AGENTS: What was the best thing you did for your business when you started?

Question

Hi everyone,

I recently got my license and I am looking forward to getting started. I have been house hacking for a few years in Beverly, MA and am pretty obsessed with real estate in general. I want to help others in the area house hack too as I think it has really helped me get ahead and grow my networth.

I am curious what was the best thing you did for your business when you started out?? Or maybe what was the biggest waste of time? Open to all ideas. Thanks in advance!

Brandon Vukelich · Answer

Similar to what @Julien Jeannot mentioned.  Some of the best coaching advice I was given was we have three choices when it comes to generating leads/business:

1. Hunt for leads: This mainly involves the "free-er" options which are what Julien mentioned based on a time commitment to your boots on the ground approach. BTW, I did these starting out and none were my jam. I still don't do any of them today.  But I know several agents that crushed door knocking, so to each their own.

2. Pay for leads: Budget a % of your revenue (commission) for trying a system that works for you and your business.  When starting out and trying to get traction, it is extremely difficult to resist chasing the latest & greatest lead gen tool aka shiny new object.  I've tried everything from Zillow to Realtor.com to Ylopo to Streettext to...you get it.  A lot. I've been committed to a single online source for the last few years and it works for my specific business.

3. Wait for leads: Don't do this.

Focus on your niche and try to have conversations about real estate with people (in person or online) on a daily basis.  If I were starting over, I would concentrate my efforts on producing content (videos, podcasts, websites, books, etc) about my specific expertise.  You should target to be the local STR expert or the House Hack expert or the waterfront expert or the multifamily expert.  Pick one and be the rockstar in that segment in your market.  You can't be an expert in all things real estate to all people.  When I focused, my business went from struggling to stabilized and growing.  Best wishes on your journey!

Lydia S. · Answer

@Daniel McDonald

On a different note, get a CRM, and not one provided by your Brokerage, so that it stays yours even if you change Brokerages in the future.  All those conversations and people and contact information you want to remember have to be recorded somewhere that’s organized, especially as the numbers grow.

Bruce Lynn · Answer

WORK....talk to people, call people, meet people....you try to get in the path of as many potential sellers as you can...however you make that happen.

You don't do that by networking at Realtor Happy Hours, attending open house luncheons, visiting builders and all kind of other things that waste time, but make you feel busy.   NO one is going to call you.  Not your friends, not your family, not anyone.  You're calling them.

Prepare stuff when you have a need and not before.  See way too many agents working on the perfect listing presentation, but have no listing appointment.  You go get the appointment first and then come back to the office with your hair on fire to figure out what you need for the presentation and how to put that together.

I find it super interesting that my office has a 200 agents...many who complain about having no business, but Saturday/Sunday and after 5pm is a ghost town.  I get that you don't have to be at the office to generate business, but it is a really great place to be to call/prepare/print flyers/print marketing materials/write notes/send out postcards/letters.   You ask them what they have done to generate business....ah nothing, well I went to a training at the MLS headquarters....yeah how many sellers did you meet there.

Julien Jeannot · Answer

Two options:

1. Time: network, cold call, door knocking, open houses, ect.

2. Money: spend on marketing and lead generation

Brandon Vukelich · Answer

BiggerPockets. Engaging on here and paying for lead bundles in my area.

Michael Brattelli · Answer

@Daniel McDonald Have conversations with people on the street, in stores, wherever you go. Make it a goal to pass out 1 card a day. One time I gave a clerk my card in a store. Over the years I have gotten 6 referrals from that one person for a total of over $3,000,000 in gross sales from that one interaction. You never know who you’re going to meet.

Sherri Stokes · Answer

THIS!

Daren H. · Answer

Got over the fear of spending money on marketing. In the beginning days those months where I was only spending probably $500 or so on a small mailing campaign and no deals month after month was tough to watch. You learn and understand that consistency and to the right audience will pay off eventually. Don't be scared to spend that money!

Drive for dollars multiple times every week. Not only will you find leads but you will learn valuable information about your local market. Assuming you are investing in your market.

Read books (audiobooks), listen to reputable REI podcasts, network with people doing what it is you want to do. I admit, I am still horrible at the networking part. Beware of the fakes too. There is so much valuable information on the basics out there for free it is a shame for someone to not soak it up.

The flip side to the previous point, don't spend all of your time reading and listening for too long. You gotta take action sooner than later. There is something about success finding people who take action. I look back and can say my net worth could be at least a ~$1M higher if I had of took more action earlier versus trying to learn it all first.

Avery Heilbron · Answer

@Brandon Vukelich what is the single online source you use now?

AGENTS: What was the best thing you did for your business when you started?

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