Welcome!

Each week we bring to you a discussion on the latest trends in digital marketing and how you can actually implement these strategies into your organization.

#146 "Building Bigger Pockets with Scott Trench"

“You don’t get rich overnight, but your trajectory changes overnight… Once you have that framework in place, you can ask questions that probe out the details.” – Scott Trench
Scott Trench is the driving force behind BiggerPockets, where he serves as CEO and President. He began as an active member of the BiggerPockets community before joining the team as an early employee and Director of Operations in 2014. In 2018, Scott was promoted to President and CEO, a role in which he continues to steer the company’s mission—helping everyday people build wealth through real estate investing. In this episode, Scott reflects on how BiggerPockets grew from a grassroots forum to a 3+ million-member ecosystem. He explores the art of scaling a community-driven brand, leveraging content and tools to educate and inspire investors. Scott also delves into his financial playbook—from real estate specialization to mindset shifts—and shares how he empowers others to “live life on your own terms.” His perspective is not just his own—it reflects the collective journeys of thousands of real-world investors, each building wealth through wins and setbacks.

About the Episode

Welcome to a deep dive into BiggerPockets, one of the most recognized names in real estate investing and personal finance. In this expansive blog post, we’re breaking down Scott Trench’s approach as the President and CEO of BiggerPockets—exploring how he grew from a dedicated forum member to a leader influencing the strategies, culture, community, and marketing of an ever-growing brand.

Expect a detailed behind-the-scenes look at content strategy, audience engagement, marketing wins (and fails), authentic storytelling, data-driven decision making, and much more. Whether you’re a budding real estate investor, marketer, entrepreneur, or podcasting fan, you’ll find actionable insights and relatable stories about building trust and value in today’s digital community-driven world.

Getting to Know Scott Trench and BiggerPockets

When Andrew (host of the NTM Growth Marketing Podcast) sat down with Scott Trench, he set the tone right away: mutual respect, community spirit, and shared admiration for someone who has built a brand that truly “gets” and serves its audience.

“What I appreciate so much about BiggerPockets and BP Money specifically is just how well you know your listeners and your community.” -Andrew Gottlieb

Scott isn’t a CEO who parachuted in from a random executive background. He started as a fan and active member of the BiggerPockets forums, listening to every podcast, learning the ropes, and sharing advice with other investors long before ever joining the team.

He internalized the BiggerPockets mission firsthand:

  • Aspiring to financial freedom
  • The power—and risks—of real estate investing
  • A blend of hustle, learning, and a little luck

This background is a recurring theme throughout Scott’s leadership and speaks volumes about the authenticity and approachability of BiggerPockets as a brand.

Building Authentic Connection with the Community

What’s the real secret to knowing your audience? It’s not just surveys and data. It’s time. Scott dug into what makes him so intimately aware of the needs, pains, and aspirations of his community.

Real Community, Not Just a Customer Database

  • Member first: Scott answered thousands of forum questions, wrote 100+ blog articles, and responded to nearly every comment—long before he took the CEO chair.
  • Genuine interaction: Hundreds of in-person meetups (coffee, beers, lunches), conference networking, and interviews with everyday investors.
  • Surveys as validation: Instead of using surveys to guess at customer needs, Scott used years of direct interaction to shape thoughtful surveys that confirm or challenge what he’s already learned from the ground up.

“The surveys are really hard to put together if you don’t know your audience first. I’ve met with literally a thousand people digitally or physically for probably an hour long chat over the last 8 years … and interacted with hundreds or thousands more.”

“CEO as Community Member First”

Most CEOs don’t have time for coffee chats with customers. Scott’s not most CEOs, and he doesn’t think that should be unique:

  • B2C is about people, not just “top customers.”
  • Every subscriber—whether paying $190/year or just starting out—is worth listening to.
  • If he wasn’t in the C-suite, he’d still be hanging out with real estate investors and helping newcomers. That’s just what you do in the BiggerPockets community.

A Day in the Life of a CEO Who Stays Close to the Customer

So what does Scott’s day-to-day look like at the helm of a growing business? Forget the stereotype of endless boardrooms and bureaucracy.

Setting Quarterly Goals

  • Quarterly priorities: Each quarter begins with 1–3 big goals.
  • Calendar built around priorities: All standing meetings and blocks of time are planned to reflect these goals.
  • Recent quarterly focuses:
    • Outward-facing initiatives (podcast appearances, writing for news outlets)
    • Building partnerships with CEOs of companies in related spaces
    • Making key hires for strategic divisions

Efficient Time Management

  • Big priorities: About a third of his time
  • Leadership whirlwind: Weekly team meetings, one-on-ones—these never change
  • Reaction time: Another third—dealing with the unpredictable, like a staff departure or a sudden PR moment (e.g., accidental political reference in content)

“Some weeks nothing will happen and I’ll be like, what am I doing with this free time? … But most of the time something will come up that I’ve got to deal with or react to.”

