I was talking with Jeff Brown on the phone yesterday about how much we depend on passive marketing devices — our Phoenix real estate weblog mainly — to generate new business.
We don’t even do all that much. By now there are much better resources to turn to than me for advice on how to do real estate weblogging. But what we do is consequential, because we are constantly adding to our inventory of hard-headed real estate information.
As an example, I wrote a post this morning on the factors that contribute most to the profitability of Phoenix-area rental home investments. That post in turn supports a basic guide I have prepared on rental home investing in suburban Phoenix.
What am I up to? I’m pre-conditioning future clients, for one thing. I’m sharing a lot of hard-headed information, but I’m also letting them know what it’s going to be like to work with me. In addition, I’m splitting the herd, isolating the people I will want to work with and sending the others packing.
The weblog post will have a future in other locations. I can use the HTML to make a very compelling Craigslist ad. And, in the long run, that post will add to the content on our static real estate investments page.
Here’s the best news: The people I hear from who will have pursued all of this information will come to me pre-sold. I won’t have to cover as much of the basics with them on the phone. They will not have picked up the phone to call me until they had already committed to hearing more of what I have to say. They won’t be slam-dunk conversions, necessarily — investors never are — but their business will be mind to get — or to lose — with no significant competition.
I am not diminishing more active prospecting strategies — much the contrary — but this is the kind of thing that I can set up once that will pay me over and over again. And as others here have noted, the climate for rental home investors in Phoenix just keeps getting better and better.
Mark Madsen says:
“this is the kind of thing that I can set up once that will pay me over and over again.”
Yep, exactly what I’ve been working on since the beginning. It’s about building perpetual equity in an online presence.
Brian Brady and I had a similar conversation yesterday as well. While we both attack the web differently, we do agree that it is important to at least decide on whether you’re a farmer or a hunter.
With all of the social media distractions and shiny objects that can even overwhelm seasoned RE Internet marketers, it helps to have a purpose.
I still believe that great “original” content is king. Fans, followers, friends….. whatever – passing thoughts and other peoples’ links back and forth through social networks may only last for a moment.
However, providing your clients and referral partners with all of the information that they need from one well designed / organized web site is the best way to build true equity in an online presence.
October 14, 2009 — 9:35 am
Al Lorenz says:
Greg & Mark, as usual thanks. These well spoken words can’t be said enough. I’ve been so busy with money work lately, I haven’t had time to be here as much. The reasons support your words.
October 14, 2009 — 12:14 pm