It Took Two Years, But It Was Worth It

Tim Chermak: Hey guys, it’s Tim Chermak and welcome back to another episode of The Platform Marketing Show. I’m joined today by Thom Collier, a realtor in Knox County, Ohio. Thom, welcome to the show.

Thom Collier: Thanks, Tim. Thanks for having me.

Tim Chermak: Now Thom and I are gonna have a really interesting conversation today on The Platform Marketing Show. Because Thom is not one of those super exciting, sexy, quick case studies success stories where he signed up for the Platform Marketing Program and immediately had, you know, life changing results within 90 days. I think a lot of marketing companies and programs want people to think that quick results are possible and even probable.

Like, hey if you sign up for this or that, you can have closings or you can have listings within 6 weeks or within 90 days or whatever. And usually that’s just not, that’s just not the reality. Right? And I think Thom is just an amazing example of being realistic about success and what it takes to have success. And the timeline of sometimes what’s necessary to build your brand and start experiencing momentum. And what that looks like, you know, however you define success in your market.

So Thom, welcome to the show, and let’s get started. I want to ask you a question. Tell me about Knox County, Ohio. What is your market like? What’s the average price point? Tell the listeners about Knox County.

Thom Collier: We are a very rural county. We’re deadset the geographical center of Ohio. We’re about 50 or 60 miles from Columbus. A local metropolitan area if you will. We’re a small community, 65,000 population of Knox County. And I really focus on Knox County and very little outside that area. Some agents will go much further. I really want to and desire to focus on my specific area and county.

So we are about 65,000 people. We have 5 miles of 4-lane highway in our entire county. We are 20 to 30 miles from the closest interstate. So, when I say we’re rural … We’re rural. Our largest community is about 15,000 people. That’s the county seat.

Tim Chermak: Okay, and what’s the average price point there?

Thom Collier: Yeah, the average price point just broke $200,000 this year. For the first time. We have hovered around $175,000-$190,000. And with some increases in activity and a shortage of homes, we just crested the $200,000 maybe $205,000 for the average sale here. 

Tim Chermak: Okay, so you are looking at, realistically, an average commission check for you is gonna be somewhere around, let’s say, $5,000?

Thom Collier: $4500-$5,000 is generally, yes. 

Tim Chermak: Okay, okay. And when did you sign up for The Platform Marketing Program, Thom? Do you remember what month and year it was?

Thom Collier: I do, August of 2020, right after the big hit of the pandemic.

Tim Chermak: Okay, okay. Yeah.

Thom Collier: And I have to say, the time I joined, you know when Covid first got here it actually didn’t affect us much in the very early beginning. But as it went on, it affected us a great deal. And literally, when I joined Platform Marketing, I don’t think I had had a closing in nearly 6 months. 

Tim Chermak: Oh wow, so you were starting from a baseline of pretty much zero.

Thom Collier: Yeah. And I had been in the business for a number of years, and had a relatively successful base of business. So you know, it wasn’t like I was a newbie starting out when Covid hit.

Tim Chermak: Sure. 

Thom Collier: I was licensed in 2003. I didn’t really start full time in the business until 2008. Who would have wanted to start in real estate in 2008, right?

Tim Chermak: *laugh* 

Thom Collier: That’s when I went full time, and it was do or die. You know, people used to ask me how sales were at that time. And I said it was great. I sold my refrigerator, my car, my couch, my anything I could to keep in business. 

Tim Chermak: No kidding.

Thom Collier: But if I’d been … I’d been in the business a while, but Covid really had a bad effect. 

Tim Chermak: You know, I think that was true of a lot of people though. Right? And we’re kind of seeing the same dynamic play out this year in 2023. That even if you had a successful business in previous years, transaction volume this year, you know. Depending on what market you are in. Obviously. All real estate is local. Everyone knows that. But, the average across the country is that most markets are down about 30% in transaction volume, right. So even if home prices haven’t come down a ton, in terms of transaction volume, the number of transactions happening every month - That number’s down 30% year over year.

So essentially, the pie has just shrunk by 30% in terms of the number of closings out there for realtors, you know, for realtors to get. So it’s totally normal I guess is what I’m saying. If your business is down a little bit this year, that’s why.

But that’s what I think makes your story really compelling, Thom. It’s that your business is actually up in the last year. So in a rolling 12-18 month period where the overall real estate market has actually tightened by about 30%, your business has greatly expanded. And that’s to your credit. Like, I wish Platform could take more credit for this success story. But really, I think the main variable is just your endurance and your patience in trusting the strategy. And not looking for a quick fix and not looking for like, “Hey, I want to triple my business,” or whatever in 3 months. You know, you signed up, you said, in August 2020. And how long do you think it  really took you to see results? To see your business really growing in a meaningful way? Because I know you are not one of those people that saw results in the first 6 months or even necessarily in the first 12 months or the first 18 months. I mean how long did it actually take you to feel like, “Okay, this Platform thing is working”? 

Thom Collier: It took every bit of 2 years. And I won’t say that I didn’t have anything from Platform. Certainly, I did. But to the extent to where I would say, “Oh man, this is really making a difference,” in the background perhaps, as far as reflecting on the numbers, really it wasn’t until 2 to almost 2.5 years. I guess 2 years and 3-4 months before that really kicked in. To where I could say, “Look, this was worth the wait. And worth all the efforts we put into it.” And it really start showing up in the numbers. So it was every bit of 2 years or more. And I committed because I think that’s what Andrew told me when I started. 

He said, “You know what? You want to give this a minimum of a year, but likely 2 years.” I committed that moment that you know, barring some catastrophe, I was gonna give it 2 years. And I think you were gonna call it 6-8 months ago. We had a conversation through my account manager Jordan. And I just said, “Hey, am I doing something wrong? Not doing enough of something?”

Tim Chermak: Yep. Yep. I -

Thom Collier: Because it was relatively flat. Which again, in a down market isn’t a bad thing. But it wasn’t where I wanted to be. Certainly it wasn’t the stories that I heard on some of the podcasts or going to some of the Masterminds where people were tripling and quadrupling their numbers. In a relatively short period of time. You know, sometimes it gets a little discouraging because I think, What am I doing wrong? 

Tim Chermak: Yeah, that’s absolutely something that as the CEO of Platform that I’ve become more conscious of over the years is that it’s not that we ever want to stop celebrating the wins. Right? But I’m starting to realize how, hey sometimes people that have been with Platform for 6 or 9 months or 12 months. Or shoot, you know 18 months. And their business really isn’t blowing up like some of the other people they see. It can kind of actually be discouraging to hear stories of someone whose business has doubled within a year of starting The Platform Strategy. Because you kind of start thinking. What am I doing wrong? 

