How To Take 3 Months Off A Year (And Still Double Your GCI)

Diane Tharp:
It is, it's a game-changer and yes, it might take you three months or it might take you six months or nine months. Stick it out. Don't give up. Just keep going. If you don't want to shoot the videos, if you shoot two videos and you don't want to do anymore that month, do a photo, because there's tons of photo ads that you can do. So, do those, but don't give up. If you think that you're going to give up, call me or call Amy or call any of the other realtors that belong, and we'll talk you through.

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 Chermack. I'm the founder and CEO of Platform. I love marketing and I talk too much, so let's dive in. All right. Welcome back to another episode of the Platform Marketing Show. I'm here today with Diane Tharp. Diane is a realtor on the Emerald Coast, am I getting that right, of Florida?

Diane Tharp:
Yes. Yes, absolutely.

Tim Chermak:
All right. So, basically like the Destin to Pensacola area kind of up there on the panhandle, beautiful beaches. I think there's a few military bases there as well. Diane comes from a military family and she has a very, very cool before and after Platform Marketing story, because Diane, you started the Platform Marketing Program in 2016. Is that right?

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. I think it was 2016.

Tim Chermak:
Okay. So, yeah, that's like five years ago now for when we are recording this, which is pretty incredible. Your business has doubled, which is amazing. But I think the really, really cool thing is that you have an incredible work-life balance. So, not only has your business doubled, but you take off more vacation time in one year than I think many agents do in five years. You're able to do that even after your business has doubled, because for so many agents, I think that's kind of like the Faustian bargain, where they sell their soul for success. It's like, "Hey yeah, my business grew a ton, but I work 80 hours a week and I never see my family." We'll get into some cool stories of what you've been able to do with your friends and family, but your business has doubled, so that's incredible. Diane, give me a quick background or context or history on what your real estate life was like before Platform. What were you doing for marketing then? How did you grow your business versus what do things look like now?

Diane Tharp:
So, before Platform, I would, I was earning about 120,000 a year and it was, I didn't have any-

Tim Chermak:
Which is pretty good, by the way. Right?

Diane Tharp:
Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
Like that, you weren't struggling, right? Making $120,000 a year is a lot of money, so you were already doing quite well.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah, I was doing well. It was a lot of referral. Because my husband is retired military, I worked with a lot of the people that he worked with. So, it was a lot of the military coming in and out. We have so many bases here, so that really was what kept me going. So, but now with Platform, it's totally different.

Tim Chermak:
So, really, before you were kind of cruising off of the sphere of influence, and all the connections that your husband had in the military, but there wasn't necessarily a secondary lead source on top of that. It was kind of like if that ever dried up, for whatever reason, your business would've been pretty slow.

Diane Tharp:
Right. It actually did dry up when he retired from the military. He served for 22 years, and when he stopped, most of his workmates, they also retired. So, a lot of them moved away or were living in a house that they didn't want to sell, because they were no longer in the military.

Tim Chermak:
Sure, sure. Around this time, I think you were introduced to Platform by Amy.

Diane Tharp:
Yes.

Tim Chermak:
Right? So I'll let you tell the story about how all that came about, how you got introduced to platform and yeah, because it's actually kind of a cool story.

Diane Tharp:
So, Amy Signor is, she's super cool. She started in real estate. She joined Platform, I think before she had her license and-

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. Yep, yep, yep.

Diane Tharp:
She was coming into our office, and I'm a mentor in our office, so I help with all the new agents, and she kept coming and asking me questions, and she just kept getting all these deals. Then I think it was maybe October or November, she came and talked to me about joining my team, because she couldn't handle what she had. She didn't know what she was doing. It was just really cool, and her and I just get along like a house on fire. It's just, it's so cool. But her biggest her question, she would always ask me was, "Am I going to go to jail?" She asked me that almost every day. She still does. She'll call me, and say that. "Like, no, you've done it correctly. You did it right. You helped the people the right way." So, but yeah, no, she's amazing.

Tim Chermak:
She was also a military spouse, as well?

Diane Tharp:
Yes. Yeah. She absolutely was a military spouse too. When her husband retired, they moved to Boston, and so I've been up to Boston to see her, but that was tough when she moved away.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. Yeah. So, that was basically, the reason I wanted to bring that up is that Amy is kind of how Diane got introduced to Platform. Then Diane and Amy almost in a sense became like business partners in that area, where you guys were kind of like a team, where often in your videos that were filmed in the Platform, and in a lot of the ads, like you would both be in the ads together.

Diane Tharp:
Yes.

Tim Chermak:
Then, Amy has since moved back. I think her family was back up in Massachusetts, so they moved back up there when her husband retired. So, now this whole region is kind of like your Platform re region as an individual agent. So, that's really cool, because Amy's still in the Platform, just now kind of up in the Massachusetts area. So, that was how we got all connected. I remember you guys came to an in-person Mastermind that we did in Naples, Florida. It probably would've been in maybe early 2017?

Diane Tharp:
I think so.

Tim Chermak:
I'm thinking.

