Transform Your Real Estate Career: Proven Systems for Lasting Success

Stephen Schmidt (00:02.155)
Welcome to the show where we interview the nation’s leading real estate entrepreneurs. It’s your host Stephen Schmidt and I’m back at it like a bad habit and I got a special treat for you guys in the studio here today. I am interviewing Amanda the marketing mama and she is the marketing mama. She’s got a incredibly long career in real estate spanning over 20 years doing almost every single facet you can imagine from being a broker owner to a lender to selling the houses and

everything in between and also creating an absolutely kick-ass brand. We’re going to get into a great conversation, probably talk about what it means to build a personal brand and how important that is as somebody that’s in the real estate space, whether you’re an investor or an agent, which is who she primarily mentors and coaches. we’re going to get right into it. But before we do, just remember at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers, and real estate entrepreneurs, 2 to 5X their businesses so they can build the businesses they’ve always wanted in order to live the lives they’ve always dreamed up.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (00:46.168)
Mm-hmm.

Stephen Schmidt (01:00.811)
With that being said, Amanda, welcome to the show.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (01:03.692)
Steven, thank you so much for having me. That is what I love to do. I would love to do the same thing I say. I love to help agents, teams, and brokerages sell more real estate, but also have way more fun doing it. That’s the kicker because it’s the easiest hard job ever, but it’s a lot of pressure. And so my goal in life is to help them digest what they’ve signed up for and help them be efficient and effective in a way that gets them to their goal.

Stephen Schmidt (01:13.835)
I love that.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (01:31.224)
faster and better and stronger and hopefully with a smile on their face. So, yeah.

Stephen Schmidt (01:35.391)
You’ve got so many tell us this. I know we had a great pre-show conversation, but what got you into the real estate business originally and how did that evolve into where you’re at today?

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (01:48.312)
Sure. many moons ago when I was 22 years old, my then boyfriend, now ex-husband, was a mortgage lender. And we had actually, we had even done like timeshare sales together for a few months. I obviously sold timeshare. He did not, that’s fine, no judging. But when he, I know, right? When he was in the real estate space for a year, he was like, I’m talking people out of the sale left and right.

I think you’d be great at this. I’m going to get into the mortgage space. Why don’t you come in and do the real estate side? like, okay. So I dabbled into it. Like I tiptoed into it because I wanted to, you know, not, I still had college debt. was very young, 22, 23 years old. And I basically started out as like an unpaid assistant, just learning the business and whatnot. Then when I finally kind of felt comfortable and confident,

Several months later, I became a lowly buyer’s agent for a very busy, successful agent in the Winter Park area of Florida. And that first year, I sold over 50 houses. I made 30%, which back then in Orlando, I think the median sale price was maybe 87,000. So I probably made like $3.49 that year, but I did have a huge wealth of knowledge and I just loved it. I loved being able to

you know, see them through that transaction and then having that luxury, honestly, even though we are no longer married, you know, I really did live for 25 years as the, you know, literal and figurative marriage between lender and realtor, which then eventually, you know, about a little over a decade ago, I too got into the lending and title space. so having that kind of bird’s eye view of it, that is what really helped me to see that agents, teams, and definitely brokers, oh my gosh.

need way more help than what is out there for them. And then also I speak realtor fluently, having been one for quite a few decades now, I could translate because I saw, you know, my own lending team and my own title team and even the insurance agents or home inspectors or appraisers kind of like pull their hair out with that kind of disconnect with agents because they’re out there literally like spinning plates, dodging landmines they need.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (04:09.068)
They need support in order to do what they do very well, which we all know that they are the gravy train, if you will. They are the spokesmodel of our entire industry. And so I really felt compelled. honestly thought called by God, if I be honest with you to do this, because I knew that I could, could kind of be the real estate mom. never knew they needed with actual factual tools that really work for them, systems that really work for them. And

Strategy that has worked for myself as well as hundreds of real estate professionals that I’ve helped over these past 21 years so That’s how I got into it, but I’ve literally I’ve done it all everything from lowly buyer agent to like you said Rainmaking team leader broker owner managing broker then I again started in a whole new part of the world building a mortgage team as well and and then eventually title so all the things I’ve done and seen all the things and

continue to do and see all the things. And that’s why I’m really, really passionate about helping agents sort of navigate their way through it. The nuances.

