Best web site provider
I have received recommendations for two web site providers for my business web site. They are "Investor Carrot" and "Lead Propeller". Which of these do the Bigger Pockets members consider best, or is there another that is better? I need to get the most bang for my buck, as funds are limited.
Why do you need this kind of website when you are just beginning.
I've been investing of 4 years and just use wordpress.
@Michael Davis I have Investor Carrot as of about 2 months ago and some things are great and others drive me nuts. Are you in a situation where the cost of one of these websites won't be a problem for you? If so, then the extras that these system provide can be nice. If price is a concern, then I agree with Antoine that you can put this off for a bit. In any case, I'll throw out another that I wish I would have seen when I was shopping around. That is REI Blackbook.
I haven't looked into Lead Propeller, but here is how I would compare the other two at a high level.
Investor Carrot = HIGHLY SEO optimized with a lot of add-on packages and support to scale that out even further. TONs of ongoing education available too. Not so focused on simplifying the "other" parts of the business and so far in my experience doesn't have a super impressive integration into any CRM you might use in the future (eg. Podio). Zapier will be needed for that. Integration to mail service seems a little better.
REI Blackbook - I can't knock it for anything since I don't use it, but it APPEARS to have a larger focus on making the end-to-end investing process a little smoother by offering some back-end toolsets and automation throughout the deal process. I've been impressed by some of the sites my competition has put out with this and it's apparent that it's doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to putting out a feature page for a property you are selling.
In my opinion it would be harder to "operationalize" a Carrot site than it would be to optimize SEO on an REI Blackbook (or any other) site. On the opposite side of that coin, if you are a purist, you may not want bundled functionality.
The real bottom-line here though is to just get going...then get better. Pick one, then switch if you need to. Your perfect solution today will most definitely not be ideal in the future.
Antoine, you ask an interesting question. I "thought" I needed this sort of web site to help gather and generate leads. I am trying to break into wholesaling properties, and need a good way to collect leads. What type of web site (if any) do you use? And how do you go about generating leads? I am very new, and would genuinely appreciate any guidance or suggestions you could give me. Thanks, Michael P.S. I am not familiar with Wordpress. What does it do?
Hi, @Michael Davis
I'll first give you an idea of what WordPress is and what you can expect from it and its advantages/disadvantage... From there ill give you my 2 cents on the two choices you provided above (Investor carrot or Lead propeller)
Wordpress- WordPress is an online, open source website creation tool. Wordpress is by far one of the most used tools for website creation. It accounts for around 30% of the Internet to put into perspective. It is super easy to use once you get over a few humps, took me about a week to become proficient at it. Wordpress is a 100% free to anyone. All you need is a domain *$9 a year* and a hosting company *$14 a month* and you're off to the races.
Here are WordPress big advantages
Google loves WordPress sites. you can get a WordPress site ranking very quickly compared to a static website. Google has even gone on record as recommending WordPress for business sites
WordPress is supported by a thriving, engaged community.Gives you access to a community of people that can answer virtually any question you pose
Super easy to update your website and make changes. Wordpress provides you with a standard form of creating your site, However, if you choose to you get a 3rd party theme that gives your website an edge to the standard WordPress theme.
It is totally free. Like I stated before its totally free. no hidden cost, upgrade plan, nothing just a totally 100% open source website creation tool that will give you everything you need to setup your first website
Now for the disadvantages
Wordpress website is more vulnerable to attacks. Due to the fact that WordPress websites are popular its no secret its one of the most targeted CMS platform by hackers and such. However, this can be mitigated to an extent with plugins that provide security... I personally use Wordfence
No support from Wordpress. Wordpress as a company doesn't provide much technical support to its users. Instead, the company crowdsources its support through the robust WP community only. You can find various support forums that are left unsolved or unanswered that make things more complicated than they need to be.
May need to hire a developer if you want a highly customizable site. While WordPress does provide a community of 3rd people retailers that provide to you there themes some companies have the exact way they want their website to look in that case they can hire a coder to program their website for them.
In conclusion, I personally use WordPress for all the websites I've ever owned and had great experiences with them.
With that being said let's drawback to the question
I personally don't have a problem with investor carrot website. I think their platform is well made the templates look professional, they provide massive education value to their customers, and I've heard many good things overall from investors experiences. Now, where I do have a problem is when everyone and their mothers have the same looking website. For example, have a client that I am currently working with. while analyzing his competition i found over half of them all had investor carrot websites... Including him! Now you may see nothing wrong with that but lets put it into the potential sellers perspective.
You are a person looking to sell your house and of course, you do a quick internet search for people that can provide you with cash for your house. your most likely not going to go past the 3rd page keep in mind so you click the first link. you take a look around... *oh once they tell you their 3 step process and their website is nicely laid out... let me keep looking* Goes to next search result * hmmmmm this look a lot similar to the one I was just looking out* leaves goes to next result *WTF why do they all look alike are they a tribe of investors trying to scam me!??!*
Now obviously that's a little exaggerated but you get my point, you want to be able to stand out from your market cause how can you expect a potential seller to choose you when your website looks the same as the other 10 just with a different logo.
But that's just my opinion and I hope you can come to your own conclusion.
Hope I provided you with some value, and if you have any question or concerns feel free to contact me.
- Angel
Hi @Michael Davis you simply need a basic site with your company profile and an email capture form to collect leads.
These services try to automate your follow up and while that can be helpful, at your stage I recommend a basic WordPress site with a professional theme and lead capture plugins.
This will achieve what you need without monthly fees.
I have been using Lead Propeller for about 7 months now and it has been a great experience. I had used some other companies before but had dismal results. Lead Propeller has consistently brought me in more deals every month and has been a huge part of my success.
I'm going to take a completely opposite stand-point from everyone else.
You absolutely need a website for lead generation to start.
First, it costs $50/mo. That is NOTHING. If you can't chalk up $50/mo, don't even bother stepping up to the place of wholesaling or marketing. If you're thought process is ("Let me save $50/mo so I can build a custom site!") then you immediately need to change that mind set and figure out where to get $50.
Second, SEO takes time. You can' just TURN IT ON and think leads will roll in. Depending on your market, it can take, 3, 6, 9, 12-months for a page SEO heat. Then, there's all the little things you need to do to grow your traffic. Backlinks, social media, social shares, regular and fresh posts.
Third, even if you'r tech savy - do you really want to be running a website on your own? That's a giant pain in the butt. And if something bugs out, breaks, has to change - you're going to have to be paying someone or doing it on your own.
Fourth, as to the benefits of Wordpress, InvestorCarrot is a word press based site? Not sure if there's a big difference.
The one thing I do agree about - is you will need to take time to customize your website. Remove the text everyone uses and re-build it.
However, that is absolutely not because I care that my site looks the same.
People go into the site, enter info, click get offer. Sure, they might surf some more. I highly doubt sellers are looking at a site and thinking (let me think about clicking the form and go to other sites, see if they are similar, and comp back!).
I use IC, my conversion rates are always super high. Bigger challenges are generating cost effective traffic.
@Michael Davis Investor carrot is very popular among wholesalers.