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Marketing is like dropping a rock into a pond. You get a lot of bounce off the initial impact, but the real value comes from the dozens of smaller waves that go out, and, over time, come back to you.
THERE IS NO MAGIC BULLET FOR REI MARKETING.
If there were, every investor would swarm to it and implement it in about 30 minutes and then the "magic bullet" wouldn't work well anymore.
However, THERE IS A MAGIC SHOTGUN SHELL.
What I mean by that is there are dozens of small, effective marketing tools that each have a good return, that when taken together add up to an extremely effective overall marketing plan.
Once a year Robin and I put on a meeting usually called something like "50 Ways to Find a House." If you are a Gold or Platinum member you can go watch the two or three recordings we have of that class out on the server. If you are not, I suggest you go by your local 1/2 Priced Books and buy a copy of "Guerrilla Marketing." It is FULL of free / low-cost marketing techniques that readily lend themselves to our business.
What **I** use most often is a combination of: - MLS surfing - after 10 years you get pretty good at finding the deals online. It's a difficult, but teachable skill. Any good investor or Realtor can teach you how to do this. Then it's just a matter of practice.
- Personal relationships, cultivated over time, with people who are directly / indirectly involved in and around Real Estate. Secondarily, do the same thing with every person you meet. I just spend more effort and $ on the first group. These referral networks routinely send me leads. Buyers, Sellers, aspiring REI Students, you name it. If you'll take 5 minutes and REALLY FOCUS on each person you meet, learn what they do, find out how you can help them grow THEIR BUSINESS, then put them into your CRM system and build a meaningful, long term relationship with them, AND HELP THEM, it will pay dividends for YEARS.
- Walk your farm areas. Learn "neighbors' names." Visit with them. Once they trust you them will tell you everything about any farm area that you'd ever want to know.
- When I first started I had my truck wrapped - the WHOLE THING, not just tiny little magnet or window signs. It cost me $800 and lasted 5 years. I bought 7 houses (that I know of) and got dozens of buyer leads as a direct result of that wrap. Considering you'll make about $10,000/house, that's a pretty AWESOME ROI.
- Direct Mail Marketing - this is hard and expensive. It's also fast and extremely effective. I prefer "yellow letters" to post cards, but both work. Since you just gained access to the MLS, assuming you are an agent, you are allowed to download unto 7,500 leads/mo. for free. You can "slice-em-and-dice-em" any way you want. I suggest search results that a) have ARVs between $90k - $175K, b) deed dates after 1977 and before 2002, c) have "over-65" exemptions in place on the properties, and d) are single-occupant homes (preferably female), out of area owners, &/or estates. That profile will narrow a subdivision down to a manageable and affordable size (from 1,000s to 100s or less). But each of the smaller number is MUCH more likely to respond to your ads than if you did carpet-marketing. If you do not have access to this kind of info through the MLS you can still buy these same leads. Robin sells them ("Motivated Seller Search" service - very good service BTW) or you can contact any data-broker of your choice (less effective and more expensive) or you can get any Realtor to get them for you, again for free - provided they know how (most don't).
There are two entire modules in my weekend workshop where we go over these techniques (and about 50 others - literally). The modules are hours long, so I can't really get into all the methods here. Try the above ideas, give them sufficient time and effort to work, and you'll have leads coming out your ears in in no time! If you are interested in learning more about REI marketing contact me directly and we can see about getting you more info on it (reserve a seat in a class, book recommendations, tutoring, home-study DVDs, whatever fits your time schedule and budget).
Hope all y'all (it's a native Texan thing - grin) have a GREAT weekend and I look forward to seeing in a few hours at the regular Saturday morning meeting.
-Greg
Greg Wilson The REI mentor |