Thom Collier: Or maybe this just isn’t going to work for me. Maybe it’s not in my market. Maybe the market is different. Maybe they do something different. And all those questions, of course, went through my mind. And I think when you and I and Jordan talked together, and we looked at the numbers and what the growth rate has been and what we were spending. You kind of helped assess all of that and say here’s the strategy moving forward. And here’s you know, you’re not doing it wrong. You’re not slacking. And I will say too, first to admit that the first 6 months in Platform I had a tough time. Getting in front of the camera and doing the videos and doing all this. So you almost can’t count that first 6 months. 

Like a lot of other agents, I’m sure that it was just that hesitation. “Oh, I don’t look good on camera.” I still don’t. But I do it anyway. I don’t sound good on camera, or I don’t like the sound of my own voice. Or I this is gonna be … All those things aside, once you get over yourself, and you really implement The Platform Strategy, I am a perfect example of the success that can happen. So when I say it took 2+ years, really you could subtract those first 6 months because, while I was doing it while I was active in it, I wasn’t to the point of what I’ve been in the last 12 months to 16 months.

Tim Chermak: So Thom, I’m actually curious, as the Founder. You know, CEO of Platform. When someone says, “I’m gonna commit to this for 2 years,” that’s an extraordinary statement. To make about a marketing company that you’re just, “I am going to commit to 2 years.” Most people, if they give any sort of minimum at all or any sort of commitment usually what they say is, “I’m gonna see if this works for 90 days,” or, “I’m gonna give it 6 months and see if it works.” And if they’re, you know, particularly ambitious they might say, “I’m gonna give this 12 months to work. And if I don’t see results in a year, then I’ll quit.” 

And I think that’s a totally reasonable perspective to give something 12 months. What was it about Platform that made you think, “I’m gonna stick with this for 2 years”? Because clearly you must have had some level of trust or some sort of intangible that made you think, “I’m gonna give this that long of a period of time to work.” Because I think most people don’t sign up for Zillow and think, “I’m gonna give this 2 years to work.” Or they don’t send out direct mail and they think, “I’m gonna give this 2 years to work.”

What was it about Platform that made you give it that long of a runway? And how to have that much patience.

Thom Collier: First of all, I guess I’ll say there was a trust level, and we can talk about that a second. But since we mention Zillow and Realtor.com and some of those, I have never done them. I’ve never paid for a lead. I am hesitant and have done very few of the referral networks where they take 25-30-40% of a commission.

Tim Chermak: Sure, sure.

Thom Collier: I just … that just never felt right to me. I’m not saying it’s not good. I’ve got a lot of agents who do that. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah, yeah. I will say too about those companies: like even Realtor.com and you know, doing that, notice that a lot of those companies are started in markets like the Bay area or Austin, Texas. Where homes are like $700,000- $800,000. So it’s like the average commission is already $20,000. So if you give away a 35% referral fee, it’s like well, whatever. You’re still left with $15,000. But honestly the math just doesn’t work in much of the country because if you’re dealing with commissions that are $5,000 and you give away 35%, well pretty quickly you’re like, “Why am I showing this person homes? After taxes I’m gonna end up with $1,500.”

So you know, it just doesn’t make sense.

Thom Collier: For the same reason I don’t discount my commission. I value what service I provide. I believe that it has the value. I can defend the value. And I make no apologies for what my commission is and what I earn. And that’s an important part. But back to your original question, I think there are a couple of things. One was the trust level in talking with the folks at Platform. Second, I’ve been self-employed since the second I was 18, that’s 40 years now for me. I have been self-employed since I graduated high school. And that commitment came from that self-employment mentality of it doesn’t matter if I’m doing radio or something else. You have to give it the time to work. You have to give it the energy.

You can’t just place one ad or a month’s worth or a weekend’s worth and just expect that people are going to respond to that. It has to be that repetition. And social media is huge today. We didn’t experience that until the last, what, 10 years or so or less in our lives. And what a great way. This would be like being at the beginning of television. Being able to afford television ads or Superbowl commercials you know, early on. I mean this is … that’s where we are as I look at it in this market. And I’m personally not a huge technology … I mean I can handle myself in technology. I’m comfortable with most things. But I’m not one who’s gonna explore new things. 

I’m certainly not one who’s gonna put in the behind the scenes work for social media and video and all those things.

Tim Chermak: Sure, sure. 

Thom Collier: So I knew that was a weakness of mine that I am not going to do. Or, not going to take the time to do. And so that wasn’t a good fit. But I think the other thing that for me was huge is that Platform came across to me as something that I can embrace because it was an extension of who I already am. Somebody who likes to promote small business. Somebody who likes to promote their local community. Who wants to be seen as part of the community and help the community. And it wasn’t all about me. 

One of the things that drives me crazy is when I go on social media and I see my fellow agents from other brokerages who are posting things like, “Hey, we sold another one. Who’s next?” I’m thinking that to me that just sounds so wrong. That “who’s next?” Who can I do next just doesn’t sit with me to see the same people post with their sold sign. And there’s nothing wrong with that to celebrate the fact that somebody sold, but that isn’t the majority or the face of my marketing. It maybe a part of it, but it’s certainly not the majority. It’s not what people are gonna see me as. 

And so that promotion of the community … I have been involved in or community for many, many years. 

Tim Chermak: I still think that when most realtors post on, let’s say Facebook, that, “Hey, last year I sold $8 million worth of real estate.” Or they talk about their sales volume, right? I’m pretty sure the average person who sees that, who is not a real estate agent, when they say “my total production was $8 million,” I think a lot of people are still confused. And they don’t even realize … Did that realtor make $8 million dollars last year? 

Thom Collier: Right. *laughs*

Tim Chermak: They don’t realize that you’re just adding up the total cost of the homes that you sold because no other business talks about its numbers by adding up the gross volume of the value of what they sold. That’s almost unique to real estate agents, that they add it up that way. I think the honest reason is just because it sounds impressive. 

Thom Collier: That’s right. In fact, the same with our local MLS market. That’s another thing, our MLS is very small. It’s just Knox County. But I have to belong to 5 MLSs because I am in the center of so many other MLSs, Cleveland MLS, Columbus MLS, Mansfield MLS. You know, they all have different MLSs, and I have to be part of all of those. Because we go just across the border.

Tim Chermak: Sure.

Thom Collier: And many of the listings that I show are not in our MLS. They’re in some MLS. So I have to search for some. So that’s another piece of it. My point is, every MLS has their presidential award or their pinnacle award or you know, whatever the award is. I almost want to vomit thinking about you know, paying $85 to submit my number so that somebody can maybe  give me a plaque with my name and some level on it.

Tim Chermak: Yeah. That no-one cares about.

