Tripling Your GCI (While Still Being An Amazing Mom And Wife)

Veronica Bradley:
I'm still actually paying I think $1000, or maybe even $1200 by now, a month on my ad spend. So yeah, we started out at $500, and I'm just like, "If I'm going to spend something like this on my marketing, I'm not going to just barely get wet with it. I'm going to go all in to utilize it, to make sure I'm utilizing it the best that I can, and getting my return on investment back." That was my concept of doubling it up, whenever you recommended to everyone to do it, because SNAP showed everyone at home on social media.

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

Tim Chermak:
Hey, guys. It's Tim Chermak, and welcome back to another episode of The Platform Marketing Show. I'm here with Veronica Bradley, and Veronica was kind enough to join us for this podcast interview while she's actually on vacation with her family. We're doing this early in the morning. Maybe they're all still sleeping. I don't know. But Veronica, welcome to the show.

Veronica Bradley:
Good morning. How are you, Tim?

Tim Chermak:
Good. You're probably doing good too because I know right before the show we were just talking about what your production numbers have been the last couple years. And I know that you said, when you started your real estate journey, and started exploring Platform, you were a member of a team, and your GCI the previous year had been $60,000, because obviously a team split is not an amazing split if you're a buyer's agent on a team all the time.

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. It was a 50%.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. And so you made about $60,000. And eventually you made the decision that, "I need to be more of an entrepreneur. I need to take more ownership in my career. I want to go out on my own." You did that, and you invested in this Platform Strategy, and now you made a little bit more than $60,000. Last year, you cleared over $200,000. And this year, more than likely, you're on pace to do somewhere between $250,000 and $300,000, which is amazing.

Veronica Bradley:
Correct.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. That's incredible. That's over-quadrupling your business, so that's super cool. You are in the New Braunfels area of Texas, right?

Veronica Bradley:
That's correct. We moved here in New Braunfels right before everything shut down with COVID. Before, I was in San Antonio, Northeast San Antonio, so I was about 20 minutes from New Braunfels, but living in New Braunfels is different than just visiting and touring.

Tim Chermak:
Sure.

Veronica Bradley:
It's a very sure a touristy small town. So right before we shut down, that's when I invested into Platform, and I'm so glad I stuck with it because I was like, "What am I doing? I'm paying all this money a month and we're shut down." I didn't even know if I was going to sell homes that year, but I stuck with it.

Tim Chermak:
That was probably pretty scary, I imagine. Because it's not like when you made that decision to go all-in on this marketing strategy, and really take ownership of your entrepreneurial future, and go out on your own. It's not that you had done that because the previous years you had made a bank, and you had this big war chest of money set aside as savings. You hadn't been making the money you're making now. You really dove into this and jumped off the entrepreneurial cliff, and you're like, "I'm going to figure out how to make a parachute on the way down." Like you said, you had made $60,000 the year before that, so it's sink or swim, and you have stuck with it.

Tim Chermak:
My first question is what motivated you to want to go out on your own and to want to make an investment in yourself with this marketing strategy? Because I know some people listening to this program probably know what Platform is, what Platform costs to implement, if they're already in the Plat fam. But a lot of agents listening don't realize Platform Marketing costs, all in with the advertising expense and everything, it's probably about a $2000 a month investment once you get fully ramped-up, and so it's not cheap. It's not something that you're spending 200 bucks a month on, or something like that. It's a very serious investment for people who want to make very serious gains in their business and growth in their business.

Tim Chermak:
And so to make that investment right when we're on the cliff of... You know, we were on this COVID lockdown thing where all the states were shutting down, and you stuck with it. Take me back to that moment, Veronica. What did that feel like? Was it scary? Was your husband onboard? That's always a question I like asking about. Did you have to convince him? What did it feel like in that moment? Because I'm sure you were terrified.

Veronica Bradley:
Yes, I was. At first, to branch me off and to be a solo agent, as me not being on a team. I learned so much being on a team, but I also saw that I was working so hard for someone else, and branding for that particular person. And I'm a team player, but I just felt like at the end of the day I'd come home, see my kids, and I wasn't really building anything for myself and my family. Yes, I was working and selling homes. Like I said, my commission split was 50%. And after I saw my GCI that year, it was like a punch in the stomach. It was just gut wrenching that half of it was taken, and I really didn't have anything to invest back into the business or to... I just didn't know which way to go.

Veronica Bradley:
I wanted to be a sole agent. And then because we moved, I knew I needed to rebrand myself around this growing small town. And I saw some of your stuff on Facebook, I saw the first documentary that you made, and it was moving, and I just jumped in. I mean it's like paying another mortgage, so my husband was like, "That's like another mortgage payment. Are you sure you want to do it?" and I'm like, "Give me six months. I'll do it. Just give me six months," and I'm so glad that he was onboard, too.

Tim Chermak:
That was the conversation. It was like, "Give me six months to make this work."

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
It was more or less an ultimatum like, "I have a deadline. And if it's not working, then we'll quit." Okay.

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. "Give me six months," and so he was like, "Okay. Let's do it," and I did.

