Picking up your real estate business and relocating it can be done successfully! We dive into the essentials for making a smooth transition to a new market including key mindset shifts and ways to prepare. We discuss the importance of focusing on friendships to drive business success, the need for engaging meet-ups, and utilizing platforms like Google Business and Facebook groups. Learn how our guest added over 60 people to her database using MASC’s fall guide. We also explore the challenges and strategies involved in relocating as an agent, including managing your previous business and database and growing your business in an unfamiliar area. Hear about the role of in-person networking and integrating social media with meet-ups.

We are so excited to welcome Christine Cooper for this fun interview! Christine is a military veteran spouse who relocated with the Navy from Louisiana to Washington state and finally to Madison, Wisconsin. When she’s not out showing homes or negotiating offers, she’s spending time with her fur-babies, planning a weekend adventure with her husband/bff, binging the latest Netflix show, or sipping wine with the girls!

You are going to love getting to know Christine! You can find her and connect @ChristineCooperHomes on Instagram, call her at 608-618-0079, or email: Christine@ChristineBCooper.com. Check out her website: MovingtoMadisonRE.com.

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The following is a rough transcript provided by Otter.ai.

Christine 0:00
Buyers and sellers will find you on social media, but more often than not, if someone reaches out to me on social, it’s because they first found me on Google. I was traveling a lot to like trade shows, which was so helpful when I started hosting open houses. I think

Katy 0:15
people go to conferences and just like wallflower it right? But if you’re like, I gotta meet as many agents as possible, because they are going to be my database. You

Alissa 0:22
have the mindset and energy of a newbie agent, but you have the knowledge and the confidence of someone who has done this and understands so that’s really the perfect combination. Hi, y’all, welcome to hustle. Humbly, it’s Alyssa and Katie and we are two top producing realtors in the Baton Rouge market. We

Katy 0:42
work for two different companies where we should be competitors, but we have chosen community over competition. The

Alissa 0:47
goal of our podcast is to encourage you to find your own way in business, so stop

Katy 0:51
comparing yourself and start embracing your strengths.

Alissa 0:55
Hi, Alyssa. Hey. Katie, hi. Christine,

Katy 0:56
hi. Okay. This

Alissa 0:58
is episode 264,

Katy 1:01
and I want to read your bio for two reasons. One, obviously, we have a guest today, and I want to tell you who Christine is. But two, I want everyone to be take, get out their notepad and taking notes. This is how a bio should be done. Okay, Melissa hasn’t heard it yet, so I’m going to read it. Okay? This is from Christine. I get it. The process of buying or selling a home can feel a bit overwhelming, especially if it also means relocating and starting over in a new location. But don’t worry, I’ve got you as a military veteran spouse, I’ve personally been there, so I know firsthand what you’re going through, and I have the tools and systems in place to make your next move as smooth as possible. Real estate is not a one size fits all industry. My creative and modern approach to real estate marketing and negotiations gives my clients an advantage. It’s translated to winning and competitive multiple offer situations for my buyer clients and in maximum exposure and more net proceeds for my sellers. I believe in clear communication, effective, data based strategy, and I genuinely look out for the best interest of my clients about my process. First, I get to know you and your individual needs. We sit down discuss my process in detail, and then we strategize a plan unique to you and your goals. I proactively manage every detail along the way, keeping you informed and prepared with solutions for any obstacle that may lie ahead. Louisiana, born and raised and proud, graduate of LSU, Go Tigers. I’m the daughter of an immigrant, first generation college graduate, US Navy veteran, spouse and complete optimist. There’s always a solution. I’m no stranger to hard work and adversity, and there’s nothing I love more than helping others succeed in their goals. The Navy relocated my family from Louisiana to Washington State, and finally, to Madison, Wisconsin, where we plan to call home for a very long time. When I’m not out showing homes or negotiating offers. I’m spending time with my fur babies, planning a week in adventure with Adam, my husband, BFF, binging the latest Netflix show or sipping wine with the girls. Real estate is one of the biggest investments in your life, and I don’t take that responsibility lightly. It’s an honor and a privilege to serve you

Alissa 3:18
That was beautiful. Did you write? You wrote that

Christine 3:21
I did? Thank you. That was uncomfy. Listening back to it, I felt like it was so long, but thank you. That’s really nice.

Katy 3:29
It was long, but it was like everything you needed to know. As a consumer, I felt like it gave a lot of context to who you are, without it being like just fluffy, you know, and it made it about them. You’re like, this is how I’m going to help you. This is what you know, my experience does for you. So I just think that that was a really smart direction to take it. Not that this episode is about writing your bio, but when I read it, I was like, oh my god, we’re going to read so good I could have paraphrased it, right? Like, I could have cut out some stuff, but I’m like, no, no, I’m going to make everyone listen. Because I think that’s one of those things you struggle with, right? When you open your real estate business and you’re like, Well, how do I describe who I am? So tell us a little bit about yourself beyond what I’ve read here that you want the listeners to know before we dive deep into moving. Yeah.

Christine 4:19
Well, thank you. I feel like I have revised that so many times. And finally, with the move to Madison, I was like, this is an opportunity to get it right and leverage my like, the areas where I’m most vulnerable and I feel like could be obstacles if I leverage it in the right way, maybe it’ll speak to my ideal client, which would be someone going through what I’ve been through. So yeah, I mean, the bio touched on a lot, but I’ve been real estate for six years. I was in real estate for four years in a really hot military market prior to moving. And my husband was prior military. He’s no longer active duty. He still works for the government, and I always. Joke that like it feels like we’re still in it because the the job is so similar. But, yeah, I moved two years ago now, and have just really been, you know, rebuilding here, and honestly, just using, using it as an opportunity to just fall in love with this new city that we’re living in.

