Ep 146: The Power of a Personal Brand to Grow Your Business

Eric Braun explains how he built 15,000 Instagram followers, doubled his production in one year, and generates realtor referrals by moving online relationships offline. Covers Instagram strategy, the ReBrew networking event, calling listing agents on every offer, and batch content creation. Best for LOs who want a concrete social-media-to-referral system that doesn't require cold calling.

Takeaways you can run this week

• When a realtor likes your Instagram post, immediately DM them: 'Hey, what's up — I saw you liked my picture, how's business?' Then invite them to an event or one-on-one coffee. Do not pitch loans in the first message.
• On every offer in a competitive market, call the listing agent before submitting and say: 'Before I issue any pre-approval I collect all paperwork upfront. I can submit this to underwriting and get a full mortgage commitment in 48 hours before the deal even goes into contract — if that means your seller accepts our offer, just give me the green light.' Track how many accepted offers result.
• Host a 'ReBrew'-style quarterly event: rent a local brewery, charge zero admission, offer free beer, create a Facebook event page, promote only on Instagram and Facebook, do zero presentations — just say 'Thanks for coming, I'm not doing any speeches, find me if you don't know me.' Budget: ~$50 Fiverr logo, ad spend on Facebook event promotion.
• Batch your content: hire a videographer one day per month, bring 3 outfits, shoot for 3 hours across multiple locations. That single session produces enough posts for the entire month. Post finished content on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule.
• At the end of every realtor meeting say: 'Instead of leaving here with different expectations — would you be open-minded to committing to send me your next three buyers?' Track yes responses and follow up every 15 days via CRM until the first deal comes in.
• When texting a new client their document checklist, include your Zillow and Google review links at the bottom of the same message. This handles objections before they arise — clients will tell you 'you have amazing reviews' and send documents faster.

The playbook

1. 1. Identify a realtor via Instagram (they liked a post, commented, or appeared in a hashtag search).
2. 2. Send a casual DM — personal, not salesy: reference what you saw, ask how business is going.
3. 3. Invite them to your next ReBrew event or a one-on-one coffee.
4. 4. At the meeting, open with: 'If there's one thing about mortgage professionals you could change, what would it be?' Then actively listen and match your value-add pitch to their specific pain point.
5. 5. Close the meeting with: 'Would you be open-minded to sending me your next three buyers?'
6. 6. Set a CRM reminder to follow up every 15 days with a personal check-in call.
7. 7. Stay visible daily on Instagram Stories (pre-approvals sent, motivational clips, behind-the-scenes) so you are top-of-mind when a buyer appears.

Worth quoting

“When I cracked the code I realized I have to make it all about me, not mortgages. Nobody wants to hear about mortgages.”

“I tell everybody who I am. Hopefully they like me. And then they find out how good I am at my job.”

Best for

LOs who are active on Instagram but treating it like a billboard instead of a relationship-building tool that moves people offline.