Thom Collier: Nobody cares, but I know that’s important to some people. And hallelujah, I’ve got a wall full of plagues of other things that I’m happy with. I don’t need one every year to tell me what my volume was. I track everything. Don’t get me wrong. I keep very close tabs on my numbers.

Tim Chermak: Sure, sure. 

Thom Collier: I track everything. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah, if like there’s a $99 application fee for applying for whatever awards, your business would be so much better off if you took that $100 and just went to your local cafe or coffee shop one day and just pointed out everyone who’s ordering. And say, “hey guys, I’ve got the next $100 order on me.” That would spread far more word of mouth about you and your personal brand than applying for some dumb award that you know, no-one cares about.

Thom Collier: That 12 other agents can have the same picture on their …

Tim Chermak: Right.

Thom Collier: And our company gives out some awards, and they’re very nice. I go and I receive it. But I didn’t pay for that. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah, sure.

Thom Collier: They gave it as an honor, and I put it up. That’s super. But I don’t base all my marketing on that. But you’re absolutely right. I just … There’s something so phony about that to me. 

Tim Chermak: Now Thom, when you say that was kind of what initially attracted you to Platform or what made you give it that 2 years worth of patience, go into detail on that for me. You said that Platform kind of valued featuring small businesses and featuring the community versus talking about yourself. Maybe for someone who’s listening to this podcast right now who isn’t jet working with Platform. How would you explain that to them, how the Platform Marketing Strategy is different compared to just marketing approaches where you talk about yourself all the time?

Thom Collier: So, to do that, let me give a little bit of background for me and where I come from. In addition to being self-employed since I was 18, in my home community I am the youngest of 9 children. All grew up here. All my siblings moved away. My grandparents have since passed, and I am the only one left here. But, this has been my community and a community that I love. And because of that, I have been involved in lots of local organizations, volunteer groups, president of lots of organizations, professional organizations, nonprofits, service clubs. That’s been my passion. And in addition to that, I have also been an elect official locally. I was on city council. Then I went to the State House. I was a State Representative for 8 years. Term limits. Got out. I’ve been High Commissioner for 10 years since.

Tim Chermak: Wow. Okay.

Thom Collier: So in terms of name recognition that way. But before somebody goes, “Oh well that’s where his success came from. Everybody knows him from this.” I can tell you that hurts me more than it helps me.  Because people for several reasons, some people don't agree with me politically therefore they don't want to deal with me. That’s okay. That’s fair. I don’t look at it that way when I’m dealing with them, but some people have that view. 

Second, people have seen me for many years as that public servant I like to say, rather than politician. Because words mean things and poly means many and ticks means bloodsuckers. So I like to say public servant. 

Tim Chermak: *laugh*

Thom Collier: So as a public servant, people know me as that. One of my goals with Platform Marketing was for people to see and identify me as the local realtor with the same passions for my community. The same passion towards serving people, but in a different venue. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah, it was almost about rebranding or reinventing yourself. Like hey, I don’t want you to think of me as a county commissioner or a State Representative anymore. I want you to think of me as a top real estate agent now.

Thom Collier: Right. Exactly. And that was one of the goals. And so that’s why I said it had to fit with who I am. And I didn’t see anything else out there that fit or that, you know, aligned as well with who I am and what I want to promote as Platform did.  

So it became a very easy, simple transition, and it didn’t compete. People didn’t have to think in their minds, Oh is he this or is he that? No, he’s just a proponent. He’s a cheerleader for his community and for small businesses. And if I am known as nothing other than that, I’m good. I’m good. 

Tim Chermak: Thom let’s get into some of the specifics of what that business growth has looked like. Now you mention that it took you, you know, 2 years really to feel like that investment into Platform Strategy was finally starting to pay dividends. And I’ve just got to say, that’s incredible that you stuck with it that long. Like that almost makes me emotional as the CEO of Platform, hearing that someone put that much trust in us. Where we kept telling you over the last few years just trust us Thom, it’s going to work. Just have the patience, and that you actually did trust the system, and you stuck with it that long. And now you’re seeing your results. Like that really makes me happy.

Like that gives me the warm fuzzies hearing that. That you trusted Platform, and that you put in the work. And now you’re getting the results. So what have those results been, let’s say, this year? Is your business up 10%? Is it up 20%? 

Thom Collier: So yeah. I can give you pretty much the exact numbers. Through 2018-19 and 20, before I was with Platform, I hovered around $7-7.5 million in total sales. Which as an individual and somebody who does other things, that was …

Tim Chermak: Yeah.

Thom Collier Especially at that time $150,000-$175,000 average sale price. That’s not a bad year. 

Tim Chemak: I’m just gonna say this, because you’re pretty humble. That’s extremely impressive when you’re selling lots of $175,000 houses that you could get to $7-8 million a year in sales. Because I think a lot of people hear 7 or 8 million dollars and think what is he selling? You know, 10 homes a year? It’s like …

Thom Collier: Yeah, right. Nah.

Tim Chermak: He’s doing pretty major volume to get that amount of sales in a market where like an above average home for you is like $250,000

Thom Collier: Oh yeah. Yeah. I think it was up until a couple of years ago before I ever sold a single million dollar home. Ever. In fact we just in our market, I think it was 2 years ago, had the first …We had a small lake community where the first lakefront broke $1 million dollars. It was less than 2 years ago.

Tim Chermak: Okay.  

Thom Collier: In our entire market we never had that. 

Tim Chermak: So you were already reasonably successful before Platform. So that kinda sets the stage. That was the foundation. That was the before. You were selling about $7-8 million. Where are things at now? Where are you tracking for?

Thom Collier: So in 2021, which was a full year with Platform, I did about 10.3 million dollars in sales. Which was a good increase. Now in that time, I also added a brand new agent who was a buyers agent to help. So she was brand new. It wasn’t like she came in and brought tons of business. It was still developing. So I really do think that was just natural growth.  2022 I really set my sights high. And I was hopeful that we would really knock it out of the park. And honestly, I would set my goal at $20 million after one of the Masterminds. And I thought we can do this. And in 2022 we ended up again at about 10.3 million. And so it was flat. Now keep in mind, to keep that in perspective, the market here was down between 5-10%. I was steady.

This year, in 2023, we’ve just hit the midway point for 2023 for those who might be listening in a different time frame. Today we have over $9 million in sales in the first 6 months. Now keep in mind, our market is down between 7-10 or 12%. In my same MLS. I figured this out recently. That’s 40 transactions and 9 million dollars. Of our local MLS that’s about 13% of the entire MLS.

Tim Chermak: Wow!

Thom Collier: So, that’s not a bad gig. After the first half of this year. 

Tim Chermak. Wow.

Thom Collier: So literally, we are up 98% this year over last year. In a market that’s down.

Tim Chermak: That’s down!

