All Forum Posts by: Ryan Johnson

I would recommend aweber, and I recommend using autoresponders and broadcasters to nurture your leads.

A note of caution is that you don't want to be too aggresive with your emailing (such as launching emails day and night in a spammish manner).

If you have a buyers list, opt them into it by explaining that you can add them to your list of property updates so they have more options. Using the broadcast feature ("mass mailing") is appropriate for this as once a buyer's needs have been met, then your emails don't have any value to them so make sure you have an unsubscribe button for them and this will help you keep some idea as to which buyers on your list are still active and which aren't.

Autoresponders are great for sellers because it keeps your presence before them further down the road until they finally come to terms and realize that they need help.

Use common sense, if you feel you might be spamming then you're probably crossing that line... so make sure that everything you send out is relevant.

After getting my hands a little dirtier I've come to find that it is critical to have a plan for your twitter. From the start you want to identify and evaluate the pros and cons of having too many followers, too few of followers, who your followers are, and where they're located.

I would start by imagining a list of my 5 ideal twitter followers (5 is just a suggestion) that can benefit my business. Flesh out the details, look for common themes throughout them so you know what kind of characteristics to do searches for.

With an idea in your head of your ideal 5 and a list of characteristics you can sign up for use www.twellow.com which is like a searchable twitter directory where you can follow people you would like to follow you back.

Josh is right, putting together a concentrated list can be just as much work as building one anywhere else, but having this list can help because your tweet stream from people you follow will give you a less fettered view of relevant tweets.

If you look at Wendy Patton's twitter account you can tell she autofollows and has quite a staggering number of followers. However, if you look at her list of followers her list is made up of the most random twitterers you could think of. So she maybe able to rank higher on directories and look like an authority based on twitter accounts, but one thing you can be sure of is that she isn't using twitter for her real estate deals with such an account.

One thing to keep in mind if you are ever tempted to hire an SEO pro who can assure you first page rankings is this:

"Only someone who has controlling shares of Google can make such a claim."

and when you're talking about first pages, make sure to clarify 'for what?' otherwise I could get you front page rankings for keywords that have no competition at all... like 'afrofrogs' lol

Absolutely Shaun, the barrier to entry ultimately boils down to the static between the ears. I'm a big fan of this down market because some how by the grace of God I mentioned to stay at least par, and everything else is just more interesting.

Innovation is born of necessity :)

Originally when I wrote the post I was considering the risk vs reward, effort vs. reward btw short sales and reos. Then it just took on a mind of its own.

But revisiting the idea it makes a lot of sense to be aware of the barriers when we're considering the motivations of others because the barriers will in some way, shape, or form leave an impression on the result of motivations.

A barrier could even be applied to sellers who can't get over the hope that god or obama is going to save them.

Hi everyone!

Ryan here from the Minnesota REIA if you are looking for a great place to network then I would suggest getting intouch with our group. This maybe a little last minute, but tonight (10/6, Tuesday) we are hosting Robyn Thompson and I'm sure the event will be flooded with other investors who are eager to network.

Check us out at http://www.MnREIA.com

One of the biggest advantages to attending a REIA anywhere is the fertile networking and prudent education. If you haven't been to a meeting of ours before it's 'on the house!' So come on by! :)

It's kind of a tricky deal. I find that if a significant portion of your marketing is geared online then twitter is a good supplement and can be great as some people have taken full blown advantage of it and that's where a lot of the hype comes from.

On the other hand if you don't have sites and an internet presence to point people to, then it loses its effectiveness.

So bottom line if you are formulating an online marketing campaign then it is certainly worth seeing if you can incorporate it into your strategy. One bit of advice though is that like craigslist, back page, and anything else social networking consistency is king and you should find a way to integrate it into your daily routine.

Ryan Johnson tambien! lol

I wasn't a big fan of his everpresent infomercials, but the guy was a heck of a salesman who branded himself to the height of a celeb.

What a shame...

This may be an unpopular position to take but I find that courses from 'gurus' is essential for new investors in regards to getting started from the square one. Joining a REIA or scouring message boards is one way of getting started on a nickle but, as it was mentioned, the courses do one vital service and that is to put all the information in a coherent orderly fashion so someone that is just getting started can understand it.

Taking college courses these days really just boils down to rehashing a couple books, throwing some articles in, and issuing tests. Tenure professors quit teaching and go into full time research roles while TAs teach the class itself.

But another thing that it takes is an investment in education for some to sit down, focus, and absorb the materials. These days a growing % of the gurus are students of senior gurus like Robyn Thompson & Ron LeGrand.

I wouldn't write off the usefulness of speakers because the legitimate ones have a purpose. I would say it's more the responsibility of the REIA leader to screen, get references, and determine whether or not a speaker is of good quality. I know here we don't bring in a speaker unless we've seen them speak and have seen their materials first hand.

I believe it was something that Robyn Thompson had made mention of at some of her seminars awhile back as something of a leave behind.

Purpose was to qualify yourself above others that your services are credible or maybe more credible than others. This is where it gets fuzzy to me, what it actually entails, otherwise I think it might just be a needed tone in your marketing...

*Live update* Just found mention of it in Scott Risters course, nothing very detailed but his take is having some testimonials on hand.

I was talking with Mike the other day and he had used the term 'credibility kit' which I hadn't taken notice of until now. It got me thinking about the what, when, where, and whys of the credibility kit.

Are any of you familiar with this idea and have any experience putting together and using credibility kits? I'm basically working on one from scratch and my loose interpretation of its meaning right now...