How Not to Be a Real Estate Radio Star in Sacramento

Real estate radio has never really appealed to me but that didn’t stop the Real Estate Radio Network from calling this Sacramento real estate agent. They offered to make me a radio star. Yup, put me on the air and allow me to share my knowledge and humor with all the people who listen to radio on weekend mornings. Like me, you might be wondering how much you can earn being a real estate radio star. First question I asked:

How much can I earn? I’m not shy.

Oh, they have one person who makes $250,000 a year, the caller assured. Well, that certainly sends up a red flag, doesn’t it? When was the last time somebody called you out of the blue and offered you a quarter of a million bucks?

Second question: Why are they calling me?

What makes me stand out from all of the other real estate agents in Sacramento? Apart from the fact that my name is plastered everywhere, and you can’t click around online without stumbling across my content — and of course the fact that I have a big mouth coupled with 4 decades of real estate — but I wanted to hear it from the representative at Real Estate Radio Network. Why was I targeted?

She fumbled a bit and then mentioned my interviews with the Wall Street Journal and CBS News. She must be looking at my bio page. That sounds a little lame.

How much time does this entail, being a real estate radio star at Real Estate Radio Network?

I already rank as a top-producer agent in Sacramento and move a ton of inventory every year, on top of being the homebuying expert at About.com, I don’t really need a third job. I earn a sufficient income. Time is a precious commodity.

An hour a week. It was flexible.

How does it work, exactly?

This wasn’t entirely clear and would be explained at lunch. It has something to do with sponsors. What if I don’t have any friends or coworkers or associates who would like to appear on the show as my sponsor, then what? No worry, the Real Estate Radio Network would help me and teach me how to do it. All I have to do is commit to a lunch date. Turns out the lunch date wasn’t really a one-on-one lunch date, it was some sort of seminar, a grouping of other real estate agents, although they did promise to feed us.

Nah, if your leader dude wants to meet with me, he can make an appointment and come to my office. I’ll give him 30 minutes to explain his program. See, I offered up, I’m already being a problem. I am not conforming. I want you guys to meet at my office and not in some group setting out by Sacramento State. I don’t think you want me. I am most likely not your targeted radio star.

Sure enough, hunting online, I found a former real estate radio star who had signed up earlier this year with the Real Estate Radio Network. I wondered if she was still broadcasting. No, she quit. She said she can do her own radio show for less money, and she did not need Real Estate Radio Network, nor did she need to pay $1700 per month for airtime plus another $995 as a monthly fee to Real Estate Radio Network.

Well, that quarter of a million income went flying out the window pretty quickly.