Using YouTube, Zillow Flex & Indeed to Build a Powerhouse Real Estate Team with Ross Hardy

RPP Ross Hardy

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:00:00] Okay. Five. I forgot what I was gonna say. Okay. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. What is up everybody? Welcome to another episode of the Reside Platform Podcast, where we bring you a. Right from the trenches. Real estate team leaders doing the damn thing out there in 2025 right now. Um, fuck that. That was horrible. 2025. Cut. Okay.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:00:33] 1, 2, 3. Oh, okay. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Reside Platform podcast. I'm your host for today, Suneet Aggarwal, and I'm super excited to have Ross Hardy from the Hardy team, from Reside [00:01:00] Platform, a coach from all kinds of cool stuff out there on the show for Fuck, start over again. See, I'm trying to go off the notes while looking at the notes.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:01:15] Yeah,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:01:16] Let me just shook up the notes.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:01:20] Hey everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Reside Platform podcast. I'm your name, INE Agarwal. I'll be hosting today and today I am here with Ross Hardy from the Hardy Team. Ross, what's going on, dude?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:01:32] well we are living a dream down here, man. Uh, you know, it's always a fun day in real estate.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:01:37] Yes. So you know, on this show I really wanna give people like a glimpse into your successes and some of the things that are really working you guys, Ross is also a great coach for us at the Reside platform, so really excited to hear all his nuggets he's gonna share. Are you ready, bro?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:01:58] Absolutely man's get into. I'm excited.[00:02:00]

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:02:00] Good. So, um, you know, like origin stories are all good, but do you ever listen to like an agent's origin story on a podcast and say, why am I listening to this?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:02:11] A little bit.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:02:12] Yeah, me too. So let's just skip it. How is business? How's business right now? How.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:02:17] Business is good, man. Uh, you know, we're really excited as we roll into, you know, what's typically the quiet season here. You know, everyone goes through that bell curve and hours dips off towards the end of the year, but we're still going strong at the moment. Uh, we're just coming off the back of our best month.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:02:32] And so, uh, we're carrying that momentum through and this is gonna be the year that bucks the trend. We're gonna have a good winter and, uh, and rip this thing through.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:02:41] What's the name of the city that you're in for the listeners?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:02:44] Yeah, so we're in Spring Hill and Brooksville, Florida, so we're about 45 minutes north of Tampa, so not quite a suburb, but you know, close enough.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:02:53] Are you guys on the ocean?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:02:55] We're about 15 miles inland from the Gulf. Yeah, it's pretty, pretty close.[00:03:00]

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:03:00] Do you have gators?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:03:01] Oh yeah,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:03:03] You, do

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:03:04] yeah,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:03:05] you ever.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:03:06] absolutely. Yeah, I've had listings where like the owner's like, oh, you know, don't tell the new homeowner if they buy it, but like, don't let the dogs out the back because there's a gator in that, uh, you know, in that pond out there.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:03:17] And, uh, they had one of the neighbor's dogs away and stuff and Oh yeah, for sure.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:03:22] Of course you have to disclose that. So, we'll, we'll change the topic. Um, so over the last couple years, you like took your team, like, I remember when we met, it's almost our anniversary.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:03:34] Yeah, it is. Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:03:35] almost our anniversary. I remember when we met, you said, I want to be the number one re max team in Florida. Yes,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:03:43] for transactions, for transactions close, we're not gonna do them on, we're not gonna do them on on dollar volume where we are. But,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:03:48] brother. I hear you. That's the same thing I said in 20 21, 22. I, I'm not gonna get him a volume, but I will get him a units, that's for sure. Yeah, I do. Great. [00:04:00] Great goal. Um. You guys have really grown a lot over the last two years, so let's talk about that for everybody listening. Uh, you know, Ross's wife, who's also the director of ops on the team was on a previous episode, so if you haven't heard it, I wanna hear more about the ops side.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:04:17] Go back, both of them. Were also on a episode talking about stuff on the team, so lots of value. It's almost like we have a series, the Hardy series. Oh, wasn't there already a book series called the Hardy Series. The Hardy Boys. Okay? Yes, yes. Um, so we're doing our Hardy series. Uh, so let's talk about like the stuff that's really working for you right now to grow your team and do transactions.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:04:46] So number one, let's talk about recruiting. What is the biggest lever for recruiting, working for you right now?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:04:52] Yeah, I love that. So, uh, you know, believe it or not, uh, indeed is, you know,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:04:57] I believe