Stephen Schmidt (05:13.684)
So on that note, what are the main things that you’re focused on present day?

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (05:21.176)
Sure. Okay. So big time for me is systems. So I don’t know if you follow me, but one of the things that I say almost ad nauseum is that real estate is a perpetual series of tiny catastrophes. Nobody talks about that. That is this industry. It’s just is naturally that way because of how, you know, it’s high pressure. It’s high dollar amounts is the largest purchase. Most people make it’s the biggest asset. A lot of people will ever hold. And then also guess what?

the number one variable in every single transaction and interaction is people. And people are all different. And so that means there’s like infinite variables. And so what tends to happen is something will happen in a transaction that’s never happened before, which is normal. That’s how real estate goes because again, all the people are so different and nobody knows the answer. And so my main focus is helping them to combat that catastrophe with

essentially a system and I have, I mean like a literal system for literally everything. because it’s kind of like if you’ve ever, I don’t know if you ever worked in a restaurant, but you know, for those of us that work in a restaurant, you know, when you first joined in, you’re like, my God, this menu, I’m never going to remember the specials. This is too much. This is too much information cut to, know, six weeks later and you pour out the specials. Like it’s nothing right. Upside down and in your sleep, that same kind of process, that same kind of thought mentality that listen,

Stephen Schmidt (06:27.658)
love.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (06:47.182)
Once you get into that machine of a basic system, again, you have to be human enough to like curtail that system to the conversation that you’re having, but that systems basically open up your mind for other things like building relationships. And I’m really all about building relationships that build business. And so for me, it always starts with that, with an agent or a team or a brokerage. And then we kind of go from there. I will say I do, I have on my…

My website is a la carte coaching. didn’t really know a better name for it because the reality is, is most agents don’t want to be told what to do until they do. And so it’s really like whatever need that they have. You know, I have a, have some baby agents that are new to the business or whatnot. but a lot of my people are people that are scaling to a squad. They’re going to a team or they’re exiting. They need an exit strategy. I have some people that contact me to like, I have to fire somebody. Like, what do I do?

Um, because I have that again, have had a, all these, you know, title mortgage, a real estate team, everything all under one. Um, I have all of those, those answers for them. And so really do cater to whatever their need is. But I really, really try to focus on the systems of, of the basics of real estate and then how to cultivate actual relationships. And then also how to build a brand that speaks to who you are and what you do and what you can offer. And guess what? That’s going to change.

That’s going to change a lot in your tenure. Your life cycle is what I call as an agent because you go through a lot of changes, you know, and that you have to start bobbing and weaving with like a little more intention. And that’s really what it’s about, not being reactionary, but being proactive and purposeful and intentional as an entrepreneur.

Stephen Schmidt (08:36.98)
Sure. At what point did you realize how impactful the personal branding aspect was to the business? When did that become a real big focus for you?

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (08:47.064)
So forever, obviously, because it’s super competitive, right? It’s a very, very, very competitive business. And so you have to stand out in order to not be lost in a sea of other agents. Here’s the weirdest part about it though, Steven, is that you have to stand out, but you can’t make it about you because you don’t really matter in the transaction. Your opinion doesn’t matter at least. Your professionalism, your experience matters, but you yourself,

your ego and all that needs to be put aside. And so when you’re in a trance, that’s a lot of times what kills a deal is an agent’s ego, a hand of God. But really having to brand yourself without it being about you is a really, really hard thing to do. And so one of the things that I talk about constantly is all through these years, I have only hired out three times now, I guess, technically four times a marketing company. And I was always disappointed because in our business, you have to almost know this business in order to

market a real estate agent. It’s just a different bird, you know? And so it’s so important though that you stand out, that you’re authentic and that you are connecting with who you want to work with. Because we all know like if you work with people that you don’t like, it’s a bummer, right? Like you’re like, my God, I can’t wait until this deal is over. But that can deflate you and set you back for years if you don’t have a strategy to what you’re doing. So immediately I saw the need. I think I was with Remax 200 like a million years ago and

