Top Agents Playbook

It's always fun catching up with Greg McDaniel because he's always up to something cool.Here's a summary of our session:Absolutely, Ray. Here’s a detailed summary shortened to roughly 20% of the original wording.Podcast Interview Summary: Ray Wood with Greg McDanielRay welcomes longtime friend Greg McDaniel from Grass Valley, Northern California. After a relaxed opening chat about Greg’s 10-acre property, mowing, weather, and life in Northern California, the conversation turns to what is currently working for real estate agents in social media marketing and advertising.Greg says agents have never had more opportunity to create their own media. They no longer need a full studio setup; a smartphone, simple microphone, and free or low-cost editing tools like CapCut are enough to produce useful content. He emphasizes that agents can now use AI tools such as ChatGPT and prompt libraries like AIPRM to generate video ideas, captions, YouTube titles, descriptions, tags, and content frameworks quickly.A major theme is that agents often feel overwhelmed by all the marketing options available, but Greg argues the answer is simpler than most people think: stay visible, stay relevant, and keep having conversations with your audience. He uses his and Ray’s friendship as an example. Even though they have known each other for around 10 years and never met in person, they have stayed connected through podcasts, conversations, and regular contact. That same principle applies to agents and their audience.Greg recommends agents post short-form content daily on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube Shorts, and other platforms. He says agents should pay attention to who watches, likes, comments, or reacts to their content, then personally reach out and start conversations. Rather than treating social media as a broadcasting platform only, agents should use it as a relationship-building tool.When Ray asks what type of content works best, Greg suggests documenting daily life. He compares each part of the day to a chapter in a book: morning routines, coffee stops, drives, meetings, funny moments, local observations, family life, pets, community stories, and real estate insights. His advice is to make content that is interesting, personal, and relatable, not just constant real estate sales messages.Greg recommends following an 80/20 rule: around 80% of content should be fun, interesting, community-based, or personality-driven, while 20% can be more directly related to business. He notes that kids and pets can attract engagement, though agents should only include family if they are comfortable doing so. Ray jokes that featuring his dogs in marketing videos could make their expenses feel like marketing costs, leading to a humorous side discussion about dogs, grooming, cleaning, and checking with a CPA.The conversation then moves into YouTube. Greg believes YouTube is a powerful free platform because once content is created, it can continue working long term. However, he says fewer than 1% of agents will actually take action. Ray asks why, and Greg bluntly says laziness is often the main barrier. He explains that many agents know what they need to do, but avoid it because they feel they have nothing to say or do not want to be on camera.Greg shares an example of a successful Silicon Valley agent who has deep local knowledge, a long real estate career, children who grew up in the area, a wife who teaches locally, and strong opinions about coffee — yet still feels he has nothing to say. Greg points out that this agent could easily create local coffee tours, community videos, tech-area commentary, and neighborhood stories. The lesson is that agents already have content all around them; they simply need to start filming.Ray and Greg discuss simple equipment, including the Hollyland Lark M2 microphone, which Ray recently bought and found impressive. Greg shares a practical tip: clip the tiny microphone under the brim of a cap for clear audio while filming casual videos.The discussion then shifts to YouTube trends. Greg mentions that large channels like MrBeast are seeing major changes in views as YouTube places more emphasis on Shorts and shorter content. He believes this creates an opportunity for smaller creators and independent agents to gain more visibility. Greg