Prior media and communications experience and a crash course in the fundamentals set a rural agent on the path to establishing her own agency in under two years.
Ellie Begg never planned on a real estate career when she was studying for a degree in communication and business, and began working in commercial media roles.
When she returned to Bathurst to be around family while raising her daughter, Begg knew she needed to find a way to utilise the skills she had developed in her various marketing roles.
She sought a position where she could utilise her prior experience in marketing and communications, leading her to pursue a career in real estate.
“I love media, and I thought, ‘How do I use this?’ There aren’t many media agencies in a country town, and I still wanted to do something similar,” Begg told REB.
“It has been such a good weapon to have, a media background, particularly in the countryside.”
She said she had noticed that many real estate agencies were not using social media to its full potential, and realised it could be an immediate point of difference for her in the industry.
“I could leverage both my and the agency’s social media and use them to create an almost on campaign to try and accelerate myself in the public eye to continue to build brand trust, she said.
“I was able to employ a very strong social media strategy from the get-go and start leaning into digital media.”
Starting on the right foot and securing the right mentor
Being an industry newcomer, Begg said it was all the more important that she got her personal branding strategy right from the start to compete with more experienced agents.
Begg said she leaned heavily on her experienced principal, David Chapman, who stressed the importance of building strong fundamentals early in her career
“He gave me a massive crash course on literally just getting the basics right,” she said.
From ensuring that the listing strategy was right for the client to making sure physical sale signs were presented well, Begg said she learned that everything agents did was perceived by potential vendors.
She said that one of the key things she did when she was starting out was to absorb information from as many sources as possible.
“I made a very conscious effort to surround myself with experienced people from all walks of life. I even went to retired agents in town and had coffee with them to just listen and learn,” Begg said.
“There’s nothing better than literally listening to someone and soaking in as much knowledge as you can.”
Launching a new agency
After a year of learning under the tutelage of Chapman and as he began to step back from the industry due to health concerns, Begg was now pursuing the goal of launching her own independent agency.
She said that while her previous success in the industry had positioned her to open her own agency, doing so required a completely different skill set.
“I’ve got all of the marketing down packed; I know how to present to someone, but learning literally every single system that is needed has been a process,” she said.
“There’s been lots of hoops there with physically finding office spaces and building websites; everything has just been a mammoth task.”
Similar to when she personally transitioned into real estate, Begg said one of the most significant challenges she was expecting to face would be establishing a strong brand presence.
“I think just continuing to create trust as a brand within the community is going to be a huge feat, but I know we will get there.”
“That is one of the key things we are going to be focusing on that is going to be really important in the next couple of months.”
Additionally, Begg encouraged agents new to the industry to just be themselves and find a team they look forward to working with.
“Find a workplace that you actually align with and feel comfortable with so that you can express yourself.”
“Don’t be afraid to try and to fail, and you should have a good stint ahead of you.”
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