Last week, a brand new agent joined our Facebook for Real Estate Agents group and asked this question . . .

"Hey everyone! I’m brand new to the industry and have been doing some homework in trying to get my leads started. I’m hoping this can jump start it for me. Any suggestions?"

I have to say, I LOVE when new agents jump in and participate.

There are no preconceived notions, they have not heard all kinds of snake oil sales pitches and they are an open blank slate, a fresh opportunity to start right, to start building a real estate business with a fantastic foundation.

First and foremost, welcome to real estate!

It’s an incredibly rewarding career, not only monetarily but also in freedom and flexibility. You don’t have to punch a clock and you control when, where and how you work. This is the part I love the best about being a real estate agent.

I’m not sure how much you know or understand about real estate, but, your number one priority as a real estate agent is lead generation. You won’t have a business without it. Don’t believe the myth that “marketing yourself” or “getting your name out there” is lead generation. It’s not. It’s throwing money down the drain.

In all forms of lead generation (online and in person), your number one immediate priority is to get contact information (at least a name and phone or email). This is always always always your first priority.

Without a database (contacts), you won’t have a real estate business.

Your second priority is to stay in touch with each contact you get – and don’t be fooled into thinking that “every so often” is enough. It’s not.

Just letting someone know that you are a REALTOR® (or real estate agent if you are not a member of NAR) isn’t enough, even your best friends.  They won’t remember you in their emotional excitement (or stress).  You need to make it so they don’t have to remember you, you are simply always there.

You’ve got to be right there, answering their questions and meeting their needs, at the same moment that they have questions and needs.

This means staying in touch with them all the time, at minimum every two weeks, in some form or another.

It can be tricky, but with a solid “touch” system (or rather, multiple systems) in place, with effective “calls to action”, you’ll convert many of those contacts into clients.

The key is to be there, all the time, at the right time.

Your #1 goal on Facebook, with a Facebook business page, is to get people from Facebook into your email database. That’s it. Every thing you do, every update you make, has an ultimate goal of getting who ever sees it, into your email database.

Most people think it’s about the “reach” of your Facebook page or how many “likes” you have. It’s not. It’s about getting people into your email database, exactly like your website goal or your online advertising goal.

You’ve got to be willing and open to teaching and giving, and you’ve got to have different levels of teaching and giving. Your first level is about initial interest. Your second level is about sustained interest and your third level is about conversion interest.

It helps if you fully understand the Facebook sales funnel and how it works for real estate agents. It gives what I said above, more clarity.

Facebook is a fantastic place to jump start your lead generation efforts. Just focus on getting your targeted prospects into your database.