also mentions using tools like VidIQ and Thumbnail Creator to improve YouTube thumbnails, titles, SEO, descriptions, and tags.Greg demonstrates AIPRM inside ChatGPT, showing Ray how pre-built prompts can generate optimized YouTube titles, descriptions, tags, and hashtags. He enters a sample real estate topic and the tool produces multiple title options, a short description, and keyword tags that could be copied into YouTube Studio. Ray is impressed by how much time this could save.Ray then shares what he is seeing with AI Ad Machine clients: property listing ads are generating some of the strongest results. Rather than simply offering free appraisals or asking for listings, agents can advertise actual properties, send traffic to a Meta lead form or landing page, and capture buyer and seller leads. These leads can then flow into Go High Level for automated text and email follow-up. Ray argues that a great listing has enormous pulling power because it shows the agent actively marketing real estate, not begging for business.Greg agrees and adds that ads and content need to match the local audience. A generic message will not work equally well in Miami, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Grass Valley, or a beach town. Agents should speak the language of their community. For example, in Grass Valley, a real estate agent could create a video using a zero-turn mower or tractor dealership as a metaphor for teamwork and market knowledge. In a beach town, an agent should be on the beach talking about local lifestyle, restaurants, and community news.The core marketing message from Greg is that agents should stop begging for business and instead become a trusted source of information. They should talk about their industry, community, local market, lifestyle, and daily experiences in a way that feels human and useful.Ray adds that testing is now easier than ever. In the old newspaper days, agents ran one ad and hoped it worked. Today, they can run many variations and quickly identify what gets attention, clicks, and leads. This ties directly into Ray’s broader AI Ad Machine philosophy: test multiple ad angles and let the data show what works.Toward the end, Greg introduces Google Flow from Google Labs, describing how it can create AI-generated images from photos and prompts. He gives a playful example of generating an image of family members riding horses, grandchildren running around, and himself on a lawnmower being chased by a kangaroo. More practically, he suggests agents could use AI image tools to help buyers visualize themselves in a property, such as creating an image of a family enjoying a kitchen or living space, while cautioning agents to check rules and avoid anything misleading or discriminatory.Greg also promotes his own podcast, RE Geeks, which focuses on real estate, technology, and how tech influences agents and consumers. He explains that his longtime tech partner Michael is involved, and they discuss practical ways agents can use technology in their business.The episode closes with Ray thanking Greg and promising to include links in the show notes to the tools discussed, including AIPRM, the Hollyland Lark M2 microphone, Google Flow, VidIQ, Thumbnail Creator, and RE Geeks.Key TakeawaysThe strongest message from the interview is that real estate agents do not need complicated marketing. They need consistency, personality, community relevance, and a willingness to create. A smartphone, simple microphone, AI tools, and daily local observations are enough to start building attention.Agents should use short-form video, YouTube, stories, reels, and listing ads to stay visible and start conversations. The best content is not always polished or formal; it is often personal, local, useful, and human.Ray’s major ad insight is that great property listings are still one of the strongest lead-generation assets agents have. When promoted properly through social ads, lead forms, landing pages, and CRM follow-up, listings can become powerful buyer and seller lead machines.Greg’s major content insight is that agents already have more than enough to say. Their local knowledge, daily routines, clients, pets, coffee shops, neighborhoods, listings, and lifestyle stories can all become content. The agents who win are the ones who stop overthinking and start publishing.

