Today on the Listing Agent Lifestyle podcast, we're talking with Glen Teghtmeyer, who's in the unique position of living in Nanaimo, British Colombia but having a business in Alberta.
Glen spent a lot of time in Alberta. He has a really great foundation there with family ties and a lot of business, but he moved his family out to Nanaimo five or six years ago, so we spent this episode talking about how to really have it all. How to have both run a business in Alberta and live in Nanaimo with all the lifestyle benefits that brings.
We had a great conversation about using some of the relationship equity he's already built up in the Alberta market to really solidify his business and a lot about the lifestyle elements of designing a business any way you want.
There are a lot of possibilities in this episode.
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Transcript: Listing Agent Lifestyle Ep126
Dean: Glen.
Glen: Dean.
Dean: How are you?
Glen: Good. How about you?
Dean: I'm good. Hey, how do I say your last name?
Glen: It's a mouthful, huh? Teghtmeyer.
Dean: Teghtmeyer. I would never have guessed that. Okay. Teghtmeyer, with a T, all right. Where are you calling from?
Glen: I'm calling from Nanaimo, British Columbia.
Dean: Hey, Canada. Oh, Canada, I love it.
Glen: Oh, Canada.
Dean: Nice.
Glen: I was going to say good morning, but for you I guess it's good afternoon.
Dean: That's exactly right. I've already been... It's podcast Friday, so we're already in the books here. I'm excited to chat. Tell me the story here. What's the backstory of how we got to here? And where are we going to go from here?
Glen: Wow. We can go anywhere we want to go.
Dean: With anything.
Glen: How we got here? We got here by wanting to learn more about marketing about four or five years ago, and just Googling, I don't know, marketing. And hitting Joe Polish, and then I got through Joe's stuff to you.
Dean: Okay.
Glen: Yeah, and a lot of what you had to say really resonated, so here we are.
Dean: That's great. So how long have you been in real estate?
Glen: Well, I heard you say you started when you were 11, and I started when I was nine.
Dean: Okay. Perfect. There you go. I like that. Out on the playground, yeah.
Glen: Yeah. It started in '88.
Dean: Me too, okay. Playing, selling tree houses to other kids in the neighborhood.
Glen: There you go.
Dean: Move in ready, yes. That's funny. Well, congratulations for having that kind of longevity. Have you been in Nanaimo the whole time?
Glen: No. Actually, we moved here about seven years ago. But for six of those years, I was commuting, so I moved the family here, and then I commuted back to Alberta, which is where I have deep roots and where I did a lot of... Most all of my work was done there, so I was commuting. And it just became a bit too much, so I took a little bit of a break from that and got licensed in BC. And so yeah, that's where I am. I'm kind of starting over in a lot of ways.
Dean: Okay. How long has it been since you kind of started in Nanaimo?
Glen: Two years ago. When I started with the team because I didn't want to build a business. I just wanted to be belly to belly and sell. That didn't work out. And so when COVID hit, things happened and I ended up being on my own again, and been honestly just floating and just trying to take everything in, and contemplating selling in both places. They're 1200 kilometers apart from each other.
Dean: Have you still got a team in Alberta? Or have you got-
Glen: I've got people I can rely on.
Dean: ... okay. And you still have a lot of history there. You've got a lot of clients and stuff there, I imagine.
Glen: Yeah, exactly.
Dean: Okay. And are you ... I guess you can't be licensed in places at once though. Right? Or can you?
Glen: Yeah, you can.
Dean: Oh, I didn't realize that. Okay. So you're licensed in Alberta and in BC. Do you still do a lot of business in Alberta?
Glen: Yes. It's been almost a year since I've been back to Alberta, especially with the current situation. And I've started to do something business there. And if you have the right people available, and you make it clear to the client, I haven't really had any problems yet.
Dean: Yeah. Well, that's awesome. And is it mostly then your after unit business, your relationships?
Glen: Yeah. I would say mostly it has been. But I've been trying to see it from the before unit as well. And there's some possibilities there. I guess, I want to fill that. I mean, the odd thing is that, when I moved to BC I was doing market evaluations in the market I didn't know anything about. So now I'm doing market evaluations in a market I haven't been in, but I know very well. So it's a weird dynamic.
