Welcome to "Elevate with Elsner," the podcast that dives deep into the stories of individuals who've taken the bold step to follow their passion and make an impact!
I'm Blake Elsner, a real estate professional by day and your host by passion. I've always believed that our true calling can often be found in the most unexpected places. That's why I'm thrilled to bring you inspiring conversations with amazing guests who have transformed their lives by pursuing work they truly love.
Each episode of "Elevate with Elsner" is packed with candid discussions, heartfelt stories, and practical advice from people who took the leap and never looked back.
Whether it's leaving the corporate grind to start a business, swapping a finance job for a creative career, or any other impactful journey, you'll hear it all right here.
We'll explore the highs and lows, the challenges and triumphs, and most importantly, the impact these changes have made not just in their lives, but in the lives of others.
So, if you're ready to be inspired, if you're dreaming of making a change, or if you just love a good story of passion and impact, "Elevate with Elsner" is the podcast for you!
Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform and join us on this journey of transformation and discovery.
Can’t wait for you to tune in, listen to passion stories and know that even you can make an impact on the next episode of "Elevate with Elsner." See you next time!
A video can rack up 1.3 million views and still do nothing for your business. A single conversation with the right person can change everything. We talk about why podcasting is less about chasing downloads and more about building relationships that compound into introductions, referrals, and real opportunities over time.
We get practical about turning one 30 to 45 minute recorded conversation into a week of high-value micro content. Instead of posting “real estate, real estate, real estate” until people tune out, we explain how to build multiple content pillars that show real life, real stories, and other voices besides our own. We also dig into what makes interviews land: the guest brings the story, we bring curiosity, and the 80/20 rule keeps us listening longer and asking better questions.
We also challenge the common obsession with metrics. Going viral can be fun, but it’s rarely the true moneymaker. The win is getting in front of the right ten people, creating trust, and staying in the relationship after the recording ends. Along the way, we share a simple “invite, talk, clip, share, follow up” system, why you don’t need a studio to start, and a mindset flip that sticks: stop asking what you should post and start asking who you should talk to today.
If this helped you, subscribe for more conversations, share the episode with a friend who’s stuck on content, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show.
Learn about those people. You start to see what they believe in, you start to understand their values, you start to figure out their goals, their challenges, what works, what doesn't work. And eventually they start to learn about you as well. So all these connections that I'm having are just a container of continuing opportunities from the next to the next introduction, which then creates more opportunities, right? And opportunities turn into business, right? So obviously, one conversation becomes an engine, right? One conversation, five plus clips at least. That's a whole week of content. So if you're having a 45-minute, 30-minute conversation with somebody, you film it, you put a microphone on, you clip it up into content, you have a ton of content that's valuable. People are opening up to you, they're telling you some story that other people might learn from. So obviously, when I have a a podcast, I immediately have content on top of our real estate content, right? And all the other stuff, the family content. So I have multiple pillars of content that keeps people like intra, like they're they want to know because it's not just real estate. Real estate, real estate, market, real like nobody people get tired of that stuff. They want to see real life experiences, they want to hear from people, they don't just want to hear from me either. Um, so that's a big part. Let's see. So the people in my world, obviously, I've I've met entrepreneurs that obviously never would have met, community leaders I wanted to learn from, business owners who obviously became relationships, and that's one of the biggest things that I think has helped me with this podcast is that I've continually asked people that I want them to be in my life. I want to do business with them, and it doesn't have to be real estate. I think that's the the thing we kind of narrow our mind down with is that, like, hey, if it's not a real estate business opportunity, then it's it's like not for me. But that what happens is it's a compounding effect of relationships after relationships and trust. And eventually, like I said, a guy from Ontario referred me. That's that stuff is just unheard of if I would have tried to figure out how to cold call a guy in Ontario and tell him about the market in St. Louis, right? So it's just stories I never
