Episode 198: Unlocking Success - How Building Strong Connections Can Transform Your Career, with Steve Buzogany

Steve Buzogany is a recognized expert in Strategic Appreciation and is an author, speaker, and consultant. He has worked with nationally-ranked sales leaders and teams at companies like Berkshire Hathaway, Keller Williams, and RE/MAX. Steve is best-known for his ability to leave unique, long-lasting, and positive impressions on people.

You can find Steve on Instagram and check out his Website.

Remarkable Quote:

“I knew I wanted to find a career path that allows me to be there for my (future) kids. And that's how I found real estate.”

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Transcript:

00:00:00
Welcome back to your next stop. This is Juliet Hahn. In this episode, I speak with Steve Buzogany. Okay, I said it right and I paused because and I don't know if I'm going to edit it out, but there is like bloopers like like never before. I could not say Steve's name.

00:00:16
So, Steve, I think I nailed it that time. You can find Steve on all social media, but LinkedIn is a great place to find him. Going to spell that last name and that's Buzogany. Steve is the appreciation advocate. This is a really awesome episode.

00:00:34
You know, I say it every single time, but every episode there's these gold little bits that come out and where you really connect with someone. So Steve went to college to be an accountant. Realized very quickly, like junior year, that that's not what he wanted to do. Started doing some real estate stuff because he knew he couldn't tell his parents that he didn't want to do accounting, but that he needed to have a plan. The other thing is, Steve grew up in a neighborhood in Philly that was all men.

00:01:01
His mom was the only kind of woman that was present there. Went to an all boys school. And the story of how he decided to really go after his real estate career because he wanted to stay home for his future kids, because he wanted a life that his parents gave him as a kid is just absolutely beautiful. So again, you want to find Steve. He's an author, speaker, consultant, theappreciationadvocate.com you can find him on Instagram, theappreciation Advocate.

00:01:29
You can also find him on Instagram at the Philadelphia Real Estate Agent. He has a top of mind marketing coaching program that you guys can find on Facebook. You can email him. Steve at, the appreciation Advocate. The other thing that's really cool is how Steve stood out in the real estate market in Philadelphia.

00:01:48
He's young, he's 31. Even though he's an old soul, he did something really cool where he would give like a really thoughtful gift, and we dive into that. So it's such an important thing to do for a brand. And as he said, which I loved this so much, was every time someone would walk into a kitchen, he has this whole kind of thing that you can hear in the episode, but they would think of him. So it was like an impression without him having to call and say, hey, do you have any contact?

00:02:16
So really his business was built on referrals, and that just shows the type of person he is. So again, you guys do not want to miss this episode of Your Next Stop with Steve Buzogany. I think I said it right. Again, the appreciation advocate. Enjoy.

00:02:31
Hi, it's Juliet Hahn, storytelling consultant and the host of five different podcasts. I have two more podcasts coming out. Stay tuned for those. So what do I do in my consulting parts of my business. I help small business owners shorten the buying cycle and increase sales by using key parts of your story.

00:02:50
By leveraging your personal and business story, you can build relationships with potential customers on a deeper level and help them feel more connected to you, help you stand out in this noisy digital world. When you're doing that, this can lead to a shorter buying cycle and increased sales. So what makes me an expert? I have developed a strong intuition for understanding and reading people from a very, very early age. It is my superpower.

00:03:17
I have perfected my skills over the last 20 years, and it started in advertising, and then I pivoted into interviewing, podcasting, and speaking. So what I really help you guys do is find those gold bits of your story and be able to help you connect the dots. I help you find those pieces that always should be brought up. If you are doing podcasting, if you're doing social media posts, if you're networking, I find and help you connect those dots to those little gold bits that should always be brought up. I offer a 30 minutes free discovery call.

00:03:51
If this is something that you're interested in exploring a little bit more, please email me at [email protected].

00:04:02
Welcome back to your next stop. You guys know I say this every time, and I have to sometimes I tried not to say it, but then I'm so excited about the guests that I have and the story and the journey that they're on that I know you're going to be just as excited. So welcome. Steve. I had it.

00:04:16
It's monogamy mahogany, but it's not it's monogamy. No, I can't say it. What? Say it again now. I wrote it down.

