Spiderman in real estate web marketing
What can a comic book hero teach us about buying and selling more properties through the web?
The Internet (or the web as I’ll call it in this article) is truly an amazing invention. In the case of the Internet, the web-like design allows communications to take place even if one of the hubs or nodes is not working. You can see the value of something like this to a country concerned about the impact of a nuclear disaster and the threat it would pose to communications.
If you look at the typical internet layout (in the form of a line) from above the US (and even the world), it actually looks like a web. The web is network connections. Remember the word network because I’ll come back to it in a few minutes.
However, the word “web” can be applied to investors and real estate professionals in very creative, out-of-the-box ways.
Almost all spiders create webs, but often for different reasons. Some, like Orb Builders, create beautiful designs to capture creatures that jump and fly. Others have terrestrial networks with tunnels. Others live underground and line their houses with them. They use them to house their young, create homes, wrap food, travel with the wind, climb and descend, the list goes on. I find them fascinating creatures.
So what can Spiderman and cobwebs teach us about our real estate business?
Let’s take a look at how many different types of “websites” we can use to make a profit in real estate.
The Website: Almost everyone is familiar with websites these days. It is a place on the web that people can access to obtain all kinds of information. Perhaps you, as a real estate investor or professional, even have one. It is open 24 hours every day of the year, offers information, photos and more. Like a spider, you must have at least a basic understanding of how to use it to help your business succeed. Sadly, very few professionals really understand what you can do for your business and their efforts amount to putting up a sign in the yard and expecting someone to accidentally drive (or surf).
Now take Spiderman here, our red, white and blue two-legged acrobatic arachnid.
Spidey uses his website a little differently. It has the unique ability to PROJECT your website. Sure, you’ve seen him shoot. What happens? Well, it sticks to something, of course, and then it can do all sorts of things. It can turn down a busy street, wrap around a few people and drag them onto it, and much more. Do people know you have a network? Sure, everyone does it because they are constantly shooting it for one reason or another. Spiderman markets his skills very well!
The question is: Are you marketing your skills well?
Most gurus tend to try to get you to buy their property acquisition system. Now there is nothing wrong with this. If you search my closet, you will find many books, courses, and tape sets that I have purchased over the years. Have I acquired a lot of knowledge of some of these systems? Sure, without a doubt!
PROJECT and be ACTIVE! = Active projection: applies to buying and selling.
A popular guru uses regular mail to send postcards to everyone in a certain neighborhood where he wants to buy houses.
Another guru puts up signs at all busy intersections with his phone number stating that he buys houses for cash in less than 48 hours. (You see them all the time and you may have put up some of these signs yourself.) I’ve always wondered how many salespeople get a check in their hands in 48 hours … Hmm …
Another guru goes to the county courthouse several times a week to search records for indicators of people they would like to sell to.
Another guru (a bit morbid) scans the obituaries in the newspaper and tries to contact the property owners.
– Now I agree that all these techniques work to find potential clients and buy properties.
– I would NOT agree that they are an effective use of your time.
– I would NOT agree that they are easy or enjoyable enough to do regularly.
– Nor would I agree that they work very well in REVERSE when it comes to selling the property.
For instance:
Will you bear the postage costs when you have a property to sell?
Are you going to go out to pepper posters around the city with a property to sell?
Are you going to go to court when you have a property to sell?
Finally, are you going to put out an ad next to the obituaries when you sell?
You could say, “Hey Joe, aren’t you freaking out here? (It wouldn’t be the first time someone told me that).
But wait, we have the second. Why should you have to change tack so drastically when it comes to selling the property? Doesn’t it make sense to use the same tactics to simplify your real estate business process and buy the same way you sell?
I’d bet Spiderman has some buttons near his wrists that make his web shoot up and stick to something.
I probably see where I’m going with this. The buttons near the wrists are called the keyboard. You fire a signal (instead of sticky silk) through a wire or through the air that is attached to an email box.
You can BUY in the same way that you can SELL!
– More effectively.
– For lower cost.
– In a fraction of the time.
– And you can do it over and over again without running out of supplies or money.
Most importantly, none of the above tactics use the Web as we mentioned earlier as RED!
This network literally “works” both ways, generating leads and making sales, and it expands more and more as you work with the system.
I think you would agree that it is much easier to open your email box and see 10 potential customers waiting for you to review than it is to accept and filter 10 phone calls. Of course, these calls come while dining with your family, hanging out with friends, watching TV, or doing whatever it is you like to do when you’re not working at your business.
The HomesToGo.Com system is designed to take full advantage of the things we saw earlier to build networks and actively project your network of influence.
I am not aware of any other system that has been designed by Real Estate Professionals FOR Real Estate Professionals that is built from scratch using the concepts and theories of “Active Projection Marketing”. The power of the system is incredible and almost limitless.
Let’s look at the design from scratch.
The Name: Homes To Go
Unlike other sites, the name is designed to work both ways. It does not stick to the old and abused tradition of attracting only those who want to sell.
A website like IBuyHomesForCashInaFlash.Com (if it exists) actually pigeonhole in only half of the entire real estate business process, that is, attracting buyers. Would you be comfortable trying to sell a house with an email like that? What would your clients think? Would they think that they are being taken advantage of in their situation?
If you think your customers (sellers and buyers) are dumb, think again. They watch TV and have seen Carlton Sheets infomercials just like you. People who advertise they buy houses are a penny a dozen and many people feel like they are going to take them to the dry cleaners.
The system: capture and passive generation of leads
This is common and has been around for years. Homes To Go Network takes the idea to a whole new dimension. The simplest passive lead generation and capture system is to put an ad in the newspaper with a phone number and have an answering machine record the prospect’s information. This is old school thinking and it doesn’t work very well. People who call a number want to talk to a real human being and statistics show that they will hang up more than 65% of the time.
By the way … what can you do with the track recorded on your answering machine? Can you save it to a file for later use? Mark it as a possible foreclosure, subject to a total deal or change? Of course, no.
Leads are passively generated through the HomesToGo network system. Yes, like other systems, you receive an email with all the details of the county or counties in which you work. The difference is that the system captures ALL leads in a database by county and stores them. This is true whether you delete the email you receive or not. It is also true for those counties where an investor or professional is not registered in the system. When they sign up, those leads are already there in the Buyer / Seller Explorer on the dashboard.
Why is this important? Due to the old adage that “situations change”. The smart user of the system will follow up with these leads regularly to see if something has changed in the seller’s life that now makes a deal possible.
Of course, you can do the same by dragging and dropping the lead into any folder you create.
The system: active lead acquisition and generation
How would you like to be able to email the aforementioned group where the seller’s situation may have changed with just a few clicks?
Ready to shoot your web like Spiderman? Here we go …
Let’s send an ACTIVE web shot to all these potential customers.
“Hello,
My name is Joe Ponce and I remember a while ago he was trying to sell his house. I was just in contact with you to see if it’s still for sale. I am looking to buy a home in your area and I came across your email above.
Please message me back or give me a call if you haven’t sold it yet.
Best wishes,
Joseph
(Your personalized email signature and phone number)
Okay, how long did it take you to follow up on all those leads?
Probably no more than a couple of minutes and your phone may ring in the next 15 minutes with a possible deal. By the way, remember to remove those leads where the email is retrieved, or you can call to make sure the house is no longer available.
Remember, you can send a message like this to any of the groups you have to generate new leads or follow up on older ones.
You will be amazed at how powerful “active screening” is for prospects and sales through the HomesToGo network system.
So start burning your website as Spiderman and let it stick with some profitable offers!
We will discuss many other techniques in future strategies!