by Brian Brady
Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL
Mitch Ribak spoke to the Barrys on Real Estate Radio USA last Friday. Mitch started as an agent in 2001, opened Tropical Realty in 2005, and has grown his business to close 180 transactions, during the first six months of 2008, in a down real estate market.
Mitch looks for newer real estate agents, who are personable, with a strong work ethic for his team. He plugs them into his 100mphmarketing software after driving prospective buyers to his website from various pay-per-click campaigns. 100% of his buyer leads come from the internet (his referrals come from original internet leads).
Mitch will be opening membership in the E-Homes Realty Network later this week. What is the eHomes Realty Network?
Very simply, it’s a membership that gives independent Real Estate Brokerages the ability to have the same tools and training that the Big Franchises have for one very low monthly membership fee. It’s your Franchise without a Franchise!
We started eHomes Realty Network after realizing that most Independent Brokers don’t have the resources, the knowledge or the time to test and determine which products will work best for their companies. It has also become clear that most Independents don’t have any formal training programs for their Agents.
If this sounds like an “Unchained” idea, it is. Mitch is offering the national exposure, training, and masterminding, to independent agents (and brokers) for forty bucks a month. He has plans for an updated e-designation for network members. This is what Sean Purcell calls “disbrokeration” at its finest.
Tomorrow (Tuesday), Mitch and I will be hosted by Home Gain on their first “Ask the Experts” segment at 10:00 AM (PDT). There will be over 250 real estate professionals attending the webinar. There is no charge for the webinar and you can register here. I’ll be talking about mortgage financing but Mitch will talk about how to drive traffic to your website.
PS: If you’re wondering why Mitch calls his software 100mphmarketing, you gotta hear him talk. Listening to Mitch talk about internet marketing is like trying to take a sip from a fire hydrant; he gives THAT much good information. Bring a pen and paper.
PPS: Mitch will be speaking at Unchained Orlando on November 7. Reserve your spot before the price doubles.
Jessica Horton says:
I found out about this back in mid July and I was really looking forward to it. I hate that I can’t make that session but I’ve got a conference call with WA L&I. They are going to explain to me how an independent contractor can get workers compensation when she allegedly fell while showing property. And we are responsible for paying the doctor bills.
So, I hope you understand. I will be fighting the forces of socialism.
Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.
August 11, 2008 — 11:12 pm
Bob says:
His 100mph website says he builds sites, yet his is an Ihouse template. What’s up with that?
August 11, 2008 — 11:48 pm
louis cammarosano says:
“after driving prospective buyers
to his web site from various pay
Per click campaigns”
When you listen to the interview
You will hear mitch say he uses HomeGain’s
Buyer link Exclusively
He says that he USED to use yahoo and google
But found the the price and quality of traffic
From homegain was much better
Indeed mitch states “if you are using
Google or yahoo instead of HomeGain you are
Foolish!”
August 12, 2008 — 4:49 am
Eric Blackwell says:
Mitch is a friend and I (the EricOnSearch part of me) am proud to be part of his new network as well. What I like about Mitch’s approach is that he ANALYZES how to be successful without be ANAL.
Where he has a huge up on most everyone is his ability to converts website visitors to leads to clients. He does this alarmingly well. Regardless of the traffic source, that means the ROI is there. (In my opinion.)
Louis’ statement is correct that he uses HG exclusively for now as his source of traffic as opposed to Pay per Click on Google and Yahoo.
I think his new new network has some REAL potential to help independant brokers thrive in today’s online market.
Glad he will be at Unchained Orlando.
August 12, 2008 — 6:07 am
Bob says:
I’m confused.
The pitch from Brian is about a) his ability to monetize various streams of traffic, yet he really only has one, HG.
or b)it is about selling his cms
Eric is as anti 3rd party lead gen as it gets, yet a ringing endorsement because he converts leads.
So what we have is two vendors pimped in one post, and a link to the promotion by the entity that spawned HG, Inman. Of course Inman will have you as experts.
What is unchained about this?
Give this post some value and cut to the bottom line – tell me the monthly spend and how many click thrus that result in 38 sales. Is 38 sales a result of an improved conversion rate or just a big spend on sheer numbers?
On the 100mph site he says he’ll build websites, but his own site is a template. Sounds like this is just about landing pages.
I expect more from BHB than this kind of hype that borders on bait and switch but at the very least is long copy sales. How about some facts or at least a little disclosure?
August 13, 2008 — 8:18 am
Brian Brady says:
“I expect more from BHB than this kind of hype that borders on bait and switch but at the very least is long copy sales. How about some facts or at least a little disclosure?”
Oh brother. Bob, we participated in a free webinar for goodness’ sake. Listen to the podcast when it’s out (Friday or Monday)
August 13, 2008 — 8:21 am
Louis Cammarosano says:
Bob
Inman has not been involved with HomeGain since June 2005.
