Ep.70/ Top 1% Real Estate Agent & Author Debbi DiMaggio
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Today you're going to hear from California based top 1% real estate agent Debbi DiMaggio, who is an author, philanthropist and true connector. She has trained hundreds of real estate agents and has been named in the 2023 RealTrends + Tom Ferry America’s Best Real Estate Professionals. Debbi will talk about the secrets to her success, fun stories about salvaging deals that were about to fall through, pickleball and her shaman!
Debbi has also written four books including the Art of Real Estate, which she co-wrote with her husband and partner, Adam Betta, Real Estate Rules: 52 Ways to Achieve Success in Real Estate, plus Contained Beauty, and Beauty at any Age.
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Do you want to know the five rules to live by so you can have a more passionate and purposeful life?
Today you're going to hear from California based top 1% real estate agent Debbi DiMaggio. She's passionate about helping others find their passion, live their dreams, and achieve their goals. Debbi is a master marketer, community builder and tech savvy guru who embraces the fast paced real estate market. One of her favorite aspects of selling a home is a preparation phase prior to market where she uses her design and style acumen to bring a home from lived-in to staged-to-sell.
Debbi has also written four books including the Art of Real Estate, which she co-wrote with her husband and partner, Adam Betta, Real Estate Rules: 52 Ways to Achieve Success in Real Estate, Contained Beauty, and Beauty at any Age.
In this episode you will learn:
The five rules to live by that will improve your quality of life
Real estate marketing tips to help you become a top realtor
Why you need to unplug once in a while to have a balanced life
Quotes from our guest:
“Follow your passion, live your purpose.”
“No is not an option, there is a way.”
“If you do not ask, you'll never find your way.”
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GUEST LINKS:
Debbi’s Instagram
Debbi’s Website
Kim (00:02):
Today you're going to hear from California based top 1% real estate agent Debbi DiMaggio. She'll talk about the secrets to her success, fun stories about salvaging deals that we're about to fall through pickleball and her shaman.
(00:16):
Welcome to the Exit interview with Kim Rittberg. Do you work for yourself and want to supercharge your business while still having fun? Well, this is your go-to podcast, part MBA Part Cheer Squad. Every week I'll be joined by top business owners who share the secrets to their success. After I found myself working during childbirth true story, I quit my executive media job to bet on myself fighting the fear and imposter syndrome to eventually earn six awards, an in-demand speaking career and features in Fast Company and Business Insider. Now I'm here to celebrate all you rock stars betting on yourself, and I want to help you win. If you're self-employed, you're a founder, entrepreneur, coach, real estate agent, consultant or solo practitioner, and you want to learn about business development, revenue growth, marketing strategy, productivity, publicity, sales, social media, content creation, confidence and work-life balance, it's achievable. I promise this podcast is for you. Tune in every Wednesday to hear from remarkable founders and don't miss our Solo Friday episodes, a treasure trove of video and podcasting mini masterclasses with me. Exit the grind, enter success on your own terms. Don't forget to subscribe today and grab my free video tips at my website, kim rittenberg.com.
(01:37):
If you are a real estate agent coach or other self-employed professional and looking to kickstart your sales with video, or maybe you're posting but you're not seeing results, you know you're the expert, but you feel like you're not seen as that. Well, I have a great new video bootcamp launching in mid-October. The wait list is open now apply today. Past students have seen referrals directly through our work together. They are scooping up clients directly from video. Others have said you'd be nuts not to take this course. That is a great testimonial, right? I teach you about video and social media across the country, including at the national conference for Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and the recent Fast Company Festival. So join me. It's going to be so much fun and we'll learn a lot. Click the link in the show notes. And as you know, I just did a big rebrand for this podcast and did an awesome headshot shoot, that's very hard to say.
(02:22):
And of course I like talking about balance. It was like the opposite of balance. The very first day my kids went back to school was when I had my headshot. That's just the way the schedule worked. I wanted the new rebrand to happen when I was speaking at the Fast Company Festival, so it was about 90 degrees, which is like 120 degrees because I live in New York City and the heat just radiates off of the asphalt. So it's been a bit of a crazy few weeks, but I'm really excited to be with you with the new rebranded show and we've got so many great guests coming out and I've gotten awesome feedback from you all about it. So just love sharing a little tidbit from my life, top 1% real estate and passionate life coach Debbi DiMaggio joins us. She tells us about how she got to the top, shares some fun stories about salvaging deals that we're about to fall through, and we also talk about pickleball and her working with her shaman.