Alissa 5:19
Okay, so what’s your year breakdown in different markets?

Christine 5:24
So four years in Washington, okay, two full real estate years. Let’s see June actually made two full years here in Wisconsin. Wow,

Katy 5:36
did it feel like you were a brand new agent when you made the transition? Like how much of your knowledge carried over from Washington to Wisconsin?

Christine 5:45
So it I always tell people that I actually would have preferred starting over from scratch, like being a brand new agent, than starting over as an agent, because now you kind of know what you don’t know, whereas when you’re brand new and you’re fresh, you’re just so excited about this new job. Like, there’s so many things that are exciting, and then there’s so much beauty and like, what you don’t know, what you don’t know. So you’re not, like, stressed out about some of the hiccups that could happen by not knowing this particular neighborhood or whatever. But I forgot what the question was.

Alissa 6:23
Like, you highlight

Katy 6:24
there. It’s like, I don’t know what’s happening here. Okay, so did you have to unlearn? Or were you like? Did you feel like, I know, I guess you felt like a brand new agent. But was it that you had to unlearn? Or were you able to be like, Okay, I have these systems in place, I’m able to carry them over to this new place, and it’s really just a matter of me finding the business yes,

Christine 6:47
so yes and no, like I had all the systems in place. So that part was wonderful. I knew that the minute I moved, I needed to focus on understanding the area, understanding the contracts, figuring out, how do they negotiate here? Because every market negotiates so different. But then also, the hardest part that I was actually unexpected was how different the forms were, and actually those little, small, minute differences from state to state, where I had to unlearn and relearn, and you don’t want to highlight the things that are different every time, but it’s like I had to talk to my broker. To my broker so often. I’m like, okay, in Washington, you never deliver the inspection report without permission. In Wisconsin, you have to. And it’s these things that are so big and important in transactions. So that was, that was really the biggest hurdle, was just like, unlearning, relearning, and just trying to, like, really embrace this new this new place. When

Katy 7:45
you left Washington, you had four years worth of business, and you were doing well there what, what did you do with that business? Like, did you try to, did you just refer it out? Did you keep your license for a while? Did you like, Did you sell it like? What happened to your old business.

Christine 8:00
Okay, so I have to kind of like tell you guys a story, because it’s, it’s honestly wild my so we knew we were always going to move. Like a move was always a possibility. It was somewhere in the future, just with him being military, we weren’t planning to stay in Washington. We knew he was going to get out and try to get this job that he got. And so I was, we were in year four. Business was, like, pretty much referral only, and, oh my gosh, I’m sorry. I’m like, blanking on What did you ask me?

Katy 8:35
Okay, well,

Unknown Speaker 8:36
I could go in so many directions. I’m so sorry. I

Alissa 8:38
need to, like, write

Unknown Speaker 8:40
it down.

Katy 8:41
So, yeah, what did you do with your old business?

Unknown Speaker 8:43
Oh, old business.

Katy 8:44
Um, smell it. Did you give your database away? Did you refer it? Did

Alissa 8:48
you send your license? I want to hear this story. That’s

Katy 8:50
okay. We’re like, on the edge of our seats.

Christine 8:52
I know my dream scenario was I would have put a little team in place that maybe that, you know, there was a stronger split in place for the first transaction and then just referrals after that. We found out in January 2022, that there was a list of 20 places for him to choose from. We ranked that list in 24 hours, and a week later, we found out where we were going, and his start date was two months later, so there was no like it really took me by surprise, like we knew it was always a possibility, but so much, there was an 18 month time frame from when he was put through the hiring process to when he got that list. And so much happens, as you guys know, in real estate, like with your business and being in a military market, people are constantly coming and going, and so my business, it was at its busiest when I realized, oh my god, like, I can’t hire anyone. I need to save everything. I really need. So, like, in a point where I it was time to kind of scale and actually hire help. I couldn’t, and I was moving. Thing, we were selling our home, buying a new home. I had to get all new license, so it was beyond chaos. Like, I don’t wish it on anyone for that short of a timeline, but anyways, I ended up just, it’s because I knew so many great agents there. I just worked out a really nice like a referral split, just what felt comfortable for both of us, and it’s really just referral based at this point.

Alissa 10:24
So where you ended up, where did it fall in your ranking of places that you were hoping to go to? It was

Christine 10:31
our number two. Oh, good. Yeah, yeah. We thought I was like, so certain we were going to Austin, Texas, just like all the signs were pointing there. And then we got the list, and it said Madison. And I was like, Okay, this I’ve never been here. I knew Chelsea Peterson lived in economowoc, which is super close. I was like, she makes Wisconsin look so much fun. So this is now,

Katy 10:54
as a person from Louisiana. Were you freaked out about the obviously, Washington, you had some winter situation. But were you, like, a little freaked out about being like, this is where I’m gonna live, probably forever, and it is like a wintery Northern State. I was

Christine 11:09
freaked out because where I was in Washington, it really it snowed one or two times a year. The city would shut down. It was not like the norm. And I was like, Okay, if I have to embrace this, I need a really good coat. I need to go shopping. I need awesome shoes, like I was just trying to lean into the fun side of it and be prepared. Like, how

Katy 11:28
do I dress like an Eskimo? I do think that, how do you feel now that you’ve been there for two years in Wisconsin? Because I think there are some really strong parallels to Midwestern and southern people, right? It feels very similar when you’re in it. So do you agree 100%