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:04:58] may not be surprised. Yeah. It's [00:05:00] crazy. Like, I was one of those people, full disclosure, uh, when you were saying that like, it didn't register, it's like, you know, such a simple nugget, like, you know, you got your 27 point recruiting thing, and I'm like, indeed, like, I don't like, because I tried Wise Hire before and didn't get anything out of it.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:05:14] So I'm like, well, I'm,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:05:16] I.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:05:17] I know. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, all right, well we don't need to worry about that. Let's, you know, let's get on the other stuff. I think it was our second or third coaching call. You were like, uh, hey man, how's that indeed ad? I'm like, I don't have it up yet. And you're like, why don't you have it up?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:05:32] And I'm like, all right. Uh, you know, you kind of got on my ass a little bit. I'm like, I'll have it up within the next hour and I'll send you a screenshot. And like, nothing came in for like the first four or five days. And I'm like, see, I knew this was gonna be a waste of time.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:05:44] Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:05:46] And then, and then they all start coming in.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:05:48] It's like, all right, well I guess I was wrong on that one. Um, but we get a really good, steady flow of that. And, and it's been a transition because, you know, back when I first joined Reside, it was like, okay, we want as many experienced agents as we [00:06:00] can get. And we kind of transitioned more to towards the new agent model.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:06:03] Um, 'cause we compare them up with mentors, mold them a little bit more, they don't have the bad habits. Um, and you know, we, we've really had some good success with those and you know, indeed. Brings a pretty steady flow of those, especially. Um, so we've really learned to work well, you know, with that. Um, yeah, so that's our biggest source of, of people at the moment,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:06:24] And then what's number two?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:06:26] social.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:06:27] Um, so, you know, when I, when I'm on, on social, it's good. Um, but then I fall into the habit of like, you know, like everybody else, there's a million other things to do in the day and I back off of it a little bit or I just don't find the time to do it. But when I'm on it, um, I get reach out. So I, somebody reach out a couple of days ago, Hey, me and my friend are looking to interview.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:06:44] Are you hiring people? So I use the old Sunni line. I said, we're always hiring people.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:06:49] Yeah. Hey.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:06:53] When you say social, that person hits you from your personal Facebook or Instagram or what?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:06:57] Personal. Yeah. Yeah. Facebook and Instagram [00:07:00] get, get pretty, pretty decent response on both of those.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:07:02] How often you been posting on Facebook?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:07:05] Joe again, when I'm, when I'm on it, I'm three or four times a day at least. Um, but recently, if I've been posting like five times a week, that would be about it. But, uh, you know, I, I definitely notice a pickup in activity across all, all aspects, you know, uh, referrals from customers, I mean, like all sorts of stuff when I'm actually posting.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:07:24] Yeah. Um, yeah, I posted I think five times today.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:07:29] Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:07:30] Um, something cool that a lot of people don't know about Facebook yet is you can schedule posts now on your personal, so like this weekend I had. You know, I think my eldest daughter was on her iPad and reading a book, and my youngest daughter was taking her nap.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:07:48] She's still at that age. And I came in here and I wrote like 40 posts,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:07:54] Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:07:54] right? Using AI on a hundred percent of them. But I would write one post [00:08:00] and then make like five different versions and plan it out five months in advance. So if it's where everyone looks like, just sit down and just make it a thing.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:08:09] If you're not inspired. And just them iterate on them. Chat GT or whatever AI tool, it doesn't even matter.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:08:19] Yeah, I, I wouldn't even be that, um, far ahead on it. Like, you know, I forget who it was at, uh, John's at, uh, the ranch where they were saying just be one day ahead. And so I would literally, um, 'cause I changed my, uh, my Facebook to like a, a content creator account or a digital creator account where you could schedule it still before they allowed it to be scheduled.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:08:40] But I would, I would literally just sit down in the evening and say, okay, I've got to schedule three or four posts for tomorrow. I'm not, I'm not worried about the day after or the day after or the day after, or I've gotta do in the next 20 minutes is get these four posts for tomorrow scheduled. And, you

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:08:52] Yes,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:08:53] would, I'd come up with something, I would just do it day by day.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:08:56] yes. So we, we [00:09:00] log every post in Monday and then, so on a sheet. And then I'll feed that sheet into a chat GPT or another AI tool that I'm using and have 'em just make different variations of the same posts. And um, yeah, I'll give a, yeah, like whatever I do that, I hope people listening do that too. Right. Um, but it's just a way to stay constant.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:09:25] So Good. So social media, uh, and indeed now when you talk to coaching clients in reside platform. What's the first bit of recruiting advice that you give them?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:09:37] Oh, if they don't have the Indeed ad it, it's getting the Indeed ad up. But if not, it's uh, get on the, um, weekly email. Get the email list, uh, so that when you're making recruiting calls or text messages, it's not a cold one. Hopefully they've been consuming some of your content. So, uh, again, you know, like when I, when I'm on fire with that email, uh, going out, like those phone calls are so [00:10:00] much easier to make. Calling people because you're calling the people to open the email,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:10:05] Yeah, exactly. Are you noticing the same kind of reaction when you tell a coaching client to post on Indeed, as you gave me back in the day? If everyone's bro. Indeed,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:10:19] 'cause it's too simple, right? People want a flashy solution to something, and Indeed's just too easy. Like you put an ad up and you just forget about it, and you never change the copy and you just, you know, like. Doesn't sound very sexy, does

