A self-employed estate agent that operates in east London has seen his podcast ‘Diary of a Self-Employed Estate Agent’ gain traction.

Simon Taylor, a self-employed agent that is part of the exp network, previously spent five years working at Purplebricks. But he insists that you will not find him talking about or ‘selling’ EXP on the podcast.

“I just want to tell my story which I guess is relatable to any agent no matter what model, if any, they choose to partner with,” he told EYE. “After five years at Purplebricks and building the East London team from zero to 10 agents, the time came for me to fly solo in 2020.”

He continued: “With a blank diary, it was done to me and me only to fill it with appointments, valuations and viewings. I started thinking I was good agent given 20 years’ experience but the world of agency has evolved with social media forming a large part of how I now win business.

“I’ve had to master social media from scratch – valuation tools on Facebook to what’s the right content to post on Instagram.”

Taylor admits that self-employed agency can be hard work, but insists that the rewards both financially and for self-esteem can be “thrilling”.

He continued: “I’ve fallen back in love again with estate agency again and the aim of the podcast is to simply tell my story – the reality from the coalface of the market.

“This may encourage other agents to take the plunge themselves or after listening, decide that self- employed estate agency really isn’t for them. Either way, I want to inform and share without sugar-coating.”

Episodes that have performed in terms of downloads include ‘Are you an agent that hates estate agency?’, along with ‘Sweeping up other agent’s mess’, and ‘How old is too old to go self-employed?’

Taylor added: “The episodes are a ‘worts and all’ record of my ups and downs on starting out as a self-employed estate agent.

“No spin, no sales pitch, just honesty.”