Should Christian Agents Use Secular Marketing Strategies?

Christian agents face tension when considering secular marketing strategies. He emphasizes the importance of aligning marketing practices with biblical principles, advocating for integrity and honesty in business. The conversation explores how faith-based marketing can succeed in a secular industry, encouraging agents to reflect on their practices and seek accountability within their Christian community.

Takeaways

Christian agents must balance effective marketing with their faith.
Marketing strategies should glorify God and reflect Christian values.
It's essential to evaluate marketing tactics through scripture.
Not all secular marketing tactics are inherently wrong; context matters.
Community with other believers is crucial for accountability in business.
Honesty and integrity should be at the forefront of marketing efforts.
Faith-based marketing can work in a secular industry.
Being open about one's faith can attract like-minded clients.
Rejecting vanity and exaggerated promises can lead to genuine success.
Agents should prayerfully consider whether their marketing glorifies God.

Chapters

00:00 Balancing Faith and Marketing Strategies
19:16 Evaluating Marketing Tactics Through a Biblical Lens
25:57 Faith-Based Marketing in a Secular World

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Transcript

0:00

What's up, faithful agents. Welcome back to another episode of the faithful agent podcast. I am excited that you have joined me today. We have a really interesting topic. If you ask me to discuss on today's podcast, should Christian agents use secular marketing strategies and ultimately can faith-based marketing work in a secular industry? That's the question that we're going to talk. Well, tried to tackle today and I hope that it's encouraging and edifying to you. A couple quick housekeeping announcements very soon on this show I will be announcing. I finally figured out an awesome way for the Christian agent community to come and grow together through my free school, SKOL. It's an online community. I'm gonna be announcing that very soon. You all will have access to it. Again, totally for free. I've been trying to find a way. to serve the Christian agent community, to do some trainings, to do some encouragement, to give away all five of my e-courses totally for free, to connect all of us in a deeper meaning, more meaningful way. And so that's gonna be coming live soon. Be on the lookout for that or on the listen for that. I'm excited to share that with you all. And I hope that it's again encouraging and edifying. My heart is for Christian real estate agents and I want to encourage and help. spur us along into a greater business success for sure, but ultimately excellence in our homes and our businesses, excellence in our lives, whatever it is that that looks like for us. So I'm excited to get that out to y'all very soon. Be on the listen for that. And as always, if this podcast has been an encouragement to you, it would encourage me if you left a five star review wherever you listen to the show and share this with an agent friend because We want this to grow. want more people to know that there's a place for them to be Christians and real estate agents to be encouraged in their walk through all the challenges that come with being a business owner and a believer. And so I hope that you will bless them by sharing this with them, inviting them to the Facebook page and eventually inviting them to the school that's going to be coming out soon. So. Anything we can continue to do to serve and support you, please just reach out to me garret at faithful agent comm or you can find me on Instagram or Facebook I would love to connect with you and if you want me to talk about something or if you want me to have a guest on As we continue to have more and more guests, please. Let me know that as well. I want this this show is for you I'm doing this with you all in mind. And so my hope is to continue to serve you So let me know what you want to hear from me and I know that what you really want to hear is a joke so this is not a christian joke some un-christian joke but a friend of mine from church names lisa she tagged me in this because and she she tagged me and said garrick maroon with some laughing emoji and then she said sorry rachel maroon my wife because you know how i love the bad jokes so what has five toes but is it your foot my foot alright that's genuinely funny if you ask me which you should get it okay so let's get into who today's topic Should Christian agents use secular marketing strategies? Now, I wanted to talk about this because I know that there is often tension that as Christian agents, we might feel if we use aggressive or secular marketing tactics to grow our business, whether that's popular strategies, like emotional manipulation or just bold self-promotion, which is... very much what the real estate industry is about. It's difficult because it doesn't align with Christian values. So the conversation I want us to have is how do we balance being effective in marketing with staying true to our faiths, true to the fact that we are here ultimately to bring glory to God. The reality is for us in Colossians 3.17, which I continue to quote because it's such a good scripture for business owners and whatever you do. Whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Everything we do, y'all, actions, including our marketing, should glorify God. Matthew 5 16 says, in the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Once again, using that passage, marketing should reflect God's light, not just our own personal ambition. And finally, Proverbs 11, one, the Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him. When we get into our marketing, honesty and integrity should be at the forefront of every single strategy. Above being a real estate agent, above being a marketer, above trying to generate more business, you represent Christ because you are his. And if you're