Veronica Bradley:
And gosh, I remember Emily, my account manager last year, I guess she sent us a report of the year, like what you've done. I think I submitted 40 videos to you all last year, maybe a little bit more, I have to go back and look at it, and there's so much hard work in it. And so when you look at the $2000 a month, it is scary, but I got so much more back in just spending $2000 a month, so much more back, and so much more time with my family.

Tim Chermak:
That's why you're on the podcast right now is because you invested that money, but when you look at what you got out of it... Last year you almost hit a quarter million dollars in GCI, and this year I know the goal is to hit $300,000 in GCI, so all of a sudden that $2000 a month doesn't feel so scary when you look at what's coming back in.

Tim Chermak:
But you started as an agent on a team. I think that's really interesting because some people can be an agent on a team their entire life, and that's fulfilling, and you can make solid money. Because let's be real, making $60,000 a year: that's a good American job, it's not like you're in poverty or anything like that, but some people I think are just wired...

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. I mean I was making more than I made.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. You were making more than in your previous career, right?

Veronica Bradley:
Exactly.

Tim Chermak:
You were a dental... Was it a dental hygienist? Is that right?

Veronica Bradley:
I was in the dental field. I was a dental assistant for 10 years, and I was making way more than that.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. And so at a certain point though, I think some people, if you're just wired this way... I don't know if there's a test you can take for it, like a personality test or whatever... but some people are just wired to want to be on their own. It's very hard to feel fulfilled if you're going out and building someone else's brand or someone else's business, not your own. There's not even necessarily a right or wrong; it's just that some people aren't meant to do that long-term, and I think that definitely described you, because you eventually got to that point and you're like, "Okay. I need to go out on my own," as evidenced by the fact that the cost of doing what you were doing, to you emotionally the cost of that was higher than taking this risk of investing this money and launching into Platform.

Tim Chermak:
How long, Veronica, did it actually take for you to start generating results to where you actually felt like, "I made a wise decision doing this?" Because obviously it's not like in the first two weeks you get 10 closings or something. How long did it actually take to where, when you looked in the mirror at night, you're like, "Okay. I actually made a good decision. This wasn't the dumbest thing I've ever done"?

Veronica Bradley:
Well, yeah. A lot of prospects would opt-in and you'd communicate; but to actually get one on the hook, like you got them, and you're really building a relationship, it took three to four months for me to actually get a live one. And then one of my campaigns that Platform was launching for me was a Central Texas waterfront home, and I had a gentleman call me and he's like, "Hey, I want to go see this property," and it was right on the river, and he was a cash buyer, and we wanted a contract, and it was a $600,000 property, and I was just like, "Wow. The commission in that one opt-in." And then I have the best relationship with him now because it's not just like, "Oh, they bought a home for me." They're continuing to buy property or look for real estate property, so that one opt-in paid for Platform for me for the next year or two.

Tim Chermak:
You picked up this big deal and you realized, "Okay. This one actually pays for a lot of the marketing, so now I've definitely broken even and made some money." This all happened within the first six months?

Veronica Bradley:
Yes, I can. This happened within the first four month, I would say. Three to four months.

Tim Chermak:
Okay. What were you spending every month on the actual advertising budget?

Veronica Bradley:
I started out at $500, which was the recommended amount to spend on ads. And then, gosh, during COVID I was looking at something that you put out actually, how you were talking about, "Everyone's at home. Everyone's on social media. This is the time to like bump-up your ad spend because you're going to get more views, you're going to get more engagement," and I told Emily, "Bump it up to $1000," and she was like, "Are you sure?" I'm like, "Yeah. I'm sure. Bump it up to $1000." And so we bumped it up to $1000, in addition to what I was paying for Platform, and I don't regret it.

Veronica Bradley:
I'm still actually paying I think $1000, or maybe even $1200 by now, a month on my ad spend. So yeah, we started out at $500, and I'm just like, "If I'm going to spend something like this on my marketing, I'm not going to just barely get wet with it. I'm going to go all in to utilize it, to make sure I'm utilizing it the best that I can, and getting my return on investment back." That was my concept of doubling it up, whenever you recommended to everyone to do it, because SNAP showed everyone at home on social media.

Tim Chermak:
It's so interesting to me, when we talk about ads budgets, how much fear people have around that. They just make decisions in a context of fear, "I'm spending $500 a month on ads," or "$650 a month on ads, and that's my budget. That's my budget." It would feel like they're somehow losing money if they start spending $1000 a month. The part of their brain that processes their advertising budget within this platform marketing strategy: the part of their brain that processes how much they're spending is like the same part of their brain that processes, "I just went out and bought a TV for our house," or "We just went out to eat and splurged on a really expensive dinner," or something, and sometimes it's easy to forget that you're making an investment in your business that's supposed to create a return on investment. You're spending money on ads, but the whole point is that your business grows more than the money you're spending on the ads. You know?

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah.

Tim Chermak:
And so if you look at it in annual terms... I know this sounds so dumbed-down and elementary; but I think when we get caught up in the day-to-day of our businesses, it's easy to forget this, and I'm guilty of this too. I should probably really increase Platform's ads budget right now as I hear myself saying this. It's just human nature that you fall a victim to this fear mentality.

