Sometimes traditional networking doesn't work. There is advice and suggestions for how people can network if they find it distasteful. But there could be practical barriers, like the people you need to reach being too far away, or there's no one you know who can make initial introductions to broader groups. Maybe you need to move faster than in-person networking would allow.

Madison Sutton, who has been in real estate for only five years and is director of operations at The Serhant Commercial Collective, a new CRE division of Serhant Real Estate. But she makes social media work for her.

"I'm also known as @TheNYCAgent, on my social platforms where I have over 140K followers," Sutton tells GlobeSt.com. "I started we went into the pandemic. Networking was not an option at the time. Social network because a bit thing for me."