BIG BRAND ENERGY

WELCOME

Hello! Spring is officially upon us this week and I am here for it! Who doesn’t love a warmer day with extra sunlight? While allergy season is also kicking into full gear, at least we’re a few months away from being on Hell’s front porch in terms of temperature.

Today we’re going to revisit one of my favorite topics—branding yourself in a competitive marketplace, because no one’s playing by the old rules anymore. Gone are the days where you’re at one brokerage your whole life and their brand is your identity. Branding is how you differentiate yourself in a crowd, so let’s get right to it!

THE REALITY OF REAL ESTATE

Do Y’all Hate @RealtorsHateMe?

I’ve been out and about this week and I’m hearing lots of chatter about the recent New York Times article about Mike Chambers, otherwise known as @realtorshateme. (I’m not linking to him on purpose.)

This guy came into the public view because he was selling his $2.75M home in Colorado and he believed that paying agents $137,500 was an absolute outrage. Five percent? Over his dead body. And no one was willing to negotiate, or so he says.

So, he grabbed that Instagram handle and immediately went to social media to cry about how predatory and awful we all are. His reels got more than 50,000 views. Then he got mad that agents had the nerve to counter his points on their own reels. He claimed this was an aggressive campaign and these counterpoints were preventing him from making a sale on his own.

On this, I call hooey.

I’m calling hooey largely because I feel like he went into this with an ulterior motive as he’s planning on rolling out a business that “will disrupt the real estate cartel.” Huh. That’s convenient, isn’t it? Plenty of people do FSBO and they don’t suddenly decide to make a disrupting business out of it.

Also, the man is a damn CEO. Deciding to sell his house himself tells me that he doesn’t value his own time. Between the photos and the staging and the showings, plus having to negotiate the whole deal himself without the depth and breadth of knowledge of the industry that any good agent would have? Without those relationships with the buyers? To me, his whole thing seemed like a stunt.

What’s so funny is that this may well be the one time that Zillow and I are on the same page about something. This guy was upset that Zillow wasn’t featuring his property, but why would they have any obligation to show it for free? Jared James took one for the team, responding to him:

“You talk about how listing as for-sale-by-owner, you were put in a separate tab and were basically shadow-banned, so you didn’t get the same visibility. Now, I would actually argue that being in that separate tab by yourself brought you more visibility—rather than being in the overall tab with all the properties listed by agents (the 100s or 1000s of them). 

“But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter because Zillow is a for-profit company and owes you absolutely no distribution when their whole profit model is based on selling leads to realtors—not by listing for-sale-by-owners. And again, they have absolutely every right to do that…” 

Per the Times article, his house is now under contract. But I suspect it’s not the last we’re going to hear from him… that is, if we choose to listen.

@glenndabaker

If you’re going to sell your home for sale by owner… I’ve got news for you! #G#GlenndaBakerR#RealEstateA#AtlantaRealEstateF#FSBOB#ByOwnerR... See more

STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

You Are Your Brand

Back in the olden days, agents didn’t need a brand because people did business with brokerages. People were the representations of their companies. Like, you worked with Bell South, you worked with Georgia Power, you worked with the Trust Company. You barely knew your teller and it didn't matter which teller you got. It didn't matter which Georgia Power representative you found yourself in front of because you worked with Georgia Power.

The same held true for real estate. You went to Buckhead Brokers, you went to REMAX, you went to Coldwell Banker, because those were the trusted brands. It used to be you’d go to work for Coldwell Banker and forty years later, you retired from Coldwell Banker.

However, times have changed and now there’s far more movement. So if you’re building your brand on the shoulders of your brokerage, and people do business with you because you’re Coldwell Banker, what happens when you leave? That’s why it’s more important than ever to build your brand on your personal relationships.

I sat down with a seller a few days ago and he said he was trying to decide between me and another agent. I’n my head, I’m like, I can’t even imagine who you would interview that would be any competition to me. I was literally wracking my brain, trying to figure out who would be better than me.

Now, if I were just some agent at a good brokerage, I would have no face value and that’s where things have changed. YOU are the brand that people are doing business with. YOU are the brand that’s sitting there on the couch with them, or in the kitchen. They’re not calling Mr. Banker to come up with the pricing strategy for their house—that’s all YOU.

What’s so great about now is that social media has given us the space to build our platform and to control the narrative of real estate in our own communities. Who would have thought five years ago that some random 50-year-old real estate agent in Atlanta, Georgia, would become the voice of real estate?

Before social media, you didn't have that ability to garner that attention, to get that much of an audience, unless you were on television. Yet now, because of this access, people are actively seeking me out as a thought leader. I just got a call from a woman who wants to list her $600,000 house with me because she saw me on YouTube. When she called me, she was like, “Oh, wait a minute, you answered the phone. I didn't realize I would go straight to you!”

When you build your brand, you build the desire for people to work with you. They want that brand… and you are the brand. You build that brand by saying, “This is what I stand for. This is who I am. This is what I do. This is who I help.” It’s that simple.

For me, the Glennda Baker you see at an event is the Glennda Baker you see at social media is the Glennda Baker you see in your living room. For example, I was at an open house over the weekend and people came in saying, “Oh, my gosh, you're here! We follow you on Instagram. We had no idea you would actually be here!” (But where else would I be?)

The beauty of having worked to establish this brand is that when somebody sees my name in the MLS, they know that I can do the deal. They know I can get the deal with the closing table. So agents are going to work with me. So that’s why I was able to tell that seller, “You want to work with me because last year, of 76 transactions, we wrote 80 contracts, and 76 of them closed. My average to hit a grand slam every time is 1000 times better than anybody that you'll talk to.”

(Of course he picked me.)

The one caveat here in being your brand is that you have to remember to live that brand every minute. For example, my name's on my license tag, so I have to be super careful about, like, getting like road rage. But I can manage that.

The best part is, your brand grows simply by being yourself. How great and easy is that?

🚨 Y’all, This One’s a Must! LIVE TODAY!! 🚨

Real estate isn’t just about deals—it’s about people. And if you want to close more deals, you’ve GOT to master Emotional Intelligence.

Join me LIVE TODAY at 3PM ET inside Estate Elite for a game-changing session:

📍 Mastering Emotional Intelligence in Real Estate Sales – I’ll show you how to read the room, connect with clients on a deeper level, and turn relationships into results.

And don’t forget—David Parnes dropped some serious gems yesterday on Lead Generation Strategies for Luxury Realtors (catch the replay!). Plus, Josh Flagg is up next tomorrow at 3PM ET with Mastering Time Management & Productivity for Luxury Agents.

There’s still time to join me—start your 14-day free trial now and meet me LIVE!

👉 Sign Up Now

GLENNDA’S GURU

Meet Brittany Hodak!

Hey, y’all! I am delighted to share this fun interview I had with customer experience expert Brittany Hodak, a woman who’s been described as the intersection between an hilarious stand-up comic and a talented professor! Brittany is in the business of turning customers into rapid superfans, so I could not be more delighted to share a screen with her and hear all about it!

Thank you, Brittany!

Today’s Words of Wisdom

GLENNDA BAKER & ASSOCIATES

You Couldn’t Ask for a Finer Start(er Home)

Are you ready to be overwhelmed by the cute in this Hills Park home? Well, here goes!

Oh, my stars and stripes is this place darling, with a backyard that is just a perfect little oasis for you and your four-legged friends. Plus, it’s surprisingly spacious and it’s just minutes from all the trendiest restaurants in West Midtown, at a price that’s likely less than you’re paying in rent. It’s the whole package!