“Don’t be a secret agent.”
–Marketing advice to all new Realtors
It’s drummed into your head from your first day as a Realtor (actually before, at pre-Realtor training classes): ‘Don’t be a secret agent” — invariably followed by, “identify and regularly communicate with your ‘sphere of influence'” (also referred to as your “farm”). 
It doesn’t have to be geographic — it can be organized around an avocation, your former business acquaintances, or simply your friends and family.
But, it’s the group of people you know best — and therefore are likeliest to hire you as their Realtor.
Or refer you.
New Model
Except that today, at least for an experienced Realtor with a network of past clients, it’s more accurate to think of your sphere as a . . . pyramid.
At the base are all the people who you interact with casually — and infrequently.
The next level are people who are contemplating buying or selling . . . sometime.
At the peak are the smallest, but most focused group of people: those who want to buy, sell — or both — now.
As you might expect, Realtors are much more involved with the people at the peak of the pyramid than at the base.
P.S.: Given that Buyers today are typically taking longer to buy, the base of the pyramid is getting awfully big!