Christine 11:45
I tell everyone that will listen to me, I feel like Madison is kind of like the Austin of the Midwest, where it kind of pulls some of my favorite things of the south and my favorite things of living in the north and up in the Seattle area, but it’s just like, it’s this warm, hospitable place. There’s so much to do. There’s a lot of water around, which was really important to us growing up, you know, on the CO on the coast, and then living in Washington state, so many parallels. It’s crazy. I wasn’t expecting that. Did

Alissa 12:19
you have a career before real estate,

Christine 12:22
yeah, in New Orleans, which is where we met my husband and I, I was working for the spirit industry, for, like, an event festival. And then when the military moved us to Washington, I started out in food and beverage sales. I was actually selling smoked salmon. And I was traveling a lot to, like, trade shows, which was so helpful when I started hosting open houses. But I was like, I do not want to travel and, like, schlep 50 pounds of salmon with me. This is not glamorous. I was sneaking into kitchens, like, trying to get appointments with chefs who would scream at you, lots of cold calling so lots of similarities there. So

Alissa 13:05
knowing that this wasn’t going to be a permanent residence for you, what made you decide to get into real estate?

Christine 13:13
Honestly, I was so naive. I remember I joined a team my first year, and I told her, I’m just so excited. As a military spouse, I know that we’re going to be moving, and I can just do take this job anywhere. And and she kind of made a face, and I thought, Man, she’s really not, like, supportive.

Alissa 13:32
Poor thing. Poor thing doesn’t know how hard this is.

Christine 13:36
She was like, This poor, sweet, naive baby has no idea.

Katy 13:40
Oh my gosh. Okay, so you’re two years in where you are now. This is your permanent home. As far as you know, you had four years as an agent there. How has so we have people ask us this question a lot, which is why we wanted to interview very often, like, Oh, I just moved. Or I’m new, but I don’t know anyone here, or maybe I am even a military spouse, and we get relocated a lot. Like, what do I do? And we’re like, we don’t know. We’ve always lived and worked in the same place, so we’re working from sphere and database, but we know people right, right? So what was your production change like? How did that transition go? Like, about how many transactions were you doing at your peak at the end in Washington, and then, like, now two years in, how does that compare?

Christine 14:26
Yeah, I was pretty consistent between like 26 to 28 at the end in Washington. And then my first full year here, I closed eight, which was terrifying. That huge shift,

Katy 14:42
yeah, it’s a price point pretty similar in the two markets you were in.

Christine 14:45
Surprisingly, yes, the difference was, and I kind of remembered this from the beginning. You tend to work with more buyers in the beginning. Oftentimes it’s like first time buyers that reach out. It’s the lower price point. So my average price point my first year. Here in Wisconsin was definitely lower than where my average price point was in Washington, because I was kind of also at a place where I started getting sign calls from this lake house listing that I had, and I started to sell, like, million dollar properties on this lake area. I was, like, living in

Alissa 15:18
Washington. Oh, it was finally starting to happen.

Christine 15:22
No, I was, I was about to make it.

Katy 15:26
You’re like, I was right on the edge. Such a sad story, pulled right out from underneath her. She was like, I’m a million dollar listing agent.

Alissa 15:36
Time to move. Let’s go.

Christine 15:40
I know. But what’s funny, though, and I always say, like, everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason that my business exploded in that time frame. I closed nine transactions in January, which was always my slowest month, but that was the year 2022, and I had joined coaching the year before, and I told my coach, I was like, I really want to hit 40. I was like, I just want to see if I can do it. And he’s like, Okay, we’re going to have to, like, outsource and hire people, just to kind of, like, make sure that you’ve got the support that you need. And anyways, yeah, so then the move happened, and

Katy 16:17
it was just, yeah, okay. But now you’re in year two, we’re about halfway through. Is it trending up? Are you still in line? Like, eight a year are you like are you making? Are you turning the corner?

Christine 16:29
Absolutely. I actually just closed my eighth deal last week.

Katy 16:34
Okay, so twice, twice as many at the very least, right? That,

Christine 16:39
I mean, that is the goal, if I can close 15 to 16 this year, I will be so proud of myself.

Alissa 16:46
That’s great. And it’s funny, because we always say, you know, the first three years are the hardest. That’s about how long it takes to have consistency, to get the repeat and referral business going, but you had to do that twice, back to back, right, yeah, right. That’s very

Christine 17:05
painful, yeah. But the thing about in Washington that I think about now, I didn’t think about it so much. Then I was living there for three years before I got into real estate. So even my first year, I still had a really good amount of business. I was on a team, and of I closed 18 that first year on the team, and of those eight were actually my own leads. And so I was like, well, that’s kind of crazy, like in, you know, you don’t think of this in the moment, but when you start to kind of look back, you’re like, wow, that eight seems to be my number. And then when I went out on my own, you know, things, it was just an area where people moved so much more. And then with the timing here, interest rates spiked, the market’s definitely just a little bit different. It’s a little harder right now. And so you can feel those differences. So I’m just like putting my head down and trying to just remember what it was like to be excited to be in this industry and just be that newbie agent, and be excited for open houses and just do the work that you know is going to pay off, which

Alissa 18:09
is really the best of both worlds, because you have the mindset and energy of a newbie agent, but you have the knowledge and the confidence of someone who has done this and understands. So that’s really the perfect combination. Can you share the eight that were your own? Like, where did they start coming from in your new place? In your new place here? Yeah.

