Is SMS effective for wholesaling as your only marketing route?

Question

So I’ve been looking into wholesaling for awhile now and as of recently I’ve been getting closer to starting by the day, I already have cash buyers, I already have start up money, I have contracts, and I actually went thru a phase during the middle of the pandemic where I got really obsessed with wholesaling and learned the acquisitions side of the business, the only problem I’m running into is that I don’t have the time to cold call all day every day and I’ve been researching SMS text blasting and I’d like to start there, my only concern is that I won’t get a deal and that I’ll end up loosing all my start up money (which I can afford to loose it would just suck) and I will have to save up again, I’m looking to reach out to about 10 thousand people thru the course of mid October to early November and I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice or ideas. My market is in Houston Texas and ￼I would hire a VA to sort through the messages and contact me if anyone is interested in selling.-Thanks

Moses Bowie Russ · Answer

As someone who actively wholesales, I can tell you without A DOUBT that SMS Text blasting is the fastest most cost effective way to reach motivated sellers. I have a virtual assistant making cold calls all day because people who are older or at the end of the their rope with debt may not have a cell phone or be good with it. Adopting the mindset that because you don't check every message or any message that the next person doesn't either is anecdotal and personal. It was my own. And then my business partner got us a text messaging service. We casted wide nets and small nets. In a day we were in a game time scenario. In a month we had a contract locked up. SEO and I would love to be proven wrong is a slow burn. Adwords are expensive. And you would be SURPRISED at how many folks who are looking to buy, search like people looking to sell. Send a simple text that's worthy of a response Hint: It's not this "Would you like to sell your house FAST for cash?"

Wale Lawal · Answer

@Jon LaBordeMarketing your wholesale real estate business online can earn you a big return on your investment. Most people who are looking to sell their home for cash start by browsing the internet, so it’s crucial that you have a digital marketing strategy that can promote your business in the places where your target audience will be, which is Google and Facebook.1. Make Sure Your Website Is Compelling2. Have A Solid SEO Strategy In Place3. Run Search Ads On Google and Bing4. Retarget Your Website Visitors5. Expand Your Reach On Social Media6. Generate Testimonials and Reviews7. Post Q&A Videos On YouTubeRead this article for detailed information https://oppgen.com/blog/real-e...Good luck!

Bob Lachance · Answer

We've been locking up multiple deals per month with text message marketing, it works but you need to be consistent with it. Our top 3 channels are texting, cold calling, and direct mail and we do all of them with good results.

Jake Soper · Answer

It works best in combination with other marketing channels like direct mail, social ads, PPC etc

Eliott Elias · Answer

Not as a solo marketing tool, try to diversify and see what works best. Cold calling, bandit signs, word of mouth, texting, facebook, craigslist. Use all of it and go all out

Daniel Leonardis · Answer

The one thing not mentioned is making sure you are not sending SMS to people on the 'Do Not Call List'. A lot of companies that let you send SMS are asking for your EIN because the major telecom providers are cracking down on spam.Cold SMS can work but you need to do it smart, which includes doing it legally.

Jon LaBorde · Answer

@Doug Pretorius I would pull a lot of debt lists (credit card, tax liens, water shut off, etc.) and I would also target probates and pre foreclosure those would be the primary list I targeted

Doug Pretorius · Answer

@Jon LaBorde That's what I figured you meant which is why I warned you that it's very unlikely you will get a deal from 10k cold texts. SMS is a very low impact method of reaching people. For example I auto-delete every text I get from numbers that are not already in my contacts without even looking at them. You would need to hit them up with multiple texts with different messages over a long period of time in an attempt to build some kind of trust factor before just about anyone would consider responding.At least tell me that you have a well targeted list that you're thinking about texting?

Doug Pretorius · Answer

@Jon LaBorde Don't use any marketing method that you can't sustain long-term.Something like cold text blasts is going to require a large list and regular contact for a long time to generate a worthwhile response. I also wouldn't even suggest doing it exclusively. It should be something that you use in conjunction with other ways of contacting the same people.The response rate is also going to be a tiny fraction of what you would get from cold calls. You definitely do not need to cold call all day every day to find deals.

Jerryll Noorden · Answer

Well my friend, you asked to be proven wrong. I will do so, but not to offend you, but to expand your mind so you can learn and gro.I will prove you wrong from several angles.First, through logic and common sense.You said that cold calling is the fastest and most effective way to reach motivated sellers.That itself is false. First, calling it self is nothing... it is the LIST you are calling. So coldcalling is inherently as effective as the list is effective. And no list is effective. NONE!Coldcalling in itself is not effective, because you have to dial the number, hope they pick up,If they pick up you need to tell them who you are, what you do, what this is about , why you are calling them, how you found their number and 97% of the time they will say "get lost". Then the remaining 3% of the time where they will not say "get lost" of og those 3%, 60% will not sign a contract. Not very efficient, nor is it fast.Where you are mistaken is this":CALLING people is indeed fast. Calling is just dialing a number. But coldcaling to get a contract signed, is not.And all this is when the person pics up.If they don't pick up, you have LESS than a 0% efficiency, right? Because you did work, without any result. You didn't break even with would be a 0% efficiency. You did work with NO results.Then, you are not actually finding motivated sellers through cold claling a list. The list itself doesn't generate motivated sellers. You are randomly calling people using criteria that have nothing to do with motivated. Look for any of my posts on BP and you will see the logical and mathematical breakdown why this is truth, not opinion. If you do not understand the why, just reply and I will happily go into detail of that.Now, you said "Cost effective way". Here is a definition all of you need to understand.When you talk about "Cost Effectiveness" it is measured against a goal.Example:Fishing is not a cost effective way to get food. IF you catch a fish then sure, maybe.. BUT the act of fishing is not a cost effective way to get food, because the act of fishing doesn't imply you will catch anything. Get it?Cold calling is not a cost effective way to get leads. Cold calling is the simple action of calling thousands of people, regardelss of you getting a contract signed. You don't get rewarded for trying. Cold claling simply is "trying"Now SMS text blasting... is pretty much illegal, it annoys people, they feel invaded and all my points about cold calling remain valid. Texting someone is not the same as you getting a deal.Now lets talk about reliability and accuracy.If you say "30 people texted, got me a deal", you need to mean that every 30 people, you will get one deal, reliably, predictably, repeatably. I just don't think this method is reliable. Peoples moos are not predictable. People's cell behaviours are not reliable. And texting has these as dependancies to be seen. So texting is not reliable, nor predictable.If someone sees your message while being in a crap mood. You are done!Now lets talk about SEO and here is where I will really prove you wrong.Setting up SEO and ranking may take time (Although I have ranked people in 2 weeks to the #1 spot on Google).. but lets for the sake of argument say that SEO takes time.That is equivalent of the set up much like the buying a list, filtering the list, calling them talking to them..... the difference is this... with Texting, cold claling, DMM bandit signs, door knocking bla bla bla... you need to FOR EVER and EVER keep doing this "setup".With SEO you do this once... and then it is not only 100% free, my leads are infinitely better quality than yours, and I don;t do ANYTHING for these leads.. and while your conversion rate is less than 1%, my conversion rate is 80%+I am not writing this to put you down mind you. I am writing this so that it is now up to you what you do with this information... but keep this in mind...these FACTS. Nothign I said is opinion, everything here is fact.it is up to you to take this and improve. Good luck.