Our Latest Podcast Episodes

“In the beginning, we pretty much had no idea what we were doing.”

Fast-forward five years and The Gibbons Group has now been named one of the top teams in the Bethesda, MD area.

Episode 24 of The Smart Agents Podcast features our interview with Larry Gibbons, who shares why creating authentic content has been such a win.

“We don't do any sales content of any kind… People don’t like being sold. Everyone is becoming too educated”

And while this strategy has been a major success with his sphere, it has had a positive impact on other parts of his business.

“The best part is it's free. My marketing budget is almost zero.” 

"I like to kind of personalize every experience… when I take a client on, I'm all in.”

Episode 23 of The Smart Agents Podcast features our conversation with Alice Rinaldo. Born and raised in the town of Oneida, NY, Alice knows there is no need to be a pushy salesperson in her market.

“I try to keep things very personal… I'm very active in our community.”

Rather than elaborate marketing campaigns, she focuses her time and energy on building personal relationships and presenting herself as the community expert.

“March is when I kind of broke off by myself…I was worried real estate was going to slow down a little bit.”

Who can forget it? March 13th, 2020, COVID19 was declared a national emergency. For Michael Friedman, he had just set out on his own after five years in the real estate industry

“I really just hit the ground running. I really had the best year I've ever had last year.”

Episode 22 of The Smart Agents Podcast features our conversation with the Tampa-based agent and he shares how focusing on past clients and growing his referral pipeline lead to his banner year.

Michael has put an emphasis on collecting client reviews and testimonials.

“Word of mouth is the best free marketing you can get. That's why I say that a five-star review is literally the biggest gift you can give me.”

“One of the biggest things that I see when I've gone to houses that are getting ready for sale is that the space plan is just really not there.”

Episode 21 of The Smart Agents Podcast features our conversation with Jeanette Chasworth, The Color Whisperer. Over the course of our conversation she shares tips she has acquired during her more than 25 years in interior design.

“One of the things that I tell clients a lot too, is there's this adage that lighter makes it bigger and that's not true. What really makes a room feel bigger is the light.”

From tricks for making rooms look bigger to advice on color choice, Jeanette helps you get your next home listing looking its best.

Be sure to check out Jeanette's work at thecolorwhisper.com

“The mistake that a lot of agents make is they say, ‘Well, I'm going to start with my neighborhood because I live here.’”

Episode 20 of The Smart Agents Podcast features our conversation with Ryan Smith, Founder of Launchyourfarm.com. Drawing on his past experience, Ryan has created a series of educational courses to help agents perfect their geographic farming strategies. 

“The reason I see most agents fail when it comes to farming is they go too big and they try to reach more people and they ended up burning their budget.”

By budget, Ryan is not talking strictly financial. While money is the biggest thing to consider when developing your marketing plan, he says you must consider your time and energy budget as well.

“The energy budget is the thing that a lot of people skip over, which is, is this going to suck the energy out of me? Is this going to suck the life out of me?”

Whether you are a brand new agent or a thirty-year vet, you are not going to want to miss Ryan’s tips.

Plus, for our listeners only, Ryan is offering 20% off of his course. Check out the episode to see how you can claim this offer

“With Instagram being such a broad horizon I can reach an unlimited amount of people.”

Episode 19 of The Smart Agents Podcast features our conversation with Florida-based realtor Katie McCowen and centers on how she is leveraging Instagram to position herself as not only a real estate expert but also a community expert.

“I want to educate someone so that they have the best experience possible and with Instagram, I'm able to portray that over posts and stories.”

Posting a wide variety of content, Katie is able to engage with followers all while building credibility. Not only does she post her current listings and market education pieces, she also posts about the local restaurants and things to do in her community.

“It's just helping me stay top of mind... I can't tell you how many referrals I've gotten from something like that.”

“It doesn’t come overnight. You’ve got to climb the ladder from the bottom.”

Episode 18 of The Smart Agents Podcast features part two of our conversion with Florida-based agent Rose Sklar, and this time, she breaks down her tips for listing luxury real estate.

“They expect a level of service… and they need a lot more feedback.”

One of the first steps Rose suggests for someone looking to break into the luxury market is to find an experienced agent to partner with on your first high-end listing.

“Instead of losing it, call a luxury agent in your area and split it with them and learn from them.”

Check out part one of our conversation with Rose in Episode 17!

"You have to grow and evolve. Change is an important part of success. If you don't do it, somebody else will and you're out."

With over three decades of experience as a real estate professional, Rose Sklar is coming off her most successful year yet.

“In October of this year, I closed $12 Million in my market, in one month… some people do that in one year."

Episode 17 of The Smart Agents Podcast features part one of our conversation with the Florida-based agent.

“Real estate is simple, but it's not easy. It requires grit and hustle.”

Check out part two of our conversation with Rose in Episode 18!

"When people panic you’ve got to take that opportunity and figure out what you're going to do. And that for us, we doubled down.

Episode 16 of The Smart Agents Podcast features a conversation with Marc Cormier.

With decades in the industry, the Washington DC-based agent would not allow the pandemic to derail his business.

“You start learning new stuff and you say, ‘Okay, what do I have to do to survive?’ Because failure's not an option.”

Whether it be building relationships with attorneys, embracing Youtube video creation or expanding his business to include professional home staging, Marc leaves no stone unturned.

“I think it's interesting that people say it is important to specialize… there's something to be said, at least in my case that I’ve got a taste for every aspect of real estate.”

Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Declan O’Toole has found tremendous success growing his Boston, Mass business over the past two decades. 

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity"

From property management to luxury real estate, Declan has relied on adapting to market trends.

“Within three months, I had 52 listings.”

Throughout Episode 15 of The Smart Agents Podcast you will hear all about how he has positioned himself to dominate multiple branches of the industry.