00:04:28
You practiced it, and you still had hard time. And my listeners know because of my dyslexia, if there's a name that is messed up, like, I could practice it a billion times, and then it's still, like, the way I first mispronounced it is the way that I continue to mispronounce it. You're just going to own it the wrong way. That's fine. I'm going to get this.

00:04:52
It's Steve. Okay. Buzogany. Yes. Nailed it.

00:04:58
Okay, perfect. Oh, good. So welcome, Steve Buzogany, to your next stop. How are you? So far, so good.

00:05:06
Thanks for having me. Excited to be here. So I'm just going to preface so you could see that name I like, said Tim. I literally had to write it down phonetically. I watched his YouTube.

00:05:16
I pronounced it a million times, and then the way I spelled it is not the way that it actually is pronounced. So that was pretty entertaining. So, Steve, as we kind of butchered your name here, I would love for you to kind of jump into your story. But first I want to let people know why you're here. I mean, this is, like, exciting because Philadelphia, my listeners know my mom and my brother live in Philly.

00:05:39
I actually grew up right outside of Philly. So Philly, we kind of bleed green. But don't tell my husband because I live in New York and he's a Giants fan and all New York stuff in the sidelines, nobody's perfect. So on the sidelines, I chuckle because I'm always like, you're rooting for some Philly teams, but Steve is an author, speaker, consultant, and coach appreciation advocate. You can find him really all over the socials.

00:06:06
LinkedIn is the best place. You can also find theappreciationadocate.com you can go to Instagram, theappreciate Advocate and then also Philadelphia real estate agent. And he has this really cool thing that we're going to get into. It's called top of mind marketing. It's a coaching program.

00:06:24
There is a Facebook group that you can join for the beta, and Steve will get into that. But first we're going to kind of dive into your story. Steve, I would love to know a little bit about your background, kind of where you grew up, and then we'll jump into the rest of the story. Okay? Yeah.

00:06:38
So you've done a great job telling everybody where I'm from. So I grew up here in northeast Philadelphia. And now I live in northwest Philadelphia. But I like to say I have the best childhood anyone ever had. I grew up in a neighborhood full of all boys, and it was just like seeing a woman walk down the street was like a huge deal.

00:06:58
And it was funny. All the boys that I grew up with, we all went to all boys high school. So it was just like females were kicked down the road another four years. So it was like, you finally get to college and it was like, oh, my God, what is that thing?

00:07:14
I had an awesome childhood. Ended up going to St. Joe's University for college. And then the thing at St. Joe's is where everything kind of changed for me because I went and did this stereotypical, like, get a secure job, do something that you'll be hired for when you get out.

00:07:30
And it was like everyone's like, yeah, Steve, you're good with math. You're good with numbers. You're a numbers guy. Do accounting. I was like, okay, whatever.

00:07:36
But that was what everybody else wanted. Not what I wanted, but it was safe and secure, quote unquote. So I did that. But I got to junior year when I did my first or sophomore year, I did my first internship. Junior year, I did my second internship.

00:07:48
And I realized I was like, I can't do this. I can't do this for 40 years. I can't sit in front of a computer. I can't have the same day every day, all along for 8 hours a day for 30 years. Some people can.

00:07:58
I can't. I'm not doing this. Absolutely not. But it was also problem was it was senior year, so I was like, oh, crap. So you can't start over.

00:08:07
So I basically tossed accounting out. And I went to school physically, but the brain was not there mentally. I was like, I need to find another way to make an income that does not require any prerequisites at all. So enter real estate, where we sell the most expensive asset people own and have little to no qualifications for entry into this business. So I go into real estate, which is funny that that's the way it is.

00:08:29
But I started out as an investor, flipping houses with my parents, and then we were working with a couple of real estate agents, and I realized that a few of them, I could do their job better than them, and they were making good incomes. I was like, you know what? If I can do better than them, I can make a pretty good income. So I got my license on that. I got the whole Rookie of the Year award and all the other fun junk they give you.

00:08:54
And I was just more happy that I had an income and something to be proud of rather than the awards. Yeah, no. And you know what? I want to stop because my dad was in real estate, and actually my and I'm probably going to say it wrong, but no one else is going to know, so that's all right. But my dad's mom was one of the first realtors in New Jersey women realtors, so it kind of bleeds back.

