How Chelsea Peterson Went From Real Estate Agent to Building Nearly a Half a Million Dollar Membership

A goal that almost the majority of small business owners have is to scale their business enough to be considered a Fortune 500 company. Obviously, this is a type of pipe dream that rarely comes to fruition, but it’s still a goal that motivates them to do great things. Now, I’m not saying this is entirely impossible as those fortune 500 companies had to start somewhere, but the question I always find myself asking is “how did they get from point a to point b?” Simple, they focused on a space that knew very well and create a business around that. So what exactly does that mean? The best thing you can do as an entrepreneur is figuring out what you are good at and profiting off it. Such as, finding a specific community or niche that has untapped potential and space to grow. 

As a real estate agent, I found my area of expertise lies within the real estate industry. I had been working in real estate for almost 5 years and had just recently switched to a new brokerage firm and found myself having a convo with a fellow colleague about how I stay in touch with past clients, with the annual pie deliveries during Thanksgiving, my social media strategy, and client happy hours. In the midst of our convo, she said to me “You don’t have to be so creative you know. We have automated postcards you can send out monthly. All you have to do is upload your contact list & never have to think about it.” I almost nearly had a heart attack, the thought of sending automated postcards made me sick to my stomach. However, this conversation really left an impact on me. I took what she had said and learned that this “traditional way” of real estate marketing is something that was actually very common and I had a new and creative way to approach my clients. I walked out of that office and never looked back. I knew that there was untapped potential here and that I was going to run things differently. 

Fast forward a few years later and I now work as a real estate marketing coach whose current brand consists of working with predominantly real estate agents. I now have an engaged following of 9,000 real estate agents within a niche community who want to learn how to scale their business through modern marketing and offer masterclasses and membership for insight on creativity and strategy. All from tapping into an area within the real estate industry that hadn’t been done before. I have scaled my business from a one-woman show to a nearly half-million-dollar membership, and I want to help you do it too! 

Chelsea Petersen

Focus on What is Missing 

I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but seriously find what is missing in your industry/community and space. Then fill the gap by creating something that will garner traction. Whether is a physical product, an idea, or a membership this is what is going to set you apart from your competitors. There were plenty of programs with automated social media posts but that to me is equivalent to the automated postcards. Agents need more than “fluff” to grow their business using online methods. They need a combination of strategy and creative content to put it into action. Enter the Modern Agent membership.

Listen to Feedback 

The most important thing in any business venture or community/niche is the feedback you are receiving from customers/clients and members. Without feedback, you wouldn’t know what areas need improvement and what your audience actually wants. And you can only better your product from here on out.

I consistently compile feedback, FAQ’s, and ask the community what they want. I don’t take that lightly, If it aligns with our brand, I will always do whatever I can to make the product what they need!

Don’t Be Afraid to Have Fun With It 

My favorite part of my job is that I get to be fun and creative almost every day. Whether it’s through creating new programs for my membership or just creating my social media content calendar I always had an element of myself to it. So don’t be afraid to have fun. Because if it’s too formal your voice gets lost in all the analytics and everyone loves to relate with some sort of aspects of your company, not something that sounds like a robot spew out. I call it my “glass of wine with a friend approach”! If it doesn’t sound like something I’d say in real life, I won’t say it!

This is a guest article written by Real Estate Agent and Marketing Coach to 9,000 agents, Chelsea Petersen. You can connect with Chelsea on Instagram or her website. For more female entrepreneur stories and inspiration, please visit them here.