I want to say there was like 200 agents a million years ago. This was before the crash. And so you couldn’t even leave a file on the desk without like it being, you know, like it’s super competitive. And so in order to be, to be you and to be unique, you have got to really dig in and decide what you want to be, who you want to be, how you want to be. And so again, that all starts with, honestly, it does start with that. It starts with numbers. What do you want to make? What do you need to make? What do you want to make? And then we kind of build it from there.

But it’s really, it’s interesting that, you know, my partner Jenny and I will have these brand strategy sessions even now still this day. That’s one of our favorite things to do. And people are getting into the business maybe, you know, later in life. They’ve already had a career. They feel like, gosh, you know, like I’m newer, but like I have 21 years of insurance experience or whatnot. So I try to help people to take from their real life. Like it’s not their first day on earth. Like it’s just their first day in real estate maybe and help them to really kind of.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (11:12.298)
bring themselves out. It’s hard to do as your own self. You do need a help. need something that can pull the good out of you and help you put it out there to the world and keep that brand consistency. That’s another hard thing to do. Like a lot of agents, I don’t know if you’ll see, they’ll have, their email signature is one company and then their brand on Facebook is another company and then their Zillow profile is a different company. And I’m like, Holly. So I’m trying to…

I try to help estate professionals say like, the more that you have these little tiny things together, the little devils and the details, right? The more excited people are to work with you because you have it together. Newsflash, nobody has it all together. Nobody does, everybody’s sort of figuring it out. But that’s the cool thing is that you can, you are capable of figuring it out with the right help and the right systems and the right people in place.

Stephen Schmidt (12:06.986)
Sure. So let’s say I’m a real estate agent and I’m looking to really scale my operation, right? I’ve sold 20 houses in the last year. For some reason, I just can’t figure out my lead problem. I’m trying to sell 50. Like that would be like a huge win for me. What are the things that you’re gonna immediately help?

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (12:18.478)
Mmm.

Stephen Schmidt (12:30.62)
within my business in terms of like systems processes, how to get my name out there more, etc. What are some of those tangible things that you say, here’s how we solve this problem today?

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (12:39.15)
100 % yes, okay, that’s what I love to do. So if you’ve seen bar rescue, kind of go in with that same mentality, we look at the data. So what does the data show us? Oftentimes the person that wants to do that has been flying by the seat of their pants. One of the most like jarring, amazing experiences I ever had with one of my most favorite agents ever was her system was literal Post-it notes. And she was very successful, but she was same thing. She was plateauing. She was like at

Stephen Schmidt (12:43.966)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (13:08.052)
six million a year, which is really good. Like it’s a decent, it’s more than a lot of agents make, but it was just like, God, I just feel like I’m built for more. And I’m like, all right, let’s see what your, what your system is here. No system. So we dive in, we dig in and we analyze what they’ve already got established. We see their weaknesses. It’s kind of like, well, how can we fill in the gaps between where you are and where you want to be? What is it that you’re exactly missing? And so we start there.

A lot of times that’s really what it is. It’s a funnel, right? And they just, they’re kind of, whoa, I’m kind of getting slowed down and stuck here because I should be probably outsourcing this section, but they don’t know what to spend on because they haven’t been measuring. And so we start there. We start with actually analyzing their business and seeing where we can help them. And then to actually promote them out to the world.

