Too Good To Be True? How Sara Medina Picked Up 3 New Clients In Her First 4 Weeks Using The Platform Marketing Program

Sarah Medina: I can assure you, I have been doing this for 5 years, and I have never had independent people. I might get a referral from somewhere - I have not had independent people reach out to me and say, “Hey, we wanna buy a house.”

It’s not ever happened. It’s normally me pursuing them, or I met them at an open house.It’s never just so organically done. That literally, I couldn’t even believe it. So now I’m just like, “Oh my gosh, Platform, Platform, Platform!”

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 market 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 market campaigns are working for them, how much they’re spending on those campaigns, and figure out how they have perfected what we call “The Platform Marketing Strategy”.

This is your Host, Tim Chermak. I am the Founder and CEO of Platform. I love marketing.

And I talk too much.

So let’s dive in.

Hey guys, it’s Tim Chermak and welcome back to another episode of The Platform Marketing Show. I’m here today with Sara Medina in Solano County, California.

You’re kinda in-between the Napa Area and Sacramento. And Sara has been an agent for about 5 years now, and she has a pretty cool story to share. Where she signed up for Platform just 4 weeks ago.

So not 4 months ago. 4 weeks ago. So, just a month ago, she wasn’t even working with Platform. And already, in these last 4 weeks, she’s gotten such awesome results that she was texting me saying, “Hey, you know I’ve had all this happen in the last month.” And I was like, “Oh wow, we’ve gotta get you on the podcast to share that story.”

Because that’s, you know. I always preach High Hanging Fruit, a patient, long-term mentality of building your brand in your area, and you know, maximizing the long-term ROI. But it’s always cool when you get some low hanging fruit too, and you get some quick business.

This is Sara Medina again. She signed up less than 4 weeks ago. Sara, how did you even first hear about Platform?

Sara Medina: You guys have an agent in a whole different State. I wanna say Texas. And I followed her, and I kinda watched her marketing and how she was doing things. And for whatever reason - Maybe I was targeted. I’m not sure. But, I looked into Platform about a year ago, and I didn’t make the move then.Which, I’m kicking myself for that now - but - (laugh).

Tim Chermak:

Yeah and then eventually we stayed top of mind with you; I’m assuming -

Sara Medina:

Yeah.

Tim Chermak: Because of the targeting ads.

Sara Medina: Exactly.

Tim Chermak:

Now we’re working together. Now we’re on the podcast.

Sara Medina: Exactly.

Tim Chermak: As a success case study so -

Sara Medina: Yeah.

Tim Chermak: What has it looked like in your first month, and was it overwhelming to you? I mean, this is a really interesting perspective. Because often, when I’m interviewing people on the show, it’s really successful clients that have been working with us for a year or sometimes even 2 years. And obviously, if you stick with The Platform Strategy long-term for a year or two, you’re gonna create a massive snowball, and your business is gonna blow up. So that’s something that a lot of the podcast guests have in common is that they’ve been working with Platform for that long.

So obviously, those conversations have a very different feel, because they are like veterans. They’ve been with - they’ve been in the Platfam a long time. And so, they kinda speak the lingo, and they kinda know how everything works. You’re honestly kinda still in that phase where you’re just figuring it out. You don’t know how any of this works yet. You’re still a month into Platform. So there’s still a bunch of questions you’re asking us that you don’t even know how everything works. Except, you know it’s working.

So, I’ll just let you put it in your own words. Share with us what has happened in the last 4 weeks. And maybe the specific question that I’ll ask you is: What was the biggest thing that happened that was unexpected, that you didn’t realize was gonna happen in the first month?

Sara Medina: Getting into contract. I did not anticipate getting into contract so fast.

Tim Chermak: Oh, so you actually have someone under contract already.

Sara Medina: Yes, yes. And we should close, uh, last week, I think it’ll be probably 30 days from last week. So some time in September, like the 15th or so, probably.

Tim Chermak: Oh, I, I didn’t realize that. I just thought you were actively working with clients. I didn’t realize that they were actually under contract already.