Diane Tharp:
I think so. Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. That was the first time I got to meet you and Amy, and it was even then very clear, like Amy's still a beginning agent ,and you were kind of like the mentor, mentoring. Yet, you were there as a beginner in a marketing sense, seeing what all this was all about, because you were hearing a lot of it, I think, secondhand-

Diane Tharp:
Yes.

Tim Chermak:
... from Amy, and now here's your chance to actually meet everyone and see like, hey, is this for real? Y

Diane Tharp:
It was. It, at the beginning, it was overwhelming, because there is just so much that you guys do, and to, for me trying to wrap my head around it, it was just incredible. Once I learned to trust the process, and just do what I'm told to do, I mean, it's incredible. So, it's,, unfortunately you don't get to lose me until I retire, because I'm not going anywhere. Platform is amazing.

Tim Chermak:
Diane, what would be a few of specific ads, if we were to maybe single out two or three ads or videos that you've done in the last five years with Platform. It's crazy that you've been with Platform for five years. It's weird saying that out loud, because it's so rare that obviously, an agent sticks with a marketing company that long, but you've been working with us for five years. It's been incredible. So, over the last five years, what would've been maybe a couple videos that specifically stand out, where you know that these ads were successful, because maybe people were actually telling you in real life. Oh yeah. "I saw such and such video, or I saw that ad. It was great." Are there any that really stand out, where you know that, hey, those were great?

Diane Tharp:
I think the small business one that we did last year. That one, I've, a lot of people have talked to me about that one. One of my most-commented though, I think is Ducks In a Row.

Tim Chermak:
Oh, yep. Yep. Yep.

Diane Tharp:
So, I did that one, and I kayaked with a string of ducks behind me.

Tim Chermak:
Okay. I'm not even sure if I've seen that one that you did.

Diane Tharp:
Then I just got, I have three listings coming up, and it's from the Ice Cream Ad, the one about vanilla ice cream.

Tim Chermak:
Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. Yep.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. When I went to the listing appointment, I thought it was for one house, and when I got there, he showed me a screenshot of that on his phone and he said, "This is why I called you." Then he said, "Oh and it's, by the way, it's three houses, not one."

Tim Chermak:
That's incredible. I'm actually hearing this story for the first time. So, this is amazing, because that's such a cool example of sometimes the most random ads can pop up in someone's news feed. But if they're on your retargeting list, because they had previously clicked on more real estate lead gen ads, like a new listing ad or something like that, so we know they're interested in buying a house by virtue of them being on your retargeting list. Sometimes a random ad, like the vanilla ice cream ad, and for those listening who have no idea what that is, I'll quickly explain, because you're probably thinking like, "What the hell? Vanilla ice cream, what does that have to do with selling houses?" It's an ad that we had a bunch of our Platform realtors do, where we basically asked you to, hey, go stand with like a vanilla ice cream cone, just stand in front of a locally-owned place.

Tim Chermak:
So, if you can, try not to take it in front of McDonald's or something like that. I know McDonald serves vanilla ice cream, but try to go to like a locally-owned ice creamery, right, and get, just a vanilla ice cream cone. It's important that you get vanilla and take a picture, because we wrote some ad copy, really just about the surprising history of the spice vanilla, and how rare it actually is. A lot of people don't realize almost, frankly, how it's a miracle that vanilla and that taste and that flavor exist. It's such a rare plant. So, we wrote just an ad, kind of just fun facts about the history of vanilla, and that's why I think the ad ends by saying, that's why you shouldn't ever say plain vanilla because vanilla is anything but plain.

Tim Chermak:
Then it says, PS, go check out the vanilla ice cream at such and such place here. It's amazing. So, it kind of ends with giving a shout out to that local ice cream shop. Right? Kind of just a fun ad. Has absolutely nothing to do with real estate. Right? There's not any sort of indirect tie-in where it's like, by the way, I'm not a plain real estate agent. We're not making any cheesy joke. It's just like a fun fact about vanilla ice cream, and you're trying to also give a shout out to a local business while you're doing it. So, that ad pops up as a retargeting ad, and we've seen over the years, we've been doing this, because we've been running Platform now for, I think seven years, we've had the company. It is ads like this that get you business, because if someone's been seeing you and they've been on your retargeting list for months and months, or sometimes even a year, sometimes seeing a random ad like that is what gets them to call you, because it just hits them at the right time.

Tim Chermak:
They realize, oh cool, this agent does post about real estate, but they also just seem like an interesting person, right, because I keep seeing posts from them pop up on whether it's Instagram, Facebook, and it keeps you top of mind. Right? I mean, this is all basically a very sophisticated way of saying, it just keeps you top of mind, in a creative way. So, something like a post about vanilla ice cream that has absolutely nothing to do with selling your house or it's not 10 tips to sell your house or something like that. It's just a random post about vanilla ice cream ends up being what converts. You said you got three listings out of it?

Diane Tharp:
Three listings. Yeah. Almost $2 million worth of houses.