Dean: If you could just wave a magic wand and have it any way you wanted, what would you see? Where are we going here? How old are you now?
Glen: 50.
Dean: Okay. You're 50. So I just turned 54. But boy, if you started in 1988 that's... How old were you?
Glen: 18.
Dean: 18, right on. Okay.
Glen: Of course, you just dive right in, right?
Dean: Well, that's it. Yeah. I mean, when you look at it, I wonder now, what is your view for the next 10 years thing? Where do you see this going?
Glen: So I had a phase where, when I moved to Nanaimo where I was like, "Am I going to be a realtor any further?" And, so I was really clear on what I want to do and what I definitely don't want to do.
Dean: Let's start with that. Okay.
Glen: Yeah. Well, so listening to some of your material on GoGo agent, things that really resonated with me is no outgoing calls.
Dean: All right. That's my number one thing. I made enough outgoing phone calls for all of us.
Glen: I mean, it was funny because I would just dread doing it and I'd hate doing it. And once I started doing it, I actually loved it. But that lead up, I can't stand it anywhere. I don't know why.
Dean: No, that was the thing.
Glen: It was probably because I'm full.
Dean: Listen, I'll tell you my experience of that. And I did it for three years before I discovered that I could put words on paper and have people call me. But I remembered exactly, I mean, I was good at it. I didn't really I think you hit it on the head. I didn't mind doing it. It wasn't the thing that was so disgusting. What was the mind numbing part of it is just psyching myself up to do it, getting those things that I used to play all these mind games with myself. I knew that I had to just dedicate these hours to doing it. Anything could take me off of that path.
If somebody called said, "Hey, I ran out of infobox flyer." "Oh, I'll be right over."
Glen: Exactly.
Dean: And that would mean, "Oh, I can't make the calls now. John needs the infobox flyers." But when I took it seriously, the best analogy that I had was committing to being on a radio show. That I had to be on the air from 10 o'clock, till noon. And from 6:30 to 8:00, that was my time to be on the air. And that helped a lot to get that urgency or discipline or commitment to it and work around it. I think about the first time that I sent out direct response postcards that got people to reply.
And I remember our receptionist, Joanne, handing me this stack of the business reply cards that had come in from the first day of the postcards that I sent to apartment complexes. And I just remember this giddy feeling that came over me, because I knew that this was the ticket, that I would never have to make another cold call again. And I never did. And that's been my life mission to really spread that relief for people by focusing on how can I create systems that get people to call when they're ready to buy or sell. And that was my whole provocation. What would I do if my phone only accepted incoming calls? And everything that I've created has been around that.
Glen: And once I heard you say that, I just went, "Okay." Being connected.
Dean: I did, yeah.
Glen: And that's the way I always thought it should be anyways. People should be calling me. Why am I calling them?
Dean: Right. That's exactly right. So that's cool. So when you think now about Nanaimo, what's the population of Nanaimo?
Glen: 100,000.
Dean: That's a great size. Okay. That's on the maximum size of what I like of... A little bigger than that is too big. But that's the max size, that whole... I think 60 to 100,000 is the perfect self-contained ecosystem that you could build any size real estate business that you want in that environment, different than you can in a 30,000 town thing. So I think you're right on track. What's the median price range?
Glen: Say about 500,000.
Dean: That's awesome.
Glen: So 450,000 is probably more accurate. Somewhere in there.
Dean: Right on. So I look at it in terms of your commission. So in the $12,000 to $15,000 range per side basically is what we're looking at. So that's good. Good to know. What is Nanaimo known for? What kind of special... I always look for categories. What are the most desirable things in Nanaimo? And I've never been to Nanaimo. I've been to Vancouver, I've been to Sechelt. But I've never been to Nanaimo?
Glen: So you've never been to the island at all?
Dean: Is it on Island?
Glen: Yeah.
Dean: Well, I went to Sechelt. Is that...
Glen: So directly across from Vancouver, Vancouver Island. So Nanaimo is directly across from Vancouver, 55 kilometers, whatever, 20 miles or whatever. And only by ferry.
