How much does your online presence help your business?

Question

Well, I knew that I was missing out by not having a company website, being an active member of Biggerpockets, etc. But I think I underestimated just how important this is to ALL aspects of my investing business. I have always been more of a listener and just a "lurker" for a long time. This year my goal is to become much more visible online and to get involved.

I got a Sub2 deal under contract and I have been marketing the place to a retail buyer through Craigslist, Oodle, etc. I received a call from a VERY nice lady who was looking to purchase a property for the family and was interested. After some quick prequalifying I was sure we could help them own this home and we scheduled a time for her to go see the property. She called me the next day excited to tell me she was about to Google me! Even I was surprised, this was a first for me. She actually found me on THIS site!

So now I am even more motivated to build a helpful website for my company. Does any one have any advice for doing this? I am a young guy, but I have NO web design skills!

How do you feel your presence online is helping your business? What steps would you take first, if you were starting with nothing?

I appreciate the input!

Todd Mims · Answer

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the little tactics one uses to getting their websites to the top of search engines, more preferably google, since thats where "everybody" seems to look these day. Basically, blogging, forums, definitely articles like on ezine will help you get your name and website to the top of these engine. Thats not all, but those are mainly the ways to get to the top which takes a little bit of diligence and patience.

My website caters to buyers, sellers and investors. I know some say to get a website for each, I beg to differ. I would say in the digital age being in business without a website is a no-go, I don't care if you just have a barber shop. It will add to your creds and not too expensive.

Cole Haynes · Answer

Anthony,

I used a company called Investorpro. At Investorpro.com. It was $600 and done in 48 hours. I still contact them almost everyday and ad stuff or get info for site. They have been great with getting back to me and helping me with site.

Anthony Larson · Answer

Hey cole,
Look over your website it was pretty nice. easy to maneuver and a lot of different ways to make money on there. what company did you end up using and how much did it cost.

consider putting the website at the bottom of your messages in your profile.

Cole Haynes · Answer

Rob,

I have a lot of FSBO leads that I have been calling on. It is very time consuming but there are a lot of deals there. I have an employee who is now calling on all of this leads and getting a lot of questions answered for me and setting up calls. So when I call seller within 23-48 hours they are already expecting my call, know we are a decent sized company, and I have a lot of information on property. This should save me a LOT of time.

Rob J. · Answer

Congratulations.  Website looks good.

What were you able to outsource?

Cole Haynes · Answer

Hey thanks for all the responses everyone! I have been swamped doing other stuff and havent gotten a chance to respond. I actually got a site in 48 hours from a company called Investorpro.com. I wanted to quickly get one up and not have to do anything. I was very satisfied with it. I need to focus on the SEO and other stuff I don't quite understand soon. But, I have been swamped with deals! Thankfully. 
          Off topic- Finally read The 4-hour work week by Timothy Ferriss and I LOVED it. Outsourced the most time consuming part of my business and new employee starts tomorrow. Very hard working guy, we will see how it goes.
          Thanks again!!
          
          Oh yea my site is[LINK REMOVED]
          Still need to ad a TON of content!

Rob J. · Answer

I have found that a website is aboslutely essential when you're buying and selling.  I get better quality calls after they view my site from both buyers and sellers.  Aaron recommended one service above that looks promising and I may make a change.  My recommendation is to find one that will allow you to make changes easily. The service I use cost $29 per month.  I can make changes in minutes just by typing without knowing anything about building websites.

Maybe some other investors could give a recommendation of services they use.

Aaron Pfeffer · Answer

yup, need a website.

something plug and play will do, and will run you between $10 to $20 a month.  the first few weeks will be annoying if you don't know much about computers or building a website, but most of the companies that offer them make it real easy to navigate pages and add content, so it won't take long to get used to the applications.

plus if you plan on adding content on the site constantly then you will definitely want to do it yourself because a web developer can be expensive to use their services constantly and often have other clients so you are not top priority.

I use a company called agentbizzup.com for my site and have been very happy with their functions.  i used them when i was just a real estate investor trying to showcase my properties and it worked, and now i use them as an agent to market myself and it works very well.

David Breitzmann · Answer

In this age of communication innovation another visage point is the question that guides economics:  profitability vs. need.

I was once a big social-media buff but reconsidered (though it's still a great way to connect with those separated by spatial-temporal barriers).

Personal socialization is inherently different than any business enterprise because enterprise is led by a measurable outcome.

Lastly, many are running the error of not adding the labor/capital spent developing this new business "arm" into their overall question of profitability.

(e.g. Spending 15 hours per week on social media interaction - enterprise related - needs to be factored into overall adjustments of monthly and annual income versus output0

Mark N.A · Answer

I'm lazy and have Yahoo! host my websites (don't know if there are cheaper deals).  They have simple templates or you can design your own website (kind of fun if you're creative at all).

A small operation can look really impressive with the right online presence.

One caveat:  if you misspell a word or goober up your website some other way you will lose all credibility.