“Real Estate Marketing Blog with a ‘IM Twist’ + FREE 56 page Real Estate Black Book - THE Internet Resource Manual for Real Estate Investors & Agents!”
Written on
December 30, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
The holidays have been great but it’s time to get back to business to give you some real estate strategies. As you can probably see, I haven’t posted to the blog for about a week or so. Why? With all of the holiday craziness, spending time with my family and actually getting myself away for a while to recharge, I wasn’t posting any blog posts on the blog. Besides, you probably were extremely busy reading dozens, if not hundreds of emails that have flooded your inbox. Last time I checked, my inbox has received over 1000 emails in the last week. Either way, I hope your holiday break was great, you spend some time with your family and are ready for the New year 2009.
Today, I wanted to share with you one of my real estate business card ideas that you can implement into your offline real estate lead generation strategy. You might be already using it but if not, this strategy will be a good one to add to your arsenal.
You may have already heard from other real estate gurus that you should use real estate business cards in your real estate business. Some real estate gurus will tell you to write on the back of your business card a message that will tell people that they can get rewarded with $100 or $500 for every house they bring in and you close on it. That’s a good strategy but be careful how you write that message out as you might get in trouble with the authorities in some states.
Basically, you create a real estate business card and give it away to anyone and everyone you see. You can leave your business card with a waitress in a restaurant, put them on car windows at a busy parking lot during a business related event, post them on community boards and pass them around at real estate investing meeting.
But today, I wanted to show you a quick real estate business card idea to help you drive traffic to your real estate web site. Why would you want to do that? As time goes by, more traffic you get to your site will start bringing you more incoming links. With more incoming links, you start to get higher rankings, your website will start to appear on the first page of your local market search results and you start to become the authority in your local market. This in turn will help to generate automatic leads to your site and you won’t have to pass out as many business cards anymore.
Here’s what you do…Instead of writing the “I’ll give you $500 for each house you bring in and I’ll close…” message on the back of your real estate business card, use your business card as an “business squeeze card.”
Basically, you use your business card as a squeeze page. You write out a strong headline, add few killer benefits your prospects can’t resist and a strong call to action to get them over to your website. This call to action can include a giveaway of a free report, free audio or for the best results, a free video. Once they arrive at your website, they give you their first name and email address in exchange for your free gift. After that, you can bring them into your follow up system and try to convert them into buyers, sellers, investors or private money lenders.
But before you go out and create your business squeeze card, here are few important ideas you need to remember when creating your real estate business card:
Real Estate Business Card Idea #1
Your real estate business card offer will be most effective when it is targeted towards the right recipient. For instance, if you are trying to find private lenders for your properties, giving them a free report, audio, or video on how they can make 10%-16% return on their money in the next few months would be much better than giving them a report on how to sell their house in a slow market.
That means that you will have a different business card for each target market. For instance, for private money lenders, you would create a private money squeeze card. For other investors to flip your houses to, you would create an investor squeeze card, and so on.
You might be asking yourself now…
Peter, you want me to carry 5 different business cards with me? Not necessarily. If you are going to a real estate meeting, you might take your private money and/or your investor squeeze cards. Then as you talk to different investors, you give them the appropriate real estate business card.
Real Estate Business Card Idea #2
For higher conversion rate to get people to visit your site, don’t tell them on your business squeeze card all of the steps they’ll need to take to get your free report. Just tell them to go you www.yoursite.com/free to get their free report. Once they arrive there, they can see that they’ll need to give you their name and email. Besides, your small real estate business card can’t cover all of the details anyway.
Real Estate Business Card Idea #3
If you notice in the business squeeze card tip #2, the url for the site was yoursite.com/free. By adding “free” to the end of your link, you’ll redirect your visitor to a special squeeze page that you have created just for that business card. This way, you can track the # of people that actually use your business card to arrive at your site. Obviously, you’ll have to track how many business cards you give away to figure out the conversion rate for your business card. But that’s an easy way to track your results from that particular real estate business card idea.
That’s it for now. I hope you liked this little real estate lead generation tip. In today’s age, I feel that your main business hub should be your real estate website. Once you capture their email, you can touch back with them for the rest of your relationship with your prospect.
What do you think about this real estate business card idea? Do you have any questions on how to implement it into your business as part of real estate lead generation strategy? Do you think you’ll use it? Share your thoughts in the comments below and let me know.