Marketing and the Growth of BiggerPockets

BiggerPockets’ marketing muscle is legendary in podcasting, publishing, and niche investing circles. But it isn’t just clever ads or growth hacks. The entire operation is built on deep, organic engagement and genuine value.

Four Key Business Lines

  1. Media: Podcasts and YouTube channels (revenue via advertising)
  2. Publishing: One of America’s largest independent book publishers
  3. Conferences: Events and gatherings for community learning/networking
  4. Subscription Product: 50,000+ paying subscribers for premium tools, calculators, forms, and resources
  5. Marketplace: Connecting investors directly with agents, lenders, property managers, and insurance brokers

Their media and publishing arms are actually customer acquisition engines—drawing in new fans through informative content, which then filters audiences into deeper engagement and premium offerings.

Content as Customer Acquisition: Podcasts, Forums, and User Stories

The heart of BiggerPockets’ marketing isn’t the pitch; it’s the story.

Why Content Works

  • SEO, word-of-mouth, and referrals: Podcasts, YouTube videos, blogs, and user discussions bring in a “river” of new people.
  • User-generated content: Forums are where the magic happens—real stories and advice from real users.

“Hey, started… I weighed 400 pounds five years ago and was $25,000 in debt. Weighed myself on the Walmart scale, decided I’m going to lose weight and fix my credit score. Lost 220 pounds, got my credit score in good shape, and now I’m worth half a million dollars thanks to real estate. Thanks, BiggerPockets.”

Forums as the Heartbeat

Scott and the team are glued to the forums—not because they have to, but because nowhere else provides the authenticity and feedback loop that communities (not just audiences) deliver. The best stories, success cases, and questions spark new content ideas and drive constant improvement.

The Art of Storytelling: Turning Listeners into Achievers

If you’ve tuned into the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, you know how downright engaging it is. There’s a method to the madness.

The Story Arc Framework

Every Monday—and often Fridays—follow a familiar path:

  1. Backstory: Childhood, early adult life, or career beginnings
  2. Turning point: What was the “aha” moment? (e.g., hitting rock bottom, hearing a podcast, reading a book)
  3. Trajectory change: How did mindsets and behaviors shift after the lightbulb moment?
  4. Gradual build: This isn’t an overnight flip; it’s years of learning, saving, trying, failing, and working hard
  5. Current state and future goals: How did this play out? What’s coming next?

“You don’t get rich overnight, but your trajectory changes overnight… Once you have that framework in place, you can ask questions that probe out the details.”

Relatability Is Everything

Success stories are awesome, but the BiggerPockets audience devours practical, “boring” wins—a regular teacher fixing up one house per summer, a person slowly saving their way to financial freedom. These repeatable paths, not lottery-ticket windfalls, are what make people stick around and see themselves in the podcast guests.

Customer Journey: From Skeptic to Investor

Let’s walk through the customer journey—BiggerPockets style.

Meet “Bradley”—The Customer Persona

  • 35 years old, based in Atlanta, earning $115,000/year
  • No properties yet, but wants financial freedom
  • Skeptical, cautious, and hungry for knowledge

The Pre-Investment Phase

Bradley (and most real estate newbies) spends about a year—yes, a full year—consuming 500 hours of podcasts, videos, books, forum threads, and networking before ever pulling the trigger.

“He’s going to do some combination of those activities for a year until he feels confident… This is a skeptical person…”

BiggerPockets does not pressure these “lurkers.” The ecosystem is intentionally optimized for self-paced, free or low-cost immersion in learning.

The Big Moment: Pulling the Trigger

  • After about a year, it’s “Sh*t or get off the pot” time.
  • Enter the Pro Membership: calculators, forms, rent estimators, and all the tools needed to make that first leap.
  • Next comes the actual property purchase, where relationships with agents/lenders monetize for BiggerPockets—but still, the investor pays nothing extra (the professional pays for the referral).

“It’s a really good monetization approach because Bradley’s not paying for that… as long as we do a good job and maintain the trust of our… [customers].”

After the Purchase: The Long Game

But what happens next? Big ticket spent. Nerves worn thin. Most investors go quiet for two to three years, saving up for the next deal.

Unlike most companies, BiggerPockets doesn’t fight for “retention at all costs” in this phase. They simply keep the education flowing and welcome people back as they’re ready for the next property.

Product and Marketing Strategy: Setting Goals that Matter

BiggerPockets’ top-level strategy is built around three core priorities for the coming years:

1. Building a Centralized Investor Dashboard

A personalized platform where users like Bradley get custom recommendations:

  • Agents, lenders, properties, content, tools, meetups
  • All tailored to their specific journey stage and goals

2. Expanding the Marketplace

Not just agents, but **lenders, property managers, insurance brokers, contractors—**matching the real-world needs and complexity of real estate investing.

