Hello All,
This is a new venture for me and I just started the Master Class. Although I am very excited I am also very nervous. When any of you first started, did you jump out with a direct mail campaign? Did you start with county tax list? I am honestly only looking for inexpensive lots to “practice” with even if I can only sell them for $3-5k but I think I’m heading into analysis paralysis. I know some people jump in with $5-10k and just go all out building the websites, buying the list etc. which is a lot, but I’m dipping my toe in the pool rather than canon balling into this business. I do not want to spend a ton of money up front just incase it doesn’t pan out. If anyone that started on a budget is willing to share, what were some of the things that you did to get yourself out there and find your first deal?
@shavonbogan you sound a lot like me when I got started. In my experience, the only “essentials” I needed were:
- A dedicated phone number (OpenPhone)
- A business mailing address (Traveling Mailbox)
You technically don’t even need these, but I think it’s a bad idea to not protect your privacy in these ways.
Given where you’re coming from, and your hesitation to start spending money on anything/everything, the one big caveat to be aware of is that direct mail response rates are lower than they used to be. When I got started, the norm was to send out 500 mailers and get at least one deal from it. Nowadays, that number is more like 3,000… so you’ll want to set proper expectations for yourself.
If you want to increase your chances without spending more money, you could take phone calls live as they come in, BUT, you’ll have to be ready to talk one-on-one with some irrationally angry people and it’s not a sustainable way to run the business… so I generally don’t recommend this.
Of course, you don’t have to send mail at all. Text marketing is another way to do it, and it’s much cheaper and faster to see your results, but there are other drawbacks to this approach too… namely, the lead quality tends to be lower and it takes a lot of time at the computer to find the right people, but again, it’s cheaper, and for someone on a budget, that could matter a lot.
@shavonbogan Hi - First make sure you have most of the skills and experience needed to make this your new job. And I believe it’s a job. So make sure it’s better pay and “benefits” than your current one. There was an attorney in the space who started doing tiny deals on terms. She worked really hard to close 4 $10k sales, on monthly payments. 2 went bad right away. so she was getting $300/month. A lot less than the $300/hour she charged for legal services.
This is a business built on systems, software, discipline and the talent of talking to people. Not everybody is a data scientist and a killer sales person. So you have to delegate out what doesn’t light you up and focus on what does.
I’m primarily a deal funder and note buyer. I won’t buy or fund a self close deal. Others will.
You don’t have to DO every step. Seth and others have tools for pricing, mailing, call screening. You could hire an experienced closer or find someone to assign deals to in the beginning to gain experience. If you’re a “closer” maybe somebody needs a sales manager. If you’re good at systems and nurturing relationships, maybe somebody will outsource the acquisition work to you.
This is still a craft. It takes time to learn. Go get 'em!