Real Estate Articles » Starting Out Investing

Taking A Good Look At What You Want From The Business

By: Matt G.
Submitted: 08:44AM on Thursday 21 August 2008

How To Get Started

We have all heard the saying, 80% of Millionaires made their money in Real Estate. With that type of statistic out there it's no wonder people are so attracted to this business.

There is also a saying that says 90% of "Real Estate Investors" quit before purchasing their first property. If that statistic is true, this means there is 10x's more educational and training business being conducted than actual real estate transactions.

The reason I mention this is it is so damn difficult to figure out who to listen to these days. There are very few people that I will call for advice on deals. The majority of them have 200+ transactions under their belt.

Problem is, if you are reading this, you probably don't have access to these types of folks. I could even give you their phone numbers but they ridiculously screen their calls.

This leaves you with Forums, eBooks, Seminars, Coaching and all the rest to sort through. Well, thank God for the internet and the way that it works. The best people in the business publish their very best information in order to attract people into their funnel. Before the internet we might have spent $3,000 before we realized we weren't getting anything more than a sales pitch.

With all of that said, here are a few of the basics that you can do to get started. These items should not take you much more than a week to put in place.

I want to preface that the following are the ACTION items to getting your business started. This comes after you have done all of your mental preparedness, attended seminars until it burns inside that you are not doing anything and read more forum posts than is really healthy.

Setting up your system, and getting ready for business.

Set up for a remote email account to merge all of your emails into one. Up until now your life has been scattered. You have work, hobbies, church, etc. All of this needs to be managed from one source.

Get an 800 Number, transferable later to an assistant. You need to do advertising to grow your business. If you direct all of the advertising to your cell phone, you will be chained to it for an awful long time.

Get a fax number...one that can be received via email. Efax.com and several others will do the trick.

Let's get you an electronic PO Box. No more paper mail...EVER! Reason being is that with paper mail comes negativity. Negativity distracts you from becoming a successful investor. Do not allow things into your life that create stress for you.

Start to learn about Virtual Assistants and create a task list they will perform. You are not ready for one yet, but write down all of the items that you do on a daily basis so that when it comes time to free up some of your schedule you will have a game plan for your assistant to follow. Start with the mundane tasks that you don't like doing. Chances are someone else will be great at them.

Choose a domain name for your website. This is probably one of the most important but overlooked aspects of your business. You want to pick a name that already has people looking for it. I chose my name real-estate-investing.com because Google tells me 246,000 people are keying in this search term each month. (Look for separate article: Choosing a Domain Name)

Build a website for your business. This is part of your credibility kit. It helps to establish your business when people are searching the internet for a home buyer to help them with their problems.

Add an email Auto-Responder to your website. Keep sellers and buyers informed. I held the single biggest buyers list in South Florida during the boom. 133,000+. Everyone told me it was foolish to spend time on this. In the end I could flip properties in four hours. An auto-responder allows you to capture emails so that when you decide you are tired of working so hard, you can automate your business and start living a real life.

Get a copy of Real Estate Investing style contact management software. You have to get organized. Organization will make your life easier. Separate your Real Estate Investing contracts from your Personal Contacts.

Order Business Cards. You are now a Real Estate Investor. It's important that you tell people. This business card should be a cross between classy and an advertisement. Or, you can have two cards, one for bankers and attorney types, then one for the Investors and sellers.

There are many other items you can do to get started, but this is a list that worked for our franchises and continues to work for our clients today.

Matt Gerchow
Next stop Thailand, Jan. 1st