(03:11):
Okay, exit interview listeners. We have a really cool West Coast person on the show today. Her name is Debbi DiMaggio. She's passionate about helping others find their passion, live their dreams, and achieve their goals. Her mantras are details do make the difference you do not know until you try and never give up. There is always a way from Piedmont to Beverly Hills. She is an author, a real estate leader, a mother and a philanthropist. Debbi DiMaggio is a master marketer, community builder and tech savvy guru who embraces the fast paced real estate market. It's definitely fast paced, that is for sure. One of her favorite aspects of selling a home is a preparation phase prior to market where she uses her design and style acumen to bring a home from, lived in to stage to sell. She coordinates every detail from contractors and stagers to home inspectors and photographers and because she's so good, she's a realtor in the top 1.5% of all real estate agents nationwide. She's also authored four books Contain Beauty, the Art of Real Estate, which she co-wrote with her husband and partner, Adam Beta. Real Estate Rules 52 Ways to Achieve Success in Real Estate and During Covid Beauty at any age because age is just an attitude. Debbi, thank you so much for joining us.
Debbi (04:15):
Thank you for having me, Kim. I'm so excited to be here.
Kim (04:18):
This is so great. Okay. I loved hearing how you sort of accidentally fell into real estate. Tell me how you got into it.
Debbi (04:25):
When people would ask me growing up and all throughout my life, what do you want to do when you grow up? I don't remember what I said. I probably said a model or something. I love fashion. I was 25 and people were still asking me, what do you want to do? And I said, I want to do something with purpose and passion. I always wanted to do something that meant something that I was helping others, but I knew I did not want to do real estate. So the only thing I knew I did not want to do was real estate because my father was in real estate. He was always on the phone. We couldn't take vacations because some big deal was coming up and it was just I didn't like the way of life. So fast forward to 27, I got my real estate license after working a few different jobs because I didn't like the idea that someone was above me dictating my future.
(05:10):
I like to work hard, I like to have homework. I like to do stuff after hours. I love helping people. I want to do things on my own. I don't want a boss. So after a few jobs in my twenties, it ended up being that real estate was the thing that fed all those different personality traits that I love, helping others, having a beginning, the middle and an end. In a real estate transaction, you have to help people, whether it's a buyer or seller, you have a get into contract and then there's a closing. So I like that full circle close. And yes, I did find that we're on the phone all the time and our kids have lived with us being on the phone all the time wherever we are in the world. But it's okay because we get to be with them because technology is so different. When dad was doing it, there was no cell phone.
Kim (05:57):
Right. That's true. That's true. So now I guess my question would be then is do you feel like you're working as much as you saw your dad do when you were a kid?
Debbi (06:06):
Gosh, I'm a workaholic, so it might even be more. He is better at taking time, but I love what I do so much that if someone calls, I was in the Hamptons yesterday and we set up an appointment time to speak. He was on the west coast, I was on the east coast and he's looking to buy a $5 million house. Are you kidding? I would take that call all day long and also I got to help him. He doesn't know where he wants to move, he needs to know neighborhood. So I just go into my whole thing and I'm sitting on the bench in South Hampton. I mean, it doesn't get better than that. And I went back in and had my rose
Kim (06:41):
And for all the listeners, Debbi is in her bio that I read out earlier. It talks about her style and you'll see on her Instagram, Debbi is really stylish and very chic, and I think that that's true. Like you were saying about bringing your passions together, you have these passions. You love style as a kid, and now it is a part of your job. Yes. You're not a clothing designer. No, you're not a model, but it is a part of your business. You've been very successful, obviously top 1.5% of real estate agents nationwide. What would you say is your superpower and how do you harness that to get to the top?
Debbi (07:15):
I think we all have our own things, and my husband and I are extremely different. We're partners for over 35 years in the business and he is very like, he likes to be at the office at his desk, front and center. He likes, he's got his assistants and everything and he's there. For me, I'm kind of all over the place, but I really connect with the one thing is that I want to help people and that just keeps coming through. And so if someone has a question or they call me, I get right back to that. A lot of times it's easy, it's nothing complicated, it's just people, they need to hear back communication. I'm a super communicator. It's like someone emails me on a zero, it's one minute and I'm responding. It's like people want to be heard and when someone's reaching out on something, usually, especially in real estate or coaching, it's pretty important.
