New college grad earns $565K using these two key strategies

The formula for success in real estate couldn’t be more straightforward. Do simple things every day — and do them 10% better than the average agent. Fancy fails. Simple scales. Why only 10% better and not 60% better? Let’s not sugarcoat reality. Seventy percent of Realtors in your market are terrible at their jobs. They get shiny object syndrome and burn time, money and precious energy chasing glamorous marketing strategies that don’t increase their income. No wonder most end up crashing and burning in their first year. They set themselves up for failure.

Oahu Realtor Marlene Sedeno did things differently. She graduated college in 2020 into a historically bleak job market. She had a bachelor’s degree in economics from a good school, but no one was hiring. She was also only 24 years old and had two children to support. So she did exactly what many of our readers did — she became a Realtor.

Instead of making a vision board filled with BMWs and Caribbean vacations, Marlene borrowed $3,000 to hire a coach, chose a niche, and got to work. Four years later, she earned $565,000 from 31 sides and is living the life of her dreams in her home state of Hawaii.

We recently sat down with Marlene to find out exactly how she did it. She shared eye-opening truths about cold calling, building rapport and the most effective scripts — and what it feels like to turn real estate daydreams into reality.

Marlene Sedeno: By the numbers

Market: Oahu, Hawaii 

Niche: Relocation and military sellers

Year one GCI + sides: $100,000, 9 sides

Year four GCI + sides: $565,000, 31 sides

Primary lead generation strategy: Cold calling and circle prospecting 

Real estate coach: Brandon Mulerin

Highest ROI software: Follow Up Boss, Mojo Dialer

Find a cold-calling clique 

Think most successful cold callers lock themselves alone in a room every morning to make their calls? Think again. Cold calling is an inherently social activity. This is partly why so many hyper-successful cold callers livestream their calls. They’re not just showing off. They’re feeding off your energy to get more appointments. Leads don’t stay on the phone with them because of what they say but how they make them feel.

Positive, pro-social energy is critical in cold calling. It’s also much harder to maintain when you’re alone. Self-help guru Tony Robbins had it right, “Where your focus goes, your energy flows.” If you’re sitting alone at your kitchen table obsessing over how your last call went, it’s harder to focus all your energy on your leads to build rapport with them. No rapport, no appointments. It really is that simple.

Marlene was adamant that cold calling with other supportive eXp agents was key to her success. It gave her empathetic ears with whom she could laugh off bad calls and celebrate good ones. Getting hung up on stings a lot less when it’s a shared experience. Cold calling with your team is also an ideal way to stay accountable and consistent — another crucial building block of her success. Here’s Marlene:

“I think it’s essential to find a community. Cold calling was really hard for me at first. I would wake up in the morning and think, Oh my god, I have to freaking cold call! Now, I call with a few agents across the country. When someone hangs up on one of us or gets angry on a call, we can laugh about it together and move on faster.”

Want to get matched with other cold callers? Sign up for Marlene’s free group on Facebook. 

Yes is the destination. No is how you get there. 

The cliche cold-calling advice most agents get is usually some variation of “develop a thick skin.” Most won’t tell you that this has nothing to do with your personality — it’s not an emotional change. Even natural introverts can succeed at cold calling. All it requires is a simple mindset shift and a willingness to put in the reps.

Marlene was quick to recommend Richard Fenton’s book, “Go for No! Yes is the Destination, No is How You Get There.” The book gave her simple but effective advice that changed her mindset and her career along with it.

Here are the cliff notes. There is no such thing as failure in sales. There are only outcomes. The key to successful cold calling is to detach from outcomes and focus on improving your processes. Getting told no repeatedly (sometimes with acrimony) gives you a golden opportunity to reassess your systems and get better. As Marlene put it, “Every no gets you closer to your goal.”

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