Sara Medina: Oh no, she’s under contract. Him and her, a couple is under contract. And they are like 70 years old. And they are retired veterans. And it’s totally right up my line. And they had a really bad experience with other agents. And nobody would … I don’t know if nobody would take them seriously. Because it has all happened so quickly, but they, she, just contacted me through private Messenger Facebook.

And she said, “Hey, this is my situation. I’m a VA. I wanna buy a house, and I haven’t been able to.” And I said okay and I reached out to her. She told me to reach out to her husband. I reached out to her husband. I got them connected with a local lender. And then he pre-approved them.

Tim Chermak: Mhm.

Sara Medina: And then he pre-approved them. Once he pre-approved them, we literally looked at houses 2 different days. And they found one they loved. We got into a contract, and today I did my inspections on it. So, so far everything is going as planned. It’s really great.

Tim Chermak:

And do you have a listing coming up too? Is that right? That I hear that?

Sara Medina: No, so I don’t actually have a listing. I talked to a woman who is a potential listing. She is actually looking to buy, but then she needs to sell her house. And then her mom is either gonna move in with her, or they might be downsized to a smaller home.And so that is somebody that is going to be a nurture and ongoing.But it’s definitely there.

I also had another gentleman contact for…

Tim Chermak: And that came from the Platform Marketing campaigns?

Sara Medina: Yeah, yeah. She actually, literally like a week after getting into - after you guys had put your - my marketing or my first ad out, she literally texts me. And I’m like who’s texting me? I even had to go in to see where she came from. Was she a past client? Where am I getting just this text out of the blue? From somebody that is interested in looking at a home today.

So I had to go back into my system to see, like, is she from my Zillow? Is she from other referral agents? Where is she at? And when I put her name into my email, it came up that she was in my email. I was like okay, so then I was like, and it said Platform. So then she came from Platform. She sent me a text message. I met her that afternoon to show her a house. It wasn’t the right house for her, but we are in contact.

She’s constantly looking, because I can see her on my CRM looking at homes. And I reach out to her; she’s responsive. So it’s just not the time for her. She hasn’t seen what she likes yet, but it’s definitely something that’s going to take some nurturing. And hopefully come to fruition.

Tim Chermak: But you know that if all that has happened in the first month, it’s like imagine what your pipeline will look like 6 months from now.

Sara Medina: Exactly, exactly. And then I even had another gentleman reach out, and he private messaged me from Germany! Active duty military looking to come back because he’s being, you know, he’ll be PC’d out. And he approved, he didn’t want to buy. “I don’t want to buy. I’m just looking for rentals.”

I said, “oh for sure.”You know, “here, let’s do rentals.”And I gave him some rentals that I saw.

And I said, “but you know, you’re probably going to be paying the same price if you own your home. Let’s get you pre-qualified.” Didn’t know if that would turn into anything, but my lender reached out to him.

He pre-qualified for $900,000.And so he, still not sure if he wants to buy. He’s thinking about renting for a year. But I think once he sees the numbers, it’s gonna make sense to buy. Because the rent is so expensive right now.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, yeah. So again, all of this has happened because of the Platform Marketing campaigns in just the first 4 weeks.

Sara Medina: Yes, yeah. Yep.

Yes.

Tim Chermak: Not the first 4 months.

Sara Medina: No.

Tim Chermak: The first 4 weeks.

Sara Medina: 4 weeks, and really all 3 of them got a hold of me by the first part of August. The end of July to August. So really, they have happened in the first 2 weeks after my first ad must have launched. And I have just been, those 3 have just been in constant contact with me since then. Now, with that being said, all the ads that you guys are running for me I am in contact with other people and getting to know people. But, it has …

Tim Chermak: So there are other leads and contacts you are having on top of that too.

Sara Medina: Yeah, exactly. And those are just through comments on Facebook, but yeah, I am having those conversations just so they can see I’m a real person. I’m not some robot or something answering your questions.

Tim Chermak: Right, right.

Sara Medina: I’m really sympathizing or whatever the case may be.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, yeah. This is actually me, replying to your comment.

Sara Medina: Yeah.

Tim Chermak: And it’s not some AI or something. Yep.

Sara Medina: Yeah.

