How to get free business deals for life - part 1

This is not an article on how to get rich fast. But if you follow the steps in the short article you will build a business that will pay you dividends for the rest of your life.

While your regular advertising and marketing plans should not be avoided, your online and offline networking should also be given just as much of a priority.

Advertising and marketing will kick-start your business in the present, networking will provide your business with a steady flow of deals that will add up as your networking reach builds.

Networking is just as important as marketing and in many ways more profitable and your ROI is much higher in my opinion.

So, the only thing that I have to add is five things that has helped me greatly in my real estate career;

1. Build your Network - Find agents, use bird dogs and network at real estate club meetings with other investors and landlords. Get your name out and create your personal brand as an investor and someone who people want to work with.
2. Use your Network - Your best and easiest deals will come from word of mouth. I could write on and on about deals that came from "word of mouth" or referrals but I'll save the space and just say fully use your network to create your deal flow, you'll make more money and make more money faster.
3. Constant contact - Keep in constant contact with your network. Most of your deals will come from a hand full of people but don't drop or ignore the ones who are not bringing you deals. Even if someone in your network only brings you one deal a year, if that deal makes you $10k then it was worth the effort to keep in touch. Especially because keeping in touch is basically free.
4. Be friends - Friend your network - I'm am constantly going to lunch, dinner, grabbing a beer or coffee with people on my network. I enjoy getting to know the people I work with and personalizing yourself and becoming a friend will help bring you more deals and better relationships when you know the people who are helping you.
5. Reward your network - Once you know who works for you can customize what you give them. I have a friend who has brought me deals for years and whenever I'm in a new city I buy her a Starbucks mug from that city because I know she collects them. Her goal is to get a mug from every state. I wouldn't have known that unless I spent time to het to know her and it's a way of rewarding her without giving her money and it has nothing to do with any one deal. It's a gift.

In the next series I will discuss how to build a network in detail and how to get people wanting to be in and on your network.