Starting a Real Estate Meetup?

[Matthew Powell]

Planning some real estate meetups with folks in my area. What are some of the most valuable things you have learned/done when attending a meet up?

[Brandon Rush]

Hey Matthew,

I started my meetup in Central Connecticut about six months ago and here are a few tips I have:

* Host your meetup at a location that is convenient for the majority of people.

* Create an email campaign with a service such as MailChimp to allow attendees to get automatically reminded of your meetup. At first I was posting my meetups to Facebook and BP but many people constantly were asking, "when is your meetup again?" With an email campaign you will send the reminders directly to each person each time.

* Invite lots of people. At first you will feel as if you are inviting too many people but don't be surprised when only 10-15% of the people you invited show up. 

* Track who attends your meetup. Make sure to have some form of a sign in process for your meetup. This will allow you to build your contact database, add new email addresses to your mailing campaign and find potential partners. I do this with a QR code on a sign in form that is linked to Google Sheet.

* Bring some kind of value to your meetups. I personally like to bring a specific topic of discussion to my meetups rather than just meeting up and socializing. With the different topics comes different people to your meetups allowing for a mix of attendees over time. Pick something fun and interesting that will attract people to your meetup on a regular basis.

* Initially, you will have some meetups where either only a few people show up or none at all. Do not get discouraged. It will take time, but it will all come together.

That's all I have for now. I would highly recommend you start one up. Good luck on your journey and reach out if you have any questions!