How Kara Farrar Grew Her GCI Beyond $1 Million Dollars

Kara Farrar:  So I think I would say I'm just more of a risk taker than a lot of people and I'm willing to spend the money to see growth. And I think just so many agents are not. They just hold on to it and they're just scared. And I was there too but now when I go back, I kind of calculated it. If I spent $40,000 with Platform Marketing in 2024, let's just say. I can for sure say like, there's at least a quarter million dollars worth of growth, at least. You know what I mean? Because I've more than doubled my GCI. So a quarter, let's just say a half of that is Platform, that's still a huge growth. So, like, if a $40,000 investment can even bring you an extra $100,000, it makes sense. And so, I just think that people are scared to risk, and I'm not. I just jump.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, and obviously if investing 40, ‘cause I'm assuming that you're saying “Hey, I’m doing Platform plus I'm probably spending a couple thousand dollars a month on ads.” 

Kara Farrar: A lot, yep. On ads.Yep. So someone else that comes in, only spends a smaller amount on ads is going to be different. But every more dollar, if I can spend it and get more exposure, then that's what I want to do. ‘Cause at the end of the day, people that win are people that have the best exposure. 

Tim Chermak: This is the Platform Marketing Show where we interview the most creative and ambitious real estate agents in the country, dissect their local marketing strategy, and get the behind the scenes scoop on how they're generating listing leads and warm referrals. We'll dive into the specifics of what marketing campaigns are working for them, how much they're spending on those campaigns and figure out how they have perfected what we call the Platform Marketing Strategy. This is your host, Tim Chermak. I'm the founder and CEO of Platform. I love marketing and I talk too much. So let's dive in. 

Tim Chermak: Hey guys, it's Tim Chermak and welcome back to another episode of the Platform Marketing Show. I'm joined today by the one and only Kara Newton Farrar. Am I saying that correctly? 

Kara Farrar:  Fae-rah.

Tim Chermak: Okay. I was not saying it correctly. Fae-rah. Kara. So it rhymes, right? 

Kara Farrar: Yup. Kara Farrar does rhyme. 

Tim Chermak: Okay, cool, cool. That's how I will remember that, Kara Farrar. Well, since you were last on the show, you are engaged and married. So congratulations.

Kara Farrar: Thank you, thank you!

Tim Chermak: And your business is bigger and bolder than ever. For those watching on YouTube, you can see like the hottest pink furniture I've ever seen in my life behind Kara there. Obviously, her whole brand is she's “The Pink Queen” and her office and everything is in alignment with that. So Kara, welcome back to the show!

Kara Farrar: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here.  

Tim Chermak: So your business has grown a ton since we last talked. I think we had an episode with you on the Platform Marketing Show. You'd been with Platform at that point I think for six or seven months, something like that. And your business had grown and you were starting to see everything working and people were mentioning your Facebook ads and you were starting to say, “Okay, I can see this working.” But now you're about 18 months, I think, into this Platform experiment. 

Kara Farrar: Yes, almost.

Tim Chermak: Yeah. And now things have really taken off now that you're about 18 months in. So share with everyone what your production was in terms of transactions, let's say the last couple of years versus what your production will be for this year which is your first like full calendar 12-month year with Platform.

Kara Farrar: Okay, so last year my production I think we did 74 units and the year before that we did like 70 or 72. So this year, we will close about 136. We have 131 closed deals and then we have still five more to go for the year. So definitely, I mean, pretty much doubled the business. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah. Those are numbers where I'm glad you're saying it, not me, because it's almost like unbelievable unless it's coming directly from you. So you basically doubled your business from doing about 75 deals a year to closer to 150. The most impressive thing about that is that we're not talking about like team production or team sales. Like that's not, “Hey, it was me and five agents or me and 10 agents.” No, you sold almost 140 homes this year just you.

Kara Farrar: Correct. Yes.  

Tim Chermak: That is absolutely bonkers. And we're gonna get into that about how you achieved that this year. But the thing that I think is interesting is that you had kind of like,  I don't want to say plateaued because I think you would have grown every year regardless. But like, we have a good control. Let's say if we're running a controlled experiment of the previous couple years, you did about 75 transactions a year.