Tim Chermak:
Wow. So, in other words that post, you can almost credit for bringing in almost $50,000 of GCI.

Diane Tharp:
Yes. Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
That was a profitable ice cream cone.

Diane Tharp:
It was, and I didn't even get to eat it.

Tim Chermak:
That's funny.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah, it was awesome. So, and I actually, I just got another listing from a realtor in Tennessee, and he said that I went up against a team that makes about 100, well sells about $100 million worth of houses a year. They chose me because they said I have the best marketing presence on the Emerald Coast.

Tim Chermak:
That's a pretty awesome endorsement.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. From another realtor. Yeah. It was-

Tim Chermak:
Yeah, exactly. That's awesome. So, obviously when you have feedback like that, you know that something you're doing is working. So, when you first got going, and way back when you were actually working kind of in tandem with Amy, how long did it take you guys to really know that you were on the right track? Was it six months in. Was it two weeks in. I mean, how long did it take for you to feel like, okay, I made the right decision in doing this ,because this is clearly working, because for some people it takes a year. Right? How long did it take you guys?

Diane Tharp:
I think, because of it coming in through Amy having it first, I knew it worked before I even went in with her on it. After I went to that first Mastermind at, in Naples, then I knew that I could do it too. But I had no doubt that she had found a gold mine, so I was grateful that I could be a part of that. Then, I mean, I was sad when she left, but I was so glad that I kept going or could keep going with Platform, because it's a game-changer.

Tim Chermak:
Sure.

Diane Tharp:
I mean, I think that if you can become a Platform family member, which effectively, I think we all are, well, we all see it that way, I can't imagine anyone leaving, and with no contract, I mean, we could walk away at any time, but I don't know why you would.

Tim Chermak:
Now, on a monthly basis, Diane, how much are you typically spending on ads, because that's a very common question that we get is, when people hear these Platforms success stories, and obviously, if we're going to interview someone on the podcast, it's not because they're getting below average results. It's because you're doing really well with Platform that I want to hear your story. So, I think sometimes people think, are they just in a special market or what are, why are they getting such great results? How much do you typically spend in a given month, on the actual Facebook ads?

Diane Tharp:
Well, when I talked with Emily last, I think I was at $1000, and we were going to increase it in November to be 1250. Probably in December ... I'm trying to ramp up for the beginning of the year, so probably in December I'll go to 1500 or maybe more. It would depend on the Mastermind, the beginning of December.

Tim Chermak:
Sure. So, really, what has built your business to this point, is you've been spending about $1000 a month.

Diane Tharp:
It's been-

Tim Chermak:
... on the ads, at least up until this point.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. Yeah. I think that it is, I, if I sell one house every three months, I'm breaking even.

Tim Chermak:
Right. Right. Yeah.

Diane Tharp:
Two house, every three months, I'm I'm breaking even so, and I'm not selling one house every three months. It's a lot more than that. Thank goodness. But it's such a great investment. So, I mean, and also it's a tax write off, so it, I mean, it all makes sense.

Tim Chermak:
Absolutely. Absolutely. So, you're spending about $1000 a month. It sounds like you're at the point where you're ready to increase that budget a little bit, because you want to pour even more gasoline on the fire.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
How many ads do you, how many new ads do you typically do every month? Are you, in an average month, are you typically launching two new videos or two or three new photo ads? Or is it eight new ads every month? Is it two new ads every month? How many new ads every month do you typically say you average?

Diane Tharp:
So, I'm not doing enough. I think probably two or three a month.

Tim Chermak:
Okay. Okay.

Diane Tharp:
We have some really strong list ads that run, and those, we haven't changed those in probably two years.

Tim Chermak:
Because, they just keep working.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. They're so good. But I think that I'm not doing enough. I know that. If I were to do more, my business would be on fire right now.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. I mean, well it's already doing quite well if you've doubled your business, but you mentioned just that simple vanilla ice cream post, and that's not even a video for those listening to this podcast right now, that's not a fancy video she had to produce. It's literally just a photo, she went and grabbed and we put some ad copy to go along with it. That brought in almost $2 million worth of listings, and you're not guessing that. I think that's the interesting thing about that example, is that you're not guessing, oh, I think he saw this ad. The guy actually held out his phone and told you, "I saw this post and it made me want to call you." That's pretty cool. Often we talk about fuzzy ROI. It's like, well, that's not really that fuzzy if someone's telling you it's because of this post.

Diane Tharp:
No, and the fact that he had the screenshot of it-

Tim Chermak:
Yes. Yes.

Diane Tharp:
It was crazy for me. So, it was pretty awesome. It's nice to get some reassurance, I think sometimes, because sometimes you do wonder, but with that, there's no wondering on that one.

Tim Chermak:
Had you used, Diane, other marketing programs or systems before, whether it's BoomTown or Curaytor or whatever? I mean-

Diane Tharp:
Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
Have you seen other stuff out there, and how does Platform compare to other marketing strategies out there.

