I believe the agent meant by "second career," a change from their previous career, not merely a second income. However, there are many real estate agents who fall under that category as well, I'm sure. My belief is that the Internet is the future and those who don't avail themselves of its many benefits will become less relevant. The old tried-and-true may still work in some parts of the country, but give it a few years even in those locales things will change. As to smaller agencies with less money devoted to marketing, I think the Internet can be somewhat of a savior. It costs very little to use email marketing, blogs, and social media; pennies on the dollar compared to direct mail and media purchases via television, radio and newspapers. Even Pay-Per-Click advertising via Google's Adwords program can be cost-contained, if carefully managed. Not only that, using technologies like blogs and social networks (MySpace, for example) the agent will be able to create their own unique presence on the web, differentiate themselves from their competition, generate positive SEO, and build their own personal brand...for very little costs comparatively. Bottom line: If you're not on the net, you need to be. Your prospective customers are.