Dean: That was the first side that I ever took a float plane. I took a float plane. The funny thing is that you're doing a big real estate seminar at the Pan Pacific. And this would have been 1997 or '98. 1987, first time I was ever in Vancouver. And we were there, it was a three day event. And it wasn't until day three of the event that when I opened the curtains in my window there, I saw that there was a mountain right outside my window there. So that was so funny. Grouse mountain was there. We had some our friends in Sechelt and I took a float plane from right outside the hotel there, right in the harbor out to a Sechelt. I mean just stunning, beautiful area.
Glen: Yeah. It's, world-class, it really is. And it's breathtaking, and full of life, and adventure.
Dean: So do you have waterfront homes there or… Yeah.
Dean: Is that a popular thing in Nanaimo? Like a luxury item or...
Glen: It would be luxury, yeah.
Dean: Perfect. Does that bother you, or is that okay?
Glen: I'm mixed on that. I mean, I cut my teeth on blue collar stuff. So I have a real comfort and I have a passion for that. The luxury stuff, I had a phase where I did build quite a few houses, so I built some luxury houses that was back in Alberta. So I know how they work. I know them quite well. But the clientele a little bit different than the blue collar that I would be used to. So if I had a comfort level, it'd be more blue collar.
Dean: Okay. And do you have... If were to shape the perfect business solution for you going forward, would you still... I mean, do you like going back and forth, or keeping involved in Alberta? Or would you prefer I just stay in Nanaimo? If we could have it anyway you want it.
Glen: Well, so when I was commuting a lot, I'd get the question, especially from frozen Alberta to beautiful west coast. But I'm in one, I like the other, and the more I'm in the other I like the previous. So yeah, I did like going back and forth. And if the business was set up properly, that would be be ideal. Yeah, for sure.
Dean: Okay. To go back and forth.
Glen: Absolutely, yeah.
Dean: Okay, perfect. I mean, everything that we're going to do is thinking about creating something that can run without you anyway. So it doesn't really matter where you are. You'll find this interesting. In our GoGo community we've got a couple of different guys that run businesses other places. I think John Glatch, he lives in California, runs a big real estate team in Phoenix. And Chris McAlister lives in Ohio, but he's got teams in Nashville and Florida. And so there's lots of great ways to... It's never been a better time to be multi location. Because as we've migrated to Cloud Landia, you can essentially be in both places. And most people now are completely happy with Zoom meetings meeting with people.
So you just need boots on the ground for actually physically looking at houses with people, but that's doable too. So I love it.
Glen: Well, I was just testing a few things. And so I went on Facebook messenger and I was just chatting with people. Someone was interested in what I had to say. And I said, "Can you walk me through your house? Do a video." And then I explained that I wasn't no where near them, and just the rapport was there, and I said the right things, and they had the right answers. And so, we had business.
Dean: I love it.
Glen: So that would be the perfect scenario.
Dean: Okay. Perfect. And so, let's just look at the assets that you have to enter into this with. If you've got this history in Alberta in terms of your relationships, how many people are you the incumbent real estate agent for in Alberta? Where in Alberta are you?
Glen: Edmonton.
Dean: In Edmonton. Okay. So in Edmonton, how many people are living in homes that you either built for them or helped them buy?
Glen: I figure about 1,000, 1,000 transactions.
Dean: And so if you look at it, that group of people, you're the incumbent realtor in their life if they're still living in that house. Meaning they don't have another real estate relationship yet, but that. What is your communication with those people look like now? Are you in great touch with them? Or are you sort of...
Glen: No.
Dean: No. Okay.
Glen: I got burnt out. And so when I finally moved to... When I stopped commuting, I was burnt out. I had to get a business coach to tell me, "Glen, you're burnt out." I didn't even know it. So the way I've looked at the last couple of years is I've stripped the old jalopy down to the frame. And that's what I got right now. Maybe there's some old wheels on it. But other than that, there's not much left. And I did that on purpose, because there's elements I just don't want to do in. I just can't do it anymore. I just don't want to do it so bad that I can't.