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:10:32] change the copy. My ad hasn't changed. The only thing that changed is I don't think it says big block anymore. It might,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:10:40] not.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:10:43] uh, Ross was on a call this week where I showed a video. I said, oh, this will say big block. I hit play and sure enough showed big block and t but have I told anybody it? Anyone? Nah. We'll,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:10:55] No's, no one's complained. So.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:10:57] yeah. No one's complained. Yeah. Um. Good. [00:11:00] So indeed everybody listening ticket from Ross. Ross has grown his team, Ross has helped many other reside teams grow their teams too.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:11:08] The first step is indeed, duh.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:11:13] Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:11:14] Okay. The second step, post more on social.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:11:18] Yeah. Uh, I've gotta give a shout out to, to Brandy. Uh, 'cause she's killing it on social and she's growing her team. She's up to 34 agents now.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:11:27] Wow. And when she joined, I think she had five.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:11:32] Yeah. And she's getting people reach out to her saying, Hey, I keep seeing you post on social all the time. It looks like your team does so much fun stuff. Like, you know, I wanna be a part of that.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:11:40] Yes. And her content's good. She has the one where she's all, oh, hey, what's up? It's really good. Shout out to Brandy. We need her on the show because I wanna talk about that. 'cause for the longest time she wouldn't post. It took, I think finally being at Chelas, the last reside event we had at the, at the ranch in Mississippi where [00:12:00] she finally committed to doing it.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:12:02] Yeah, and I'll tell you, I go one step further. She had a, a broker who's a very long established broker in her area whose husband, uh, owns a construction, uh, builder, a very well respected, who decided she's clothing down her brokerage because she, you know, isn't in her own words. She's like, I'm not doing right by my agents 'cause I'm not providing 'em with the tools that they need.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:12:21] And she actually sought brandy out because of her social media presence and bought and moved over with her agents.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:12:29] Get the hell out of here.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:12:34] So that's the power.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:12:35] Guys, do you hear that?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:12:41] Wow.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:12:42] Yeah. And, and Brandy's like, I respect the hell out of this broker. Like that's the whole thing. Like you never know who the people you respect are watching, you know?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:12:51] Dude, I mean something really crazy. Like Nick McLean, co-founder of Reside. We have, uh, our KFR [00:13:00] domination re the recruiting business. And Nick said as along the same lines, you never know is he, uh. When he first got licensed, there was this one agent, this woman who had market share. She did all the luxury stuff, right?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:13:18] We all have them in our markets, right? Multiple. And he was super intimidated by her, whatever. And um, the talent coordinators we have making dials called her. And set an appointment. And he's all, what? This woman set an appointment to talk, to talk, and he's all, uh, and he's all, so he had his, uh, his admin call.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:13:45] Who does the recruiting for him? Tessa, she's all, yeah. She wants to sit down and talk to you.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:13:50] Isn't that something?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:13:52] Isn't that so? He's all, I would've never called that. So you never know. Shout out to Brandy. Shout out to Nick. Dude, good story. Good. Okay, [00:14:00] so. So we got that out. So the recruiting, we talked about indeed, we talked about posting more on social media.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:14:09] You mentioned something about email. Where should people start if they wanna send email?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:14:15] Where should they stop?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:14:15] Yes. I'm really curious to what you're gonna hear. So, so no, no judgment. I'm curious.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:14:22] No, no. So I mean, essentially, you know, it, uh, however you wanna brand it. I call it my one minute tip of the week, right? My one one minute real estate tip. So, and it's just something that, again, like when you've been doing real estate for a long amount of time, you've accumulated a bunch of knowledge, which is just inherent to you.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:14:40] Other people don't know. uh, I forget, I forget who said it, but like, you know, our, our normal is someone else's exceptional. So like what you think is a simple throwaway tip is. Gonna move someone's business forward. So, uh, it can be tips on open houses or, you know, uh, calling leads or time blocking or, you know, here's the five apps you [00:15:00] need on your phone.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:15:01] But I'll just do that, like, just a simple one minute tip. Um, that I'll do a, a little, uh, video reel, post it on my social, send out an email that kind of breaks down the general content of the video, links back to the, uh, reel on Facebook. Send it to the agent list. The catchy, uh, catchy headline with an ellipsis and then carries on.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:15:24] Um, and then basically your, the email software will track who opens it, who clicks on the video, reach out to those agents. Hey, did you know, I'm not sure if you've seen my emails, I've been sending out one minute tips to realtors recently, or, you know, you've seen it 'cause you know, I, I can see you've been clicking on it.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:15:39] Uh, wondering if there's anything you are struggling with that maybe I can make a video about to help you and some other people. That normally leads to a pretty decent conversation. You, if you wanna go a little bit deeper on that, you know, why don't you and I get together and I can help you a little bit on that.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:15:52] Um, that's a great conversation starter. Just a simple one minute tip.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:15:56] What really good advice. I've [00:16:00] never heard you say that before. The one minute tip.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:16:02] Yeah, that's what I say. And you know, I'm Ross Heidi from the Heidi team. That's my one minute tip of the day, but one minute, one minute tip at the week and, uh, you know, let's, let's grow together.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:16:12] You're making a video? Is that what you said?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:16:14] Just in my, in my office. One minute. Real video.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:16:18] Dude, good idea. See, and this not over complicated. Do you have some fancy setup at the office?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:16:26] No, no.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:16:30] Dude, that's so good. And it's so, you're right. It's so actionable, right? Like you have something to share. People don't know that CRMs exist, right? People don't know about A IDX website. These are the basic things that many, probably the audience to this show. She, I got eight. I do have eight. Alright. But like, you know, website. So I [00:17:00] could send an automated text like you guys.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:17:01] Oh, it's so that, that's, that's thinking there I was, I was the first person to get Zillow leads in my market. I must have been getting Zillow for a full two years before I realized you're supposed to call a lead more than once.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:17:13] Yeah, dude. Same. I wasn't first, but I remember the rep I'm calling me. How are the leads going? Oh, these leads suck.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:17:22] Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:17:23] Working. Oh, well I call him once

