Once again, XCamp, the “unconference conference” was a rousing success with topics ranging from AI to You Tube techniques. Hundreds of agents participated.
Nine-time ICON agent Elizabeth Riley led the event and was assisted on stage by fellow agents Renee Funk, Marguerite Crespillo and Ben Laube.
After a list of topics were chosen, the agents could choose to attend sessions occurring in four different breakout rooms. Below are the topics from Breakout Room #1.
Teams and Building With Shawn Getty
Shawn Getty, a Calgary-based real estate agent, is in his fifth year in the industry, having started his career in 2019 during a particularly difficult time for the local market. At that time, Calgary’s oil and gas sector was facing serious uncertainty, making it feel like “living in Texas if they shut off the oil and gas.” Despite these challenges, Shawn achieved 44 sales in his first year and 103 in his second, eventually reaching $75 million in production as a solo agent.
Driven by a desire to scale further, Shawn thought the natural next step was to build a team, believing his personal skills as a solo agent would translate into leadership. However, he quickly learned that team building required a completely different skill set. After experiencing failure with seven teams and losing agents rapidly — burning through half a million – he refocused his efforts in 2023 on developing robust systems and processes. Now, with 56 agents, his team has become the top-performing team in Alberta, and he has set his sights on hitting $1 billion in production next year with eXp Realty. Shawn emphasizes that if you’re going to build a team, you should aim to build a large one, providing the necessary support, training, and accountability agents need to succeed.
Onboarding – The Key to Efficiency — “I found myself in a situation where agents needed my attention, but I couldn’t provide it at scale. I was getting bogged down with unnecessary conversations about things like lockboxes, while missing out on the more important discussions that required my focus.”
The Solution: Develop a comprehensive, pre-recorded onboarding system. Address every possible question — no matter how simple — by creating a video for it. Organize these videos into a clear checklist and FAQ.
Make the system as thorough as possible, walking agents through each step in a simple, easy-to-follow way.
This approach frees up your time and energy, allowing you to focus on the activities that truly make a difference for your team.
Think of Yourself as a Business Owner — To build a successful team, you need to shift your mindset from being a team leader to thinking like a business owner.
Your role is to guide your team toward their goals, similar to leading them through a jungle with a machete, clearing the way for them. But once they’ve learned the path, you need to step back and let them navigate on their own.
It’s also crucial to remove yourself from production. Building a team is like building a business, and that comes with financial strain. Be prepared to burn through cash, so having some savings set aside is essential.
Next, find your “Ride or Die” person — someone you can trust completely. Share your vision with them: “I can’t do this without you.” Promise them 25% of your business in perpetuity. In return, focus all of your energy on attracting more agents. They will not only help grow your team but also act as your barometer, keeping you informed on what’s happening internally.
Strategies for Getting More Listings from Top Agents
eXp Agents Dimitrios Kalogeropoulos of Ontario, Mary Snyder of Texas and Mary Jane Ogle of Denver shared ideas they have employed to generate more listings.
Dimitrios: Be Proactive and Persistent – To get more listings, you need to actively go out and find them, even if you’re in a market where you don’t know anyone. Focus on potential sellers within a five-mile radius of where you operate. The key targets? FSBOs (For Sale By Owners). Many FSBOs don’t want to pay commissions, but with the right approach, you can win them over. It’s all about learning what to say and how to say it. Scripts may not be exciting, but they work. Dimitrios said he became a “FSBO killer” by knocking on doors and striking up conversations. He also recommended pursuing expired listings but doing so in person — no calls or emails, just door-knocking. “Hey – their goal is to sell their house. You can help them.”
Mary Jane Ogle (Denver): Stand Out and Build Relationships – Mary Jane’s approach focuses on being memorable — what she calls being a “mind sticker.” After studying psychology, she learned the importance of standing out to potential clients. Rather than paying for leads, she relies on business-to-business and personal referrals. When meeting a client for the first time, she brings a dozen eggs and honey as a way to leave a lasting impression. To stand out even more, she uses high-quality marketing tools like drone fly-through videos and professional photo packages for every listing, which leaves clients impressed and helps her win more business. Mary Jane also focuses on community involvement, joining groups like Bunco, church, and local organizations to network and build connections. Her philosophy is to “farm people,” not just neighborhoods, and to invest in clients so that it pays off in the long term.
Mary Snyder (Denver): Nurture Past Clients and Show You Care — Mary stresses the importance of nurturing relationships with past clients, as they can lead to five more transactions on average. Her team continuously shows clients they care by staying in touch and doing pop-by visits, where they drop by with small gifts or tokens of appreciation. For Mary, it’s all about loving on your clients — creating a genuine, lasting relationship. This approach taps into an often-overlooked market, where clients feel valued and are more likely to refer new business or return for future transactions.
Some Tips on Using YouTube to Drive Business
Jason Justak of Indiana and Ryan Gomillion of Texas presented valuable insights on leveraging YouTube for real estate success.
Jason Justak has been using YouTube to attract both clients and agents. He emphasized the importance of knowing your focus and separating content for different audiences. He has two different YouTube channels: One for clients and one for agents while keeping everything relatable.
Jason prides himself on being a “baller on a budget,” filming with a cellphone, a $15 tripod, and a lapel microphone. He produces four videos a week — two for clients and two for agents — and uses CapCut for editing. Jason highlights the power of area-specific hashtags to increase visibility and suggests using Opus clips to repurpose longer YouTube videos into shorter content for platforms like TikTok. He also recommends using the Teleprompter app to streamline the filming process for client videos. His advice? Just get started and be consistent.
Ryan Gomillion, who has been active on YouTube for a year and a half, began by filming unscripted content and quickly transitioned from cross-posting Instagram Reels to YouTube Shorts before moving into long-form content. He focuses on property tours, new construction walkthroughs, and talking head videos, keeping them between 6 to 15 minutes for easy editing.
Ryan uses kvCORE’s template function to embed his videos into newsletters, maximizing reach. Like Jason, Ryan scripts, edits, and manages his own content using CapCut, though he opts not to run ads on his channel. With the highly competitive Austin market, Ryan emphasizes staying creative and persistent, using multiple platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to engage his audience.
