Posted by Jim FL on May 17, 2003 at 24:42:15:
Tim,
With all due respect, you are missing the point.
Let me share with you how I feel about certain things, perhaps it will help shed some light.
If someone else is in a certain area doing this business and making a good living, I know this stuff works there, good news, right?
Okay, maybe.
Now, if no one I can find is doing my business in a certain location, and people all look at me like I’m from Pluto when I talk about it, GREAT!
A WIDE OPEN MARKET!
If houses are selling FAST, within DAYS for FULL VALUE…AWESOME FOR ME!
My deals will sell too…and make me more money, thanks to the “Time value of money”, since I sell mostly on terms of one form or another.
Now, this does mean that I’ll have to work harder to get leads and eventually deals.
Since I just relocated a couple years ago, to an entirely new state and a completely new market to me, I remember quite well what it is like to begin.
So, at this point as I see it, you have two choices:
-
QUIT! Give up, this tuff does not work there, no one else is doing it, and you cannot get a deal!
Kinda harsh, but hey, that’s me, deal with it! -
GET OVER IT…and PUSH THROUGH IT!
Honestly, this might offend some, but frankly, from 500 post cards and only 10-15 bandit signs, I’d certainly not be upset over lack of results.
This is not nearly enough of a run on marketing to really shake things loose.
Let me tell you about a recent push I made, and it paid off.
First though, keep in mind, for me, the only real “investment” in the traditional sense in my REI business is my market budget.
I “invest” money monthly into getting my message out, and as a result, buy a lot of houses no money down.
Anyway, I slacked off for a while.
I got lazy and my business suffered as a result.
Sure, deals were coming in, but not at a pace to keep me happy.
Rather than get upset over the 50 bandit signs I was placing weekly, or the 50 mailers per week to targeted possible sellers, or the 4-5 other things with my message out there, I decided it was time to step it up.
I figured that the most cost effective way to get the job done was to BLAST my message all over the place.
How to do this?
Simple, spend some time and money on simple effective marketing ideas that I KNOW work.
Bandit signs, vehicle signs, vinyl letters on vehicle windows, ads in local eatery menus, flyers, business cards, word of mouth, and of signs in EVERY SINGLE yard of a house I own.
I BLASTED the area with several HUNDRED signs.
Some newbie morons decided they did not like “the new guy” and stole most of them, calling and leaving late night messages bragging about it…sick, and infantile, but STILL not enough to discourage me.
My response was to simply hold the remainder of my signs until right after I knew the county was planning a VERY LARGE clean up of signs.
Sure enough, since I stopped placing them, these idiots placed all of theirs out apparently, and they went with the county trucks over a week or so.
Now, theres are gone and mine are out there again, the only ones there.
I hear other area investors complaing that they are not getting deals, and how they are buying leads from a large franshise here that has TONS of billboards, and real estate agents and brokers.
Crazy thinking to me.
Especially since I’ve signed 4 deals in the last nine days.
Now, this is because I began a push, stuck with it, kept it consistent, except for a week or so there, and made it multi pronged.
My message is repeated all over town, in several different arenas and media forms, but always the same.
People see it and call, because it becomes familiar.
So, are you gonna QUIT!!!..or get off your duff and market?
I think that is what you need to do.
Remember, as Ron said, this business is not easy.
Only those of us who can push those obstacles over and use them as stepping stones will get to our goals.
And slow business is a direct result of poor marketing on your part.
Don’t scrimp on what makes the money.
Invest in your business, by promoting it.
As someone here recently pointed out, marketing is really the biggest part of our business, and I do tend to agree.
My marketing budget increased twice over in one month, but the result was that my buying increased 3 times over.
Something to think about,
Jim FL