How Austin Klar Built a $30M Real Estate Business with YouTube + Instagram

I get to talk to a lot of realtors about video, but every once in a while, someone pops up in my feed who makes me stop scrolling. For me, that’s been Austin Klar. I have been admiring him from afar because his viral videos are everywhere – YouTube, Instagram, TikTok – and he’s not just posting, he’s growing his real estate business.

Austin gets 2/3 of his lead gen from social.

And growing a community of non-homebuyers while he’s at it! So when they are ready to buy, he’s on their mind.

Honestly, I think of him as the digital mayor of San Francisco, even though Daniel Lurie has a stronghold on that title, haha.

When I sat down with Austin, I wanted to know: how does someone go from zero clients for 17 months to closing $31M in deals in year two—mostly from social media?

A Rough Start

Austin left behind a high-paying law career in 2022 to become a realtor. Timing could not have been worse. The market shifted, clients disappeared, and for a year and a half, he made $0.

But instead of doing traditional cold outreach like knocking doors or cold-calling, he decided to build authority online. His thinking was simple:

“If my old colleagues don’t trust me yet with a $2M+ transaction, strangers will—if they see me as the person who knows San Francisco best.”

What most people don’t know is that only 9% of agents create listing videos, and that’s just MLS listing videos. Even fewer are posting videos on social media, which is a huge oportunity to market the realtor, not just the house.

Based on rarity alone, that is a big reason why Austin stands out. He is one of the few realtors in the Bay Area who prolifically posts on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok with exciting, entertaining, and educational videos.

Betting on Video

Austin poured his energy into creating videos about San Francisco—neighborhood guides, restaurant openings, lifestyle tips, myth-busting the national news about the city’s “downfall.”

It wasn’t quick. It took months of daily posting before anyone reached out. But he played the long game. And it worked:

• Instagram: 41K followers, ~23K views per video

• TikTok: 16K followers, ~12K views per video

• YouTube: 20K subscribers, averaging ~1,300 views per video

Today, two-thirds of his business comes from social media.

Why His Content Hits Different

Here’s what I noticed about Austin’s approach:

• He doesn’t just post listings. He posts lifestyle.

• His videos are researched, scripted, and full of useful info (but feel effortless).

• He makes consistency look easy—filming 7–20 short videos in a block so he always has drafts ready to post.

And unlike most agents, he’s not afraid to show up as himself on camera. That confidence didn’t happen overnight, but after a thousand videos, he’s proof that reps matter.

From Viewers to Clients

The conversion funnel for Austin is shockingly simple:

1. Someone watches his videos for months.

2. They DM or email him.

3. They hop on a Zoom call.

4. Deal closed.

By the time clients reach out, they’ve already “worked” with him virtually. He rarely competes for business because people feel like they already know, like, and trust him.

My Takeaway for Agents

Austin’s story isn’t just about one agent—it’s a case study in what’s possible if you commit to video. His advice to new agents?

“Start. Your first videos will suck, and that’s fine. Keep going. It took me 17 months to close my first deal from YouTube. You need patience and consistency—but it will pay off.”

If you’re on the fence about video, let Austin’s trajectory be the push. From $0 to $31M+ in two years—all because he showed up online.

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Check out SolarHour’s courses + coaching at www.solarhourfilms.com and start building your own video system today.

Expert Tips: Cut Costs on Video Marketing for Your Enterprise

✦ This week’s tip ✦

Cut Costs on Video Marketing for Your Enterprise

If you’re new here, I’m a filmmaker and video producer, running my video production company in San Francisco and Silicon Valley since 2016. We focus not only on producing videos for tech clients but also on empowering you to do it yourself! ✨

Here’s something you might find surprising.

Over the past 8 years of producing videos for enterprise tech clients, approximately 95% of revisions that clients request boil down to:

1. Changing text

2. Trimming off the beginning & end of the video

Even though we can address these changes very quickly, videos require a lot of processing time due to their large file sizes. So maybe we’d only spend 30 minutes making revisions, but it could take hours to render, export, and upload the video because latency can occur anywhere on the data pipeline to get the video back to the client.

So we’d make these minor changes, send them back to the client, then the client might change their mind, request new text changes, and then after 3-4 rounds of going back and forth, we’d finally wrap up the video after several days or even weeks.