(08:07):
And so you want to get back to them right away so they don't wait. I know when I'm working with another agent on the other side, and I so appreciate there's this new agent that I really want to hire, we just did a deal together and he said, Debbi, do you know I'm new? I said, no. I said, I just want to commend you. You have been the excellent communicator. I said, and he was thanking me for being so kind and responsive because he was asking a lot of questions and it was fine. I was happy to respond, but I said, I did say you're lucky you got me because not all agents will be as responsive. Not only am I responsive to the clients, but I'm also responsive to the agents. And it's a stressful time when someone's buying or selling a house and the agents are stressed.
(08:48):
You don't know what the other agent's going through. You don't know how that client is behaving towards that agent. So the most important thing is that everyone works together for a common goal and just to be kind and to be responsive, that's all we need. Pick up the phone. Oftentimes I always try to pick up the phone. If someone wants to speak to me, they can say, can we talk? And I'm sure right away now, fine, but sometimes people won't pick up the phone and that could kill a deal. It also leaves a bad taste, even if the deal goes through. It just can be really upsetting when there's no need.
Kim (09:22):
I think that is interesting because a lot of times I work with a lot of real estate agents and I do think that everyone has their own special sauce, what their passionate about, what their superpower is. It's like any other industry, but I do think it is because it's such a person to person business, you caring about people and people feel that if you respond to somebody within a minute, they'll remember that. If you take five days, you remember that. And I've hired, right, exactly. And what's interesting, I've hired freelancers for various things for my business, graphic designer, someone to help you with my accounting, all of these things that are not my zone of genius, if you will, not the thing that I'm the best at, and some are so communicative and so good the way that you write their emails, they'll send me a Loom video explaining stuff. I'm like, that's so good. Your work is good. But being able to communicate exactly what I need, where things are, what's the next step, it's really a gift. So I can see that that's an important part of what's grown you. That's cool. Talk to me about your coaching foundation for success. How did you start coaching? What does coaching look like? Do you only coach real estate agents? Talk to me about how that's evolved, how that's started and how that's evolved.
Debbi (10:29):
Sure. So I've been selling real estate for over 35 years, and so I've got a lot of knowledge and a lot of information. And over the last, I don't know, probably than 10 years now, I've had young people come to me to Beam and my intern one year I had four interns. I said, if I'm going to have one, I might as well have four. So I just naturally, people were coming to me, young people were coming to me, and then people I didn't know. I spoke at Inman before and Luxury Connect, and when you're speaking, people start to get to know you and when they reach out, I'm always super grateful. So I always want to give back. So I remember doing a coaching session before I even called it coaching. They said they were out of Palm Springs, I think, and I spent an hour and a half with them just talking with them and answering their questions.
(11:12):
So my formal coaching, I didn't really formalize that till probably again, covid because I had time. Real estate was really busy, but I also had to try to turn that off while I'm home, turn that off and move to the next thing. So I decided to formalize my coaching. I've always coached realtors. We started our own company in 2009, real estate company. So of course I was coaching all the agents and I wanted, when we started the new company, I wanted 'em to be able to really be comfortable because when you start a new company or move, as anyone knows, if you move to a new company, there's a learning curve. So I wanted to make it super easy. So for years I've been coaching real estate agents and then during Covid, I was talking to a friend in Park City and she has been trying to write her book for 20 years.
(11:59):
I said, you know what, Marita, I'm going to coach you. I'm going to hold you accountable and every week we are going to meet and you're going to have homework and I'm going to check in and we are going to get this book published. This story brings tears to my eyes. Her life has changed so dramatically. Her parents are super proud. She went through times when she was nervous. It was based loosely on her family. She was nervous about when she finally did publish the book, should she share it with her parents? There was so many stories, but I held her accountable. We worked together and she had homework and deadlines. When we sold her house, we sold her a couple houses. When we sold her house she had, or when we were just hanging out with her before she sold her house, her wall was all typewritten notes on the wall, her book was all on the wall, all taped up to the wall.
(12:47):
And I'll never forget that, and that was like 20 years ago. And so her friends now that she's published are like, oh my God, they all knew she had been working on this book forever and now she's working on her second book. So it was just amazing. So after I did that, she referred me to another friend and she wanted to like, what do you want to learn? She was like, I really need, I want to learn social media. I want to do this, this, and that. So I really coached her from her very first post into, now she has her own podcast. I mean, it's incredible. And she had two huge losses, a sister who passed, a friend who was killed in a car crash. And I was one of her people that she spoke to weekly. Just helping her through everything and helping her just grow and just find another outlet.