00:09:19
And then my sister went into corporate real estate, so I have that foundation. My dad had his own company for a while and then worked for different agents and worked that he loved doing. And I remember going to the houses and seeing them before and really being a part of his life in that world.

00:09:37
The one thing that you actually said that's really important and that I know, my listeners know, that it's something that we talk about a lot, and you go to school sometimes because it's what your parents society tell you you should do. And some people just continue even though they're miserable and they hate what they're doing. But it was what they started. They don't want to seem like they failed. They don't want to take that step back because they're like, oh, it's going to take too long.

00:10:01
Put money into here. I put effort into here. I'm just going to do it. And then they kind of just scale through, skate through life, but they're really never that inspired. And sometimes other things happen down the road because they don't have that outlet of what really they're supposed to be doing.

00:10:17
So when you went to your did you go to your parents and say, yeah, I'm not doing this accounting, what was their reaction? Or did you kind of just keep it to yourself and let me kind of find some other things that I like? So then when I go to them, I can say, hey, I'm not going to do this, but I do have. A plan more along. The second thing he said, where I didn't tell them that I said, this is bull crap.

00:10:37
I'm not doing this. Because my mom would have been like, what's your plan? And I didn't have one. So I was just like, hey, I'm going to do this real estate thing on the side. I think this is cool.

00:10:46
My mom, you own your own business. I think I'm going to do this business on the side. So summer after junior year of college, I said, I'm going to do this real estate thing. So I learned, started doing it, and I made, like, close to $40,000 in a summer. And I was like, Yo, there's some legs to this thing.

00:11:05
And my mom was like, yeah, that's pretty cool. So don't forget you still got a job to get, or whatever. So I started working really hard to make sure I had a job or to make sure that real estate worked because I didn't want to do the job thing. Fun fact, neither one of them worked over the long term, so it was very hard to sell real estate. As a 20 year old kid, a lot of people didn't give me a lot of credibility, so I needed some really good training.

00:11:27
I ended up going to a brokerage that I thought had the training didn't work out great. People just there was no training there. So I ended up going to Berkshire Hathaway, which was the biggest brokerage in Philadelphia at the time. And I had some really good training there. I had literally the best top ten agents in the entire city were all in this one brokerage.

00:11:45
So I got tons of training there. My mentor at the time, he's really funny. I showed up basically the way I do now, with a long sleeve T shirt on and, like, some sweatpants. And he was like and he just grabbed me by the shirt like this and pushed me up against the wall and was like, don't you ever walk in here ever again looking like that. I said, what's wrong?

00:12:04
He's like, you told me wanted to be one of the best in the city, and the best in the city doesn't dress like that. He's don't ever come in here without a suit on ever again. I was like, all right, you make $750,000 a year, and I look like this, and you look like that. Fair enough. Okay, fine.

00:12:17
I'll get my freaking crap together.

00:12:21
Obviously, I never showed up without a suit on again. In fact, I actually show up in a three piece suit. That's usually my go to. So got that corrected quickly, and I got all the training I needed, so that was helpful. And then obviously from there, I went, right.

00:12:35
And so your parents, you said that they kind of did the flipping part. Yeah, they did the flipping of the houses with you. Now what do they do? So are they entrepreneurs as well, traditionally, or okay, they are. My mom started a cleaning business in 1985, a commercial cleaning business.

00:12:53
So she cleans, like, office buildings and things like that. So that's where I started my career, in my working career, was cleaning floors for my mom, and then my dad quit his job and started working for my mom. So basically, we all did everything mom said all the time, whether it was in the house or on the job. It was just, everybody listens to whatever mom says, right? Well, that's usually how it is.

00:13:12
And again, it's kind of funny that you grew up with all men around you, but the mom was the leader, and we could dive into that, but we don't need to. The glue that holds everybody together. Mother's Day is coming up, so got to get that straight now. No, exactly. So I think that's so interesting.

00:13:28
So you really did have that kind of entrepreneur mindset in your head, but accounting was like, this is what you're good at. Be safe. Which is interesting when you have parents that also kind of think out of the box that they were trying to not put you in a box, but that's what you were learning. Okay, maybe I need to stay in this box because it's safe, it's comfortable. Did you ever as a kid because I love diving into this a little bit when parents sometimes when a parent has a nine to five job, they walk through the door, and you can feel however they're coming in or on the vice versa.

