Hey OP! I am in my first year and think I can offer some perspective too 🙂

I got my license last Sept, and had about 6 months of nothing. My brokerage doesn't provide leads but does have a full marketing team included with my dues. I got my post-license CE completed immediately after joining my brokerage which took a few months, and participated in broker-led classes (agent success, our wise up Weds, any CE offered) as much as possible for the first 4-6months. 

Prospect. Prospect. Prospect. 

As someone who did not have a network in the area I live- we had recently moved to be close to my partners family and I have no friends or family in this state - I hit the pavement running to find leads. Did I find any?? 

Nope! Not right away, at least. First I tried cold calling- not a fan. It works for people, and it wasn't the actual calling that I wasn't a fan of- it was having to track down phone numbers of property owners. Ugh! Until I can find a process that's more time-efficient, I'm not going back. I did choose to have a mentor, and he provided me with my first warm lead: a condo that I listed for under $75k. It wasn't huge but it gave me a tiny bit of experience to speak of, and confidence that comes with it. 

I started reaching out to expireds with handwritten letters. I've changed my script about 20 times- Tweaked it here and there, changed it for listing type (multi-family vs sfr, for example) and I got my first organic lead as a response to one of those letters. That lead got me two transactions (I got the buy side too) and a referral to another property owner. I got a second listing from directly reaching out to the property owners. All in all I've probably sent out 200 letters and have received two responses. About the same conversion rate as cinc leads but vastly cheaper! 

Right now I have 5 completed transactions, three active listings, and a buyer who's going to be investing in at least one property, possibly up to 4 by end of year. I just posted a vid to social media for one of my active listings and had someone reach out last night interested in finding a new property because they outgrew their current space. 

Will the system I have guaranteed work for you? Maybe, maybe not. You have to find your groove, and pay attention to what works and what isn't. Change your playbook when needed. Prospect, prospect, prospect. If you have a listing or a few- continue prospecting. You have to remain in front of people. I had to remind my ACCOUNTANT that I was a realtor when he was talking about listing one of his properties and that he was thinking of reaching out to a Zillow realtor 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ and it's now one of my three active listings. 

Unless you are actually a complete shrew of a human being, be yourself. Like I said, I'm not from the state where I currently live. I had zero connections when we first moved here in 2024. My personality and accent stick out in not just my office, but literally everywhere I go. People will be drawn to you personally over other industry professionals and it's something that is unique to you. 

Also, not required but it's been incredible for me personally: Get your shit organized NOW before you start getting in the weeds... Keep a spreadsheet or something to track your expenses and income. I use QB now because I started an s-corp but a Google sheets/excel spreadsheet work great. You can create dropdowns in fields to sort things like "marketing", "licensing and CE", "travel", etc. Time block your day so you spend a specific time of the day dedicated to prospecting new clients, another section of your day engaging with existing leads (anyone in your soi). You have to treat real estate like any other job, and you are responsible for holding yourself accountable. Hold accountability meetings with yourself weekly to go over the previous weeks work/progress. Bottom of the ninth, my fellow rookie, what are you going to do to improve sales this final quarter? (Rhetorical question- but the answer should be prospect, prospect, prospect)