Building a Tribe: Lessons in Community and Success from a 50-Year Rock Band

Special Announcement: We're kicking things off with something we've never done before! One lucky listener will win a trip to a Ninja Installation in Fort Collins, Colorado (May 6th-9th), taught by Larry Kendall himself! The prize includes the course fee waived, roundtrip airfare (US/Canada), ground transport from Denver, and four nights' hotel. Rules: Must be a first-time attendee and a legal resident of the US or Canada. Enter now at NinjaSelling.com/giveaway. The winner will be announced on the podcast on April 14th!

Welcome back to the Ninja Selling Podcast! Today, Rob Nelson sits down with a key figure behind the scenes at Ninja Selling and The Group Real Estate, Tom Flanagan. While Tom serves as Chief Innovation Officer at The Group and President of Group Financial Partners (GFP), today's conversation dives into a completely different realm: his passion project writing the story of the legendary New England rock band, Max Creek.

Tom shares the fascinating journey of documenting a band with a five-decade history and a fiercely loyal community. Discover how Max Creek's "slow burn," grassroots approach to building a following – utilizing newsletters, fan hotlines, and authentic connection long before the digital age – holds powerful lessons for today's real estate professionals. Learn about the importance of finding your unique superpower, redefining success beyond vanity metrics, fostering genuine community, and prioritizing authenticity over fleeting trends.

This episode explores how the principles that allowed Max Creek to thrive for 50 years, focusing on creating a "place to call home" for their fans, can be applied by real estate agents and brokerages to build lasting relationships, cultivate loyalty, and create a business that transcends mere transactions.

Join the community of 16,000+ Ninjas on the Ninja Selling Podcast Facebook Group for more valuable insights, collaboration, and networking opportunities! Leave a voicemail at 208-MY-NINJA if you’d like to offer more direct feedback. Be sure to check out Ninja Selling Events for upcoming installations and other events, and if you’d like personalized help in achieving your goals, visit Ninja Coaching to connect with one of our fantastic coaches.

Episode Highlights:

• Special Giveaway Announcement: Win a Trip to a Larry Kendall Taught Installation!

• Introducing Tom Flanagan: CIO at The Group, President of GFP, and Ninja Board Member

• Tom's Passion Project: Writing the Biography of the Band Max Creek

• From Fan to Author: The Serendipitous Story Behind the Book

• Lessons from Max Creek's 50-Year Journey Presented at LeadingRE

• Grassroots Marketing Gold: Newsletters, Hotlines, and Word-of-Mouth Power

• Innovation Born from Necessity: Building Their Own Tech

• Finding Your Unique Superpower: Insights from Phish's Bass Player

• Redefining Success: Beyond Commercial Metrics to Community Impact

• Max Creek's "Why": Giving People a Place to Call Home

• The Power of Community: How True Connections Form from Within

• Authenticity vs. Trends: The Value of a "Slow Burn" Approach

• Avoiding the "Bragging" Trap: Professionalism vs. Vanity Metrics

• Building Community by Design: Lessons for Real Estate Agents

• Tom's Book Title and Max Creek Music Recommendations

 

Key Takeaways:

• "What I really uncovered is that they've been a band for five decades and built this amazing community which really has really just surpassed commercial success."

• "Find your unique superpower. Everybody's different, but find that one thing that you can bring to the table that nobody else has and lean into that."

• "I don't think those vanity metrics resonate with consumers... just imagine redefining that success and saying, hey, we served 1200 families in 2024..."

• "[Max Creek's co-founder said] one of the reasons why I started the band was to give people a place to call home."

• "True communities thrive when the connections are from within."

• "Grassroots movements organically are not get rich quick movements. It takes time, it takes energy. You need to be in it for the long haul. You need to have the authenticity..."

• "...real estate agents are the backbone of communities."

• "I would rather have 1000 true fans who are passionately involved... than I would say 10,000 people who could care less."

• "...they made decisions that maybe weren't the best business decisions, but certainly favored the community itself."

• "You can't have it both ways. They can't boast about those things and also want to be treated as an elevated professional."

Links:

• Giveaway Entry: NinjaSelling.com/giveaway

• Website: http://www.NinjaSelling.com/Podcast 
• Email: TSW@NinjaSelling.com 
• Phone: 1-800-254-1650 
• Podcast Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/TheNinjaSellingPodcast 
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NinjaSelling 
• Instagram: @NinjaSellingOfficial 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ninjaselling 
• Upcoming Public Ninja Installations: https://NinjaSelling.com/events/list/?tribe_eventcategory%5B0%5D=183&tribe__ecp_custom_2%5B0%5D=Public 
• Ninja Coaching: http://www.NinjaSelling.com/course/ninja-coaching/