00:14:03
If a parent is an entrepreneur, you can feel how that comes in. So one of the guests that I have on that's one of, like, a story that it just always was so interesting to me. She couldn't remember why she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She's like, I don't know. I just always wanted to be an entrepreneur.

00:14:16
My dad's a professor. My mom stayed home. But it's just something I thought was cool, and I'm like, we had to see it somewhere, right? You had to see it? Like, you had to read about it or feel it or whatever.

00:14:24
And she's like, no, I don't think so. And I was like, okay. And then as we continued talking, she was like, oh, my gosh. Wait a second. My dad owned a shop, and I could literally see her light up, and it was the coolest thing, because she started lighting up, and she's like, I was really young, and I can't believe I haven't thought about this forever.

00:14:40
But we sat with the neighbor. The neighbor also owned it, and the kids all got to eat dinner, and it was like when we all got to go out and there was, like, dancing and party and all this, she goes, and he only had it for a little while. And I said to her, Was dad the professor that walked through the door a different energy than dad, the shopkeeper, and literally her mouth dropped. And I was like, you've been chasing that energy, right? So sometimes that could be you don't want to do it because the energy your parents bring in.

00:15:09
So when you were growing up, was it that you saw the struggles of being an entrepreneur, that you were like, you know what, accounting is safe? Or was it just kind of just kind of happened naturally? So I think there's two parts to that. The first part is I think my parents and friends and family recommended my parents especially recommended accounting as it's safe because my mom knows the grit and the grind it takes to run a business. And I think she was afraid that I might not be up for it.

00:15:37
So it was like more of a protection thing. She's like, you know, I grinded my ass off for 30 plus years. At this point, it's 40 years almost. So she just knows she's seen the path, and she knows it's not a pretty one. And building a business and any of any kind of level of success takes grit and grind and persistence and no quit attitude, push through it, all, that kind of stuff.

00:15:59
So she just wanted to I don't know if you are meant for it. Like, you might have it, but you might not, and I just don't want to see you get hurt. So that's the first part of it. The second part of it was my own observation of them, because I know that growing up, one or both of my parents was always there for me at some point. When my brother and I had soccer games, they were both there.

00:16:23
Basketball games, we were both there. Track meets, they were both there. And they were always there. And I was like, you know what? When I was going off to college, they were both there.

00:16:32
Most of the time, both of them were there, and they were and they were pissed if they weren't able to get to whatever. It was an event or whatever. Like, if it was just mom doing one thing and dad had to go do something else. Damn, I hate when I miss your games. That's usually the games that I really played, like, outstanding at too.

00:16:47
He's like, of course you score three goals in a game when I don't show up.

00:16:53
So seeing that, when I turned, like, 1819 years old, I was like, you know what? And it was right after that stupid internship in college. I was like, you know what? I can't be there for my future kids when if I'm doing this. And I said, I want to be able to deliver a fatherhood for these future kids.

00:17:12
I have two kids now. But at the time, I was like, I need to be that guy. Like, that my dad was, that my mom was and be that present figure in their life the way they were present in my life. I can't not be that guy. So I need to find a career path that allows me to do that.

00:17:28
And that's how I found real estate. And when I got into real estate, I was like, that was the goal I was working towards the whole time. And then it was like, when I turned 29, my wife was pregnant for the first time. Now I'm 31, and I have two kids, and it's like, now I'm actually living the dream I set ten years ago, which is wild and so cool, because now I get to bring them to showings. It's like, hey, okay, one's, two and a half.

00:17:50
The other's a year old in a couple of weeks. So I bring them around for showing. The other one goes to daycare, and then I'm always there for them all the time. Like, I pick them up at daycare, I drop them off at daycare. My wife gets pissed at me sometimes because she's not able to be around as much as I am.

00:18:04
But I was like, hey, I set this goal for ten years ago. I've been working towards this. This is an outcome of ten years of work. This isn't just like, I didn't just decide to do this. This is ten years of work to try to get to this point.

00:18:18
So now that presents another problem, which is now I am now living in a little bit of a vacuum, because now there's no goal for the next ten years. And that's what I'm working on putting together now, because it's like, okay, you've achieved being a present father. Now you obviously have to continue to do that. But now what are you working on? What's the next milestone you want to hit here?