(13:31):
When I see her on social media now, I'm just like, I cannot believe back when she was just so, I mean, she had a lot of loss. She'll never not experience that loss, but it's been really incredible. So then I coached with her and then I realized people would ask me, can you help me with this? And I've never had anyone ask me to do something that I wasn't able to coach them on. I think that comes from being a mother of two, a wife, a business person, a realtor, just a passion for understanding things. Recently I helped someone with her brand. She's doing a sauce. And so I did a lot of research during Covid, again, because my husband makes a really good bolognese sauce. So we did everything down to the kitchen. We went to Colorado, we went to the kitchen to do the whole science of the food, and I had done labeling and patent and just everything. So for the last couple months, I've been coaching this other gal on her food product. So there's pretty much nothing I don't think I can't do. But real estate is obviously a natural, and I love to give back to other realtors. So I don't believe we're competitors. So I really love helping other real estate agents like myself just to succeed and to find their way, whether they're new or they're seasoned and they just need a punch to get them revved up.
Kim (14:51):
And speaking of your coaching, I know you have your five rules to live by. Can you take me through those rules?
Debbi (14:57):
Oh my gosh, I have so many rules. Well, one of the things is follow your passion, live your purpose. That is really something. I just believe that when people can identify that and they can live who they're, it's just really elevates you. No is not an option. You cannot say you can't. There is a way, no is not an option. There is a way. You also have to ask if you don't ask, how do we know if I'm sitting here with you, if you wanted something, I could probably figure out who to connect you with or how to make it happen. I've done that for people. Just crazy things. So if you do not ask, you'll never find your way. And it's not hard. There's probably someone in your own sphere who could help you get to where you want if you only ask. And what are the other ones? I have so many. Do you have any down there?
Kim (15:49):
Start your day with a good and inspiring morning routine.
Debbi (15:52):
Oh my gosh. Well, that's a whole five things in itself. I mean, I'm always looking for inspirational quotes, and then I like to post once a day, something that moves me. I also recommend, again, I discovered, thank God, I don't want to say thank God for Covid, but I did a lot during Covid because I had to explore and figure out what else I was going to do rather than traveling around. So I always find a really good YouTube video. So I discovered YouTube during I had time to discover YouTube and really spend time on YouTube. And so a lot of cool documentaries, but also just so many inspirational people. It's just amazing and what you can learn. And right now I'm really into Eddie Panero. He has a really great YouTube. So the other day I was walking three hour walk through the Hamptons, down the beach and around the pond and around the beautiful homes, and it was like three hour podcast and super motivational. So you don't have to take that much time, but a nice morning quote, find it on Instagram, follow me, listen to something inspirational. There's short inspirational messages on YouTube that you can listen to and really just have private time. And then if you can fit in a gratitude practice and just writing your goals, I think it all sets you up for a really nice day.
Kim (17:11):
Where do you think people get blocked up? Like you were saying, let's say I wanted to do something but I couldn't get through. You could sit down and figure out what I need to do, who I need to contact. Where do you think most people get blocked up?
Debbi (17:23):
I hate to say it, but I think they're lazy. They like to complain and they don't really want to do it. And so if someone comes to me, you better believe it. I was trying to get this gal to take her test and pass her test. I'm like, you're not going to come sit with me every week. We've done everything we can do until, but now, and if you don't want to, you have to do it. I can't do that for you. For someone wanting to get their house ready for market, I can't throw away your things. I can get your house ready for market and make it really pretty, but I can't go through the purge process. That's what you got to do. So I just think a lot of times, and I have friends, it's like they like to complain and not fix it. When someone says, I'm an action person, so if someone says something, I will listen, but I'll also give you some constructive advice on things that I think you should do. I just see it. I'm very intuitive. I just see what people need, and I guess it has to be on their own time. But when people are ready, come to me and I can help you. I don't know why. I just can't.
Kim (18:29):
Debbi, tell me about your two kids.
Debbi (18:31):
So Bianca is my first. She's 30. She lives in Manhattan on the lower East side. And she is always giving me shit about being on Instagram. And I stumble along doing my best, but she'll give me a hard time sometime. And she's 30. She works for Hearst, which is super cool. Actually, when I was growing up, I remember, I think I even still have the letter that I wrote to Hearst, wanting to work for Hearst Magazine. I always wanted to work for magazine. So I'm so happy for my daughter. She's doing two of my dreams, working for a magazine and living in New York. I mean, I would follow my daughter's footsteps. She's amazing. And she's my best friend, chase, he's my little boy. He's 27, so he is not so little. I was always worried that when he grew up, he was going to be a boy. He'd grow up and go off and leave me and couldn't be further from the truth. We're super close. And another little covid story, kind of covid fallout, he was going to move back to Denver. They both went to school in Boulder and he was going to move back to Denver, and he ended up getting this real estate license and now he works with us and it couldn't be better.
