Lessons in earning trust in a transactional industry

Ten years ago today, I launched a small marketing agency to help real estate agents get more clients.

I didn’t have a master plan. I had just been fired from a job, and bills were due. I was in talks with another company that was more “industry-adjacent” than in the industry. 

I had bills to pay in the meantime, and so I figured I’d help agents with their marketing. I thought it might just be temporary until the new job happened. Then, in a couple of weeks, I had already started making more than I did at the job I had been at. I never looked back.

The company, Just Sell Homes, took on a life of its own. It grew fast and had a lot of stumbles along the way. Over the years, it became a test lab for real estate marketing. Serving agents, teams, and vendors across the country. It taught me the patterns. The pain points. The stuff no one talks about on stages.

Then it led me to a new chapter: taking the reins at Real Estate Magazine. I still think about marketing every day, we still serve clients at Just Sell Homes, but now I get to zoom out and look at how we move the whole industry forward, too.

I sat down to write “10 Lessons from 10 Years,” but I couldn’t stop at 10. These are the ideas that Just Sell Homes has been built on and now shape what we’re doing at REM.

Marketing Truths

Attention ≠ Authority

Getting a lot of views doesn’t mean you’re building a business. I’ve had videos with six-figure views and bring in zero business. I’ve also had videos with 500 views bring in six figures in revenue. Building trust with the right people is the goal, not the biggest number of people. 

Clear beats clever

People get too cute with their ads and copy. Most of the time, clarity wins. Show people who you help, what you do, and how they can work with you. No riddles. 

Simplify the idea

If your ad/email/post makes people think too hard, it won’t convert. Simple scales. 

Help people (without expecting a return)

Some of the biggest opportunities have come from helping someone when it didn’t make sense on paper. The five minutes that helped someone five years ago might turn into a big chunk of business today.

A lot of people quit too soon

Run one Facebook ad and didn’t get a client? Facebook ads don’t work. One run of postcards to a farm area? Farming doesn’t work. I’ve seen this trend over and over. People quit too soon. Just Sell Homes had a good first two years, and year three was great. That’s when people saw I was sticking around. The time in the business mattered to people. Consistency and showing up over time are powerful business tools.

Mindset Shifts

There’s no silver bullet

There’s no single tactic that fixes everything. You already know most of what you need to do; you just need to do it consistently and improve each time.

Let things go

People will treat you poorly when it’s really about something in their own life. They’ll assign intent that doesn’t exist. They’ll assume the worst, then build a narrative to match. It’s not worth the effort to worry about. Just let it go and focus on you and the people that matter.

Ideas won’t work out. Things you try, you’ll fail at. People get worried about how they’re perceived because of that. I’ve tried and killed lots of things, multiple things every year since I started Just Sell Homes. 

How many of them do you remember? People forget faster than most people realize.

That being said, that fear still exists. I was excited to buy REM. I was also scared. I knew the legacy it had, the attention it would get, and what it would mean if I failed. Do things that scare you. It’s worth it.

And don’t think that just because someone looks successful online, it means everything’s amazing behind the scenes. Years ago, someone told me, “Man, you must be rolling in it.” And I remember thinking, “I don’t even know how I’m going to pay my bills this month”. 

We all carry things no one sees. Stay focused on the work and don’t confuse what you see in your feed for the full story. Social media success is the ultimate house of cards.

Have fun (or walk away)

Early on, it’s hard to say no to money. But I’ve made a rule: If someone calls or a name pops up in my notifications, and I roll my eyes just seeing their name? They shouldn’t be a client or partner anymore. You should enjoy what you do and who you work with. There’s more than enough business to be done with people you enjoy.

Nothing is mandatory

You don’t have to do video. You don’t have to be on social. They can absolutely help. You can also do 100+ deals a year with neither. All you need is a clear strategy, consistent execution, and a commitment to getting better over time. That’s it.

Not all experience is created equal

Ten years in business doesn’t mean 10 years of business experience. It could mean one year of experience repeated ten times. Learn from what you’re doing, don’t just live through it.

Execution Lessons

Remove the roadblocks

Most things don’t fail because they can’t work. They fail because there’s a roadblock in the way. Identify the roadblock, decide if it’s worth clearing. If it is, clear it. If it isn’t, find another route. 

Skin in the game

If someone wants to work with you, learn from you, or collaborate but won’t put up any money, effort, or risk…they’re not serious. This applies to clients, partners, and projects. 

“That’s how it’s always been done” = Red flag

That phrase almost always hides an inefficiency. The industry is full of people clinging to habits just because they think they have to. Question the default settings. 

Don’t just learn from real estate

Only listening to people who’ve “been in the trenches” keeps you stuck in the same patterns. As someone who’s used “I’ve been a Realtor” as a differentiator, I’ll say this: it’s overrated. Some of my best ideas, the ones that helped clients the most, came from outside the industry. Great ideas are everywhere. Your job is to find them and apply them. 

These lessons shaped how I think about growth, leadership, and longevity. They built Just Sell Homes and now they’re shaping Real Estate Magazine.

A decade in, the tools have changed. But the mission hasn’t: Help serious professionals do meaningful work.

If I had to sum up 10 years into one line?

Be helpful. Be consistent. Be clear.

Thank you to every client, contributor, critic, and collaborator who’s crossed paths with me these past ten years.

I’m more excited than ever about what we’re building next at REM, and across this industry.

Here’s to the next 10.

– Andrew Fogliato

Publisher, Real Estate Magazine

1. One extra lesson because, why not? Ask for what you want. Reach out to people you think are “too big” to say yes. Ask for partnerships, introductions, feedback, and chances.  I’ve been told “no” more than I’ve been told “yes”. Most won’t go anywhere. The ones that do might change your life.