Diane Tharp:
We had Commissions Inc for, I want to say three years. In the first year that I was with Platform, we kept them both. Well, it was probably the first six months we kept Commissions Inc going. Basically, I was just throwing money away. So, as far as converting leads from Commissions Inc, it was very difficult, because people felt like I was telemarketer calling them, I guess. So, they're very defensive when you call them, because they didn't want to talk about real estate. Whereas with, when I call Platform people, I don't typically talk real estate to begin with, with them. Quite often we'll talk about the ad that they saw on Facebook or whatever, and we get to real estate, but it was so different between the relationship with the Commissions Inc people versus the relationship with the Platform people. That's like, I don't know. The Platform people are, I mean, you do get the odd one that's grumpy, but you know, everyone's grumpy some days. But Commissions Inc. People were mostly not interested in listening to what you had to say.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. I mean just, the actual leads coming in aren't as warmed up to you.

Diane Tharp:
No. I think that has a lot to do with the amount of focus that we put on the retargeting strategy, because often leads are leads, right? Some company might say our leads are better than this other company's, but at the end of the day, for the most part, leads are leads. Right?

Tim Chermak:
Yeah.

Diane Tharp:
I think, having them feel warmer with Platform isn't even necessarily because we're generating leads in a different way. It's because of everything that happens after a lead comes in. It's all of the retargeting ads that they see, where they're getting to know you and they see you out at local restaurants and trying local ice cream. Right? And, giving quick tours of local places, and I mean, just all the various retargeting ads you've, I mean, you, at this point ,have probably done hundreds, hundreds of retargeting ads over the years. So, anyone on your retargeting list has seen all sorts of content from you. So, even before, even before they ever call you and talk to you, there's kind of the sense that they already feel like they know you.

Diane Tharp:
So, that lead, of course, is going to feel a lot more warm if they already feel like they know you, then some random person who clicked on an ad, and now you're calling to follow up with them, and they're kind of like annoyed that you're calling versus someone who almost, in a sense, feels like a friend. So, that definitely makes a difference over time. So, after about six months, you said you quit Commission Inc, and you went all in on Platform. How much was Commissions Inc. even costing you?

Diane Tharp:
You, I think it was about 3000 a month, I was spending on it.

Tim Chermak:
3000. Okay. Wow.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
And you weren't really getting a strong ROI from that?

Diane Tharp:
No.

Tim Chermak:
I mean, has it made any difference in your business since you quit? Did your business go down at all when you quit that?

Diane Tharp:
No, not at all. Not at all. I think my business went up, because then I could stop wasting my time on that and just focus on my Platform people. I think that was, that's was the key. It was like, almost like at running around like a headless chicken, because there was so much that you had to try and do. I think that, at this point in my career, I want to work smarter, not harder. So, it just, it made so much sense once I got rid of that. It was hard at the beginning, because you always question, if I give it up, will I be ever be able to get it back again? Because I think that's always a mentality that a realtor, as a realtor you have, is you don't want to give things up, because you can't get it back. But I'm grateful that I gave that up, and walked away from it.

Tim Chermak:
So, as you look back on your real estate career, I guess your business growing to where it is today, what do you wish you had done differently in the last five years? Like the very first year or two, you were at Platform, knowing what you know now, is there anything you would've done differently or anything you would tell someone who recently signed up for Platform, to make sure that they're maximizing the opportunity that they have?

Diane Tharp:
Shoot more videos, and do what your person says. We each get a person. Mine's Emily. Always do what they say, because I am not always the best at that. If you do everything that they tell you to do, then you'll do incredible. I think that it is important just to trust the process, because it works, and there's plenty of people that can show that it works.

Tim Chermak:
You had mentioned you work with Emily as your account manager.

Diane Tharp:
Mm-hmm.

Tim Chermak:
So, every realtor, when they join the platform program is assigned a dedicated account manager that you'll work with. You typically have a weekly phone call with your account manager. It's not a Zoom call. It's not a big webinar where there's 30 other agents on or something. I always have to clarify that, because when some people say that we do a weekly call with you, they've been in other marketing coaching programs or whatever, and so when they hear weekly call, what they think is, oh, it's like a big group call with 100 other agents or something. It's like, no, no, no, no, no. This is a one-on-one phone call with you every week. Really, what your account manager is there to do is get to know you, get to know your markets. They can customize the platform strategy for you to make sure we're making it as relevant as possible for your local market and your situation.

Tim Chermak:
Your account manager also kind of holds you accountable as a coach. Right? They're giving you marketing homework every week, if you want to think about it like that. Like, "Hey, here's the video I want you to film this week or here's the photo I want you to grab this week." So, Diane necessarily, doesn't have to come up with the idea for this vanilla ice cream ad, we keep mentioning. That was just an order she probably got from Emily. It's like, "Hey, go take a photo of you with vanilla ice cream." Right?

Diane Tharp:
Yes.

