All Forum Posts by: Justin Silverio

I do a lot of driving for dollars and I'm hitting my prospects with direct mail first. I'm then following up with other forms of marketing. The reason I do it in this order is that 1) it's easier and more automated to send DM & 2) it's an easier lead into the conversation when you follow up with someone via cold calling, RVM, etc. when you sent a letter to them already.

Please join me at the next Boston Investors' Networking Event at Dos Lobos in North Reading!

We will begin with an open forum Q&A segment where you will have the opportunity to ask the group questions related to jump starting your real estate investing business or taking your investing to the next level. Of course there will also be plenty of time for networking as well.

If you haven't been to one of these events, it's a great opportunity to speak with other active investors.

Thanks so much and I look forward to seeing you there.

@Alan Grobmeier It's best not to comment unless you are going to provide some value. We are all here to learn and provide feedback to help others.

@Micah Carter I'm a wholesaler, rehabber and have some rentals. Just about all of my deals come from direct to seller marketing. 

As for DFD leads, yes, this is a great way to identify properties where the homeowner may need to sell. Other niche lists are also a great way to find motivated sellers, which includes tax liens, code violations, probates, etc.

Finally, I would agree that yellow letters are not the way to go. Too many investors are sending them and I want to stand out from my competition. Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions.

Please join me at the next Boston Investors' Networking Event at Dos Lobos in North Reading!

We will begin with an open forum Q&A segment where you will have the opportunity to ask the group questions related to jump starting your real estate investing business or taking your investing to the next level. Of course there will also be plenty of time for networking as well.

If you haven't been to one of these events, it's a great opportunity to speak with other active investors.

Thanks so much and I look forward to seeing you there. 

@Jerryll Noorden I do agree that more marketing is better, however, most people that start out don't have the systems, knowledge, capital, and an understanding of how to know when something works. They learn through experience and build capital through deals. I could never recommend to someone to spend money you don't have on marketing because the truth is, they are going to make mistakes and lose deals because they won't know what to do with them. Now, the marketing could be working but they will just miss opportunities. I would much rather someone do that through non-paid marketing. With PPC, you can't do it well unless you pay someone and you're not in control of what you are doing. This doesn't work well for me and I wouldn't recommend it for a newbie because they are at a fragile point in their business and they need to understand how/why something is working.

Now, the SEO vs other marketing conversation is another story but that is your option and your experience. I couldn't say how SEO because I haven't become as proficient at it as I am with direct mail. And I'm sure the same is with you for DM. However, what I will say is that I'm in a mastermind with some of the top investors (doing 200+ deals/year) and they all track their KPI's very closely. And DM has proven to be their cheapest lead source.

@Greg Heroy you have a leg up on people with marketing then.  :)

Good luck!

I'm with --> @Beka Shea.

Break your list down into 3 mailings (1 per week) and then just keep cycling through so you are CONSISTENTLY hitting them. Most of my deals come after months of mailing my prospects.

One other thing that I would recommend is to increase the number of prospects that you are mailing to for 2 reasons - 1) DM is a numbers game so the more people you get in front of, the better the odds, 2) Assuming that you are a new investor, it's going to take you some time to get good at talking to sells and identifying a good deal so you will get up to speed much quicker.

Good luck!

@Jerryll Noorden I respectfully disagree with you. When I started in REI, like most other people, I didn't have the funds to spend money. If I just never got started then I wouldn't have quit my day job a few years later and went on to start another business and have a lifestyle that allows me the time to do what I want with my family.

In my opinion, people starting any business need to dig deep and see what they are made of. If they just press the easy button and let someone else do it for them, they won't learn. When starting out learning is the most critical component to ensure success because the learning process brings successes and, more importantly, failures - leading to more learning.

Will it take dedication to get a deal? Hell Yes. But this is what it takes to be successful.

@Trevor Ewen there isn't one answer for this. A lot of investors have been successful with different marketing approaches but the thing they all have in common is CONSISTENT ACTION. It takes time to build momentum with marketing but once you do, you can create good deal flow. Now, when starting out you likely won't have the funds to take massive action so do things that you can do on your own - driving for dollars, cold calling, door knocking, writing out and mailing letters. Once your friend gets his/her first deal, then use the money to ramp up the marketing.

@Austin Works got it.

I would have to piggyback off @Braden Smith said. Direct to seller marketing is the absolute way to go. Not only will you have the opportunity to get better spreads, but you also won't be relying on someone else for deal flow.

If you want to stick with direct mail, you definitely need to ramp up your list count and target a better list. Niche lists and layering lead lists on top of each other will provide the best quality leads but it will be more difficult to build a large list. I would recommend that you create a list of 3k-4k if you do niche lists. The only time I recommend that people use general lists like an absentee list or an equity list is if they are going for volume and are mailing 20k+. Otherwise, it's very hard to get any traction with these leads at a small volume.

To do any marketing correctly, you need to be CONSISTENT. Marketing takes time to build momentum and if you start, stop, and start again, it will make it feel like nothing is working. Remember, DM is only one form of marketing, figure out what will work the best for you and just execute consistently.