Matt Laricy debuted his video podcast Laricy Live on YouTube five years ago. Today, he has 32,000 subscribers. The current iteration looks much different from the pre-pandemic version. But that’s due mostly to Laricy, managing partner of Americorp in Chicago, learning the type of content that captivates audiences and a formula for producing it that suits him.
In the beginning, his thought process was to pair a different team member with an expert who can contribute information related to real estate and go live every other week. “Our first episode was a videographer talking about how video changed real estate,” Laricy recalled. “For the second one, Dress for Success, we had a teammate who dresses well talk with our tailor.”
Episodes that followed included the vice president of Zillow sharing how the platform will change real estate, a restaurateur on how the food scene can change the city, and the star of Windy City Rehab. Stagers offered tips for showings, and every now and then, top-producing brokers from different states shared their real estate journeys. The formula lasted about 2 1/2 years, until the pandemic hit and forced Laricy to change his approach.
Inspired by ESPN’s 10-part documentary about Michael Jordan and the Bulls, called “The Last Dance,” Laricy did a 10-part COVID podcast, explaining how the market changed week by week. Later he compiled all the questions that clients asked him every day and answered them on his show. The views were as high as 10,000 per episode. “I got a crazy amount of feedback like I never had from other shows,” he said. “People were glad it was helpful and informative. I actually got business from it.”
From there, Laricy returned to going live every other week on Wednesdays at 9 a.m., a slower day of the week for him, and focused on topics that are important to buyers and sellers. That is the formula he has chosen to stick to, answering commonly asked questions that clients ask him and his team. When interest rates increased, he brought on a lender to talk about what it meant to homebuyers and sellers. But mostly, Laricy shows his authentic self — people like authenticity, he said — and gives his true opinion on matters that others in the industry might consider too controversial to address.
Every week, Laricy includes his podcast in a well-written blog about the market that’s tied into a fun, relatable theme or current event. “Although I only average 2,000 views on YouTube, many people stop me on the street and say, ‘Hey, I listen to your podcast.’ The reality is, I don’t get a ton of business from it,” he said. “But it’s showing that I’m an expert in my field and passionate about my craft.”
He admits producing a podcast is time-consuming, expensive and at times burdensome, especially during the busy season. But it’s essential to building a brand. He advises other agents who want to start a podcast to strategize what you’re going to talk about, be authentic to who you are and be consistent.
Video of the Laricy Live podcast is available on YouTube, while audio can be found on Spotify and Apple.