All Forum Posts by: Scott Costello

@Melissa Johnson What do you use Fiverr for?  Are you using them to gain backlinks or just get a keyword list?  I'd really caution about using Fiverr to gain backlinks.  For sure they will use a tool that automatically generates those links.  Those tools just spam sites with crummy links.  My blog gets nailed with them ALL THE TIME.  Drives me crazy and they all go right into the spam filter....10,000+ a month.

Now I say that just so that people who are just starting out with a website are careful.  All SEO isn't good SEO.  

You probably have enough knowledge to pick and choose what you use Fiverr for, so would you mind elaborating on #4?

@Marcus Maloney In my mind there are 2 great companies.  @Michael Quarles (MarketLikeAWholesaler.com).  If I was just getting started in Direct Mail I would go with Jerry because he has some programs to help out brand new investors.  I believe he personally helps you through your first deal.  Other then that you can't go wrong with either company.

Hey Lily,  I currently do not have any experience with Lead Propeller outside of knowing the owner.  

One thing you should keep in mind is that no matter what website service (or building one yourself) it's going to take quite a bit of time to get a foothold in the first page of search results.  So switching from one to the other might not be the best strategy.  I'd pick one and just commit to it fully.   

The good part of building your own site from scratch (with the help of someone like Antonio) is that you can go at your pace.  You can just get something up there that will be with in your budget and then commit more money to it later.  

However I always recommend really committing to your website and putting in the hard work/dollars in the beginning.  

Just to give you an idea of what I spent on my IC site vs the site I built from scratch in the first year...

IC: $49 * 12 = ~$588

My Own Site: $3200  (i hired out some of the SEO and Content writing)

Over time the costs will probably even out because as my own site establishes itself on the first page of search results for some good keywods, i will probably not need the SEO guy as much or the content writer.

 Best of luck in your decision.  Whatever you choose will be the right choice as long as you commit to it.

Owning your own site and being able to do what you want is the ideal scenario for sure.  I own both my own sites and a couple Investor Carrot sites.  They both rank very well and bring in leads, but I enjoy the IC site more because I don't have to put much work into it.   And to this point it pulls more leads per month.

In the end it's not always good to have 100% control over your website.  If you don't have the knowledge about seo and websites or don't have the money to spend to hire those things out, it can be a huge time suck.

I'm not arguing with you at all, just trying to point out the advantages of the other side.  Building your own website can be like going down a rabbit hole if you know what I mean.

I'll shoot you a message as I'd like to chat with you more about this.

@Antonio Coleman What sort of things do you don't get that you absolutely need from a site you build yourself that Investor Carrot or Lead Propeller doesn't give you?

Hi Jason,

As a person who has fallen victim to this myself, you have to watch that you don't spread yourself too thin.  It's a great thought to try and monetize different aspects of your business, but splitting your attention at this point in your flipping career might be a mistake.  

Every time I try and do multiple things at once, everything suffers.  I say, keep working on flipping houses for a year or two more.  When you have a more automated process and have people working for you.  Then try to add another piece to the business (coaching or selling your spread sheet).  

This is just my 2cents.

-Scott

Thanks for the plug of my Podcast episode @Walter Pape !   SEO is a great way to get more eyes on your websites and pull in some great leads organically.  Organic means any site visitor that finds your site strictly by doing web searches and clicks on a search result link.  This does not include the Advertisment section of the search results.  Those are Adwords related and are referred as "paid traffic".

Adwords, or paid traffic, is another great way to get people to you sites.  This basically is paying for click throughs to your site.  It works really well, you just need to be sure to keep testing which keywords work best and keep them really targeted.  Get to broad and you will spend a TON of money.  

Getting back to SEO... if you choose to go this route, you don't have to have everything in place before your site goes live.  You can slowly build up your SEO power over time.  This is my approach.  While it has taken me about 9 to 12 months to get to the first page of google (which is a must to really see traffic), it will also take me probably another 12 months to get to the top spot for a keyword like We Buy Houses NJ.  

Just remember there are 100's of different keywords you can target that are much easier then We Buy Houses <your state>.  Ranking well for a bunch of low search keywords really adds up.  Plus it's much easier to rank for them because the competition is much less.

Happy Website Building!! 

I second contacting contacting @Jerry Puckett .  He is a great guy and his mailings really work.  He will also help you out on your first deal i believe.  

For me a coach is nice to have, but it's like GPS.  Sure you'll get where you want to go, but will you understand how you got there?

 I'm using the PRO+Content plan right now.  I initially had the PRO (3 site plan) but upgraded when they had a limited time offer of $99/mo for the PRO+Content.  The normal price is 199/mo. 

It's pretty cool.  You get to select pre-written articles to post to your site, up to 5 articles per month.  They are templates, but do merge your company branding into them.  The good thing about Investor Carrot is that I'm free to modify the content to better suit my needs.

Excellent Services that is getting me between 25 to 30 leads a month right now.  

Consistency for sure.  Over time you can refine your mail pieces but nothing beats being consistent and building momentum.  

Sending out a letter that says "I want to buy your house, call me" is 100% better then spending months refining your message.