Tim Chermak:
But when you look at it on an annual basis, if you were spending about $500 a month... we're lucky because that's a nice round number, so it makes the math easy.... but if you were to increase that to $1000, so you double your ads budget. 500 times 12 is just $6000 a year, it's an extra $6000 you're spending on ads, so you go from spending $6000 a year on ads to $12,000 a year on ads, but you were already okay spending $6000, so that extra $6000 is just like, "Oh, cool. It's just an extra $6000." That's less than one commission check for you. I know in your market there in Texas, your average homes are what, probably are $300,000? Is that right?

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. $275,000 to $300,000. You're absolutely right.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. So your commission on that's what, $7000, $8000, something like that?

Veronica Bradley:
Are you asking on a $300,000 home? It's about $9000 if it's 3%.

Tim Chermak:
Okay. Yeah. After some fees and everything, let's just say you're making $8000: that's in one deal you made back that extra investment. And so how I like to frame it to agents if they're like, "Oh, I just really don't have the money to increase my ads budget. I can't afford that," or "It's not in my budget," it's like, "Look at how successful Platform is for you, or the other agents that you're seeing in the Platform family, and then double that." Because the success you get, and the reach you get, and the number of leads you get, and the number of impressions and video views, and all of that, is simply a function of how much are you spending on the ads. And so if you double that, it's like doubling the amount of gasoline that you're pouring onto that fire. Of course, the fire is going to get bigger.

Tim Chermak:
And so if you're telling me, if you could actually look me in the eye and say that, "I don't think doubling my ad spend from $500 to $1000 is going to at least get me one extra commission check," I would almost tell you you're in the wrong business. You should go get a job somewhere." If you think spending an extra $500 a month on ads isn't going to make you at least one extra transaction this year, you should probably go get a job somewhere because you don't understand the non-linear relationship between risk and reward. In all likelihood, it'll probably add an extra five to 10 deals a year to your production. That little bit extra of, "Okay, I'm going to spend $1000 a month on ads versus $500," probably will make you an extra $100,000.

Veronica Bradley:
And it's amazing how... Because in school for realtors, they just teach you know the legality, how to write a contract, but they don't teach you anything about lead generation, and they don't teach you anything about how to be a business owner. So of course, especially when you start out, people think, "Oh, we're going to go in and sell homes," but if you don't have any leads, if you have nothing helping you bring something to the funnel, you're going to sink, and real estate has a high turnover rate. I just thought of it as investing it into my business. Any other business owner who's not in real estate invests in their business, and I don't think realtors should not invest in their business. They have to invest.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. You're probably spending now on marketing somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 a year, and to some agents that sounds like a lot of money when you factor in the Platform Marketing Strategy, and the actual advertising budget, and all that. Like, "Wow. I could never spend that much. I don't have that in my budget," and it's like you didn't either when you started, right?

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. No, I'm a mom, and I'm also a mom on a budget. So I understand a budget, it's very scary, but it's just... I mean I'm on vacation with my kids right now, and working, and still spending time with my kids. It's a no-brainer.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. You woke up early to do this podcast with me because, even in the middle of the summer, your business is going well enough that you can take your family on a vacation, because your leads and your marketing is so strong that you can take a long weekend away and actually spend time with your family. I think it's important for us to note here that when you started all this, your husband was still in the military, and he was overseas, right?

Veronica Bradley:
Yes. He just transitioned out and it's amazing. We were just talking about this while we're here. He transitioned out, because he came home early from his deployment; and really honestly, I haven't really told anyone this, but the reason why he decided not to basically re-enlist is because I told him I need him at home with me and the kids. We missed him. Being in the military it's hard, he was gone a lot, and the kids... I have a teenager, and then a seven-year-old, and it's just they need him to be present. So we had this conversation before I got into real estate saying... My goal was, "I'm going to work my butt off to get him and I to where we would spend time together, and we can work together."

Veronica Bradley:
Him and I both grew up like our parents were the 8:00 to 5:00 job, and get the degree, work for someone. My mom's a teacher, my dad works for the city, and they taught us a really good work ethic, but we never really worked for ourselves, so it was hard for him to transition; and now that we have, he's doing things that he wants to do, and we're just comfortable, and he's developing that entrepreneurship of starting his business with something. To see that transition, it's been a blessing, and I'm so glad. I don't know, I'm just so glad how things have turned out, and we're also teaching that to our kids. But yeah, he would still be deployed right now. He was originally supposed to come back the fall of this year.

Tim Chermak:
Wow. And that adds even more perspective to your story of being scared to start with Platform and to start really pursuing this Platform Marketing Strategy; because not only had you not been a top-producing agent before, you were an agent on a team, and you made $60,000... Well, I shouldn't say that, because you probably were producing a lot, but obviously on a team split you're just not making the money, you're having to share it with the team. And so not only did you not have like a pile of money set aside in savings and whatever, but your husband is on the other side of the planet, he's in the military overseas, and he's not there either, so it's just added pressure of you're a military mom and a military wife at home taking care of the kids, and running and managing the household, and you're launching into your own business. I think it just makes your story, Veronica, that much more impressive, that you've built the business to where it is now, and that your husband has come home, and you're on this vacation right now.