Christine 18:33
So one tip I have for someone who thinks they’re about to move is or or that a move is going, is just going to happen at some point in your career. Always have, like, your own email address, so that way, if you do move, you can easily, if you own it, you won’t lose contact with people. But number two, for me was networking with other agents. I through social media, through my coaching program, I knew that a move was going to happen at some point. So I was like, Well, if I have a really great referral network of agents, and I’m part of this coaching program and I attend these conferences, I’m going to make it really worth it. And I networked and created some of my best friends in the industry through that networking. My first year, four of the eight were agent referrals. Oh, that’s awesome. That’s really great. No,

Alissa 19:24
it’s crazy on investment, you know, I think so many people pay for things, but don’t utilize it like they should. Well, yeah, I

Katy 19:32
think you went into what the plan, right? Like, I need to meet agents as many as I can in as many places. So if I’m in this coaching program. Or if I’m in this putting myself at this conference where I think people go to conferences and just like, wallflower it right? But if you’re like, I gotta meet as many agents as possible, because they are going to be my database. Yes,

Christine 19:51
no, and it’s so easy to even just pay for coaching and just show up for your call and just kind of like, go with the flow. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like, I’m not spending this money, and I’m without making it truly, truly worth it. And I was like, you know, if I could just get one or two referrals through the coaching program that will more than justify it. For me, it is a big expense, and it’s scary when you move to a new place where your income is dramatically different and you’re just kind of, you know your business expenses don’t really change all that much. Because I knew I need to still be spending on marketing. I still need to be putting myself out there, because now I’m trying to compete with people who have been here forever and just trying to, just trying to be in the ballpark, letting my face show up on Google and like those sorts of things. So that was honestly like, I’m that was like, the scariest part was, if the income doesn’t increase and these expenses don’t level out or go down, it’s not going

Katy 20:48
to work. They don’t change. Like, most of your real estate expenses are pretty fixed. And I mean, whether you’re having a good year or a bad year, you’re still paying those things.

Alissa 20:56
And I think that’s a great question too. So like, thinking about family finances, how’s your husband feeling about or how did he feel about your choice to leave and get into real estate, and then when you were moving here, he was supportive of you doing it again here. Like, how did those conversations look?

Christine 21:13
Yeah, I was at a point in Washington which, again, everything happens for a reason, so he kind of got to see the growth and where and how much real estate really helped and impacted our family. And so he knew for sure, like, that’s what I was gonna do here. I think we were both a little naive, thinking it was gonna just like, steamroll at the same rate that it did when I first got into it. But he has. I’m so grateful for him that he’s never even whenever I was doubtful, like, should I join a team? Or, you know, should I just, kind of, like, take a step back? He was like, no Christine, like, why? Like, the you have built this momentum, it’s about to really take off if you let the foot off the gas. Like, all that hard work is, you know, for what so out the door. Very grateful for him. And then even back to closing nine that first year I moved that following June, and so had I not closed that many that early on in the year, which I never done before, I wouldn’t have had the business savings that I had in place to move. Yeah. So it’s like there was something higher than myself, like helping me plan and like putting all these little things in place.

Alissa 22:21
So when you started in Washington, you started on a team, and then did you you went solo after that, for three years,

Unknown Speaker 22:32
I went solo in 2020,

Alissa 22:34
okay, wow. What a fun time, right? How did that go?

Christine 22:39
Um, really good. My second listing ever. We hit the market the day before the State shut down.

Unknown Speaker 22:48
Oh my gosh,

Unknown Speaker 22:50
it was good times.

Katy 22:52
Yeah, hard times. Okay. I know the question that everyone is going to have the top of their mind when they tune in. Though, where did you meet the other people? So you had eight transactions the first year, four of them were agent referrals. That’s a great tip. Where did you meet the other people? How did you find these other four transactions? Yeah,

Christine 23:09
Google. What Google and agent to agent referrals is where I got the four and four like, I couldn’t even believe it, in

Alissa 23:19
your Google profile so that you appear and you got some reviews on there, yeah? And that’s how people started finding you,

Christine 23:28
yeah. So one of the things that was a huge benefit to being in business already for four years was I had really put a lot of time the two years prior to starting. I was like, What is Google? Let’s figure this out. I built a Google business profile, and I really just kind of went back and had as many clients as I could. Just be more consistent with leading reviews, posting regularly, updating photos. I think that buyers and sellers will find you on social media, but more often than not, if someone reaches out to me on social it’s because they first found me on Google. Then they go and check my profile, and they’ll say something like, Oh my God. I like, I loved that. Your profile was so fun. I couldn’t believe it was real estate. And then when I saw your social media, it was consistent. And so it’s like, they gave me the feedback that I knew. Okay, it’s actually working. And so, yeah, crazy. But Google and agent to agent referrals were my number one still are my number one source that

Alissa 24:25
really focus on Google get some really great results. And I think that those were you focused on those two things the most. So you were consistent. You weren’t totally scattered, trying to do everything you knew what was going to work for you, and it did in hustle, humbly community, last year, we actually did a Google challenge where the we together as a community, set up our Google business profile and did a contest on who could get the most. Just new reviews to their Google profile. And so we have some amazing feedback from that. Just agents saying that they were getting clients from that, and that’s really neat. So as far as like a database goes, How do you work on building that?

Christine 25:18
Yeah, I have two sources. Well, the first one was, I use modern agent, social club. I obsess. I know you guys love Chelsea, too. And I leveraged the fall guide. And I was like, Okay, I have no one in my database. Let’s see how this goes. I linked to it in my Google profile, I linked to it on social I posted it in community groups, and I think I got 67 sign ups from it, which was a lot saying, yeah, yeah. And I left it just living there. And this is actually a good reminder I should probably start like thinking about it for this year. Yeah, yeah. And so that really helped to build the database there, and then just, you know, any client, anyone that I would meet, I would just try and add them into my my newsletter, I tried to be consistent with sending something out, even if it wasn’t a lot. I focus on, like, what’s going on in the area. I give a little bit of a market update. I want it to be something that people actually look at and reference and still know that I’m in real estate. And then I started hosting events, and that is really what kind of built my database. Now I have like a little over 300 people and and that’s really from just like hosting events, meeting people. Every time we have an event, I put them in there and send a thank you.