listening to this and you are a follower of Jesus and you are a real estate agent or any kind of business owner or who anyone who does any kind of marketing you've got to recognize that more importantly than you representing yourself you represent the lord and i recognize that this industry so much so is about pulling us it did we talk about this earlier in in a call that i have it's called a faith and work all the reality is right a w tozer said the devil's not going to try to deceive us anymore He's just going to distract us. What are distractions in this business? Well, distractions in this business is, for me, oftentimes it's... scrolling through instagram and seeing it on instagram what some other agent is doing it thinking man they've got a big team there traveling to every single conference they are doing all of the cool things to make it tons of money and i guess i should go do that too let me see what kind of stuff they're doing all they're doing this kind of video or they bought this kind of lead i guess i should do that or look how effective it is that they're marketing themselves constantly all they're talking about is me me me me me well that works i must do that well then it becomes so easy for us to fall in line with what the world says not only success looks like but the world says what success successful tactics look like and so then real estate agents look exactly like the world now let me pause I'm not saying that in business we can't have similar strategies or tactics as a non-believer right if If you all know my entire business is built by referral, just because I work a certain system and maybe an unbeliever does too, or I took pieces of it from them or whatever that is, it doesn't mean inherently that it's wrong, right? Or that it's sinful or that it's something we shouldn't do. But the reality is, here's the problem that we often find ourselves in, that I find myself in, is I see what someone else is doing and without running it through the lens of scripture, I just say I should go do that as well. when we get ideas or when we see what other people are doing when you're getting coached truthfully when you're getting coached by an unbeliever everything that even a believer of course but especially an unbeliever everything that is told to you you must run it through the lens of scripture before you say that's a good idea just doing what they tell us to do is not good we cannot just follow the world And here's the weird thing to me. One of the strangest pieces that I don't really understand how the Lord created this world and the economy is that you can follow the world and it will work. Right? The world has not wisdom because they don't know the one who was wise, but they have information. And if you follow that information, it's probably going to work. And it almost always does. And that's strange to me, but the Lord set it up that way. So I know early on in my career, I love learning. right i love reading i i i consume information well especially early on in my career about twenty sixteen and this is really when things started going really well for me in my business i started reading anything in everything i can get my hands on i mean i was crushing books probably reading one book every few days listening to so many podcasts going as many events as i can and i was consuming information up not scripture i was consuming the world's information and guess what it was working it was that it wasn't working it was working every time i had a problem every time i had a question every time i had issue i wasn't looking at scripture i was only looking to the world in the world was giving me an answer i was accepting that answer and i was just moving forward you can't way you can't be garrison twenty sixteen where everything that the world says we just go into because we see that it's effective for them we must run it through the lens of scripture we must and this is me talking to myself as much as i and talking to as christian agents should we use secular marketing strategies well let's start here right point number one what are secular marketing tactics there's not one size fits all okay i'm not going to you're not going to hear me say that cold calling is secular right or door knocking is secular hosting open house you're not gonna hear me say that right because it isn't one particular type of lead generation that is a sinful marketing tactic now of course if you you know go way beyond what you should anyways we'll get to that that would be simple but what he's what i mean maybe it's a an exaggerated promise maybe it's a a fear-based ad maybe itself glorifying branding the feity maybe you're getting on there and you're looking at these marketing strategies and you're seeing people full of pride is talking about how great they are and why they're the best agent out there. Maybe you know that people are using and you see people using because I see this relatively often and I would say this is very secular marketing is they're using semi bait and switch, right? They're saying, well, we'll buy your house if we don't sell it. But if you actually look at what they're talking about, all of the hoops you'd have to drop to jump through and the price it have to be at for them to actually buy your house. It's not true. It's an exaggerated promise, It's bait and switch. Whether it's getting on there and making everything about you and what you do and how great you are and you're 75 hard and you losing all this weight and you know, if you're a guy, you with your shirt off, you're a girl, you with your, you know, just, a, your workout clothes on whatever it is, you're just making it about you. You're making it about what the world would want to see. Does that work? Sure. It does, but he's that. a biblical approach to marketing. we have to stop and ask ourselves those questions right these strategies that maybe conflict with our christian value the strategy of cold calling someone or let's say cold calling a for sale by owner fisco and