Tim Chermak:
I think one thing that was really interesting: for those listening, Veronica's actually going to be featured in the upcoming Platform documentary; which if you're listening to this podcast the week it comes out, the documentary has not been released, but it's going to be released later this year, and we've already filmed the segment with Veronica, and she'll be telling her story as part of that Platform documentary. But one thing that stuck out to me when I was reviewing the footage is your focus on family. I think a lot of people talk about work-life balance because it's a buzzword, it's cliché, but it was really clear that when you were talking about the importance of family, I don't know how to say it other than it was clear that you really meant it. Why is family, and why is that so important to you, and how is that factored into your business and life decisions?

Veronica Bradley:
It's funny because I grew up, my family were very close, but we didn't have close family time because my parents were always at work. So I would tell my husband we grew up, we didn't eat dinner at the table together, because we were always home at different times. "So when we had kids," my husband and I always said, "we're going to have dinner at the table. We're going to have family board game night." I want to build that for my kids so that way, when they get older, they can implement that. It's so precious. Family means everything to me.

Tim Chermak:
You wanted your kids to have this idyllic all-American family and childhood that maybe you didn't have growing up, so you wanted to create that for them. Not that you came from a bad family or anything like that, but you wanted to have dinner every night. Because honestly, let's be real, I'm pretty sure most American families don't sit down and have regular dinners. Right?

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. Absolutely. And I tell my parents that. Even me, my kids probably are going to, "Oh, I want to do something different that my mom and dad didn't do." We always do better than what was taught to us. You know?

Tim Chermak:
Yeah.

Veronica Bradley:
But yeah, it's just we didn't have that, and that's some of the things that I... To me, the small amount of time that my family did gather, those were the most precious moments that I can remember as a child; and so because it's so precious to me, I want to recreate that with my family as much as I can. And we go out to eat a lot, too. I feel like family time, going out to restaurants, and just eating together, saying a prayer before a meal, and then just... Even if it's a quick sandwich and chips, it's still very precious to us.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. When you think about all the memories that you have with your family, and all of the dinners together, and all of that, that's the kind of thing that at the end of your life you're going to look back and you're glad that you invested your time into those things, or your money into those things. You're not really going to care what the balance is in your 401(k) and your retirement accounts and everything because ultimately the purpose of those vehicles is so that you can spend it in such a way that makes you happy, which is usually spending time with friends and family. And so if you're making that a focus and a priority right away, you're ahead of the game.

Tim Chermak:
And I'm guessing most realtors listening to this podcast probably have to pick their jaws up off the floor because, "What? You regularly eat dinner with your family?" That's just not a thing that most agents do because they're out showing homes, and they're glued to their cellphone, and they're writing contracts, and they're available for clients at 5:30, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 p.m. It wouldn't even cross their minds to eat dinner with family.

Veronica Bradley:
Don't get me wrong. My kids also know when my phone rings to be quiet, and I'll give them that mom look like, "Hush. I'm on a call," and when I get off this call then we can continue on. And especially in the summertime, there are times where dinner might be at 4:00 instead of 5:30-6:00 because it's working around my schedule, so we make it work, and it's not always perfect. Sometimes we'll grab something in truck and eat in the truck. We make it work. And so even if it's not always at home or at a table, it's so flexible that we make it work.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. That's some really interesting perspective and clarification, the phrase that you used just there, "make it work," because most people operate under the delusion that, "Oh, I guess just some people have more time than me and they're just lucky, because I don't have time to eat dinner with my family. I don't have time to go on a date night with my husband or my wife, or take vacations. I'm a realtor. I can't take vacations in the summer. That's when I make all the money," and you make the time. If that means on some nights we're eating dinner at 4:00 p.m. or 4:30, or maybe we're eating dinner at 8:30, or we're leaving for a vacation early in the morning, whatever it is, you make the time, and you fit your business schedule and real estate schedule around that.

Tim Chermak:
You actually work to live versus just waking up and living, living to work, which in the real estate profession... It's probably true of people anywhere, but I think it's especially true for realtors, because so much of your job is just being available to clients. It's very, very easy as a real estate agent to rationalize, "Well, of course I have to be available seven days a week, and I need to answer my phone if someone texts me at 9:30 p.m., even if I'm in the middle of watching a Disney movie with the kids or something, because I'm a realtor. I have to be available," and it's like: no, you don't.

Tim Chermak:
This is actually a really good transition to talking about marketing and talking about the branding that you've done because I think these two are intrinsically related. If you have built-up a powerful local brand, and your marketing is interesting, and your marketing is magnetic, in the sense that it attracts people to you and they actually want to work with you specifically, they're not just clicking on an ad because they want to go look at a house and you're the first realtor who responded that would go open the door for them: they want to work with you specifically, Veronica Bradley.

Tim Chermak:
If your marketing is set up in such a way that it positions you as being this local celebrity where people almost feel lucky that they're privileged enough to work with Veronica, "Amongst all the other agents, I'm lucky enough to work with Veronica. Like she's the best. I'm almost like proud of telling my friends that Veronica Bradley is my realtor." It's like a social status or like, "I got to work with Veronica. She's the best realtor here," in the same way that someone might be proud of buying a Mercedes-Benz because all their neighbors see the Mercedes in the driveway and they think, "Wow. That family really has got it all together." You want that to be the feeling they have if they're working with Veronica. It's almost a social status that, "I work with Veronica as my realtor." And once you're marketing gets to that point, of course you can take a weekend off, of course you don't have to answer your phone at 9:00 p.m. at night because people aren't going to harass you and abuse your time, because they feel lucky that you were willing to take them on as a client, if that makes sense.