Tim Chermak: And so again, you’re 4 weeks into this.You’ve already had all this activity. I think the most interesting thing about this.Well, the, I should say, second most interesting thing about this, because the first is obviously that this all just happened in less than a month. But the second most interesting thing about all this is that the “minor” detail that they reached out to you.

Sara Medina: Exactly.

Tim Chermak: And not the other way around.

Sara Medina: And literally my business, I can assure you, I have been doing this for 5 years. And I have never had independent people. I might get referrals from somewhere. I have never had independent people actually reach out to me and say, “Hey we want to buy a house.” It’s never happened. It’s usually me pursuing them or I met them at an open house.

Tim Chermak: Yep.

Sara Medina: It’s never just so organically done. That literally I couldn’t even believe it. So now I am just like, “Oh my gosh, Platform, Platform, Platform! And I’m like, yeah!

Tim Chermak: I’m just smiling so big right now. I know this is a podcast so people can’t see me smiling but like, that’s the way marketing should be. Right, like the purpose of marketing is not to generate leads. It’s to get those people to reach out to you. Like they should be emailing you. They should be calling or texting you. That’s how you know marketing is effective.

Because any old idiot with a credit card can buy leads from Zillow or Realtor.com or Boom Town or Sync or Ylopo or all these other companies. Right? If you have a credit card, a pulse and a real estate license, you can get leads. That’s never been the hard part of growing your business.

There’s so many companies that are willing to sell you leads, right? The real magic of marketing is setting things up in such a way that people actually reach out to you.

And you had not one or two but three people, basically in your first month, actually reach out to you. Again, the much more interesting question to ponder is where are things gonna be for you in six months?

Sara Medina: I know! I know, and I am so eagerly waiting and like, “oh my gosh, this is so exciting!” And you know, at first I was a little scared to do the marketing videos or the taking the pictures. But, once you start doing it, it just … and I try to do it as much as I can. Whenever I’m asked for by my admin or whatever you guys call them. (laughs).

Tim Chermak: That’d be account manager. Yep.

Sara Medina: Jaclyn is mine. I definitely do whatever she says. And then …

Tim Chermak: Oh, and actually, that’s awesome you’re working with Jaci because Jaci is a military spouse herself. Her husband’s in the Air Force.

Sara Medina: Exactly.

Tim Chermak: Yep.

Sara Medina: And so that’s, since I specialize with that, that was the match for me. So, yeah whatever she says to do, I try to go out and do it. Making movies - or videos - is not in my whole - like it’s not. I’m not great at it. But I definitely bought like the Gimbal and the you know,  whatever, selfie sticks.  And because I’m trying to do it if I don’t have another person to record me.

Tim Chermak: Sure, sure.

Sara Medina: Because I don’t always have another person to record me.

Tim Chermak: And honestly that’s, and I don’t mean for this to turn into just a commercial for Platform, but that’s one of the coolest things about Platform that I think a lot of people don’t realize when they’re cruising our website or listening to a podcast episode is that we edit all of the videos for you.

Sara Medina: Exactly, exactly.

Tim Chermak: It’s not just a Facebook leads service. It’s not just about Facebook ads.

We’re a full blown marketing program where we do everything for you. So then if you send us 10 videos a month, we will edit all of your videos. It’s a marketing all-you-can-eat buffet.

Sara Medina: It’s literally the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Literally, I just have to take the picture, which is actually, probably the easy part. Because, the writing up the ad and all that stuff is just not my thing. And so for me, I prefer paying someone else to do what I am not good at.

Because I am good at being in front of somebody, talking to them, seeing what their goals are. I am not good at the typing up and trying to take pictures and all that. I mean taking pictures isn’t a problem. It’s writing it up and posting it and stuff. I don’t do that.

Tim Chermak: So what again I know it’s crazy. You’re only a month in.

But what are maybe one or two of the favorite ads you’ve done so far?

Just in the first month.

Sara Medina: So it’s my favorite ad because it brought so much attention, and it was Six Reasons to Move to Solano County. And I went to … We have a jelly bean factory, everybody knows Jelly Belly’s. I went there, you know, and took my picture there. And I listed all the reasons it was great to -

Tim Chermak: Oh, that’s the one where you’re like holding a suitcase, right?