I am here to tell you that:

1. This process is incredibly inefficient.

2. These edits are incredibly easy to make on your own.

   • Moreover, since you are the subject matter expert and your video production vendor isn’t, you could make text changes more agilely, because it’s as simple as editing a Google Doc.

   • Imagine if you didn’t know how to use Google Docs, so you had to ask a vendor to edit the doc for you. Wouldn’t that be so inefficient?!

So learning how to do some basic video edits would not only save your enterprise money on video production, but you’d also save time by not sending videos back and forth with vendors.

With those cost savings, you can reserve your budget to hire video vendors for more technically difficult, high-ROI videos instead, like commercials, customer case studies, and product announcements.

In general, I strongly recommend that the budget for a video marketing campaign should be commensurate to the ROI of the campaign.

There’s never been a better time to learn how to make videos than in 2024. I highly recommend you try out CapCut, which is a FREE, easy video editing tool made by TikTok. It’s available on ALL devices, including iPhone, Android, iPad, Mac, PC, and in any web browser. For beginners, I recommend it over Canva, iMovie, Camtasia, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, and DaVinci Resolve, due to it’s many AI-powered features and beginner-friendly interface.

If you’re looking for guidance on how to use CapCut, we offer an online coaching program where we teach step-by-step tutorials on CapCut, complete with hands-on projects. This program is specifically designed for enterprises, startups, and small businesses. We teach you how to create high-quality videos on ANY budget, for people who are overwhelmed, strapped for time, and need rapid, easy video solutions.

We provide personalized coaching for individuals and offer custom training packages for large enterprise teams. And of course, we can also produce videos for your enterprise.

Learn more at www.solarhourfilms.com

Feel free to book a 1:1 call with me to discuss how we can empower your enterprise to produce videos!

The Game-Changing Secret to Eye-Catching Video Quality

✦ This Week's Tip ✦

Let's say you want to make videos that look decently good. What do you do?

Most people would Google “What camera should I buy?” It’s the most common question I get.

💡 My answer is: BUY A LIGHT INSTEAD.

Lighting is hands down the most important aspect of video quality. ANY camera, regardless of how much you spend, will look terrible with bad lighting.

There is a major misconception that cameras are miracle workers. They’re not. They just capture what is in front of them. So to make a video look high quality, you need to change the scene. Lighting is the silver bullet to ensuring that.

This is the difference between using only household lights vs. a professional video light. 👇

My Latest Youtube Video ✨

I cover my go-to process for setting up lights.
WATCH NOW

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In summary:

1. Say No to Overhead Lights:

• Overhead lights cast unflattering shadows in places like under-eye bags. Turn off ALL overhead lights to eliminate these unflattering shadows.

2. Invest in Professional Quality Video Lighting:

• Opt for a big, soft light placed in front of you. The larger the light, the softer the shadows, resulting in a more flattering look.

• My favorite lights: 

  • Buy on Amazon: Best overall quality, but requires more setup

  • Buy on Amazon: More affordable, a little smaller, but easier to setup

3. Consider Backlighting for Glamour:

• While optional, adding a light behind you can create a glamorous effect, especially when it subtly illuminates your hair and edges.

• Buy on Amazon: Best overall quality, my go-to light for many years

• Buy on Amazon: More affordable option from a good brand, but not as reliable as the previous option in my experience

4. Utilize Cinematic Mode:

• Make the most of your iPhone's features by switching to Cinematic Mode for a professional touch without needing an expensive camera. On Android, this is called Portrait Mode or Cinema Mode.

• You do, however, need an iPhone 13+ or a smartphone released after 2021 to have access to this feature.

With my tips, you can elevate your video production game and captivate your audience without breaking the bank.

That's it! I hope you found these tips useful! ✨

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Ready to take your video quality to the next level?

Check out our program on how to make high-quality videos on any budget with just your phone, specifically designed for startups, small businesses, and solopreneurs.

🚀 Lights, Camera, Traction: A Comprehensive Step-by-Step System for Entrepreneurs to Shine in Their Niche and Create High-quality Videos
Learn more at www.solarhourfilms.com

Questions about the program? Contact us.