Kara Farrar: Yes. I had definitely, I felt like I had plateaued actually ‘cause I talked to one of my coaches and I feel like I'm always in the 70s the last three years, you know, just sitting there. I couldn't just ever push past it. So definitely had felt like I had plateaued actually.  

Tim Chermak: And you know, it goes without saying but that's kind of a first world problem. Like, “Oh man, I'm plateauing at 75 homes a year.” Most agents would sacrifice their firstborn son to sell 75 homes a year. That would be like the stretch dream goal that in a best case scenario, they might sell 75 homes a year one day. And you're like, “Oh man, I'm feeling like I'm plateauing here. I need to grow.” And then you grow from 75 to almost 140 transactions this year. Again, that's not team production or team sales. That's literally Kara. 

Kara Farrar: Yes, that’s just me.

Tim Chermak: Kara sold 136 homes this year. And then you have a team you've started to build I know this last year and they have sales above and beyond that. But just you accounted for 136 sales. So I guess my intro question to you to kind of get this conversation rolling is how has your understanding of the Platform Marketing strategy maybe evolved or changed now that you've seen the results 18 months in versus the results that came initially like six months in? 

Kara Farrar: So just a lot more direct like go to listing appointment and usually I'll show them the videos that we do, the listing tour videos and the odds are “Oh, I've already watched all those videos. They've been popping up on my Facebook page.” And then another story is we're under contract on the house and that someone sent me a direct text and said, “Hey, I just watched your video on Facebook of 1002 Meadowbrook. Can we take a tour?” They're under contract on that. So it's definitely just very direct. 

And then we were out shooting the “12 Days of Christmas” a couple weeks ago. And we're at a coffee shop and Isabella, my director of ops, is about to film me and a lady walks out, she's like, “Oh, my goodness, you're shooting content. I see you all over Facebook.” She just knew just like that what we were doing. So she has just seen us so much on Facebook and I don't know these people. 

Yesterday I was pumping gas and I was letting my gas pump and I got out, so like put my tank and everything back together and I'm getting ready at my car and a guy hollers going into the gas, “Hey! Kara, right?” And I'm like, “Yeah, Kara.” And he’s like… and then he just walked in! I don't know these people, but it's a hundred percent just Platform, just that exposure and building your face.

I always say when I spoke on stage at an event, “Your mugshot is your market share.” And so I think a lot of people underestimate the value of their face being in where the listing tour videos. They'll do them, but they're not in them. When in reality, that is the golden ticket is your face and your body being in the videos so people can see you because then you start to get recognized and gain market share.  

Tim Chermak: That's one of the biggest mistakes I see even with some Platform marketing clients, to be honest, is that they might film listing tours ‘cause they've heard us say on this podcast, a thousand times, like the most important thing you can do is film more listing tours, right? That will period, even in a slow market, that will grow your brand and that will bring in business if you film listing tours. But then they go film listing tours and they're not even in the video.

Kara Farrar: They’re not in it.

Tim Chermak: Yeah. It's like, they're walking around the house, holding the phone and they're narrating it, but they're not in the video. You completely negate all of the benefit and the purpose of doing it if you are not in the video. ‘Cause those listings will come and go. They'll be listed, they'll eventually sell. But we want people to remember you, not the house. 

Kara Farrar: Correct. Yeah.

Tim Chermak: So you're having total strangers come up to you in public and say, “Hey, are you Kara?”

Kara Farrar: It’s like all the time. People recognize me out of town. I mean, we went to Full Moon Oyster Bar the other day and my husband looks at me and says, “How many more people know you in here?” I had eight people who knew me, that come up to me. And so like, it's just a thing. Once you just have that exposure and that's what marketing is. And a lot of people want to do like Zillow or Realtor ‘cause they think that they get the lead. They're like, “Oh, there's my ROI. I'm getting the lead.” When all in reality, your face is your lead. 

So if you just over and over… and it's the repetitiveness. And that's what I find with agents too, they'll jump on it gungho, do it for like two weeks or a month. And they'll be like, “It just didn't work.” Well, you didn't get your wrinkles on your face in a year, it took over time. You've got to build that muscle over and over and over and over to where people just start recognizing you consistently.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, and I think the fact that strangers are recognizing you is the really important part that we want to kind of focus on here because you have been super, super active on your personal profile on Facebook, right? So even, even before you ever hired Platform, that's how you were selling 75 homes a year is because you were leveraging your personal profile and posting organic content, probably better than anyone I've ever seen ever. You were posting stories and probably what a dozen times a day.