Dean: What is it specifically that you can't do that you don't want to do?
Glen: I think it's wearing just too many hats.
Dean: So what does that mean? Doing what? You can't do what? What do you call wearing a hat?
Glen: I guess what I'm saying is the business plan. I'm good with all of it, but not all of it at once.
Dean: Okay.
Glen: You talk about having the systems and processes?
Dean: Yeah.
Glen: That's what I need. And then I want to pick one that I'm really passionate about and just work on that.
Dean: Okay. So knowing what you know about the-
Glen: Does that make sense to you?
Dean: ... it does. But I want to get a sense of what specifically you meant by, if there's any specific activity that you're talking about that you don't like, or that wears you down. Let's just take it down to the basics here. Do you prefer working with listings or buyers?
Glen: Listings.
Dean: Okay. So you could be happy to never show another house, right?
Glen: Yeah. I think I would be happy at 95% listing and 5% buyers, because I don't mind showing houses. And in fact I would probably be happy showing houses all day long if someone else did all the follow up and all the paper work.
Dean: Got it. Which is all doable. And that's what the thing that I say to people often is, part of the thing with the listing agent lifestyle, which is the framework that I'm trying to create in our community here is that, we've got the business element of getting listings, multiplying your listings, getting referrals, converting leads, and finding buyers. We've got to handle all those five things. But the most important things are the lifestyle elements of daily joy, abundant time, and financial peace.
Those three knobs are what make it all worthwhile. That's what we've really got to balance. So I start with daily joy. What can you do... What is it that makes you joyful about the business? If you were to paint a day, what would joyful in my eyes is somebody calling you up and saying, "Hey, Glen, we've been getting your stuff for a long time and we're ready to sell our house. Can you come over and meet with us?" That would be a joyful experience for the day. And then you go over and you talk with them, and you strategize, and you decide that you're going to work together and you get them signed up as a new listing.
And then everything else falls into place, that nobody... You're not going to be taking measurements and taking pictures, and putting it in the MLS and doing all the paperwork stuff that anybody could do. And then the next joyful thing would be to get a call and say, "Hey, we got an offer on your listing." And now you go and negotiate the contracts. And then, as soon as you come to the agreement, you have the file to someone. And you never have to think about the paperwork of it or anything of that. So your day is filled with the joyful parts of doing real estate. Is that what's joyful for you?
Glen: Yeah. That would be a good summary. I liked the deal making. That aspect of it.
Dean: Yeah, of course. That's how we always say, most people say real estate is a great business if it wasn't for the people and the paperwork. It would be a great business. Meaning they like to cash the cheques, that's the most joyful part.
Glen: Sorry.
Dean: No, go ahead.
Glen: I mean, I let go of that part of it too and just try to dial into, what do I really like about the whole thing in it? And I love the human interaction. Put everything else aside, including the money, or maybe sometimes especially the money. I just loved that interaction. So that to me, is that joyfulness. I get freedom out of that.
Dean: Absolutely. And part of this, what's a corollary to that is that your financial peace level, meaning that your... I imagine that if you've got... If you've done 1,000 transactions, you've been all this time, you've built homes, you've done stuff, I would imagine that you're in a different position than you were when you out at 19, that you've got something to show for it so far. You're 50 years old and...
Glen: Well, you would think that, but it's not the case.
Dean: Okay.
Glen: Raised four kids. So I had a team and then I was in construction, and then just things changed. And so it all went pear shaped and it all disappeared one. And then we moved 1,500 kilometers for our children to be in gymnastics and then it disappeared again. So I'm in a weird position of starting from scratch, literally starting from scratch.
Dean: Okay. So there's an interesting thing then is this, for you right now, I know that we've got all the systems in place to do all of the business side elements of this. And for you, I'm really getting the feeling like it's got to come from locking the cover of the box in place, of what's the puzzle that we're trying to build here. Now at 50... I mean, I don't want to put words in your mouth. But certainly I know that at 50, my Vista changes. I've just turned 54. So, I know that my... First of all, what we have right now is you have a context of how long 30 years is that I didn't have at 21 and you didn't have any 18.