Katy 26:46
In two years, you to a place you knew no one correct, just you and your husband. Yeah, you have 300 people in your database. Yeah, and they didn’t come from an online lead. No, they’re like humans. Well, maybe

Christine 26:59
some, actually, some may have, like, if I had an ad running on Google and someone happened to click it, I used Zapier online, so if I got a lead come through Google, they were automatically put on my flow desk newsletter list. As far as events go, I started using meetup.com

Katy 27:21
and I want you to tell us all about this, because I don’t even know this existed. And I heard when you did your interview on Chelsea’s podcast, I was like, oh my god, this is phenomenal. So yeah, for the people who don’t know, meet up. Give us the whole deal. Yeah, I

Alissa 27:34
don’t know meet up at all. Okay,

Christine 27:35
it is, I will be completely honest. I told myself, focus on making friends. That’s like, that was number one for me, because I didn’t know anyone, and I am a person that I need community. So I was like, if I can just focus on friends, I know business will follow. So I essentially, thank you. I like that, yeah, because it’s true people feel whenever you’re so worried about business. And I was like, I know it’ll happen if I just, like, stay consistent, meet up. So I created a group called bitches who brunch. I love a risque name, okay,

Katy 28:14
find your people, right? Yeah.

Christine 28:17
And in the description, I made it so me as possible, that like I wanted it to wean out the people who just wouldn’t understand. So I talked about how I love Bravo. I love going to brunch and happy hours, and that I don’t have kids yet, but maybe in the future, and I have dog like I wanted to be as specific as possible so that I really threw the net out to my people. I started with a book club and brunch because I was like, I’ve never hosted a book club for one, and I didn’t know anyone. So I was like, we need to be doing something in order for this to not be awkward. And one of my very first clients that first year ended up actually coming from that event or that first brunch and book club. How

Katy 29:02
does made up work? Like it’s, it’s its own website, and you post your event,

Christine 29:06
yeah, so you can create your own group, or you can just join there’s a bunch of different groups out there. So Madison is a really cool place where there’s a lot of millennials. There’s a college here. There’s so many people constantly coming and going. So I think that helps. I know where I was before there was, like, hardly anyone using meetup, so it just wasn’t gonna work. So just try and think of like, what works in your area? Maybe it’s Facebook groups that work better. And so, yeah, it’s just, it’s an online forum. There’s like, all these different hobbies and groups that you can join. You just attend the events. Now, I will say, over like, allow for more RSVPs, because 10 times, like, the the amount of people who actually show up compared to who of RSVP there’s so many people who just know show but it’s still I was like, if I’m get comfortable being uncomfortable, and just focus on making. Friends. I was like, if I make one or two connections, if two people show up out of this 10 person RSVP, that is a win. And and so I hosted probably three or four of those before I thought, You know what, I should start doing this, but for business now, and because I started to have a lot of the same people showing up, and there wasn’t really, like, that deep connection there. So I was like, Okay, let’s try this again, but maybe focus it on social media. So I partnered with a lender, a financial advisor, myself, as the realtor and an insurance agent, to create a group called friends with financial benefits. And I love, I told you, I love a little bit of a risky name, yeah. And our first event was like investing 101, so we talked everything from House hacking to buying your first home, and it was more of like a panel, and we had 16 people show up. I leveraged the meetup.com group, and we all just kind of tasked ourselves with trying to invite at least three to five people. And I was so impressed by having 16 people show up like I couldn’t believe it.

Alissa 31:06
We all host it. We

Christine 31:09
hosted it at a woman owned business. It was a wine bar, and she just let us kind of take over for the night. There was a food and beverage minimum. We had one of the ladies business partners like sponsored the food and beverage minimum, and we allowed for everyone. Whenever everyone checked in, they got a token that gave them a free drink. And then I was like, Well, I want them to, like, take something like, just have our contact information. So we made little goodie bags. And I was like, Let’s bury the token in the goodie bag so they actually have to see our business card.

Alissa 31:41
Great idea. Card. Just like

Christine 31:43
anything to actually have them put your face to the, you know, the name and the event. And we’re still tweaking it. We’ve we just yesterday was actually our we hosted an event yesterday. That was probably our fourth event. Yeah, we do one every other month. But, yeah, it’s been really fun.

Katy 32:03
16 ish people come or is it getting bigger? Like, how is it going?

Christine 32:07
It’s getting bigger. That particular group. I have 73 people in my CRM from that segment alone. And so when I created a Facebook group. So for the people who attended the first one, I sent out a thank you email and asked everyone to join the Facebook group, told them to try and invite like their friends, or bring an art bring a plus one next time, and then posting on meetup.com. Had some people show up that way, but yeah, each one, it’s growing just a little bit. You know, each time,

Katy 32:46
have you had some transactions come out of the friends with financial benefits,

Christine 32:50
not from friends with financial benefits? Yet, I know it’s coming. I’ve definitely have like, three or four leads, so I know it’ll happen. It’s just a matter of time. And we kind of shifted from investing 101, because the topics have to be interesting. And we realized we have to have a topic and an activity, because if it’s just a topic, it’s going to just be it’s going to be boring. So we try to have a little bit of fun with it. And then, in the summertime, yesterday, we just did concerts on the square. It’s a free public event that we do downtown, or that Madison, the city of Madison, hosts. So we just had a little bit of a meet up. And we’re just trying to have fun with it and make connections and not always be selling. Mm, hmm.