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:17:25] That call and left a voicemail. Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:17:27] I voicemail. Oh, if they don't call me back if they're not serious. Let we share that story, dude.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:17:38] Yeah. Like it's just a simple tip like that, like God, like, you know, hey, like double dial and then call, you know, one once a day for seven days. Like, think how, think how. A simple thing like that, that's, they don't know what they don't know would transform someone's business.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:17:51] It did. I remember when I heard those things changed, got me to sitting here.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:17:58] But now you don't think about it. Now it's so [00:18:00] ingrained in you that that's such a common sense piece of information you, you probably would barely even think to mention it to anybody.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:18:06] Yeah. Oh yeah. That's so good, bro. Yeah, that's why, right? Like when I, um, when I, when I do have recruiting conversations are. I, I coach more team leaders now to have recruiting conversations than I have. I have Anna tender on my team that does a much better job than me. Um, well now, not always, but now, um, when I'm having a conversation with a, with a recruit, I say, Hey, you know, we have a CRM.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:18:41] It's where you keep all the information about the clients and what they're into, and it's really easy to use. You know, we have a website where buyers can. Go look for houses and sellers can get a home value. It's real easy to use. We have some, we have some text messages that we can automate to send out people.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:18:58] Wow. [00:19:00] Right.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:19:01] Yeah,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:19:02] So that just tells you like, there's that one minute tip, bro. How do I get added to that list?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:19:09] uh, you can, uh, well, you can email me and I'll add you to it, but, uh, I don't have, I don't have the, the single page site up yet, but just E Ross

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:19:16] You are, do you want a single page sign up on that?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:19:21] I'm, I'm getting John. John Paul. John. Paul just finished it. I just

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:19:24] Okay. Okay, good. I was gonna say, let's, I can have John Paul join the podcast right now.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:19:28] almost there. We're almost there, my man. I just approved the final edits.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:19:32] Okay. Lemme know because I want that for you. Uh, dropping that newsletter link. Have you seen me doing that on social lately?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:19:39] Mm-hmm. Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:19:41] Every day? Yeah. Just, you know, people are so concerned. Not you, but so many people are so concerned with like being some fancy marketer and saying, oh, I need some ebook, or I need this, or I need that.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:19:58] And while that's good to have, [00:20:00] we just put a landing page to get on a weekly email from you, you'll be surprised. A f. the people that just sign up and like, dude, my emails right now are getting like 76% opens, bro. It's killer.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:20:17] Yeah. Yeah. I, I'm, I'm about, I'm about 43 on my Agent ones, but I'm about 70% on my, my client facing