Episode SummaryMy Interview with Peter HuttonIf you’re thinking about taking the plunge and launching your own independent real estate agency, then this interview with industry legend Peter Hutton is a must-listen.And even if you’re not, you’ll still take away a stack of value and plenty of fresh ideas.My biggest takeaway from this conversation was the way Peter thinks far beyond the obvious branding decisions to build deep, practical strategy.Peter and his wife Karen have enjoyed remarkable success with more than one agency, so there is very little they do not understand about the operational side of the business.What stands out about Peter is his ability to think well beyond the blue-sky ideas and make sure a new business is a truly workable sum of its parts.From colours, fonts, and logo theory through to building the right tech stack with affordable, practical solutions, Peter draws on more than 25 years of real estate success to share some of his very best thinking.Connect with Peter at Flornt.com.auReady to generate more leads?Visit AdMachine.dev to see how agents are using smarter advertising to attract more attention, leads, and listings.

Hi everyone and welcome back to the show.Special thanks to Rachel Adams Lee for such a great interview!  LOTS of gold here.BIO: She is a small-town girl making moves! Top 1000 Realtor in the US, multi-passionate entrepreneur & a boy Mama of 3. She runs multiple 6 & 7-figure companies with her hubby and lives life on their terms! She loves helping others tap into their true potential and build the business of their dreams. Facts: Positivity is her jam. You can find her snuggled on the couch in yoga pants, hair in a messy bun with her laptop! She is 5ft tall, love all things social media, is obsessed with having a healthy marriage, and thinks Nutella should be its own food group! Fun fact: She just lost 50lbs postpartum!Connect with Rachel on Social:InstagramFacebookYoutubeReal Estate WebsiteCoaching WebsiteMailing address: 548 Gibson Dr #200, Roseville California USA. 95678Here area few topics and ideas Rachel is passionate about:-My personal journey with self-development- Social Media Tips to beat the algorithm-How to grow your following-How to convert a follower into your next client- The importance of who you surround yourself with- Setting personal/professional boundaries-The value of a mentor-Time-Blocking-The power of Positive affirmations-Creating a powerful morning routine-Defining a healthy relationship standard-How to build a life by design-The importance of systems/scripts in your businessMentioned in this episode:Social Media Ad Machine Wherever You Find Podcasts!What if you could create hundreds of social media ads in just minutes? And what if you paid as low as 2 cents a click while your competition is paying up to two dollars? Social Media Ad Machine is the AI Powered podcast that’s leading the way to better marketing for businesses everywhere. All you need to do is search Social Media Ad Machine wherever you get your podcasts

Are you using the 'Magic Window' to win more listings at the presentation?The 'Magic Window' refers to the time between when the listing appointment is made with the seller and when you meet.  Might be a couple of hours, might be a week. In this episode, I share a strategy that works beautifully especially in a 'cold' contact situation where you have not met the seller.Discover the power of AI-Driven marketing to set you and your brand above every other agent in your area.Mentioned in this episode:Social Media Ad Machine Wherever You Find Podcasts!What if you could create hundreds of social media ads in just minutes? And what if you paid as low as 2 cents a click while your competition is paying up to two dollars? Social Media Ad Machine is the AI Powered podcast that’s leading the way to better marketing for businesses everywhere. All you need to do is search Social Media Ad Machine wherever you get your podcasts

The recent finding against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is a huge bump in the road for the 116-year-old industry body. In this episode, Ray explains the finding and what might happen next. He also delivers a quick summary on how real estate professionals are leveraging the power of AI to explode their marketing reach!Mentioned in this episode:Social Media Ad Machine Wherever You Find Podcasts!What if you could create hundreds of social media ads in just minutes? And what if you paid as low as 2 cents a click while your competition is paying up to two dollars? Social Media Ad Machine is the AI Powered podcast that’s leading the way to better marketing for businesses everywhere. All you need to do is search Social Media Ad Machine wherever you get your podcasts

