All Forum Posts by: Jim Shoemaker

 I actually had my realtor that I work with for my personal home recently set me up an automated search for expired listings.  I had heard from a few investors that these can be a good source for leads as long as you're smart about how to approach them.  Have you used this in the past?  Do you typically mail them or contact them more directly (phone/door-knocking)?

 Najeriq,

I have looked into marketing to the buyers themselves, but I always seem to find conflicting information on whether that's a better strategy when you are first starting out.  I do have it on my list of marketing tactics to try though, so I'm hoping it works well.

Concerning my first mail campaign, I have run the details of what I sent out and to whom but a few other investors, and they all have the same response.  I honestly believe that my results were a mixture of bad luck and a saturated mail list that everyone's trying to mail.  I'm not too concerned and I plan to mix up some of the lists I'm going to mail to and find what's working for my area.

Thanks.

Hello Everyone.

I'm new to the site, so if this is in the wrong place, please forgive the fact that I'm a newbie and just point me in the right direction as to where it should go.

I am in the process of trying to start my investing/wholesaling business and my first big challenge seems to be generating leads.  I have sent out a mail campaign (1000 pieces) a few months ago to some out-of-state absentee owners, but the response that I got back was 12 calls from owners simply asking to be removed from my list, and 0 leads.

I have since then tried some bandit sign marketing.  From that I've gotten a couple of calls, but one was a short-sale lead that I then passed on to another investor, and the other looks to be in an area where nobody seems to be looking for investment homes (Globe, AZ).

So, I'm not the kind of person who's going to try 1 or 2 things and throw my hands up saying "it doesn't work". I understand it's a numbers game and it takes some time and patience to get moving.

One of the other challenges that I've been facing lately has been time to spend on my business.  My 9-5 job has been more of a 7-7 job lately, and I have a 5 month old daughter which is making my life wonderfully interesting.  We also just recently sold our home and moved closer to family to help with the new baby, so the last few months since April have been a blur.

So because of that, I have recently decided to leave my 9-5 job and pursue my business full time.  Given that decision, come 8/11 I am going to have a lot of extra time on my hands if I can't start generating leads.  I have some tentative plans to send out some new direct-mail campaigns, and while I'm not thrilled about them, I will probably continue trying the bandit signs for now.

My short term need/goal is to get the business at least functioning in the next 3 months, that will keep me from having to retreat to my 9-5 career.  I do have a marketing budget to work with, which is around $1500/month for now.

So what I am looking for is any advice or information you guys can point me to in order to maximize the budget that I have so just simply get things moving.  I know it's a numbers game, but I want to make sure that I'm not throwing my money at something that is known to be something that doesn't work (if that makes any sense at all).

I look forward to hearing from you guys and getting to know all of you as I move forward.

Jim in Queen Creek.

Hey there Bigger Pockets family,

My name is Jim Shoemaker and I am a new investor from Queen Creek, AZ (Phoenix Market).  Married 12 years with a 5 month old beautiful daughter, I have recently decided to leave my 9-5 career in IT to pursue 2 of my lifelong dreams.  The first of which is to own my own business and the second to be a successful real estate investor.  Beginning on 8/11, for better or worse, I will be working my new business full time, and I am eager to get out there and work with others to gain mutual success in investing.

I have started with a couple of different marketing stabs so far, but I'm still digging for my first deal.  I am looking for any/all advice that you guys can share with me on marketing to generate leads.  I sent out a yellow-letter campaign back in April which consisted of a little more than 1000 pieces to out-of-state absentee owners.  From that I got 1 call from someone whom I couldn't help due to a language barrier, and around 12 calls asking to be taken off my marketing list.

Since then I have been working a few weekends putting up yard/bandit signs in some areas, around 200 signs total.  While I have gotten 2 calls from those efforts, one was a short-sale scenario which I referred to another investor, and the other is a home in an outlying area where I am less than hopeful about being able to find an interested buyer.  My plans moving forward are to go back to direct-mail and try some different lists and see how that goes.

I look forward to getting to know all of you and learning the business as I dive into it.

Jim.