which builds credibility, trust, and over time, your profit.
MISTAKE NO. 2 Not Knowing What to Expect You set up your website and cross your fingers . . . but nothing else is done. The hopeful investor ex- pects Google to magically find their new website and deem it worthy of showing up in the top of the search results. This isn't reality. Work needs to be done to get traffic to your site. There are several ways to do this. The most common is with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO helps get your website ranked when certain search terms (keywords) are entered. Most investors don't know what to expect with SEO though. In our expe- rience, most investors give up within four and six months. It's all because of their unrealistic expectations. The reality is it usually takes more than 12 months to rank a website using some of the best keywords (more on these in Mistake #3). Real estate investors who success- fully rank online do so because they make a commitment to see it as an investment. They know up front that they are going to do the work or pay companies to rank their sites for at least a year. Many investors see this as a negative, but I love that this is the reality. This keeps the compe- tition manageable. Only those truly committed will be our competition.
lem. The woman said to the man, "I looked for them online but couldn't find them." Then she said, "I also checked Facebook but couldn't find them there either." The man quickly responded, "Well, I guess we'll need to look for some- one else then." This scenario happens every day when people are considering using a service-based business, and resi- dential real estate investors offer the service of buying houses fast. If you're not online, you're at a serious disadvantage. This is especially true if you're sending out thousands of direct mail pieces. Consider what happens when people receive postcards and letters. Most often, they end up in the trash with nary a glance. The lucky few that reach a receptive audience
receive additional scrutiny. Imagine you are sending mail with the mes- sage that you'll buy the addressee’s house. This isn't an offer to install windows or sell them a product. If someone is seriously wanting to re- ceive an offer from you, they want to know more about who you are and if you’re credible. It's too easy to jump on Google and search for your com- pany name and/or phone number. What happens when they do that? Are they finding you, or are they find- ing your competitors? To be found, you need a website, a Google My Business listing (free), a Facebook Business Page (free), a Yelp business page (free), and if you want to really build credibility, a Bet- ter Business Bureau accreditation (about $350 per year). These items help build a "full" online presence,
> Continued on :: PG 112
Danny Johnson has been flipping houses for 15 years. He is the founder of Lead- Propeller, whichmanages online lead generation services, and the Flipping Junkie
Podcast. You can download his book, Flipping Houses Exposed: 34Weeks in the Life of a Successful House Flipper for free at https:/ flippingjunkie.com/book.
thinkrealty . com | 61
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter