How to Thrive in the Influence Economy using Influencer Marketing – In Just 7 Minutes with Kurt Uhlir

Resources/Links:

• To get more FREE advice on servant leadership, click here: kurtuhlir.com/MTI

Summary

Do you want to figure out how you can find the inflection point and build amazing income through influencer marketing?

Working with real estate agents shouldn’t be as hard as you think it is. The secret really isn’t about figuring out the technology stack, but more of figuring out what your client needs as a real estate agent.

Kurt Uhlir is a globally-recognized marketer, operator, and speaker. He has built and runs businesses from start-ups to over $500M in annual revenue. He has assembled teams across six continents and has been a part of a small team leading an IPO ($880M). He has also participated in dozens of acquisitions.

Grab your coffee or tea and listen in to Kurt to find out how you can thrive and surf the Internet waves through website creation for multiple real estate agents with the power of influencer marketing and the right mindset.

Check out these episode highlights:

• 01:59 – Kurt’s ideal client: So in the past, I have worked across many different technology fields, but now I tend to be very focused on marketing consultants and agencies that work in real estate.
• 02:23 – The problem he helps solve: Well, so often, when I talk to marketers that have looked at working in real estate, especially those who are building websites, they give me a response that goes, “God! Real estate agents and realtors are just difficult, and they’re just painful clients to work with.”
• 03:11 – The symptoms of the problem: Well, in some cases, I said, they mentioned, you know, they’ve started a work of a real estate client, and it was just extremely painful and seeing if they’re gonna build a website, just kind of that digital hub, especially the influence economy, anything online marketing.
• 04:24 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Kurt: They often think that they’re right in their own businesses, not just like with what I mentioned, like those real estate clients. They haven’t been able to grow through the problems they’re having, whether it’s onboarding real estate clients, growing their marketing agency, or even just growing their business operation-wise because they think they’re right.
• 05:56 – Kurt’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): For me, it is blocking time on my calendar for, kind of two, you know, retrospectives, personally. I know that the last thing that high achievers want to do is take time to sit and just stare out the window.
• 07:28- Kurt’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): To get more FREE advice on servant leadership, click here: kurtuhlir.com/MTI
• 07:48 – Q: Is there anything else in my life that helps me keep on track for growing my business? A: Yes, I have two things that I do every- one every day and one every week. So when I do a daily office, I don’t spend a lot of time, I just spend two to five minutes max every day just disconnecting and refocusing on my faith in God and what’s important, life-wise, business-wise.

Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:

“When I'm coaching people, I make them put on their calendar time for two things. One is, what could I be wrong today? And the second thing is, who's in your team can help you identify those things?” -Kurt Uhlir Share on X

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland 00:10
Hey, everyone! Just a quick one. So the interview you’re about to listen to with Kurt talks a little bit in the early stages about real estate agents, but I really want you to, if you’re not a real estate agent, I really want you to keep listening because there are some really top tips that he comes up to in terms of questions to ask yourself. Keep listening to the whole interview because even the last question, question seven, there are a couple of real gems there. Cheers!

Tom Poland 00:33
Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland, yet again, beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia here, joined today by Kurt Uhlir. Kurt, good day, mate! How are you? Where are you hanging out?

Kurt Uhlir 00:44
Yeah, I’m hanging out in north Georgia today.

Tom Poland 00:48
North Georgia, and I believe this is your second home, your lodge, which is two hours from where you live, which is, where do you normally hang out? Where?

Kurt Uhlir 00:56
I normally hang out, just north of Atlanta, Georgia, in the States.

Tom Poland 01:00
Sounds like a fabulous setup! And folks, the reason that Kurt enjoys such a fantastic lifestyle for him and his family, you’re about to find out some of his secrets, is because he’s a globally recognized marketer. He’s a business operator, which is very different from someone who simply acts as a consultant– hands-on! He’s also a well-recognized and in-demand speaker. He’s built and run businesses from startups to over $500 million annual revenue, and assembled teams across six continents– didn’t even know there were six. He’s been part of the small team leading an IPO, which is a launch that generated $880 million, and he’s participated in dozens of acquisitions. So this is going to be really interesting! Thanks, Kurt, for being here. The title today is, “How to Thrive in the Influence Economy Using Influencer Marketing”. So our seven questions are going to start now, sir. Question number one is who’s your ideal client?

Kurt Uhlir 01:59
So in the past, I have worked across many different technology fields, but now I tend to be very focused on marketing consultants and agencies that work in real estate. Or they work in other industries, and they stayed away from real estate because they find it to be really difficult. And so whether it’s those that are focused on it now or those that have shied away for one reason or another.

Tom Poland 02:18
Thank you for that! What would you say is the problem you solve? How do you define that?

Kurt Uhlir 02:23
Well, so often, when I talk to marketers that have looked at working in real estate, especially those who are building websites, they give me a response that goes, “God! Real estate agents and realtors are just difficult, and they’re just painful clients to work with.” Because of that, they’ve struggled to work through one or two clients or not be in a habit. The problem that ends up being the big thing is like, it’s really- not only is it a really good niche to go into, it’s also highly lucrative if you can deliver because so many people stay away from it. And they’re just locked because they think it’s a client’s business and not their own.

