I think I will spend the majority of the day performing some edits to my company website (www.schwaps.com). I had an idea a while back, that would allow me to recruit a large network of property scouts (birddogs). The idea is to recruit property scouts as if I was hiring them as a full-time employee. I’ll list a newspaper help-wanted ad, flyer public places, use internet job boards, etcetera; the property scouts will not be employees of mine rather they will be independent contractors that will be paid at closing. I’ll pay each property scout $700 per property that they refer that I close on. So that they’re not confused with unlicensed Real Estate practice, they’ll have an option in the contract that will be assigned for their fee.
I also need to leverage my web marketing strategy to better build my buyers’ list. I think I’ll add to my repertoire and create a MySpace page and use Craigslist to advertise. Also, there is an eBook on search engine optimization (SEO) that I read but haven’t implemented yet. I also need to get my organic SEO ranking improved. So much to do, so little time, and it’s growing more difficult to decide what is the best use of my time. I’m so broke right now; I can’t afford a Virtual Assistant. I would love to have one right now so that I can delegate most of the remedial duties that I have.
I’m thinking about taking a second job get ahead and establish some more capital for the company. Right now, I am literally living check to check after all the living and company expenses are considered. The only bad thing is that this job would be a 3rd shift part-time I.T. position. This would mean very little sleep on the days I work two jobs. Hell, I’ve held down 3 jobs before so this would be nothing new. I’m much more productive when I’m forced to efficiently manage my time anyway. When I find myself with a lot of free time, I usually find a way to trick it off. I know most entrepreneurs would solicit other people’s money (OPM) for capital. I know this is the smartest way to go, but I usually look at things in the most rational light. If I didn’t know me I’d be skeptical about investing with me, just due to the fact that it’s natural for most people to be skeptical about investing, especially when you throw in the buzz term “Real Estate”. I’m almost too arrogant to sell myself in that manner anyway, to be honest. When selling myself, I like to let my track record talk for me. I’d like to say, “the numbers don’t lie, you’d be stupid not to invest with my company’. But, since I have no track record that means I’d have to be an ultimate salesman. I hate salesmen! There are way too many ways to make money, to make it in a way you’d rather not. That’s how I feel about it. I’ll do things my way.
That’s all for now, got a gang of work to get done.
I was able to get a lot done over this three-day weekend. I’ve sent out so many emails, people are starting to reply to them and I have already forgotten what message they are replying to. The bulk of my emails where sent to: REO Agents, Property Appraisers, REIA club presidents. I mastered the art of mail-merge using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook, it’s a beautiful thing. This allowed me to send hundreds of emails within a matter of clicks.
I emailed a list of REO agents in Champaign in effort to touch-base so that a relationship could be established. I need to be on good terms with all of the REO agents here in Champaign. I emailed a list of Real Estate Property Appraisers in effort to select a couple to use exclusively. Also, by having a couple of appraisers as part of my network, the trading of referrals would prove to be invaluable. I emailed a list of REIA club presidents to inquire about their ‘deal’ sharing opportunities. REIA (Real Estate Investment Association) clubs with public deal boards would be a great platform for me to do business nationwide and build a nationwide buyer’s list. My most valuable response thus far was from a local property appraiser. He replied to one of my emails and we spoke on the phone earlier today. He happens to also be an investor has 19 rental properties in Champaign that he is looking to sell. I explained to him that I would be interested in marketing his properties for him and just taking a flat fee upon closing per property. He was very receptive to this proposition. This is good news because my business is in desperate need of working capital at the moment. If I were to only sell 10 of his properties and take a finders’ fee of $500 each, that would be $5,000 more dollars that I can allocate to the marketing budget.
Things are starting to pick-up momentum. It won’t be long before I’m posting video of me making a difficult decision at the car dealership…hmmm…Range Rover Sport…or….Mercedes SL 63 AMG…I’ll take both please (and yes I do have the specific models/colors picked out already). By the way, just as I have with my business, I have ramped-up my fitness regimen. I have been consistent in the gym for a while, but now that it is warm out I’ve been running more often. I’ll be posting my Nike+Ipod upload information. If you don’t have one of these running pedometers you are truly missing out. Maybe I’ll run a half-marathon in the fall, just cuz.
I headed to the courthouse this morning to experience my first Sherrif’s sale. I wasn’t attending to bid on any properties, rather I wanted to experience the process.
This past Sunday I traveled to Chicago to attend a REIA meeting. Unfortunately there are not REIA clubs in Champaign-Urbana so the clubs in Chicago, Indy, Peoria, and St. Louis, will have to suffice. The primary purpose of attending the meeting was so I could rent a booth and solicit club members to sign-up for a notification list of wholesale properties in Champaign.
Besides acquiring buyers, I was able to exchange a few business cards and make some good contacts. So although, I only obtained 9 buyers, the meeting wasn’t a complete bust.
Tomorrow, I attend a CIAA (Central Illinois Apartment Association) meeting here in Champaign. I’ll just be a regular attendee at this meeting and not a vendor. This is my first attendance, so I’ll see how the setup is. Since the members of the Apartment Association are all landlords in the area, I should be able to pick-up some buyers no problem.
