An 11-agent team in Arizona is set to sell more than 300 homes this year. Not one of the leads behind that volume came from a lead portal like Zillow or Realtor.com.
So where does all that business come from? For Shannon Gillette, who leads the Gillette Group, the answer comes down to a brand built around video content.
Gillette joined Luke Acree for an interview on the Stay Paid Podcast, to discuss, among other things, how she and her team have sold over $100M in the first seven months of the year, with zero paid leads. She talks about the team’s brand-driven lead gen, where the video-first approach started, and what it costs to go lead platform-free.
If you’re wondering how realistic it is to get leads from your social media content rather than paid lead sources, this is one interview you don’t want to miss.
The Brand That Replaced the Lead Platforms
Here’s what’s missing from the Gillette Group’s playbook:
- No leads purchased from portals like Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, etc.
- No revenue-share deals with lead generation platforms
- No door knocking
Instead, the brand pulls in clients on its own. People reach out asking if the team has room for new business.
Gillette credits the team’s video-first content strategy for that inbound flow.
“We have our own in-house media team with videographer, editors, all that just work for the Gillette Group. Because we’re very much a video first team, we’ve built a brand that attracts clients to us. We don’t have to buy leads. We don’t have to door knock. People are literally just calling us saying, are you taking on new clients right now?”
The results back up the model. Gillette leads the number one producing team of its size at Real Brokerage in the country, and by her own account, the team had already closed over $100 million in volume by July of this year.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the team doesn’t spend money on brand building. While she started off with little-to-now budget, the team’s expenses are now close to $100,000 a month (more on that in a bit).
How the Team Turns Listings Into Content
Every listing goes through the same process, whether it belongs to Gillette or to one of her agents. She uses a teammate, Amy, to walk through how it works.
“Basically how it works, let’s just say Amy on my team, she lists a lot of homes. If she gets a listing today, we schedule the listing shoot with our in-house media team. Everything is taken care of financially for her. She doesn’t have a dollar to spend out of pocket.”
The same shoot produces two different videos.
“We’re filming Amy’s video and then we’re filming a video for my channel. So, if it’s Amy’s direct listing, I will intro her since it’s my YouTube channel. I’ll say like, ‘Today we’re bringing you to Queen Creek and we’re going to show you this beautiful home.’ Then Amy takes over. So, Amy’s in the video too.”
Each agent ends up with content built around their own name, while the video still carries the Gillette Group’s branding throughout.
Where the Video-First Approach Started
Gillette built her video-first playbook as a solo agent, years before the Gillette Group had its name on anything.
Before she got into real estate, Gillette spent eight years in a corporate role selling new homes. When she left that job, she had none of the usual advantages agents lean on today.
Here’s how she describes what she was working with when she made the leap:
“I knew the stats that 87% of agents don’t make it past their first two years. I had no money to buy leads. I had no Instagram followers. I had no idea how I was going to make this all work. But I built my business off of social media, building a personal brand, and also listing marketing and YouTube video. So, I was getting so many people calling saying like, will you take on my listing?”
Gillette’s early audience and reputation became the foundation the team runs on now.
What the Money Goes Toward Instead of Paid Leads
Today, t he team’s Instagram following has passed 100,000 followers, and it costs money to run. Here’s what that spend breaks down to:
- Team expenses run close to $100,000 a month, with most of it going toward brand building
- A few thousand dollars a month goes to the team’s own website, used to collect data rather than pay a lead platform
Gillette explained where that money goes:
“We spend very little on lead gen. We don’t even have to lead gen, like a few thousand a month just with our website just to collect more data. We don’t partner with any of the big platforms or give them a percentage. That nearly $100,000 a month of team expenses is really to brand build. So we have ads in our local movie theater, we do client appreciation events monthly, we have a beautiful office space on an acre. We’re doing so much to build that brand because I don’t want to ever have to ask anybody, ‘Are you looking to buy or sell a home?’ I want people to call me and say, ‘Are you taking on new clients right now?’”
What It Costs to Go Lead-Platform-Free
Going without paid leads still costs money. The spend just moves into building a brand and content library the team owns.
For agents weighing where to put next month’s marketing budget, the Gillette Group’s approach raises a fair question: what would happen if some of that lead budget went into video content or a personal brand instead?
