Clueless agent has no idea how to get started

[Brandon Snyder]

Hey all. I'm a new licensee in the California South Bay area. It's my fourth day on the job, and I am completely clueless on how to get started. I'm dithering around the MLS, watching webinars that can double as lullabies, and going nowhere. What I need to do is figure out the best way to get started, and get my hands on lists of people to cold call. My business cards are on the way, but until then, I won't be door knocking.

I did have one idea.  I contacted an old school friend who lives in L.A. today, and he told me that most of his friends already own or rent.  They're in the television industry, and in the television industry it helps to be portable, he said.  So I got an idea.  What if I showed him/them a few listings for leases?  It might give an idea as to what I can provide for him and his friends.  The only flaw that I can see to this problem (and I'm sure there are more that I'm not seeing) is what if his friends take those listings, go to the places themselves, make a deal to rent an apartment, and cut me out completely?  Is that something I should be concerned about? 

What's another (and perhaps better) way to get started?

[Elisha Brady]

Hey Brandon,

I'm a new agent, too. I'll warn you that it's hard to break into the field. You're going to have to do a lot of footwork. But the most important part is finding sellers, rather than buyers. Sellers will bring you buyers, and they also bring you more money compared to the amount of work you're doing (especially since many buyers can take 6 months to a year to buy or lease, despite being shown properties regularly). 

My main suggestions are:

1. Hold open houses. As many as you can, as often as you can. Before each open house, advertise on both social media and by inviting all the neighbors. Open houses bring buyers AND they bring sellers who are looking to more or less interview and observe agents before deciding who to use. 

2. Find a neighborhood you want to get into. Go to that neighborhood and people watch in different areas for a few hours. Listen to what people are talking about, watch where they are frequenting, etc. Before you leave, spend about an hour just talking to people. You don't even have to mention you're a real estate agent. Just strike up conversations to find out what people find important because you'll use that to figure out how to market better in the area. 

3. Read the book "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" by Gary Keller. It's a best seller for a reason. 

4. Join local real estate investment clubs. You can search for the association in your target area, as most areas have their own. And you can use meetup.com to find less formal ones. 

5. Canvass your target areas as much as you can both on foot and with direct mailers. People need to see and hear from you a lot before they start thinking of you when you're not around. 

6. Network with agents outside your area. They may refer business to you, and you may refer business to them. In either case, you'll make money if there is a close.

7. Prospect for sale by owners and expired listings. For sale by owners are harder because many of them don't want to have to pay you, but some will end up going with you if you can demonstrate your value to them without being pitchy. Expired listings are people who WANT to sell but didn't. Most of them will re-list within 24 hours, so you'll need to move fast. But it's a lot easier to get an expired listing than any other type of listing. 

8. Have a social media presence everywhere. If it's a social media, take advantage of it. Blog, tweet, Facebook, pin, etc. What you post doesn't have to be related to your listings; in fact, creating a digital footprint not related to your listings will help to increase activity. Once people become engaged with your site, it will be easier for them to remember you when they need to move. And, many people decide who to go with based on their social media presence, so a strong social media presence will help in that way, too. 

9. Search Pinterest. There are so many ideas on Pinterest of ways to generate leads. 

10. Don't give up. It's discouraging, I know. But keep going. Get yourself out there as much as possible. It's typically 3 months of active prospecting before an agent gets their first bit of action. It sucks, but it's worth it. Once you get your name known, you'll be reaping the benefits.