I mean, there’s it’s so crazy because it goes in waves. As you know, the algorithm is its own. It’s kind of like the credit algorithm. Like it’s like, what now? It changes all the time. It’s almost like it’s keeping us on all on our toes. But that’s kind of a good thing because what it really does is we actually, we have a series of questions, little workshop and stuff. And we go back and forth. We get to know you in order to sell you. And again, we’ll give you a few different options. And then also we just like with a, with a funnel algorithm or whatever, you can do an AB.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (14:31.166)
test and see what one sticks. So, but it really does. It ultimately starts with where you are, where you want to be. And you bridge that gap with data. Data is the only thing that is real. This is what I tell my agents all the time. It’s a numbers game and you got to know the numbers in order to win the game. And that is something that real estate agents are like, wait, what numbers? What’s my number? I don’t know. So they, things like their conversion rate, they need to know that things like, you know, their budget.

Can you believe it? I will tell you, 95 % of real estate professionals have no idea what their budget is. That’s bananas. That’s crazy. The ones that I’ve talked to, at least, and I’ve talked to thousands. So we start with the…

Stephen Schmidt (15:09.77)
So the data would show.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (15:13.868)
They need help, but that’s what I’m saying. Like, I don’t know why. So I joke about this all the time. And again, I say it constantly. If you were opening a pizza shop, you would know how much money you needed to have, you know, the dough and the tables and the whatever. You would have all of that compiled together and nobody starts them like that. They go in with this dream and they’re sold that pipeline dream. it’s just, that’s not what…

this business is. And so there’s a hobbyist mentality almost to it, which is crazy considering the high, high level of asset that they are peddling essentially. And really what they’re in there to do is create, you know, know, Dr. David is a urologist. He’s not a real estate professional. And so he needs a real estate professional that does this full time. Ideally. I mean, obviously you can be a part-time agent and be successful and not saying that you can’t, but you really do need to take your job.

seriously, it’s a real job and you to really put the effort into it to help people because they will be stuck in limbo for the rest of their lives if you let them, right? So.

Stephen Schmidt (16:20.094)
Yeah, I think that’s my biggest frustration with the realty industry. I’ll separate that from the investor side of things. with realty specifically is you have an industry, it’s like insurance in the sense that it’s harder to get into than insurance because it costs more for one, but like.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (16:29.89)
Yeah.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (16:42.284)
Okay.

Stephen Schmidt (16:43.198)
you go get a license, you have minimal oversight, and you’re now a business owner. And it’s like, if you had to go and invest a quarter of a million bucks into a location and office and all of these things, most people I think would treat it like a real business or else they knew they were gonna fail. And I think that’s one of the downsides of it, is that most, to your point, most realtors are not…

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (16:54.722)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (16:59.746)
Right.

Stephen Schmidt (17:08.136)
real business owners and in order to truly have success you have to treat it like a business, know your numbers, run P &L, have systems and processes and if you don’t the downside of that is like any business that sucks is your customers which is your clients who you’re selling or helping to purchase a home for they’re the ones that ultimately suffer from it.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (17:20.046)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (17:27.352)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (17:32.12)
They suffer so badly. It’s terrible. And I know, I don’t know if anybody watching this knows the stats, but gosh, last year, 70 % of real estate professionals sold zero homes. And that is just a testament to, again, I don’t, I want to say this is true. Like the last time I looked at the stat, it was like two years ago, but I want to say it takes more time to get your nail tech license in Florida than it does to get your real estate license. That’s a problem. That’s a big deal. That’s terrible. I hope that’s not still true, but.

Stephen Schmidt (17:43.646)
crazy.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (18:01.388)
The reality is, is they don’t set it up like a business, but even contrary, like even that, if there’s some investors to kind of do the same thing, they’re sort of like, I know I can make a bunch of money at this, and I’m just going to give it a first and stuff at the wall. I’m like, my gosh, what kind of money do you need to make? Actually, let’s talk about that first. Let’s go into intentionally because the, you know, sending emails or texts to like every single new listing, the minute it goes live, a hundred grand lower than what it’s actually listed at.

is not, in my opinion, a recipe for success. I don’t know if that’s the investor mentality. There’s a handbook for investors to do that, but stop doing that.