Kim (19:42):
And how has being a parent impacted your choices?
Debbi (19:45):
Well, I guess when I started real estate, it wasn't for the kids, but really staying in it and embracing it for sure, because nothing better than being able to go to every single game. When they were playing sports where you had to fly places, we could always go and take time because we had phones, we have DocuSign, we have backend faxes. It's just given us the time to be with them wherever and whenever. I mean, you'll see me, I'll be visiting Bianca when she first moved to New York and every month or so I'd go just, I missed her so much and I'd be walking down Park Avenue and there's all the tool ups, and I'd literally be standing on Park Avenue on the phone speaking to a client, and then I'd be in front of the Met on the phone speaking to a client, and I'd be up early just walking around the city. So it's really great to be able to do tooth coaching. You can do from anywhere and have clients from anywhere, which is super cool. And then with real estate, it's super flexible with all the technology we have today. And of course, obviously sometimes you have to be in person, but I've never gone that long.
Kim (20:59):
And talk to me about balance. Do you have balance and what does it look like to you?
Debbi (21:03):
I think I have balance. I mean, I do work a lot. I really like it and I like to complete things, but I think I do because I get up early. I'm not part of any of these 5:00 AM clubs. I get up at three and four because we have kitties, but I think I live my life, those people who do the 5:00 AM club, I get up and do my own thing. So I like to get up early. I wake up naturally. If I can sleep, that would be great, but I can't. But I wake up early and energized and I go through my morning routine, which I have honed and made. Now I have it very succinct, so I have it. I like to detail things. You write out, part of the things that I coach about is writing it out. You have to write it out so then it becomes a habit.
(21:45):
You'll hear about people coaching on this all the time, but that was my thing. I write down everything and then it becomes a habit. So having my morning time, I have a couple hours to myself, which is awesome. And then during the day, you're always working with clients or getting the houses ready or buyers or offers or whatever. But then today I have an office meeting shortly and then I'll go through emails, and then I'm going to meet with girlfriends for lunch at 1230. So I always try to fit everything in. And then tomorrow night we have bocce, and then I play pickleball. And then one day we were playing pickleball, and it's a new country club we just joined. So I don't know everyone that well. They don't dunno really who I'm, and so we were both working on a real estate deal and Adam's like, it's your turn.
(22:34):
I'm going to the Giants game you're on, we're in encounter right now, or they will probably counter us. So I'm playing pickleball. And then I kept looking over at my phone and waiting for the call. And then I said, oh, I'll be right back. I have to take this counter or something. And I got back and the guy was like, how was the hamburgers at the counter? And I'm like, whatcha talking about? He was like, I thought you said you were going to the counter to get a hamburger. First of all, I don't need hamburger. Second of all, no, I ran off. I go, I'm so sorry, I got to go. I got to go for a second. We ended up getting the deal and my son's at home, he's about to go to the airport. I said, this is the counter. This is what you have to write. Send it to the agent. Just type out exactly this, send it to her. We ended up getting the deal. It was crazy. And so I got back and I'm like, okay, let's go.
Kim (23:21):
Wait. So you got the deal. Did you also win the pickleball game?
Debbi (23:25):
I don't recall.
Kim (23:28):
That's what's really important, really important. Winning the pickleball game,
Debbi (23:32):
It was fine. It was fun. It was just, yeah, it was really great.
Kim (23:37):
Okay. Is there ever some time where you're truly unplugged, like you unplugged, you're at a music festival, or you're out somewhere, you're totally unplugged?
Debbi (23:47):
I did go to Elton John. I was unplugged. I mean, yes, I dunno if this is unplugged, but I was writing my Peloton this morning and I was listening to Cold Play and I was truly tuned in and just when I watch him perform and the music, I'm just, it's so beautiful. So I don't dunno. Is that what you call it? Unplugged.
Kim (24:08):
Okay, so there's three hours of unplugged on the beach. 45 minutes of Unplugged Peloton. Alright. I mean, yeah, sort of. Sure.
Debbi (24:15):
Massage at a massage last night at a massage, right?