00:18:38
So, obviously, maintaining a presence in their life and a positive presence, that's a big thing. But I don't want to us I don't want my goal to be maintaining. I want to be shooting for something. So I just don't know what that is yet. No, I love that, and I feel the same, because whenever I miss my kids stuff, it makes me crazy.

00:18:54
And I'll have friends that are like, you literally, I have three kids, and they all play sports, and I will on the weekends. Sometimes I don't even sit down, and I don't care. I'm like, either at the basketball, I'm at lacrosse, soccer, and it literally lights me up. I played sports. I played sports in college, so I played for a long time, and I just love that energy.

00:19:14
But watching your kids play and succeed is like nothing else. And it's not like, I'm so excited for that. It's so fun. Oh, my God. I literally I'm like the mom, and I'm the cheery mom.

00:19:25
I'm not like, a negative mom, but I'm the loud mom that gets into it. Fist pumps, like high fives. I get into it, jump off the bleachers. I mean, my kid one time hit like, the winning three at the Buzer, a buzer beater, and I literally would. Have lost my crap.

00:19:43
I jumped up and jumped off the bleachers, but I jumped up and jumped, like, so high that I almost actually twisted an ankle and I got lightheaded, so I almost like, fell down. I was like, oh, my gosh, okay. I'm I guess a little older and I really can't just jump up like that. Come back down there. Yeah.

00:20:01
That's awesome. I can't wait till they're old enough to do that stuff. They're still a little young. Yeah, no, but they will. So I love that and I love how you painted that because again, I think it's really important to people to dream and think about what they want for their future and not kind of just put themselves in that box, in that bubble.

00:20:19
Not just think, oh, this is what I want for a little time. So I love that you kind of knew that you loved the way you grew up, you loved that your parents were there and you set that goal for yourself. And that's what I always challenge people to kind of dream, right? To find that space that they can dream. Don't put parameters around it, don't put it in a box.

00:20:37
Just really go out there and search and then try to do like, I have this dream, what do I need to do to get that done? And so I love how you painted that and how you really did that. Can you take us through right there? Real quick? Yeah, real quick.

00:20:50
Before you get to you just said something that kind of triggered one of the reasons I was able to reach the level of success that I have reached so far was you're talking about all of the paint a picture, imagine Chase the Dream and all that stuff. That's great. And that's like a vision board. Now, the thing that I realized in my ten years out of college, or I guess I'm eleven years as a working human adult now. So basically what I would say is what I learned is that a lot of and this is a pretty well accepted fact that people are more driven by pain than they are pleasure.

00:21:19
So the vision board and all that stuff is great. But the thing is, and obviously it's best to look at it once or twice a day, what I created instead, or actually not instead, to supplement the vision board was actually a nightmare board. So this is what happens if you don't do the work. And it was like a picture of a guy sitting in front of a lap or a computer at a cubicle. And then there was also me not being with my kids, and I was just like, where's the goddamn son?

00:21:49
I love that. But here's the thing. You don't look at the nightmare every day because you don't want to manifest the negative part of it. So that's just something you look at, like, once every two weeks. Like, you chase the vision.

00:22:01
Chase the vision. And then when you start to lose your motivation, you look at the nightmare scenario. It's like, fuck. F that. I am not getting anywhere near that.

00:22:08
Yeah. Where's the goddamn phone? I need to make some calls. I need to get some income going. Like, let's go.

00:22:15
I am not sitting at a stupid cubicle. I am not going to be a freaking hobo on the side of the road feed my kids with a pen and a cardboard box. Right? But so I love that, and I love that you did that because it was kind of a reminder of, like, okay, this is not what I wanted. So I think that's really cool for people to kind of visualize and do.

00:22:33
So take us through the next pivot. So where did all of your speaking and I know you're an author and all of that kind of come up and grow. Yeah, so the author is a work in progress. It's actually supposed to come out in a month. Well, that's not you're an author.

00:22:53
Okay, fair enough. I'm just trying not to take credit yet. So what I would do for me, I think it was just because I guess for lack of a better way to put it, maybe one of the higher producers in the real estate world. And basically a lot of people said, hey, how are you doing? What you're doing?

