Congratulations! It’s official. You’re finally a licensed real estate agent. So, what do you do now?

Newly licensed real estate agents all over the country face the same dilemma; life after real estate agent licensing exams.

Truth is there are more real estate agents than you can shake a stick at, but only a few fully embrace the opportunity to distinguish themselves from the others. Simply being licensed is no longer enough and there are no guaranteed shortcuts to success. Still, there are scores of companies guaranteeing success if you buy their products.

Well, save your money because there are no guarantees; only hard, focused work coupled with products that’ll enhance your success, which begins and ends with 2 simple things;

1. Getting prospects
2. Converting them into Transactions

Getting prospects is easier said than done and only when you have some you will you have an opportunity to blend your knowledge, charm and personality to close them. But the key remains getting them. How do you do that?

Developing your own real estate prospecting system is one good way and should be every newly licensed real estate agent’s top priority; veteran agents, too if they never had one. The type of system you chose can be as simple as mailing pre-written real estate marketing letters to owners of expired listings, some of which are extremely effective. But as you grow in experience and ability incorporating call in 800 number lead generating systems and websites are almost a must if you want be competitive and ensure your success.

Let’s face it - real estate agents need listings and the more they have the more money they’re likely to make through their real estate marketing efforts. On the other hand agents who can’t get listings don’t last in the profession too long.

Also, with a good prospecting system, expired listings, FSBO and whatever it might be, newly licensed real estate agents can gain significant marketing exposure in months, rather than years. Signs with your name on them dotted throughout your community will give you instant credibility and generate more listings. Everybody likes doing business with successful real estate agents, which you’ll be thought of as when you have lots of listings.

Another nice thing about farming expired listings is that the sellers are typically Realtor friendly, eager to sell their properties and willing do what it takes to get them sold. So, start download Expired Listing from your MLS and start mailing your newsletters or pre-written letters. And don’t worry about ‘What If’s” now. Experiment with your farming system. Develop your own prospecting system that you’re comfortable with. Experiment, experiment and experiment. Follow-up all your leads. Don’t give up so soon. Your first prospecting system doesn’t guaranteed you a phone call.

If you run a real estate business, you are well aware of the importance of marketing. If your potential clients don’t find you, they are likely to find your competitor and give their commissions to them.

Internet marketing is an excellent solution for real estate agents. A real estate agent can reach people who they would not be able to meet otherwise by using Internet marketing. Here are five tips to help you reach your potential customers:

1. Create A Professional Web Site For Your Real Estate Business. You need to present a professional online image to attract real estate clients. Potential clients who find your web site will equate the professional look and feel of the web site to your own professionalism, since the web site is the only piece of information they have to evaluate your real estate business. The web site for your real estate business should have a professional look and feel and have information about you, your business, and services that you provide to your clients. There should be a way for potential clients to contact you. After all, you would like these people to get in touch with you and start working with you.
2. Publish A Real Estate Newsletter. Not everyone who comes to your web site is going to be in need of your services immediately. Many people shop around, reading information about dozens of real estate agents before picking a real estate agent to work with. Others may not need to buy or sell a house now, but they maybe in need of your services at a later date. You need to be able to keep in touch with people who come to your web site, but are not ready to hire you yet. A newsletter is a great tool to keep in touch with your web site visitors, share information with them and educate them about your products and services. Make sure that you have a newsletter subscribe form on every page of your web site, and that you offer a compelling reason for your web site visitors to subscribe to it.
3. Offer A Compelling Reason For Your Web Site Visitors to Subscribe To Your Newsletter. If you are not inviting your web site visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, you are losing money in the long run. Make sure that you are offering a free report, or some other free gift for everyone who subscribes to your newsletter. By doing this, you will be able to get more newsletter subscribers and more clients for your business.
4. Optimize Your Web Site for Search Engines. Search engine optimization is the process of modifying web page content and meta-information to improve the search engine ranking of the page. By optimizing your web site for search engines you can get more people looking for real estate agents in your area to your web site.
5. Publish Your Articles Online. Publishing articles is an excellent way to show off your expertise, let others know about your real estate business and drive traffic to your web site. When you write and publish your articles, other web site owners pick them up and publish them on their web sites, while giving you a link back to your web site.

Use the five techniques we outline above to drive targeted potential clients to your real estate web site. Effective Internet promotion of your real estate business will help you drive clients to your real estate business every single day.

Don’t Lose Your Leads.

According to National Association of Realtors, most customers contacted only one Real Estate Agent. 61% of Buyers & 63% of Sellers contacted only one agent.

You should alway contact your lead at least 3 times a week, whether you have new information or not. You should treat your customer like your first date. You should contact your customer by phone, mail, e-mail and in person. You should never give up your potential customers until they give up or file a restraint order against you. Just kidding.

Statistically speaking, most consumers perceive all Real Estate Agents to be pretty much alike, or assume one Real Estate Agent is probably just about as good as the next. We know that not all Real Estate Agents are created equal. But Consumer’s perception is all that counts.

So what’s the good news for Real Estate Agents? As long as you contact your leads consistently and if you don’t make huge mistakes, you’re in very good position to make a transaction. Don’t give up your leads. Real Estate is business of leads.

Driving customer to you - Turn your car into Marketing vehicle.

Have you seen any Real Estate Agents driving around? You probably have. Many Real Estate Agents are using magnetic sign on the doors or rear hatch to promote their business. I have to agree that this marketing works very well. Well, you’re not going to get phone calls right away but it’s huge benefit for your presence on your specializing area or neighborhood.

Your 5 Benefits:

1. You will definitely get noticed by people around your neighborhood.
2. Your car becomes moving branding billboard vehicle. Even your car is parked in front of grocery store.
3. People will not call police if they spot a strange vehicle pulling into neighborhood’s driveways.
4. Less likely pulled over by Police Officer even though you drive zig-zag slowly down the street.
5. You look more professional and passionate about your job.

5 Things Not To Do:

1. Don’t drive 50MPH on small street trying to get more attention.
2. Don’t pick your nose while waiting for green light.
3. Don’t Honk hysterically.
4. Don’t take 2 parking spots in local shopping mall.
5. Don’t block someone else’s drive way. You’ll definitely get a phone call right away.

There is No Second Place in Real Estate Sales. Sorry my friend, no consolation prize in this tough business. You have to finish in first place and first place only to make money. You maybe involved in small transactions like residential rental, still you need to finish in first place to make money. It doesn’t matter your offer is $1 less or not. It’s either you get the commission check or nothing.

Quite many buyer’s agents fax their offers and wait until they hear from listing agent. It’s big No-No. Before you even fax your offer, let the listing agent know that an offer is on the way. Once you fax your client’s best offer, call the listing agent and confirm it. You must have communication line open with listing agent. Let the listing agent know that your client is willing to make some adjustments. Ask listing agent to inform you if there is another offer. You must be in alert stage until your offer is officially accepted, signed and confirmed.

Preparation is everything. You should fax your offer in good package. It should includes, offer, credit report, pre-qualified mortgage letter and brief description/summary of your offer. Don’t forget to set the fax machine resolution to High-Quality or Fine. Don’t fax them with standard resolution. Convert your offer to PDF file and e-mail to listing agent as an insurance.

There is no second place, once start the job and you definitely want to finish in first place for good.