How to Make Over 6-Figures with This Simple Networking Strategy

Anson, a real estate investor with over 10-years of experience specializing in wholesaling and flipping, was able to net over $100,000 in profit by implementing one simple networking strategy – starting an investor meet-up. In our recent conversation, he explains the “structure” and benefits of his meet-up business so you can (and should) replicate his success in your market.

Structure of a Meet-Up

The reason why I put “structure” in quotations is that Anson’s meet-up is very informal. “It is a monthly pure networking meet-up,” he explained. “We don’t do any speaking or pretty much anything besides get together, … find somebody who does what you want to do or that you want to find out more from, tackle them, and pick their brain as much as possible.”

After three years of consistently hosting monthly meet-ups, the attendance has grown to an average of 70 people per meeting.

Over the years, Anson has hosted the event at multiple locations and found that a local beer hall is an ideal venue. “We got a pretty good deal going [at the beer hall],” he said. “Monday night was just a slow night for them, and so they love having 70 people coming on an off night. They don’t charge us. They don’t hassle us… We just take over their area and have fun for about three hours.”

Since 70 people are quite a large gathering, to help facilitate the meeting, Anson will work the room and try to pair up like-minded individuals. For example, he said, “If I know that you are a fix-and-flipper and you’re having a hard time finding a contractor on the East side of town, and I go across the room and I find somebody who knows somebody or somebody who is a contractor, I basically try to link everybody up, so that you’re not just blindly walking around with 70 people there. There’s at least one or two of use who’s walking around and trying to connect people who have needs.”

Benefits of a Meet-Up

Over these three years, Anson said he’s made $150,000 directly from deals from the meet-up. “I like to say that I’ve easily made six figures just by running this meet-up,” Anson said. “Probably in the neighborhood of 15 deals that I’ve done.”

$150,000 from 15 deals in three years may not sound like much, but based on Anson’s minimal time investment, he was basically paid to hang out with friends and chat about real estate. Besides the three hours spent at the meet-up, Anson said, “I basically post a note saying, ‘Hey, this is all the dates that we’re meeting up for the whole year.’ Every month I just create a new thread [on BiggerPockets], I show up for three hours, and honestly, my voice is gone. I’m exhausted because I talk to a lot of people, answer pretty much any question that anybody has about nearly anything, and provide that value. But at the same time, people come back to me and say, ‘Hey, yeah, you helped me out and I’ve been driving for dollars or I’ve been knocking on doors or whatever it is, and I came across this deal and I don’t know what to do with it.’ So I’m more than happy to partner up with them, help them with ARV, help them with repairs, contractors, whatever they need to be successful, and a lot of times we partner up and do that deal together. It’s very beneficial.”

Aside from finding deals by hosting a meet-up, other benefits include an education on other real estate strategies, creating relationships and perhaps even friendships, and bringing more value to the deals that you are working on. Then, the relationships formed and lessons learned through conversations with investors at the meet-up can result in additional business opportunities, such as partnerships or entering a new real estate niche.

Overall, Anson’s success is a testament to the effectiveness of starting a meet-up from a financial, educational, and relationship standpoint. Anson said, “I always say if you wish something like [a meet-up] was in your area, why don’t you just start it? I’m living proof that it works. I have friends who I’ve met just through there, and we’re friends or we’re partnering up on things now. We wouldn’t have that opportunity if I didn’t just say, ‘Hey, let’s just see what happens if I start it up.’”