Real estate marketing is full of surprises, and sometimes the moments you expect to change everything don’t move the needle at all…until they do in ways you never saw coming.
The Day I Thought the New York Times Would Make Me Rich
Early in my real estate career, I wrote an article about a property I sold and then sent it to the New York Times.
They published it on the front page of the Sunday real estate section. A quarter-page feature. Massive visibility. And it didn’t cost me a dollar.
Back then, companies like Bloomingdale’s and Ralph Lauren were paying tens of thousands for ad space — and those ads were buried inside the paper. I was on the front page. I remember thinking, this is it. Every building owner in New York City is going to call me.
The Week the Phone Never Rang
I walked into the office Monday expecting chaos — messages, calls, opportunities.
Nothing.
Tuesday came. Still nothing.
By the end of the week, not a single call.
The following week? Same story.
I was stunned. If the New York Times couldn’t generate business, what could?
I genuinely couldn’t understand why anyone would advertise if this was the result.
The Call That Changed How I See Marketing
About a month later, I finally got a call. But no mention of the New York Times article.
It was an owner squarely in my target market — someone I had spoken with many times over the years. We had always had good conversations, which was rare because most owners wouldn’t give me the time of day.
But when he called, something strange happened.
He introduced himself like we had never spoken before. After two years of calls and mailings, he didn’t remember me at all.
What he did say was this: he had been told I was the guy to sell his building. The recommendation came from someone I didn’t even know.
I got the exclusive listing. The process was smooth — tour, evaluation, presentation — almost no resistance.
That’s when the lesson started to sink in.
Visibility Doesn’t Create Business — Trust Does
Like most people, I assumed visibility would create immediate results. It took me years to understand what was really happening.
The article didn’t make the phone ring overnight. But it contributed to something far more important — credibility.
In a market where brokers are everywhere — sending mailers, making calls, showing up and disappearing — owners don’t choose the most visible broker. They choose the one they trust.
And trust is how you overcome consumer doubt.
Why Proof Is the Only Thing That Cuts Through Skepticism
That experience reshaped how I think about marketing.
Trust isn’t built with promises.
It’s built with proof.
Proof in the form of:
- Market insights that show you understand the landscape
- In-depth reports that demonstrate expertise
- Success stories that prove you can execute
When owners see consistent, specific evidence, doubt fades. And when doubt fades, decisions get easier.
The Lesson That Became the System
That moment changed how I approached every listing conversation from that point forward, and it set the foundation for everything I’ve built since.
Over decades, I refined the idea that credibility isn’t a tactic — it’s a system. A way of consistently showing the market who you are and what you know.
That’s exactly what led me to create the Proof Stacking Exclusive Listing Pitch Kit — a workbook built from more than 30 years of real-world experience.
Because in the end, the lesson from that New York Times feature was simple:
Visibility gets you noticed.
Proof gets you chosen.
