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Web Designer With a Soft Spot for Real Estate

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Real Estate Technology with Agent Engine

Hello fellow ActiveRainers, my name is Brian Gardner, and I am new around here. I am not an agent, but the co-founder and CEO of Agent Engine. As this blog’s title indicates, I am also a web designer and have a soft spot for the real estate industry.

Let me explain.

In the summer of 2018, I sold my WordPress-based design business to a hosting company. The acquisition brought about a small runway for me to take some time off to ponder what the next stage of my life would be.

I spend just under two years in the proverbial wilderness, picking up freelance projects and a few other smaller endeavors. When I realized this wasn’t the life I wanted to live, everything changed.

Web design (and personal branding) has always been my passion. As someone who wanted to be the CEO of a startup company, I knew that whatever I did with that energy had to be within a niche or specific industry.

I chose real estate because I have always loved the industry. Since 2002, my wife and I have lived in ten homes—which means we have participated as buyers and sellers in 20 real estate transactions.

Our agent, Jane Herrick-Corder, is an award-winning Chicagoland realtor with 30 years of real estate expertise. She is a broker associate at @properties and has sold over 600 homes.

Nearly twenty years ago, we found her because of an advertisement she placed on a shopping cart at a local grocery store. It was a matter of happenstance, but she has become a family friend, and we have happily referred several people to her.

Why is this important? Because we are on the verge of entering 2021, and the landscape in the real estate industry is different. Much different.

I believe the future of real estate marketing is digital.

Our company, Agent Engine, is developing an intuitive tool that will help real estate agents and teams showcase their brand, capture leads, and make it easy for people to do business with them.

When we set out to build Agent Engine, we conducted several interviews with agents. We wanted to dig deep and understand precisely where (and how best) we could serve the real estate industry.

We also invite you to check out our real estate blog—a collection of digital marketing articles designed to help agents and teams leverage the power of technology and social media to build (and grow) their business.

I am here at ActiveRain to learn as much as I can about the needs that real estate agents have and teaching what I have learned over the last fifteen years in digital marketing and conversion design.

. . .

I invite you to sign up for the Agent Engine newsletter, where each week we help real estate agents and teams leverage the power of technology and social media to build (and grow) their business.

Show All Comments Sort:
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Hi Brian- and welcome to ActiveRain. I know that there are many here who are always interested in improving their digital presence. 

Dec 28, 2020 06:20 PM
Ron and Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants - Carpinteria, CA
Luxury Real Estate Branding, Marketing & Strategy

Brian,

Happy to hear your background. Wishing you great success here on Active Rain, cheers!  A

Dec 29, 2020 07:09 AM
John Pusa
Glendale, CA

Welcome to the ActiveRain community. Congratulations on your first post.

Dec 29, 2020 05:06 PM
Paul S. Henderson, REALTOR®, CRS
Fathom Realty Washington LLC - Tacoma, WA
South Puget Sound Washington Agent/Broker!

Thank you for introducing us to you and your company and I just wanted to welcome you to ActiveRain where most of us also have a soft spot for Real Estate and the real estate industry. I hope you have a wonderful experience here on ActiveRain and a very happy and successful 2021  Brian Gardner 

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Dec 31, 2020 12:37 PM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Brian Gardner welcome to ActiveRain, and congratulations on successfully posting your first blog on this site.

Jan 10, 2021 03:53 PM
Gwen Fowler SC Lakes & Mountains 864-710-4518
Gwen Fowler Real Estate, Inc - Walhalla, SC
Gwen Fowler Real Estate, Inc.

Hey, I saw this is your first blog post Congrats! Thank you for sharing this wonderful post, I look forward to reading more from you! - Gwen 

Feb 15, 2021 10:07 AM
Robert Griffin
Autaugaville, AL

Thanks for your story. I have been watching your design work for a long time and wish you the best of luck. By the way, I am also a web designer, but I am just starting my career and often face difficulties, sometimes a source of creative ideas https://masterbundles.com/ helps me and very motivating are the stories of web designers who have achieved success. I believe in myself and think that more time is needed for great success. Wish me good luck.

Dec 17, 2021 12:18 AM