00:23:12
I see you're not working. You're not crazy working. You're not stressed. You're not ripping your hair out like every high producer, everyone's always talking about how they're just busy, busy, busy all the time. They don't have time for anything, and they're like, Steve, you're not like that.

00:23:25
Why are you so calm, cool, collected? You take the weekends off. You work in, like, four days a week, and you're producing 20 plus million dollars in sales by yourself. You don't have buyer agents working for you. You're just doing this with your own clients.

00:23:40
You're getting referrals. What the hell are you doing? And I was just like and then I started saying, hey, I'm using gifts to this and that and the other, and basically went through my whole plan, and they're like, wow, that sounds awesome, and it sounds like a lot of work, and so great, no problem. But I don't want to do that. So basically, that's how I got into the coaching part of things.

00:24:03
It's like, hey, let me show you how I did this. But then here's the other part of it. I've been through coaching programs myself over the last ten years or so, and I've probably spent close to $100,000 on this kind of stuff, and I've been burned a million times, and I've gotten these coaches who make these big, bold promises. I can. Get you leads.

00:24:22
I can do you this, I can do this automate that bull crap, I'm tired of it. Whatever. Here's $10,000 or here's $7,000, or here's $4,000, and then let me return to you with zero results. And I'm not one to not put effort in, so I put the efforts into these things and these programs always turn out to be crap. So basically I'm creating a coaching program and I'm basically coming for all of those programs that ever screwed me up and screwed me over.

00:24:48
And I'm just saying, you know what? I know you guys charge thousands of dollars and you know what? You don't provide good service. So I'm going to charge nothing and provide great service that's basically I'm just going to cut them all at the knees in terms of pricing and just be like, look, I'm charging less than $100 for this. And that's the type of mind, right?

00:25:07
Yeah, that's what top of mind marketing is. And so they can find that on Facebook. They can go there. And I know you're just starting that, and I want to get into that for a second. But I do know that when we originally talked, like, the one thing that you said that really kind of stood kind of made you stand apart and why you were getting the referrals were kind of a couple key things.

00:25:30
Can you just let the listeners know if they're out there, just like things for them to think about, things that you did that you realized were really kind of your sauce. Yeah. So gift giving is my sauce. One of the things is what's funny about gift giving is that, one, a gift is a symbol of the relationship with the other person. So when you give somebody a gift card, it's a lazy gift.

00:25:51
It's a terrible gift. And look, I'm guilty of this stuff, too, so I'm not like just talking everybody into the ground. Like I've given gift cards in the past before I learned how to be better at this. So I just don't want anybody to think I'm just like talking down to people. No, not at all.

00:26:06
But nothing says I don't have time to put in a quality. I don't have enough time for you or a relationship with you better than a gift card does. So you don't give those things. But the other thing is a gift is an impression maker. And this is stuff that will be in my book, too, but a gift stays.

00:26:23
When you give somebody a gift card, one, it probably won't get spent. Or if you give somebody food or alcohol or champagne, which is the stereotypical realtor thing to do, these things, they get consumed or flowers even. I mean, as nice as they are, they are still dead in a week. But here's the other thing. If you give people things that last, things that they use, things that they'll see often, they'll think of you multiple times a day.

00:26:43
I give people when they bought homes for me, I gave them custom watercolor paintings of their home that they just bought. And every house I would go into, whenever I see them again, it's always hanging up because they see it every day now. And that's one impression for Steve every day. Or a cutting board that's like 18 inches by 24 inches custom to them. Not me.

00:27:01
It doesn't say Remax or Keller Williams on it, but and it was such a nice piece of wood that they were like, Steve, I'm never going to cut this. I'm never using this. This is a centerpiece. Like, I can't touch this. They would hang it up as a big piece in their kitchen.

00:27:15
And every time how many times does someone walk in their kitchen every day? It's like 19 times. You get 19 impressions a day forever. That's going to last a lot longer. And they're thinking of you.

