How Brandon Hedlund Doubled His GCI by Spending More Time with His Family

Yeah. You read that title correctly.

Brandon Hedlund is a realtor in Northern Minnesota (and one of our favorite people).

After partnering with Platform Marketing, he made the impressive jump from $200k GCI to $400k GCI — and he didn’t have to sell his soul to do it.

Rather, Brandon spends more time with his family than ever before, all while his business grows and helps client after client with their real estate needs.

How did he achieve this, you ask? By leveraging the Platform strategy to build a magnetic brand.

But the story doesn’t start here.

Initially, Brandon was certain he could build a successful real estate business on Zillow. No surprise there; many up-and-coming realtors believe that Zillow is the answer to gaining momentum in the industry.

The reality looks a little different.

Brandon’s local market (within a 60-mile radius) is full of small towns and houses with a $200k average price point. It’s hard to stand out in such a low-margin, rural area — and Brandon learned that pretty quickly.

Of course, that’s not to say he wasn’t a successful real estate agent when he found Platform. He was.

And yet, when he learned about our targeted marketing approach and our overall success in small towns, he knew he wanted to take the leap and work with us.

Before joining the PlatFam, Brandon was spending around 20 hours a week planning and executing his marketing strategy. That’s a full-fledged part-time job! And while it was possible, he knew it wasn’t sustainable.

He needed time to focus on his strengths (helping people buy and sell houses) and his family. With our track record, he was confident that we could help him find more hours in the day.

Which we did — because Brandon was willing to do his homework.

He didn’t skim our marketing suggestions and do the bare minimum. Instead, Brandon began the process of branding himself as “your local real estate expert.” He stopped promoting his brokerage in generic, forgettable ways and started promoting himself.

His face. His personality. His passion for real estate.

Through weekly video content, targeted messaging, and Platform’s signature retargeting strategy, Brandon took his already-successful business to a new level.

He showcased his listings, participated in local commentary, and highlighted his favorite small businesses — all from his phone. Nothing fluffy or over-produced. Just a simple, clear message:

“I’m local. I live here. I understand this market.”

If you’re trying to buy or sell a home, these are the words you want to hear, no matter where you live or are aiming to move.

Now, as we tell all of our clients, the Platform strategy isn’t a recipe for overnight success (though we’ve seen it happen). It takes time to build momentum on social media. For Brandon, it took about a year.

At that point, video views turned into listing appointments. Successful closings turned into referrals. And referrals turned into trust.

It took Brandon just two years to double his GCI. With his marketing running like a well-oiled machine, he gradually shifted from chasing leads to picking up the phone when they came to him.

The lesson here? You don’t need a big market to make a big impact. You don’t need a fancy camera to create content consistently.

And trust isn’t built in a day. But once you have that foundation, you’ll be unstoppable.

Success in real estate is more than hustle; it’s about smart, long-game marketing. That means putting your face out there, creating content like clockwork, and persevering when it looks like nothing is happening.

(Something is always happening. It just might take a little time to see it clearly.)

This is how Brandon took back 20 hours of his week — 20 hours that he now gets to spend with his family.

And you can do it, too.

See if your market is available here.

P.S. About a month ago, Brandon listed a $550k property. A couple saw his Platform video ad and immediately fell in love with the home. They put in an offer and were under contract shortly thereafter.

What’s crazy is that they weren’t even looking to buy. Brandon’s video tour ad is solely what moved them to look into the property.

But wait! It gets better…

Now, those buyers are going to sell three properties with Brandon, on top of buying this one. Once this goes through, the estimated commission will be $80k to $90k.

From one of Brandon’s Platform ads.

This has to be one of our favorite stories a client has shared with us. Keep it up, Brandon!