I had Brian, Joe, Mitch and Jay on as experts.
The call was well attended and the feedback on the call very positive.
Louis Cammarosano
General Manager, HomeGain
August 13, 2008 — 8:23 am
Bob says:
Brian, I’ll listen to the podcast, but Louis specifically came on and pointed out that ppc was not the point – it was about buying HG traffic.
I’ll still take the disclosure.
August 13, 2008 — 9:22 am
Louis Cammarosano says:
The point was that Mitch is successful using a system that works.
If it is pay per click on HomeGain, Google or Yahoo I don’t think it makes a difference.
August 13, 2008 — 10:13 am
Eric Blackwell says:
Bob et al:
Let me see if I can clarify my position a bit.
What is Mitch doing that others are not?
Converting traffic to closings at a RIDICULOUS rate using his back end solution and with the training he provides his agents.
When you can convert traffic into leads and into closings like a WITCH, whatever the source of the traffic, the ROI is ridiculously good.
I was clarifying that his only current major source of traffic is HG and that he found it to be more cost effective than PPC. I do not do either currently although I teach the agents in our office how to do PPC and a couple of our agents out of our 120 have accounts with HG. Either way, I am not going to bid against them for traffic allocated on the basis of $$$.
I think this (conversion from traffic to closing table) is a huge piece of the puzzle that is missing for many agents and brokers. My own opinion is that (whether you are an independant or a franchise,broker or agent) the vast majority could stand for some serious improvements in connecting with their traffic and turning them (over time) into customers for life.
ROI is squat unless you close.
I also think that Mitch’s new network (launching soon) is a pretty solid idea to provide that training and services to those agents and brokers. I think it is a novel approach to solve some of the training problems that most real estate sales teams (esp. independant brokers’) have.
August 13, 2008 — 11:36 am
Bob says:
Eric, I preach conversion until I’m blue in the face, but that isn’t what Brian said this was about.
I assumed that was about using “various” ppc campaigns and the strategies involved, but it isn’t. It is about buying HG leads and using a CMS to improve conversion. I get it. Just wondering why Brian didn’t say that in the first place.
August 13, 2008 — 12:06 pm
Brian Brady says:
“Just wondering why Brian didn’t say that in the first place”
To purposefully deceive you and everyone.
Give it a rest, Bob. I was trying to communicate that two speakers, who would be talking at Unchained Orlando, were on the HG conference call. I knew I was talking about mortgage financing and I knew Mitch was talking about traffic and conversion.
August 13, 2008 — 2:18 pm
Bob says:
No problem Brian. I though you actually were writing about something that offered more than a cms, which is why I visited his site and read everything, then read what Louis wrote (twice) and it wasn’t consistent, that’s all.
In this earlier post, Louis wrote this comment:
FTR, the guys I know that use BuyerLink and know how to manage leads love it. No issue there. Ribak is also right about the content. Less is more.
Based on your post, I thought there was something more than than just a product. My mistake.
August 13, 2008 — 5:46 pm
Mitch Ribak says:
Wow this is fun to watch! Sorry I couldnt comment earlier as I was out of the office working on The eHomes Realty Network which launches tomorrow. In fact, we already have 27 people signed up for our launch. I’m very excited to share my experiences and helping other Agents and Brokers become successful with their Internet program.
Bob – When I first got into the business I used Ihouse because they were the only website company out there that offered something to what I needed. I still have the site, but our main site and the site that we market now is http://www.melbournehomesearch.com. This is the site we will be using and sites similar to this for our customers who need sites. However, the MitchRealty.com site, the Ihouse site, just shows you that even if you don’t have the best site, as long as you have good capture tools you can be successful on the Internet. You can call it whatever you want, but my goal is to help others. Believe me, selling my tools and education for $39.95 a month is not going to get me rich. I’m probably a fool for doing it this cheap. I spent about a half million dollars learning this stuff. However, I have always been a teacher and am looking forward to helping other Agents that want to learn. It’s really quite simple!
The eHomes Realty Network is going to be a work in progress. It’s going to time to evolve and as it does the pricing will most likely go up so I can keep it funded properly to do all I want it to do. When we launch tomorrow, Agents and Brokers will have, for the first time, the ability to learn what we do in my office that has proven to be extremely successful. Honestly, it’s not rocket science. It’s just a good system that works. My numbers speak for themselves. As we grow the Network, we will have two separate forums (which will be finished next week). One is for marketing ideas for all of us to share and one is for business questions to be answered. On top of that I will be doing two webinars per month to go over different subjects that cover the Internet but also things as a great FSBO system we have and our floor call program which handles all our Internet inquiries that call our office. It’s about Agents and Brokers all getting together with one common goal. To help each other grow their businesses using the Internet and whatever else we come up with.
On top of that, in about a month we will be launching eHomesRealty.com. This site will allow all our members to list all their listings for free as part of their membership price.
