Knock, Knock…

Today, social media is the big thing many real estate professionals use to market for business, at least it should be. Everyone is Facebooking, Tweeting, Blogging, Vlogging, hash tagging, etc. but how many of you still make it a point to go out and do mass socializing face to face. When was the last time you went to a happy hour, a luncheon, and/or door knocking? Yes I said door knocking. In no way am I taking anything away from online social media but it works better when done in collaboration with face to face interactions.

Today everyone is focusing on online branding and marketing. Everyone claims to be the best in their field and some go as far as to make claims they cannot prove. So what do you do to stand out? Obviously, the number one thing to do is keep all those promises your marketing makes and collect testimonials. If you want to solidify your position in your marketing area or dominate your niche you want to get out there and let yourself be seen.

Many successful investors, real estate agents, title company reps, insurance agents, etc. have said to me they were too busy to attend a networking event. Sometimes I am caught by surprise because those same people were the ones I would see at every event in town. Admittedly, in the past, I too have gotten comfortable with socializing online and neglected the face to face interaction. When deals were a bit more difficult to locate I began attending the networking events I attended religiously in the past. And as you can imaging the number of potential investment properties I was sent increased and a few were actually worth looking into. The real investors here know what I’m talking about. I also had the opportunity to meet many newbies that were looking for assistance on how to wholesale. I was always more than happy to assist new wholesalers that are committed. I benefited by being the first person to see the deals they found. The best part is I taught them to identify real deals that I or any true investor would buy.

Door knocking, while it has been around forever, not too many people do it anymore. Lately, I have heard of more and more wholesalers and investors contracting amazing deals from door knocking. I tried door knocking on pre-foreclosures but had little success. I think I gave up on it too early because many wholesalers and investors swear by it. Recently, I have even spoken with a few real estate agents about the many deals they have listed from door knocking. Next time you are thinking, “What else you can do to find a deal?” You might want to consider knocking on some doors. Because door knocking is more time consuming I would target a specific list of motivated sellers such as a pre-foreclosure list, a probate list (the executors address), FSBO list, and other similar lists.

If you build a strong internet presence people will recognize you at the networking events and/or at the front door and be more willing to speak with you. If you have an amazing online brand go out and network. You will see your business skyrocket. You too will see an increase in business even if your online marketing is not as strong as you wish it was. In fact, by attending more networking events I have seen a person’s online presence increase dramatically, but you must actually network while at the event. Take advantage of today’s technology and incorporate some good ’ole face to face interaction and you are sure to find more success than by just doing one without the other.