Last week, we went live for 2 hours on how top agents are using AI across YouTube, social, direct mail, and email to win more listings.
Jimmy, Andrew, and I walked through the exact tools, prompts, and workflows, plus built a free eBook, so you can execute step-by-step.
If you want it, reply AI to this email and I will hook you up.
Now, let’s get into this week’s edition.…
🏆 [B]est in Class: See Chris Colgan's $300M media playbook
🧠 [I]deas That Work: #1 RE/MAX agent’s closing script is A+
📈 [T]raffic & Attention: 3 super viral listings and only one of them sold
🔔 [S]eller Signals: Your seller heard about the rate hike but isn’t budging
🏆 [B]EST IN CLASS - Real campaigns by top listing agents
He turned sneaker media into a NOVA real estate media company
Your seller still thinks "I post on social" is a marketing plan.
Chris Colgan in Northern Virginia rebuilt sneaker media into a local real estate media company.
He built a sneakerhead IG past 100K followers. And a hyperlocal account above 85K.
Plus, his YouTube channel is closing in on 40K subs.
Roughly 40-50% of his real estate business comes from those channels (disclaimer: he’s a Knwn Local client).
He’s become a legit influencer too.
LIV Golf hired him for two Northern Virginia tournaments. Marriott Residences (Comstock) and major builders followed.
His content gets more views than any of the local news channels.
Then there is the honesty Reel: team implosion, a depression facility, 480 to 270 pounds, then the rebuild.
Why it works
He covers development news, new construction, and market changes people in NOVA already care about.
Plus, he showed his most vulnerable side too.
His next seller can see the work and the person before they hire him.
That is seller trust, not a follower flex.
🧠[I]DEAS THAT WORK - Strategies listing agents should use
A+ listing appointment closing tactic from the six-time #1 RE/MAX agent
Jordan Cohen was the #1 RE/MAX agent worldwide six years running.
He does around $300M in annual volume with two assistants. And he ends every listing presentation the same way.
He doesn't recap his marketing plan. He hands out job titles.
The script (there are 4 more bonus scripts from Jordan if you click here)
"I am the CEO of the business of selling your home. I'm the one who curates the photos, markets it, shows it, and gets buyers and other brokers excited. That's my business."
"But make no mistake, you are the chairman of the board. I work for you. You're still my boss."
Why it works
Your seller is handing a stranger the biggest asset they own. They want someone who will take charge, and they don't want to lose control.
This frame gives them both. CEO says you'll run it. Chairman says they stay in charge.
And it works at every price point. A $300K seller wants to feel like the boss just as much as a $3M seller does.
The part most agents miss
A chairman of the board gets a board report.
If you use this line and then go quiet for three weeks, you've made a promise you didn't keep. Your seller will remember the title and wonder why nobody is briefing them.
So name the cadence in the same breath:
"Every Friday, you'll get a board report from me. What happened this week, what it means, and what we do next."
The takeaway:
The title earns the listing. Sending them a Beacon report each week keeps it.
📈[T]RAFFIC & ATTENTION - Listings going viral (and why)
Your listing went viral. Does that actually help sell the home?
Three listings hit Zillow Gone Wild. Only one sold.
Susie Pattison listed 3675 Waldo Place in Upper Arlington, Ohio. The draw: an underground, Space Age pool.
Zillow Gone Wild featured it on December 3, 2024, and the views jumped from about 200 a day to 2,000 to 3,000 a day.
Nearly two months later, still no buyer. One or two serious out-of-state inquiries. No contract.
She wasn't alone. Susan Thayer pitched her Rock House in Larkspur, Colorado to ZGW herself. Massive attention. Unannounced drive-ups. It went off market.
The one that did sell, Lou Zucaro's concrete cylinder in Barrington, pulled 44,000+ likes and about twice the showings. The buyer found it online.
But Zucaro said a lot of those tours were more curious than serious.
Why it matters
Viral is a megaphone. It is not an offer.
When your listing spikes, your seller hears "demand." What actually went up is attention. Those live in different columns.
The steal:
Put three columns on one page before your seller celebrates the post.
Views | Showings | Offers |
|---|---|---|
Scroll attention | Bodies in the house | Real demand |
Your job is moving people from one column to the next. Wherever the numbers drop off, that's your conversation.
When your seller says "we went viral, so the price is fine," you say:
"Viral is a megaphone. Let's look at our showings against the view spike. Then we talk price."
Two more moves before the post lands.
Prep your seller for the comments. Zucaro tells his clients that once the house is listed, it's a product. Some people will love it. Some won't.
Set boundaries. If the home is vacant, add cameras. If your sellers live there, no visits without an appointment.
The takeaway:
Attention is worth celebrating. It just isn't the finish line.
Show your seller exactly where the views stop turning into showings, and the price conversation gets easier.
🔔[S]ELLER SIGNALS - Conversations agents are having with sellers right now
Your seller wants to hold the peak number after the hike
The Fed voted 12-0 to raise rates for the first time since July 2023.
The average 30-year refinance rate jumped from 6.87% to 7.14% in a week.
Your seller saw the headline. What they didn't hear is what it does to their buyer pool.
Higher rates shrink the number of buyers who can qualify for your seller's number.
Fewer buyers means less competition, longer days on market, and more price reductions.
Your seller didn't get more expensive. Their buyers did.
Why your seller hasn't caught up
Sellers have very high expectations, and it takes a while for those expectations to come down.
Many of them saw 40% to 50% appreciation over the past eight to ten years. They lived through a real run-up.
They're not irrational. They're anchored.
That gap between the rate print and your seller's number is your listing appointment.
Know which seller is across the table
Brett Rubin of Bowers Group at Compass calls owners sitting in 3% to 4% mortgages "golden handcuffs." They won't trade into a higher payment unless they have to.
So before you run a single number, figure out who you're talking to.
Your seller | How they're reacting | Your move |
|---|---|---|
Peak-expectation holder | Still pricing the last boom | Local comps, DOM, and price-cut share |
Golden-handcuffs owner | Staying put unless they have to move | Don't manufacture urgency they don't have |
Necessity seller | Has to move, may need to absorb cuts | Price for today's qualified buyers, not 2022 |
The steal:
Bring one page with three local columns: active listings like theirs, median days on market for those comps, and the share of actives that already took a price cut.
When your seller says they'll wait for rates to ease, point to the page. Not a forecast. Not a pep talk.
"If you want to wait without changing anything, let's say that out loud so we both know the plan is hope."
The takeaway:
Your seller's expectations will catch up to the market eventually.
Make sure it happens at their kitchen table with local proof, not six weeks into a listing that isn't moving.
Thanks for reading the entire newsletter.
Don’t forget to reply AI if you want me to send you our new eBook on using AI to get listings.
Bill got early access and this was his feedback
See you next week,
- Chris Smith and Jimmy Mackin