Kara Farrar: Yes. My average is typically 16 to 20 stories a day unless I'm slammed, but that's typically my average. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah. So again, that's how you got to selling 75 homes a year before you ever even heard about Platform. What's taken you from 75 homes a year to 140 is now kind of magnifying everything you're doing organically with paid retargeting ads, which is what Platform does. And now complete strangers are recognizing you. So you know that they're seeing the retargeting ads because they're not actually your friends in real life or even your friends on Facebook. They're seeing all these ads. 

How many ads do you typically launch out, Kara, in a given month? Are you putting out 5 or 10 or 12 or what's the…

Kara Farrar: Honestly? 4 to 12, depends on how many listings that I have. There's been months where I've had 10 to 15 listings. There's been months that I have only 4 listings. But you know, there's always typically a video behind the listing almost. Almost always. But yeah, I would say 4 to 12. And I should honestly do more. I think that if you don't have a lot of listings, you need to fill a lot in there. But I'm in a little bit different phase of my journey, but I still try to. I’m so powerful on my personal social media so like on the months that I am a little slower with my listings, my personal page is still building for me ‘cause I'm so consistent on there. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, if you have that many listings, you know the game kind of becomes, “Hey, I'm just gonna promote the crap out of my listings,” because why wouldn't you at that point?

Kara Farrar: Yeah, I've listed two last week and I'll list two in this week and it's December and I'm still listing a couple listings this week, last week. I mean, we'll probably list 5 or 6 in December.  

Tim Chermak: Wow. Okay, what is your ratio? And maybe you don't know off the top of your head, but what is your general ratio of those 136 closings you'll have this year? What is the ratio of buyers to sellers? How many of those were listings versus buyers? 

Kara Farrar: So I actually pulled that the other day, I don't know, it was like a couple months ago. It was like 77% listings I think, and like 23% buyers, something like that.

Tim Chermak: So that probably helps answer the question of “How is she doing that many transactions?” There's no way one agent could work with 140 buyers in a year.

Kara Farrar: Correct. 

Tim Chermak: But if nearly 80% of them are listings, that gives you a little bit more leverage over your time. And frankly, that's how you'd want your business to be anyway as an agent. 

Kara Farrar: Absolutely. Yeah. And I would say, I think Amber, my agent who works a lot of my Platform stuff for buyers, I've kind of transitioned to the stage now where I work with very, very, very few buyers. And I think since June or July, she's closed around 10 buyers that I've sent to her, she's converted from Platform or whatever. And I would say probably 6 or 8 of them have been specifically from somebody messaging me or calling in, “Hey, I saw this, I saw that.” So yeah, she works with a lot of the buyers now.  

Tim Chermak: So what would you say again now that you've been with Platform for about 18 months, you've seen a lot of different ads. It's not your first rodeo anymore. You're coming up on almost two years of Platform this year. What have been the most successful ads that you've run in terms of Platform retargeting ads? Are there a couple that you can look back on where you're like, hey, this particular one got a lot of engagement. Or this particular one people were telling me in real life they loved this post whether it's a photo or a video.

Kara Farrar: I think truly just your values. So the biggest one that I ever had was the Mother's Day thing where I got fired by clients. I didn’t answer my phone and we actually turned it into an ad of talking about, no, I'm not going to ask off for Mother's Day. No, I'm not going to do this. And knowing that if you can't respect the boundaries of obviously being a mother comes first, then you're not my client that I need to work with. That one was off the charts. And so I think it's just when you become vulnerable and really speak out where you stand, people respect that and they're actually going to have like a higher respect for you. So that's been really good. 

And then of course, the funnier that the listing tour videos are, the better. People like to see just craziness. So many, I feel like try to be so stiff and professional, like, “Hello, we're at 123 Main Street today.” You know, you need to capture the audience. So I just did one where I act like I ran myself over in the truck. That's probably been my highest, best one organically that I've ever done. And it was just being creative.  