Tim Chermak:
That was your marketing homework at some point. So, when you're saying like, "Hey, listen to what your platform account manager says," it's because they're giving you kind of marketing assignments every week and you just got to go out and do it, whether it's filming the videos, taking the photos, just, even if you don't have time, make time. Go get it done.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. Well, and it's really great, because after our conversation each week I get an email, and the email has everything that I need to do. So, if I would do a better job at doing all of those things, I can't even imagine how my business would be.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. That's something that's very essential, I think, to the success of Platform long term, is that we have this incredible team of account managers. Because, I mean really any other marketing company that I know of, whether it's Curaytor, BoomTown, Ylopo, Cinc, I mean all the companies out there, right, they don't really have coaches or training. They have like a support desk, maybe. There's maybe a phone number you can call if something breaks or goes wrong, and that's more of like an IT help desk. But we invest heavily in our account management team. I mean, our payroll is over $100,000 a month. So, it's by far our biggest expense as a company, is paying our account managers, because we know that if each realtor, like you, Diane, gets access to an excellent marketing advisor, and really a marketing strategist, and they're assigned to work specifically with you, where it's not like you're just in a giant group of 50 people, you are going to get better results using that.

Diane Tharp:
I think too, it's not just the weekly call, because I can email or I can text Emily, and she always responds to me. If I have an issue, and I need help resolving it, she helps me. So, it has been incredible, and she really is a coach, because every time, "How's everything going? What's going on," everything. She's just incredible. I'm very grateful that I get to work with her.

Tim Chermak:
So, let's shift gears a little bit, and I want to talk about, Diane, how you have created this dynamic in your life where yeah, your business has grown, and it's not just grown. It's doubled. Right? You're making a quarter million dollars a year now, where before you were making half of that or less than half of that, but that kind of comes with an asterisk, because you're not only making 250 a year in GCI now. You're making 250, while having an incredible work-life balance that maybe you didn't always have before. Because now, I mean, I think this was two years ago, I remember you bought 13 round-trip tickets to New Zealand for your family members, because if people haven't noticed, Diane has this amazing accent because you're, are you from New Zealand originally?

Diane Tharp:
I am.

Tim Chermak:
Or did you grow up there or?

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. I'm from there. Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
So, you bought 13 tickets, not one or two or three or four or even five or six or seven or eight or nine or 10 or 11 or 12, but 13 round-trip tickets for your extended family to all take this epic, I think it was a December vacation. Is that right? You were there over Christmas?

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. We went for Christmas. There was, four of us went for a month, and then the other nine flew in right before Christmas, and we got to have Christmas and New Year's down there, and all of the rest of my family live in New Zealand. So this was, I have four daughters, so it was my daughters and their husbands and I have some grandkids that went too, and it was amazing. The timing was perfect, because we went in 2020, and it was right before COVID hit. So, we all got to go down and have this incredible family reunion, Christmas vacation, in New Zealand right before COVID. So, it was just really fun.

Tim Chermak:
That's a memory that like no one can ever take away from you. You'll always have that memory. So, A, not only is it just insanely impressive that you were willing to do that for your family, buy all the 13 round-trip tickets. I mean, because-we're not talking flying round trip from Chicago to Dallas. We're talking about flying from the US to New Zealand, which is halfway across the world. That's pretty much as long of a flight as you can possibly take. I mean, how long is that flight?

Diane Tharp:
We all flew to Houston, and then flew from Houston down. So, it's about 14 hours.

Tim Chermak:
A 14-hour flight.

Diane Tharp:
But the plane tickets were about $40,000. For the plane tickets.

Tim Chermak:
Wow.

Diane Tharp:
And then-

Tim Chermak:
Wow, and you were in then a financial position to where, I mean, obviously it was a big sacrifice for you, but you were in a financial position where you're like 40,000. Yep. I can handle that.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
That's incredible.

Diane Tharp:
I set a goal, and the, right before Christmas, the year before, and I made sure everyone could come. Then I was like, "Okay, if I can sell this much by this time, I'm buying the tickets." I did. I brought them early in the spring, and it worked out great. I actually flew down in the September beforehand to set up all of the sight- seeing trips I wanted to go on and take everybody on. So, that way, I spent, I think, three weeks down there, end of September. Then I came back and worked a little bit. Then beginning of December, I flew back down again with my daughter and two of my grandkids, so we could finish getting everything set up. But that year, I still made, I was just under 250 that year, and I was able to get all my numbers in. It just, Platform has allowed me to do that.

Tim Chermak:
That's incredible. Wow. So, you booked $40,000 worth of airfare, flying your whole family across, I mean literally, like, it's an expression obviously, but literally across the world to go to New Zealand. So, I was saying A, that's really cool that you were willing to do that for your family, but B the part that, because that's so incredible that I think people might miss, is that when you look at that year, you took like two months off.

Diane Tharp:
Mm-hmm.