Glen: No.
Dean: If you think back in 1988, that we'd be sitting here in 2020 having a conversation about real estate, it wouldn't have even registered with you. That's so far in the future. So we have the ability to look now that... Essentially I look at it that we're at the halfway point of our adult life thing. I think it's pretty realistic to think that you have another 30 plus viable years, doing and contributing and earning money. The model of work to 65 and then retire, that's an old model now. It's not necessary to do that.
So I think the blended thing of picking the lifestyle that you want to have that can blend all of it, which could include spending time in Alberta, spending time in Nanaimo, and doing real estate and contributing in a way that is joyful to you and provides financial peace for you. So when you start to get back into how much money do you need to, or want to create to sustain that? What is it that you need, if you look at it... If you could have a trust fund that gave you that financial peace feeling, what scale of a lifestyle do you want to live? If we were just to say you can have what it is that you want, what would be a target, monthly... Because that's how we live our lives, monthly, basically. What would be a target monthly trust fund that would give you financial peace?
Glen: Well, financial piece, I guess I'm two minds of it. I really don't need a lot. I know we're in a business of transactions, right?
Dean: Yeah.
Glen: So the transactions, I'd like to do 100 a year. So that's my goal. Whatever, 100,000 a month.
Dean: Okay. Perfect. And so there's a difference-
Glen: Or slightly less than that. In my best years in Alberta, I was doing 60 transactions a year. I did some athletics and it was always about personal best. It's not me competing against you, it's just me competing against myself. And I just feel like there's a gear I haven't hit, there's a level to achieved. And there's a fire in me that says, I want it, and I need it. And it's just so like, -. Let's do it." Like you said about the Vista, the other thing that I've learned is, I don't have the energy I had.
Dean: ... true. Right.
Glen: So I really have to make sure I get enough sleep.
Dean: I had a great idea that... And I agree with you because I feel it too, that at 54 it's not the same as 20. And I mentioned to somebody, we should start an energy drink called Piss and Vinegar, because that's full of that even more.
Glen: Exactly.
Dean: I think it would be a big seller. So for anybody listening, let's test trial this. We'll put it out on Kickstarter. If you're a buyer for an energy drink called Piss and Vinegar, send me an email and let's see if we can get this started here. A short run, a craft energy drink, small batch, micro brewed energy drink. I would definitely want that. So the thing that is important here is to build it on the foundation of your lifestyle. The thing that's most useful... About 20 years ago, 1999, I went through a process with Thomas Leonard, who was the guy who basically started Coach University and certified coaches.
And the thing that we did was we created a program called a perfect life. And the idea, of course, was that it was about a perfect life, not the perfect life. So the implication is that there are 7 billion versions of a perfect life, and you have one and I have one, and I'm not trying to dictate what yours is. But what we did was, we went through a process of recognizing it when we got there. So we created this exercise of finishing the statement. I know I'm being successful when, and creating a top 10 list for yourself, of knowing when you're being successful.
And my top three that I think would maybe shine some light on what you're looking for there is that, my top three... I value time, freedom more than anything. More than money, more than anything. So mine was that I know I'm being successful when I can wake up every day and say, what would I do like to do today? So for me, I want to be in complete control of my schedule to do the things that I want to do. Then my second one is that, I know I'm being successful when my passive revenue exceeds my lifestyle needs. Even though you have aspirations to make more money, as do I, the thing that I come from is that I set out to establish a baseline, passive revenue that exceeds what my lifestyle needs is.
So what I am doing, I'm not doing to support my life. I don't need to do that to support my life, that I've got that part of it handled. No. That could be from income properties, it could be from a recurring revenue business, it could be from whatever it is that you've got. Or it could be from a system that generates consistent business for you without you having to involve your time in it. Meaning people call you up and say, "Come and list to my house," enough that that level of income is going to cover what living your base lifestyle is.
Because if your goal is 100 transactions, that's going to be over a million dollars probably. But you may find that you could happily live your life on 20,000 a month. That would be... So everything to establish that as the first thing. Then my third one is, I know I'm being successful when I'm working on projects I'm excited about and doing my very best work. And the word smithing of that statement for me was something... It was important that it is infinitely scalable. Those three things are as valid to be now, 21 years later, as they were then. And it's been about living my life within that framework, but constantly, like you said, seeing how high is high.