Thom Collier: Locally about 10%. And in Columbus I understand they are down closer to 25%. And I’m up 98%.

Tim Chermak: Yep. So you’re up basically 98% in a year where interest rates are basically triple from where they were before. Transaction volume is down. There’s kind of just this general air of pessimism in the market right now. Right? And you’re up 98%.

Thom Collier: Exactly. 

Tim Chermak: That’s gotta feel really good. 

Thom Collier: It does. It really does. And it’s where you kind of breathe that sigh of relief. And say, “God, I’m glad I didn’t quit.”

Tim Chermak: Yep. Yeah.

Thom Collier: And here’s how I know,Tim, a lot of that comes from Platform. We … I do track where every lead comes from and where it goes.

Tim Chermak: Sure.

Thom Collier: And I have to say that a lot of my business has been done with past clients and other individuals that have. But, I also highlighted those that had what I call “The Platform influence.” And so somebody who I may have known, but they wouldn’t have called me but for my Facebook marketing. Or somebody who referred me because they see me constantly. I was top of the line for them. Because I really don’t do a whole lot of other marketing. 

I don’t do billboards. I don’t do print marketing. You know. I sponsor a few things here and there. But I don’t have any other … I don’t buy leads. I don’t pay for any other marketing things. I do a few little magazines every couple of months. Just to have something going out with my name. But really, Platform is the basis of my marketing. And here’s some of the ways that I know that that has worked. A: the volume and B: that transitioning and reforming of who people see me as. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah.

Thom Collier: About a month ago, I walked into a local grocery store I go to frequently. And a woman and her son walked passed. And she smiled and said,'Oh, hello,’ and I said “Hello’. You know, that’s not abnormal. Except I heard them as they walked by. The little boy says, “How do you know him?” And she says, “we see him on Facebook.” 

Tim Chermak: That’s awesome.

Thom Collier: Hallelujah! This is working! Right? It wasn’t. “Oh I had his sign in my yard the last election. It was, “We see him on Facebook.”And just a couple weeks ago, I was doing some work around the house. It was a holiday weekend, and I had to run to Lowes to get something. And I stopped at a food truck. And I was all grungy from doing the yard work and things. And I walked up to get something that wasn’t just normal fast food. And the woman at the counter lit up and she said, “Aren’t you that famous realtor?” *laugh* And I kinda said, “Well, I guess so.” She said, “Can we get your picture?”

Tim Chermak: Oh no way, that’s awesome.

Thom Collier: “So we can post on our social media that you came to our booth?”

Tim Chermak: That’s awesome.

Thom Collier: I was like, wow that’s different. Because you know, again, in the past it might have been, “Oh look, there’s you know, there’s the commissioner. There’s the State Rep.” But they’re, now it’s, “Aren’t you that famous realtor?” And that’s great.

Tim Chermak: That’s great.

Thom Collier: And I have to believe that being a realtor in election time will help me a whole lot more than being an elected official when it comes time to pick a realtor. So I like the reverse a whole lot better. That’s how I know that it’s come around full circle, and people do recognize. And people start quoting to me some of my ads. In fact, sometimes they’ll talk to me about things, and I’ll think, “what are they talking about?” And, “Oh, that was my recent ad that, you know, that went out.”

Tim Chermak: Yeah.

Thom Collier: When it’s initiated from them to me versus me having to cite something, that’s when you know it’s working. 

Tim Chermak: And so you know that people are actually telling you in real life whether you are at the grocery store or shopping somewhere, at church or at a local sports game, whatever. People are telling you, “Oh, I love your Facebook ad” or “I love that video,” So you know it’s working, and also the proof is in the numbers too. Because I think it’s important to point out that, to put it in straightforward terms, your business was at about $7 million before Platform. And this year, you’re on pace to do somewhere between $18, $19, maybe even $20 million. And everyone knows that yeah your business could organically grow from $7 million to maybe 8 or $9 million. Most years you’ll have a little bit of variance, right? Of “Oh one year I did $8 million the next I did 9 the next year I did $6.8 million. The next year I did $9.2 whatever. You kind of have a little bit of variance, but no one’s business randomly, spontaneously grows from $17 million to $19 million. You know. Like obviously the marketing that you are doing in the community is what’s making the difference. 

Thom Collier: And can I say, I am not spending any more with my ads and things. But I’m doing more of them. 

Tim Chermak: Sure, sure. So more volume of content.

Thom Collier: More content. And that was a commitment that I made about a year ago. We set the goals of how many walking, you know, walkthrough or showing videos we wanted to do.

Tim Chermak: Sure, sure.

Thom Collier: How many historical videos we wanted to do, or host, I should say. How many picture posts, how many just Thom being Thom posts we were gonna do. And we really focused on making sure we hit those numbers every month. And part of doing that, one of the things I learned - at one of the more recent Masterminds - was … I don’t know why I hadn’t done it before, but literally designating a day for production. 

Tim Chermak: Yeah.

Thom Collier: That doesn’t mean that we’re never going to do anything else that day, or that we’re not gonna do production on other days. But if we know that Wednesdays are our production days, and we have a Monday call with our Ad Administrator, then we know exactly what we need to do. What do we need to knock out? Sometimes it takes 10 minutes. Sometimes it takes all morning. It just depends on what we’re working on, but we can map it out. We can strategize that, and know what we are going to do on that day.

And we’re far more committed to doing it. And because I have those numbers in front of me that this is the number of posts or videos that I want to do each month. And we don’t want to settle for any less than that. And we find ways to do it, and we’re committed to doing it. And that’s made a huge, huge difference. 

Tim Chermak: So you are taking one day a week, and this is like Wednesday is your designated content creation day. Where you’re probably not scheduling a whole lot, if any, meetings on Wednesday or phone calls on Wednesday, or showings on Wednesdays. Because you’re willing to tell your clients like, “Hey, Wednesdays are my marketing days where I spend all day Wednesday creating content. Whether that’s filming videos, taking photos, just creating content. Because that way I know that I’m creating enough new ads every week.” So that people aren’t just seeing the same old ads recycled over and over and over again. They’re regularly seeing fresh, new photos and videos on your social media feed. Which kind of creates the perception that maybe you’re spending even more than you actually are.Because there’s constantly new stuff going out.

So Thom, actually let me just ask you, how much do you spend on the ads budget every month? 

Thom Collier: I knew that was probably going to be a question. My answer is I don’t know. 

Tim Chermak: Okay.

Thom Collier: I’d have to ask my ads manager. I really don’t. I’m sure we set a threshold at some point. And said, “Hey, keep it at this.” But I don’t know, and I don’t ask. Honestly, because it’s working, and I know if I need to spend a little more, she has the freedom to do that. And if I don’t, she won’t. And that’s part of that trust part that we talked about. 

