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- Head of Real Estate Investing at BiggerPockets
- Amsterdam, NL
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Want to know the best way to build your real estate network?
No matter how you’re involved in real estate investing, I’d venture a guess that one of your main goals on BiggerPockets is networking. I know this is true because one of the most common questions we get at BiggerPockets is, “How can I make more connections on BiggerPockets?”
Well lucky for you, there is a simple answer: Post frequently on the forums.
There are dozens of ways to connect with people on BP, but I ran the numbers and the results are clear. People who post on the forums most frequently have the most profile views, and the most colleagues.
That makes sense, right? It doesn’t take a numbers whiz to see the connection: if you post, and build a reputation as a helpful and knowledgeable member of the community, people are going to want to connect with you.
And connections mean more deals seen, partners identified, and clients secured. A.K.A more money.
Still not convinced? Here’s some statistical nerdery to backup my claims:
I grabbed data for the 1,000 most-visited profiles on BiggerPockets. I then looked at correlations between profile views and forum posts, post votes, and number of colleagues. But before we get into that, a quick refresher on correlation in case you haven’t kept up on your stats knowledge since high school.
Here is the dictionary definition of correlation: a relation existing between phenomena or things or between mathematical or statistical variables which tend to vary, be associated, or occur together in a way not expected on the basis of chance alone.
In english? We’re measuring how changes in one variable affect changes in a second variable. So in our case: how does posting on the forums influence the number of profile views, or number of colleagues a member has?
And the reason stats nerds like me love correlation is that it is unit-agnostic. It tests the strength of a relationship between two variables, no matter if you’re measuring inches, pounds, housing prices, or forum votes. It’s a handy little tool.
I won’t bore you with the math to derive correlations, but I will explain a bit on how to interpret them. First, correlations are always a number between -1 and 1.
As you can see in the graphic above, a correlation of 0 means there is no linear relationship between the two variables (a change in variable A has no effect on variable B). A correlation of -1 means there is a very strong correlation, but the relationship is negative (one variables goes up, the other goes down). Lastly, a correlation of 1 means a strong positive relationship (both variables move together in the same direction).
So, back to how to make more connections on BiggerPockets. I ran a correlation matrix for the four variables: posts_count, profile_hits, votes_received, and colleague_count. Here are the results.
For our purposes we really just want to look at the numbers in BOLD right now.
profile_hits | posts_count | votes_received | colleague_count | |
profile_hits | 1.00 | |||
posts_count | 0.67 | 1.00 | ||
votes_received | 0.71 | 0.87 | 1.00 | |
colleague_count | 0.70 | 0.54 | 0.49 | 1.00 |
Now that you’re an expert in correlations, we can see how strong these relationships are.
As you can see the correlation between posts and profile hits is .67, a really strong positive relationship! This means that the more posts you have the more times people will look at your profile.
The correlation between votes and profile hits is even stronger, at .71. Meaning that if you write such great forum posts that people vote for you, you’re even more likely to get profile hits.
But what good is a profile view without a connection? Well, the correlation between profile hits and colleague count is .70, also really strong. More profile hits means more colleagues.
So in short: more posts = more profile views = more colleagues.
I also did some regression analysis, which I can’t explain in a single forum post, but trust me, it’s really cool. What I discovered is that 50% of your colleague count can be attributed to the number of forum posts you have. That’s crazy! There are tons of variables that contribute to how many colleagues you have, but one variable reigns supreme: forum posts.
Posting on the forums is the single best way to build your network on BiggerPockets.
So you want to make more real estate connections, find partners, and make more deals? POST!
Stay tuned for a follow up post on the monetary value of BP connections!
If you have any questions about posting, correlations, statistical nerdery, or have some ideas for other data studies we should run, let me know!
Makes perfect sense. The light bulb just went off big time. I love this forum and the helpful advice everyone is sharing. I'm reading every day now in here and contributing my knowledge to help others. It's win-win. Thank you BP. Do we have an in-depth video on the calculators per chance. I am old school and computer challenged but learning by doing is the best way by far.
Thanks for the analysis!
