All Forum Posts by: Jeremy T.

@Dayna J.

Where are you from originally?  

Since more and more people are getting interested in Pittsburgh, now seems like as good of a time as any to recycle the good ol' Allegheny County Crime Map courtesy of a city-data.com user who spends a lot of time in the "bush" around town.  This map cuts through the bulls&*t, lies, and flowery nonsense I have come across in marketing materials for homes in Homewood, Lincoln/Larimer, Beltzhoover, etc.  

Yes, Pittsburgh is a great cash flow market, but there is still a pretty big heroin problem in bad parts of town which happen to be quite provincial in their approach to real estate investors and outsiders of any sort, for that matter.

Edit: These are general q's, not directed at you OP.

Would you like to collect a handful of assignment fees or would you like to build a relationship that could potentially provide free leads as long as there is breath in the lungs of your prospect?

What is so wrong with being transparent?  

Maybe I'm just naive, but I would prefer to do business with someone who lays everything out for me versus with someone who makes me feel uneasy about the legitimacy of their motives.

Keep it simple, yes. No need for a bunch of nonsense that will confuse or annoy people. 

What the hell do I know, but the suggestion that the best direct response copywriting requires nothing more than a 3rd grade education, a wife, a piece of yellow paper, and a red pen is a bit preposterous. 

Maybe only idiots are motivated to sell real estate? Though, that does correspond well with the thread that Ben Lebyovich started last week about the majority of real estate investors being "idiots".

I'm actually going to test dumbing down the copy that @Josh Caldwell suggested to see how low the common denominator can go.

sooo....where is the link to the squeeze page?  

I mean, after all, this is (at the very least) a veiled ad for some sort of mysterious service(s) that will allow investors to "dominate" their local market in less than, what, 2 months, right?

Because who doesn't want to be a BALLER??  Nothing says "successful" more than adorning your person with the rarest minks/animal skins, gemstones, and precious metals, driving without regard for "the poor people" (i.e., anyone earning less than 7 figures) in your vehicle (late-model European import only), and spending time with your mistresses at your vacation homes (yes, plural...both).

Actually, it's because time is the only thing that matters to me.  My view of money is that more of it = more time for me to spend with people I love and doing things that I want to do.  That's it.  Yes, I like having clothes to wear, a car that works, and a roof over my head, but none of those things represent anything other than the intrinsic value they provide.

Money = time.

oooooh boy!

Wow, I would love to take a peek under the hood of the @Wendell De Guzman

Good start.  Stay consistent.

@Mark Graziano

If you are just looking to purchase a single buy-and-hold there are easier/cheaper ways to look for or market for a deal than buying a list and doing direct response.

Scour the MLS and run any/all houses that look like deals through one of the many calcs available here (I like Wendell De Guzman's). Make nice with a realtor who works with investors (if you aren't already an agent yourself).

Get in touch with FRBO's from craigslist and elsewhere.  Ask them if they had considered selling their property instead of renting it.

Direct response via USPS is more suited toward building a pipeline of deals over time. For just a single rental, the MLS is the way to go.

@Suzanne Storz

My commentary may come across as harsh, but this is something I feel quite passionate about so I apologize in advance.  

The biggest mistake I see people make in marketing (over and over...and over) is thinking that the prospect cares about "you".  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you and your family are the only ones who care about you.

People develop a marketing campaign centered around how much experience they have, how much money they "produce", their education, the company they work for, how many acronyms and letters come after their name, how great they are, etc, all while completely failing to address the most important question: how are you going to address the prospect's problem(s)?  

Yes, of course, your experience, strategy, and intangibles are likely to solve that problem, but that is something the prospect will experience for themselves down the line.  

Your goal is to have that person to pick up your marketing piece and think "hey, this lovely lady Suzanne seems like she knows what she is talking about, I want to learn more"  You can try to convince people until you are blue in the face that your track record, certifications, or experience are all they need to know in order to do business with you.  This will work on some, but on the whole, will invariably lead to subpar results when prospecting for new leads.  

If you are going to use direct response, the key is through using element(s) of your marketing and copywriting to build trust.  Whether that is through some sort of free information you offer prospects for providing you with their contact information, or using compelling copy to elicit an emotional response from your prospect...you will need something more than a glossy card with some canned words and a pretty house and/or a pen with your contact info on it.  

Again, your goal is to provide something of value that is going to make that prospect say "I like what I am seeing and I need to know more".

Forget about "branding" yourself.  That is the most costly and least effective form of marketing for people searching for new leads.  People respond to free educational information, specific emotional triggers that exist in their mind, and reassurance that the information you provide is (either directly or indirectly) going to help them solve their problem(s).  That last part works because you have spent time building trust via educating them.

Instead of spending money on a bunch of pens, take one of them to start writing a list of questions that you and your colleagues receive from clients.  The questions that repeat themselves are where those emotional triggers lie.  It's really easy to build trust with a prospect when they feel like you can read their mind.

Feel free to PM me and I would be more than happy to help.

Also, check out this epic series of posts the unparalleled @Brian Gibbons has been hammering out recently.