Real estate is among the most popular second careers in the United States. No matter what your current profession or background, you have skills that can help you achieve success. But to get there, you need a plan. One reason why Homesale Realty is so effective is our skill in defining and executing those plans.

When you're just starting out, it may seem like there are thousands of things to do—but devoting your attention to the right things in the right order gets you to your goal faster. Let's take a look at some truly foundational pieces you need to have in place:

• Define Your Ideal Customer
  Marketing is one of the most important things all real estate agents need to have in place. The challenge is this: All marketing is for someone. What kind of customer energizes you? Who can you serve the best? And what are the specific questions, problems, and challenges they bring to the process? Once you have the answer to these three questions, you can get others excited about what you have to offer.
  
  
• Identify Your Market
  No matter if you have 20 years of experience or this is your first week, potential customers choose you due in large part to your local expertise. You must not only know the towns or cities you work in but all the specific neighborhoods. Make connections with local business owners so you can also tout some of the best restaurants, attractions, and venues. That may lead to partnership opportunities in the future.
  
  
• Establish Your Online Presence
  Now that Millennials and Generation Z make up the majority of buyers, you can be sure 99% of all your future customers will find you online. You'll need a fast, secure, and good-looking website to get these visitors onto your schedule. Your website should look great on mobile, as most will use smartphones. Crucially, it should provide many ways to reach you—and enable you to respond immediately.
  
  
• Make Your Goals Concrete
  You'll need concrete goals to know you're moving in the right direction. Lead generation is often the place new agents focus on to accelerate their business growth. Estimate the maximum number of clients you could service at a high quality, then figure out how many leads you would need to reach that many confirmed clients. Working backward from there would give you a weekly lead-generation goal.
  
  
• Build Systems Around Your Goals
  A goal is of little value unless there are measurable actions you can take to make that goal your reality. Look for ways to create systems around your goals by reducing the amount of work you need to do, automating routine tasks, or focusing on higher-level activities. For example, you can capture emails from people who look at your listings, then use marketing automation to send them quality content.
  
  
• Make Social Media Work for You
  Real estate is unique in that your social media following very easily converts into a real business asset. New agents should have a presence on Instagram because many people browse aspirational properties there. Facebook is great for maintaining older connections, while LinkedIn is good for luxury buyers.
  
  
• Benefit from Mentorship
  When you have a relationship with the right mentor, you no longer need to reinvent the wheel. In fact, you may have many different mentors depending on your goals and their individual skills. Mentors give you the opportunity to "reality check" your ideas and benefit from proven best practices much faster.

Intrigued? Contact BHHS Homesale Realty to get started with our team.