Alissa 33:33
What I love about this is that I’m, you know, we always talk about, oh, well, you know, you have to get people in your database, and you have to meet people, so join groups, and like, I have a real life practical, newer agent that I’ve been kind of helping out, and I told her, I said, Look, I will pay for your football magnets if you will get 100 people in your database. And so she was just kind of like, I just, she’s not from here, you know, she’s She’s new here. She doesn’t know anybody. She’s working really hard. But I’m just starting to think, like, yes, you’re always in the office, but how is that helping your database? You know, totally. And so she’s super friendly and sweet, and I just think that if she could find her thing. But it’s funny how, like, you teach something, you teach something, and then you find someone that you’re kind of like, they’re having trouble getting it. And I’m like, What are you interested in? And she’s like, I don’t know. I mean, I like animals, and, you know, helping animals. And I’m like, thinking, Okay, well, like, animals don’t buy houses. And you know, where should you volunteer? Volunteering at a shelter. And it’s like, that’s good, but do you meet people enough to form, like, longer relationships? And. Yeah, so she kind of had me a little stumped. Now, I will say a lot of it is because I’m giving suggestions, and I think she’s nervous, so she’s sort of making excuses of like, well, I don’t know. I don’t know. And this is so fascinating to me, one I’ve never even heard of meetup. It sounds like the better, more modern version of like, a BNI, if you wanted it to be business, just, I think, BNI, we’ve heard some, like, really great success stories in our market. B and I’s are not hugely successful, and they’re very expensive, and this just sounds way more fun, like casually professional.

Katy 35:37
She went to a right. She went to a lot of trouble to make it very specific to who she is. Before saying like, Hey, meet me, because you don’t want to meet just anybody. She’s trying to make friends. It was a different mission. The mission was to make friends. If your mission is to make friends, then you want it to be specific to you. You don’t want to go out and talk to a lawyer about a bunch of law books that you don’t read like it wouldn’t make sense.

Alissa 36:02
And, you know, I was excited about this episode because I thought this is perfect timing, because I’m still trying to, like, mentor this agent, but I’m still thinking to myself, you know, maybe she’s more introverted, and I don’t see her being an event planner, per se. So would

Katy 36:21
she attend an event?

Alissa 36:23
Yeah, like, I think she would feel more comfortable attending events and things like that. Did you do anything else like you sound like you are the good combination of techie, yet still very much social and a people person, like some people are really charming via social media and text and then, sort of like dull in person,

Unknown Speaker 36:47
I actually feel like that’s me.

Alissa 36:49
No, I

Katy 36:51
know, no way.

Alissa 36:53
I mean, I know we’re talking on a computer now, but even just seeing your face and hearing you talk, you’re certainly not that way, but you do seem like you have that good combination where when you actually meet people in person, it would match what your persona is online. And so that’s always nice. But now I’m like, thinking about my little friend here, and I’m like, How do I advise her as sort she’s single, she’s just really young and new and doesn’t know anybody, and I’m trying to think of ways to advise her to meet new people, grow her database. You know, any advice

Christine 37:37
i I totally understand all of that. I had even joined a pickleball what was it? Pickleball lessons? Because I was it’s something I know I’ll like, and I love it. And I was like, I can at least meet a few new people. I’m not someone who works out religiously, but I do love a fitness class. So I tried all kinds of fitness classes. And I was like, if I can just make a friend, even a friend off of social media, some of my best friends right now are friends that I met via social media. So it’s like, if she even were to reach out every day to like, one or two people that she connects with online, or go to a fitness class and find one person, like, commit two weeks to it and like, go every day and try to find one person and invite that person to an event on meetup, or go to a Chamber of Commerce event, find, like, little avenues that feel comfortable and a reason to invite someone to something, because oftentimes so many people are looking to make friends too, and they don’t know how to Like, make that first move. And

Alissa 38:42
what I love about how you tell your story is that whenever I share, yeah, you know, I’m room mom, and if we get invited to a birthday party for one of the kids, like, I try to go to as many as we’re capable of. And people are like, Well, I always feel slimy being like, Oh, I’m just here for business. And I said, That’s not what I said at all, but the way you said it verbalized it so well, you’re just trying to make a friend. Yeah. And I think if you, if you can focus on the friendships, the business will follow, whereas so many people think, well, I don’t want to be salesy and I don’t want to be a bother, because they’re thinking, if I focus on the business, I’ll have friends one day, and it’s like, no, no, you cannot be there for that. You have to be there with the mindset of, if I could make one friend, and then that one friend and I become friends on Instagram, and then that one friend and I go to a brunch meeting, you know, meet up, then all of a sudden, it’s just start spider webbing into all these different people.

Katy 39:48
Okay, so I have a question for you, Christine, since I know you use modern agent, social club, you obviously utilize social media and your Google profile, and you made your fall Guide, which means you went to the. Local businesses or events and listed them all out and, like, kind of told you what was going on. Have you met local business owners there that have become friends or who would be good referral partners to you? Did you meet them through social media? Or did you, like, go in person to the boutique and be like, Hey, girl, what’s up? Like, tell me about meeting business owners.

