Real Estate Marketing & Business Building Strategies

Discover tips on growing your sphere of influence, enhancing your personal brand, managing client relationships and earning more referrals.

Building Your Business | Marketing | Personal Branding | Real Estate Marketing & Business Building Strategies | Technology

How People Actually Search for Homes in 2026 (And Why “Post-Portal” Is the Wrong Question)

Here’s the answer up front: No, we are not post-portal. Zillow still commands more home search traffic than its next several competitors combined, and no private exclusive network, ChatGPT app, or Google carousel has changed that. What has changed — dramatically, in the last 18 months — is where the search starts. The portal is…

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Building Your Business | Real Estate Marketing & Business Building Strategies

Why Real Estate Teams Fail (It’s Almost Never the Splits)

If you’re on a team right now, thinking about joining one, or quietly wondering whether to leave one, here’s the question that matters more than your split: would this team survive a bad year without its leader personally selling? If the answer is no, you’re not on a team. You’re an employee of a top…

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Real Estate Marketing & Business Building Strategies

States Are Now Passing Laws on Private Listings. Here’s Where They Stand.

Connecticut just became the third state in the country to pass a law restricting private listings and unlike the NAR policy debate or the Zillow-Compass platform war, this one isn’t optional guidance. It’s state law, with real penalties attached. (Inman has the full rundown if you want the industry-wide view.) If you’ve been following the…

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Building Your Business | Client Relationship Management | Networking | Real Estate Marketing & Business Building Strategies

Paid Leads in 2026: What You’re Actually Buying

First off, I still firmly believe that your sphere of influence and warm referrals are the right foundation for most agents. A client who comes to you through a trusted introduction converts at a rate that no cold internet lead program can match. That’s not a philosophy — it’s math. But this is 2026, and…

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Building Your Business | Marketing | Real Estate Marketing & Business Building Strategies

Zillow Preview Hits Realtor.com. Here’s What Agents Need to Know.

If your brokerage is enrolled in Zillow Preview, your pre-market listings are about to get significantly more eyes. If you represent buyers, your search strategy just changed. On May 5, 2026, Zillow and Realtor.com announced that Zillow Preview listings will automatically syndicate to Realtor.com — beginning this summer. Two platforms. One pre-market window. No extra…

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Closing Deals | Technology

ShowingTime Offer Manager: What You Must Know

If you’ve been on the MLS lately, you may have noticed a new button appearing on some listings: Submit Offer. That’s ShowingTime’s Offer Manager — and it’s rolling out across MLSs nationwide. Before you click it for the first time at 9pm on a Sunday with a buyer waiting, here’s what it actually does, what…

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Client Relationship Management | Closing Deals

AI Real Estate Advice Is Getting Deals Wrong — Here’s How Agents Fix It

When clients turn to AI real estate advice before closing, the results can be costly. Ryan Serhant nearly lost a $50 million deal last month — not to a competing agent, not to financing, but to ChatGPT. Both his buyer and seller independently consulted AI before closing. The buyer was told he was overpaying. The…

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Building Your Business | Client Relationship Management | Real Estate Marketing & Business Building Strategies

Where Real Estate Agents Get Business: How to Look at the NAR Data

Every year, NAR surveys nearly 5,000 REALTORS® about where their business actually comes from. The 2025 Member Profile — covering 2024 transaction data — contains one of the most clarifying data sets in the industry on this question. As we move into 2026, the numbers haven’t shifted enough to change the argument. But they’re worth…

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Real Estate Marketing & Business Building Strategies

Private Listings Triggered a Platform War. Here’s Where It Stands.

The biggest business war in residential real estate just had its most dramatic week yet — and most agents are only catching pieces of it. Here’s the full picture: what happened, who’s winning, and what it actually means for how you do your job. The Week That Changed Everything In seven days, this happened: On…

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Real Estate Marketing & Business Building Strategies

What Real Estate Agents Need to Know About Private Listings Right Now

Private listings in real estate have become one of the most contested topics in the industry — and your seller is going to ask you about this. Maybe they already have They read something about Compass, or heard that homes are being sold before they hit Zillow, or a neighbor mentioned their house sold “off-market.”…

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Technology

The Mini Mic That Makes Your Reels Sound as Good as They Look

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I believe will be valuable to real estate agents. If you’ve been on social media this year, you know these mini microphones are everywhere — and they make a huge difference in…

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Closing Gifts | Home Staging | Marketing

Outdoor Summer Staging That Sells (Shop the Full Look on Amazon)

Your outdoor space is the first thing buyers see — and in summer, it’s where deals close or buyers walk. These are the exact products agents are using right now to stage patios, porches, pool decks, and entry steps for MLS photos that stop the scroll. Yes, there’s still snow on the ground — but…

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