Sara Medina: Yeah, yeah. Where it’s like 6 Reasons to Pack Your Bags and Move to Solano County.

Tim Chermak: Yep.

Sara Medina: And so that one has gotten such a response. Some people are like, “Oh you forgot to mention this,” or “you forgot to mention that.” There’s things that I didn’t really realize, but they are giving me ideas to focus on them for maybe a video of places to go in Fairfield or Solano County. So it’s definitely given me ideas like hey I didn’t know that was a big deal to people. But definitely that’s what you’re gonna see from me because you mentioned it. So I am going to bring it to you, and it can be seen by all of us. And I’m just real excited to get new ideas of where to have my …You know, your community, I don’t know what you guys call it. Like a focus place.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, like your market. Yeah.

Sara Medina: Yeah. I’ve got.

Tim Chermak: You’ve barely done any retargeting ads, because you are only in your first month, right?

Sara Medina: Yeah, yeah.

Tim Chermak: So like normally, on the podcast, when I ask someone, “Hey what are some of your favorite ads?”

They’re trying to think through the hundreds of ads they’ve done what’s their favorite. And I ask you that.

Sara Medina: Yeah.

Tim Chermak: I’m like that was probably a dumb question. You’ve only been working with us …

Sara Medina: I also like The Elephant in the Room. And you can’t imagine how many people ask me, “is that a real elephant?” And I’m like, “Are you guys serious?”That is not a real elephant! I showed my mom the picture just on my phone because she doesn’t have Facebook. And she was like, “Is that real?’ And I was like, “No!”

Tim Chermak: So for those who are listening who are like, “What the hell is she talking about?”

We have this ad that we wrote called The Elephant in the Room Ad. And it’s a retargeting ad, where it’s actually just a photo. So it’s not a video, just a photo of the realtor. And you’re kind of looking over your shoulder with a quizzical look on your face. Like, “ Is there something behind me?” Like you almost have a little bit of fear in your eyes of, “What’s behind me?”

And then what we do is we photoshop an elephant behind you. And our Ads Team is pretty good at photoshop. They’ll make it look like there’s legit an elephant in the room. It’s not cheesy looking. It usually looks pretty realistic.

And so when someone’s scrolling through their newsfeed, and sees a Facebook Ad they see this. And  they're like, “cool…wait, what? What?”

You know once they stare at it for a couple seconds they are like, “Oh okay, that’s fake.”

Sara Medina: I don’t know, somebody even wrote on there,“Is that a real elephant?”

No. I just said, “graphics are really good.”

Tim Chermak: Yeah, yeah, in that split second though it absolutely is like, wait, what? So the point is, it grabs their attention. It gets them to click. And then we wrote this ad about Hey there’s an elephant in the room. And that fact that for the past couple years it’s been such a crazy seller’s market. So it was a great time to sell your house.

But the elephant in the room is that, as soon as you had to go buy a house after you sold your house, now you are the one who has to pay those really high prices as the buyer. So you would basically be selling high, buying high. And we just kind of transition that into, hey it’s good news that the market is starting to become a little more balanced.

But the point is, you know, that opening line of “There’s an elephant in the room” paired with that visual of you with that elephant behind you. It absolutely grabs peoples’ attention. And gets them to click.

And Platform is coming up with these ad concepts and testing them constantly. So you don’t have to come up with the ideas; you don’t have to do any of that. We do all of that for you.

We’ll just give you a piece of marketing homework every week. And we’re like, “hey Sara, go grab this picture.” And then we have an ad we can launch with it. Again, you are getting these results only 4 weeks in.

So imagine what your retargeting sequence is going to look like. Let’s say not even 6 months from now, but even just 2 months from now. Once you’ve had another 8 weeks to create one or two more pieces of content each week. I mean, your brand and your retargeting arsenal are going to be amazing.

Sara Medina: Yeah, yep. Yeah, I’m very excited, and I’m like I said. I wish. I can’t go back now, but I wish I would have signed up earlier.

Because I…When I first saw you guys, but you know. I like to test the waters with so many different products. And a lot of them are not a good return on investment. But I can absolutely say that this one has been the best thing that I’ve done. Actually, probably in business. Because I’m never this sure about anything else.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, your broker actually called me like two days ago. And we had a long phone call. And she’s like, “Hey, Sara is doing so well, and she told me about this Platform thing. Can you tell me about what Platform does?”