Tim Chermak: So you mentioned Mother's Day and I'm going to get back to that one about the truck, because I don't know if I've seen that one so we need to talk about that. So Mother's Day. So what happened in real life that prompted this ad?

Kara Farrar: So the night before Mother's Day, it was like 9:47 PM, I think, I got a text and it just said, “Hey, I'd like some more information on this house” and it was an agent. Well, I didn't respond. It was almost 10 o'clock. I'm sitting on my couch with my family, the next day is Mother's Day. And so I didn't respond. And Monday morning I woke up to, I had an email that said, “Hey, someone reached out to you, you didn't respond. We want to terminate with you.” Well, what happened was the best that I understand is the agent that reached out saw who the seller was and it was a modular company and called the company direct. And so that's kind of what happened.

And we wrote kind of an ad for it, like, I'm not going to apologize for not answering my phone or answering my phone at 9:47 PM that I'm sitting on the couch with my husband and winding down, because it's 9:47 PM. And furthermore, the agent did not call and he did not email, he only sent a text on that one moment and I never heard from him again. And so that's what happened. And so I just shared it publicly and put a picture of my kids on Mother's Day where we went and had lunch and just kind of shared it. And gosh, it was such a great ad and such a way to show people who you are.

And I did see a lot of agents say, “Well, you should have told me you're taking off.” And I rebuttaled that with, “I'm not going to ask my client if I can have off on Mother's Day. That should just be a respect thing. I'm not going to ask if I can take off on Christmas. I did not expect us to be so busy, we can't even enjoy what the life He gave us.” And so it just turned into something spectacular ‘cause I just felt like we need to take the opportunity to put that publicly out there of we don't have to work 24/7, you know? And so it was really good. 

Tim Chermak: Well, that's what makes a great ad is something that's actually real because I remember when that ad actually popped up in my newsfeed and I didn't even realize I was reading an ad because it popped up and it was written like a story. I think the opening line was something like, “My listing client just fired me. Here's what happened.”

Kara Farrar: Yes, correct.

Tim Chermak: And so it's just like you're immediately reading a story and you're “Oh my gosh, someone fired Kara. What happened?” And then you read it's like, “Okay, Kara didn't want to work with them on literal Mother's Day and then they fired her,” and then you basically ended it by saying, “And just so everyone's clear, I would do the same thing again in a heartbeat. My family is more important to me than making a little bit of extra money by working on holidays.” And so that's a genius retargeting ad because you're telling a real story. It doesn't look like an ad which is always, that's my checklist of what makes a great ad. Well, does it look like an ad? Exactly. Then it's probably gonna be a great ad. So right away, it's a great ad.

But also you're inserting your values into the ad and you're inserting your values by telling a story so it's not preachy. It's not you talking down to people like, “Oh, Kara's holier than thou.” You're actually sharing kind of a vulnerable story of, “Hey, I got fired. Here's what happened.” So I think that actually attracts your tribe to you because people who read that story who aren't total narcissists are gonna say, “Whoa, okay, cool. I actually respect Kara more after hearing the story than I did before.” I mean, just all in all…

Kara Farrar: I had so many of those comments that said I actually would hire you because of that. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah, right. And so that's a genius ad. If some people read that, let's say they were on your retargeting list, they had clicked on some ad previously and it turns them off and they're, “Oh, I don't want to work with an agent who's not willing to work weekends.” It's like, well that's a good thing.

Kara Farrar: That’s a very good thing.

Tim Chermak: Because you didn't want those clients anyways if they're going to be that much of a-holes. You wouldn't want them as a client anyways. So that is an absolutely genius ad. Now, obviously not everyone's had something like that happen to them, but just always be on the lookout for what are real things going on in your everyday life that we could turn into a Facebook (post). Exactly. Turn it into a retargeting ad because then it doesn't look like an ad.

So, okay. What happened with you getting run over by a truck?  

Kara Farrar: So I just did a video this week, or I think it went out last weekend and it was me standing there and I was like, “Hey!” And then I'm in the vehicle truck and I literally run myself over. It's like, “I got a house for you.” And then all of a sudden the house drops out of the sky and boom! So that one was amazing.

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