How to Stay Top of Mind as a Real Estate Agent (Without Being Annoying)

Most agents don’t avoid sphere marketing because they’re lazy—they avoid it because they don’t want to be annoying, awkward, or fake.

In this episode, I’m breaking down how to stay top of mind with your clients and sphere all year long without forced check-ins, weird “just following up” texts, or relying on social media to do all the work.

If you want more referrals, better client relationships, and a marketing strategy that actually feels like you, this one’s for you.

In this episode, we cover:

•  how to stay top of mind naturally 
•  why most follow-up feels awkward 
•  what to do instead of random check-ins 
•  how to build a referral-based real estate business

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Referrals on Repeat — my free 12-month sphere marketing calendar
  👉 happyagent.co/ROR

This is the exact framework I wish I’d had earlier in my career, and it’s designed to be simple enough to actually stick with.

Staying top of mind isn’t about being louder, cleverer, or everywhere—it’s about being present in a way that fits your life.

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Transcript

The Real Problem: Design, Not Discipline

Redefining Consistent, Human Outreach

The Four-Part Referrals On Repeat System

Why Familiarity Builds Trust And Referrals

Outcomes: Warmer Conversations And Less Burnout

Get The 12-Month Calendar And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Hello friends. I am Lindsay Dreyer. Welcome. I am a mom of three, a real estate coach and brokerage owner. And I just think real estate doesn't have to be so hard. If this is your first time listening, welcome. And if you are a return listener, thanks for coming back. It means the world to me. If you want to leave a review, that would be amazing at Apple or Spotify. Those are the two most listened to platforms, which makes sense to me because that's what I use too. So today we are going to dive into how I stay top of mind all year without being annoying. I have coached many agents, and I will say most of them do not have a consistent sphere marketing top of mind planned. And I just don't think it's their fault. Like most of them aren't avoiding it because they're lazy. I think they're avoiding it because they don't want to be annoying. They don't want to be salesy. And above all, they just don't want to be fake. Like faking the funk is the worst. So I am going to acknowledge that there is a cringe factor when it comes to awkward check-ins or forced just sold posts or postcards or fake urgency texts or just checking in. Like, ugh, it's just, you know, doesn't really feel that great. So I am going to dive into how staying top of mind does not require more charisma or energy. It does not require better scripts. It does not require you to have a bigger personality. It really just requires a system that respects real relationships and it needs to respect you and how you build real relationships. I didn't get better at marketing necessarily. I just got better at designing something that I could actually stick with and that felt authentic to me. And the really cool thing was I was able to kind of stress test this at my brokerage with the agents at my brokerage. And what I do for top of mind really does work. So when it comes to executing a top of mind marketing plan, most agents think that the issue is consistency or discipline or motivation. But from my experience, the real issue is design. Random check-ins feel annoying because they are random. Straight up, point blank. And silence, followed by sudden outreach, suddenly feels transactional or awkward. And then overthinking kind of steps in, and that comes in from not knowing what's next or not being consistent or not having a system or you haven't designed your top of mind plan. So people don't get annoyed by being consistently in touch. They really get confused by the inconsistency. And that is really it. I really think that it's okay to like let your business change and let go of the marketing rules that I've talked about in the previous episode. Um, and you really just have to figure out what that consistent top of mind plan looks like that you can feel good about. I want you to think about like just people in your life. Let's not even go with like your sphere. Let's just talk about your friends and your family. How do you genuinely stay in touch, authentically stay in touch with the people that you care about? It probably looks like occasional notes, occasional emails, could be holiday cards, birthday cards, seasonal check-ins. Um, it might be visiting them. Uh, like that's really what we need it to feel like when it comes to our sphere or our database. The difference is it's just not going to be random like it is with the people in our personal life. So it's going to be more systematic. It's going to have a rhythm, and that's really what it's about. So my philosophy is it's monthly visibility multiple times a month. There are human touch points involved. There's no pressure, there's no urgency, and it's about building long-term trust over short-term wins. You are never going to see anything in my marketing that is asking for referrals because that is moving it from a human touch point to a cringy business touch point. And it really isn't about asking, how do I get business from my sphere? But it's like, how do I show up like someone worth calling if they need something real estate related? And that is the mindset shift is it's not about getting business from your sphere. It's about how am I positioning myself as the real estate expert that they know that shows up for them and really cares for them. Without further ado, let's dive into my system, which is called referrals on repeat. So this is what we execute at our brokerage. Now it's four parts, and this is kind of the high-level overview. We do one mailed touch point, and this typically is a postcard or an invite to an event. We can do, or we do one email, and this is a sphere newsletter. So this is kind of like those holiday letters, but we send them every single month where we're giving them like an update on personal stuff, maybe something real estate related. Um, but it is very human and it is minimally designed. Um, and that is intentionally on purpose. The next is a text, which typically we're sending quarterly to people. It's very conversational. It is not real estate related. It really is just like, hey, thinking about you. Um, and then the optional pop-by, pop-in. Pop-ins are my favorite because I can be like, hey, I'm at this coffee shop if you want to come say hi, or my kids and I are gonna be at the trampoline park, like, come say hi. Um, or it's client events. So those are optional. I have seen people not do pop-by's, pop-ins, or client events, and they're successful. But I feel like once