Sara Medina: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Tim Chermak: And I got to tell her all about it as well. So word is spreading.

Sara Medina: Yeah, I’m letting them know. I’m like, you wanna get in, you better get in sooner than later. Because your county that you want to work in might be taken. Because my brokerage is all over the State of California.

Tim Chermak: Sure, sure. That’s awesome. So, do you know what your monthly ads budget is? How much are you actually spending on the ads?  Do you know?

Sara Medina: I think I do about $800.

Tim Chermak: $800? That’s crazy. Your first month and you got all that business. And all you spent was $800 on average.

Sara Medina: Yeah, yeah.

Tim Chermak: Wow. 

Sara Medina: Right, to have a deal out of it. Like I said, to actually be closing next month.

Tim Chermak: Well. 

Sara Medina: Out of an $800 deal.

Tim Chermak: You have a deal already under contract, and two future ones in the pipeline.

With $800 of ad spend. 

Sara Medina: Yep.

Tim Chermak: I think any agent would say that’s a pretty good return on investment.

Sara Medina: Oh absolutely, I would definitely.

Tim Chermak: What other marketing approaches have you tried before, Sara?

Because you mentioned that you’ve been an agent for 4 years.

Had you ever done any paid marketing or leads or any sort of advertisements in the newspaper? Anything anywhere?

What did your business look like before Platform? Because I know that before Platform, you said, “Hey your GCI was about $200,000. So you were already a pretty successful agent even before signing up for Platform.

Sara Medina: Yeah.

Tim Chermak: Now your goal is to get to $400,000 in GCI.

Sara Medina: Yeah.

Tim Chermak: What were you doing for the last 5 years that got you to $200,000 in the first place?

Sara Medina: Because I’m by an Air Force base, I get referrals from a lender. And that is pretty much all I do. I don’t do anything other business. I only get referrals, lender referral. So all that business I never paid for marketing or anything. It was just from being next to a base.

Tim Chermak: Okay, okay. 

Sara Medina: And having a lender referral that referred them all to me. I haven’t touched base on anything else. I came from a couple teams where they would do advertising and things for us. Last year was the second year. The first year on my own. I did two years by myself with Re/Max. And I just kinda focused on realtor leads. I mean, referrals, and that was it. 

But then I decided this year, things were going so well that I was gonna start - You can’t always put all your eggs in one basket, and I didn’t want that with the referrals, for that to dry up at any time. And I couldn’t allow all this work and business I put into learning to be a specialist to go to waste. That this is the prime time to bring in all these different funnels.

You, my marketing with you guys, you know I’m doing. I was thinking of doing mailers, and I was like no. So, I have attempted to do other things as far as mailings and things.

But, nothing ever returned on that. And I was never good enough to continue going, because that’s one of those things that people throw away. And you don’t really know what’s happening.

At least with Facebook Ads, if people are commenting, I can see that there’s some engagement with it. But when you are sending out mailers, they may work for some people, but they could be throwing them away.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, really with direct mail, what I tell agents is that it can work.

I mean obviously people might be like, well, obviously you’re biased. You run a digital marketing agency. Of course you hate direct mail. But honestly, I’m agnostic on media channels. So if it works, you should do it.If you can spend a dollar and make two, you should do it.

But the problem for most agents with direct mail is that, to make direct mail work, you have to commit to it for the long term. And you have to spend a lot of money, because it is a numbers game. You’re gonna convert one out of a thousand mailers that you send out. Or less.

And so that means you can’t just send out one hundred a month. To make direct mail work you have to send a thousand pieces a month for a year in a row. And then you can look back and maybe think did I get anything back from this. Anything less than that is not enough of a sample size to make the math work. So if you do get results with direct mail, honestly you just got lucky.

Because most people could send out a thousand pieces a month for 12 months in a row and not get a single phone call.You just have to spend so much to hit that critical mass to make it work.