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. That makes sense. And I think it's a lot how my Facebook, my business page, how I portray my life as a realtor and as a mom, and so I think the people who I'm connecting with understand that's precious to me. So if someone maybe doesn't vibe with that, then they're not the client for me, and I'm okay with that. Like you said, there's a bunch of realtors out there who are... I used to say, "I'm available 100%," and I am for the most part available within my time. Because I always feel like everyone feels like in real estate there's emergencies all the time, and there's never an emergency if you're communicating with your client, and if you're contracting, if you're paying attention to the time-sensitive dates. And so nothing's ever an emergency to where I have to feel like I have to answer the phone right there, right then and there. If I'm having a moment with my family, I'll get back to them, and I feel like my clients appreciate that because they already know that I have a family and that time's precious to me. It's not like they're going to be like, "Oh, my gosh. She didn't answer the first time I called." They know I'll get back to them because I communicate, "If I happen to not answer my phone, I will get back to you. I'm probably with my family or maybe with a client." You know?

Tim Chermak:
Yeah.

Veronica Bradley:
I think communication's big, and they already see that in the videos that I put out, in my personal moment ads. They know I have kids. Some of them, they ask me how my kids are doing, and they never even met my kids before. So they see that, and I think that's what I do try to connect with and vibe with because I don't want to be burnt out by the time I'm 40. You know?

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. And so you mentioned personal moment ads, Veronica. Would you mind just giving a description or an explanation, for those who don't know what you're talking about when you say a personal moment ad? Because aren't all ads supposed to be about homes for sale and open houses and listings and...

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. That's what the other marketing companies tell you, they're all supposed to be, "Buy a home from me. Buy a home from me." But no, the personal moment ads are moments within whatever's personal to you, and so to me it's my family, my dogs, so like taking pictures of the kids and I on vacation. Or maybe during COVID, I sent a video over to Emily of me going down a slip-and-slide with the kids, and that's a personal moment, just showing the world like, "Hey, I just don't sell homes. I'm also a mom with a kid, and I like slip-and-slides too.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. Like, "Hey, I'm a normal."

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah, absolutely. I'm not just like... It's not always business and buy homes. I'm a human when I'm not... I'm normal just like you.

Veronica Bradley:
And then I know we did a personal moment ad with my husband coming home early, a little bit after Christmas last year, and he told me a couple of days when he flew in, and the kids had no idea, and so we did a video of him... of course, those videos always get me, but it's more precious to me because it's my family... and so I did a video of him, and the kids opening the door, and it was just the best video and the best reaction. My daughter was crying, and I was just like, "Ah." It was just great.

Veronica Bradley:
But those are post personal moment ads because you want people to see you as a human being, not just you selling homes, and it's not always about... In real estate, yes we sell, we need to sell, but it's not always about numbers. It's also like, "Hey, this is my family. And I'm letting you see a glimpse of our lives on my Facebook page because I'm in the community with you." It's not just about selling homes. I think personal moment ads are brilliant, and it helps people to really understand that the person who you are, other than just selling homes in your area.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. You want people to feel like they're getting to know you, and you can't do that if all of your social media posts and all of your ads are just photos of homes, and it says "New Listing" or "Open house this weekend," or the typical stuff that most realtors post. You want people that are following you online to actually feel like they're getting to know you. One litmus test of when we're creating some of these retargeting strategies is like, "Is this the type of post that you might actually post on your personal profile?" Not your business page, but your personal profile. So photos of you and your family out on vacation or going out to eat. Or like you said, there's a picture of you going down a slip-and-slide with your kids. It's not a photo of you in a pantsuit next to one of your listing signs. It's you having fun with your kids, the type of thing you'd post on your personal Instagram. Those actually make great retargeting ads because people they feel like they're getting to know you.

Tim Chermak:
And from a marketing perspective, if you get that deep into their emotional psyche where these potential sellers, and potential listing leads, and all that: because they're seeing your family life, they actually feel like they know you. They've never met you, to be clear, they don't know you, they're not your friend, they're not in your sphere, but they feel like they know you: they're going to list with you. It almost doesn't matter at that point what another agent might say in a listing presentation; because if someone at this primal gut level, if they feel like they like you and they know you because they've been seeing kind of these posts, they're going to work with you. They're not going to work with some other agent. Frankly, even if the other agent lowers their commission or lowers the fees, they'll still want to work with you, because people don't make decisions like logical robots.

Tim Chermak:
We're humans. We factor in emotion into our decisions, and just what feels good, and what gives us peace of mind. If that weren't the case, no one would ever go to Starbucks, we'd all buy our groceries from discount grocery stores, we'd always buy the cheapest car, no one would have leather seats, no one would have heated seats. We'd do all of our shopping at Walmart and Goodwill, and no one would ever have anything nicer or more expensive. But we do make some purchases with peace of mind as a factor, and so your marketing should give people peace of mind. That's actually a brilliant marketing strategy because it's something most agents just aren't willing to do, so naturally you stand out.

