As the creator of the real estate meme account @actuallyagents, Luca Alboretti is an arch nemesis of The Broke Agent. So it only makes sense to have him on the Over Ask Podcast. You know, keep your enemies close and all that.
On this episode, Matt Lionetti and The Broke Agent talk to Luca about the origin of Actually Agents, his community on Discord, and the future of Instagram.
The origin of Actually Agents
As the name suggests, Luca actually is a real estate agent. But he built his Instagram off the skeleton of a failed drop-shipping business. He started making memes, gained traction quickly, and for a while, thought he was the only one with a real estate meme account.
I was growing so quickly, I’m like, ‘I’m a f*cking genius. Why has nobody thought of doing this? And then, when I hit like 5,000 followers or something, somebody tagged us both in a story. I’m like, ‘The Broke Agent? Who’s this?’ You had like 130K followers and I realized I was a very small fish.
When he started the account three years ago, Luca used it as a way to vent. He kept it anonymous until 50,000 followers, so no topic was untouchable. Now, with over 130,000 followers on Instagram, he finds he can be edgy without negatively portraying himself or his business.
Inspiration for daily content
Content burnout is real. But when you look at other people’s accounts, it can seem like they never run out of ideas.
So we asked, where does Luca get all the inspiration for his daily content? Does he wake up every morning knowing what he’s going to post?
It’s really just as it comes or as people send it to me, I post it. Quite honestly, I’m in a content lull right now. Trying a couple new different formats. But you said this to me once, Eric, when we first spoke: ‘How many times can you make the same joke about a f*cking open house with nobody attending. Like how many… and what blows my f*cking mind is they still perform well. And I get no satisfaction from these rote, overdone, reused memes and jokes… I feel like I didn’t push anything, which is probably why the edginess comes out. Because I really love…I love stirring the pot.
The future of Instagram
With recent updates to Instagram, it’s no secret that Reels is a priority on the platform. When Reels first came out, Luca saw the potential and repurposed his video content to make the most of it. The question is—will memes survive on Instagram in the next couple of years?
Not static memes like we’ve been doing. They’re all gonna go to Reels… The images are going the way of the Dodo on Instagram.
Monetizing and Collecting Data
Luca shared that the chatbot on his business page is of greater value to his business than whatever he could gain from the monetization feature. It’s similar to collecting email addresses; the more data you can own, the better. You never know how social media platforms will change things up.
Along with collecting data, Luca monetizes in a few different ways:
Right now, our biggest monetization method is we provide leads for top-producing teams and brokerages. We have about 81 accounts now. That’s pretty much carrying the majority of the load. I have another smaller affiliate deal, and then, I still do deals myself as an agent—mostly commercial, all sourced through the page and through the Discord.
Why Luca doesn’t recruit for eXp
Luca is an agent with eXp, which begs the question of whether he’s made any money off building his downline. Luca admitted he doesn’t actively recruit.
I personally don’t feel that eXp, in all circumstances, is good for new agents. I feel that in my bones. You can go to the unofficial training wing of the whole industry, which is Keller Williams, you join a team, you stay there for two or three years, you understand how the business operates, and then you jump ship to eXp because it just makes sense.
That segued to a brief discussion on the Keller Williams to Real pipeline—and then to the real source of Luca’s real estate leads: Discord.
Discord
Luca has a massive community on Discord with 6,500 people. And that’s where he gets most of his referrals. Meanwhile, eXp provides the brokerage backing he needs.
People are just using my name when they sign up to eXp because they interact with me on the Discord or attend the Masterminds every single week. So, that’s working. But more, for me, I needed a brokerage that was licensed at the national level to protect referrals in the deals I’m doing…
Watch the full episode for more.
