Whether you are new to investing or a seasoned pro, the one question that keeps coming up is:
Where do I find great deals?
We know that great deals start with motivated sellers, so the question is:
Where do I find motivated sellers?
First, you have to become a marketing machine. There is no one and done here. This is about continually marketing and expanding your marketing reach. If you want to be successful at marketing where your phone rings off the hook, here are some tips to follow:
- Stand out from the competition. Be different. Have a brand. Use color. Have a unique message.
- Select your targeted list carefully. Don’t go for the low hanging fruit like every other investor out there. For instance, don’t market to a foreclosure list that everyone gets. Market instead to an eviction list that is harder to get.
- Be consistent. Develop a marketing plan that goes out months and be sure to continually implement your plan. Successful investors are tenacious marketers.
- Repetition is the name of the game. Whether you’re marketing for sellers or trying to sell a pet rock, your prospects need to see your message repeatedly – 5-7 times. Doesn’t have to be the same message or the same marketing medium, but it does need to all tie together. That’s what a brand name will do for you.
- Market to enough different prospects. The chances of you finding the right seller that needs your service and is ready to sell right now is slim. The more prospects, the more chances. So you have to balance volume with repetition.
- Use multiple mediums to get your message out: bandit signs; direct mail; outbound calls to targeted lists; social media; flyers; ads. Whatever idea you can come up with to get your message out to prospects.
In planning, you must realize that marketing will either take time or money or both. Decide how much you have of each on a monthly basis before you start determining your plan. You should spend as much as you can comfortable. Obviously, the more you can spend the better your results, but that is something that you need to grow into.
Decide how much you can spend each month for 6 months assuming no new money came in from any deals. I am not saying no deals will come in, but we don’t know if you get super lucky and it’s in month one; or it take a little longer and it’s month 3-4-or 5. Regardless, you need to be committed to the long term.
Initially, you are just looking for that first deal. Then use some of the proceeds from that deal to expand your marketing and bring in more deals faster. Keep following that process until you reach the monthly volume level you want. Figure that as you grow, you’ll want to spend about $2500 a month for every deal per month you want to close. So if you want to close three deals a month you’ll spend $7-8,000, but earn in excess of $30,000 a month. Not a bad return, right?
Start the marketing process by first determining your budget for time and money. Then select the medium or combination of mediums that will fit within that budget. Select your targeted lists/targeted geographic area; then lay out a plan. Answer the following:
- What marketing medium?
- How much will I be doing?
- Where will it be done? Who will receive the marketing?
- Who is responsible? Me? Outsourced?
- When will it be done?
If you want a great list of prospects for motivated Sellers, get the Motivated Seller Data Feed from Cameron Dunlap. It is an inexpensive way to have a large list to market. Many of the names even have phone numbers if you want to do some outbound calling that costs you nothing. You can Click Here Now for more info on the data feed.
You’ll need to adjust this based on the medium you use, but marketing should include the following:
- Headline – why should they pay attention?
- Answer the question in their head: “What In It For Me?”
- Have your brand name so they can link your marketing together.
- A prominent call-to-action. What do you want them to do?
- Be authentic in your marketing.
- Keep it conversational – you are not writing for the Harvard Business Review. People like to do business with people (people they like).
There is obviously a lot more that goes into marketing, but this will certainly get your brain stimulated so you can improve your marketing to find the really great deals out there.
Expect abundance,
Lou Castillo