Tim Chermak: Sure.

Thom Collier: You know that we have a great relationship with Jordan. And we trust her. And you know, she’ll ask us, you know. “I’m gonna put a couple dollars a day behind this one. I’ll put less behind that one. I’ll stop doing this one.” 

But the totality of it, honestly without looking at my credit card statement or my taxes, I don’t know. 

Tim Chermak: I think you -

Thom Collier: Somewhere in the neighborhood of maybe $1,500 a month or something. I don’t know. 

Tim Chermak: I think, if I remember, I talked to Jordan. You’re probably averaging spending $1000-$1200 a month on the ads.

Thom Collier: Okay.

Tim Chermak: I mean maybe that’s changed since I last talked to her. But I think it was around $1000-$1200. So again, if you’re listening to this, ask yourself would investing $1200 a month in ad spend let’s say … is that worth it if it grew my business from $7 million to $19 million? You know, and I would think the answer is yes. 

Thom Collier: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Tim Chermak: You just have to have the patience that it’s not gonna work in the first 90 days. Probably not gonna work in the first six months, you know. Thom didn’t really see the  business start to really, really grow in a meaningful way, until about 2 years in. 

Now, obviously your business grew from $7 million to $10 million, but that’s not necessarily earth-shattering growth. Going from 7 to 10, but going from 7 to 19 or $20 million is.

Thom Collier: Right. Right, probably 5% growth isn’t anything to sneeze at either. You know, when you look at it. But …

Tim Chemak: Sure, sure.

Thom Collier: It’s consistent and helps keep up, and that’s part of the reason we knew it was working. But one of the things you said to me in our conversation a few months back, and you may remember this. We were talking about how many leads we generated, how many - I guess not really followers -but how many folks we have in our …

Tim Chermak: Yep. 

Thom Collier: In our retargeting group. And then how many people are seeing our ads. When we tallied up based on the population, I think you mentioned that on average, you know, 3-5% of people in any given market are looking to buy or sell real estate, which is probably a pretty reasonable number. And I think we had, I don’t know, I think we had 5x that many in our retargeting group. So when you think about it from those terms, it is no wonder I’m capturing, you know, somewhere close to 50% of the market share. It’s because I have pretty much everybody. They may not use me, but everybody who is probably looking at buying or selling is seeing me. 

Tim Chermak: Knows who you are.

Thom Collier: Exactly. And that’s important. I remember way back in the 70s. You probably don’t remember the 70s. But when the …

Tim Chermak: Thom, you mean the 1970s or the 1870s?

Thom Collier: Yeah. *laughs*

Tim Chermak: Just kidding. Just kidding.

Thom Collier: 1970s! Ah, when there was a car dealer who was being interviewed locally. And I’ll never forget this. I was young. I wasn’t even out of school yet. But I remember him being interviewed and people. You know, he was top of the mind. He was the number one name in Columbus market. And they said, “How do you do that? How do you market yourself?” And of course at that time radio was the big thing. Everyone listened to radio. And he said, “ I spend, if my marketing budget is $10,000, I spend 30% of it over 30 days. And I spend 60-70% of it in a 3 or 4 day period. So that you can’t be alive in Central Ohio and not know that we exist.

And I thought that’s a pretty cool concept. Thinking about his whole idea was market saturation for a given period of time. And then the repetitiveness of that every month every year.And that’s really what Platform gives us. Although, a much more balanced approach to it. But we have that constant top of mind. Every good realtor knows that even your friends and neighbors are going to call whoever is top of mind to them. Even if it’s not their neighbor or their closest friend. 

Tim Chermak: Right.

Thom Collier: They’re gonna call who’s top of mind when they think about real estate. Everybody probably knows 5 or 6. We have 125 agents in our local, small MLS. 65,000 people. That’s like what, 1 for every 60 or 70?

Tim Chermak: Yeah.

Thom Collier: That’s major. So everybody knows somebody who is an agent. But who is top of mind, and who do they think is gonna deliver the best service to them. And that’s the important part of Platform Marketing is it’s constantly informing them, giving them good information. Not just, “Oh, look at me.” But it’s look at us. Look at our community. Look at what we can provide. How can I educate you about real estate? How can I educate you about the market? How can I educate you about interest rates and about mortgages and about  … And give tidbits of information that are helpful and useful. As you say, they are ads that don’t look like ads. 

Tim Chermak: That is the name of the game. Ads that don’t look like ads. 

Thom Collier: Right.

Tim Chermak: You know, I’ve said before, and you’ve hinted at this Thom, that most people in most communities know usually 5 or 6 realtors. But they probably know really well 2 or 3 of those realtors. So it’s not even if you live in an area that has 120 agents in your, you know, local association, you’re not really competing against the 120. You’re honestly, at any given time, most people know 5 or 6 realtors and know 2 or 3 of them well enough to where those are the 2 or 3 that they are probably considering. Not even on the basis or merit. They just know 2 or 3 people because maybe 1 of them goes to their church, 1 of them is a volunteer coach on their kids baseball team, whatever. They know 2, maybe one of them is in their neighborhood. Right? Their neighbor. They know 2 or 3 agents. 

So all of your marketing has to do over time is just consistently position you as being better and more knowledgeable and more trustworthy than those 2 or 3 people that they maybe already know. And as long as your marketing does that, you’re gonna get listings. You’re gonna get buyers, right? So don’t like psyche yourself out if you’re ever like, “Oh, I’m in a market with 1,000 realtors. I’m in a market with 500 other agents in my association” or whatever. Because you’re never in competition with everyone. You’re only in competition with a couple other people that they might be comparing you to. And you just want to set up your marketing in a way that if they search on Facebook or they search on Google or Youtube, that all they see is you. Because they see all the content you created, and then they’re like, “Oh, okay. Well, clearly this person, you know, this Thom Collier guy is way more knowledgeable. He seems way more intune with the market. Because look at all the content he creates. He’s constantly putting out photos and video updates of what’s going on in the area. Like, I think this is the realtor that we want to work with.”

Because especially, especially, especially if they are selling a house, really they are auditioning who’s the best marketer. Because they want to find out which realtor is going to market and promote their home the best. Right? And that’s not always necessarily true of like a buyer agent. If they’re looking to buy a house, and they’re looking for you to represent them on the buy side, I think it has a little more to do with intangibles and just do they like you in some kind of warm, fuzzy sense. You know. Because they’re not necessarily doing research on your skill level if you’re representing them on the buy side. But on the sell side they’re absolutely looking at like, “Okay, what’s his marketing skill set? Does he promote well? How well does he understand online marketing like you know? Because they want to know if they are gonna pay you a huge commission check to sell a house, that you are actually, objectively better than other agents in some objective way. And so that’s why having impressive marketing matters especially if you are trying to pick up more listings. So, Thom …

Thom Collier: And that has been a focus as well, is more listings. And that has really worked. And to be able to go into a listing appointment and say, “Look, here’s some of the other agents that you might be familiar with. Look at how many views they get on their videos. Because they post a lot of them.”