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:20:25] yeah. See? That's killer. That's killer. Um, yeah. Email's a trip. I really like it. Um, I've been, you know, one of my admins, two of my admins made a error and I'll own it. One of them put like an extra 30,000 leads, 40,000 leads in my main email list. And then I told my other admin to send an email to this list, name this one thing, and it hit all 40,000. So my, for everyone listening. [00:21:00] There's a domain ranking that you have in Google that tells you how deliverable your emails are. So we went from, we went from the highest to the middle. And if anything that's, maybe it's just my ego that got hurt a little bit, but I said, okay, now I need to get it back up to high.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:21:17] So I really, um, focused on the principles of email. Like I, you know, I gave a free download in every email. Without opt in the subject line, I put like free gift. Right. So, um, you know, maybe I should just do something longer on email before we talk about it the whole time. But I want people to know, Ross just gave you a really easy tip for email before I complicate it.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:21:47] Like just.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:21:48] a really, it's been, it's been a really fun rabbit hole to go down. I, I could, like you, you got me onto this, like I could talk about this for way longer as well, but we'll move on to something else. But I've really enjoyed going down that rabbit hole about warming up domains and doing that the right way

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:21:59] Yes.[00:22:00]

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:22:00] and increasing deliverability.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:22:01] It's really been a very, very big learning experience.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:22:04] Yeah, because we own our email lists. You don't own Facebook traffic. You don't own any social traffic. Right? And if you have people that are opening your shit on your email list, I remember I was walking down the beach in Santa Cruz and I listened to a podcast from Russell Brunson, or, uh, I was listening to one of his secrets books and uh, he said something about, you make x amount of dollars for every person on the list.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:22:36] I was all bullshit. Yeah, I'm gonna say it's way more than whatever he said in the book. Right. So good. Um, good. So let's talk about getting real estate transactions. What has been the top source for real estate opportunities for your team?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:22:56] Yeah, so, uh, so we are a Zillow Flex team. [00:23:00] Uh, so, uh, that is our, uh, number one lead source currently. Uh, obviously it's taken a number of years to build up through Premier Agent to get it to that point. Uh, I'm sure Sarah sure Sarah spoke about that on, on her podcast. But, uh. Yeah, that was her baby when she came in.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:23:15] Uh, so, you know, we, we crush it on, uh, on Zillow leads, um, you know, sphere, we do very, very well on because of the email and because of the social stuff, we're constantly in front of our people, uh, and get a lot of repeat opportunities, uh, there. Uh, and other than that, uh, Google is, you know, both LSA, uh, and our Google profile, um, pulling in a ton of stuff on that also.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:23:40] And you're doing some stuff on YouTube too, aren't you?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:23:43] Yeah, so YouTube's been one of those things. It's been my pet project for the last year or so. Uh, my goal is that, you know, in two years from now, it'll be our number one lead source. Uh, so we're already on the way to that. Um, so YouTube, uh, is, you know, uh, basically think of it as [00:24:00] Zillow quality leads without the referral fee.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:24:02] Um, and it's all organic, so like that's been just like, you know. Kind of game changing for my outlook on real estate and, and how I've run the team. But it's the agent's favorite lead source at the moment. Hands down.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:24:14] Really? So like how did you get started on that?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:24:22] God. So, so, uh, Ken Akk, who might be familiar to some of you guys listening to the call, was a awesome agent out of Orlando. Um, I was on a, a mastermind panel with him and I knew he had a really strong YouTube business. And I was listening to him talking about his lead sources and how many deals they were closing from YouTube.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:24:39] And I kind of was already heavily into video at the time, but not long form video. And I realized that I needed to be on this. I, I knew there was something there. I'd seen enough people have enough success, but didn't have any firsthand stories. I knew I needed to do something with that. So being the, uh, the overachiever and the action taker that I am, I sat on it for, for about two and a half years and, [00:25:00] and, and researched it to death.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:25:02] Until I knew enough to open up my own YouTube company without ever having made a video. Uh, and then one day just finally, you know, uh, burned the boats and, and paid for a year up front with a, uh, editing company. And just, you know, they give us the content ideas, some scripting. Um, we upload the raw video, they edit it, they do the thumbnail, the SEO and everything else, and just started making videos.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:25:24] Uh, just, you know, I, I, I could, honestly, I could kick myself, uh. Having delayed that time, you're thinking how much further I could be ahead now if I'd just done it two and a half years earlier. I will tell you never in my life in a small town of 8,000 people, um, in Brooksville, did I think that we would have detraction and success that we're having with it.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:25:45] What do you attribute that to, the traction and success you're having with it?