All Forum Posts by: Todd Heitner

If a website looks professional, it can add a lot of credibility.  These days, people expect a legitimate business to have a website.  But a website that's obviously a do-it-yourself job can undermine credibility since it makes you look either cheap or broke, neither of which makes a good impression.

A professional-looking site gives the impression that you're actually in business and are not some sort of fly-by-night scam.  If you took the time and expense to set up a nice site, you're more likely to still be around down the road.

On the other hand, someone with no website is harder to track down, easier to disappear.  So it's a way of telling prospects you're serious about what you're doing and treating it as a business.

Credibility is especially important with motivated sellers.  Other types of leads you may be able to get away without a site initially, though it can really help to have one because you can put people on an e-mail mailing list and send them all an e-mail when you have new properties available.

If you have a website that represents you well and makes a good impression, tell people to go there.  Sometimes someone who is reluctant to give information may be more comfortable with you after seeing your site.

I have to disagree with some of the comments here that $49/month is a rip-off, etc.  That's like saying buying a car is a rip off because I can buy a scooter that gets me around for a fraction of the price.  It's all about value and what you're getting for the cost.  There are several important factors to take into account:

1)  What is your time worth?  If you're not a designer, even a do-it-yourself solution can take a lot of time and be a huge distraction.  Sure, they give you a template, but you have to come up with all the content - write all the copy, find photos that give the right feeling, etc.  Is this really the best use of your time, or should you be marketing and doing deals?

2) What will the end result look like?  I don't mean to offend anyone here, but I visited some of the websites of people giving advice and within 2 seconds thought, "This is a do-it-yourself website."  They always have a certain look to them, and to be frank, it's not a professional look.  Granted, not everyone will pick up on it, but many people will.  Do you want to give prospects the impression that you're either a cheapskate and don't want to pay for a website or that you're a beginner and can't afford a website?  Neither is going to help people trust you with the biggest investment of their life, their house.  A website should help people build confidence, not undermine it.

3) What is included?  If we were talking about just hosting, then yes, $49 would be a little high for hosting one site.  But if you're getting a professionally-designed site that's made specifically for real estate investors, if you're getting pre-written website copy (I'm not sure if they include this, but probably), if you're getting pre-built lead capture forms, if you're having someone manage the technical aspects of your site for you, if you're getting high quality, fast hosting (in other words, no cheap HostGator / GoDaddy hosting), and you have someone available to help you, then I think that's well worth the price.

Yes, you can spend less money to have a website set up.  But do you want a website or do you want a good website?  It's generally true that you get what you pay for.  That being said, I do feel that some of the options on the market are overpriced, like $200/month systems that promise leads, etc.  I think they just add on lots of bells and whistles that most people don't use.  Maybe they're worth it, I don't know.  But no website replaces the need for marketing if you want to build a successful business.

Find a system you're comfortable with that you can afford and go with it.  A website can be an important part of your business and is worth doing right.

By the way, I'm not affiliated with LP in any way.  In fact, they're my competition.  So I'm not defending them because I'm getting anything out of it.  I just saw several big factors being overlooked in this discussion.  The wrong mindset can really limit your success.  Doing things the cheapest way possible isn't always the best.

As someone mentioned previously in this thread, be careful not to spend too much time with setting up a website.  What sounds like a quick and simple project can sometimes drag into weeks, even with those do-it-yourself sites, especially if you tend to be a perfectionist.  A website can be very important, but it can also be a distraction.  If it's going to take you many hours to set up, you'd be better off spending a little money on a site that's essentially pre-made and spending your time on marketing and doing deals.

Another factor is how good is it really going to look when it's done?  Will it look professional enough to build credibility or is it going to still look like a do-it-yourself site and hurt your credibility?  Especially with sellers you don't want to give the impression that you're either too cheap to pay for a good website or too broke to afford one.  Neither will give them confidence in you to trust you with what is likely the biggest investment of their life, their house.

Sometimes you're better off going with a website that's specifically designed for investors rather than a generic do-it-yourself site because it can get you where you want to be faster.  Writing content, creating lead-capture forms, etc. can eat up a lot of time if you're working on a system that wasn't designed with real estate investors in mind.  There are a number of good, affordable options out there specifically for investors.

That's a good question.  If you're going to make an offer on a property that's well under market value (your profit margin + repairs, marketing, etc.), then how helpful is it for them to know the value from a calculator, which in some cases may even give a higher-than-accurate number?

One thing I've seen some people do instead is just to offer to give a fair, written offer within X number of hours ( for example, 72 hours - 3 days).  An actual offer is much more valuable than an estimated value.

But a lot depends on the audience you're marketing to as there is quite a bit of variation in investing strategies.

Back to the original question posed in this thread, about whether to have the sites separate, I would say definitely keep them separate.  I know this is an older thread, but this applies to any of your sites, really.  Your seller site should only have information for sellers, not for buyers, investors, etc.  Sellers will read all of that stuff and you'll often scare them off.

Also, earlier someone commented about there being some SEO benefits to using subdomains, which is different from most things I've read.  There are various ideas about this.  Previously I read that subdomains are usually treated as separate sites.  That may not be completely true today, but from what I've read, if you're putting everything on the same domain and have the choice between sub-domains (blog.mysite.com) and sub-directories (mysite.com/blog), that sub-directories are the better way to go for SEO purposes.