Kim (24:18):
I think it's interesting. So I think it's perspective. When I was younger, I took a year, I backpacked around the world. So when I got back to being a regular person with a regular job, I was like, Ugh, how can anyone only have two weeks of vacation a year? That's not enough. And okay, it's definitely not enough, but you just get used to whatever you can have. I did a vacation actually this past summer in June. I went to London and Barcelona with the kids. That was the first time in a while. I truly had an out of office. I did not check my work email at all. I have on my thing, if this is urgent, text me, but I'm like, I'm in London and Barcelona with my kids and my husband. I timed all of my deadline driven work to be right before and other to start after.
(25:00):
But that was one of the first times for 10 days, I was totally unplugged. I took photos and videos while we were on vacation, but I wasn't posting to social. I wasn't emailing literally nothing. And I didn't even, normally I would maybe delegate to a virtual assistant or a social manager, which I don't have right now, but to post on my behalf for social. But I'm like, I don't even want to think about it. It's summertime. I didn't even, so that was fun. But yes, I think unplugging can be whatever unplugging means to you. Debbi,
Debbi (25:29):
I did, did unplug once. Now that you said it, you reminded me. I, I was in Cuba and so there was no internet. I was on a yacht and we were, so my husband was home, he was running the business. I was completely unplugged in Cuba.
Kim (25:47):
Can you give me your best? Obviously I'm a marketing person. We work together, so can you give me your best real estate marketing tips?
Debbi (25:54):
My best marketing tip. So communication is key. Educate. You're always educating the client, whether you're educating the seller about how we're going to get their home ready for market and the process or the buyers. So Chase and I are working together and he had some new buyers and he said they decided not to write the offer. They got so overwhelmed when I was asking them about what we wanted in the offer. What kind of a close of escrow do you want? A contingency appraisal contingency, a loan contingency, a home inspection contingency. So they got so overwhelmed. So what I did was educated them. I wrote a blog, very succinct blog, and I shared that with Chase to share with the first time home buyers. And now I always have that blog. So educate, communicate, inspire. So people love to go open houses. People love to see what's the new color, where do you buy that, what type of light fixture, what type of counter? So inspiring, whether that's design or how to live in your home. I mean, I wouldn't have my home on the market the way my home is pink and white.
(27:00):
So I'd always say, we have to neutralize your house for market. I go through, so I always use myself in this example. I always kind of poke fun at myself. Well, I wouldn't put my house on the market and the condition that's in house. I want to paint my cabinets pink now. And really working with your colleagues is so important. I mean, I was just in South Hampton, she's a friend, but I went with her to introduce her to a real estate agent I had met when I spoke at one of our real estate conferences for Corcoran in Nashville. The agent and I were on a panel together and she's in the Hamptons. So I introduced my girlfriend here on the west coast to my realtor friend. And then I went to help her get her house ready for market and spend the week in South Hampton. And then so I was able to also work with the agent and communicate and help them communicate. And so really whether you are referring someone or there's an agent on the other side, it's really working together. Teamwork. Teamwork makes dream work super important.
Kim (28:02):
And I love what you're saying about education. Obviously I work with a lot of real estate agents to help them grow with video and podcasts. And I basically really bullish on education because I think that educational content, both content, but also in life, it can sometimes be sort of washed away because people think of it as less fun, less interesting, less pretty, and it's like, no, no, no. First of all, it could be pretty, but it can definitely be interesting because to your point of people want that information. And if you could present it in an interesting way, you had a blog post, I'm sure it looked good with a good photo. And the same thing with video. Don't not submit the offer because you're too overwhelmed. Here's what you should know about the first steps. And I think that it's really important. Education is one of the core tenets I believe in for content too, because people are looking to you as the authority.
(28:48):
They're trusting you, they're believing in you. And also with that, they have that expectation that those things, it's funny, I've gotten a lot of clients from speaking on podcasts, speaking on panels, speaking like people hearing you, hearing from you as an expert, sharing your knowledge, nothing can replace that from them understanding, Hey, I already like this person. Great, I'm starting to trust this person. And then they're like, wow, you're really an authority. I'm like, yeah, okay. Yes. So I think, yeah, it's like, of course, of course I know this. That's why I've been doing this so long. Of course I know those things. But to your point, writing it up in a blog post, making a video out of it, having that show don't tell element and really giving it to someone like, here's a blog post, here's all the information that you can read in two minutes that will then make you feel better. That will then make you feel armed with information. So I love that. I think that's a really good tip. As
Debbi (29:37):
You know, you can take your blog, so you can write your blog if that's long, but then you pop it into just a short version, the top five, right into a story and a post, and then direct people back to it.
