Get out there and do open houses, network with friends, family and shpere. Let everyone know you are in the business and here to help!

"I'm a new agent, need some input."

Joan, the first thing you must do is assess what you have to work with. Are you also brand new to the community meaning you have no sphere of influence, no friends and family, no lists of contacts to exploit.

Or, perhaps you are a lifelong resident.

The activity that gets you to the closing table fastest depends on what you have to work with.

Let's assume the worst case and you want LISTINGS.

Ok, now this is hard but will serve you well throughout the rest of your career. Answer the question, "What do you do, provide, that is worth a sizable piece of the homeowners equity?" So you will invariably come up with a list of real estate gobbly-gook that only real estate agents care a about. Refine your statement and remove all such gobbly-gook. Now test drive your VALUE to those not in the real estate business.

DO they 'see' your value?
Do they understand what you said?
Would they introduce you to their family and friends?

If you received all yes, now you are ready for Prime Time. Having squeezed yourself to understand what your REAL value is, you can stand tall and with confidence those seeking help will recognize who can provide the help they need. Such confidence ATTRACKS clients contrary to the conventional PERSUASION that relies on Success Theater, Vanity Metrics and Surrogate Endpoints.

To further advance your skill-set, and do what strikes fear into the heart of other agents (they don't know their value) go out and meet the homeowners in the communities defined by your business plan.

A recent AR participant shared her experience of knocking on what seemed to be a thousand doors and encountered only three curmudgeons, very likely these three are real estate agents who feel imposed upon when the are called to the front door.

There are MANY options. But they all are rooted in your deep understanding of the value/solution you represent. 

Using the same methodology, start a program of 'purposed' open houses. One purpose is 'get more listing' which does require planning, placement and a crew who knows what they are doing. This is YOUR opportunity to train you own new lender so you both can climb the business building ladder.

Your sphere, farming, networking and open houses!

Joan,

Exactly what Dorie Dillard said.

 I started almost 3 years ago with my friends, family members and social media networks and that worked great!

You have so many great suggestions. Take a few that best fit you and your area. Jump right in!

Very one has their own method, it depends on your farm area, your specialty, and your marketing budget.

I am with Corinne Guest, Managing Broker who suggests you follow Annette Lawrence , Palm Harbor, FL 727-420-4041 advice. Be very mindful of your $$$ budget ... new agents can easily bleed out financially.

As you can tell by the answers so far, there is no "one" solution. You need to find the combination of activities that work for you. Holding open houses, doing floor time, calling everyone you know, direct mail marketing, cold calling, web based marketing/blogging, using social media, conducting seminars for the public, joining local chamber of commerce, and on and on. Experiment until you find the right combination for you.

I'm surprised your company is not providing direction for your career ???

Start following Barbara Todaro and you'll know how to do it and what to do

Referrals and your sphere plus network as much as possible; do open houses to get comfortable meeting potential buyers and to learn about their questions and concerns and how to address them. Consider farming, maybe in your neighborhood

help some renters...stay in touch, some will become buyers

help some buyers...stay in touch, some will become sellers

Everyone you meet or help is likely to know someone who will sell within the next 12 months.  Ask for those referrals. 

Also farm a neighborhood or niche (mail outs, open houses, community events, etc) ...but plan on spending $$ for a year or 2 before you see much of a return on investment for this type of marketing.

Joan James - working by referrals works best - if you are a relational person. Check Buffini & Company.

Good Luck.

Joan - The answer to this question is what will determine your success. If you can find something that works, stick with it. Every location, market, and agent has their own ideas. All I can say is meet as many people as you can, however you can, and let them know you are an agent. That would be a good start.

Database!

Build and work your database.

My first listings came from friends and acquaintances. It's tough to get strangers to trust you when you are new or at least act new. Confidence, know your numbers, know your market and focus on an area. The words all, anywhere and everywhere make it take longer. The riches are in your niches.

It depends on your bankroll.. if you are starting off look at cost as a major consideration.. do those things that get the most exposure and bang for your buck.

My broker suggests all three to get listings. But the best is letting your sphere know that you are in business and establish a referral based business. Attending networking events is a great way too!

Depends on the market you are in. 

There are no Silver Bullets in this industry, no magic answers and different strokes for different folks, but you can not be a "Secret Agent", leave that to James Bond. People must know you exist and that you are a valuable resource for them. As a new agent, Do not spend money on mailings, that takes years to establish yourself and deep pockets to get business that way.

 You need to become a specialist, whatever that looks like to you, focusing on a certain neighborhood, a type of home, a demographic, who do you connect with? Pilots, Doctors, millennial's, this is like when you were back in elementary school, who did you migrate towards on the playground, those kids became your friends. the same applies to real estate, who do you connect with, who do you hang out with, start there, have meaningful conversations with those people. This will help you build a niche (there are hundreds of niche markets) and become established.

That being said, to get business ASAP, the best thing I have ever seen was years ago, an agent stopped by my house, introduced himself, handed me a neighborhood market report that had a list of service providers on the back and told me that "I am a real estate agent that specializes in Nob Hill, just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that I want to be a resource for you here in the neighborhood, if you ever have any questions regarding real estate prices, tax assessments etc., or need a good lawn maintenance company, please do not hesitate to call" For the next 10 years this guy dominated my neighborhood, his signs were everywhere, and that was the one and only time he ever stopped by my house.

Dorie is a great listing agent, she has some great advice! 

Work expires, they want to sell.  Networking with insurance people 

Every method works and every method fails.  I've seen cold calling work hundreds of times, I've seen it fail thousands of times.  I've seen postcards work, I've seen them fail.  There are two keys: 1) Consistency and 2) Getting in front of the right person on the right day and time.  I've seen a "one and done" mailer beat out the agent who mails monthly to their farm because that mailer arrived at the exact moment the seller was thinking of listing.

Open houses can work, but they are best for picking up buyers (in my view).  A listing with a sold sign has been my most successful method and then marketing that sold.  But that's a catch 22...

Face to face contacts and by building your referral network.

Testimonials from past clients to the prospects

Any of the above, but personal contat works best for me

    What Dorie Dillard said. 

      Plus, lots of blog posts with long-tail keywords for your local subdivisions and neighborhoods.

I believe you will need to do all of that and more. You can't just do a little but have to continue and be consistent.

Cold Calling is dead, wiped by the communists that created a do not call list for all legitimate businesses; yet allowing plenty of spam calls from politicians and other scammers.

Online works, postcards work.

What criteria do you use to determine "best method"?

direct mail marketing is the way my team members get listings....and I did for decades....

Good advice already here. Find out what works for you without spendng a bunch of money upfront. Find a successful agent in your office or community and talk to them or even work with them for a while to learn what they do. Best wishes!-Kasey

Joan James Face-to-face networking always works.

all of the above and more

Dorie Dillard is all over this one - get out and shmooze!

Cold calling is not what it was with the do not cal lists and anger people who may not be on the list feel when they get such calls. The best way is referral's. My second leading place i get listings is my Active Rain blog. For new agents who have not built up referrals yet, generating your own leads should be top priority

Networking is best, but mailings and online marketing can also help! Stick to the low budget items until you get some earnings!

A combination of all 3

Dorie Dillard nailed this one!

None of the above.  Get out and network.

Start with talking to everyone...  ;)

Bad news-A combined plan using all 3 as each process reaches a different market segment. I suggest all 3 at once.

Dorie Dillard has provided you the "magic trick." 

Real estate listing

I stopped by thanks.