PLEASE NOTE: I’m offering a special marketing package to eXp agents. Please email me for full details: ray@bestagentsinc.com When RE/MAX launched in the early 70s it was something of a game changer. The RE/MAX model gave agents a much larger share of the commission in return for a monthly ‘desk fee’ that guaranteed certain support essentials. The RE/MAX model started to grow with brokers stacking hundreds and sometimes thousands of agents into their brokerages. Top agents liked RE/MAX because they got to keep a greater percentage of GCI. The traditional model didn't stand a chance and RE/MAX grew rapidly during the 80s and 90s.New real estate model founded by Seattle broker Fast forward to 2009 when Seattle Broker Glenn Sanford started to ‘tinker’ with the agent-keeps-more model and founded eXp Realty. The eXp model charges agents a nominal monthly fee but they only pay $25,000 a year on the first $100,000 earned in GCI. After that, they keep everything. So a traditional system agent who makes $200,000 a year in GCI would normally keep around half or $100,000, while the eXp agent making the same amount keeps $175,000. Extend that over five years, and the eXp agent has kept $375,000 more than she would have with the traditional commission split model.While the eXp model is not for everyone, it’s quickly gaining momentum as an attractive option for real estate’s top performers tired of paying a big percentage to the owner/broker. Anyone in real estate who has experienced the crush of competition and the seemingly endless increase in costs will quickly tell you “It’s not what you make, but what you keep that really matters.” However, Glenn Sanford did more than create a more generous commission share model, as eXp also has a structured revenue share feature whereby agents can build their teams and benefit from team member results. This has been a very successful strategy for eXp as big team agents earn serious amounts of passive income as the compounding effect gains momentum. In addition, EXP WORLD HOLDINGS INC is listed on the NASDAQ, and eXp agents are allocated shares and can earn and buy more.Lisa B comes onboard with eXpReal estate success coach, Lisa B from Queensland’s Gold Coast saw the eXp advantages early on and went all in to start building her team of agents from around Australia and the world. As a former high-performing agent, Lisa knows the daily challenges of a career in real estate and the obvious advantages of keeping more of what you make. The power and freedom of working remotelyThe rise and rise of eXp and eXp agents has only been helped by the amazing advances in technology and the digital era where working remotely and mobile from the cloud keeps them connected but free to roam without the need for a central or traditional office on the High Street. As Lisa grows her team, I’ve been able to witness the success of the agents she coaches and supports. With endless enthusiasm and great energy, she is a shining star in the group propelling many agents in her team to earning levels they have never experienced before.Agent thought about becoming an Uber driver!One agent from Melbourne had become so despondent and unmotivated working in the traditional model that he was about to sign up to become an Uber driver before joining Lisa’s team and reinventing his personal brand and career. In the last six months, he’s earned more than $250,000 in GCI and is quickly building his own team with agents including several from India where eXp is gaining market share and attracting the more entrepreneurial top performers. My takeaway from what I know is eXp agents get more money, more options, more support and more tools. Reach out if you’d like a sneak peek of the exclusive bundle we’re offering. When we connect, I’ll set you up for a call with Lisa and she’ll tell you all about the group and see if you might be a good fit.Mentioned in this episode:Social Media Ad Machine Wherever You Find Podcasts!What if you could create hundreds of social media ads in just minutes? And what if you paid as low as 2 cents a click while your competition is paying up to two dollars? Social Media Ad Machine is the AI Powered podcast that’s leading the way to better marketing for businesses everywhere. All you need to do is search Social Media Ad Machine wherever you get your podcasts

Here's an opportunity to experience the raw power of AI to grow our business. Join the Real Easy Ads Free Trial and 30 Day ChallengeIf you’re 200% serious about automating genuine seller leads using AI marketing then I’m inviting you to join me and my team for our 30-Day Challenge.You'll be using the very latest AI-Powered Software to create stunningly-successful ads in just secondsSeriously, the way AI is creating headlines, ad copy and then testing each ad to advance the best-performing campaigns is mind-blowing.Here’s how the challenge works:You schedule a call with us so we can show you around the platformWe set you up with your customized account so we can get the party startedWe will be meeting via regular group meets throughout the challenge to help you create your ads, monitor results, tweak where necessary, follow up leads, win listings and make salesYou’ll get access to our tech team specialists plus a Google Ads and Facebook expertYou’ll get access to our Corporate Shutterstock account to use unlimited professional-grade videos and images in your marketingWe’ll be showing you LIVE and in real time how to create stunning social media, Google , Bing and Youtube ads in just secondsIf, at the end of the challenge you want to keep using the Real Easy Ads platform we’ll do you a ‘Can’t-Say-No’ special deal and ALL the support you experienced in during your trial will continueClick here to register nowThe only way to join the challenge is to set up a one-on-one call with Ray. Grab a time here that works for you

G'Day team. I'd like you to meet Debbi DiMaggio, a seasoned Independent contractor, top producing Realtor since 1989, business owner, marketing director, coach, 4 x author, social media guru, master networker, consummate connector, serial entrepreneur, producer, mentor and philanthropist — with one goal in mind, a desire to help others achieve their goals.Debbi helps her clients with 5 programs so they can follow their passion and live their purpose.Life CoachMarketing ConsultingReal Estate CoachingProduct/Brand ConsultingBook CoachDownload everything hereMentioned in this episode:Social Media Ad Machine Wherever You Find Podcasts!What if you could create hundreds of social media ads in just minutes? And what if you paid as low as 2 cents a click while your competition is paying up to two dollars? Social Media Ad Machine is the AI Powered podcast that’s leading the way to better marketing for businesses everywhere. All you need to do is search Social Media Ad Machine wherever you get your podcasts