Written on
December 17, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
One of the biggest real estate internet marketing problems investors face on their real estate website is getting visitors to stick around and involved on their site. it is a question I get asked quite often and it looks like we need a real real estate internet marketing solution. I mean, how do you get the visitors that arrive at your site to leave a comment or a question, read your content, fill out your real estate forms, and even surf your site for more than 3 seconds. Better yet, how do you get them to return to your real estate site? If you checked your website stats lately, and I hope you have, how many visitors on your real estate web site are sticking around and how many are returning visitors?
In today’s post, I am going to answer that question for you. So, How do you get your visitors involved with your real estate site? Besides the fact that you need a good layout, navigation, content and professional look, here are 7 ways to get your visitors involved and stickaround on your site for more than 3 seconds.
Sidenote: You’ll see me refer to blog posts quite often in this post. Blogging can be extremely beneficial to your real estate business.
Real Estate Website Solution #1
1. One of the best ways to get people to come back to your site is to write quality content. Not only that but you need to write it often. When writing your website content or a blog post (which I highly recommend), don’t answer every single question pertaining to the subject. Leave some room for people to chime in and comment on.
Real Estate Website Solution #2
2. When writing your real estate content, try to write about what people are interested in. Otherwise, they won’t even bother to read the web page. I would suggest to survey your target market, ask questions on your site, ask your clients and so forth. You can also get ideas by browsing the internet to see what the most popular content is in your niche. Then you can write your own opinion on the subject on your own web site.
Real Estate Website Solution #3
3. Controversial and event based topics make for some of the best blog posts for commenting. Remember, when you write about a controversial topic, you’ll get some negative comments. Be ready to deal with those. While back, I wrote a post about the mortgage industry and how the big mortgage lenders got started this whole mess. The post got a lot of feedback and exposure around the internet.
Real Estate Website Solution #4
4. When writing blog posts, write them in a conversational style. That way, people can basically hear you talking to them. Always write as you would write to a friend, just one friend. Remember, when someone reads your post, it’s only that one person reading it. One more thing, don’t talk about yourself too much and try to focus on him/her.
Real Estate Website Solution #5
5. When asking people to take certain actions after reading your post, don’t ask them to take 15 thousand steps. Ask them to do only 1 or 2 actions. Don’t ask them to leave a comment, digg your post, stumble your post and share it with their friends. Remember, confused mind always says no. Keep it simple and they’ll be more likely to do what you ask them to do.
Real Estate Website Solution #6
6. When writing your blog posts, try to ask questions. Make sure you ask open ended questions. Don’t ask questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no” answer. People love to give opinions so ask a question that will allow them to give you their opinion.
Real Estate Website Solution #7
7. Now it’s your turn. What is your best strategy for getting people to leave comments on your blog or your real estate website? Do you have any questions in regards to this topic? Do you have a solution to this real estate marketing problem? What are you doing right now to track your visitors on your real estate website? leave your comments below and let me know. I’ll make sure to answer them for you.
Written on
December 13, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
Hey guys,
I am so excited about this little resource I found recently. Using this site, you can put your real estate on video in the next 5 minutes. This site is too cool for me not to share with you. Don’t worry, you won’t have to buy anything. I’m not selling anything here either. This is a real estate free resource in a true Real Estate Black Book style.
When I found this site, opened up a free account with them, and started playing around with it, I felt like a kid in the candy store. I kid you not. I was playing around with it and thinking to myself, this is so cool! I have to share this on my blog with my readers. They can use this site to upload their real estate on video in minutes. And they don’t have to spend ton of money on software or learn a complicated program for hours.
Alright, enough anticipation already, right? :) Here we go…
Have you ever go out to a property, took bunch of photos of it, developed them, or in this day and age, downloaded them onto your computer, and then thought to yourself:
How the hell am I going to do any kind of marketing with them?
Should I create a flyer?
Should I print them out?
How can I put this real estate property on video?
How the hell do I use this piece of software to do this flyer?
Written on
December 11, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
Well, it’s been a year since I launched RealEstateBlackBook.com. I can’t believe it. This year has been unbelievable and and I am so greatful for everything that has happened to me.
So today, I wanted to write a post that’s a little different. This post is all about what you have done for me this year. If it wasn’t for you, my loyal reader and/or subscriber, I wouldn’t be here writing and sharing my real estate marketing knowledge with you.
From the bottom of my heart:
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Before I dive into today’s post, I really need to thank several more people. But bear with me, I have a sweet little list of my best blog posts that I want to share with you.
There have been so many people that were instrumental in my success and I can’t thank them enough. First of all, my wife and my kids. Laura, you have been so supportive and understanding. You have helped me so much over this past year. I don’t know how to thank you for everything you have done for me. How do you keep up with me
I also want to thank Steve Cook, JP Moses, D.C. Fowler, Richard Roop, and William Tingle. You guys took a chance one me and I am so greatful for what you have done for me back in December of last year. I don’t think I would be in the same position as I am today. Thank you so much.