00:27:24
And then one it's also because it's a showstopping piece, whether it's the artwork or the cutting board or whatever else it is. My methodology is called Attacking the Kitchen, where we basically always just fill the kitchen with stuff that they can use, whether it's cutco knives, cutting boards, I don't know, scissors, whatever else you can think of, pots and pans. So whenever they touch anything in their kitchen, you come to mind, because that's where they spend their time. That's where they entertain, and that's where other people I can't tell you how many times, hey, Steve, how's having people over? They love the cutting board, by the way, but they're looking to buy a home, so I gave them your contact information, and your names are blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

00:28:00
They'll call you soon. I was like, great, awesome. So that kind of stuff happens all the time. So that was my thing. It was just like staying in touch that way.

00:28:08
And it's an easier and this is the thing I absolutely hate calling people out of the blue and saying, hey, do you know anyone buying or selling the house? No, asshole.

00:28:21
Just, why are you calling me? I feel like you need a shower after that phone call. So I'm just like, gross. And so, like, sending the gift and then calling behind the gift, it was so much easier. Just say, hey, look, I just wanted to show how grateful I am for you for being a client, or just if they're not a client and maybe you're trying to build a relationship with somebody, or just because I'm so grateful that you're in my life.

00:28:40
So I wanted to show some appreciation. I sent you a gift, wanted to just make sure you got it. And they're like, oh, my God, it's Steve. Because it's a nice gift. They're always, like, over the moon about it.

00:28:47
It's not like some cheap piece of crap. So like, yeah, Steve, this is so great. This is awesome. Thank you for sending it like house things. And they know I'm in real estate, so the question inevitably will always show up how's the market?

00:28:58
And that is my organic door open for me to now be a salesperson and close in business. But they asked, not me. So now it's a conversation. And I can be salesy without being like, cringey salesy. Right, well, and I love that strategy.

00:29:12
I think it's really important for people to hear because it's a different way to think about it, and it's building relationships, just like I always talk about and how I help people with their stories because stories sell, right? Stories connect. And so what you're doing is you have created a story for their home. Oh, yeah, this guy, he was my realtor. And here's the story behind it.

00:29:32
It's just going to make it and sit. And so I love that how you talked about the impressions. So what is the book called? Because I know, I know it's coming out. By the time this episode comes out, it already might be out, so you should shout it out.

00:29:43
Yeah. So I'm thinking it's going to be the Impression scale is what I'm pretty much set on, but I can't decide whether it's between the Impression Scale or Top of Mind Marketing. So I can't decide which one I'm going to name it, but it's going to be one of those things. So if this is out, we'll put that all in the show notes. Search both.

00:30:01
Search both. I'm sure one of them will come. Up, but we'll have that in the show notes for them. So when you decided to do top of mind marketing, I love that you kind of have said this is something that you really want to give back to the community. You don't want people to kind of get that feel of like, I just spent all this money in this coaching program and I didn't learn anything.

00:30:23
It wasn't good. If you could take people through a little bit of those steps of how you decided, okay, you know what? This is what I want to do. This is what I want to give back to the kind of the real estate business and people but also what it's going to do for you as you move ahead in your business? Well, I've read many times and from some of the top producing human beings on planet Earth, it was just like, don't chase the money.

00:30:48
Chase making other people's lives better. The money will eventually appear. And I found that to be very true because as a young man, before I was married and before I had kids, it was like, that's what I wanted. That's all I wanted was money. It's just like you're just this young, hungry guy that's all you want to do is go make a career for yourself.

00:31:03
And when you do chase money, you don't get it. But as a acting like I'm some kind of wise old man right now just because I'm 31 and makes it sound like I've learned a lot. But I'm not anywhere close to Father Time. So what I would say is, like.

00:31:26
You can have an old soul. You can have an old soul. I've been called an old soul all my life since I was my mom and dad have always said I'm ten years older in my head than I am in my body. They said that when you were six, you acted like a 16 year old. 26 when you were 16.

00:31:42
And now I'm acting like a 41. Year old, I guess, which is still not Father Time. That's still behind. Yeah. Okay, fair enough.

00:31:53
Basically, I think where was the question? Sorry, bring it back. No, I know Father Time kind of got us there. No. So what you decide, like, not to chase money, and you knew that, and so what you've learned in the years that you've done is kind of why you started Top of Mind Marketing.

00:32:09
Yeah. And I think the other thing is because in real estate, the real estate industry is an industry that there's a hard industry to get started when the failure rate in the first year is 87%. It's like a business endeavor that just promises you nothing. Like, you have to be everything, and it promises you nothing. And I think that for somebody to get into the real estate business and decide that that's what they want to do for a living, I think that takes a lot of gumption and a lot of cajones, if you will.