could have created by myself. So this was a guest that I just had on. She was actually a domestic violence survivor. Um, that's another big part that I like to put people on my platform that come to me and they say, Hey Blake, I have this story. I I would like to come on your platform and talk about it. And I say, Absolutely, those are the best types of people because I'm realizing like they have something that's built inside of them, maybe it's trauma, um, something that they just finally want to get off their chest. And the relief of that to see these people when they get to come on and talk about it and produce this stuff on on Facebook, then they share it on their Instagram, Facebook. It's it's awesome because just like just like her, she uh she's actually a speaker. Um, but yeah, she was a domestic violence survivor. Now she goes around basically trying to help others talk about it and and and stuff like that. So when I talk about your guest brings the story, right? You bring the curiosity. Um, and that's one big thing that I've always been big on is it's kind of the CIA method. Um you make them make it about them, ask better questions, you listen longer. It's the 80-20 rule. They talk, you listen. That's big in podcasting. Um so obviously, we might know that guy, he's been on the podcast. Yeah, right? I know. Frozen. Frozen in time. You look great. It was on
Google. I just, you know, I'm I'm on Google. So obviously, the the numbers are not the biggest thing. Like, I've had a reel that I like voiced over jokingly, um, and it it gets liked still today. It has like 1.3 million views. Like, it's crazy every single day. People still comment on it, they still like it, they still share it. And it's not what's funny about that is that obviously turned into nothing. Like, Facebook will pay you a little bit of money. Um, there's a company called Storyful, will pick it up and they'll send it out to like ABC News companies, and and then they'll send you little pay or little Venmo or PayPals for the companies buying the rights to that video. But the thing about it is think 1.3 million people have watched that video, and I never got a single business sale. I've had you know videos that have 10 views and I've gotten a sale from it. So it just shows like those metrics are just so silly. You just want to get, it's not 10 million people, it's not 10 million downloads, it's just getting in front of the right 10 people, is what it comes down to. Um, so obviously, new relationships, new business, more exposure, you get consistent content, and then obviously a platform that serves the community. Because I have people that reach out to me now that want to be on my podcast, because at this point I have, I mean, it's hit every single state, it's over in about 25 countries. So it's it's made its way around um the world, which I never would have thought of. People, like I said, people joked. Like, they're like, Blake, why are you starting a podcast? And I'm like, Because I want to have better conversations with better people. It's not that I'm starting a podcast, okay? That's the difference. Because I think all of us could sit here and take a microphone and a camera and another human and sit down, put it, put a camera right here, and just talk. And guess what? You have content, and people
are gonna want to listen to that. I promise you that. So the system, right? Invite someone interesting, have a real conversation, cut the moments that matter, share the guess, not just yourself, and stay in the relationship. That's the thing, also. Like, I'm constantly following up with these people that are on my podcast for the most part. Um, conversation creates content and then obviously strengthens that that connection. So I would say your personal brand is not what you post, it's what people say about you after the conversation, right? They can see your post, but the biggest thing is if somebody hears your name, what do they think about? That's your personal brand. I think we get confused about we like your logo, your you know, your motto, your slogan. But it's really what people think of you, like David said, when you're not in the room. Like that's what it comes down to. But this was the video I joked about. Um, but you can see how like ABC News picked it up. Storyful is a company, they like sell the rights, and yeah, I think I made like five bucks. So um, but yeah, it wasn't much, but it you it just shows you like going viral isn't really gonna be the moneymaker, it's the people that constantly click on that stuff, then click on your profile and kind of go look at your profile. So having a viral video does help because you're constantly being seen on real algorithms, which helps tremendously. Because then people go and see the podcast, they see what you do for a living, and they explore.