Tim Chermak: Sure.

Thom Collier: And they’ll get 200 hundred on a good one. Maybe 250. 

Tim Chermak: Right.

Thom Collier: And I’ll say, “Here’s one with 28,000. Here’s one with 30,000. Here’s one with …” In a market with 65,000 people.

Tim Chermak: Right, like half the population has seen your videos. Yeah.

Thom Collier: Right, right.

Tim Chermak: And actually, I always add the nuance that if you’re in a town with 60,000 people, usually half the population of anywhere is children. So if you are getting 30,000 video views on a video in a town of 60,000 people, it quite literally means that every single adult in the area, mathematically, has seen your video. Because we’re obviously not marketing it to 7 year olds., right? So that’s very impressive. 

So Thom, what ratio or percentage of your business would you say is the listing side versus the buying side?

Thom Collier: I can’t tell you the exact percentage, but I do know that has increased significantly. That’s one of the areas that we really wanted to focus. And the reason that it has increased is that we have made a more concerted effort to do the listing videos. I know it’s easy to say, “Well, this listing sold real quick, and so I didn't need to do a video,” or, “This home isn’t really worthy of a video,” or, “I don’t have listings.” Those are not good excuses based on the value of doing them. And so, we’ve committed to doing 4 a month as a minimum. Whether ours or somebody else’s.

I called a … We get a lot of out of town agents who list things here.

Tim Chermak: Sure.

Thom Collier: Because they think, “Oh, if I call the big city agent, they’ll sell it faster.”

Tim Chermak: So, every single week you’re putting out a new listing video tour.

Thom Collier: Right. Yeah, exactly. Or more. And so, we did a, there’s a property here that’s listed for 2.5 million, which is about 1 million dollars overpriced because out of town agents don’t know how to price here. But I just call them and I say …It’s a beautiful property. I said, “Hey, do you mind if I give your property an extra push? If you’re not a member of an MLS. I can do a video. Here’s what some of mine look like. I’ll put it out. I’ll give you credit in there. I’m like, “do you mind if I do that?” And they’re like, “Sure. I mean, anything to get this thing sold.” 

And we did that. I can’t believe how many people said, “Wow, I saw that new listing you got. Wow, that’s a really cool listing, you know.” And it upped the game of the value of what they saw from me.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, they just assume that it’s your listing. That’s why I’m such a huge proponent in the Platfam that if you don’t have any listings of your own, borrow listings from other agents and film videos.

Thom Collier: Yeah.

Tim Chermak: Of other listings where you are giving the video tour, because even if you say in the post, even if you make it perfectly obvious that, “Hi, this is not my listing. I’m actually going to show you Bob Smith’s listing today.” And it says that in the ad. People forget that within one second, and just what they remember is they saw Thom Collier on a video and a million dollar house. And so, they just assume that it’s Thom’s listing. So in a very real way, you can kind of manufacture this reality that you’re a top listing agent and that you have a lot of listings. Even if you don’t have any. Just by filming video tours of other agents listings because anyone who sees them will think that it’s your listing.

Thom Collier: Just this last month I picked up a $400,000 sale by owner because I called them. And they said, “Well, I really want to try it by ourselves.” “Great, no problem. Hey, can I give you an extra boost? Because I know you have seen my videos on Facebook. Do you mind if I do that for you to try to help bring a buyer?” And they’re like, “Sure, it won’t cost anything.”

So I did the video, and you know, of course they didn’t do anything with it by themselves. And who is the first person they call to say, “Hey we’re not gonna be able to do this by ourselves. We’re gonna need some help. Will you do that”?  Well of course I’m going to help. Who else are they gonna call? I’ve already been through their home. I’ve already done a video. I’ve already got the marketing in place for them. Of course they’re gonna call me. And we got that under contract. I’ll close in a couple weeks. So you know.

Tim Chermak: Now I also want to draw attention to the fact that you said that was a $400,000 listing. Because in a market where the average house is $200,000 or less, I want you to imagine if you are hearing that and you’re in a market where let’s say your average is $400,000, that would be the equivalent of you picking up an $800,000 listing. Because it’s twice what his, twice what the price of his average, you know, the average home in his market. So that’s how well this strategy works, even in those higher price points in your market, you can kind of still like create that perception by just filming as many listing videos as possible. Even if they’re not your listings. 

Thom Collier: Yeah, and if I could mention something else that I picked up in a Mastermind that is kind of a side. When you go to the Masterminds, they’re kind of hard to describe. I really do appreciate them, and I’ll never miss one. But someone, and I can’t remember the gentleman’s name, I think from the Northwest. Who talked about sponsoring the Little League Team, and how he handled that.

Tim Chermak: Oh, that was Brandon Smith from Montana.

Thom Collier: Brandon Smith! Thank you. And so I sponsored a softball team, right. It was $350 that buys the t-shirts and puts your logo on it. 

Tim Chermak: It’s basically a bunch of 1st graders.

Thom Collier: Yeah, exactly. Game over for most people. Well, we did exactly what he talked about. We sent out a draft letter. And I said, “Your coaches have chosen you because of the work ethics and your strengths and abilities. You know, and your willingness to learn.” And I sent this out to I don’t know, there’s 11 or 12 kids on the team. And I sent this letter out to their parents. And we had parents taking pictures of that letter, posting it on social media, saying “we got a draft letter for our 7 year old daughter!”  You know, who’s in 8U softball. Then we had a little pizza party for them at their first practice. 

And then I went online on Amazon and got, I don’t know, a bunch of little trinkets and softball stuff. Little rubber bracelets and hair ties.

Tim Chermak: Sure, sure.

Thom Collier: And things that girls love. And so every game I’m passing these little things out. I, you know, I went to Wendy’s and I said, “Hey, I’m looking for some certificates I can hand out to the softball team.” “Here, have a bunch of these for-free Frosties.” And so after one game I’m handing out free Frosties to every kid. And the parents were like amazed. 

Then I hired a high school graduate who just graduated this year. I pay him $20 a game. He comes with his camera, photographs, and posts the stats and the pictures on Facebook. The parents want to watch the game, not take pictures, although they do take pictures.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, yeah. 

Thom Collier: And they can’t. I mean, if it’s not out within, you know, 15-16 hours, I’m getting texts about, “Where are the pictures? Where are the pictures? How come this game isn’t up?”  

Tim Chermak: You’re posting updates about the games with these photos as if it’s a Varsity Softball Game.

