I have invested in software to help, with absentee owners, and other lead generating techniques, however I am finding it difficult to find anything.

Tailor your rental application to the people that are likely to rent your house and take the time to ask a lot of questions.A good rental application and the right questions can better define the risks of renting to a low-income tenant than credit checks and background checks.

"I will buy your home" or "I will make you a cash offer" techniques are straightforward but likely misleading if the intent was always to wholesale.  

I find this to be a good technique when I am trying to make a decision - I mean this seriously, and with all good intent.

And I have these email addresses, phone numbers and some demographic data that can help me tailor my message to these clients that I would not otherwise have.  

Was wondering what avenues(techniques) to obtaining properties through wholesale with zero money involved?

Man I love that technique, my Thai Princess not so much.

When I first started looking into real estate, I attended several guru events, all of which had all the pumped up "hot air" motivation techniques.

Most people are very quick to dismiss spending that much as an absurd amount to pay for something you can learn elsewhere but there are many niche areas (finance, notes, restructuring, even negotiation techniques) with one little tidbit that can easily make you an extra $2000 in a deal let alone the $200000 you make off that one idea over a lifetime.

Technically, Owen's suggestion is an illegal marketing technique called "bait and switch".