Where the cool thing with social media ads like Platform is we can generate quick results. In your case, literally in the first month you are getting leads that are calling you. And you see it working. But even for those people where it takes longer … Because let’s be honest. I try to tell people very honestly on the phone. You probably remember when I told you this. Platform is not gonna make this incredible success for you in the first month or two. And it, you know, apparently I lied. Because it did for you.

But you shouldn’t bank on Platform bringing in an avalanche of closings in the first two months. Because it’s not going to. It’s not designed to. What we actually designed Platform to do is to get you results over the long term. Because that’s what most agents aren’t willing to do. Most agents are so concerned with getting a closing right now that they structure their marketing in such a way that sabotages any future results. Because they’re trying to pick up quick business right now.

If you optimize for long term business, you’re always going to build a long term pipeline. You’re never going to have to worry about where your next commission check is going to come from. And if you get lucky, you might also pick up some short term business. But you know that you are always generating a pipeline, and that you have a long term brand in your area.

You don’t get that with direct mail or Zillow leads. If you are spending money in Zillow leads, Zillow is the one building the brand. Because all the clicks are going to Zillow.com. They’re not going to your website. They’re not seeing you. They’re seeing Zillow. So they don’t remember you. They remember Zillow.

And I feel too, with Realtor.com or Zillow leads, because of how you are positioned they are reaching out to you because they need to meet you at a house. Because they want to look at a house. So right off the bat, you are positioned as just being a door opener. They don’t view you as anything more. Some agent can meet them there, so they can get in the house. They don’t care if it’s you. They didn’t choose you. Zillow just served you up.

So they don’t care as long as you can operate a lock box and they can get in the house. That’s not very good positioning from a marketing perspective. So if you are gonna spend $1000 or $2000 dollars on Zillow, I can promise you we would get you better results using the Platform Strategy for the same amount of money.

Sara Medina: I definitely agree with that. I do use Zillow, and I have had to show $50,000 land leads. I am not opposed to land leads. It’s just that when you are driving 30 miles out of town to go to a land spot, they don’t really even want it because it’s not conducive to what they really want.

Tim Chermak: They don’t care about you at all because they didn’t reach out to you. They more inquired about the listing and not you. And the way that we set up your marketing, it should be that they are reaching out to you. And they don’t really know what house they want yet, but they know they want to work with Sara.

That’s the way the marketing should be, and honestly, you haven’t even see that kick in yet. Because you are only in your first month. People haven’t even really seen all your retargeting ads yet. So imagine when that starts kicking in for you how much you’re gonna scale.

So you mentioned that before Platform you were at about $200,000 GCI. Now the goal is, hey I want Platform to help get me to $400,000. And the whole thing is that you weren’t really doing marketing before.

Sara Medina: No, no, no, I wasn’t really doing marketing. And that’s why I want this to be more organic stuff coming in for me. And so if any of my referrals dried up, that people know me now.

And it’s gonna take me to that next level in the community.

Tim Chermak: So being that you are literally still in your first month, all this is very fresh to you. So it’s not theoretical. Because often, when I ask a client that’s been with us for a year or two, “What advice would you have for the newbies?” What advice would you have somebody who has just signed up? It’s honestly really hard for them to think back to two years in the past. And remember what it was like being a new client, because it was so long ago.

But, you are still in your first month right now as we are recording this podcast. You signed up for Platform a month ago. So you’re still very much in that mental/emotional space of it feeling all new to you. So, that being said. What advice would you give for other people who are in their first month? Because maybe someone is listening to this episode. Let’s just say two or three or four months from now, and it’s their first month. What advice would you give to them? What have you learned about Platform in your first month that maybe you didn’t know before you signed up, but you learned in your first month?

Sara Medina: I would have to say make sure you take the pictures and take the time to do the marketing that you are paying for. And let you guys work for us, making it better and editing and doing all that stuff.

Tim Chermak: So basically, do your marketing homework.

Sara Medina: Yeah, yeah.

Tim Chermak: If we ask you to do something, if we ask you to make a quick video or for you to take a photo to do a retargeting ad, do it. Do your marketing homework.

Sara Medina: Yes, of course.

Tim Chermak:  Do what your accounting manager tells you to do.