Thom Collier: Exactly. Exactly.

Tim Chermak. You know, Jill drove in the winning RBI with a single to left field and the bottom of the 9th. And you’re like writing a narrative about the game as if you’re a sports journalist talking about an actual Varsity Game. And remember, this isn’t like Junior High softball players, we’re talking about 1st graders. Like they can barely walk.

Thom Collier: And I tell you, every parent, grandparent, cousin and aunt follows this page. And you know, tomorrow is their year end, you know, party that they get together. And so we’re helping sponsor that to underwrite that to make it a big deal. And I want to do it again in the Fall for the same kind of group. But it’s so easy, and they had  12-15 games for about $20 a game, plus the little trinkets and a little bit of time to send out that draft letter.

Tim Chermak: Yep. Yep.

Thom Collier: And I’m telling you, I had parents come up to me and after every game said, “We’ve never seen a sponsor do anything like this. This is amazing what you’re doing.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, you were actually, you were actually involved in their Season. You didn’t just cut a check for $350 and call it good. You actually got involved. Let’s say that you spent, I don’t know, with all the random Frosties and stuff. Let’s just say that you spent $1000. It sounds like you didn’t. It was probably much less than that.

Thom Collier: I didn’t. Nowhere close. 

Tim Chermak: But let’s just say that you spent $1000. Like, you are gonna get so much more of a return from getting involved the way that you did because of the word of mouth, like the lasting effect of the word of mouth of all these people talking about you. I mean, obviously if one of them sells their house in the next couple of years, they’re gonna call you. Right. They’re not gonna call any other agents.

Thom Collier: Right.

Tim Chermak: So I think it’s when you do interesting things in real life, that’s what makes  the most compelling retargeting ads. Because if you talk about that in your ads those ads will perform better because they’re actually reflecting something interesting that you are doing, you know, in real life. 

So speaking of those ads Thom, I wanted to ask you what … If you could narrow it down to, I don’t know, 2 or 3, what are your 2 or 3 favorite ads that you’ve run with Platform over the last couple years that got the most engagement. Where people were actually coming up to you in real life? And telling you, “Oh, I love this ad,” or “I love this video”. You know, or whatever. What are your 2 or 3 favorite Platform ads of all time that you’ve run?

Thom Collier: We took the Olympic ad a little further than most people. And I compared Paris, France for their 2004 Olympics to Knox County. You know, they have the Eiffel Tower, we have the Rastin Tower which is a big tower in an old park that we have. I got pictures and videos in front of each one of these things. And they have their historical museums and their historical theaters. And look, here’s our historical theater. And just compare and contrast those all throughout. I put on some red, white, and blue bandanas and wristbands and went out to the track, and flew my Olympic Flag.

Tim Chermak: Yeah. *laughs* 

Thom Collier: That, I have to say, got a lot of feedback. It was both corny and fun.

Tim Chermak: Yeah. Yeah.

Thom Collier: And people enjoyed that. That was a lot of fun to do. The God Made a Small Business Owner. You know also, “God made a small business owner on the 8th day.” That got a lot of traction. You know, appreciating, we recently did something to, and it wasn’t a video. But we did an ad to appreciate I think June 15th or 17 or something was National Garbage Man’s Day. You’re supposed to thank your garbage man. So we did a post, and we actually, there’s only like 30 in all of Knox County, so we literally gave them a certificate to go to a local restaurant to get free lunch any day over like a week long period. And they just redeem the certificate and we went to the restaurant and paid them the $250 of what they consumed.

Tim Chermak: Sure.

Thom Collier: And we encouraged people to tip their garbage man over this period. And people said, “Well, I never thought about that. I really appreciate my garbage man, but never … How do you tip? How do you do this? That’s really cool.” So just feedback like that of taking something very simple. And truly we weren’t doing it just for our interest because we really do appreciate.

Tim Chermak: Yeah because you actually want to be involved in your community.

Thom Collier: Exactly. If you want to know how much you appreciate them, let them miss a week. Then you know how much you appreciate them, because we’re all up in arms. So little things like that and trying to find people who we can appreciate and show a value to who wouldn’t get it otherwise. And again, it has nothing to do with real estate exactly. But it has everything to do with who we are and who our community is and who people want to do business with. Because people do business with people they like and people they trust. And all of this is about building trust. 

Tim Chermak: I think when some agents, whether they’re working with Platform or not, when agents are spending money on marketing and sometimes it’s not working, I think the glaringly obvious thing that sometimes isn’t so obvious when you’re working in the business, you know, you kinda have blinders on. You’re like in the trenches, right? And you can’t zoom out and see the big picture. It’s that you’re spending money on marketing talking about uninteresting things. LIke what are you actually doing in real life that’s interesting enough to talk about in your ads? Because sometimes people spend a bunch of money on you know, Facebook ads, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, direct mail, whatever. But they’re not actually doing anything interesting in real life. So their ads are just therefore talking about them. And they’re talking about their brand, and they’re talking about how many homes they sold. It’s like that’s not interesting so obviously those ads are not going to perform very well, because they look like ads, right? But if you’re really involved in your community like you said you’re helping organize, you know, awareness and buying lunches for the garbage men in your community and you’re sponsoring and getting super involved in like first grade softball teams. You know, you’re just so involved with your community. Well all you have to do is talk about that in your marketing because you’re not bragging about yourself, you’re really talking about the community. And that makes your marketing way, way, way more interesting so you actually get more reach and more engagement with an even smaller budget. 

So Thom, the last question I wanted to ask you is I want to bring this conversation full circle to that you stuck it out over 2 years with Platform before you really got the, you know, radical growth in your business that you were looking for. You know, going from $7 million to going on pace for $19-20 million this year. Like that didn’t happen in the first 6 months. It didn’t happen in the first year. It didn’t even happen in the first 2 years. It took you 2 years to really feel like that momentum was kicking in. What advice or what encouragement would you share with someone who maybe recently signed up for Platform in the last year, in the last six months and they’re in that kind of ramp up period too? Like they’re not yet seeing the results that maybe they’ve heard that other people at Masterminds talked about. Or they heard other Podcast episodes where someone says, “Oh, my business doubled or tripled” or whatever, and they’re kind of starting to get frustrated. Because they are like, “Why is it not happening for me?” Because you were dealing with those doubts not for six months or a year, but for you know, frankly, over 2 years. What perspective or what encouragement would you share with them so that they stick it out like you did. And hopefully get the results that you have because of your patience.

Thom Collier: You know, I would say don’t just stick it out timewise. Stick it out effort wise. Put the effort into it that your ads manager, your account manager talks with you about. Make a commitment to do x number, whatever your number is, 3 videos a month, 4 videos a month.Whatever it is, get with your account manager and ask what’s a reasonable goal to have with this. And work that plan. 