Thanks for the post! I am new to BP and I'm learning my way around. Always helpful to see tips and tricks from the veterans :)
this couldn't be more true. After reading this post less than a week ago I started becoming more active on the forums and have already recieved a number of colleague requests and PMs in response to various posts of mine!
I know it's not much but as a newbie ALL progress is exciting
Nice post! I am new to this site an the forms- everyone is very h elpful so far and the community is great!
@Dave Meyer Thanks for the analytic, I'm sure the long time forum contributor's can attest to this form of networking and contribution helping their business tremendously.
Originally posted by @Jasmine Dixon:
Thanks for this information. This discussion has a lot of useful tips. I am still in my learning stage soaking up information. I want to be as knowledgable as possible in a few key areas before I fetch my first deal. As a beginner or learner how do I contribute to someone experienced? How do I appear useful to encourage others to network with me? How can I help them? Is this something that will come as I grow in business? Is their anything more I can be doing to build relationships? Any one in Chicago that has a club ? Or open to allow shadowing? Any info is great! Thanks!
Attend local real estate meet ups and show your enthusiasm and passion for real estate investing. Build relationships with people and as those relationships grow, ask them what they're struggling with and see if you can help them in any way (for free)! The Beginner’s Guide to Highly Effective Real Estate Networking
An awesome read is "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi, great book about providing value to others and building genuine relationships.
Great post. Thanks for bringing back statistics for us all. Oddly, I like and did well in statistics even though I don't consider myself a numbers guy.
Thanks for the info! It defiantly make's a lot of sense. We are new to BP so hopefully we can met members to help out and they can help us as well just joining in
Thank you Mike for this advice. I have already started applying these things. I've joined multiple REI clubs in the past few days. Some events coming up and when they do I will attend. I will definitely take your advice to see what others needs are and offer free help, I am currently building my reading collection and will add your recommended books.
Thanks!!
Dave Meyer - as a fellow stats nerd- bring it on! I could read stuff like this all day! Thank you for encouraging us all.... We get out what we put in!
My mind immediately wants to see the correlation between number of posts and real estate success, not just colleagues, etc. .... Obviously a FAR harder stat to come up with. I have no doubt the trend would continue.... The more you post, the more connections you make, the more deals you make. But those stats would be super provoking to read!! :)
Thanks again Dave!
I guess my freest striae with Bigger packet, I able try to begin no ideal am stand and look around,but i see ground zero no houses , and foreclosed on the broad around the houses ed can anybody tell me how to do it , it just get the bill-broad or call location ?
I sure will make work that lot read it and paper work that really gooood job to do it !
Wonderful information I love BP community it's giving me more and more confidence to step out to invest!!!!
@Dave Meyer What a great data .The data is very usefull to make more and more money. Good job.
Just clears a lot of things up, I'm assuming for those who aren't frequently posting on here and ask the question "why am I not meeting/connecting with people on BP" or "BP just isn't what it seems to be, it's too hard". It's another tool, it's another utility, and coming in here as a newbie I recognize that. UTILIZE YOUR TOOLS TO THEIR FULL EXTENT.
As a new member of the BiggerPockets community this is very valuable information for beginning my networking activities.
Great post!!.. I've been wondering the best way to go about it as a newbie to BP.. I'm not brand new to investing, but very small scale. I hope I can offer my insights on what I've learned and network network network network.. ..there is so much to share and learn.. great post!
Makes sense. I see many pros selling "systems" and wonder "How are they selling this when X years ago they were in my shoes?"
Education, Education and application. Makes sense.
Wow, what a great piece of information...I need to get more active on these forums, not only to learn, but network and really grow my business and take it to the next step and reach my goal of financial freedom!
Thanks
Great post! Thanks for providing numbers to support what many of us believe instinctively.
Hi Every one, I'm new to the BP and I 'm reading more than anything, but I want to be an active member, learn as much as I can and share as I go.
You'll be seeing me around!
Great deal of information @Dave Meyer!
Bigger pockets is prob the best places to learn about REI without working in the industry IMO
So more colleagues = more money. Got it. How do you determine who you accept as colleagues? Anyone that asks to be one? Do you "vet" them to make sure you want to be connected to them?