Tim Chermak:
So, I mean, you really only worked like 10 months out of the year and that's assuming that, I'm just assuming you didn't take any massive vacation in those other months, but maybe you took some time off in there a little bit too, but you really only worked 10 months that year, and you still brought in $250,000. That to me, is really interesting too, because I think that speaks to, I think the power of the brand that you've built in the area, that you're not like dependent on going out and getting business or having to buy leads or anything, where you could comfortably from like an emotional perspective, I mean, you could comfortably take two months off, and not worry that your business is going to collapse because you're building that marketing brand there.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. I don't have that. I used to have that worry when I would go to New Zealand, and because it's so far in it and it's a little expensive to go, I would go for a month, and I would always come back knowing that my business wouldn't, I wouldn't have anything for probably two to three months.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. You'd have to start building a pipeline there.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
Because it all went down to zero when you were gone.

Diane Tharp:
Every time. Yeah. Now, that year I actually was gone for a month in the beginning of the year as well. So, I was actually gone three months in 2020. So, but it is, now, I mean, Platform is still going, and actually I was down there last Christmas, during COVID to help take care of my dad, and I still was doing my calls with Emily while I was down there, because your cell phone still works no matter where you are in the world.

Tim Chermak:
Sure.

Diane Tharp:
So, it was, it's just so cool, because it doesn't matter where I am, and I can still do my job. Platform is still working behind the scenes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and I don't have to do it. That is how I can do what I do.

Tim Chermak:
Well. I mean, again, if you can take that much time off and still make the amount of money you're making, that's a huge, huge win. A lot of that has to do with the way that we structure these ads, right, with retargeting to keep you top of mind. Because most agents pretty much exist their entire career on kind of this roller coaster of they have a really big high, and they maybe sell five homes in the month of June. But then because they spent so much time making sure all of those deals closed in June, they have nothing in July because they weren't prospecting at all in the months of April and May or June, leading up to that big month of closings, they were so busy working their clients, and doing what had to be done just in your day job as a realtor that they weren't doing any prospecting or marketing.

Tim Chermak:
So, you kind of have these high highs and low lows, and you found a way to really smooth that out with Platform, so where you can now take a month off or even two months off, or it actually sounds like three months off in a year, and you're still having incredible success, because that marketing system is kind of working around the clock for you. I mean, I think almost the wellbeing that you get from that is greater than even the money, because it's not really fun to take a cool vacation, whether it's a week vacation or a month vacation, it's not really fun to do that, and then come back knowing that, oh crap, I have a ton of work to do now that I came back. Right? Platform has kind of solved that problem for you, where, it's not that you don't have work to do when you come back, but that you know that, Hey, my pipeline is not starting from scratch, because my pipeline has been working this entire time, even while I'm gone.

Diane Tharp:
That's correct. 100% correct. I mean, it's such a, you have a peace of mind, because you can go away knowing that when you come back, you don't have to start over. Yeah. It's, I think that work-life balance is so important, and this has allowed me to actually have that.

Tim Chermak:
Diane, who are some of the people in the Plat-fam that you look up to and that you respect? Who are some of maybe your heroes in the Plat-fam?

Diane Tharp:
There's so many. Angela. I mean, she's incredible. I love watching all the stuff that Heather does, Justin, Veronica. There's so many. I don't know of one that I look at and think, oh, they could work harder, because I think we all do things so differently, and it's so much fun to watch. I know I can borrow ideas from any of them, because I'm not competing with them, and if I needed help, I could call, and I have called other agents in the Plat-fam and ask them for help, and they will help me. The side benefit with this too, is I've received referrals. I've given out referrals, and I go to our Plat-fam first. I don't look outside. I try to do it all within, and I think that's a side benefit that you aren't expecting.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. I mean, like if you know someone who's moving to the Boise area, it's like, Hey, cool, I'm going to connect him Angela Musker, or if I know someone moving to Hondo, Texas, cool, I'm going to connect him with Heather. That's something that a lot of agents don't, I think don't expect when they join Platform is realizing like, hey, as long as you're active and you, and you get to know people in the group, you'll probably get some referral business-

Diane Tharp:
Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
... from other agents in here, which is pretty cool.

Diane Tharp:
It is. It's very cool. So, I think that it's something that just builds as well, because, and especially when you go to the Masterminds. I mean, those are the best things. Don't miss them.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. So, we actually have a Mastermind coming up here in about three weeks. So, let's actually talk about that for a couple minutes, because I know that someone might be listening to this podcast six months into the future, but on the day we're recording this, I believe it is November 11th, 2021. So, the 2021 Platform Mastermind is coming up in early December. So, what is your experience, Diane, been in attending Platform Masterminds. Maybe, what was, let me ask you, what was your favorite Mastermind? Is there a favorite speaker you've ever had that we brought into a Mastermind or what was a big Mastermind takeaway you've had from previous Platform Masterminds?

Diane Tharp:
I think, I mean, I don't know that I've had one that was, that was actually, yeah. The one that we had when we went up to the Mall of America.

Tim Chermak:
Oh, up in Minnesota. Yep.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. The reason that one was my favorite was, because I got to go to the farm, and I got to go where the apples were. We got to pick apples. I think that my takeaway from all of them is I wish that I could soak in more information, because everyone, when they start talking, it's amazing how much information is out there, and how much they just give to you. Consistently, I'd say that you are the best speaker. I know you love to talk, but I think that you always have something of value, and so it's really interesting. I am looking forward to this one, and I don't remember his name, the guy from Praxis, I'm really looking forward to listening to-

Tim Chermak:
Isaac Morehouse. Yep. Isaac Morehouse. Yeah. He'll be incredible.

