Joshua Smith Says Cut the Production Value of Your Content. Agents Don’t Care.

Josh is one of the OG’s of real estate podcasting, launching GSD Mode in 2013 (beating me to the game by about 2 years). He’s also sold 1,000s of homes and built a massive following by ignoring industry trends and focusing on what actually works.Non-Obvious Insights from our Conversation:Authenticity Trumps Production Value“I just started getting on a mic, speaking into Zoom or StreamYard or whatever the platform is and realized that nobody cared. There was no difference in analytics. Nobody cared... They just cared about great content.”Agents are getting skeptical of polished or AI-generated content. Josh saw this coming and stripped down his podcast so it’s him talking into a mic. No fancy intros and outros, no pricey studio and camera crew.AI’s Biggest Value Might Be Productivity, Not Lead Gen“ I think the people that are winning with AI are the ones that are looking at it as a tool to buy back their time, to get rid of the redundant stuff…the stuff that doesn’t require their unique skill set, and then double down on the stuff that does. And the people that are struggling with it are the ones that think it’s just going to do everything for them, and then they’re disappointed when it doesn’t.”You’ll see this is a recurring theme in thought leaders I’ve spoken to. Agents are looking at AI the same way they looked at social selling 10 years ago, as a way to avoid the tedium of lead gen or relationship building.That means there’s a big opportunity to create content for each of those 2 groups - 1) The beginners and strugglers who will click on content about AI for lead gen (then steer them to better uses), and 2) More advanced, successful agents looking for AI productivity hacks specifically for real estate.The Hardest Work Is Listening, Not Speaking“That is the hard work that some content creators don’t want to go through. Even some frontline leaders, right? It’s constantly being in the trenches, talking to your ideal audience and having the humility to ask and not believe that you already know because you’ve been around the business. And I’m that’s an easy temptation to fall into, right? I fall into it too.”It’s easy to get disconnected from the shifting pain points and mental states of everyday agents. Especially if you’re in a leadership role rather than in production. The best way to get reconnected is through conversations. The MOM Test is a super useful book for having these kinds of exploratory conversations, it’s one of Tim Ferriss’ most recommended.Want to go deeper? Click on the audio file above to listen to the full chat with Josh, also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Or Hit Reply and tell me what you’re seeing in your marketingI’m seeing that agent’s mindsets are changing, the market is shifting, and content is evolving…all at the same time.Should it surprise us that the stuff that worked 2 years ago isn’t working so well today?Steal This:Take a page from Josh’s playbook and publish something so raw it makes you uncomfortable.I’d bet it gets more engagement than anything you’ve put out that “elevates your brand.”See for yourself how much people are craving content that’s real and raw.Quick Links & ResourcesGSD Mode PodcastYouTube ChannelInstagramMastery Bootcamp CoachingBig THANK YOU to Josh for doing this series!He’s one of the hardest working thought leaders in real estate.So connect with him at one of those links and give him a shoutout.-MattCEO - MicroFamousAuthor - MicroFamousPS Want a platform like this? Click here to learn about our done-for-you services. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rethoughtleaders.substack.com