Sara Medina: And don’t be shy, because I think that’s another thing that we are so worried about what others think of us that it makes us paralyzed from it. And who cares what anybody thinks? Because it doesn’t matter. This is our job. This is our business. We are trying to make money, and be profitable. And also help people at the same time. 

So I feel like it doesn’t matter what anybody thinks of your ad. They can laugh at you. They can be angry with you. Again, I’ve only been in it a month, and I’ve had some rude comments. LIke stuff that I might sit there and think for a minute. And then I’m like you know what, it’s not worth it. I don’t respond to rude comments. I don’t know if you are supposed to or what you should do.

But if they are happy or giving me information or whatever, I always respond. So I think that’s a big deal too, if you are just starting out. 

Make sure you respond to people, so they know you’re not a robot. Or you’re not just ignoring them. You’ve got to be responsive to what they’re saying.

Tim Chermak: Yep, yep.

Are there any members of the Platfam … because you’re probably just starting to learn about.

You know, we say Platfam as slang for Platform Family. There’s this sense of community in the group. And I know it always sounds really cliche to new members when I say Platfam, because they just roll their eyes. Like that’s the cheesiest thing I ever heard, right? But now that you’ve started to get immersed in that community, and you’re seeing people in the group … And by the way, are you attending Mastermind in a couple months?

Sara Medina: I’m not. I have 5 kids, and I have to take care of all my children by myself.

Tim Chermak: Oh, okay. 

Sara Medina: So I am not going to be able to, unfortunately. Not this quick. If I had more time for more planning or something then.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, yeah cool. Cool, maybe next year. But have you started to get to know some of the other agents in the group? My question is, is there anyone that you look up to in your first month? Where you’re just like, “I want to be like that person”? That person inspires me. Or I love the ads that this person is doing. Is there any one person?

Sara Medina: I think that one person I watch the most is the one that got me, and she doesn’t even know that she got me into it. It was Heather Mutz I believe her name is.

Tim Chermak: Heather Mutz, yeah. I’m gonna have to tell her that. That’s cool.

Sara Medina: In Hondo, Texas. She would be the one. And like I said, she does not know me or anything. I’ve never commented.

Tim Chermak: Yeah, you’ve just been stalking her page for the last year.

Sara Medina: Yeah, exactly. *laughs* I’ve just been stalking her. And she I like the way her presentation is. I like the way she carries herself, and so I feel like she’d have to be the one.

Yeah, I was intrigued by and that’s what made me.

Tim Chermak: I actually just had a phone call with her literally this evening. We talked on the phone for like 20 minutes. And when she started Platform I think she was selling I think it was 4 or 5 million before Platform. And now this year she’s on pace to hopefully do about 18 million.

Sara Medina: Wow, see!

Tim Chermak: And she’s in a really, really small town too in Texas.

Sara Medina: Yeah, yeah. And you see just listing after listing for her. And I’m always, like I said she doesn’t know, but I’m always like she’s doing such a great job. That’s kind of why I came to Platform and who I’ve been watching. And definitely I’ll continue to watch her. 

There’s nobody else that stands out yet, but again it’s only been a month. So I love the information given on the Facebook Platform. You know, you said it was really good and engaging. And it really is. So that’s another thing I would recommend. Definitely watch what other people are doing.

Because sometimes I don’t even know how to start this video. Or, I don’t know how to do this or that. But if you just watch how somebody else’s video is and how they start it or how they’re showing the home, it kinda gives you some ideas too to use for yourself.

You guys always give us ideas anyways and send videos to me when asking me to create a video. Which is super helpful. Or, I take a picture and you just show me another person that does it. Because then I don’t really have to put too much thought into it. 

Tim Chermak: If we give you a video script, and we’re like “Hey we want you to go film a video like this.” We’ll always show you an example of another client who’s already done that video. So you can see what the finished product looks like once we edit it.

Sara Medina: Exactly. And that’s what I love because it’s like I said. It gives me some ideas of how to do it. Because you’re gonna take retakes when you’re in. Because like I did my first  video on a rebuild. Because they’re running great deals right now and incentives, and I did. I had to go into a house, and I took a million different videos. And then I just picked which ones I liked best, and sent them out. It didn’t take me long, don’t get me wrong. I say a million, but it probably only took me about 20 minutes. 