Diane Tharp:
Then this time we have Karen, Karen Hall talking about her phat she does. I'm really interested to hear all about that too.

Tim Chermak:
She is a badass.

Diane Tharp:
But even when we do the breakout lunches, where we went and we sat down and had lunch together, that was amazing, because we all talked about different things that we have going on and someone would have, they'd be like, well, have you tried this? Have you tried that? So, that part I love, because I'm not competing with you, so I'm going to tell you everything. I mean, I'm an open book, and everyone else is the same way. There wasn't anyone that sat back and didn't say anything. They all participated, and that was the best part.

Tim Chermak:
That's awesome. Well, that's as strong of an endorsement as you'll hear of why you should attend the Platform Masterminds. It's something we don't charge for either. So, as long as an agent is actively enrolled in the Platform Marketing Program, it's not like we charge an extra $1000 to attend the Mastermind or anything. It's totally free. You just need to get there, buy a ticket and get there. So, it'll be incredible this year. Just to clarify what Diane was saying there, when she mentioned the Minnesota Mastermind, and going to the farm and picking apples, because I'm sure some people are hearing that. They're thinking, "What in the hell is she talking about?" So, after the Mastermind last year, a handful of clients, I don't know if it was four or five of the agents, something like that, drove two hours west of Minneapolis to where my family actually owns a big piece of property, and an apple orchard.

Tim Chermak:
It was the apple orchard that actually inspired the book, High Hanging Fruit. So, my brother, Andrew actually now owns this property, and Andrew is the GM of Platform as well as a co-owner of Platform now. So, it's actually all of his land now. It's his house, and he owns those apple orchards, but we went out there, because a lot of the agents obviously have read the book, High Hanging Fruit, and they were kind of thinking it would be cool to kind of see the, an ancestral homelands, if you will, about where did all this high hanging fruit, a mythology originate. Right? So, they got to tour the actual apple orchard, eat some apples, and then we had a bonfire that night.

Tim Chermak:
I remember, it was just so cool, because it was like a bunch of us Platform employees hanging out with clients as if we're just a bunch of old friends. You don't really get that at other marketing companies. You're not going to go hang out with people from Zillow or Realtor.com or something, but we just literally had a bonfire and hung out. I think it was late, late September, so it was just like gorgeous kind of fall weather in Minnesota. Yeah, that was super fun.

Diane Tharp:
Yeah. That was super fun.

Tim Chermak:
So, we'll get to do that again, basically, in a couple weeks here in Naples, because everyone's coming down to Naples will probably go to beaches and have beach sunsets, and it'll be a really good time. So, I'm absolutely looking forward to that. Diane, one more question I wanted to ask you is, this is a question I think I try to ask on every Platform podcast interview is, if someone is listening to this right now, and they're a little bit frustrated, like maybe they've been with Platform for four months, maybe they've been in the Platform Marketing Program for eight months, and they don't yet have the success that they thought they would have. Because I know, especially the last year, right, the real estate market has been so weird, just super-low inventory, no listings available.

Tim Chermak:
It's really hard to help your buyers find a house, and not overpay too much for it. It's just been a, frankly, a weird time to be a real estate agent the last year. Interest rates are still just artificially being held at pretty much zero. It's just a very odd, odd market. So, I know a lot of agents, especially if they have a bunch of buyers, they're struggling right now, and it can be really frustrating because maybe someone signed up, and they're hearing these success stories of people who've doubled their business. Right? They're like, "Well, that's not me. I signed up five months ago, and I haven't had a single closing yet."

Tim Chermak:
Maybe they're having conversations, and leads are coming in. So, they see leads coming in, but it hasn't yet translated into closings, like that high hanging fruit hasn't yet been harvested. What would you tell that person if they're listening to this right now, and they're like I said, four or five, six months in whatever.,` They're feeling frustrated, they're a little bit discouraged because they thought they would get results faster. What would you say to them to encourage them to stick with it?

Diane Tharp:
I think that if you are, keep doing your videos, keep doing your photos, you probably have had a closing and you just don't realize it, that that person actually saw all of your stuff on Facebook. I think that it's, go to Mastermind. Call the agents that are already in Platform. Talk to them. Everyone will be happy to talk to you. Don't give up. Just keep trying, because it is so much value, and I think that if you do something and you only try it for six months, it's not enough time. Give it longer, and at the end of the day, you've got a really great tax write-off if nothing else.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. There you go.

Diane Tharp:
It will all fall into place-

Tim Chermak:
We all hate taxes.

Diane Tharp:
... and you will do amazing. You just have to keep going. Yeah. I know tax-

Tim Chermak:
If anything, if anything, do it for the tax write-off. There you go. I am all about that.

