Is A $1500 Course on This Investment Technique Really Necessary?

[JJ W.]

I'm interested in Raw Land Investing like the Land Geek guy, but I don't ever see myself paying 1500 dollars for a course. Has anyone taken it? I'm intelligent so I don't need to blindly regurgitate scripts or mail out prewritten documents. In fact, I think that spoon feeding wannabe investors can actually be detrimental, robbing you of the chance to learn on your own amd have a deeper understanding of not just what you're doing, but WHY. Also, isn't it possible that a lot of the info you pay for becomes obsolete, anyway? Laws vary by state, and aren't immune to change, which can render a gurus' system "useless". What is the best way for me to learn about land investing without spending an arm and a leg? Does anyone have any book or blog recommendations?

[Jake Hartnett]

I haven't done a deal yet. I'm in the "fire" stage of the "ready, fire, aim" strategy and I mostly skipped the "ready" phase. I have a lot of work to do to improve my letter, get better lists, get more comfortable on the phone etc. I needed to just send some letters to get out of the analysis paralysis wormhole. It costs me $40 to send 100 postcards and I bought a list from the county for $50 that I will get 3 or 4 100 address lists from. I don't have a website or a phone system so my overhead is $0.

Here is some unsolicited advice for you: get yourself a list from the county or from someone who sells lists and send out one mailing minimum before you invest in a course. Don't bother with the quality of the list or the quality of your copy. Just send something out. Plan to not send any offers because you won't have the paperwork ready. You can even plan to not even call anyone back. Just see how it goes. It will cost you $100. Consider it a market research expense. If you can't do that a course won't help you. If you do it you have something to work from. Then you can have a better idea of what you need to learn and what you need from a course.

I didn't send an offer with my letter. I just sent a general postcard that said basically: "I buy land, call this number to learn more if you are interested," and I left my google voice number. On my first call I was so nervous I basically $h1+ the bed, but I got some confidence. My second call back wasn't much better but I learn something with each one. My plan is to continue to take action and make incremental improvements to my system. "fail fast, fail often, fail forward." I don't expect to close any deals with these early campaigns. I think if you aren't in it for the long haul you will be disappointed at the beginning and quit. If you aren't willing to drop money on a couple mailings that basically have no chance of bringing in a deal then this business model probably isn't for you and the course will not give you a rock solid, step by step turn-key system.

In my view, the biggest newbie pitfall is inaction. Just do something.

Best.