Congratulations to those who are reading this and have just passed your real estate license exam!

I say this with sincerity because unless you’ve been there, completed those long hours in Real Estate school, prepared for your course exam, survived that one and finally passed the license exam, you can’t understand the dedication it takes to get to this point.

That’s why a celebration is in order.  Have a celebration dinner, go dancing, have some cake or whatever makes you happy.  You have earned it!

Once the party’s over though it’s time for some big decisions to be made. You’re not alone in this part either as nearly every new real estate agent goes through these major decisions at the very beginning of their careers. This time, they’re yours to make.  You need to be vigilant and focused. Some new agents who were unorganized or made very bad choices when they were first licensed found out their careers were over before they started.

Having a checklist of what to do as a new agent will be invaluable in saving you both time and money.  Here is a first step checklist to help you stay on the path to a great future in real estate:

Step 1:  Choose Your Brokerage

Here’s the part where I’ll give you some advice that I wish I was given when I started my career; ‘commit to learning and planning’. These two activities are the top ones that will never leave you or let you down as long as you’re in the business.  Dedication to these in the early stages of your career will be integral to your success and could save you thousands of dollars and time-wasting mistakes.

I’m sure you heard in your course that a large part of a home’s value lies in its ‘location, location, location’ (in Latin situs, situs, situs).

The same is true for your real estate career as ‘learning, learning, learning’ all that you can early on will be a large part of your success.

Step 2:  Find a Path to Great Training

During your interviews with different brokers, you may find you come across varying personalities. Go with the one that suits your personality best, has an eye on technology (because real estate is very much an online business) and offers you a path to great training.

You will find brokers that will hire you and put you in a desk immediately and let you figure most of your new career on your own.  You’ll have very little training in your office with the exception of monthly meetings,

There are brokerages whose focus centers on technology.  This is great but watch out for brokers who spend their technology marketing budget on marketing itself and not your business.  This way of doing business also gives you very little in the way of training or promotion.

When starting out, it’s important to find a brokerage current in the market, meaning they are secure in their name and have no problem, heck it’s in their business model to train/empower/motivate you to run a high-level success-oriented business focused on YOU.

Putting your education at the forefront of your success will bring you to that threshold faster. You’ll also grow more personally if you are in an environment that focuses on creating, teaching and building a better you.

Step 3:  Join the National Association of Realtors

When you become a member of the National Association of Realtors you can start to use the accreditation of Realtor®. You’ll also be a member of your area Realtor® association.

There are a lot of perks that go along with your membership including free education (some which can be accredited towards you continued education hours), you’ll have access to the MLS with nearly all of the home/condo/investment and land listings on it.  You’ll be able immediately to search through it for any listings for any prospective buyers you may already have.

The National Association of Realtors and your state Realtor® board both hold conventions which have an immense amount of free, current information about the industry. Often you can knock out your continuing education requirements for free.

A brokerage that offers great training will hold conventions focused solely on education and mindset.  These brokerages are rare but when you get into one, they will change your life for the better, forever.

Attending Realtor® conventions are a great way to gain more exposure to and in your chosen profession. They can be a ton of fun and if you budget the costs into your business plan, in the very beginning of your practice, you’re more likely to continue going, building both your business and your reputation as a solid member of the profession.

Step 4:  Create a business plan.

A business plan in real estate is a living document and something you can just ‘set and forget’.

This is where you lay every idea, goal and even your mission for your business. While your plan will change from year-to-year, the important thing is you stick to the plan you make.

A good business plan will help you detail everything from your vision to the sales you need to reach your financial goals all the way to down to how long you’ll have to spend on every task necessary to sell the number of homes you need to succeed.

Oh yeah, be sure you have a planner whether it’s paper or electronic because oh boy are you going to need one!

Step 5:  Build your business using your contacts.

I’m not saying to spend all your days sitting on Facebook, or Tumblr talking to your contacts.

Strategically gather everyone you know into a contact database and from there, sort them out by how you’ll market to them. Are they someone you met at your first open house who are actively house-shopping?  Then that’s someone you’re going to keep in contact with and market to while you find out if they can buy at this time or not.

Contacts are the lifeblood of your business. The better, more dynamic the system you have of contacting them, the more successful you’ll become.
This is one of the main reasons that education is so important for new agents and why brokerages who spend very little time teaching their agents will never be in the top standings on revenue and sales.

One feeds the other.

Step 6:  Develop your professional image.

Take the time to have a fresh, professional photo taken. You can even have a few poses. They can be indoor or outdoor, standing or sitting.  Choose a few that you like so you have the option of using them in different places i.e., business cards, website photo, social media, etc.  The idea is that you’re becoming your own brand.

Believe me, a polished picture makes a difference.

On social media, you’ll be able to use different photos, ones taken by your phone, ipad, other devices because you’ll want to share them quickly to keep the news of your business current.

Use the social media channels that your database contacts are on. You’ll need a Facebook business page to increase your reach,  Set that up and share with your contact/friends so they know you’re in business.  Keep in current so the know you’re doing business.  Keep it separate from your personal page.

You’ll need to get good at limiting your time on it as well so you’re not getting sucked down the rabbit hole that’s associated with social media.  One YouTube video can equal five hours of lost time in the blink of an eye and you have no idea where that time has gone!

My message to you as a new agent

I’ve spoken a lot about training and education as we’ve gone through the checklist and I can’t emphasize enough it’s important.  When a company takes a very interest in your success it’s a win-win combo that shows in every way.

The numbers and reviews pretty much speak for themselves.

Personally, working at Keller Williams has changed my life in immeasurable ways.  I have learned how to create a life by design, my business is strong and keeps growing, I’m the assistant team leader of the No. 1 Market Center in the country for recruiting and I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

You can walk this path too.  Create a thriving real estate business and build your life by design.  Message me below and let’s make your first steps in real estate the best ones you can take, for YOU.