I'm working on projects I'm excited about and I'm doing my very best work, which is better than my very best work was in 1999 and better than it was in 1988. And I make way more money and have way more money than I had at both of those stages. So it's infinitely scalable. My perfect life metaphor for this was that I wanted to live my life like an artist with a $50,000 a month trust fund. And that sums that all up. Because I want to chase my whims, I want to do what I feel creatively and the thing that brings me joy. But I also want to have a nice life. I want to have a great house, I want to drive nice cars, I want to fly first class, I want to stay in five star hotels. I want all of that stuff without... I don't want to be a starving artist.
Glen: Well, the thing about artists that I like what you just said is mastery as well. I think DaVinci, I think Picasso, I loved the mastery part of that, what you just said.
Dean: Yeah. So that's great. I mean, you're on that right side there. And I think that that would be a great exercise there. On listing agent lifestyle one of the episodes is an interview with Tony Robbins. Tony Robins did a program called the new money masters. And I was one of the guests that he had on the show. We talked through that whole process. That's been, I think, one of the driving things for me. So I like to share that. Now when you look at that, then we look at what would be the ideal split of the time for you. I like to split time to, I live in Florida most of the year. And for a lot of years, I would almost equally split time between Toronto and Florida.
I would spend five months in Toronto, seven months in Florida, and that over the last five years or so, I sold my house in Toronto. But I've been traveling all summer. So I go to Toronto, and London, and Amsterdam, and Australia. Every summer I go on a world tour, and that's a great, joyful, thing for me. So I love how all of the discussion around the business stuff really is set in a context or a backdrop of what your actual lifestyle wants to be, and the things that bring you joy.
Glen: Well, I've learned that, that that's a real important thing to be routed to. Since there's no Piss and Vinegar drink yet, and so I just found out -.
Dean: There might be at the end. If the public demands it, you never know. This is going to be something. I think that's a hashtag Piss and Vinegar for anybody listening. Let's get this rolling.
Glen: That's awesome. So once it became rooted in lifestyle, I'd wordsmith that for me. But I totally hear what you're saying. Once I realized that it was okay to think about my health and welfare and wellbeing, and not be thinking about everybody else, and clients, and staff, this thing is just a whole weight got lifted.
Dean: Yes, I love that.
Glen: The burden seems to be gone. And I don't want to add -.
Dean: Yeah, that's the whole thing. Because the real currency that we can't get back is the time. And so, we want to make sure that we're doing stuff that is not... You're not spending your time in things that are not joyful.
Glen: So you'd asked me about time, I mean, I would like to spend, say, 80% of my time right now on Vancouver Island, and then 20% roughly back in Edmonton. Actually weird thing is, I miss winter.
Dean: You do?
Glen: I do. Yeah.
Dean: Wow.
Glen: Weird, huh?
Dean: yeah.
Glen: So it's been two years now where I didn't experience winter really and I miss it. So I need to experience that. I mean, I'd like to say, I want to do the world traveling and all that. But right now I just want to... That's why I'd be 80% on Vancouver Island, 20% back in Alberta, and some of that will be in the winter.
Dean: A couple of weeks every quarter kind of thing, or would you do it all at once?
Glen: I'd probably try to figure out a way where I'm three days in, and then 20 days out, something like that.
Dean: Okay.
Glen: - like that.
Dean: Okay. I like it. So that's very cool. And I think that when you start to look at this, that part of the asset that you have right now is that those 1,000 people that are living in the homes that you helped them buy, that you're the incumbent real estate agent. If they haven't moved, then you're still the guy. I imagine that it would probably surprise you. Or see, if we were to look them up those 1,000 people that do you suspect that some of them have moved without you?
