it. It's just first come first serve, or we're doing this private event. You know, obviously client events are amazing. So if you can continue doing those, um. I'm, I'm big on Ryan's like sell it's three by five right now. So like, obviously when you're doing your three by fives, are you spending time in your database and calling and texting and emailing them?

Um, so as long as you stay in touch with your clients, make, make it a point to get through your database, um, at least once a quarter with some sort of touch, touch point, um, and then if you have some sort of community built with them. Facebook group or I mean, I don't, most people aren't going to use like Slack channel, but like some sort of like community built that that's just going to go super far like a broadcast channel.

I've been toying around with the idea of doing a broadcast channel. Um, cause Facebook group just felt too much, but like something, right. Where there's an element of community, depending on where, what I've heard really well too, is like, depending on how you use this feature, but if you use Instagram close friends, um, for your VIP clients.

And so like, so if you're an agent, cause I think you can only do like 30 something like that. 50 is like 44 or something like that. I use that. Yeah. So you use, so I don't use close friends. So like from, from a, that would be a perfect place for me to use, put 25 to 50 of my like best VIP clients in there under close friends.

And then just randomly, like. You know, and just post some content there. Cause like, if you think about Instagram, your close friends circle, the green circle, like pops up further up your thing, and it's like, Oh, this person has me in their close friends. Like I, it's just a little psychological thing that if you have the ability to use close friends with your VIP clients, that's actually a really good move.

Love that idea too. Clever crew. This is a reminder to keep your not nice advice questions coming. Submit your questions by sliding into our DMS on Instagram, or if you'd rather keep it on the down low, you want to be anonymous, you can always drop your question anonymously using the form in the show notes.

So don't forget to do that today. There you go.  Well, Jason, I think we've unfortunately come to the end of this leg of Not Nice Clever, but I am so grateful that you took the time to stop by here today, share your knowledge, answer Networking Wallflower's question, it's been an absolute delight.  I'm very thankful that you guys have me.

Obviously, I've known you two now for a few years and I love watching you guys crush it from afar. And so I was very, very excited to see the invite pop through and I hope it was a great episode.  Thanks for joining us on Not Nice, Clever. Remember to follow Not Nice, Clever wherever you listen to audio.

And if you haven't already, drop that five star review, share your takeaways, tell us your story. We love to hear it. Signing off, you're not so nice, but oh so clever, besties that mean business. See you soon.