How Julianne Carney Grew Her GCI by Nearly 50% (Even in a Down Market)

Before hiring Platform to help with her marketing, Julianne Carney was already running a successful business. She was landing clients and selling homes… until the end of 2022.

At that point, Julianne went six months without a closing. For some agents, that wouldn’t be a huge deal (they’re just getting started!), but it was a significant loss of income for her. She was used to taking home around $250k annually, but when interest rates shot up and the market slowed, she knew her strategy needed to change, too.

Having exhausted her referral network, Julianne decided it was time to start marketing her real estate services to the public. She sought more than just leads, hoping to stand out as a realtor in Memphis. And that’s when she (accidentally) found Platform Marketing. (We love it when this happens.)

Julianne felt she’d spent too much time and money on “shiny objects” in her eight years as an agent. She’d paid for leads and referrals without seeing a return — but she knew Platform was different.

She found us while researching marketing companies, knowing she needed help with her social media brand. Hiring us would be different from anything she’d tried before, but after listening to the podcast, she was willing to give it a shot.

In fact, listening to success stories from our clients led Julianne to their Facebook pages, where she saw that we weren’t loading them up with stock photos and generic quotes to post every week. Reading their content, she felt she was getting to know real people, real agents. One per market.

They weren’t just slapping their logos on random images and hoping for a few comments. They were actively connecting with their communities, building relationships, and marketing themselves with such nuance that — how?! — it didn’t even look like marketing.

Yep. Julianne wanted in.

Eighteen months later, after committing to doing her Platform homework, Julianne was seeing impressive results. She fell in love with our funny, unexpected ads and was more than willing to jump into a gaudy windbreaker suit to make them her own.

(The windbreaker ad even landed her a buyer who called and said, “You just look like fun and someone I would enjoy spending time with!” The two of them formed a friendship, and Julianne wore the windbreaker to closing. Talk about a full circle moment.)

Julianne found that the more she could inject her natural creativity into her marketing, the more calls she received. New clients loved that she wasn’t taking herself too seriously, which encouraged her to loosen up in front of the camera and let her true self shine in her ads. Marketing was suddenly… fun!?

Of course, there were scary parts of joining Platform, too. Trying a new marketing strategy during a lean season is a risk — but it was one that Julianne was willing to take. She knew she needed to double down and invest in her business if she wanted to reap the rewards later.

And she did. Julianne wound up selling $8 million in the second half of 2023 alone, and 2024 was her best year ever. She grew her GCI by nearly 50% — even though the market was down. Her humorous, personalized listing videos regularly get upwards of 75,000 views.

She’s crushing it.

According to Julianne, the Platform strategy is “more than just marketing.” Our approach helps her tell stories about who she is as an agent, creatively and regularly. So, not only is she getting leads, but her leads feel as if they already know her.

Julianne also loves that her account manager follows up with her to make sure she’s doing her homework. The accountability factor keeps her on track, and her account manager’s coaching keeps marketing fun. (That’s what we like to hear!)

Plus, “one agent per market” means our clients are friends, not competitors. Although she considers herself a “lurker,” Julianne enjoys attending our exclusive events and getting to meet other members of our community.

We don’t blame her. It’s a pretty great group of people. The best, actually.

You can listen to Julianne’s story here. And if you’re interested in joining the Plat Fam, you can see if your market is available here.