Hello loyal listeners and I hope this finds you well and enjoying a break over the holidays.This episode happened when my producer Joel called me to say we needed some content to finish off the year which was when I said "I don't have anything lined up so why don't you and I just create some"😎My new song is titled 'F*** this fire's hot' so it's not for little ears ...If the Eff word offends, please don't click!!It started as a joke a couple of summers ago at the cottage when one of of friends got too close to the fire and the song idea kind of snowballed from there.Our friend Amanda is a songwriter and recording artist and she liked the riff so I went down to St Catherine Ontario one afternoon in the summer of 2023 and we recorded the song between us. I have never done anything like that before so it was a lot of fun. Amanda can play anything and has a great voice so she filled in all the gaps to give it a great sound.Then, when we were done, she suggested I send the master file to a former Sony Music engineer and he made it sound even better!Here's the result!Youtube link to my song: (F*** this fire's hot!)Spotify link to my song: (F*** this fire's hot!)Other links Joel and I discuss are:https://reincubate.com/camo/https://www.elgato.com/us/en/p/prompterMentioned in this episode:Social Media Ad Machine Wherever You Find Podcasts!What if you could create hundreds of social media ads in just minutes? And what if you paid as low as 2 cents a click while your competition is paying up to two dollars? Social Media Ad Machine is the AI Powered podcast that’s leading the way to better marketing for businesses everywhere. All you need to do is search Social Media Ad Machine wherever you get your podcasts

In this episode, which follows on from Episode 216, my brother Tim goes deep with his best ideas and shares some memorable brand-building examples and strategies.Buy Tim's book at Amazon.comListen on SpotifyMentioned in this episode:Social Media Ad Machine Wherever You Find Podcasts!What if you could create hundreds of social media ads in just minutes? And what if you paid as low as 2 cents a click while your competition is paying up to two dollars? Social Media Ad Machine is the AI Powered podcast that’s leading the way to better marketing for businesses everywhere. All you need to do is search Social Media Ad Machine wherever you get your podcasts