Tim Chermak:
And what you said about your brand and your positioning of, Veronica, you wanted to be an agent that the public knows that your family is important to you. I think that's really interesting because it gets at this point that having that local brand is both a cause and an effect. It's a cause in the sense that you're creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that, "Spending time with my family is important to me. Therefore, I'm not going to necessarily answer the phone if you call me at 9:30 p.m., or if you text me on a Sunday morning at 9:40 a.m. and I'm at church with my family. I'm not going to get up out of the pew and go show you a house. Or if I'm at my daughter's dance recital, or my son's football game," or whatever it is, it's like, "I'm not going to answer a call. I'm going to be enjoying time with my family." And so it's a cause of the fact that people start to respect that, and so you create this self-fulfilling prophecy in your life where you create that expectation, and then people are cool with it.

Tim Chermak:
But it's also an effect of, as that becomes the reality in your business, more and more people actually want to work with you because it's almost this sense of you're playing hard to get. People want to work with you even more because they sense that you're not desperate for their business, and that makes them want to work with you as their realtor even more because you're not willing to take a phone call at 10:00 p.m. You're not just always available all weekends no matter what. You actually have boundaries, and your family is a priority, and so it's like you're playing hard get, and so it's like who wouldn't want to work with someone like that, who actually has self respect and self-esteem? Because that's really what it is.

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. Like I said, they don't teach you this in real state school, or even going out just becoming a realtor in general. We're oversaturated with so many realtors. It's a high turnover career. And yeah, they don't teach you that.

Tim Chermak:
Veronica, what have been some of your favorite ads? Let's dive into some of the specifics of the actual marketing campaigns that you've put out into the world. What have been some of maybe just the most engaging videos that you've done? Or maybe if it's a photo, even not a video, what have been some of your favorite ads that you know resonated with the public, and your sphere was actually talking about them because they mentioned it to you in real life?

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. There's this one ad, it's very short and sweet, and I guess you'd call it an educational video, Ducks in a Row, basically saying, "You have your ducks in a row? If not, give me a call," in terms of like buying or selling a home. And I've had a couple of my now clients, they're like, "Oh, yeah. I need to have my ducks in a row," and they reference the Ducks in a Row video, and that one got a lot of engagement.

Tim Chermak:
Which is just like... It's also just the dumbest video, too. It's so cheesy in a cute Disney kind of way. Like you're not taking...

Veronica Bradley:
And it's funny because I utilized my daughter in the end. She's lining-up the ducks and playing with them, and she's talking to the... like you would play with Barbies, but a GI Joe toy, and she's like, "Buy a home from my mom," or "Veronica Bradley, realtor." It's just a cheesy video, and so it's funny when they mention like, "Yeah. I need my ducks in a row," and they reference that video.

Tim Chermak:
What have been some of the other ones, beyond the Ducks in a Row, that you feel worked well not just because maybe it got a lot of views, but because people in real life were mentioning to you, "Oh, I love such and such ad"?

Veronica Bradley:
I would say during COVID last year, you guys had that incredible, "God Made a Small Business Owner," ad or video, and that one had so much engagement within our community. So much. I think it... Oh, God. It was around 52,000 or 50,000 views.

Tim Chermak:
Wow.

Veronica Bradley:
And shares and likes and hearts. And so that one was a good one, and that took me two days to get together with local businesses, especially during COVID, and businesses being shut down, and just supporting the community. The community just appreciated it so much. And the people who we featured appreciated it too because everyone was in a hard spot last year, business owners. That was one.

Tim Chermak:
How have you, Veronica, used the Platform strategy to build relationships with local small business owners? Because that's a huge part of the strategy that we preach, is that the more that you're featuring local small business owners in your videos, the more that you look like you're just active in your community. And obviously people want to work with a realtor who's not just an expert on housing, but actually is very plugged-in to the community as well.

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. Well, I know the featuring it's very genuine. That's why like I love doing market updates with businesses, or just like featuring them, because I literally shop there, or I'll get coffee there, or whatever it is. I just don't go to a business say, "Hey, support this business," and then walk away. I support the business, and it's free marketing for them, and they appreciate that because business owners know how much marketing is, because everyone reaches out to business owners, "Hey, do you want to put an ad in the newspaper?" or the TV slot commercial, or a radio slot. All that is expensive. Billboards. And so when you say, "Hey, I'm going to promote your shop," or whatever it is, "this month, and I pay for the advertising, and we're going to shoot it out, and local people in the area are going to see, we're going to feature something that's going to... and they're going to see it," they appreciate it, they love it so much, and that's my favorite part. Because it's not even associated with real estate, really. It's just you're supporting this person, this family in our community; and so what you're giving to this person, family, it's helping their business. Those are my favorite ones and they appreciate it so much, all the business owners do.