And the second thing I’d say is, and a lot of people say, “Well, get to a Mastermind.” And I encourage that 100%. But the extra value of Mastermind is talking with other agents. And certainly the people you bring in are phenomenal. I can take pages and pages of notes and review those. I don’t want to take anything away from that, but the value of getting with other agents who have committed to the process and who have experienced success - Don’t compare your market or your timeframe or any of that, compare your activity level. That’s the comparison to make. That’s how you’ll know if this is or isn’t working for me. It’s not that it’s not working. It’s probably that we’re not working it. 

Tim Chermak: That’s a really good point. That’s a really good point because one takeaway that I think I have every year is when we talk to people who have made the Platform Hall of Fame. They get inducted into the Hall of Fame every year. Almost every time I ask them how many pieces of content are you creating every week the answer most people will say is, “Oh, 2-3 pieces a week every week.”

You know, they’re not putting up one new ad a week. It’s usually 2 or 3. So if someone is putting up one ad a week, they’re literally doubling or tripling the amount of content that you are putting out into the world. And so of course their business is gonna grow faster than yours is. Even if your budget is the same. 

Thom Collier: Yeah that’s right. And along those lines, one of the things we found successful, I don’t know that other agents have done this but I think it’s a great idea. We have a lots of in our rural area, lots of little burgs and little crossroad towns or towns that used to exist but aren’t there anymore but maybe there’s a road named after it. And so we, I paid a local historian. I think I paid him $300. And he did 30 one-paragraph synopses little histories if you will, of each of those little communities and their history. How they got their name or who founded it or how … And there may be a paragraph or two. And so I’ll picture myself maybe in front of one of the buildings.

Tim Chermak: Okay.

Thom Collier: Or maybe just a roadway or Welcome to sign. And people absolutely love those. They share them. They say, “Wow, I didn’t know this. This is cool information.” And again, it has nothing to do with real estate. But they’re what I call our pocket posts, that if I did miss a week or I’m on vacation like I was last week, I could send Jordan a couple of those and say, “Hey, put these in where you need to.” If we don’t have enough content sometimes.

Tim Chermak: Yeah.

Thom Collier: She just kind of keeps those in her pocket until they are needed. And we throw those in, particularly in the Winter when it’s a little slower. It makes it a little more difficult for us in the Northern parts of The US to get listing videos and all those things. Those are perfect ads to put out there that are very simple to put together. And they draw a lot of attention. They’re perfect in those off seasons if you will.  That’s just another ad idea I think is good and you know.

But to encourage new agents, listen, it’s easy, I was there listening to those long Podcasts and things. And thinking, “Man, I must be an idiot because these people are having all this success and they’re obviously doing something I’m not. That or they’re lying, and I know they’re not lying because I talk to them.” You know what I mean? I know them and I visited with them. 

And getting together even within other Central Ohio Platform agents, and getting together and talking about some ideas. Talking with agents who have been in longer and have committed and done it versus just talking to somebody else who’s only been in it 3 months or 6 months. That probably isn’t going to be the best council or reasoning. Talk to the people who have committed and have had success. And I’ve never found one that wasn’t willing to share or to just listen or to understand and say, “Hey, I understand there’s going to be some down times, but what are you doing here, what are you doing there?” 

Sometimes it coming  from somebody different, other than the ads manager. It sometimes can make a world of difference. But there’s so many benefits just beyond the Facebook marketing of Platform. And the interaction with the other agents and you know, I suppose you could do it with I suppose any other real estate consultant group or whatever. But not to the level of Platform. Because you’re actually sharing those ideas and concepts, and we really do call it a “Platfamily” for a reason. We all have those commonalities. And we’ve all had the struggles. We’ve all been there and read somebody new posting on Facebook, “Hey, I really don’t know what to do with this listing,” or, “I’m really nervous about getting in front of the camera.” And it’s like, get over yourself. I’ve been there. We all have. I don’t like doing it. I didn’t like doing it in the beginning. And now we just do it. 

It’s part of it, and people already know what you look like. They already know what you sound like. You’re not impressing them. You don’t have to do it professionally. Just do it. Just do it. 

Tim Chermak: Well Thom, I’m thrilled for your success. I’m genuinely thrilled. We’ve talked behind the scenes in the Platform Team like over the last year. I think I can speak for the entire team that the person we most wanted to have success, that we knew was kind of like teetering was you. We were all like, “Man, I want Thom Collier to blow up. I want Thom Collier to be the next success story because he’s just such a nice guy.” Like all of us have just been like rooting for you so much behind the scenes, wanting your business to really blow up. And so like, this episode, when it goes live, is gonna actually bring a lot of smiles to the Platform Team knowing that hey, Thom stuck it out. And it was worth it for him. Like I mean, we’ve all just been rooting for you so much behind the scenes. And so we’re all really stoked that your business is where it’s at.

Thom Collier: Well, thank you to all the Platform Family, because it’s not just our ads manager. Although, Jordan, our relationship is just great. We love her. She’s part of our family. And certainly with you. But we know that there are lots of people behind the scenes that we never get to see or talk to. Or we just hear about. That are all part of the success. And that’s part of the beautiful thing about Platform, is that everybody … It really is a family dynamic. Everybody wants to see you succeed. There isn’t a selfish bone in anybody’s body at Platform or who is in Platform. We all want to work well for ourselves, but we also want to see it work well for other people. And we pick each other’s ideas. And the fact that I run an ad that is the same as somebody in Texas nobody’s gonna care. And you know, everybody thinks it’s my great idea. I don’t say 90% of them aren’t! They’re somebody else’s great idea that I just got to copy and alter to fit me and fit our community. And that’s the beauty of it. It’s not cookie cutter, trying to run the same meme or same whatever. It’s the same concept or idea put into our personality and our community, so that it matches who you are. It’s authentic marketing more than anything. It’s just authentic.

Tim Chermak: I think that’s a great place to end. So guys, thank you so much for investing your time and listening to this episode. Feel free to reach out to Thom if you have any questions, you want to pick his brain. Thom, would you mind sharing your cell phone number real quick in case anyone wants to get a hold of you?

Thom Collier: Absolutely, sure. It’s 740-627-1544 or you can go to Thom Collier Realtor on Facebook, and you’ll find us. And talk any time. We’re all interested in your success. Your success helps all the rest. I’m excited for the future of Platform, the things you have coming. 

And again, I just want to encourage anybody who’s been in whether six months or a year or 2 years, if you haven’t seen it yet, stick it out. But only stick it out if you’re actually doing the work. Bring the effort and make a commitment. 

Tim Chermak: I think Thom, you are proof that Platform works if you do. So guys, thank you. We’ll see on the next episode of The Platform Marketing Show.