Christine 40:19
For me, I am more of I’m more comfortable reaching out on social media, because I feel like you can kind of have a back and forth. You can pick up a lot on people’s, you know, personalities that way. Then if you then if they see you in person. So then you go shopping at the store, you go get your hair done by them, or you ask them for a recommendation. Then it makes like, the next step just even easier. One of my first like, it’s the girl. I love her to death. She does my nails. And I’m consistent. I always go to the same person. I promote her business. She always promotes mine. She’s been a big advocate of the friends with financial benefits group, and

Alissa 41:04
I did it again. That’s wonderful. I mean, just being able to get in front of you’re getting in front of the local businesses. But what I like, too, is that you’re not saying, Here’s about me, here’s about me, here’s about me. You’re asking them about how did you get started? Or do you have a recommendation for someone that does your hair like people love to help and feel needed, and so instead of popping in their DMS to be like, Hey, I’m new in town, let me know if you need to buy or sell a house like, I don’t even know you, but forming that friendship and letting them know you’re interested in them and you value their opinion. All of a sudden, this relationship is just there,

Christine 41:45
yeah, and it’s from a place of serving. I don’t feel like you’re selling, yeah,

Katy 41:50
it’s a lot easier. I think for me, I know it is. Alyssa can make friends with anyone in person, super easy, like, outgoing, like, just easy to talk to.

Alissa 42:00
I cannot imagine DMing someone I’ve never met see that is fine with

Katy 42:05
me. Like, okay, like, hey, like this, blah, blah, like, so it’s just you have to know your strengths. I suppose you’re an anomaly, though. I think most people are a little bit more, like, nervous about meeting strangers. But social media does make it a little like, Look, if they reject you, so what like you don’t you could just on a follow don’t respond. What like block? Who cares like if Melissa

Alissa 42:25
crawls into her closet and doesn’t come out for a week, if someone rejects her online, right? No, I

Katy 42:30
think it’s totally fine. I guess my question is, how did you or do you marry up your social media to like your in person meetups or friends with financial How are you utilizing social media for those purposes?

Christine 42:43
I Pro, honestly, I could be doing probably a whole lot more. I think. Where I’d love to see this grow is actually running ads behind the events. I have the Facebook group going, and we try to engage and interact in there. And it’s, it’s hard to get people to interact in a brand new group. I promote all of our upcoming events. I started making reels, and so I would hire, I actually hired someone local. She’s, like, a recent graduate. She is a photographer, and I had her come and just like, take photos on my phone and get video clips. So at each event, I always have, like, a huge album that I can pull from to promote for the next time. And that’s been super helpful to be able to, like actually have content from each one. And then I try to, I I try to do at least two posts prior to the event, and I don’t put them too far out from the event, because people just forget about it. And now we’re kind of at the point with the group where we’re like, okay, we should be introducing who the hosts are a little bit more and kind of talking how this group came to be, so people can understand a little bit more about it and our goals and really resonate with like us as the mortgage lender, the realtor, and kind of pairing that into it now that there’s more of like a like, people understand what it is a bit more. Yeah,

Alissa 44:07
I think that’s a good idea.

Katy 44:08
Makes sense, okay? If you had to move again, what would you do differently?

Unknown Speaker 44:15
I don’t know if I’d move. No,

Alissa 44:18
you’re like, I’m not moving. Just don’t. Just don’t. Yeah,

Christine 44:20
no, I think what I would do different is really focus on a system in place for my business in the old location. Our move happened so fast, even though I followed in June, and it gave me a couple of months, it just really, it was too much going on. So I would definitely just prepare. I would have conversations. I would be actively interviewing agents to figure out who is aligned and wanting to be a part of that. I would create a system within my email newsletter that, like I have a drip campaign and something that, like staying in contact with old leads and telling them about how I can still represent them no matter where they’re moving. Especially because it was so many military people who are. They’re moving everywhere. So like, let me be your resource. And I still do have a good source of referral business, even not so much, just in Washington and all over, but I’m still not leveraging it to the extent that I could be that would be my number one tip.

Katy 45:17
Do you still have your license in Washington?

Unknown Speaker 45:20
No,

Katy 45:21
I let it go. Okay, so you just can send a referral to an agent, but I guess it would have been the same. That’s all. You kept your license there, right? Yeah, work them. It’s too far. Did you try to work them in the transition? Like, yeah, I cannot imagine. How

Christine 45:38
did that go? Oh, my God. It was the biggest learning curve. I was like, I’m so glad that I did try this and got to experience it. I ended up having it was like, spring 2022, interest rates had just jumped to, like, four and a half and five, and people started panicking. And I had three properties on the market, and all three fell out of contract. Like, one was right before the day before closing. One was two days, but like two weeks before, like it was just, like worst case scenarios. But I kind of have to learn by fire, and I had people in place, and I was almost with the mindset of, I’m going to re up my license, I’m going to have someone on the ground, and I can just maybe do listings, and they will be, I’ll be the CO agent, they’ll be the the primary. And after having those three nightmare transactions, and like the sale, just it just never felt like it would end. And all of them were supposed to close in May, I moved in June, and the last one didn’t close till September. It lit. Actually, the last one closed two days before my license expired. Holy smokes. And at that point I knew, I was like, I’m not redoing this. Like, we’re, yeah, I was like, we’re gonna close this one. And so anyway, so that was, like, my it was such a good realization that, like you, it’s not as easy as you think. To just, I’ll just be the listing agent. I’ll just be my name on the sign, and it’s it just, it’s not that

Katy 47:06
simple, because I find that so interesting. We have a lot of listeners. We have some people in community that will ride two states because they’re on the line, like maybe they’re just their town is in a place where they have to kind of be in two markets. But then I also kind of laugh, because I guess I’m so adamant I wouldn’t even go work in New Orleans, and that’s only an hour away. There’s plenty of people that work an hour or two hour radius, but, like, I don’t know enough about that location. So I think it’s funny when we’re like, oh, we could totally work here and there and straddle this. And I’m like, you, if you’re gonna be really successful in one you have to be really good at the one like, be present, be in the one market. So I just thank you for sharing that, because I was really curious how, if I left tomorrow, I would want to keep it, because you’d be like, Oh shoot. Like, well, I already worked so hard to get this business. Yeah,

