We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joe Killinger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joe below.
Joe , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Years ago, we had a client reach out to our commercial real estate brokerage, Commercial Brokers Int., letting us know they were expanding their clothing company to California. We helped them with their expansion by opening multiple stores, multiple outlet locations, warehousing for their inventory, and housing for their employees—all within about one year.
Things were going smoothly until they came to us and said they wanted to expand across the U.S. Our brokerage only had one office in Los Angeles, so we ended up losing them as a client when they moved to a national firm. I then vowed that we would not let that happen again.
I immediately started calling CRE affiliate networks around the country, but I was disappointed by the costs, annual fees, and transaction fees. I knew that firms our size—and smaller—could not afford to be members of these networks.
During COVID, I came up with the idea of starting our own affiliate network that was only for independent, full-service commercial real estate brokerage firms. My main concern was that there could not be any fees.
We created the CRE Affiliate Network, launched it, and I started calling brokerages around the country. No one wanted to be the first affiliate in a new network, but I kept calling and finally landed our first affiliate in Las Vegas. Now we had two. I thought this would get us going, but it was still very difficult.
We are now at 35 members, and I believe we are the fastest-growing affiliate network across the U.S. We have even added five affiliates in multiple countries. The revenue will come from sponsorships as we grow—we have already turned some down.
The thing that keeps us going is the number of deals our CRE agents have moving through the affiliate pipeline that would not have been created without our Affiliate Network.
Joe , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have been an active member in the real estate industry for over 30 years, wearing different hats, and at times multiple hats! Over the years I have been an Agent, Investor, Syndicator, Founder and Operator of companies as well as properties I invest in. I have been personally responsible for the sale of and/or directly involved in the marketing of over 6,500 assets, resulting in closed transactions totaling over 950 million dollars throughout the United States.
I invest my time and money into several real estate brands, I work with these brands to ensure they remain at the forefront of what’s achievable through the power of content, community, and business innovation.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Building the CRE Affiliate Network has been a true labor of love, nobody understood how the company could run without generating fees and most thought it was just a scam to get members to sign up, I explained we make money by our brokerage team having their deals un through the Network and that at some point we would create sponsorships but they weren’t buying in. I stayed on the phones and kept calling, lots of rejection I used as motivation. We built one day at a time and we now have brokerage firms reach out to us to become a member.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
The thing that is now helping us grow is the current members understanding the type of members we are seeking and referring other potential members and making sure the company culture stays intact. I still do the calls and emails everyday to firms we vet out even before we reach out to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.creaffiliate.com/
- Instagram: @creaffiliatenetwork
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075760856760
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/affiliate-network-b78154223/
- Twitter: https://x.com/AffiliateNetwo8