say hey i have a buyer for your home can i come take a look when you know rightly that you don't have a buyer is that a biblical approach or is that the world is telling you what to do and because you see that it's worked before you just follow the same tactic not just in our thoughts, not just in our mind, not just on Sunday mornings. Should our thoughts look different from the world? Should our actions look different from the world? Should we not understand that we must not be like the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind? Transform our marketing tactics. We have to be really careful about all the things that we do. because the reality is the world's gonna tell us to do this do that and they're gonna say this is how it works if you make this many phone calls it's gonna work and we say okay cool I need to sell some more homes now again I'm not saying that that in and of itself is going to be the wrong tactic for you it very well could be the right tactic what I'm saying is are we running it through a lens of scripture if someone hands me a script and says this script will turn these cold calls into into appointments for you because of X, Y, and Z, are you looking at the X, Y, and Z and saying, but is this biblical? Is this biblical? Who do we trust to build our business? Do we believe that the weight falls on us and so therefore we must do what is necessary to generate more business or do we trust and believe in the promises of God that if we honor Him, He will build the business. So, ask yourself in the marketing tactics that you're learning, is this biblical? What is being taught to me? Is this what would honor the Lord? All right, point two. So if we look at secular marketing tactics and we're trying to understand this question of should Christian agents use secular marketing strategies, again, a big broad question, where do we actually draw the line? Where do we actually draw the line? How do we evaluate if a marketing tactic aligns with biblical principles? How do we avoid strategies that compromise integrity or authenticity? How do we do that? Well, again, here's my personal belief. Here's my personal suggestion to you. Again, I don't have all the answers by any means, but here's what I would call you to and suggest to you. When you are sitting down in a class and you're learning about a new way to generate business or whatever the marketing tactic is that you're learning about, you first run it through the lens of scripture. What does that mean? That means if somebody tells me to lie because it's going to be effective, I need to look at scripture and say, what does scripture say about lying? And if scripture says don't lie, which it does, then I say, I can't do that, right? I'm bound by something different. So no, I can't do that. When someone is sharing with you. An example of how they for 30 days just posted videos of them crushing it at the gym every day, whatever it is, right? And it's not in a way to encourage others. It's in a way to bring vanity and pride and ego in the game. We stop and we say, OK, what does scripture say about ego? Right? Is this good? Should I should I be cultivating pride in my heart or should I not? Should I be putting it to death? And then based on that answer, we say, you know what? Never mind. I can't do that. but those are the black and white things right what about those that feel a little bit gray scripture doesn't say everything about everything right everything in scripture is true but not all truth is in the scripture right you know scripture doesn't tell me how to build a house right it doesn't tell me those things but everything inside scripture is true and i can trust that everything the lord teaches is absolutely true so fiber run across the marketing tactic that does not align, in fact it goes completely opposite of scripture, I gotta let go of that marketing tactic. But what about those strategies that maybe you're just a little bit confused of? This is why we need to be in business with and live in community with other believers. Point blank, we have to. Right, Corinthians tells us to not be unequally yoked. And when you think about yet the biblical model idea of yoking it was about to oxen yoke or tied it together if you will in the point was if one oxen is big and strong and the other one is small in a pipsqueak well not only the people's if it's quick If one's big and one's small and they're yoked together, they are unequally yoked, well, what's going to happen eventually? The big strong one is going to walk too fast. so now they just end up spinning around in circles and they don't actually get anywhere, right? Being unequally yoked. And it's talking about more than just marriage, right? It's marriage. It's your business. It's your daily life to not be unequally yoked. Now, yes, we need to be in the world, right? We need to be gospel witnesses. in the world but the point is this to be separate from them when it comes to living out our daily lives and and walking in community we cannot be unequally yoked why does that matter when we try to evaluate if a marketing tactic aligns with biblical principles well most things aren't as black and white as you should go lie to everyone and this is how you build your business most things are more nuanced than that right the devil's not going to deceive us he's just going to distract us he's going to make it seem so close to accurate that we won't even notice. how do we understand is a marketing tactic in alignment with biblical principles? Live in Christian community and go ask your brother and sister, hey, I'm thinking about doing this. I really want to make sure that my actions align and honor the Lord. What do you think? Give me your insight. Give me your wisdom. The truth is your brothers and sisters in Christ are the only ones. that actually can have wisdom. I know that sounds weird, right? But scripture is very clear about that. God is wisdom and those who are known by Him and know Him can have wisdom. But if you don't know