The real estate brokerage model has its roots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Unfortunately, some brokerages are still stuck in the “good old days,” with systems, processes and marketing that haven’t changed much over the decades. If you want to be more effective in earning clients, recruiting agents and growing profits, it’s time to bring your real estate brokerage into the 21st century.

1. Brand your brokerage. If you have not yet developed a clear brand identity, it’s time to do so. If you have a well-defined vision of your company’s brand, you may just need to set it down in a brand guide and outline its various elements. If you’re not sure where to start, it may be a good idea to work with a marketing company that specializes in branding.

2. Update your brokerage’s technology. From transaction management platforms to a gorgeous contemporary website, technology drives real estate. Lead generation, client care and workflow all require great tech and training that ensures everyone knows how to use the available technology.

3. Utilize content marketing. Content marketing—blogs, videos, podcasts, social media and more—is an essential part of almost every industry’s marketing initiative, but it barely registers with most real estate brokers and agents. Not only should your brokerage have content, but your agents should as well. Each agent has different niches, designations and levels of expertise, which means that each agent has something to contribute to the online conversation. Help facilitate and encourage your agents to create content designed to promote their own business—and yours.

4. Invest in company culture. How you do things, how you treat people and how you define yourself as a company are all elements of company culture. Providing training, defining best practices and setting your agents up for success are all aspects that contribute to positive experiences and outcomes.

5. Rewarding innovation. Many real estate agents say that when they have a new idea or a new way of doing things, they are told, “That’s not how we do it here.” If you’ve ever heard someone at your brokerage say this—or, worse yet, you’re the one saying it—it’s time for a shift in your mindset and behavior. You don’t have to change everything at once, but being open to change—and welcoming some of the possibilities it brings—can make a huge difference in both your bottom line and your day-to-day enjoyment of running your brokerage. Stop living in “the way it used to be” or “the way we used to do it” and start looking for ways to move forward, grow and develop.

Real Estate Express is one of the nation’s premier online real estate schools, providing pre- and post-licensing courses, continuing education courses and professional development to hundreds of thousands of real estate agents across the country. Real Estate Express, along with its sister schools McKissock Learning, Superior School of Real Estate, Allied Schools, The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing and Hondros Education Group, helps real estate professionals achieve sustainable success throughout each stage of their real estate career. Learn more at RealEstateExpress.com.