Tim Chermak:
You've built a brand there really quick. Clearly, the video marketing and the ads that you've put out there are working because you didn't originally... You haven't lived your whole life in New Braunfels; that's really what I'm saying. You've been in the San Antonio area for a while, but you weren't even born and raised in San Antonio or New Braunfels. And so for you to build a local brand that quickly, and get to the point where as a real estate agent you're making a quarter-million-dollars a year in GCI, that means that your local brand is working. Your reputation is spreading in the area, or else you wouldn't have that many clients, you wouldn't have that many clients wanting to work with you.

Tim Chermak:
Veronica, when you look at your...

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. I had a local business owner...

Tim Chermak:
Oh, go ahead.

Veronica Bradley:
I'm sorry. I had a local business owner, she reached out to me last week, and she's like, "Hey, I have a lot of realtor friends that come in here," and they support their shop, and what not. She's like, "But I'm going to buy a home in the next six months and I want to use you." She's using me because not only I've promoted her businesses before in [inaudible 00:44:59] past, especially in, "God Made a Small Business Owner," video, but I [inaudible 00:45:06], and I still support them, and I still show up and communicate and support them. So anyway, that's a good example because she could use any realtor that comes into her shop, and there's so many of them.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. And she knows...

Veronica Bradley:
So many [inaudible 00:45:17] to her.

Tim Chermak:
She knows a lot of real estate agents and yet she chose you. That's cool.

Tim Chermak:
Well, Veronica, you seem to be spending about $1000 a month, you're putting out typically somewhere like three to five videos every single month. Let's talk about that because it's not as easy as, "Oh, I'm going to run a lot of ads. I'll just spend a lot of money on marketing, get a lot of clicks." You have to put in the work to film some videos or else the Platform Strategy will not work; but that's also the greatest competitive advantage, is that most agents aren't willing to do that. So even if they have a big marketing budget and they're willing to spend a lot of money on marketing, you really can't buy yourself a brand. I guess that's what I'm saying. Even if you have all the money in the world, you can't buy yourself a local brand that people respect, but you have to earn it by actually going out there and creating useful or interesting or helpful content. Has that been your experience? You've noticed the more videos that you filmed, the more success that you seem to have?

Veronica Bradley:
Yes, absolutely. And I know that's probably... I don't know [inaudible 00:46:40] a girl's perspective. When we do videos, we're so critical of ourselves, or it's just something that people are scared to do. I mean at this point I'll tell Emily, I'll send something over, I'm like, "I probably said the wrong thing. Check the words. Maybe I stuttered or something." I just send it over. Send the videos over, send the content over, the ad. You'll have great ads team that puts great videos together. Yeah. You have to make videos, you have to even if you don't want to. Sometimes I'm like, "Oh, dang. I've got to go do a video. Ugh." I'm not always enthusiastic on doing it, but I do it, I do it and I try to... Sometimes it could be bland and boring, but the ads team still does a great job with it. So yeah, you have to, you have to do it or else... I mean all that money you're spending, if you're not... I don't know. What are you branding if you're not doing videos and putting content out? You're just wasting money.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. It's such a big difference in the results that you get over time if you're doing one video a month versus three or four videos a month. Because it doesn't feel like that big of a difference. It's like, "At least if you're doing one video a month that's better than nothing," and it's like I would agree it's better than nothing, because most agents aren't creating any marketing content ever. But when you look at our most successful Platform realtors, all of them are agents filming three or four videos a month or more. That seems to be the cut-off point. Where when I look at, "Who is the most successful with Platform?" not just people that are doing pretty well, but I'm saying people that are adding $100,000 or $150,000 or more to their GCI: it's agents that are filming three or four videos a month or more over the course of a year.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. I mean over the course of a year, an agent who films obviously one video a month is going to film 12 videos a year. Again, that's better than nothing, so I'm not saying that's not impressive. But if you film even just three videos a month, it becomes 36 videos a year versus 12. So it's really not surprising that someone like you has grown your income, that you're able to provide for your family, from $60,000 to like $250,000, and hopefully this year you hit that goal of $300,000. It's not that surprising you've been able to do that because people that are following you on social media, in the New Braunfels area, they're seeing 40 videos a year from you, almost 50 videos a year from you. You're constantly top of mind, so you're getting way more referrals than I'm assuming you probably were before.

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. And I'm noticing that a lot of my businesses is word of mouth and referrals. And it's funny because it goes back to like your book, High-Hanging Fruit, and then everything that you've said in Mastermind, and what not. If we're paying so much money for this awesome thing, why not utilize it to the best of its advantage for you? If you're going to pay this much, if people are cringing on paying $1600, $2000 whatever a month, which is like, let's face it, it's like a mortgage payment.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. Absolutely.

Veronica Bradley:
Why not take advantage, and why not utilize it the best that you can? Sometimes I'm like, "Oh, my gosh. I need to go do a video because I get so worked up with... We're busy with business, and what not, and kids, but do the darn videos. Just do them. It's what's going to be a return on investment.

Tim Chermak:
For those who aren't familiar with the specifics of Platform, for those who aren't familiar, we will edit all of your videos for you. It's unlimited. We don't charge extra money if you film more videos and send our team more videos to make marketing campaigns with. It's an unlimited all-you-can-eat buffet of marketing. And so if you were to go and film 10 videos this month, Veronica, obviously we would edit all 10 of those videos and make marketing campaigns for them, so it's like the golden corral of real estate marketing. You can pay one price and it's all-you-can-eat marketing.