the Lord and you are an enemy of God, which is the biblical place that you're in, if you don't know Him as your personal savior, then you cannot have wisdom because He's the one who has it. You can have knowledge. You can understand things. but not a deeper insight in wisdom into what's actually happening. So if you're trying to understand, this marketing tactic the right way for me to grow my business? You need to live and work in a community of believers who you can run those questions by. Now, that community is not perfect. They're not always gonna get everything right. They come with their own mess and their own sin and their own struggles. But you go to the Christian community and you say, Please help me understand, is this right? Is this the appropriate way to view this? Am I looking at this from a biblical lens? And if the answer is yes, go for it, then go for it and do it with excellence. If the answer is no, be careful because here's a pitfall, then don't do it. That's how we evaluate and draw the line. So first, understand what are even secular marketing tactics. Number two, understand how do we know where we draw the line? And finally, number three, we've talked about should Christian agents use secular based marketing? So if the answer is no, then the next question has to be, well then can faith based marketing even work in a secular industry? Now, that's a great question because so often we are concerned or scared that if we are really open about our faith or if we don't do the things that everybody else is doing that we're going to get behind. I get it. I felt that way before, but I'm going to pull back and not even look at this first through a Christian lens as an example. I'm going to give us just an example of what's happening in our culture right now. Think about all the companies that are coming out right now and their whole marketing is based around Look at us. We don't hate you. We actually love America. We love Americans, right? We don't believe in transgenderism and all of these other pieces, right? They're actively coming out and taking a stance because that's their marketing. Hey, work with a company that respects you. Hire a company that appreciates your Christian value or the buy from a company that is going to support what you believe in, right? And we're seeing a shift. and even how people go and spend their money. Right? I've even done that. I've switched coffee companies because the one I was buying from turns out they're supporting things that like Planned Parenthood that I don't want to support. And so I've shifted to another coffee company. Why? Because they believe in the same values. Even in our culture, which is not Christian based, let's be honest, but even in our culture, you're seeing Christian or non-Christian businesses, doesn't matter what they are, these conservative businesses politically come out and say this is who we are come support us and they're waiting because of that so are they losing of some other people sure maybe they are but they're waiting a big group of the wouldn't they wouldn't continue to do it so even more so as a believer can we come out in saying i'm a believer i love jesus this is where i stand and then can we say can we reject the idea of vanity in our marketing can we rejected the idea of bait and switch or exaggerated false promises can we reject the idea of lying to a potential listing because we want to get in front of him can we reject all of those things instill succeed can we succeed by being completely honest with people can we succeed by using values driven marketing Can we succeed by saying, know what, I'm not going to show up for everybody, but I'm going to intentionally love these people that the Lord has put right in front of me. Can we succeed? then the answer is absolutely you can. 100 % you can. I'll give you an example, okay? So for me, you all know that I was one of the founders of the Faithful Agent along with Tyler. well as we lost the people agent one of the things i wanted to make very known to my personal database in my clients is that i know i love christ which i hope i had made that note but honestly i don't know that i've done a great job one of the ways that we did it was i put a link to the faithful agent in my own real estate teams website i wanted them to know that hate this caret guy you know i guess they know me at this point but caret is that is a christian he started a nonprofit for christian Agents, right? I wanted him to know this is where I stand Well, it wasn't but maybe six months ago or seven months ago. I don't know how exactly how long We had someone reach out to us and they said hey, they were referred by somebody else, right? Which is where all our business comes from but they're referred but they're talking to us and they say hey I want you to know that I actually know many other agents But I was referred to you and I was looking at your website and I saw that you started the faithful agent for Christian agents and as a Christian myself i want to work with other believers it works right being honest and open with who i was it worked when we when we got out there i've got a buddy cody person who does great business and he is very upfront god family business he's very upfront about that his tagline is serve god serve people right and it's all about his faith for the most part and he's mostly living on instagram but it's working why because the right kind of people are saying you know what i would be it now has has it dropped driven him to receive people who will fight against that or stand up and try to get him in trouble or reported to deport things like that absolutely he's run across stuff which is crazy right but the reality is it's also helping him grow his business in the right direction with the right people by rejecting what he could be on social media he instead is making it about the lord and of course about real estate but he's very honest with who he is and guess what it's driving his business his team is crushing it