How 400 Handwritten Cards Monthly Built a Real Estate Empire in Small-Town Nevada

Next Level Agents: The Kevin & Fred Show - Interviews with the best and brightest minds in the real estate industry

What if the secret to dominating your market wasn't another tech platform or lead generation system, but something as simple as a handwritten card with a $10 Starbucks gift card? Katie Gillespie from Fernley, Nevada proves that authentic relationship-building still crushes every digital marketing strategy out there.

Katie doesn't just talk about gratitude – she weaponizes it. With 75 units sold and $28 million in production last year, she's the #2 agent in Nevada and top 66 at eXp. Her secret? A systematic approach to appreciation that most agents would call "impossible" to scale. But Katie found a way to send up to 400 handwritten cards monthly while building a side business around the very machines that help her do it.

This isn't your typical "send holiday cards" strategy. Katie's approach challenges everything you think you know about client retention, referral generation, and building lasting relationships in a digital world. She's created a system so powerful that other agents pay her to use it, and so authentic that clients refer to her as "the agent who actually cares."

Key themes and insights:

• Why consistent gratitude beats sporadic grand gestures every time

• How a $5,000 investment in handwriting machines became a profitable side business

• The psychology behind why people don't care about frequency – they care about intention

• How to scale personal touches without losing authenticity

• Why small-town agents have massive advantages that big-city agents are missing

• The compound effect of helping others in your community (from basketball teams to single moms)

Ready to revolutionize your approach to client relationships? Katie's story proves that in an industry obsessed with the next shiny marketing tool, the agents who win are the ones who remember that real estate is still a relationship business. Her system isn't just about cards – it's about creating a culture of appreciation that turns every client into a raving fan and every community connection into a referral source.

Want to join a community of agents who think differently? Learn more about Next Level Agents at https://nextlevelagents.com/exp/

​​Please leave us a review at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ratethispodcast.com/nla