Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another S.O.G.M. Today we have the absolute pleasure of having with us, Matt Leonetti. He's an award-winning real estate agent from Toronto. And what he's doing, the phenomenon, is the way he's role-religionizing the way of showcasing authentic content in the most funny way.
He is working at the agency and it's a pleasure to have him here today to talk about the importance of personal branding, creating authentic content, and making it in a way that really showcases your personality. Ah-hat, what's going on? How's it going? That's amazing.
I just can't stop laughing when I look at it. You're so funny, man. I love your videos. Thank you.
I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. Of course. How you doing today?
You're in Toronto, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, just about 40 minutes east of Toronto.
But yeah, I do want to work in Toronto. And yeah, nice day out. Got the t-shirt on. So can't complain.
It's not snowing. It's not snowing. Oh, wow. Well, thank you for joining us.
Welcome to the show. And obviously, it's an absolute pleasure. For those that are just tuning in right now, Matt is a superstar in real estate in Toronto. But what has really defined your success is how you have built that personal branding and the amazing content that showcases the daily lives of the real estate industry.
In such a fun way. So tell us a little bit about yourself and what you're currently working on. Yeah. So yeah, my name is Malina, I work with the agency in Toronto.
I started really bringing in like social content and videos into my business about a year and a half ago. And I've really, it's been the whole difference in my business. It's taken it completely to the next level. And I mean, it was just, it's nothing else but being myself and just having some fun with it.
It started as a joke. A lot of the real estate, you know, a lot of the real estate marketing that I see is the same. It's a lot of the same soul, soul, soul, soul, everything. Everyone's selling and no one's, a lot of people aren't bringing their personality to the forefront.
I think more than ever, that's what people want. They want to work with people. They feel like they know and they don't want to be sold. So I thought, you know what, I went solo about a year and a half ago.
I sound like I'm like leaving a boy band or something. Like Justin Timberlake. I went solo about a year and a half ago. And that's when I said, you know what, I'm just going to try, I've had a lot of these ideas since the start.
And I just said, you know, I'm going to try and implement some humor into my business and see what happens. And it's caught on a bit and yeah, it's doing a lot for my business, especially kind of the listing side of things. I actually use it in my listing presentation now. Like I can show these sellers the insights and attraction.
Some of these videos get, but I think you're one of the most creative guys out there in real estate. Your content is phenomenal. I have a really good time. Every time I see that you posted, I actually turn on the notifications because I don't want to miss one of your videos.
Which by the way, everybody watch it. Please do so. Even if you are not in real estate, you can learn a lot from that because you have a lot of creativity. And one of the things I love about you is the authenticity.
I'm so hosting a podcast called Overask, right? Yeah. Yeah. I'm the host of a podcast over asked with the broke agent.
So we teamed up. We wanted to do something for a while. We just feel like our two brands would be perfect for each other, what he does, what I do. And we finally settled on a podcast.
And it's been going really well. We've had some huge guests who've had Ryan Sirhan, Jordan Cohen, Marie Tsogomanski, Maya Vander from Sun, Sun said. So a lot of great guests. And it's been going really well.
So how important has social media been for you, for your personal branding? It's been pretty much the day. Like most of my business comes right from social now, right from Instagram to be exact. And it's just, you know, when I do these videos, I'm not, I'm not just trying to sell something.
It's a lot of the time I'm not even really trying to start a conversation about real estate. I just want to start a conversation to come to us. They say, Hey, Matt, I love that video. It's really funny.
Now it doesn't seem like I'm going after them and I'm only talking to them because I want to say it. They've come to me and now we can start building that relationship. I'll tell you, those videos will go viral and that's the way to really make the noise and attention. And hey, you never know.
You might get that pre-consultation given to this guy. So well, yeah, that was the idea behind the Drake video. It's like, you know what, I want to show that I'm a real estate agent in Toronto. And I want to do it in a fun way that could capture, you know, global audiences.
Obviously, there's a lot of people out there in real estate in other industries that, hey, it requires getting out of the comfort zone to do these kind of videos. Now, what will be, I guess, your recommendation for those that are camera shy or like, Oh, I don't have the time. Like, what's the first step? And what I always say is, you know, why don't you just film yourself, film yourself knowing that you're not going to put it out to anyone, but get comfortable with the camera in front of you.
When you get a bit more comfortable, do it again. And now this time show it to people in your brokerage or your friends and family. And then just easily come out and then you can critique it, critique it, critique it. And then, you know, you're going to get more comfortable.
And then when you put it out to the public, that's going to be a trial and error. Like, you don't know at first what your audience is going to gravitate towards. So you could put out one video one week. That's fantastic.
Then the next week you put out a video that gets no traction. But you want that because you want to know, okay, why do people like this video? Exactly. Did they not like this one?
They can critique it and your content is going to be way better from it. Exactly. Now, you are also very involved. I love the Clubhouse Crutchers.
You go into all these rules and tell us a little bit about Clubhouse and how it has helped you or not. Like, what do you think about the platform? Yeah, I like it. A lot of people have mixed feelings on it.
And there's some great value to be had and a lot of great networking, you know, you know, we're meeting a ton of people. So I think it's great for that. It grew other social platforms. Yeah, right.
Right. Right. When we went on it, it's when, you know, started to blow up and it was great timing. Now, it's like things are starting to open up.
People are more outside. So no, some more time to be on a platform for hours. Now, talking about Toronto, because, you know, let's talk a little bit as well on the real estate market in Toronto. How are things there for you?
How is everything going on? The last year we had a pretty big dive in the condo market, as I'm sure a lot of cities did with COVID and stuff, but it's that's picked up again. And now we're like, we're in a crazy, crazy seller's market, like pretty much never before. Slow down maybe a little bit.
