Wholesale Marketing Budget & Incorporating
Hey guys,
New here, and to the business, so I'm just looking to get some insight from you more experienced investors.
1) I've drawn up a budget of $500 per month for the next 5 months to use towards marketing. I've read some good literature and talked to a lot of people about best strategies, but with such a limited budget to start off with, I want to make sure I get all the advice I can to maximize every dollar. What have you found to work for you guys? Yellow letters, postcards, bandit signs, car signs? What's the best way to utilize that money?
2) I've never started a business before, and I want to know if it's worth it at this stage, or should I wait until I start making some income? What are the advantages and disadvantages, and what's the best way to go about that when it's time?
Thanks for the advice!
Jordan Marshall
Hi Jordan,
In my 12 years of experience, I have tried a lot of different marketing strategies. I currently utilize direct mail, Craigslist, Facebook, and several other advertising options. However, the BEST bang for my $ Is my Google Adwords campaign. You can set daily spending limits and set up your campaign specifically to your target market. The best part is that ounce the campaign is live, it's working for you 24/7.
As for asset protection, I would NEVER do any business transactions in your personal name. There is a lot of information and opinions about the best structure for Real Estate Investors available for you to study and choose from for you personal business plan. But jeopardizing your own life and assets to save the cost of setting up an LLC in this litigious society that we live in is foolish.
Have a Great Day
Derek Dombeck
@Account Closed Well if you have $500 month on marking then honesty you only need about $150 of market. What I mean is that I would use online marketing to get my real estate infront of thousands of potential leads each month. This is one of the ways we help our clients is by building their online presence.
We just make sure they are found everywhere online for all the targeted local keywords. This is not like adwords where you have to continue to pay for traffic to your site. Building your online presence is all about getting your website, profiles and videos in-front of the targeted leads from buyers to sellers.
Another thing is that if you don't have a website then don't even bother doing and sort of marketing without it Jordan. Lets get that website created first center around your target market and then lets move on to the online marketing. Yes, other forms of marketing work alls from direct mail and more, but the online marketing is a lot more targeted and you will get more motivated buyers and sellers.
Let take action
Thanks for the replies! Derek, in your opinion, what's the most effective business structure that will benefit me, and where I'm at right now?
I'm in California so I don't know how this advice applies to Florida. I own both a corporation and an LLC for two other business. I would recommend an LLC and I plan on forming a new LLC very soon for my REI activities. An LLC gives you the same legal protection that a corporation provides but with much less paperwork. In California it's just a single one-page form to start an LLC and a simple annual form to update your contact information.
Not to be construed as legal advise of course.