Glen: Yeah. Certainly some have. Certainly some definitely haven't. And it'll be like calling an old friend. So I had a giddy feeling that when I finally let go of Edmonton and that was it, I'm not going back, I had a giddy feeling. But after a period of time, I just kept thinking about it and the roots are so deep. So the giddiness left. But I did. I left it alone knowing that some of it or a good portion of it will still be there if I wanted to pick it back up again. And now I want to pick it back up again if there's no burden.
Dean: Okay, perfect. So when was the last time that they would have heard from you?
Glen: Over two years ago.
Dean: Okay, that's fine. Nothing wrong with that. And if you were to say... You've got 1,000, which there's value in that because certainly you are the guy, then there are... Within that, what I would portion out is your top 150. The ones that if you saw them at the grocery store, you'd stop and have a conversation with them. You'd recognize them by name and they'd go, "Hey, how are you?" Because I suspect that with 1,000 of them, if we were to take a line item list of them and just look at their names, I bet that there's a lot of those 1,000 that you wouldn't be able to pick out of a lineup, if you...
Glen: Or it's the other way around. You recognize them but you don't know their name, right?
Dean: Right. Exactly. I mean, that's the thing. That's why I said-
Glen: I know the face, but I just don't know that name.
Dean: ... yes, exactly. And so that's a big part of it, is identifying who are the ones who you do have a relationship with. That's an important part of the foundation of it, actually. The foundation of it actually. We should be number, one looking at managing that relationship portfolio for a 20% annual yield that we should be able to do 30 transactions just from that group of people. And so if we look at it right now, did you do transactions in Alberta in the last two years?
Glen: Just a few. Yeah, I have.
Dean: Just referrals?
Glen: Yeah.
Dean: Okay. So we're starting back up thing of there. And so, one of the first things will be reconnecting with them. And a good way to restart, especially with your 150 as a good way to kind of roll it out, is to start with a reconnection letter, where you're just sending a letter that reintroduces thing, sharing, honestly, what's going on. Telling the story of how you went through... Building a business all in Alberta. You spent a long time there, you loved it. But Nanaimo called to for your family, you spent all this time doing that. But as longer you were here, you realize Alberta's always going to have a part of your heart.
And so you're excited to be back and not let go. And part of that is, I really want to reconnect with you. That would be a really good start to do that. And it might be a nice thing to have a bowling party or an event thing to start with people. So coming back, a lot of these 150, you probably haven't seen them in a long time. When's your birthday?
Glen: Christmas day.
Dean: Wow. Look at you. So, that's funny.
Glen: Why do you ask that?
Dean: Well, why do I ask that is, one of the things that make sense is that the context of this letter could be that as you turn 50, you realize that this is really where your heart is, and you want to stay involved there. And either come to my birthday party. When I moved to Florida, I would start out the year... When I came back in the summers, I would want to reconnect with people. And so I rented out the bowling alley for my birthday one year, and just invited everybody, all my friends.
And it was this super reunion birthday party that was just fun. Everybody came and they brought their kids and we reconnected, and it was fun. I was amazed actually at how many people came. And so that's a fun thing to reconnect with people that way. And then start now establishing this routine of every month we have the world's most interesting postcard, which is a simple, easy way to stay in touch with people. And at the same time, program them to pay attention, to hear conversations about real estate so that they can introduce you to the people. Got you. And I think that foundation right there is looking at how you can connect with those people and Build your team of collaborators, that who's going to be your boots on the ground there if somebody wants to look at homes, or somebody needs to list their house, while you're in Nanaimo.
Glen: Okay.
Dean: And just start easing it that way. And then at the before unit pick an area where you want to be established. Is there any area in particular that you would like to get listings in either of those areas or...
Glen: Like in geographic here?
Dean: Yeah. I mean, if you look at in Edmonton or in Nanaimo, because you're going to run businesses parallel, is that what you're thinking?
Glen: Yeah, that's my thinking.
Dean: So if you're thinking... And I would, by the way, pick the 150 people that you know in Nanaimo too and do the same thing. Because that's where it is. It's like the free money baseline. We want to look at for $1,500 a year to send those postcards to everybody, postage and whatever included. It's high yield. And it's one of those things you can do to set it and forget it.
Glen: And that of course is appealing. I guess, what's going through my mind is just start with these things and let go of everything else.
