When I was ten years old, I started a business selling firewood with my little brother. We combined our two names and called our new venture, “JackRyan Lumber.” Our options for outreach and marketing were practically non-existent, but we did the best we could. We put up a sign on the side of the road that read “FIREWOOD” with a big arrow pointing to our driveway. Eventually we convinced our father to loan us the money to place an ad in the local newspaper. We got exactly one phone call.

Fast forward to 2018, and I’ve been working in real estate for a decade. During that time, I’ve gone from being the kid who didn’t own a suit and made just over $9,000 his first year in sales, to the guy you see on Million Dollar Listing New York who closes seven and eight figure deals daily.

One of the things that’s pushed my career from point A to point B is that I explore every avenue. Whether I’m selling apartments or developing a new TV show, I want to know I’m doing the most I can. I want to squeeze every single drop out of an opportunity.

When it comes to social media I’ve been active on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, but this year is about moving full force down unexplored avenues. I’ve recently started a vlog (@RyanSerhant), it’s uncharted territory for me. Posting video allows me to connect with a wider audience, and it’s a chance for me to get personal and share some of the behind the scenes craziness that makes up my life. Until now, I haven’t been posting regularly on LinkedIn, and it’s time to change that. I’m going to commit to posting on LinkedIn. Every. Single. Week.

I’ve been growing my company for years, and I’ve just now decided that I should have a full-time media person (Joe Laresca) working with me side by side, helping me create new opportunities — making noise for me in every direction. While I’m fortunate to be able to have a person dedicated to everything media on my team, it ultimately doesn’t matter who you are or how long you’ve been in business – this is something any entrepreneur can do today:

Why You Should Do More Social Media For Your Real Estate Brand

It doesn’t matter how big you are.

If you have a phone, you have a videographer. That’s all you need. Post a video. See what happens! You have nothing to lose. If you don’t put yourself out there you can’t have a presence.

There are a million ways to get started.

Choose whatever platform you are most comfortable with. You’ve been posting to Facebook sporadically? Post regularly. You love taking photographs? Great, post one on Instagram – right now. You have a lot of thoughts you want to share on a specific topic? Hello, LinkedIn article!

If You Want Results, Follow-Through.

Whatever platform you decide to use, commit to doing it regularly – and follow-through. If you’ve decided you’re posting to Instagram daily, do it. If you’re going to write regularly for LinkedIn, do it. Hold yourself accountable. Block out time in your schedule to do this until posting on social media becomes like muscle memory for you.

Take a single step, see big results.

You don’t have a big game plan set up for your social media platform (yet)? Why should this stop you? You can’t underestimate the power that taking just one, single step can have on your career.

I’m mapping out new territory – and you should be doing the same. I can’t help but wonder what my brother and I could have achieved if JackRyan Lumber had a social media presence. Instead of hauling our wagon full of wood down to the road in the middle of winter, hoping someone would drive by and take pity on us by making a purchase, we could have been inside, making a video of ourselves drinking coco by a cozy fire for Instagram. We could have used Facebook to post about promotions like free delivery. Who knows, maybe we could have earned enough money to pay back our dad for that loan?

Right now, there are so many ways to connect and build an audience. Let’s all commit, right now to exploring every avenue. I’m going to start by posting regularly to LinkedIn. But help me out. What do you want to hear from me? What can I share with all of you? How can I help you? I’m here, and you should milk me for all I’ve got.

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