00:32:39
So I want to say that takes a lot of guts. And I think that's what I want to be able to give back to that and help those people that want to be the present father like I do, who want to reach higher heights, or people who just want to get into a better position in life instead of maybe they're living in a really low income neighborhood that they don't want to be part of. Or maybe they want to own a beach home for the first time in their life or just change their family tree altogether. I want to be there to help you get there. And with the coaching program that I'm offering, it's just like I want to be able to give you high value, but I want you to be able to use your money for your business and your customers rather than break the bank for a coaching program to the point.

00:33:20
So bad that you don't have any money left over to spend it on your business or you or your customers. And I've been in that position so many damn times, and I just am tired of feeling it myself. And I can imagine I'm not the only one who's gone through that. So to be able to put together a coaching program that allows people to just be like, hey, you know what, this is going to be $50 a month or less. I can get good coaching, good motivation, good methodologies, and still have plenty of money to spend on clients and my own business and invest in other things and grow.

00:33:51
So that's my whole methodology and mentality behind it. Right, and it's also the people that you're going to meet through it I think is always fun. I mean, that's one of the reasons why when I started my podcast and just the kind of connections that I've made and the stories that I've heard, it's amazing. And podcasting is not something that you're like, okay, I'm going to quit all my life to do podcasting so I can make a million dollars. There's a very small percent that's there.

00:34:18
But when you lead with the passion and the energy and the fun and literally, after I talk to someone like you during the day, my whole day, I'm like my kids always laugh because they're like they don't ask. Me how my day is anymore. Because they know I'm going to tell them. And they know who I'm going to tell them who I talk to. Go.

00:34:40
Who did you talk to today, mom? And they're like, oh my God, I'm so excited. This is so interesting. And that's what you're going to do with the coaching program. You're really going to put yourself where you're meeting people that all have the desire to be better and you're going to be a part of that and helping them.

00:34:55
So that's very cool. So again, top of my marketing, they can find you in Facebook. On Facebook? In Facebook? Yeah.

00:35:03
Say that. And that's a closed group and that's where they can get the information. But they can also go to can they find it from your website? Theappreciationadvocate.com is that going to be a link? Better, actually.

00:35:16
So what you could do is just send me an email directly because it's just easier that way. And I check my email pretty much every hour of every day, so I'm pretty on it all the time. So just send me an email to [email protected] and I'll get you in there. Perfect. Oh my gosh.

00:35:31
Well, Steve, this has been great. Again, guys, you can follow Steve on all the socials LinkedIn and why don't you spell I could actually spell your name because I have it written here. So it's Buzogany and it's like mahogany, but it's mahogany. Mahogany, right, correct. Yeah.

00:35:51
You're really just taking out the mah at the beginning and putting A-B-U-Z in there. Yes. But when you're dyslexic and you have to do that, it literally hurts your brain. It hurts my brain. I imagine it's a totally different experience.

00:36:08
It's an extra step for you and I can totally understand it. Yeah, it's my life and I put now it's comical when I was in school, it wasn't so comical when I had to read out when I had to read out loud, but now it's kind of like, okay, yes, my kids will always say, wait, what did you just say? What did you just read? And I'm like, I don't know. I added, like, ten letters there.

00:36:31
Just ignore me. Don't take that. But no, Steve, this has been great. I so appreciate you joining your next stop. You guys, you know what I say?

00:36:40
Every single time. You might have listened to this and been like, oh, that's interesting. Interesting story. But you do not know who in your life needs to hear this episode. So I want you guys to kind of think in your brain, think who maybe in your life needs some inspiration, maybe needs a little kind of kickstart in their life.

00:36:55
Maybe they're in a career that they don't love, and they need to hear a story like Steve's. So again, Steve, thank you for joining your next stop. Thanks for having me. It's been awesome talking to you. Yeah, you too.

00:37:05
Guys, don't forget, like, rate, review and share. Don't forget to go find Steve. You can email him again at Steve. And it's just S-T-E-V-E. There's no tricky stuff [email protected].

00:37:20
I hope you've liked this episode of your next stop. Please subscribe to my channel, share with your friends, and join in each week.