Dean: Yeah. I mean, just startlingly... Because it's the building effect. If you look at building on that foundation, every month that you send that postcard... Here's what happens is, you send one out and people notice that and they get it. And you see them and they go, "Hey, I got your postcard." And then for three months in a row you send it. And now they recognize it as a pattern. And they recognize that you're framing the backside of it. Just a quick note, in case you hear someone talking about whatever, a high profitability conversation would be, somebody buying their first house, or selling their house, or buying a vacation property, or an investment property, or moving to the country, or building a house, whatever.
All the different possible conversations that people could hear, that you can plant that seed in their minds that when they hear that, that they're going to call you.
Glen: Okay.
Dean: And then you start layering on top of it then. Where do you want to in the before unit get listings? What areas do you want to focus on?
Glen: Okay. So I'll dig into that. The postcard is the critical base building foundational part of it.
Dean: This where you've got the most equity. You've got relationships and it's competition proof. You're the incumbent realtor. Most people want to, and in surveys say that they would 100% be happy to use the realtor that they worked with again. But only 22% of them do because nobody keeps in touch with them. So just keeping in touch with them puts you... There's not going to go more than 30 days without having your smiling face and your phone number right there in their hand, "That reminds me, I got a call Glen."
Glen: Yeah. Perfect. Okay. All right. And in fact, that's something that I can have someone to do for me. I can delegate that task.
Dean: Yeah, we can do it. In GoGo agent, all of the things that we show all the programs, all have an easy button right beside them. Here's how you do it yourself if you want to do it.
Glen: I see.
Dean: Or you can push the easy button and we'll do it for you. So that's the-
Glen: Yeah, I saw the easy button, but I didn't hit it.
Dean: ... right. That's what it is.
Glen: Okay. That's a perfect. Now, I'm told.
Dean: There you go. Now you don't have to do anything. We can do it. You just decide what you want to do and we're the who's that can do it for you.
Glen: Okay. Now it's clicking. Thank you.
Dean: I love it.
Glen: Can you feel the weight being lifted from-
Dean: Yes, I did. Now you're like, "Say no more. Now I get it."
Glen: ... I'm like, "Man, I've been reading your stuff, bro. And then you mentioned the easy button and all I have to do is get it, okay."
Dean: You're like, "That sounds like a lot of work, bro." Yeah, I get it. Now you're like, "Okay. Say no more."
Glen: Okay. Cool.
Dean: Well, now what's your take then. It's been an hour. What's your summary or your take on everything we've talked about?
Glen: From our conversation?
Dean: Yeah. We've covered a lot.
Glen: I don't know. It's just great to talk to you. So thank you for that. I'm very grateful. I think just the reinforcement of what can be done. And I'm in a mental place where the way it's got to be, it's got to be joyful. I won't do it. I really won't. I'll dig ditches instead.
Dean: Yes, absolutely.
Glen: And I'm not joking about that. But I want to contribute and I know I can. And so, it's like the light at the end of the tunnel has grown bigger that I feel like I can add to the passion a little bit and the excitement coming back. And so, thank you very much.
Dean: That's awesome. Well, I really enjoyed it. It's great to talk to another grizzled veteran, 30 years of service. So that's awesome.
Glen: Thank you very much.
Dean: Well, I look forward to stay in touch. Thanks, bud.
Glen: Okay. And have a great day.
Dean: You too. Bye. And there we have it, another great episode. And if you'd like to continue the conversation, you can go to listingagentlifestyle.com. You can download a copy of the listing agent lifestyle book, the manifesto that shares everything that we're talking about here. And you can be a guest on the show. If you'd like to talk about how we can build a listing agent lifestyle plan for your business, just click on the, Be A Guest link at listingagentlifestyle.com. And if you'd like to join our community of people who are applying all of the things we talk about in the listing agent lifestyle, come on over to gogoagent.com.
So we've got all the programs, all the tools, everything you need to get listings to multiply your listings, to get referrals, convert leads, and to find buyers. And you can get a free, truly free no credit card required trial for 30 days at gogoagent.com. So come on over and I will see you there.