After purchasing the REO Rockstar course, I signed-up for the trial of the mastermind program. After just one night of review of the resources made available to the mastermind members, I’ve realized that it is ‘gold’. The first month is at no cost and each month’s fee is $100 thereafter. This is something that I will have to subscribe to. I learned one tactic that is worth hundreds of dollars alone, which is: when you have a specific property to wholesale, make an Excel document of all the phone numbers of landlords, investors, and other possible buyers. There are online services which allow you to make a pre-recorded message that is sent to all the contacts on your list per automated phone call. In the pre-recorded message, details of the property can be disclosed as well as your phone and email; interested parties would then contact you directly! I can’t say that I would’ve never thought of this, but this strategy is pure genius! A complete hands-off approach to having interested buyers contact you, and its’ purely automated so therefore you are maximizing your time. I just learned of this after a few minutes of reading, so there are sure to be other tidbits I can pick up that are just as good or better.
I’m thinking of going to Chicago tomorrow evening to attend a REIA meeting as a vendor. I can pick up some wholesale buyers there I’m sure, however I don’t have my materials prepared for any meetings as of now, but I’m shooting to go anyway. Those meetings are held only once per month so it’s time to start grinding harder. I’ll post again with an update of the Chicago REIA results. I’m headed to the Dojo.
As of last night, I made an impulse decision to not only wholesale real estate owned by owner-occupants and landlords, but also to wholesale property’s that are Real Estate Owned (repossessed by the bank). I went ahead and splurged on a coaching program called, “REO Rockstar” by Preston Ely. As broke as I am right now, the $1K price tag has me hurt right now. It may be a while before I can buy fresh produce and steaks again. But what the hell, it’s only money right? Right. Plus, he has an arrangement that as soon as you flip your first REO property and send him a testimonial video about it, he refunds your $1K! I can’t lose! Due to the record setting foreclosure statistics, I had to add REO wholesaling to my arsenal. One of the two coaches for this program, flips approximately 20 REO properties per month. Most wholesalers average $4K or more per flip, so let’s do the math, I’ll say even if he only made $1K per flip, that still amounts to $20K/month or $240K/year. I’ll take $240K/year. But really that guy is more like doing a couple M’s per year. The program lasts 90 days, so by July 1, 2009, I should have some news to report about some REO flips in the pipeline.
After reading over various other blogs of Real Estate wholesalers, I have a pretty good idea of what most are doing in regards to marketing. Many others are doing (or at least blogging about) 25% of what I plan on doing in terms of advertising. The plan I have in store is about extensive enough to be considered “Guerrilla Marketing”.
Each Wholesaler whose blog I follow is clearing 8K monthly on average. So the way I see it, I shouldn’t have a problem at least doing 8K in a ‘bad’ month. You just might see me at 2:00 am selling investing programs in the near future! That’s all for now, I just got extremely excited while going over my plans.
Below is a chart of my advertising costs for my initial launch. I project the launch to take place by July 1, 2009 as still I await my tax refund and I’m accounting for the turn-around time to receive all materials. I hate that I keep delaying the official launch. But it’s, what I feel, to be the right decision. I need every aspect of my business to meet my high standards before I get into the full swing of things. The cliche of, “you never get a second chance to make a good first impression”, applies to business as well. I refuse to be one of those small-business owners that present themselves in an unprofessional manner.
Price
Quantity
Media
Vendor
$752.00
2,000
Postcards – shipped (6”x11”)
Printplace.com
$170.00
250
Brochures
Printplace.com
$21.00
1,000
Door Baggies for Brochures
Uline.com
$20.00
250
Business Cards
Printplace.com
$150.00
2,000
Stationary
Printplace.com
$100.00
2,000
Custom Envelopes
Actionenvelope.com
$50.00
100
Bandit Signs
Lairdplastics.com
$160.00
500
Adhesive Notepads
Inkhead.com
$52.00
250
Flyers (4.25”x5.5”)
Printplace.com
Nominal
100
Flyers (8.5”x11”)
via Home Office printer
Zero
5,000
Email
N/A
$1,475.00
Total
I find my Marketing scheme as it stands, quite confusing. This is bad because I came up with it. It’s a bit complex due to the fact that I’m marketing to different parties at once; homeowners, non-owner occupied property owners, landlords, property scouts (birddogs), fellow wholesalers, and other business professionals.
To make it more clear for myself, I’m going to draw up a visual aid that will display what advertising component is aimed where and how each lead from the various advertising methods will be refined. I’ll post the visual of the entire scheme and the advertising media displayed in the table above will make more sense.
By the way, I’m finding it extremely hard to blog every two days. Blogging is underestimated; this is hard-work in itself. But I will indeed get my blog frequency where it needs to be.
I had a little too much fun last weekend at a Fraternity reunion and I slacked off a bit. Going out of town too often disturbs my rhythm and focus, so being gone for 4 weekends of the past 7 threw a kink in my game. I’ll be stationed in good ‘ole Champaign for the next few months so I’m good.
However, I did realize that when I travel by plane I am very productive. I was able to knock out some sketches for my ad materials. I have a rough design for my flyers that I will post in public places (both handbills and 8.5×11″); I also have a rough design for my easel display when I have a presence at Real Estate Investment Club meetings. While I was sketching out the designs, God himself dropped a bomb (idea) on me. This idea is so hot, I don’t even know if I should talk about it. But here it is anyway; when inside REIA meetings soliciting property buyers for my Wholesale Buyers List, after the meeting commences I will then go outside and post handbill flyers on the cars of all attendees. Therefore, I will touch every single attendee regardless of whether they stop by my booth or not! Pure genius, if I may say so myself. That’s all for now, I kind of have a back-log of post information as it has been a week since I last updated, so I’ll post again soon.