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:25:50] Uh, consistency for sure. I mean, like, you know, that that is the number one thing. The, the, the content helps and the thumbnails and all of that stuff. If you're not doing it consistently, you're dead in the water. You might as [00:26:00] well not, not bother making them.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:26:01] Wow. So now does the agency you work with, do they have you go out to like houses like, like Joe did and do all that?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:26:12] Yeah, so we, we kind of sat down and came up with a very clear strategy on, on two or three, um, pillars of content that we wanted to make to, you know, look depending on who we were trying to target. So for us targeting outstate buyers, uh, of a certain, you know, um, buyer profile. New builds were one of the things we did.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:26:30] We're not very heavy on new build videos. We kind of, uh, peppered those in a little bit. Uh, we're more heavily focused around like hyper-local content as far as pros and cons, you know, map tour, best neighborhoods in. Um, and then some more kind of current stuff with like the interest rates being the way they are.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:26:47] Like, uh, you know, if I made $60,000 a year. In Spring Hill, I would live here and, you know, working out what, what can you afford with those, those, um, salaries.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:26:58] So are you shooting? [00:27:00] Are you shooting like out on the, out out in the world or at the office?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:27:04] I'd do about 50 50, you know, half of 'em are shot in the office, half of 'em are on location.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:27:09] How do you shoot on location? You have somebody.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:27:12] No, because that was another thing that kept me waiting two and a half years, was like, you know, I might need to find a videographer and I need to do this. And yeah, I just have a selfie stick with my, uh, my DJ O smoke pocket. And again, like the first couple of times I did it, I'm like, I'm gonna look like an idiot walking around with this selfie stick around this town and everyone's gonna know who I am and laugh at me.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:27:32] Um, I'm like, well, I've gotta do this anyway. So I go around with my selfie stick.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:27:37] That's great, dude. That's great. Let me tell you, maybe I've told you this. I had a full-time videographer for two and a half years, and we pushed five long forms a week to YouTube.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:27:56] Hmm.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:27:56] Um, five long forms a week, and I almost [00:28:00] broke him, right. Um, it was too much.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:28:04] Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:28:04] Um, and the ones that did the best. We're not the ones of me talking some shit about pros and cons. It was me out on the street on location. It almost didn't matter where the location was. Right. Is that what you, are those videos of yours, do you.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:28:22] For sure. Yeah. Like about on the town. I'll give you one quick story. Uh, a builder, um, opened up a model here, a builder out of Texas, never built anywhere, but Texas first foray into another state. They happen to choose Brooksville, Florida. Um, so I go into the builders model. I'm like, Hey, you know, am I okay to shoot some video here?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:28:41] I'd love to help you guys out, you know, help, help me out for my YouTube channel. He's like, yeah, have at it. So I go do the video and I call back in to see him. And try and strike up a relationship. And they'd actually flown all of their sales staff in from Texas to man these models in Florida and, and relocated these people.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:28:59] And [00:29:00] he's like, you're the guy with the YouTube channel right now. Bear in mind at this point, I have about 350 subscribers. Um, I'm like, maybe he's like, yeah. He said, when I found out I was moving to Brooksville, Florida, I'm like, I don't even know where the hell this place is. I start going online. Like I, you're the guy walking around with a selfie stick in the coffee shop and all around downtown Brooksville.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:29:20] I'm like, that's me. He's like, God. He's like, would you mind if I sent that video to everybody on my client list so I know what Brooks feels like? I'm like, Y yeah. Like, have at it. And he's like, and when you finish this video, can I send this video to all my customers as well? I'm like, Uhhuh. And he's like, and then do you have a video about the community and all the amenities in here?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:29:41] I'm like, no, but I can have one real quick. And so I made a video and he sent it out to his entire client database for the builder. So now they're watching my YouTube video and like stupid stuff like that, right? And it's all from me walking around with a selfie stick in this town of 8,000 people.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:29:59] Too. That's [00:30:00] huge. If somebody was on here. Start YouTube. YouTube. What advice do you have for him? Just go hire somebody.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:30:08] Yeah. I mean, unless, unless you're really like into editing and stuff like that, you know, the problem is you have to

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:30:13] Well, yeah, nobody should be into editing. Should be into it,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:30:17] because it's SEO, it's thumbnails, it's it's content. Like you need to know the script, you need to know the types of videos, like you're not gonna do it on your own.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:30:25] Like, you know, even these