Kim (29:48):
Absolutely. So yeah, so about what Debbi was talking about, basically anytime you have an article, you can link to the article in Instagram, but you really just take a quick headline, don't stress out about your first offer, here's all of the things you need to know. And then if you want to do another one, you're like first three things to consider. And then again, you link to the blog there. But to Debbi's point, you can make it cute and visual and not overwhelming. And then you're pushing them to the blog. And then, God, there's so much stuff that AI is now doing. I've been playing a little bit more with it. It's like you can put, could basically put three sentences and then something in Canva can just create a video or a photo for you. But I'm still playing with that more. But I do a mix of chat g p T only for blogs, but I do most of the stuff manually because I don't think it's there yet for me. But in terms of what's been the most effective marketing tactics that you've seen in terms of bringing in clients, what has been the most effective?
Debbi (30:39):
Well, now that I have Chase, I'm usually moving, moving, moving, moving now. So I'm trying to teach Chase at the same time as we're moving forward. And so I said, okay, let's go through and find where all these clients came from. And most of them came from referrals, from other agents, other clients or people in the community who may have known of us or had heard of us or seen our work. Put my coaching hat on. I'm now 35 years in the business. So the one thing agents have to do is do open houses. I don't care. Do an open house on Saturday, do an open house on Sunday. I'll say one of our agents, Chris, I adore him. He came to the office, we hired him. He was a flight attendant before his partner gave him our book, the Art of Real Estate, before he even started, he had read the book, which detailed, it's very dense, and he read the book and he was in the office every day.
(31:35):
Like I said, Adam likes to be in the office, so he's the best place for people to learn. He's in the office. Chris was in the office every single day just listening, because Adam is a broker, so he's on having conversations with 80 different agents. So you're going to learn something by just overhearing what Adam's talking about. There's so much knowledge. So even though he would fly and he'd get home at midnight, he always did a Saturday open house and a Sunday open house. And if one of the other agents needed him to show something for no compensation, just I'm out of town, can you show this? He's always the first to say yes. When I'm training other agents. I was training an agent friend in Marin and I said, be there, show up, be engaged. Be the person that people are seeing. If people aren't seeing you, they're not going to know where you are.
(32:24):
So the agent I was coaching in Marin, she started being at the office. It was hard because it was the end of Covid, but she started being there. She's now in an amazing situation. She's on a team and she had been just not, she had a second job. She didn't want to let go of that job. She didn't really feel like a realtor yet. And now she texted us the other day, I got my first listing, and Chris feels so great, but so Chris went on to, he's amazing. He's gone on and he's done super well. But you have to show up and you have to be present and you are a realtor is a little bit like a celebrity. I mean, we advertise everywhere. Our face is everywhere because people have to find us. They're single us out, so we're known. So if you're not at an open house or you're not in the public, people aren't going to go knocking on your door. Typically. You want to disarm them with you're a human being and you can see me, touch me, feel me, and I'm real and I'm kind and welcoming. So if you're hiding, how are they going to find you and how are they going to know you? This is what you really do. You're in your house waiting for the phone to ring. You might be nice, but how are they going to know you exist really?
Kim (33:42):
And before we wrap up, what's one thing that looking back you would do differently?
Debbi (33:47):
So when I was young, when the kids were young, I never wanted to leave the house. I wanted to get them to school, then I'd go to work, but I was like Mom first, then get them to school and then off. And so there was, it's called B N I, business Networking International B n I group. I knew about it when we started Island Partners in 2009, but I didn't want to do it because it was usually in the morning or time that I would take away from the kids. But my friend encouraged me to join and I joined. And it is such great networking because you're literally networking in every week for an hour and a half, super organized. There's not a lot of fluff, it's just you're doing your 45 second pitch to one another. It's very succinct. When I was in the pool in the Hamptons, I did a one-on-one with an agent in Oahu.
(34:35):
I mean, everyone gets what the networking is and everyone is already vetted. So you already know you're talking to someone who wants to do business and network and help one another. They already have a give back mentality and attitude and mindset. So you get to meet really cool people who are motivated and want everyone to succeed. It's not like you're going there just to succeed, but it's not like going to a networking cocktail party and just going, okay, I'm going to go to this party and hope I meet someone, whatever. It's just very, very succinct and organized. And I'm trying to get my son, he'll substitute for me when I'm out of town. And he did go to a few meetings, but he also coaches lacrosse and he likes to sleep a little bit in the morning because I said, gosh, if you join BNI when you're young and there's not a lot of spots, and it has to be one vocation per group. So some people start their own group because there's only one realtor in a group, one social media expert in a group, one doctor or whatever. But I would join something like that bni.