Stephen Schmidt (18:37.652)
I don’t.

think that’s anybody that’s serious about it. Like what I would say is anybody in the investing community that I’ve met that’s had any success, that’s not the strategy that they generally are going for. Most investors that really build real businesses in the space, they’re looking for off-market properties. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not good deals on the MLS, but it just means that the riff-raff in the investing side, the people that don’t last, they’re the ones going after that quote unquote low-hanging fruit and then they quit.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (18:54.04)
Correct.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (19:06.924)
Yeah, same concept with agent.

Stephen Schmidt (19:08.108)
and think that it doesn’t work because six months into it, they’re like, well, I guess you had to be an investor 15 years ago to have success in it. And all those guys got in early, you know, and it’s like, it’s just you don’t have systems processes to repeatably. I think that’s what separates a business. It’s why McDonald’s.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (19:17.294)
No.

Stephen Schmidt (19:27.26)
You walk in the number one’s always a big Mac. The fries are always to the left, right next to the drive through window and the bathrooms are all the way to the right. It’s subtle, but it’s a repeatable system for producing cashflow. And that’s ultimately what we’re talking about is if you’re going to be a business owner, whether that’s you’re a real estate agent or an investor or whatever, you have to have repeatable systems and processes to predictably produce cashflow in order to run your business. And that’s why for investors, that’s why we started Investor Fuel. And that’s why y’all

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (19:27.374)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (19:32.834)
of

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (19:39.092)
Act.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (19:54.189)
Exactly.

Stephen Schmidt (19:57.117)
to come join our community. I digress from my, not an ad, but an ad.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (19:58.956)
Yes, yes, that absolutely. Yes. So I’m like investor fuel, but for for specifically for real estate agents, teams and brokerages that is so ultimately is so, so, so important because again, you can’t sell a dream without having. You know, the drive and actually the dedication to your craft. And that’s really what it boils down to. There’s nothing good that ever comes easy. That’s just the reality of it. You have the benefit of having somebody.

like you or me, but I mean, have decades of experience. have oodles of experience and I love sharing that with people. I don’t know everything though. I learned something new literally every week. That’s why I love this business so much. And that’s why, again, like I, one of the biggest things that I teach people, like when we first start collaborating, is I’m like, you’re never gonna know all the things. And why? Because there’s infinite variables because the number one variable in every single transaction is people. And so you’re never gonna know all the things.

Here’s a great thing too, like even before last year, before the rates went a little sky high or whatnot, the typical 75 % of agents sold five or less homes a year. And so if you sell, if you do anything five times or less, are you going to be maybe masterful at it? Probably not, but you can be a lot closer to that mastery of it with that system in place because if that part of it becomes like a no-brainer, then the rest of it is how you get through it without losing your mind, in my opinion.

Stephen Schmidt (21:26.474)
totally agree with you. Well, Amanda, where can these folks connect with you for more, learn more about you, maybe get your planner if they’re a real estate agent looking to really double down on their business, where can they connect with you for more?

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (21:26.51)
So, yeah.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (21:35.118)
Yeah.

Absolutely, it’s yourmarketingmama.com. You can follow me on socials at yourmarketingmama or on my personal socials I still post to at yourmarketingmama. Or you can call me at 855-4-YO-MAMA. And I know that that sounds silly, but it works every time. I literally get calls from my signs and whatnot that are like, I just wanted to make sure this was a real number. I’m like, it’s a real number and I’m a real person. Let’s get this going.

Stephen Schmidt (22:00.074)
is amazing. Oh my gosh.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (22:01.922)
That’s fun, right? Little disruptive marketing. It works. It works. Too funny. I’ll send you my sign. You’ll be like, what in the world? Works every time. I’ve had that for five years.

Stephen Schmidt (22:08.366)
I know.

Stephen Schmidt (22:13.924)
I love it. We’ll go connect with her for more, folks. Show her some love from the Real Estate Pros podcast community and Investor Fuel. We appreciate you all listening to the show, and we’ll see you in the next episode.

Amanda, The Marketing Mama (22:24.62)
Awesome. Thanks, Stephen.