Tom Poland 02:56
Thank you for that! Let’s take someone who would be an ideal client of yours. Question three is what’s going on in their business or their life, are kind of those symptoms that would give them a heads up that they should be reaching out and talking to you?

Kurt Uhlir 03:11
Well, in some cases, I said, they mentioned, you know, they’ve started a work of a real estate client, and it was just extremely painful and seeing if they’re gonna build a website, just kind of that digital hub, especially the influence economy, anything online marketing. It might have taken them even 5x, 10x the length that it’d normally take them to build that site for them. So they shy. They won’t even talk to the client. They wouldn’t return to, you know, potential clients in some cases. But often in other cases too, they’ll struggle with it. They’ll build it. They make decent money from it, but they’re not able to find that inflection point. So they’re building one or two, three sites, kind of, in real estate, when they can easily, even just as a solopreneur, they could be building a dozen to two dozen on a monthly basis if they figured it out. And not just figuring out the technology stack, but figuring out what the agents really need today.

Tom Poland 03:59
So, I mean, you deal with people that are, you know, aspiring to do something like what you’ve done in terms of achieving results. So what I’m saying is that they’re assertive people. They are going to be trying things. Question four, four and a half minutes left. Question four is, what would you say are some of the common mistakes that people make? You know, they’re trying to grow, but before they find your solution, well, what are they doing that’s just never gonna work?

Kurt Uhlir 04:24
They often think that they’re right in their own businesses, not just like with what I mentioned, like those real estate clients. They haven’t been able to grow through the problems they’re having, whether it’s onboarding real estate clients, growing their marketing agency, or even just growing their business operation-wise because they think they’re right. And the example I give is like, I literally wake up every day. And I just tell myself, “I know I’m wrong about three things in my business today, and probably two or three things in my marriage today.” And I know that because looking back over history, repeatedly in both personal life and work, there are things that happen whereas an angel investor, I maybe, wrote multiple checks to a company or something in operations where I’ve been doing something for six months or three years. And I thought I was right the whole time until something happened that made me realize I was wrong. And as Wile Coyote out over the cliff, there’s nothing behind me. And I realized, I’ve been writing this check to this company for an angel investment, that was stupid. Looking back, it was dumb. I should have known it then. Or the reason my business wasn’t growing, I, you know, I thought I was right the whole time. And I wasn’t humble enough to admit it. Gosh, I was wrong! And maybe the problem is me.

Tom Poland 05:34
Hmm. Fabulous. Thank you for that! Three minutes left, sir. Let’s flip this now. We’ve sort of talked about who you serve, and what their issues are common mistakes. What would you say is a step forward for folks? Question five is what’s one valuable free action that someone listening to this could take? It’s not gonna solve the whole problem, but it might take them a step in the right direction.

Kurt Uhlir 05:56
Yeah, for me, it is blocking time on my calendar for, kind of two, you know, retrospectives, personally. I know that the last thing that high achievers want to do is take time to sit and just stare out the window. They want to do something and they think like sitting, and reflecting, isn’t doing something. But I literally, I think that the biggest thing when I’m coaching people individually in their businesses, is I make them put on their calendar, you know, time for two things. One is, I mentioned, literally asking yourself, “What could I be wrong today?” It doesn’t mean that you are wrong. It’s just taking that time even realize, “Gosh, what could I be wrong?” So that when you’re asking that question, you’re usually aware of, you’ll pay more attention to those things as they come up during the day about, you know, that could come up. And then second thing is, “Who’s in your team or support structure that can help you identify those things that we just talked about?”

Tom Poland 06:45
Very interesting! And the retrospective, how much time do you put aside yourself for that, that looking back and the thinking you’ve mentioned? What would you recommend people to look at?

Kurt Uhlir 06:55
I sometimes take only 30 seconds, probably no more than 90 seconds every morning, just thinking about what could I be wrong about today. As far as identifying who’s on my team, almost, you know, probably 60 seconds or five minutes of every meeting I have with somebody that works for me, or that’s my mentor.

Tom Poland 07:12
Fantastic! Great top tip. Thank you for that. Let’s go to question six, one valuable free resource. Where can we direct people to where they’re going to find out more about your work? And I know you’re big on servant leadership, so where can they go to find out more about this?

Kurt Uhlir 07:28
Yeah, so I wrote, I have a guide on my website that’s free to anyone. And so if they go to kurtuhlir.com/MTI, it’ll direct them to that free guide to servant leadership, and help them figure out some of those things that we talked about.

Tom Poland 07:42
Fabulous! And question seven, sir, we’ve got 50 seconds left, what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t?

Kurt Uhlir 07:48
Is there anything else in my life that helps me keep on track for growing my business?

Tom Poland 07:53
And drum roll– the answer?

Kurt Uhlir 07:56
Yes, I have two things that I do every- one every day and one every week. So when I do a daily office, I don’t spend a lot of time, I just spend two to five minutes max every day just disconnecting and refocusing on my faith in God and what’s important, life-wise, business-wise. That’s hugely important because I get too distracted and busy. And the other is a weekly recap where I usually take about 30 minutes to go, what did I get done, what do I need to change, so that I can accomplish things next week.

Tom Poland 08:22
Great anchor points! Kurt, thanks so much for your time.

Kurt Uhlir 08:25
Yeah, thank you!

Tom Poland 08:36
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.