And then when I was done I just sent them to Jaclyn, and she’s gonna make a video for me.

Tim Chermak: Cool, last question I’ll ask here is: If there’s someone listening to this podcast right now. Maybe, again, they’re listening next week or maybe a year from now. If there is someone listening to this podcast episode and they’re thinking about hiring Platform. But they are in that same mental spot that you were for the last year. Like oh, interesting, but I’m just not ready to pull the trigger yet. 

What would you tell them as someone where you admitted that you were very closely following Platform for a year, but waited a year to pull the trigger. What would you tell them? What advice would you give them about what it’s like after you decided to take the plunge and sign up for Platform?

Sara Medina: I think people get intimidated by the videos and the pictures. I also think money can come into play when you have other things going on. I say it’s all worth it. Don’t be shy to the videos. You know, take the pictures. The money you spend is gonna be the best money you spent. And the return on investment once it’s done, I would have never thought I’d get into contract this fast. Really it pays for some of my marketing in so long. And I can feel like this is actually doing something. Even if it’s taking that commission and saving it for this marketing ad, you know, that makes sense.

It’s so worth it now that I can put more money into my Facebook ads. And try to go really even bigger. 

Tim Chermak: You just keep rolling the snowball, You make more money in closings, and now you have more money to invest in more marketing. You keep going.

Sara Medina: Exactly, exactly. And so like nobody knows me from anybody in Solano County. But these people will start to get to know me and then they’ll be like, “Oh, I remember Sara and she’s realtor and she does all these things. And that’s what I’m hoping to get to that point. I want for a lot of military people to see me in Solano County. And they’re moving so often that I want them to say, “Oh I know Sara,” or somebody has used me and they recommend me. They see me on Facebook and it all just kinda snowball into a bigger thing. Pulling the trigger just makes sense to have done. And I absolutely think that anybody thinking about doing it should not even question it. It should just be something that you are like yeah for sure. I’m gonna go with Platform Marketing, because marketing is so important right now. You waste so much money on other things that don’t even come to fruition, and marketing is where it’s at.

To just push through, especially with these times where people are talking about things being unexpected and you don’t know what the future holds.

I think in real estate you never know what the future holds. I think you get out of it what you put in.

Tim Chermak: Right, right. 

Sara Medina: I could focus right now on what the situation is gonna be for the market. I don’t know what it’s gonna be like. But it can be like that any time of year. 

Tim Chermak: What is inventory doing? What are interest rates doing? No one knows. No one can.

Sara Medina: Yeah, exactly. 

Tim Chermak: What you should be doing is consistent marketing so that no matter what happens, you’re not just a slave to circumstance. Because you’re building a pipeline no matter what. 

Sara Medina: And everybody is gonna have to buy and sell always. It’s not gonna stop. The world’s not gonna just shut down and nobody buy or sell. It may slow down. We may have ups and downs. But my thing has always been to prepare myself, and I always … even though I haven’t spent a lot of money on marketing. I call it marketing dollars. Because I’ve never really done it. When I started I saved for marketing dollars. So when I’m ready to make the plunge to be able to buy something, I have the money. And it’s not coming out of my pocket. It’s not coming from the money I would have spent for my house or whatever it is.

It’s coming out of my marketing dollars and that is what I have had that money for, for when I was ready to buy into the right deal.

Tim Chermak: I am just, this whole episode it’s still hard for me to believe you are 4 weeks in. And you’re experiencing this success already. If you were 3 months in I would still be excited for you to have those results in your first 90 days. And yet, it’s not the first 90 days. You’re still in your first month, and you’re seeing results like that. So I’m super excited for you, because obviously your getting some quick results in the first month is fun. But if you fast forward 6months from now or 9 months from now.

Sara Medina: Exactly, we’ll have to check back in.

Tim Chermak: You’re gonna have rolled such a big snowball in the next 6 to 9 months. When that retargeting list matures, I am just really excited for you. So thank you for joining us on the show. And maybe we’ll have to do a part 2 six months later. See where your business is at six months from now.

Sara Medina: Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it. 

Tim Chermak: Cool, thanks.

Sara Medina: Bye.