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. It's amazing.

Tim Chermak:
So you've you filmed 40-some videos this last year. Have you partnered with a lender at all, Veronica?

Veronica Bradley:
Yes, I have, and that's I guess my word. You know how I've been talking about a word this year?

Tim Chermak:
Uh-huh.

Veronica Bradley:
I do words, like whatever. And so when we hit 2021 I'm like, "My word's going to be leverage. How can I leverage everything to the best of my ability to make me work smarter, not harder?" And so last October I went to a lender who I've used for a while, actually since I started, and I said, "Hey, do you want to pay half of my Platform? Because I'm going to a partner with a lender and I need some help. My business is pivoting to a different level, and I would love to continue to work with you. But because of the amount of leads I'm sending you, I need you to help me."

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. Totally.

Veronica Bradley:
I basically said it like that.

Tim Chermak:
Totally.

Veronica Bradley:
And she didn't bat an eye. She's like, "Sure. I'll pay half." And so it's now to the point where she's paying more than what I am paying, and it's leverage. She understands the value in it and she doesn't mind doing it.

Tim Chermak:
And it's a win-win because her business has grown too because of that investment. You're sending her more business, and therefore she's doing more loans than she was before, and so that's just an example of capitalism win-win. You both invest together and both of your businesses grow.

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. Exactly. Actually, it gives me more a sense of relief, too. Whenever I start looking at my numbers and like... And sometimes, even right now... not today, but a few days ago... I was like, "Oh, my gosh. I'm spending so much in ads." I get those moments still.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. Totally.

Veronica Bradley:
I'm worried because our minds are constantly going, going, going, thinking about what's the next deal, or just making sure I... I'm very goal oriented, I want to hit my goal, and so I'm like, "Oh, my gosh. Should I back down on ad spend?" and I'm like, "No. That's just the fear in my mind talking." And it helps when I have a lender paying half of my platform. That helps a lot.

Tim Chermak:
Yeah. It just gives you peace of mind.

Tim Chermak:
Veronica, I want to totally change the topic of what we're talking about here and ask you one final question here. When you look at the lifestyle and the life that you are now able to create and provide for your family, going from a $60,000-a-year job, and you were salaried at a job before that, to now making basically a quarter million dollars a year in GCI, is there one specific thing that you can look at, one thing you've purchased? And doesn't have to be a thing, it can be an experience; in fact, it probably is an experience that you're going to say. What is the coolest thing that you've been able to buy or do with your family that you financially couldn't afford to do before your business got to this point?

Veronica Bradley:
I would say two things because, number one, we got a pool, and we paid cash for it, and I would have never been able to have that.

Tim Chermak:
Geez. You're like Scrooge McDuck.

Veronica Bradley:
A medium size. I know. It was a medium-size pool, and it's for the kids. We live in an area, an HOA, we don't have a community pool, so it's so hot. Especially during COVID we were like, "We need a pool in this backyard." It was just, "Oh, it's nice. I can pay cash for this. That's cool." You know?

Tim Chermak:
That's pretty cool.

Veronica Bradley:
And then the second thing was we got another investment property this year actually, and that's another part of I want to have a couple of rentals, and build passive income, so that was another... And that was only on, at the time, because it was investment property... What was it, February? Yeah. I didn't even file my taxes for this year, so they were going on last year's income. Or I take that back. I didn't file my taxes for 2020, so they went on the year before, and there's a price-point I wanted to stay in. They're like [inaudible 00:55:28] to stay in the budget, whatever. It worked out because we had money to put down on it.

Tim Chermak:
Sure, sure.

Veronica Bradley:
And so it'll be paid off in the next two to three years. Let's say that.

Tim Chermak:
Wow.

Veronica Bradley:
Yeah. That's important to me, to have passive income, and then stuff to pass down to my kids, to our kids. And the pool is for fun, just for us to have fun, and I never would have been able... We would have never even thought about that ever because, number one, it's expensive. The smallest pool that I found was over $30,000.

Tim Chermak:
And you were able to pay cash for that.

Veronica Bradley:
Correct.

Tim Chermak:
That's incredible. It's even cooler knowing that you were able to pay for these things, put this pool in your backyard, with cash, and that's going to provide... It's a physical thing, but it's actually really an investment in experiences with your family, because the pool doesn't have value to you just sitting there. It's all the family memories that you can now make there, and you have even more peace of mind around those memories knowing that you paid cash for the pool, so it's not just adding debt to your family, so that's amazing.

Tim Chermak:
Guys, thank you for joining us on this episode of The Platform Marketing Show, and check out Veronica's story in the Platform Marketing documentary that's coming out soon, or maybe it's out now, depending on when you're listening to this podcast episode. But look up Veronica Bradley on Facebook, watch her in the documentary, and learn from her. I mean her story is inspiring about going with your gut, trusting in your entrepreneurial dreams, and actually going for it; not just thinking about it, but actually taking that risk and going for it. I mean Veronica, in a span of actually less than two years, quadrupled the amount of money that she's able to provide for her family, and that's really cool.

Tim Chermak:
Veronica. Thank you. Thank you for joining us on The Platform Marketing Show, and we'll see you guys next time.