Meet Seth Struiksma | Realtor and Founder, The One Group

We had the good fortune of connecting with Seth Struiksma and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Seth, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Like with many industries, real estate is a business about relationships. The more positive relationships a realtor has, the more opportunities there are for referrals or business connections. Because, the fact of the matter is, you don’t always know what’s going on in a person’s life or how you might be of service to them.

But for me and my company, The One Group, relationship building on social media has been the true game changer in our success.

As millennials, we understand the value of social media and the connections that can be made online. It’s not weird for us to post our lives online and share what’s going on. My business is my life and vice versa, so it’s all content to me.

Where I think many business people get caught up is in feeling like they can’t post about their business online. Or they only want to post the positive stuff that’s highly produced and polished. They want to portray this fake ‘image’ that they are successful. That’s not going to work.

I remember when COVID really hit us in March of 2020. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t think it was that big of deal at first. I was more focussed on my business and an upcoming vacation, than I was tracking the news. So when the stay at home order came out, it really threw me for a loop because I was no longer able to run my business; not able to meet with people or show houses in person. I got really scared.

Because I was already actively posting on social media, I just doubled-down on that activity in those early days of the pandemic. We taught people about the home buying process, posted photos of safe outdoor activities. I even promoted my favorite local spots for coffee and such. I stayed engaged.

And I remember what my marketing guy told me over the phone at the time. He said, “be authentic and be vulnerable. People need both right now, big time.”

When you’re building genuine, long-lasting relationships with people — online or off — you’ve got to be your authentic self. And when you can share your vulnerability in an authentic way, it connects with people because they can empathize or even see themselves in what you are sharing. Authenticity breeds compassion and connection.

Now, that’s not to suggest you should treat your Twitter feed like your therapist. But being real online has been a big factor in growing my brand.

At The One Group, we tell the stories of our clients on social media. Where other realtors just post pretty houses and say “Just Closed” or “In Escrow”, we’re more interested in sharing the success of a client who just closed on their new home, what the experience was like, and what they plan to do in their new place. Because those types of social content connect and resinate with people. And we share our what’s happening in our lives.

The result: people come up to me all the time saying, “hey I get your newsletter and follow you on Instagram. I feel like I know you!”

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’ve always been interested in real estate. The beginning of my career was spent flipping houses; which was a great education. I probably flipped more than 50 properties in those early days. And it taught me what to look for. Today I can walk into any space and know exactly what needs to be updated, fixed, or changed to make the most value and return.

When I joined Compass with my business partner in 2019, I was excited for the relationship building aspect of real estate. My thought was, ‘how can I help more people find and buy a home?’

The answer to that question was in building a team. With more agents, I could help more people. So jump to 2020 and we were a little team of three. But, as my marketing guy kept pointing out, our team needed an identity.

After a little hesitation on my part, The One Group real estate team was formed in 2020. And I’ve got to be honest with you, it was the best decision I’ve made for my career.

Today, The One Group is well known by many people in the Metro San Diego area. Our content marketing and social media presence help keep us connected with people in a genuine way. We have a distinctive brand that is recognized by many.

But the best part of branding our real estate company the way we did (aka: not under one agent’s last name) is that the agents on our team have the freedom and power to grow their own personal brand under The One Group umbrella. Meaning they can leverage The One Group and grow as large as they desire too. They can be their own successful agent who is not always directly associated with me. And that potential is huge!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
You know the saying that you are the sum of the five people you hang around the most? I’m blessed to be the sum of the ten or so people I hang around the most. Which is why I’ve got to give a shout-out to my friends. Look, they’ve always believed and encouraged me and my crazy ambitions.

My friends are, honestly, more like my family. And it’s a blessing having learned that, in life, sometimes we get to choose our family. Your chosen family should be the ones who love and support you — even if you’re a little too ambitious for your own good sometimes.

Earlier this year my heart broke. I went through a separation that was really painful. What I learned through that experience was how much support, caring and love my friends really had for me. It changed my perspective in some way.

The second thing I learned was how to forgive. When you have great people in your life, it’s important to hold onto and foster the friendship; even if it’s after a failed relationship.

Website: www.TheOneGroupSD.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seth_struiksma/

Image Credits
Jenna Selby