The Glaser
Group.

We tried several times to coordinate filming video but given schedules and proximity this never materialized. There was a glimmer of hope initially as Alex invested in audio-visual equipment on par with the level we needed to produce quality videos. Unfortunately a different project, Why Richmond is Awesome, snowballed into much more than I had intended when I suggested it for search marketing reasons. 20 episodes of a podcast later and Alex did not want to touch a camera/microphone (and who can blame him?). Another opportunity was when a person named Miles entered the scene. Miles was a talented cinematographer but within a few months became a Realtor himself due to the success he was seeing with The Glaser Group! All of this to say that although in my opinion the right videos would have taken this company to the next level, living 6 hours away from Richmond in Knoxville, TN made it unfeasible to hold a bigger part in this medium. I have the knowledge and skills due to my time with CDI (my first company), but the logistics and dynamics surrounding it made it untenable at this time.

When times are good it's easy to beat your competition through superior tactics and quality. When things were like they were during COVID, economic uncertainty (or certainty, in this case) led to a huge surge in spending by competitors. New companies emerged, ad costs soared, and this eventually led to a much more crowded market with diminished returns. To add insult to injury, Google also implemented Fair Credit rules during this time that stripped away my ability to target leads by things like demographics, geographics, and affinity groups. This created a much higher Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) and a dwindling pool of both willing sellers and capable buyers, resulting in a serious slowdown. Alex is now closer to #2 in Richmond real estate with a larger company (Joyner Group with 100+ agents) taking the #1 spot. He is still competitive, but the heyday is over.

The surge in business led to a bottleneck where there were simply not enough hours in the day to accommodate everyone. This was felt by all sides: the Glaser Group hired additional Realtors but quality was slipping; I needed assistance to keep up with the marketing load which meant bringing new associates into the work; clients (buyers and sellers) were inundated with the pressures to sell and buy at hiked up prices and rates [with an ever-shrinking inventory]. It was a reality nobody had planned for, and one we just barely survived with our collective sanities intact. Not all of us made it.