your database gets to a certain point, it sometimes makes sense to start like gathering people with client events. So that's it. Those are that's the four-part rhythm. It is your mailed touch every month, one email a month, a text quarterly, and then a pop-by, pop-in or client event. Now, it does not mean this is constant. And like, I don't think repetition is annoyance. Like, I think people rely or get used to hearing from us in this cadence, which is great. I know I've gotten responses from my sphere newsletter where people are like, this is amazing. I love your newsletter. And like a lot of people don't get that. Like the one that your brokerage makes for you, that is not sphere building. That is not relational. Like, I want you to think of your newsletter as something you'd send to your mom or your dad or your best friends, and they'd be like, Oh my gosh, I love this. It feels so much like Lindsay. Um, now, some months might be lighter, but again, my non-negotiables are my postcard and my sphere newsletter. I'm not skipping those. Um, and I don't think the goal is necessarily to be everywhere. Again, you might be noticing social media is not on my list. It is to show up and be familiar. It is to show up and be authentic and have people think of me as a real person that they know, like, and trust. And that also happens to be a real estate agent. So, why does this work? This approach has worked, and we I've been doing it for a very long time because it builds familiarity, which builds trust. And then trust builds referrals. And referrals don't come from one moment in time, they come from memory. And that has been scientifically proven. Like, you have to activate the RAS, the reticular activation system, like at least two to three times a month for people to remember you and think of you. So, yes, this is a long game, but and I know that that's hard to stick to, but we are not trying to win today. We are trying to be remembered later. So, I want to talk about like the outcomes of sticking to this top of mind plan over the course of years. The first is there's fewer awkward reach outs. Like, I don't feel cringy at all sticking to this plan. It feels very easy, very motivating. The second is that the conversations like just feel warmer. It feels like I'm a person showing up as a person instead of me showing up as like a real estate robot, which I think happens so frequently. The other is that it results in more conversations. I have people who text message me pictures of the postcard and say, oh my gosh, I loved your postcard this month. It's so great to hear from you, which results in conversation, which again, your marketing needs to result in conversations. That's what it is all about, whether it's conversations with a referral, whether it's conversations with the person you sent it to. The other benefit is that I've seen more messages from people that are like, I thought of you, like, oh my gosh, I love your newsletter, or hey, blah, blah, is looking to get into real estate, or hey, this person really wants to buy or sell a house. Like it's just again staying top of mind and having people think of you when something real estate related comes across their brain or their network or they're everywhere. Like, that's really what it's all about. The other thing is that it sticking to a consistent monthly plan is that it results in less burnout. You have less decision fatigue. You're not deciding every month what you're gonna be doing. And so having a system really gives you that freedom and that space back in your brain to be like, okay, cool. I'm just gonna stick with this and it's working. So I don't need to reinvent the wheel. And that saves you so much time and energy. And that is ultimately what builds a sustainable business is you're not adding new fuel to the fire. You are just having your consistent burn that is manageable, and you are feeding that fire consistently, and it is outputting heat at a reasonable pace, which is what we all want, right? All right. So if you are like, okay, Lindsay, like, how do I even get started? I have built my 12-month spear marketing calendar because decision fatigue is real. And I know that agents needed like practical something to look at and really like work off of, not just like high-in-the-sky ideas. And it is about that structure and that consistency. So I'm gonna give you my 12-month sphere marketing calendar, which I call referrals on repeat again. And you can borrow my brain for the next year. And this is honestly the plan that I wish I had like earlier in my career to nurture those past clients and my sphere because it's a system that positions you as a human being and it is flexible enough for you to imprint your own vibe. You can make it whatever you want it to be. And this is not about social media, like it can be if you want it to be, but it is not. And it's not about begging for referrals, and it is simple because if it's not simple, we're probably just not going to stick with it. So if you want to steal my calendar and have it be a jump off point for you, knock your socks off. I want you to. Please steal it. It's at happyagent.co slash r-o-r. Again, that's happyagent.co slash r-or, and the link is in the show notes. I'm really curious if you stayed visible in a manageable way for the next 12 months, how would your business change? How would your referrals change? How would your relationships with everybody that is in your sphere, past clients, everyone in your database, how would that change? And who would remember you without necessarily being reminded? Um, I mean, I recently had a client who literally has just been getting my top of mind plan forever. And I haven't talked to her in a very long time, but she sent me her sister. Like, that's amazing. So it really isn't about being louder, it's not about being clever, it's not about being everywhere. It's about being present and consistent in a way that fits your life. And it might not look like my plan. It might look like your own plan, but what is a way that you can show up consistently, being present, being authentic, being yourself in a way that fits your energy, that fits your life. And that's where you need to start. It isn't about listening to people on social media. It's not about more ideas, it's not about making this super complicated marketing plan. It really is just about how are you going to stay consistently visible for the next 12 months. And I I know you can do it. So I'm giving you permission to do less with more with more intention and doing the things that really position yourself as a person who is really great at real estate to your sphere. So I hope this episode helped get the juices flowing on how you might create your 12 month top of mind plan. And if you want to steal mine, again, you can get that at happyagent.co slash R O R. Until next time, stay happy.