How to Manage REI Networking Group - Seeking Suggestions

Question

I chose the forum category "Real Estate Success Stories" because I consider this my biggest real estate success so far: April 2016 I was looking for more RE networking but no group existed in Las Cruces, New Mexico that I could find. So I STARTED ONE! First meet-up was May 2016 and tonight is our 15th meet-up! Yay! We started with about 7 people and attendance has peaked at about 25...average of 15 though. However, our email list has grown to about 80 people and our Facebook group has a following of 60-70. So I've felt like it's pretty successful.

BUT...

I'm looking to restructure the group. Currently this is it:

-meet-up EVERY month, first Thursday of the month, 7pm

-same location each month

-I find new speaker for each month, most local, our first out-of-town speaker is tonight (someone driving down from Albuquerque just for this!! They approached me and we are honored they are willing to come)

-Attendance/participation is free, speakers volunteer their time too

SO...

The question I have is, how do other Real Estate Investor networking groups operate? In your experience, what works to get people committed to attending? Someone recently suggested to me that if people had to pay they'd be more committed, and to maybe have meet-ups less frequently so they can plan for once a quarter, or something like that. Any wisdom about what works in your areas? I just want to make the greatest impact for the most people and I know a lot more people are interested in coming but have just let life get in the way instead of committing.

In addition to this post I'm also working now to contact those on the list who do not yet attend to see what we can do to better support them in coming so I'm sure I'll get ideas there.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

PS - We've talked about taxes, property management pros and cons, pros and cons of self-managing, mobile home investing, our local market (Las Cruces and El Paso), public improvement districts and how our own city is looking to make improvements to grow our downtown into a thriving market, goal setting, success stories, pros and cons of new construction versus previously owned properties....a lot of great things...Just wanted to add that to my feelings of this group being a success...and also to add in some other "key words" that might get more people to see this post :)

David Torres · Answer

Account Closed congrats on your success!  For my group, I think the most important part is having a phenomenal speaker.  People want great content.  Don't be afraid to have a cover charge.  This is definitely not a money maker.  You have to pay for memberships (on BP and meetup), room fees, and food.

One other important thing is to be on meetup.com.  It is a great platform and has good built in reminder and communication features.

Brie Schmidt · Answer

Account Closed - Our group has been going for about 2.5 years and we have 500 on our list with about 50-60 showing up each month.  We are in Chicago though, so a much bigger market with 20+ meetups as competition.

We meet the same week, time and location, this helps people plan and our events are free (though I do ask for a donation to pay for meetup.com and mailchimp - I still end up paying a portion out of pocket but it ends up being $200 a year or so).  I would keep a set schedule.

I send out emails through mailchimp 2 weeks before the event and the day before to remind people.

Meetup.com really helped expand the group outside of BP - But I still post on BP monthly

We do not have speakers, instead our group is focused on networking and working together.  About 30 minutes into the event everyone sits down, and we go around the room introducing yourself, what we do and what we need.  That way if you are looking for X you can hear who provides X and go talk with them after introductions.  We try to keep this to 2-3 sentences, otherwise it will take too long.  Then we have people who have deals to partner one present them to the group, this also encourages people to work together.

Then it is open networking for 2-3 hours.  As one of the organizers I try to keep track of who does what, so when I get approached I can refer them to someone who has done that or provides a service to solve their problem.  I can't say enough good things about our group, many have done deals together, lent money to each other, been featured in articles, and even been on TV shows because of connections through our group.  We also work hard to maintain the same mentality of giving back that is here on BP.  By encouraging everyone to work together it has only enhanced everyone's business

Audrey Ezeh · Answer

AWESOME you are sticking around :)

Brie Schmidt · Answer

Account Closed - we went through 3 other locations before sticking to ours for about 2 years now.  A lot of places wanted a food and beverage minimum, were too far from transit, not enough parking, ect.  I ended up finding a family Italian/pizza place with a small banquet room (I think I searched private party on yelp and called around).  I called around to about 20 places and explained what we wanted, something quiet and at least semi private, and free.  Once I found a place I asked when their slowest night was and we set the event up on that date.  It is kinda a dive, and every once and awhile someone makes a comment about having it at a fancier place.  I tell them to go ahead and find it and they can use their credit card for the room fee or food and beverage minimum, then they shut up.

They have a full menu and bar and people can start a tab and order what they want and pay their own bill.  Only once or twice have I been stuck with a tab, and it was usually just a drink or two.  Our event starts at 6:30 and I am usually there till 11 pm.  They don't ever rush us out, but we also bring a good amount of business.

Before making a shift, I would survey your attendees and ask what they like, don't like, or want to have.

Account Closed · Answer

@Brie Schmidt Thank you so much! That is SO helpful. Glad to hear we are kind of on track :) So, when I say speaker, that person usually plans 15 minutes of content and then it continues as people have questions and then the intent was for networking afterward. We do want more time for that.

Where does your group meet? What kind of venue do you use?

We've also seen some people partner and great connections established but I feel there is a lot more room for growth with that. We just need more time. Our previous location we needed to be out of pretty quickly so that limited the time we could talk. Mostly that's the biggest hangup right now. I need a better location. So far though every location I find that seems big enough actually costs too much...I can't and don't want to pay a couple hundred dollars per month to cover a room expense so I'm trying to find other solutions.

I love that your focus is more on the networking part. I focused for awhile on the education part because we are still wanting to learn more and it just seemed like the best thing. But I'm feeling like your idea is a much better shift for us right now. We need more time to talk about action rather than just listen to someone speak.

Do you provide food at the events too?

Audrey Ezeh · Answer

Hi Account Closed, first of  all, I am so grateful you founded this group. Last year while waiting to find out which of the 3 cities we were moving to, I looked for REI groups in all 3 cities and there was one in every other city except Las Cruces, I was pretty bummed about that. Fast forward a month b4 we moved and I looked again and saw that you had started the group and I was so glad to have such a nice diverse group learning from each other. One thing I do wish is that we have more experienced investors in attendance. I recently met a guy who has a long track record flipping homes here and in Alamogordo and I invited him to tonight's meeting.

I hope we can keep it going and I'll be ok with either monthly or quarterly meetups.

Account Closed · Answer

Thanks @David Torres! I've heard about that a few times now so it's probably time to look into it :) Thanks for the info.

Account Closed · Answer

@Brie Schmidt That is fantastic info! I can't tell you how excited I am for this help. Yes, I agree about talking with the group first.  I'm looking forward to tonight to talk with everyone.

Account Closed · Answer

Yay! Thanks @Audrey Ezeh! We actually just made the decision to stay in Las Cruces for a few more years so now that I'm feeling more settled I'm going to be working to find more people like that and to really grow the group. Thank you for inviting that person! Hope to meet him tonight!

How to Manage REI Networking Group - Seeking Suggestions

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