Kim (35:36):
And you feel like looking back, you would've joined it sooner?
Debbi (35:39):
Oh yeah, because it would've been so much easier to when you're new or as you're going through it, you stumble upon where are the clients coming from. You don't really know. But when you're in such a organized group like that, it's so powerful. It's really powerful. So yeah, I would've done that.
Kim (35:59):
Awesome. And one last thing, can I ask you about your shaman?
Debbi (36:03):
Oh my God, Flavio. I love him.
Kim (36:07):
Talk to me about your shaman. How'd you start working with him? How'd you get into it?
Debbi (36:11):
So I was with my friend, a client of mine, a friend and a client of kids grew up together. Then we sold her house. And anyway, I was in la. She ended up moving to la, so we're having drinks on Sunset and we're talking, and she mentioned somehow comes up my shaman. I go, I want a shaman. I didn't even ask what he did, I just said, I want to shaman, can I have his number? So I got his number and I booked with him, and I had no idea what it was all about. And he's so amazing. He's out of Miami and he's from South America, and he's just the kindest person in the world, and basically you have questions, and it doesn't have to be yes or no. It could be when I was going to work with you, I asked him, because in real estate, things come across all the time.
(37:00):
Work with us here, do this, do that. It's like there's thousands of people who are coming at you and you want to do the thing that's really going to benefit you. And so he said, yes, you can ask him anything, and you can just say, it could be open-ended. And then he reads the cards, although he's sitting there staring at you, and it's weird to think that he's actually reading something right there with you. He is just amazing. So I highly recommend him. I turned all my friends onto him, and some of my friends sees him weekly. I mean, she has a standing appointment every week, but really, it's just really, I dunno. It's really cool. Everyone needs a shaman.
Kim (37:38):
Do you meet with him on Zoom?
Debbi (37:40):
Yeah.
Kim (37:41):
And does he wear business casual clothing or is he wearing more traditional shaman outfit?
Debbi (37:45):
Oh, no, no, no. I think he's probably wearing a T-shirt. I mean, he's Shaman Flavio. Just Google, Flavio Shaman Miami. He'll come right up.
Kim (37:56):
Okay. My very, very last question. What is the weirdest job you've ever had?
Debbi (38:00):
Oh, gosh. Well, it wasn't weird, but I was a fragrance model, which was super boring.
Kim (38:05):
Debbi, this was so fun. Thank you so much for joining us. Okay. How can our listeners connect with you, work with you, all of that.
Debbi (38:11):
First of all, I have to thank you. Because of working with you, I've honed down all my, I tried to train myself on social media, so over the years, so I exploded in all over and multiple websites, multiple platforms, six, I am now down to DiMaggio beta group.com and Debbidimaggio.org. And between my coaching and my real estate and everything else I love to do, you can find it on those two sites. And Debbi is d e b b i. No e and Debbi.
Kim (38:42):
Debbi, tell me how you are connected to Marilyn Monroe.
Debbi (38:45):
Well, we're related to Joe DiMaggio, so Marilyn Monroe we're related through marriage. And my grandfather and Joe DiMaggio's grandfather, I think were first cousins.
Kim (38:55):
That's pretty cool. That's quite cool. Both of them are cool. I mean, I think it's like Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio. Those are pretty big names. Debbi, thank you so much. This was really, really fun and it's such a pleasure working with you, and it's so fun having you on the podcast and introducing you to more people.
Debbi (39:10):
Thank you so much. I'm so excited to have been here, and I look forward to continuing our work together.
Kim (39:16):
You can connect with Debbi on Instagram at Debbi DiMaggio, and she has a website, Debbidimaggio.org. She has a great feed on Instagram and she's very stylish. You can join her for her lovely trips and see her cool outfits. And as Debbi and I discussed, I've been consulting for her on digital marketing strategy, and it's been really fun. If you are an agent or coach and looking to go from professional to thought leader with clearer messaging through video and podcasts, really high quality content that gets you clients, drop me a line. I am very friendly.
(39:48):
Thank you for joining us. Don't forget to exit the grind and enter success on your own terms. This is the exit interview with Kim Rittenberg. Don't forget to grab my free download, how to Grow Your Business With Amazing video@kimrittberg.com and linked out in the show notes. I love to hear your feedback. Make sure to submit to me what you learned from the show and how you are crushing it on your own terms. Connect with me on Instagram or LinkedIn at Kim Rittberg, R I T T B E R G. And this show is edited by Jillian Grover and produced by Henry Street Media. I'm your host and executive producer, Kim Rittberg.