the best advice anyone could ever give to you is to "learn how to market and make your own phone ring"..... "never pay for leads"....they're junk.... it's a method for a company to take advantage of desperate agents who never learned how to market for themselves....

You will need to spend money to make money. 

If you do nothing right....you will do nothing wrong

Get into production. When it's going rough - call someone that knows you and wants to help you but make the call and ask for the opportunity to help either them or someone they know. Then make the next call.  Sorry it's not too exciting of an answer.

When you feel that you need inspiration, do anything else but real estate. Anything! Clear yourself. Everybody dumps on us in this business and we tend to get very compressed, imploded, impacted. Get out of your head and get into the moment. Then watch all the solutions come seemingly out of nowhere. @CandiceD

Great idea!  Here are my tops, in no particular order:

• Treat this business as a business, not a hobby.
• Being able to generate your own business is the key to longevity.
• There are a lot of hands that want into your wallet, be very careful about what you purchase.  Most things are not needed.

Pinterest username: hugginshomes

Love on your sphere - it's  the most rewarding money you'll ever spend! 

@TheMaxwellHouseGroup

Find a mentor and absorb knowledge like a sponge!

Advice would be to listen to the Master. Learn. Don't do anything that is not in agreement with who you are. For example, if door knocking and cold calling are "success strategies" that make you cringe ... don't do it. 

Hi Morgan,
There have been a LOT of blog posts written on this subject... even some great round-ups that would be good resources for you.  I'd have to do some research to find them.

That said, here's some of my advice:
* Start a blog as soon as possible. Build an archive of valuable informative content targeted toward your ideal prospect.  Promote it everywhere!
* Don't buy leads. Create relationships and build your business around them. Work your sphere of influence and keep in touch with past clients on a consistent basis.  People want to do business with people they know, like and trust. 

Listen to You Tube Tom Ferry it is free.

Follow the leaders in your office

You have your license, you need the knowledge that comes from years, many cycles up and down to know how to adjust your real estate "sales" when new at the list, twist, sell. Prepare for a market where buyers are king, the ones where sellers take a turn and others where you have to be highly creative and truly dedicated to carve out a bigger real estate pie market share slice than others in it wished you did.

Real estate is a jealous master, a highly competitive sport. She demands all of your attention if she could get it but learn how to unplug and recharge. Make time for family, friends, travel, community service volunteering, exercise, a healthy diet. But realize not everyone is cut out for this commission sales razzle dazzle and making every single step count like the UPS delivery guy or gal to not waste a drop of your time... that is too much dedication for some.

Ask yourself a serious question in the mirror each morning ... after counting your blessings and before applying the vinyl or magnetic real estate branding on your Yugo or Bentley... are you really a vocation or vacation type individual? You can't kinda sorta tip your toe testing the water and call yourself a real estate agent or broker... you gotta be in whole hog up to your neck and out into the deep end where you can no longer touch to be above and beyond.

Real estate property peddling is not going to be a glass slipper fit for every grasshopper flashing the shiny blue and gold "R" lapel pin or by bolting on the REALTOR license plate frame.

Pay attention to the red flags that show up on the internal radar where you can help this one, not that one. It is like triage in the serving the public emergency room where you can decipher quickly by instinct which patients you can save, which get the white sheet and toe tag because you can not help them. Just my .02 IMHO Morgan Taylor !

Real estate, whatever your occupation should be a passion and something you can not wait to swing your legs out of bed, rub out the sleep seeds,  comb the hair, brush your teeth and head back into the ring slurping high octane coffee.  I like your technical posts best on how to fine tune your IDX, etc to keep ahead of the rest of the pack... keep hunting and pecking those puppies. 

I agree with Barbara Todaro 

Know your market and your contract.

Be willing to work.  Get up, dress up and show up.  This isn't a career path for those who don't want to work.

Don't be anchored by the traditional real estate commission system. Clients are looking for alternative solutions. Listen to their needs and be creative in solving their stated needs.  Forget the "you get what you pay for" mantra of those who feel it is beneath them to meet their client's stated needs versus what they feel the client really needs. Or what pays them the most or what they are comfortable doing, etc... Henry Ford said buyers could have any color of Model T they wanted, as long as it was black. Don't be Henry Ford; offer your clients some alternatives, such as an hourly fee for service or real estate consulting.  Both pay for your time, knowledge and expertise. It means the client has skin in the game and you don't need to charge as much knowing you will be paid.

Spring BOLD starts next week, are you signed up yet?

Have a business plan, and prospect everyday.

Barbara Todaro said it perfectly.

Morgan Taylor if you believe in a "Higher Power" call on it every day, through out the day. My Higher Power is the Creator of the universe. If I can not count on your "Higher Power" to improve every single aspect of your life you aqre tapping into the wrong power supply? 

Inspiration is tough. I would get on YouTube as there are many great videos to lift your mood. They don't have to be about real estate.

Anticipate the market change and be the early to learn the regulations. Look at the data study the data. Do not snow prospects.

Last if not least, honest with others. If you do not know just say so.

Hmm, 90% of entrants into real estate get trapped into the 'Accidental real estate" business model. Best advise, if you don't know why you are doing it, the outcome expected and the means to measure, then simply don't do it.  Those whispering in the newbies ear only see a $12,000 pie of which they want a piece.

Here is what is hard. Investing in the 'examined life' discipline that allows one to know their TRUE VALUE.

At the time of that epiphany, suddenly the agent has something to 'talk about' that anyone actually cares to hear. Having clarity of ones true value allows the same person to create a resonating message to which others will respond.

Those who have not invested in themselves this way place ads that ask, "Buying? Selling? Call Morgan."

A good starting point for such a newbie is have a meet-up with anyone they have helped at anytime in their life. If they have HELPED no one, reconsider interfering in the lives of others in the highly important matter of real estate.

OF courese the easy answer is "Hit up your SOI and show them some love."

Never pay for leads, they will save lots of dollars!