We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Samantha Lucciarini a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Samantha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

I own and publish two monthly magazines. One is called Wichita Real Producers and is very niche to our local real estate industry. The other is called BeLocal Wichita and it serves as a resource guide for all new movers and locals alike. Both of these publications are national franchises and reach their target market for free because they are made possible by the businesses that advertise in them.

I don’t just rely on the reach of the physical distribution. I perpetually brainstorm and research ways to create and maintain value for my advertising clients. After all, client retention is far easier than client acquisition.

I’ve implemented a number of creative ways to provide value over the years. I’m never afraid to try something new or abort something if it isn’t being received well or isn’t producing the intended results.

I use the power of digital and social media, married with the gorgeous print publications, to really leverage my reach every month. Both platforms average near or above 100,000 digital impressions monthly. For a town of 600,000, that’s pretty powerful!

I started a podcast for the Real Producers product in early 2022 where I bring on one advertising partner and a REALTOR® of their choice. We release these podcasts weekly and they live on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It’s called ‘Beyond The Pages’ because I really wanted our real estate industry, both residential and commercial agents, to get to know their peers and the best vendors in town. We have a rough outline but we usually go off-script and have a lot of fun chatting.

I also created a ‘frame delivery’ program where the advertising partner delivers the framed article to the REALTOR®, allowing them quality face-to-face time with their target market. These avenues of creating brand awareness and establishing relationships are typically challenging, if not impossible, for businesses to forge on their own.

We also gather monthly for a happy hour. These regular, invite-only gatherings create and foster an environment of genuine business networking and relationship building.

I commonly describe what I do as leading the horse to water but not being able to make it drink. I’ve interviewed hundreds of agents and business owners in Wichita over the past four years, building my brand and spreading the word about our mission. I’m proud to be able to leverage these relationships and connect businesses with their target markets, whether that’s to agents or new movers. So I’ll set the ball on the tee and it’s the business’s responsibility to knock it out of the park.

And most recently, I’ve been appointed as a State Political Coordinator through the Kansas Association of REALTORS® for RPAC, the political arm that advocates for REALTOR® and homeowner rights. I take my position in our real estate community very seriously. I am not just selling ads in magazines. I am striving to make a difference.

I’ve worked hard at ensuring we have the attention and eyeballs of our entire local real estate industry. As a third-generation real estate professional in Wichita, it’s an honor to positively impact and improve the industry that is very near and dear to my heart.

Samantha, 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?

Sales and entrepreneurism are a part of my DNA. My grandparents were in real estate and development as were both of my parents. So naturally, I was involved in the family businesses from an early age. My earliest memory was helping my grandmother change door locks in their apartment complexes at eight years old. I learned very quickly to never open a fridge after a tenant had moved out and turned off the utilities. I received my real estate license in 2005 and have worked in several facets of real estate, including property management of residential and commercial tenants, wholesaling with investors, assisting and conducting auctions for farm equipment and land, and performing common real estate with residential buyers and sellers. I earned a degree in management but the real estate and entrepreneurial itch never goes away.

I discovered the opportunity to own a real estate magazine in March of 2019 and the rest is history. I have been able to utilize and leverage my connections and experiences to elevate, inspire and connect our local agents.

Along the way, I’ve been fortunate to meet and interview hundreds of business owners across our region. I’ve learned so much about small business ownership and I’m hungry to keep acquiring knowledge and connections.

The problem I solve with my two magazines is simple. I connect quality businesses with their target markets.

I am most proud of what we’ve built in just four short years. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of accomplishing what you’ve set out to do. When a business renews their three-year advertising agreement with me because I have helped them build relationships and they can see an ROI, I am filled with joy. I love being a connector in my hometown.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I received a testimony from a client recently. It was one of those emails that you open and you get happy tears welling up. “About 3 years ago, I was strategizing about our business model and recognized that a burgeoning sector of our business was REALTORS®. I had this sort of “aha” moment and realized that this was a demographic of people who need the services our business provides, and we needed a way to market our services specifically to this demographic. I kid you not, it was only a few days later when Sam walked into our office on a referral from a REALTOR® and asked us to partner with Wichita Real Producers. I couldn’t reply with a resounding “YES” fast enough! Since then, I’ve found an incredible amount of value in not just the monthly publication, but all the networking opportunities, partner spotlights, Ask the Expert articles and countless other benefits. We’re elated and excited to continue our partnership into the future and look forward to many more events and publications where we can showcase our services to REALTORS® and continue to make lasting, mutually-beneficial relationships. Thank you Sam for walking in our door!”

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media has been HUGE for both of my publications. I don’t think there’s a person on the planet that would disagree with the broad reach of social media platforms. I have learned so much in the last four years but it hasn’t all been by myself. I’ve been fortunate to surround myself with true experts who study each platform professionally and generously share their knowledge with me.

I realized pretty early on that consistency of posting was integral to my content being consumed by my target audiences. I also adopted the strategy of posting the correct content at the best times … and it differs for each platform. Having a monthly touch-base meeting with my social media managers to discuss strategy, changes in algorithms, what worked/didn’t work, etc has also been key to my presence and success.

I spend time every single day crafting thoughtful and relevant posts for Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. I find tremendous value in having a daily presence on all four. Different people consume content on their preferred platforms and I want to reach them all.

The best advice I can share is to interview and find a professional social media expert that is local to your area or has proven expertise in your industry. Generic posts are a waste of time and money so quality will always trump quantity. The feeling of a post going viral is exhilarating!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.realproducersmag.com/locations/wichita-real-producers-6e4f/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belocal_wichita/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wichitarealproducers/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-lucciarini-b8481314/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wichitarealproducers/videos
• Other: https://issuu.com/lucciarini www.wichitatop300.com linktr.ee/wichitarealproducers https://www.belocalpub.com/locations/belocal-wichita-4467/ https://www.instagram.com/wichita_real_producers/

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