I see you have a website now.  Have you been satisfied with the results?

When it comes to having an effective website, a lot of it comes down to your marketing.  The website should match the message in your marketing so that, when a person comes to your site after seeing a certain message in your advertising, they should see that same message and be able to see clearly where to take the next step.

A good point was made that most people designing websites don't understand the business of real estate investing and the mindset of the prospects, unless you find someone who specializes in this.  Otherwise you might get a website that looks pretty but doesn't get results.  Or, as mentioned, if you understand it well and can communicate that clearly to a designer.  If you can find someone who specializes in investor websites, that will make things easier for you.

Having a good website is just part of the equation, though.  Whether it's successful will have a lot to do with your marketing.

Even if your website doesn't generate many leads, having one can add credibility if you include it in your marketing.  As others commented previously, make sure it looks professional.  A website that looks like an obvious do-it-yourself job will hurt credibility and scare off prospects in many cases.  A lot of it depends on the type of lead, though.  With sellers in particular you need to come across as completely professional.  Not having a website can scare off prospects as well.  Many people prefer to get more information from your website since there is less pressure involved in looking at a website.  If you don't have one, it can give the impression that you're new / not well-established and possibly don't know what you're doing.

WordPress is a great platform, and I use it for all my sites.  There are tons of free or affordable resources for it.  However, you do need to keep it updated, and also any plugins and themes you use, be sure to keep them updated as well.  If you let things get outdated, hackers can enter your site and either destroy it or use it to harm other people's sites or computers. 

It's also a good idea to make regular backups of your site in case something were to go wrong.  There is a free plugin called BackWPup that works well.  It's wise to make a backup before doing upgrades because occasionally something will go wrong with an update and the site will stop working.  If you have a backup, you can just put it back how it was.

Even if you try doing most things yourself, it's a good idea to have someone you can contact if you get in over your head with the technical parts.

I agree with these points too.  If you're in business, you need to look like you're in business.  Another red flag for many people is an obvious do-it-yourself website.  I realize that not everyone can afford a custom, professionally-designed site.  But there are many options today that are very affordable and look very professional.  For example, pre-made sites for investors, or even templates.

And yes, run things through spell check if you're not a great speller.  That's one thing I love about Google Chrome, it has a built-in spell checker so even when you're writing things on web forms, etc. it lets you know if you misspelled something.

You can start putting this process to work for you in 5 minutes with http://DoneDealWebsite.com

It has pre-built "intelligent lead capture forms" for buyers and sellers that interview your prospects for you. Never spend another weekend on the phone with that guy that loves to talk but won't give you any helpful information and isn't really ready to act.

Done Deal Website is an all-in-one package that includes:

• Motivated Seller Website
• Wholesale Buyer Website
• Rent-to-Own (lease option) buyer Website
• Property Listings
• and much more!

For only $1.65 / day you can take your business to the next level. The professional appearance of your Done Deal Website gives you instant credibility, a business that runs 24/7, and an easy way to manage leads. A virtual assistant can't do that for $1.65/day. Take back your evenings and weekends!

Done Deal Website has been the trusted leader in REI sites for over a decade. If your business needs something we don't currently offer, let us know and we'll add it.

Take 5 minutes to get started at http://DoneDealWebsite.com. You'll be glad you did!

Thanks,
Todd

You can start putting this process to work for you in 5 minutes with http://DoneDealWebsite.com

It has pre-built "intelligent lead capture forms" for buyers and sellers that interview your prospects for you. Never spend another weekend on the phone with that guy that loves to talk but won't give you any helpful information and isn't really ready to act.

Done Deal Website is an all-in-one package that includes:

• Motivated Seller Website
• Wholesale Buyer Website
• Rent-to-Own (lease option) buyer Website
• Property Listings
• and much more!

For only $1.65 / day you can take your business to the next level. The professional appearance of your Done Deal Website gives you instant credibility, a business that runs 24/7, and an easy way to manage leads. A virtual assistant can't do that for $1.65/day. Take back your evenings and weekends!

Done Deal Website has been the trusted leader in REI sites for over a decade. If your business needs something we don't currently offer, let us know and we'll add it.

Take 5 minutes to get started at http://DoneDealWebsite.com. You'll be glad you did!

Thanks,
Todd

I know this is a little older, but it's a great thread and I just wanted to add a couple points to it.  There were some differing opinions about the importance of having a website.

It's true that you can't expect to see leads from your website if you aren't doing marketing for your website.  I know from experience from setting up websites for investors that many people have the mistaken view that if they put up a site people will magically find it and they will get leads without marketing.  That's not how it works.  SEO can get you some leads, but it's a long-term strategy and shouldn't be relied on exclusively.  If you want to do deals this year, you need to do marketing.

However, @Lexie M. made a great point, that many people will try to do research on you online to find out more information.  Along those same lines, people expect businesses today to have a website.  If someone asks, "Can I look at your website?" and you don't have one, what impression are they going to have?

In other words, a website shouldn't be viewed solely as a way to get leads, but also as a credibility tool.  Especially when dealing with lead types that tend to be skeptical, like motivated sellers, building trust / credibility is very important.  If you have a professional-looking site, a website can really help with that.  The key being "professional-looking".  A do-it-yourself site often looks like a do-it-yourself site, which can potentially hurt your credibility rather than help.

Todd