Diane Tharp:
It is, it's a game-changer, and yes, it might take you three months or it might take you six months or nine months. Stick it out. Don't give up. Just keep going. If you don't want to shoot the videos, if you shoot two videos, and you don't want to do anymore that month, do a photo. Because there's tons of photo ads that you can do, and so do those.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah.

Diane Tharp:
But don't give up, and if you think that you're going to give up, call me or call Amy or call any of the other realtors that belong, and we will talk you through.

Tim Chermak:
I think-

Diane Tharp:
You need to stick with that.

Tim Chermak:
It's worth repeating that we're having this conversation inside of the broader context of you having been with Platform for five years, not six months or nine months, but five years. I mean, that's just so rare that a realtor would stick with a marketing program, a marketing company that long, and not have some sort of emotional blow up where you got mad at us and quit or that something happened that you got ... It's five years, because sticking with something that long means that, more than just it's working, that it's working better and better every year. Because if it was only just working, you may have quit a couple years ago, just because you want to go find something new. Right? But we're continuously innovating, and trying new things and improving what we have, so that, you've been with platform now for five years. I'm, I really, I really appreciate what you said Diane, about if anyone's ever struggling, call another agent.

Tim Chermak:
It's not like you can only call your Platform account manager if you need a pick me up, if you need kind of some motivation and encouragement. Other agents are always willing to encourage you, because more than likely, any agent who's been around platform for more than a year or two, more than likely, they were in some sort of equivalent of like the dark night of the soul, where they were feeling down on themselves. Right? They're like, "I'm going to quit. This isn't working. I need to stop spending so much money on marketing. I'm just going to quit," and they were right at that point where they were about to, like their business was about to blow up.

Tim Chermak:
They just needed to stick with it, and they need that encouragement. So, they've been at that point too, and so they probably reached out to someone who encouraged them to stick with it. Now they're on the other side of that, and their business, whatever, has increased by 50% or it's doubled or it's tripled. So, they're more than willing to help you, because someone once helped them. Right? Someone encouraged them when they needed that encouragement. That's actually one of my favorite parts of the whole Plat-fam sense of community, is that agents are so willing to help each other. Of course, you can always call Platform. You can always call your account manager or another account manager. Right.

Tim Chermak:
Any agent in Platform who's listening to this has my cell phone, my personal cell phone number, as well as Andrew's cell phone number. So, there's plenty of people, you can call at Platform, but that they're willing to talk to other agents as well, and the agents are willing to talk to them, is really cool to me. I love seeing that dynamic of, even at Masterminds, people helping each other out, in between sessions or over lunch or dinner, whatever, like seeing some of the more experienced agents, helping out the newer agents, answering their questions. That's really cool.

Diane Tharp:
It is really cool.

Tim Chermak:
It's really cool.

Diane Tharp:
So, I think that it needs to happen in more situations, but we are just so lucky having the Plat-fam, it is a great feeling, and I think that it's a game-changer for your business. Not just for your business, I think it's a game-changer for you, because you do have times where other stuff gets in the way. I mean, life happens, and so it's so nice to know that in the Platform family, it's a safe space. You can come in. You can talk all the real estate you want. You can talk family if you want. I mean, that's the great thing with Emily. I just, I can't say enough about her. So, she's always been there, and when I was in New Zealand last year, when my dad was sick, she came up with an ad to say, Hey, yeah, I've been missing for a month. And here's why, and she did a picture of me and my dad, and some other things. It was so cool that she was able to step up and help out. So, life does get in the way, but Platform's always there.

Tim Chermak:
Diane, when's the next time you're going to New Zealand?

Diane Tharp:
Oh, you know what, if they would open up that country, I would be gone tomorrow. Well actually, no, I wouldn't. I'd have to wait to after Mastermind. New Zealand unfortunately, is still locked down and-

Tim Chermak:
Yeah.

Diane Tharp:
... they have this weird lottery system and anyway, one day it will open up again, and I'll get to go home.

Tim Chermak:
There you go. Cool. Well, Diane, thank you so much for your time. This has been a really, I just think a really encouraging episode. You have a really warm, happy personality, and it's obvious that you're not just happy with Platform, you're happy with life. I think that probably becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy in your business. When you're always so optimistic about things, they have a funny way of working out. So, I've really enjoyed this episode.

Diane Tharp:
Me too.

Tim Chermak:
I think it's incredible how your business has grown, again, not only have you doubled your income, you've doubled your income while somehow being able to still take two to even three months off a year of travel, investing and buying airfare for your family to fly to New Zealand, and you paid for all of it, because you were in that financial position to be able to do that. That's absolutely incredible. I mean, this has just been a really cool, inspiring episode that I think other agents will listen to and say, "Hey, when I want to grow up, when I grow up, I want to be like Diane." Right? That's-

Diane Tharp:
Thank you.

Tim Chermak:
That's super cool. So, I will see you in just a couple weeks here, actually, at the Platform Mastermind, and for everyone listening, thank you for listening, and we'll see you on the next episode.