During the past two years, a lot of the world has changed.
People have left jobs, have found new careers, and most of all, they have found ways to connect. During the first year of running my business full-time, I was fortunate enough to connect with who is now one of my all-time favorite clients, someone that has allowed my team and I to develop sound social media strategies for their growing business.
Amanda Rodriguez helps lead The Rodriguez Team, a group of Realtors and real estate agents that primarily serve the New Smyrna Beach, FL area. Since 2020, Amanda has truly focused her marketing on social media, connecting with a more wide scale audience.
We were able to sit down with her and reflect on her work, and discuss what she hopes to accomplish in 2022!
Jasmine: Real estate is a huge market. It’s one of the most profitable businesses you can run if you have all your eggs in one basket. Certainly not for the faint of heart. So: what got you into real estate?
Amanda: That’s actually kind of funny. I do not have family in real estate, no friends and I didn’t know anyone in real estate. You always hear stories like “My dad was a broker”, but I knew no one! I was getting my degree in business in UCF, and I visited New Smyrna Beach and went, “Oh, this would be a great place to live!” It was just an idea, like a dream. I took my test and still finished at UCF. I went to real estate school at the same time I got my Bachelor’s Degree.
I love to talk to people and every day would be different. Cubicle life wasn’t for me, so I took a chance. And here I am!
Jasmine: New Smyrna Beach and the surrounding areas have become your specialty, even if you CAN sell to the entire state of Florida. What is your favorite part of working in the NSB area?
Amanda: My husband and I joke that we live and work where others vacation. It’s the truth! Between meetings and appointments, I’m grabbing a bite to eat at an oceanside restaurant. When you walk down Flagler, you’re walking over sand that has blown in from the beach.
We love the vibe of it all, the people and events… My favorite part of NSB is that it doesn’t feel like work.
Jasmine: Being a Realtor isn’t about just knowing every listing going up; it’s finding the right buyers, sellers, and investors that need some assistance with their real estate goals. What exciting marketing opportunities have you developed in the past year?
Amanda: So with the help of my amazing marketing team, we started doing giveaways! It’s been successful and helped me reach people I don’t normally get to see or run into. These giveaways were built online where people enter, and the opportunity to meet up with them to give them their basket winnings is presented. So far, they are people that I haven’t known. They go “we can’t wait to see you at the Mardi Gras parade, the 5K” etc. You can’t meet everyone. The giveaways give me an opportunity to connect with people I may have never met.
But, the best part is the basket we’ve crafted for the winners are all from local businesses. I’m all about local business. We have so many mom and pops here in NSB and I hope they all stay open. So, these winners hopefully will be impressed by the baskets and still go forth to support these local businesses too.
Jasmine: You are also HUGE on social media and utilize that with more traditional marketing. How has working with a social media team helped you better serve your clients?
Amanda: I think it’s allowed me to get in front of my clients. As much as I love real estate, my priority is my family. I can’t be #1 in marketing and social media and also be #1 with my family. It’s given me the chance to be successful in both aspects! Being a wife and mom of two kiddos, that’s important as much as having business relationships around town. It’s freed up a bit of my time where I can put my focus elsewhere that may be needing attention too.
Jasmine: Now back to the real world – with the return of events in the NSB area, are there any events you’re looking forward to? Can we expect you to promote which ones we can see you and your team at on social media?
Amanda: I love events, I love big gatherings and having a sense of community. Our Facebook page, The Rodriguez Team, often posts the events our team will be at! The mood, music, excitement – everything. My goal is to be at every event for an hour. We took a little break from parades, but we’re looking forward to the Mardi Gras parade. They shut down the street and it’s just a blast!
Jasmine: With how busy the last year was, I’m sure you haven’t even thought of this but: what was your biggest success in 2021?
Amanda: So 2021 was a big year. I switched brokerages, which is never easy, but this one just feels right. Along with that, even within the transition, I started developing a team. I feel like… to create a team and be a leader, to guide and mentor has been really cool. When I started real estate, I had to ‘figure it out’. The development of my team, The Rodriguez Team, with Premier Sothebys was made to help train these new agents. You never want to raise your hand in class because you don’t want to sound silly, but no question is silly. Now I’m here to help them out.
The fact that real estate was great, sales were great… and I still helped form this team? That’s my biggest success.
Jasmine: With running your own team, can you tell us a little bit about what makes The Rodriguez Team special?
Amanda: All of us are very different. We offer a variety in our knowledge and we work so well together.
There’s four of us that make up The Rodriguez Team right now.
Courtney Dietch and I have been friends for 10 years now. She took the leap of faith and got her real estate license last year. She comes from the Winter Park area and she used to work with the City of Orlando. She has a background in film and production with permitting. She would need to learn how to turn a “no” into “yes”. Courtney is a problem-solver. She’s amazing.
Mark Ehrli is the sweetest and kindest man you’ll ever meet. He’s done everything. Every time he opens his mouth he makes a friend. He’s bought and sold real estate his whole life. While living locally, he and his family love to do the same things we do like kayaking, visiting the beach. He’s very involved in the community.
And then there’s Nico Rivero! Bilingual and his family is from Venezuela, and he lives locally in Edgewater. He just started real estate and he’s hungry. A go-getter! He said something to me the other day and I realized: Nico treats every client the same. It doesn’t matter if it’s a million dollar property or a 5k trailer. He wants you to love what you end up with. A real heart of gold.
Like I said, my team is my favorite! They’re such special people with special attributes that help our community in the real estate field.
Jasmine: And fastforward into 2022, can you tell us a little bit about how you’re helping clients find their dream home OR sell their homes in such a hot market?
Amanda: I think the biggest thing is our job is about relationships. We are seeing more options and they’re going pending immediately. Agents have relationships with other agents – where one lists and then contacts another agent like “hey, I’m about to list but do you have a buyer?” I had a Realtor text me last night because they were putting a listing up and they remembered one of my clients missed an investment opportunity. Our goal is to connect and talk with people. A lot of things are selling without hitting the market. Having good relationships with my fellow Realtors is helping my clients. We all keep an eye out for one another because that’s the way we help our clients make smart moves.
Jasmine: So it seems like the real winners are your buyers, sellers, and investors!
Amanda: Absolutely! We’re in people’s corners and keep our fingers on the pulse to move quickly and efficiently.
We spoke more about the excitement for 2022, the further development and hopeful expansion of her team, and to keep an eye out for new events and real estate news on her respective social media pages before wrapping up the interview. To say that my team and I have greatly enjoyed working so closely with Amanda is an understatement. We love to see a success story, and her growth from an individual Realtor to leading a full team while helping clients sell/buy luxury homes is a win-win. We hope to see 2022 show even more success and growth for her! Be sure to check her Instagram out (@realtoramandansb) as well as their Facebook (@therodriguezteamnsb) to see some of the content we created for her brand and team.
Amanda is just one of the many clients we’ve helped work with to accomplish their goals. If you’re interested in learning more, be sure to reach out! You can get in contact by filling out the form on our contact page. We’d love to help turn your story into a success as well.
