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WALKING around the prestigious AREC conference three years ago, George Sourris could have been a stranger who had stepped in off the street.
None of the agents or brokers gave the property lawyer a second glance as he walked by the booths looking for leads for the Empire Legal business he runs with his business partner.
Admittedly, George might not have been as recognisable as former US vice president Kamala Harris, who was a keynote speaker at this year’s event.
The 2025 conference was a completely different story from the 2022 gathering, which was held before George’s social media push, with many more agents stopping him to say hello.
“People were coming up to me saying, ‘I’ve seen you, you’re that property lawyer who does the videos’.”
Which is job done for George, who spends his time working on educational content to slather across social media.
With an increasing number of conveyancers seemingly spending an increased amount of time talking about their business, the AC spoke to George to get the inside word on the power of social media.
“I don’t bill one dollar for our firm and haven’t for about probably two years now,” he says.
“My primary role is building relationships with real estate agents and mortgage brokers – and the best way I found to start that journey is through social media.”
The switch to social media came two years ago when his Gold Coast and Brisbane-based firm hired an in-house social media manager full-time.
“That’s really when we saw the rubber hit the road,” added George.
“Before then we were just ad-hoc posting as consistently as we could and doing our best, but in the last 18 months to two years our entire marketing engine has been firing on all cylinders – with a key focus on social media.
“That’s where the consumer attention is. It’s a simple as that. We’re basically a referral business – clients find us from people telling them to use our services.
“As you know, we passionately don’t pay for the business with kickbacks. So we just go to where the attention is – and for real estate agents and mortgage brokers and clients, that’s on social media.
“It’s YouTube or Instagram, wherever people are sitting and scrolling. That’s where the eyeballs are and that’s where we want to be.”
While George admits concrete digital data is hard to pin down in terms of quantifying results, he adds: “If you zoom out and look like year on year, we’re just getting busier and busier – and that comes down to the amount we post.
“We’re posting on all platforms every day, with the heaviest output on YouTube, both in long-form content and shorts.
“The shorts feed into our educational material, which is the long-form content. Then we’ll do a teaser or a snippet on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.”
Google Maps is also a destination for content as there’s a chance it gets picked up by those searching for conveyancing services in Brisbane.
While he doesn’t use it personally, George’s in-house marketer also posts relevant trend content on TikTok.
“A big chunk of my role now is content creation, and our marketer Maddison brings it all to life,” he says.
“The five-minute blog we do every week, which is educational on a fresh new topic, is my main work.
“Writing it, copy editing, making sure it actually adds value to the audience and we’re not just posting for the sake of it.
“It is a lot of work, but I believe it’s the key to building the brand and building trust.
“I’m not sure what it’s like down south, but up here there is nobody else giving out free information to add value to people who want to buy a property or are involved in property in Queensland.
“I think it’s a truly unique angle – the goal truly is to help people.”
The content is designed for professionals in property (real estate agents and mortgage brokers) – giving them awareness on what’s changing with the law, and how it will impact their role in the transaction. It covers staple topics, what’s new, and what’s up and coming – issues like Seller’s Disclosure.
But, as George says, it’s also not too technical so that if a buyer investor or vendor came across the page, they get great value as well.
“We are getting more and more clients contacting us daily for help with their conveyancing, who found us online – be it on Google, social media or via our YouTube videos.”
While an increasing number of content creators are using artificial intelligence, George is not a fan.
His pet hates are stock images and AI-generated content.
“You see an image of moving boxes, and there’s a mum and dad and a dog and a kid. Every business puts those stock images up on their blog posts and social media,” George says.
“Personally, I can’t stand them. Swipe, next! I want to see the real people. That team. The humans in that office. I want to know about them.
“People can spot AI-generated or stock images a mile away. They know when it’s fake.”
§ Risqué approach to social media raises plenty of eyebrows
Raunchy videos on Flash Conveyancing’s feeds capture the attention of fellow practitioners
FLASH Conveyancing’s risqué social media strategy has raised quite a few eyebrows amongst practitioners.
But the firm’s Julian Silva-Ortiz doesn’t mind. He says that shows it’s working.
“You only have about three seconds to grab someone’s attention before they scroll past,” says the licensed conveyancer.
“Conveyancing and property law simply aren’t topics that can be made entertaining in that short timeframe.
“People don’t go on Instagram or TikTok to find a conveyancer or solicitor. They go there to be entertained. That’s why we decided to create content that is deliberately funny and, at times, a bit risqué.
“Our primary goal is simply to be noticed and to stay top-of-mind with our audience.
“We’re aware that this approach is risky and that it’s not popular with some of our peers in the industry.”
The team posts a new video every weekday, often shooting an entire week’s worth in a single two-hour block.
“The most time-consuming part is the editing,” he says. “Each video can take up to an hour to perfect. We’re not experts, but doing it ourselves gives us complete creative control.”
Despite the high-volume raunchy content that often features the Macquarie University graduate himself, Silva-Ortiz insists Flash Conveyancing is high-end.
“We are very proud when people approach us in person and tell us how much they love our posts,” he says.
“Even if it’s not directly translating into immediate work, it means that Flash Conveyancing is known and that people remember who we are and what we do.”
§ GEORGE SOURRIS ON HIS RULES FOR CONVEYANCERS
“IT’S a slow, consistent game. Our business is eight years old and for the first six years we weren’t really diving heavily into socials.
“Build trust, value, don’t ever rip anyone off or do the wrong thing, and in perpetuity you will win.
“You can get the right people on the bus and have good expectations without flogging yourself.
“I’ve got a family. I don’t work after-hours any more. Neither do my team. Our office hours are 9am to 5pm, and we don’t work on the weekend. That doesn’t suit all people, but the ‘right’ professional partners and clients will find you and respect that. The ‘wrong’ ones won’t, and that’s OK because there are different operators out there who work after-hours and on weekends. They will find their people and that’s all good.
“It’s a big market out there. There’s enough pie for everyone to eat.”