The Unconventional Marketing Strategy Behind Brad Abernathy’s 68% Growth

Brad Abernathy,
Next Boulevard Real Estate

When Brad Abernathy started The Faces Of Hall County Georgia, a series where he interviews community members about their work and lives, he didn’t think of it as marketing. He just wanted to celebrate the people who make his community special.

But over time, something unexpected happened.

The more he focused on telling their stories, the more people wanted to hear his. That simple idea (that the best marketing isn’t self-promotion, but service) has become the foundation of his success as both a community leader and the owner of a boutique real estate company.

“When you make it about somebody else, everybody wins,” Brad said.

Within three months, the team’s hoped-for 400 monthly site visitors became 4,000, and the following year their sales jumped from $27M to $43M. 

“We saw a 68% increase in sales, and the only thing we did differently was this little project,” said Brad. “It was just the ultimate icebreaker.” 

Here’s how he did it.

Make others the hero (and mean it)

Brad’s interview style, inspired by Humans of New York, isn’t scripted or sales-driven. He focuses on having genuine conversations, creating a space for local people to feel seen and valued.

“Everyone has a story,” he said. “You just have to ask the right questions and care about the answers.”

“The community just embraced the program because it was authentic. We weren’t going after the who’s who, but the happy people who make the community work: the teachers, the business owners, the high school athletes.”

Tactically, that meant:

• Turn readers into co-creators. When Brad introduced a “Nominate” button on the website, engagement skyrocketed. So many people wanted to showcase a fellow community member’s story.
• Highlight everyday heroes. The post about the local crossing guard out-performed the touring musician, proof that relatability beats celebrity when your goal is community trust.
• Give first. The guiding principle for the project came from the book The Go-Giver: Give first without asking for anything in return, and everything will come back to you tenfold.

The more readers shared their neighbors’ stories, the more local leaders noticed, the more doors opened for Brad’s company.

Systematize the storytelling engine

Brad recognized that to make this project work without distracting from his ability to close deals, he had to create systems around it.

Here’s what he did:

• Seed a backlog. He completed 20 interviews before launching the project, then released two a week to set expectations with his audience.
• Own your distribution. Brad published all the interviews to his own website first as an owned channel. When social is an amplifier, not the main archive, you have more control.
• Ask a series of pre-set questions. Brad includes questions like “What’s your favorite local restaurant” in each interview. That way, he can tag the restaurant when the post goes live, furthering its reach.
• Collect contact info. Be sure to keep a detailed archive of all interviewee’s contact info, including cell-phone numbers. You never know when it might come in handy.
• Stay focused. Brad mentioned that if he could restart the project, he might narrow his focus from Faces of Hall County to Faces of Gainesville, since hyper-local pride drives the most engagement.

Measure impact beyond leads

Brad saw his business increase 68% year-over-year after implementing Faces of Hall County, so the project absolutely moved the needle. But he’s also seen benefits to his business that might not show up in the numbers alone.

“We recently had a local municipality that was trying to figure out whether to sell some land,” said Brad. “At one point or another, I’d interviewed 7 of the 15 people on the municipal board, so it was easy for them to say: ‘Let’s call Brad.’”

It’s not about immediate gratification. It’s about building relationships and trust in the local community that will pay off for decades to come.

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