Hi everybody and welcome back to the show. In this episode, I’m going to share my top 5 buyer qualifying questions plus help you avoid the most common mistakes agents make when talking to buyers.You only need to ask 5 questions to qualify your buyers and I'll get to them in a sec, but first hear me out on something really important.In my experience working with buyers, especially unqualified buyers is the fastest way to ruin a Real Estate career.I see so many newbie agents focus on buyers because finding buyers is easier than finding sellers, and for some reason, new agents think it will deliver the same rewards. Big mistake.Now at the same time, I know some agents specialize in working with buyers which is fine as long as you're set up correctly to do it, but I'm approaching this episode from my traditional viewpoint as a listing agent which is where the big money is made in Real estate.If we all agree that time is our most precious resource, then why waste it working with buyers who are not ready to buy?I know many agents (especially rookies) struggle to manage their time and are easily distracted with a buyer who may or may not be ready to go.But what if we could quickly qualify our buyers with 3 questions to help us make that time investment decision and help them out at the same time.What if you could provide great assistance without wasting your time on someone not even close to buying?And there’s another very important factor here that will cost you big money if you fluff it up; What if the buyer is also a seller?If you turn them away, then you’ll struggle to become their listing agent.I came up with these four questions as a way to train my team during a busy open home where there could be 20 to 30 buyers in a property at any one time and you need to quickly find out who is serious who is a seller and who is just kicking the tyres.I’ll get to the qualifying questions in a moment but there’s something you need to do first.Write two or three blogs on your website so you can refer buyers to them when you let them down gently.If you don’t have your own website and blog, you need to get one because it's the FASTEST way to get found online and you’re naturally going to link your Google Business Profile to it which will get you even more traffic.Your articles will be something like:5 things to look for before you buy in (your area)A Buyer’s Guide to (your area) real estate12 buyer tips for buying real estate in (your area)3 success stories from buyers in (you area)These blogs will also help MASSIVELY with organic search.You need to blogs because you’ll be referring your B class buyers to them so you can continue to help them on their purchasing journey.In fact, at jigglar.com you can quickly customize a multi-page The Ultimate Homebuyers checklist then have it available as a download.Okay, so here are the 3 buyer qualifying questions:Okay great, I love working with buyers. Let me grab your contact info so I can keep you up to date with new listings that fit your criteria.How long have you been looking?What have you seen that you like?Have you made any offers?Do you need to sell a property?At this point, you’ll be able to assess if the buyer is also a seller and act accordingly.Here’s another great question to see where they’re at in the buying process: “Have you lined up a good mortgage deal? I can refer you to an excellent mortgage broker if you like”So by now, you know if they are ready to buy or not.But here’s the thing: Most rookie agents just can’t say “no”They agree to take the buyer around to homes they can’t (or are not ready to) buy and burn daylight when they should be prospecting.They do the easy, non-productive actions that have way less chance of getting results instead of investing their time wisely in quality, solid prospecting.So, let me ask you a question:  are you not better off investing time to win a listing in which case all the real buyers will come to you anyway?In fact, if you're making notes, write that down …When you get a listing, the ‘real’ buyers come to you.So after asking your qualifying questions, you’ll know if your buyer is ready to go or not. There are no ‘maybes’ here.If yes, then great. You know what you need to do.If no, then why not grab their email and send them a link to your blog to help them get ready to buy.You have a heap of options here.The mission is to quickly establish if a buyer is ready to go and worth investing time in.There are plenty of ways to help a buyer if they’re not ready to buy.The most important thing is to make sure you add them as a contact into your database.  Remember, you’re in the relationship business and you never know who will be referring you a listing next.Keep in mind, as your database of new contacts grows, the possibilities and opportunities are endless!Thanks for joining me today. You’ll find these questions in the show notes for this episode at TopAgentsPlaybook.comAlso, let me tell you about some recent episodes that are most popular with listeners.Episode 192 has gone off like a frog in a sock. It’s called The Top 5 Ways To Attract Listings. And it’s an interview with my good friend and super agent Trent Pool…and episode 182. From Zero To 60 Sales A Year. An Interview with Gizzelle Powell. I get so much great feedback on that one.If you’d like to connect, just search Ray Wood Bestagents on FacebookRaywoodlive on Instagram or send me a message via the contact button at TopAgentsPlaybook.comSo, until the next episode, dream big and take names!Mentioned in this episode:Social Media Ad Machine Wherever You Find Podcasts!What if you could create hundreds of social media ads in just minutes? And what if you paid as low as 2 cents a click while your competition is paying up to two dollars? Social Media Ad Machine is the AI Powered podcast that’s leading the way to better marketing for businesses everywhere. All you need to do is search Social Media Ad Machine wherever you get your podcasts

How are agents adapting to the changing real estate market?In this episode, I re-connect with Owner/Broker Trent Pool to take a look at the strategies working best for he and his teams in a very different real estate environment 😎Let's get you in front of more clients!RealAds is a Full-Suite Real Estate Marketing Platform. Get everything you need and nothing you don't in one easy-to-use online platform with a mobile app. Work from anywhere. Slash your costs and 10X your marketing reach and power. Attract qualified seller leads and booked appointments on autopilot with better marketing, automation plus a full suite of powerful tech tools in one easy-to-drive hub. Set up a one-on-one demo call at https://realadscrm.com Download my eBook 'Digital Mayor' here: https://www.bestagentsinc.com/digital... Check my 200-plus podcast episodes here: https://www.topagentsplaybook.com/Mentioned in this episode:Social Media Ad Machine Wherever You Find Podcasts!What if you could create hundreds of social media ads in just minutes? And what if you paid as low as 2 cents a click while your competition is paying up to two dollars? Social Media Ad Machine is the AI Powered podcast that’s leading the way to better marketing for businesses everywhere. All you need to do is search Social Media Ad Machine wherever you get your podcasts