POP.STORE, a social lead generation hub, expands its focus on real estate and helps agents connect content and social media engagement to measurable business outcomes. Troy Palmquist talks with GM Jo Wong about the platform’s upcoming VidCon appearance featuring Andrew Jevin and Glennda Baker.
Real estate professionals have been building audiences, publishing content, and influencing consumer decisions for years. Now, the creator economy is starting to recognize them as influencers in their own right.
Participate in the INMAN Intel Index Survey
Meanwhile, VidCon Anaheim is traditionally associated with YouTubers, influencers, brands, and creator economy companies. POP.STORE uses its title sponsorship to argue that the definition of a “creator” is expanding, and that real estate is a key part of that expansion. That’s why this year’s VidCon will feature two real estate industry heavyweights: Andrew Jevin and Glenda Baker.
POP.STORE finds a gap in the real estate technology market
POP.STORE wasn’t originally intended to serve agents, but we seized the opportunity by chance after talking with Jevin about how fragmented agency marketing systems were. “That’s exactly how we were able to build what we have today with our network and community of real estate agents,” Wong said.
Cho Won
According to Wong, most agents don’t primarily think of themselves as creators or influencers. They view social media content as part of marketing their core real estate business. But Wong believes that is a false distinction.
“Creators and influencers are just people who put out content that people want to learn from,” she says. Agents “don’t realize that their content is actually influencing people’s decisions.” POP.STORE focuses on behavioral changes that are already occurring unrecognized in the real estate industry.
Bridging the gap between content creation and lead generation
Many agents are delivering attention-grabbing content, but it’s a one-way street. In Wong’s view, attention is only valuable if it results in conversions. In our conversation, she mentioned how one agent’s post went viral and received millions of views. In the end, the lack of conversion infrastructure didn’t help her business.
Agents “gathered no information or leads,” Wong said. After a short period of time, all attention to the post “dissipated.” POP.STORE seeks to close the loop on converting attention by creating an infrastructure that helps agents capture value from the audiences they have already built.
The company’s VidCon sponsorship reflects a broader strategy
“Yes, real estate agents have influence,” Wong said. That realization inspired her to create a platform that highlights the importance and potential of real estate agents at the industry’s largest creator economy event.
With POP.STORE sitting at the intersection of creator tools and proptech, it made sense to bring Andrew Jevin and Glennda Baker together on stage at VidCom Anaheim this month.
Jevin represents agents who understand systems, automation, and building audiences. Baker represents the power of authentic content and personal branding. These are examples of creator businesses that we believe POP.STORE can help us become more agents for.
“A missed response could result in a lost deal,” Baker said in a statement ahead of his appearance. “POP.STORE brought everything together in one system so I could really meet the demand that I was building.”
7 points for agents
1. Stop thinking of yourself as a salesperson. Start thinking of yourself as a creator
If you’re already influencing consumer decisions, you’re an influencer. This means not only posting when you get new listings to promote, but continually publishing useful content that builds trust.
Create content weekly, not just when your list is published. Focus on education, not sales. Build your audience before you need leads.
2. Neighborhood knowledge is more valuable than enumeration
Consumers care more about where they live than what they buy. Local expertise is a competitive advantage because it is difficult to replicate.
Create a neighborhood guide for your target small market. Talk about schools, restaurants, commute times, and community culture. You will become known not only for your occupation, but also for your location.
3. One viral post is not a marketing strategy
Attention alone has limited value. Agent creators need a system that turns engagement into business. Wong sums it up: “Virality is no business at all.”
Add lead generation opportunities to your content. Create downloadable resources. Collect email addresses. Give your audience the next step.
4. Focus on trust over number of followers
Real estate is different from entertainment. You don’t need millions of followers. You need trust from the right audience. Build your business around relationships instead of chasing vanity metrics.
Prioritize comments and conversations. Answer questions publicly. Don’t chase numbers, build a community.
5. Content should continue to work after logoff
Creators spend too much time on administrative tasks and not enough time to create. Whether through automation, systems, or AI, the goal is to ensure that content continues to generate opportunities even after it’s published.
Reuse content across channels. Use automatic follow-up when necessary. Build and maintain an evergreen content library that will serve you for months or even years.
6. The future belongs to the agent who owns the audience
Wong argues that creators are increasingly focusing on audience ownership, rather than relying on platforms, brand deals or algorithmic luck.
For agents, this looks like this:
Email List Subscriber Community Local Newsletter Direct Relationships
The goal is to build an audience that you control, rather than relying solely on paid leads or social media algorithms.
7. Real estate is becoming part of the creator economy
Whether you adopt the influencer label or not, the larger message is clear. Consumers are increasingly choosing agents by engaging with their content, consuming their expertise, and building trust over time, much like social media users choose the creators they follow.
The key for agents is to turn that engagement into action.
Troy Palmquist is the founder and president of HomeCode Advisors. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