Another thing, you don't need a studio. Um, you you need a reason to do it, you need a name, a concept, um, obviously a phone or a microphone. People still use their iPhones, iPhones have tremendous cameras, um, and it gets worth talking to. You know, I'm not a big fan of solo podcasting. It it can work if you're a big enough person, but I think it gets to a certain point where other people want to learn from others. Um, if they constantly hear you talking, um, I don't want to joke about some of these real estate videos where you know we're jumping off countertops and stuff like that. Um, but at the same time, you know, maybe bring a guest into that real estate video, somebody maybe that lived in the neighborhood, something that'll get somebody's attention, not just yourself. Um, and I think it's a commitment to keep showing up. Like I said, I'm I think this week was I of course had daddy daycare all of August, didn't do a lot of podcasting, but I'm up to 60, I think 68 or 69 this episode. This week came out. Guy from Uzbekistan, didn't have water growing up. Now he invented all these osmosis things. It's a really cool story if you want to go go listen to it. And I'll actually send you a free water report if you want to know what's in your water. So he's very high tech. So obviously, you're don't overthink this. Your story is already your content. Like I said, I guarantee you, two of you could sit down with a microphone and a camera and talk about something interesting, a goal, a challenge, a win that somebody else out there can then go and watch and learn from. So I would say the podcast is just the place where you finally capture it. And I would say yes, you can, because there's a lot of people that told me, like, you can't do a podcast. I'm like, I'm gonna do a podcast. Well, you're you know, most podcasts only last a few episodes. I'm like, well, mine's gonna continue to go. So that's a big thing with me. Um, is that I never wanted to give up on this, no matter how many people were like, this isn't gonna work out. And then the point about it is is they just kept thinking, well, Blake, you want to be the next Joe Rogan, and that's not it. I like I said, I wanted to have better conversations with better people. Um so the big idea is stop asking, what should I post, start asking who should I talk to today? That's a big part.
So there's two things. Um, we do have a podcast launch lab down in Miami that I'm a partner of. You can obviously do it yourself. Start simple, like I said, some cameras, um, microphones. There's very inexpensive stuff, or you can obviously hire an expert. Um, what's we do and we create the content and stuff like that and such. So we do do iTunes, you can do idea to iTunes in 90 days or less. Um, we do do a one-on-one coaching. If you want to learn about it, we have a launch strategy, brand development, um, backend production. So basically, what the biggest part about podcasting is we want podcasting people, or or I don't like the word podcaster, but people who want to have better conversations, do what they do best, and that's just have conversations with people. The rest of it takes care of itself, um, and that's what I do. So creates micro micro content, obviously, for social media, like I've told you. So I said I didn't start um elevate with Elginer, but come a podcaster. I started to have better conversation. Um, the content was the byproduct, the relationships were the return. So if you do want to have a one-on-one with us, feel free.
You can scan that QR code. There's another thing out of one little activity, you do have dominoes down there. Um, if you don't mind taking out those dominoes, and I always say there's always one person. There's always one person, here's some sharpies, that you want to talk with, do business with, um, or just simply want to have a better conversation with. Write that person's name on the back of that domino or initials, and then keep that with you and let me know if you have that conversation or not. Pass those down. And then there's actually one domino that has an EWE on the side, which is elevate with Elsner, and that person wins actually a free podcast mic and a camera. Oh, you alright. So there you go. I'll I'll get all your information here. Thank you, Dan, for doing that. You got enough? Is there any more? So I'll show you is back when I wanted to start my podcast, I'll show you one last thing where I got the idea of the domino, because a podcast is the ultimate connector, right? Just like a domino. Um this was about three, three and a half years ago. I was in a crowd, and the guy, I was in a talk like this, his name is Adam McChesney. Most of people, if you're in marketing, you might know of him. Um, he threw out all these stress balls and he said, Write down a goal that you want to do, um, you want to start, you want to create. And this was always my thing was to start a podcast. And so I've always had this ball, even though the dogs have chewed it up a little bit. I've always held on to this, and it reminds me every time I look at it, that I want to continue to start this podcast and continue to grow it. So I hope with your domino that you have that conversation with the human. Maybe it's a tough conversation, it doesn't have to be podcasts, maybe it's a hard conversation you're wanting to have. That you write their initials or name on the back of that domino and you have that conversation. Thank you. Appreciate it.