And you, my subscriber and/or loyal reader. Without you, without you reading my stuff, (even though I sometimes write without the proper English grammar), without you commenting on my posts and interacting with me, I wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t have this blog. So again, thank you so much. I have so many things planned for this coming year. Stick around with me and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I have lots of great stuff for you.
Written on
December 8, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
Hey guys,
I know you are probably getting bombarded by emails from real estate gurus about the short sale blueprint. Well, I am here to offer you what most people won’t do for you, some sweet bonuses.
So don’t forget to watch the video until the end because I am going to reveal my 2 bonuses, especially the second bonus. If you are a real estate investor who wants to dominate the real estate market on the internet, then this is it.
Written on
December 6, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
One of the most profitable real estate strategies today are short sales. Short sales, if done correctly, can bring tens of thousands of dollars in profit for the real estate investor. But in order to complete the short sale, real estate investor needs to have certain tools to his disposition.
One of the main tools every short sale real estate investor needs to have is a blueprint, a short sale blueprint. Why? Because your short sale blueprint will give you the roadmap to a successful short sale.
The short sale blueprint is your process map that will help you complete the short sale quickly and more efficiently. For instance, your short sale blueprint will help you avoid certain mistakes that some real estate investors make when contacting the Loss Mitigation Officer. Dealing with REO banks can be a tricky deal and knowing how to talk, contact, and present your forms to the right officer can mean the difference between getting your short sale approved and having it denied.
One of the most important aspects of the short sale blueprint is that it needs to guide you in your way to the exit strategy. The exit strategy needs to be formulated before the short sale finalizes. I suggest you create at least 2 different exit strategies to make sure that if one fails, you can still be successful by utilizing your other exit strategy.
As usual, there are some flaws and lies that constantly float around the internet when it comes to completing a successful short sale. Many of them are outdated and no longer applicable. Times change, the economy changes, the government changes its lending laws and the current market dictates the new way short sales will be completed.
So, what do we do? How do we know the right way to complete the short sale, submit the short sale packet, and deal with the loss mitigation departments? For one, I believe that besides having a short sale blueprint, short sale investor needs to listen and learn from someone who done it before, a successful short sales investor. That person needs to know how to do the short sales successfully today. Not last year, not 10 years ago but today.
One of those successful short sale specialists is Josh Cantwell. Today, Josh is giving away his short sale manifesto for free. This 60+ page manifesto will dispel many myths, give you the rundown on the mortgage meltdown, provide you with up to date lender practices and updates, and supply you with one of the most important aspects of the short sale process. He is going to show you how to negotiate a short sale the right way, step by step, word for word.
He is also going to share some of his secrets like understanding the option contract and closings, how to avoid taking the wrong path when doing the short sale, and the 9 mistakes new short sale investors make and how to avoid them. That alone is worth its money. But today, you won’t have to pay a penny.
What I suggest you do is click the link below and grab your short sale manifesto before he closes the doors on it again. The manifesto is 100% free so there is no risk on your part. And if you don’t like what you see, you can always unsubscribe. Like I said, there is nothing to lose.
Written on
December 4, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
The short answer is: Go to New York City.
Today I want to share with you a somewhat funny (depending how you look at it) post. You may actually be able to relate to this. How? If you have ever had to pull a permit for your building or transfer the deed for a property you recently bought, then you’ll see what I’m talking about here.
But before I share this with you, the story on how to steal a building, I want to point out that I am in no way advocating this and/or telling you to go and do this. You are responsible for your own actions and if you do attempt to do this kind of deed transfer, you might end up in jail. So, I just wanted to make sure that you know this and not take this seriously.
Here it is. I just found out about this story few hours ago (thanks Joshua Dorkin) and wanted to share it with you because it points out something very interesting. Also, I think you would get a kick out of it since you invest in real estate.
In a nutshell, the Daily News stole the Empire State Building in less than 90 minutes! See how they did it by checking out the article below.
After you check it out, come back here and let me know what you think. Is your local deed office as bad as this one? Do you have stories like this to share with us? Let me know in the comments below.
To Your Success,
Peter K.
P.S.
Tell your friends about it by using the ‘tell a friend’ button located at the top left corner of this blog post. They’ll get a kick out it. And since it’s Friday, this can be a good story to send over
P.P.S.
Watch my next post here as I am going to share with you a brand new website, still in beta, that lets you create professional looking slideshows for your Ebay posting. This is really cool.