January, February here, we were seeing, you know, 30 offers on places, 35 offers. Wow. Now it's more, you know, 10, 15. I'm sorry because I'm laughing.
I'm usually happy guy. I'm always smiling, but we do have extra smiling today because in my head, I'm just thinking about that last post you did or how to win in any situation, but there's multiple offers. But I shared it this morning as well. I want everybody to go check it out because it's hilarious.
And, you know, it's so real and so true. Yeah. I know. Keep going on that.
I mean, big fun. And definitely if I can support in any way, let's do it. Yeah, I appreciate it, man. I love your stuff.
You have like the life, you have like such a lavish life on Instagram. I just like I see you like swimming and jumping at a helicopter. It's right. You're doing it.
I love it. Listen, you have you have to keep your life interesting and make the best out of it, right? We only have one life. So why not to make the best of it?
And also I'll tell you utilize the tools that nowadays exist to add value when you add value every day. People start to see and appreciate and then you sometimes getting invited to places, you connect with people that you can do things together. And that's how you start building the life that you want to do. You want to see always who's winning in which spaces and associate yourself.
So, you know, I think that you're crushing it. You're getting real authentic engagement of people that genuinely enjoy watching your videos. And I think that it reflects on your results. But I always ask this question and I think it's really interesting to hear your answer.
Why is Luxury to you? It's different to everyone. Like, it's definitely a lifestyle and that's a great question. Like, yeah, it's different to everyone.
Some people think luxury is, you know, Lamborghinis, Rolexes and 10,000 square foot mansions. Other people think luxury is just really the lifestyle. Like, you're saying living a certain life, doing things that you love is a luxury. So doing things you love and yeah, those experiences, that's a luxury.
It doesn't actually have to be a materialistic item or anything like that. It's different for everyone. If you ask me, it's just having a sick ass watch collection. That's a luxury.
Like, I'm saying, being able to wear a Ramona shirt selling Luxury real estate. Yes. That's a real luxury. I'll tell you this though.
Coolest to you because, you know, a lot of people they try to have certain image and then when they're done, they wear different clothes. I feel like you're self-authentic. You're always yourself. Yeah.
I mean, I absolutely love like, I do love fashion. I have suits and stuff like that. And I rock the suits, but I don't know. I like wearing band shirts and I think people can, a lot of people can relate to it.
Like, I've gone listing appointments from wearing the shirt. People say, I love the remote. Yeah. So it's cool.
Yeah. Like, I absolutely love wearing like I'm going to get some new suits on the weekend. I don't really show that side. But yeah, just whatever I feel like doing, I don't want to ever, you know, feel like wearing a suit one day.
I'm going to wear a suit. I don't, I want it to always be a surprise. You know, I want everyone to always be on their toes. With what I'm going to do next.
So who knows maybe my next, maybe my next five months. I'm just going to videos right now. Oh, damn. Okay.
A little too expensive, but you know what I mean? Just try and like, just different things. Keep people on their toes. I agree.
I agree. Content is key and varying it and states are true to yourself. That's what really matters. So just, I want to ask you just the last question.
You always seem such a, you know, fun guy, inspirational, always doing things that puts everybody in a good mood. Is there anything that you do, either reading a certain types of books or you have any mentor, something that has put you in that perspective? Um, I just try and, I mean, I don't really read a ton of books. I've read a couple of great books, like law of attraction stuff.
I really do believe in that stuff. I journal every night, the things I want in my life, um, stuff like that, but nothing like crazy. I don't do any meditating, which I heard is awesome. But I don't really go into that.
But I would say mainly my journaling and just, you know, hanging, just surrounding myself with like-minded people, people that push me and drive me to do better. I mean, anyone who's kind of always negative or stuff, I can sense that right away. But yeah, I don't need that, you know, that bullshit. So yeah, a journal, I just, I always try and be in that space, which is funny because like in a lot of my videos, I'm kind of like at the opposite, I always have a big opinion on things, which that's definitely a part of me.
I'm very observant. That's why I see one thing and I just have to rant on it and cool off and let it get off my chest. But you did it in a fun way, nothing in a natural way. So it's just, yeah, I try and do it in a fun way where everyone can relate.
You know, it's a stressful, hard business and then we see a bunch of different shit every day. So if we can, you know, have some fun with it and yeah, that's what I try and do. Just people, a lot of people can relate with what everyone's doing in the industry. So amazing.
Well, Matt, thank you so much. Is there any last takeaway that you would like to share before we wrap this up? No, just, yeah, I want you to come Toronto, we'll do some content. Maybe I'll get you, if you have a personal trainer, I've seen some of your, you have some big arms there.
I need to learn some, get some, get some, figure that out. I'm trying to get, I've been trying to gain like 10 pounds for 15 years. Nothing goes on. I stay at 155 pounds.
Oh, I know. You're filling up your pockets. That's telling those homes. Yeah.
Yeah, I get heavier doing that, I suppose. But yeah, definitely this stuff. Yeah, yeah. I can't wait until everything starts.
Things are starting to open up a little more now and yeah, it starts opening up. I'd love to finally meet in person and do some fun, fun clubs. Come to Miami. I'll take you to the muscle reach.
We'll work out as well. Okay. Oh, she's all right. I know if I'm ready, I'll have to do some reps here before I come.
Well, definitely. And I thank you again. You're a true jam. Thank you for your time.
It doesn't matter. I did. Hey, I wish you all the best. Keep going.
I do it. Thank you so much for having me. All right. Thank you.
Thanks everybody. And thanks again for everybody tuning in today. We hope you enjoyed it. I remember embracing its beautiful success in life.
My name is Alvaro and I'll see you next time.