In Part 1: Presence and Finding Buyers we’ve covered what kind of role the internet has in developing a presence and finding buyers. One important distinction to make between finding buyers online and finding sellers and lenders online is that finding buyers on line is much easier because they don’t need as much convincing. Getting seller leads online is an interesting task that has a number of strengths and weaknesses, same goes for finding private lenders, but with the correct approach and understanding you spring a leak of leads in an otherwise concrete wall.
To dive into the heart of the matter we must acknowledge that in both cases you are wise to not start your model up online and hope for it to work. I recall a scenario painted by Than Merrill where he discussed the story of a motivated seller in denial that would wake up in the morning to see your ad in the paper that you buy houses. The mailman comes by and they receive your post card and before long they are off to work and at the first turn see your “We Buy Houses” sign. The scenario goes on to include everything from billboards and bus stop benches to flyers on a bulletin board. Most of these ad contacts are involved when the prospect is on the run, coursing through their day, however people in foreclosure are troubled by their situation and the more they’ve come across your web address in your traditional forms of advertising, the more likely they’ll be able to recall it when they sit down at the computer and make an effort to do something to remedy their situation...
Without any other form of marketing your online pursuit for seller leads is going to be a house of cards. Granted that what you need to get is a lead, whether they directly call your office or they submit their information through your website you just need them to act and get their information! It’s possible to take your seller lead generation 100% online, but it’s a dicey move and I would not recommend it.
Where we are at now is a good place to refer you to a past post that covers “How a Real Estate Website Should Work” This post covers one of the most useful tools that a website can have for real estate investors, that’s known as a squeeze page. The quick low down is that you use something like a “Special Report” to provoke want, they click and they have to submit their name and email. You’ve captured an email and if you look back to my posts on auto-responders you will see the logic in the machine. The long game through auto-responders is what will keep your presence current in the minds of the sellers where your competition will turn off.
When it comes to finding lenders online you need to have substance behind it as well. A website geared towards gaining private money for your deals works best when it is a location to refer possible investors to during the course of your networking. Feel free to take advantage of the special report/squeeze page combination and create a specific auto-responder/broadcast to maintain your presence over the long haul. Instead of selling them on selling, you are selling them on investing in you so don’t be adverse to using some of the same techniques as you would with sellers. Just make sure to keep it in check with common sense.
Stay tuned for Part 3 where we will cover the networking and educational benefits the internet offers the real estate investor. The 4 concerns that we’ve covered in these first two parts are great benefits for investors, but that is absolutely no reason to stop.