Written on
December 3, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
Image by thinkpanama via Flickr
Today, I have a short but an effective way to add to your real estate lead generation arsenal. Here is a list of suggestion for you to market your RE business effectively and efficiently.
If you were looking for places to market your Real Estate business on the internet, where would you most likely look for these lead generation potential customers? Usually it would be where there is a high concentration of Real Estate prospective buyers on the internet. Where exactly?
The first choice that is of common practice on the internet is on social communities. These are where there are gatherings of groups and communities, online forums. These are online forums that its overall talk revolves in Real Estate tips. Today it’s pretty hard to go with these methods as you need to take care of two things, the clutter which is usually the competition and timing.
Timing among many of the reasons for our next best option is the free way to lead generation success with Real Estate investing online! Hit a search on high traffic auction sites that sell Real Estate. It could not get any simpler than the above method as you eliminate the issues of clutter when it comes to you finding clients.
Here is an interesting way you should consider doing that should work for you. eBay! Don’t worry, you will not be competing a featured item and going down $20 for adding a listing. Think long term and add yourself an “About Me” page talking and leading to your website which will capture email address from people that see your “about me” page on eBay!
While the marketing method is way too simple to believe you can get leads for your business, add a few auctions consistently on a few monthly in regards to your listings and you’ll see how many leads from your state or country subscribe to your email opt-in to keep seeing listings from your current portfolio. Better yet, mention everyone to check your “About Me” page on every eBay listing and you should easily duplicate your lead generation conversion rate attempts!
So, what do you think? Let me know in the comments below. How would you use ebay for your real estate lead generationstrategy?
Written on
November 26, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
The holiday season is here. Well, almost here. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving (here in the United States). Detroit Lions will play their traditional tranksgiving football game and get their butt kicked by Tennesse Titans while falling to a 0-12 record (at least they are going for some kind of a record) and I’ll be enjoying some family time with my family.
So it only fits that I talk about a subject that will be related to to the holidays.
What am I talking about here? I’m talking about the event based marketing. What is Event-based marketing?
Basically, event based marketing is a type of marketing that revolves around some kind of an event. That event can be anything including a business anniversary, birthday, 4th of July, New Year, elections, business milestone, holidays, and thanksgiving. These are just a few examples but with your creativity and a calendar, I know that you can come up with dozens or more real estate marketing strategies.
Just think about this. What happens in 2 days on “Black Friday.” Retailers around the United States are selling their products for steep discounts. They are using an event based marketing strategy. And they make tons of money doing that.
But How can I use it in my real estate business? I’m a service company. I don’t sell anything?
Great question. Event based marketing works for service companies as well, including yours. Let’s think about this. What if on Black Friday, you offered everyone who takes you up on your offer to come out to their house, a complete no obligation overview of their situation. You could market it as an $200 free, no questions asked, no obligation consultation.
(I have to confess something here. My brain is a little fried from last night. I was working until 2:30 am so this might not have been the best example ever :) But I know that you can come up with something great).
So, How do you get the word out about your offer?
One way to do that is to do a press release. You can write a press release and submit it to prweb.com targeting certain region. You can also send out the press release to your local radio stations, tv stations and newspapers. By now, you are probably asking yourself. How can you get the contact information for all of those media outlets?
Here’s a little secret. But don’t tell anyone. Go to your local Chamber of Commerce and ask for the media contact information. They should have it and they can probably sell it to you for cheap.
I hope this little blog post helped you out. Most businesses don’t use it, especially in the service sector and the real estate industry. if you do it, you’ll be well on your way to gain a lot of exposure in your local real estate market. Don’t forget to drive your offline prospects to your real estate website in all of your real estate offline marketing.
One last thing, since tomorrow is the Thanksgiving Day, I wanted to wish you safe and Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey, watch some good football (I guess that rules out Lions), spend time with your family, and be thankful for everything you have. Better yet, be thankful for everything you have each and every day. I am!
For one, I am thankful to have you here on my blog and hopefully as my subscriber.
Written on
November 21, 2008
by
Peter- REBB Founder
One of the most frequent questions I receive from my subscribers is in the subject of generating free real estate leads. That question comes right after I tell them to start building their real estate investing list by offering a free report as an signup incentive. In a nutshell, their question goes something like this:
“But I don’t have anything to give and I don’t want to spend money for someone to write it for me. Is there an easy way to generate leads in real estate without spending a ton of money?”
Yes there is! And today I am going to show you how you can write your own free report to give away to your target customers when they signup to your real estate investing list. Believe me, it’s not that hard and you can have your report in the next hour or so. Sounds good? Let’s get going then… Continue reading! »