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:30:27] right?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:30:27] who. You're not gonna do it. Right. And, you know, and, and the thing is like, and, and I know what people are thinking is like, 'cause we all watch these YouTube YouTubers like Joe, right? They have like 40,000, uh, people on the subscribers list. And you're like, man, like I'm never gonna be that big.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:30:42] So people, I'm not gonna get any business from it. And that was one of my beliefs. It's like, I'm mean such a small town Yeah. Who's, who's, who's gonna watch these videos and who's gonna call me? But here I am at 1,295 subscribers as of today. Um, and we didn't get a single lead for six months. So that's the other thing is you [00:31:00] need patients.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:31:00] You need to know that you're not gonna have the phone ring for probably six months. But in the, in the seven or eight months since then, uh, we've, we're about five or six x uh, our investment. Um, and like I would, I would take any lead source that gives me a five or six x.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:31:19] Now, how do you scale that? Make, make more videos or have more patience?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:31:23] Uh, well, you know, I think make more videos, right? So it's, we've branched into other markets. So markets where we don't have a presence, we've started making videos in those areas and we're starting to pull in leads in those areas as well. So that allows team expansion. So there's always newer areas you can do it.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:31:39] Now, you don't wanna go too far because if your channel is named after the city, then people are coming to that channel expecting videos of that city. So you have to be a little bit careful balancing that out. Um, and then I think there's an incubation there. So like when people come to our YouTube channel, now we've got them, they're captive, but then maybe still, you know, a lot of these people are maybe six months a year out.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:31:58] Right? Some of 'em are pretty close to it, but [00:32:00] some of 'em are a little bit further out. But how do we keep them? Well, they might come, keep coming back to the YouTube channel, but maybe not. 'cause they've learned what there's, what's good and bad about the, the area at that point. So we have a couple of Facebook and Instagram pages like Discover Spring Hill.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:32:15] And, uh, Hernando County food lovers, where I'll do restaurant reviews, business reviews, local events. Here's what's happening this weekend, so that once we get them into our ecosystem, we've shown them what the pros and cons are and everything you need to know about the area, and these are the good neighborhoods.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:32:29] But now what does life look like here? So like, Hey, there's the Tangerine Festival in downtown Brooksville this weekend. Like, make sure you hit it up, whether it's movie in the park or here's the new pizza place to just open, you know, here's, here's my review of their pizza. So now they're actually learning more about the nitty gritty day-to-day life.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:32:44] So we're putting them in top of funnel, working all the way down to the point where, you know, by the time they actually are moving here, there, there should be no doubt who that call.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:32:53] Bro, that's how you build a real fucking business. I love that.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:32:57] Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:32:59] I love that. [00:33:00] Such a good job that, yeah. So awesome, dude. Uh, now let's say that I'm a team leader. Well, which is not a big stretch. Um, let's say that I'm an audience member who's a team leader who. Wants to just start getting some leads for their team, what should they do?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:33:22] Yeah, I, so I'm a big believer that you need kind of a little mixture, right? Uh, so your pay per click leads, uh, are gonna be pretty inexpensive, probably the, the, the least expensive, you know, uh, to buy, but they're much lower conversion rate, and they're longer. Duration to convert, typically. So if you're trying to build your business off of those, you're not gonna see much in the, in the way of short term impact.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:33:44] I don't think, uh, even though they, they provide a really good ROI, uh, and you get people into your, your ecosystem pretty quickly at large numbers. So, you know, balancing that with, uh, one, using all of the free referral lead sources, so your home [00:34:00] lights and, uh, you know, effective agent and stuff like that.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:34:03] Past expert. Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:34:06] All of those, uh, as many of those you can sign up for, but then something with a little bit more immediacy, like, you know, so typically those are portal leads, right? So your your Zillow premier, if you can buy those, your realtor.com, uh, homes.com, you know, easy. Something like those.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:34:21] Awesome. Yeah, lots of good stuff. It's good to have a mix and I subscribe to that too. And you should post more on social media if you're a team leader.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:34:30] Yeah. I mean, a hundred percent right, because, you know, we all know like 12. At least, you know, 10, 12 realtors. So the chances of you being the person they call at the moment they need you is not good if you're not the person that's top of mind. So the more you can post, the more you can be in front of those people.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:34:44] Proof of concept, you know? Yeah.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:34:46] Super funny is, uh, my high school reunion. My 30th high school reunion is coming up, I mean, my 10th. Um, but, uh, my, uh, 30th high school reunion is coming up in like two weeks. I was looking [00:35:00] on the social media, um, that, that was about the high school reunion, who's all coming, and I liked it. And somebody I went to high, the former, uh, class president said, oh, Sunni, you're coming.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:35:13] Don't you have like the world's largest social media following right now? You know, I'm, I'm honored that you had to say something like that. Of course it's not true, but, uh, or she said the year right? Like of anyone in our group. So, um. It was interesting, but yeah, you just gotta stay front and stay seen.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:35:32] What other advice do you have for team leaders who are wanting to follow in your footsteps for success and making money and growth