Christine 47:54
too hard. And I think there are some personality types that could probably do it. I am just not one. I am someone who focus. I have to focus on what’s in front of me. It’s, yeah, it’s just too hard to be split in different directions. It’s like, even with marketing to my past Washington clients, I have to really make myself focus. And every now and again, just send out a little quarterly email and touch base, just so I don’t lose that entirely,

Alissa 48:22
because you still want them to reach out to you so that you can refer them,

Unknown Speaker 48:27
right? Yeah, yeah,

Katy 48:30
there is actually, and I think she’s an ex agent. I don’t know if she has her license or not, but there’s a girl on Instagram who teaches about first time home buying, or just home buying in general, and her following got so big, or was the by design? I don’t know on Instagram that she now only her whole business is to get buyers through her program and refer them out to agents. I don’t even think she’s an agent anymore. I think she ended up being like a mortgage broker, but, but she’s online teaching through Instagram how to buy a home, and then she’s pairs you up with her approved agents. It’s genius. No,

Christine 49:08
it’s brilliant. Simple, yeah, I met someone in 2019 I went to a conference and met an agent who she was an active agent in Tacoma. She decided I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. I’m going to just like, refer business out. And she focused her entire business is content creation, and her website is move to tacoma.com and she puts out so much incredible info that it is such a lead source for her. And she just, it’s strictly referral. She refers everything out. And I was like, Oh, that I mean, but there’s so much work that goes into it. There’s such a strategy, and you really have to focus on that sort of thing. And I think it’s similar to agents who are recruiting, you know, like that. Yeah, there’s money to be made, but you really have to be that

Katy 49:56
time job, dollar job, just like you say you can’t make. Money without doing work. So it’s just like, What work do you want to do? Right? Like, make a choice. Yeah, so interesting. Is there anything else Christine, that you want to share, especially to our listeners that are making a move, or they know they’re going to move, they they’re or they’re in a place they know no one, and they just got their license, and they’re like, What the heck am I going to do? Like, what are your final thoughts.

Christine 50:21
I think you can do it. Don’t let this scare you. I’m just extremely honest. Because I wish that I had someone to, like, lay it out to me and help me understand, be prepared and, like, write out three to five different business sources. Like, okay, are you going to focus on social media? Great. But like, you need something for business now too. And the for me, the only way I can do that is actually being in front of people. So it’s like open houses. I’ve done some, like, door hangers. I hate it. I haven’t had anything come from it, but it’s, it’s something I every now and again, I’ll do that, but just try and like, be creative. And like, how you get in front of people, be that resource for real estate, join every group and club and find every hot just like, really follow your passions and try to have fun and just focus on making friends. It’s helpful that the people you want to work with, if it’s also like, in line with your or assuming if your target audience is also people of a similar interest to you. I think in real estate, that’s pretty common, but I can see maybe, you know, if you’re focused on, I don’t know if your niche is divorces. I don’t know how that would work, but yeah, um, so yeah, I think just try to have fun with it and let, like, your own sphere just be fun, and don’t make them feel like you’re trying to sell to them you’re serving. And the other tip I actually had for the agent that you’re trying to help Alyssa, like, what if she even just, like, booked a reservation, like, for four people, and just try to invite four people, maybe it’s two. And just, like, do, like, plan a girl’s dinner. And, like, who doesn’t want to go to a girl’s dinner, a mom’s getaway? Or, like, yeah, some little niche like that will probably, we’ll get into it a little bit. Yeah, I met this amazing agent who this will roll into my toast, but she taught me the power of just booking a reservation and inviting people to come and people will come.

Katy 52:23
I love that. Okay, well, let’s hear your toast.

Alissa 52:25
I want to hear it. Yeah.

Christine 52:27
So my toast is for Karina de Blanc. I met her through Tom Ferry coaching, and it was my first year I went solo to an event, terrified, but she created a Facebook group for agents. She created a bunch, or she’s booked a bunch of dinner reservations and just put them out there and said, sign up. Whoever wants to come, come. We ended up, I ended up going to like, four different dinners. I met so many people through that, and some of these women are now like best friends. We refer business all the time to each other. They’re always tag. We always tag each other in these groups if someone’s looking for an agent in our areas. And honestly, yeah, she really just kind of showed me that, like, if you make a reservation, there are so many other people who are in the same position as you that will show up. And she gave me the courage to create the meetup.com group. I love that

Alissa 53:19
you said you were going to these things by yourself, even though you were totally terrified at first, because that’s where most people just stop, like, yeah, no, I’m not going I love it. That’s

Katy 53:29
so great. Well, cheers to karenna, right? Corinna, Karina, Karina, I love that. What a great because I I always think about conferences and I’m like, I can’t picture myself alone, like you’re so brave, like, just go and then, like, meet the people. But you had a little buffer before, because you were in the group, like, that Facebook group, and then you’re like, see social media, plus in person, that’s what you need.

Alissa 53:52
Yes, and had a perfect battle. Yep,

Katy 53:56
I love it. Thank you so much for being here. We’re so appreciative of your time, and this is a really important topic that I know everyone’s gonna really

Christine 54:04
like. Thank you guys so much. Thanks so much for having me. This was really fun.

Alissa 54:09
Thank you so much for tuning in to the hustle humbly podcast. If

Katy 54:12
you enjoyed this episode, please go to rate this podcast.com/hustle humbly and leave us a review or drop a comment if you’re listening on Spotify,

Alissa 54:20
if you have an episode topic or someone you’d like to toast on the show, please email us at team. At hustle humbly podcast.com, find

Katy 54:27
us on social media at hustle humbly podcast, don’t forget to find all of the free resources at hustle humbly podcast.com/resources,

Alissa 54:36
see you next week. This is the good life you