3. “One-Stop Shop” for Pro Members

  • Advanced deal finding
  • Deep property analysis tools
  • Property management and accounting software—all integrated

Role of the Marketing Team

  • Audience growth: Finding and attracting new real estate investors (from SEO and podcasts to YouTube and Facebook)
  • Product marketing: Nurturing listeners into site members, email subscribers, pro signups, book buyers, and conference attendees

The BiggerPockets Sales Philosophy: No Hard Sells, Just the Right Next Steps

One of the most striking parts of the BiggerPockets experience: it never feels like you’re being sold to. Instead, every offer or upgrade feels like a natural next step on your learning or investing journey.

Scott’s secret? Extreme respect for the customer’s timeline and skepticism.

“It starts with understanding your customer’s journey… what we’re going to do then is we’re going to create a world where he can do that for free. Or very low cost to his heart’s content.”

Everyone gets hundreds of hours of valuable free content, tools, and networking, regardless of whether they ever buy anything. When it is time to upgrade, the offer is a logical progression, not a pushy pitch.

Multiple Paths to Real Estate Success

“Success” doesn’t look the same for every member. Some buy expensive condos in a major city, some flip Midwest properties—but both approaches are legit, and both voices are amplified. This diversity of experience builds trust and encourages more participation.

“People are achieving success with exactly opposite strategies in many cases… there’s always value in a different way that’s coming in.”

Technology and Tools: Foundational Before Flashy

In a world dominated by buzzwords (AI! Blockchain! TikTok! VR!), Scott and the team focus on marketing basics and solid analytics first.

Key Tools and Processes

  • A/B testing and analytics: VWO, Amplitude, Google AdWords, Facebook Ads
  • Data tracking: Measuring on-site behavior to improve user journeys—though cross-platform tracking (podcast-to-site-to-book) is limited and handled in aggregate, not at the individual level
  • Marketing 101 and 202: Foundation-laying before “sexy” experiments—robust onboarding, split-tested pricing, and relevance-driven email campaigns

“It’s really coming back to just marketing foundations that need to be set up and not trying to get too fancy with the next shiny object…”

Fun fact: The team is only now evolving their “persona” framework from a single Bradley, to broader segments like “Rookie Ron” and “Experienced Investor Sue,” layering funnel steps and products to fit the needs of each.

Learning from Failure: Scott’s Honest Insights

How many CEOs honestly share their biggest marketing failures? Scott didn’t hold back.

Book Launches Gone Cold

Sometimes, a book the team thought would be a home run simply flops. Zero traction, few sales.

Podcast Series That Never Took Off

Even great shows, beloved by their fans, sometimes don’t reach the listener threshold to be sustainable.

Pricing Changes Without Value Add

“We raised the price of our subscription product and didn’t do a good job adding value… had a big sale, lots of people signed up, definitely worked… And then sales went to a new lower level for about six months after that. That was quite painful for the business.”

Lesson: Over-promising and pumping urgency (“sign up now before prices go up!”) without new features leaves a sales hole and can erode trust.

Book Recommendations and Closing Thoughts

Scott lives what he preaches: read widely and always be learning.

Best $100 Spent? Books.

He aims for a book a week—50+ a year—because smart reading supercharges mental models and life skills.

“You read one relevant book to your goals per week… you’ll quickly have a large number of mental models to handle a lot of situations in life.”

Scott’s Top Book Recommendation

The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
A go-to for Scott, showing how the best leaders focus relentlessly on what matters, using marketing as a core (but not isolated) part of business strategy.

For More Insight (and Community)

  • Visit BiggerPockets.com
  • Check out their bookstore for “Set for Life” and 30+ other titles
  • Listen to the BiggerPockets Money Podcast
  • Explore user forums for actual stories, questions, and answers from people just like you

Final Takeaways

Here’s what BiggerPockets, under Scott’s community-first guidance, can teach anyone about growing a passionate, loyal audience—whether you’re in real estate, SaaS, or another space entirely:

  • Build your career as a member first—not as a distant executive
  • Meet your users (literally!) to truly understand their journey
  • Content should be about customer transformation, not brand self-praise
  • Free value creates trust, which earns lasting relationships and sales
  • The customer’s pacing is your pacing—never push prematurely
  • Growth comes from nailing the basics, evaluating new opportunities thoughtfully, and being honest about what works (and what doesn’t)

“It’s not my perspective that is important. It’s the fact that we have hundreds of different people coming through who all are achieving success or failures in some cases in different ways through real estate investing… And that makes the customer think over and over and over again. There’s always value in a different way that’s coming in and it challenges [them].”

If you found this post valuable or inspiring, check out Scott’s favorite reads, join the community, and remember: every expert was a beginner who didn’t give up.

More Episodes

The School for Humanity Archive

Explore our archive of NTM’s original podcast, The School for Humanity, created to discuss the greatest challenges humanity faces and help promote those who are helping to find solutions. 

Skip to content