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:35:45] Man. So I'll, I'll, I'll give you a couple. Um, so the first one is, you know, realizing that not everyone's you, right? So when we're a team leader, if you're, if you're starting a team Yeah. You're like, you're normally starting a team 'cause you're very driven. [00:36:00] Like there's probably a, a perfectionist part of you.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:36:02] Um, and a and a reluctance to give stuff up. If you're anything like me and some of the other team leaders, I know, but you know, no one's gonna do the job the way you do it, you know? For the most part. Right. But that's okay because, you know, you find better ways of doing stuff. Uh, everyone has their own style.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:36:16] If everyone tried to do it exactly like you did it, it wouldn't be relatable. But, you know, to scale you have to hand stuff off. So, um, you know, whether you're, you are using that on the admin side or agents for buyer's agents, listing specialists, anything like that, you have to, to. Trust that they'll do the job 80% as well as as you and, and, you know, use that leverage to, to be able to grow and spend time on other stuff.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:36:38] So that was a very difficult one for me. I still struggle giving stuff up, uh, but I am getting a little better at it. So, uh, you know, realizing that no, no one else, no one else is you, and that's okay. Um, number two I would say is, you know, there's. Being a team leader is difficult. Like it's not glitz and glamor and yachts and Ferrari [00:37:00] and everything else.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:37:00] Like there are, like the, the good months can be good, but the bad months can be really, really bad. And like that rollercoaster in real estate, you have a bad month as an agent In real estate, you're not losing money unless you've done something really, really badly wrong, uh, as a team leader. A bad month is a bad month.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:37:16] So, you know, having, having the strength to look in the mirror when you're having those bad times, and maybe you have three or four of those back to back and, and, and be able to pull yourself out of it and have the faith in yourself and the team that you can turn it around. Like, you know, that can, that can be hard.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:37:29] Not everyone's cut out for that. Um, you know, I, I not gonna sit here and say I've never struggled with it. You remember me a year ago when I came back from Italy. I'm like, I'm done. I'm out. Like, you know, bye-bye.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:37:40] All the time, like it's natural and it's not. It's just owning a business, like taking those licks can be exhausting.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:37:47] Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, I kind of equate that to like, you know, uh. Being able to do the same thing over and over again without seeing the results, like is like a superpower, right? That's a lot of what being a team leader is doing, doing the right stuff for a really [00:38:00] long extended period of time without seeing a result of it.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:38:02] And then one day it all clicks and, and everything's rosy. So that would be the second one. Uh, and then three is like, this is probably the, the worst and the hardest of all of them is the realization that you can't be everyone's best friend. Um.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:38:15] You wanna.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:38:16] Should you want to, you know, I, I had a team where we would, you know, cut off work at four o'clock and go to the bar every day.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:38:22] Um, and while it was a lot of fun and the culture was spectacular, wasn't, wasn't great for me from a team leader perspective, uh, when it came to, you know, trying to have difficult conversations around accountability and, uh. Other stuff like that. So, uh, you know, there, there had to be a shift in that, where I have a great relationship with everybody on our team.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:38:44] I love them dearly. Uh, and I do have some very, very good friends on the team. But yeah, there's a very clear delineation between, uh, you know, being the team leader and, and, you know, and, and outside of that circle, like, you know, being the one that has to give them bad news is, is not, [00:39:00] some, not position anyone wants to be in, but.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:39:02] That's one of the bigger obstacles to growth is being able to have tough conversations with people who you like that, like you.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:39:10] Yes, dude. So good. So, hey, if anybody wants to send you a deal or learn more about coaching with you, which is really good because Ross obviously knows his shit, how should they reach out to you?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:39:24] So probably best way is hit me up through social, so just Ross Hardy, H-A-R-D-Y. Uh, you find me on Facebook, Insta. Um,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:39:34] All right.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:39:34] Place to start.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:39:35] Yes. You guys send him your referrals for Spring Hill, Florida and follow.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:39:44] Tampa, we'll take them.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:39:46] Yeah. How about just anywhere North Florida? You can figure it out, right?

RPP - Ross Hardy - Guest [00:39:50] Yeah. Anyway. Anyway. Anywhere within an hour of Tampa North. We'll,

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:39:53] Okay. Perfect. Hour of Tampa. You heard it here first, or probably not first, but you heard it here, so, um, yeah. You [00:40:00] guys go give Ross a follow check out his YouTube. Check out his other social. The dude is crushing it. And check out, like I said earlier, the other episodes with both the one with him and his wife, Sarah, the director of ops, and with Sarah herself to complete the whole hearty series of the, the trilogy.

RPP - Ross Hardy - Host [00:40:21] That's the word I was trying to say. I was struggling. Check out the Hardy Trilogy on the Reside podcast. As always, if you got something out of this, please like, share, and subscribe. We'll see you next time where we meet another badass team leader entrepreneur out here making it happen. On the next episode of the Reside Platform Podcast, peace out.