Ok, I went off a little there! As I think Brian said above, I do go at 100MPH which is why I named my software 100MPH Marketing Software and Systems!
Bob, I would be glad to talk with you to help clear up any misunderstandings you might have. Please feel free to email me at mitch@mitchrealty.com. I would be glad to chat. Who knows, maybe I can even convince you that some vendors are actually proactive and good for our business. Remember, I’m a Real Estate Broker first. As for Homegain, I’m not going to buy into the anti vendor mentality. I don’t understand why someone would buy Google and Yahoo clicks at $3 a click when you can buy Homegain Buyerlink at half the cost with better results. Of course…aren’t Google and Yahoo vendors?
August 14, 2008 — 8:13 am
Tim Baur says:
“I don’t understand why someone would buy Google and Yahoo clicks at $3 a click when you can buy Homegain Buyerlink at half the cost with better results.”
Actually I got quoted this week from Homegain twice what I pay for google,yahoo,msn ppc. Actually I’m at about .74/click in a very competitive market.
I’m going to give HG a try for a few months. Alot of you are getting better conversions/registrations etc.
Mitch – 39.95/month sounds like a good deal!
August 15, 2008 — 5:09 am
Louis Cammarosano says:
Tim
What specific areas were you interested. Contact me and I’ll take a look at pricing for you.
Louis (louis@homegain.com)
August 15, 2008 — 6:34 am
Eric Blackwell says:
@Tim;
Very cool. One of my friends, Ron Goodman is a phenom at PPC tactics. I am looking forward to hanging out with him at the REW thing in September. (actually just a great excuse to visit British Columbia…). Do you know Ron?
Best;
Eric
August 15, 2008 — 6:55 am
Mitch Ribak says:
Hey Tim! To me, even if Homegain was a little higher, I would still use it because the conversion rate is stronger. I only get about 10% from Google and Yahoo and usually around 15% on average with HG. Not to mention I don’t have to spend hours a day managing my keywords. It’s a matter of valuing your time. I do consulting for $250 per hour. Therefore the two hours a day of managing 500 keywords isn’t worth $500 to me.
Yes, $39.95 is a great deal. As I have said, my goal is to help Agents and Brokers learn to do what I have accomplished. I’ve always been a teacher at heart. I probably couldn’t teach in schools because my 100MPH teachings would go way over their heads! We are officially open for business today at noon! I’m very excited and already have over 27 people signed up. That’s awesome! My goal is 50 – 100 new members per month. Anyway, feel free to email me if you have any questions!
August 15, 2008 — 6:56 am
Eric Blackwell says:
Mitch-
I would agree with you about factoring the time into the ROI calculations. Many times folks fail to do that with SEO (and PPC and blogging and ad nauseum)as well.
They see the possible traffic and they count the cash costs because that is what they have to tell their husband, wife or significant other about…but there is only a finite amount of time as well and it has value.
Good points.
Eric
August 15, 2008 — 7:06 am
Mitch Ribak says:
Hey Eric! Yup, I learned a while ago that it’s not always about the dollar amount you spend, but the dollar amount of your time. I think it was Dan Kennedy’s book, The No B.S. Time Management book for entrepreneurs that I learned that from…great book by the way. Managing 500 keywords is a ton of work.
August 15, 2008 — 7:10 am
Brian Brady says:
“I think it was Dan Kennedy’s book, The No B.S. Time Management book for entrepreneurs that I learned that from…great book by the way”
Ahhh…that explains EVERYTHING. There are a few Planet Dan disciples here, Mitch (I’m one of them)
August 15, 2008 — 7:14 am
Louis Cammarosano says:
Managing key words is a lot of work and so is blogging
Blogging however provides residual benefits whereas managing key words does not.
Blogging takes time but is free and you get the benefits from having your post online.
Managing key words takes time AND costs money and the benefits last only as long as it takes for you to get the click you bid for.
Wayne long did a nice post on why have your clicks professionally managed http://blog.homegain.com/why-have-clicks-managed
August 15, 2008 — 7:14 am
Tim Baur says:
Louis: Will do…one of your reps is following up with me today and has already sent me pricing. Not unless you have some special pricing for me lol.
Mitch – You are 100% correct! I’ve been doing ALOT of ppc in the last 3 years and have 100’s of hours.Would much rather spend my time on conversions. My average is also right @ 10%.
Eric: Yeah, think I’m meeting up to share a ride with Ron over to the conference. He doesn’t know it yet but I’ll be picking his brain about ppc on that ferrie ride over.
August 15, 2008 — 8:45 am
Mitch Ribak says:
The only way I have been able to keep my PPC cost reasonable is to shoot for third position. One of the good things about that, in Yahoo, I usually show up both in the third spot at the top and the top spot at the right. Since Yahoo changed their model to be like Googles it’s a little more work to do this, but it still works out ok. I used to just bid to the top position but my cost per click was extremely high.
August 15, 2008 — 8:53 am