During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer is excited to talk about marketing, advertising, video, and branding with guests Dan Schepleng – Founder of Kapowza; a creative agency company. Dan is going to challenge the way you think about what you could be creating. You are going to want to follow this guy and this company because they are doing some pretty amazing things!   Episode Highlights:  Dan launched Kapowza 6 years ago and pretty soon hired other talented people. Kapowza is a Baltimore creative agency delivering work in video, digital, and print. How do you simplify storyboarding and figure out what a message needs to be? How does it play out with an individual versus a team? How do you advertise myself? How do you market yourself? How do you brand yourself?  For real estate agents looking for marketing, think about budget and what you’re comfortable with suggests Dan.  If you are comfortable with writing, then have a blog. If you’re witty and interesting, use a Twitter account. If you are good with photos, add an Instagram account. There are ways to market yourself for free, and it’s just kind of a matter of figuring out what you’re comfortable with and honestly which you would enjoy. Because if you enjoy it, you’ll keep doing it.  What do you think is wrong with real estate advertising? Dan and Jeff discuss their insights. If someone wants to hire Kapowza, how does the process start? There are a million ways that Kapowza works with people. It’s not just big-budget commercials. They don’t do as many big-budget commercials as people think just because they are big line items. Most brands are only doing them once a year, and it is kind of a big event.  Marketing and advertising starts with what is realistic? What makes sense to you? How can we do what we do best?  As a real estate agent, you have the ability to shift the way your audience thinks about you and it is up to you to deliver that message. This is exactly what Kapowza does. Jeff asks Dan to tell the audience a bit of the other commercial that his company is well known for - the one where the kids are drinking coffee.  Talking about the cost of advertisements, Dan says it depends on what the goals are, because a commercial can cost $10,000 or it can cost $200,000, it could be one day, it could be 10 days. It’s always just a matter of what the goal is. Real estate professionals are self-proclaimed for the most part, and it’s a lot of learning as you go and creating your own stuff. Some are amazing and others are just a bunch of followers, but it’s the beauty of the real world which is very innovative. Jeff points out that unlike most industries, the real-estate industry accepts and evolves quickly, and it is like the innovator of all industries with everybody following later.  3 Key Points: Dan shares about Kapowza, a creative agency that is more about making an emotional connection. Whether it is funny or heartfelt, they make a connection with the brand and its audience through storytelling. What is a good starter question for an agent to get the creative process flowing? The real estate industry, especially the last five or ten years, has seen so much outside competition with large companies, realtors have to be able to market on the same level.    Resources Mentioned:  Lab Coat Agents  | Website | Facebook | Facebook Group | Twitter | Instagram  Jeff Pfizer  | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter Dan Schepleng  | Website | dan@kapowza.co https://www.northroprealty.com/ Follow Up Boss (Sponsor) Chime (Sponsor)