In a recent email we talked about getting advice.
Let me share with you a question I had about my own business and the answer was “No Question.  You Want Pinterest.”

Successful Real Estate Marketing

First off, let me just say :  I am not endorsing Pinterest for 99% of investors, especially if you are just getting started in this business. After my extended conversation a few days ago, it’s easy to see how people are getting caught up in a ton of hype, and simply wasting time on Pinterest.

That said – I totally get it.  I understand how people get addicted to “pinning”. And, I can also see why and how business people easily cross the line into spamming on Pinterest.

It’s so easy.

On Monday night we are going to be talking about marketing for your business, but specifically about the crossroads of two things that are crucial to your business today :

CREATIVITY and RELATIONSHIPS.

That said, doesn’t it seem that these two topics collide every second when you are using Pinterest?  Say “Yes.”  Of course they do.

However, most people are not actually “creating” anything of value on their Pinterest boards.  Think about it.  When was the last time you saw one of your friends post one of their own pieces of original work – something that they created?  Sure it happens, but rarely.  Cousin Suzie knits a sweater, posts a photo of it and pins it seconds later.  But this is probably about 1% of the time – or less.

For those of you who have never used Pinterest – It’s a nice little site that lets you quickly link and share interesting videos, photos, and graphics that you find on while you are surfing the web.  You can “Pin” the stuff you find interesting on your own boards and then share your boards with other people.  It’s all very viral, and very fun to see what other people find “Pinteresting.”

If you like homemade soup recipes, there is a board for that.  In fact, the largest boards are posting photos of food and recipes.  There are also lots of boards for cars, boats, planes, houses, architecture, clothes, jewelry and your favorite quotes.

Most of what you see on Pinterest is people posting other bits of creativity from other people.  Their boards are not really their original art or content at all – it’s free advertising for other people.   THE KEYWORD HERE IS F-R-E-E.

Now, what if you learned how some people are effectively using a combination of just two sites – Pinterest and Facebook and creating real businesses.  Business that make 5-7k or more every month.   Do you think you could learn something to help you in your business?  Say “Yes.”

Remember – two main points we are going to be talking about Monday night at WREIA.

CREATIVITY and RELATIONSHIPS.

Let me say this again –

If you don’t put this combination together in the right way – you are going to be lost and alone in the business world for the next 25 years.

You are going to learn a lot more about Pinterest on Monday night.  You are going to learn who is already there, and who you can find to help market your own business.  Females will especially want to hear how they can attract more business – easily.

But we have plenty for the guys too….. plenty.

If you like marketing, but have been more than a little disappointed in your results lately, this is the night for you.

In the first 10 minutes we are going to talk about Nikki Minaj, Shakira and even…. well you will just have to see.

I hope to see you on Monday for the rest of the story on Pinterest and we will tell you what the final decision we made for my business.

Join us at WREIA Monday night September 15th, and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you and your business.

John Peterson

Julie Chen has been the host of the TV show Big Brother since back in 2000 when it started.  Quite frankly, it’s a show I don’t really understand, but none-the-less.  It’s a job for Julie and apparently helps pay the bills.

Julie and her husband, the Chairman and CEO of CBS Les Moonves,  sold their beach house in California back in July for about 14% less than they originally listed it for – discounting their home by about 1.8 Million.

They originally listed their home for 12.995 million before they dropped the price to $11.995.  Ultimately, the sales price was $11.125 million.

The home was sold to someone who must really like the look and feel of teak wood.  You can find more details and photos of the property at http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hotprop-les-moonves-20140909-story.html

They originally bought the home in 2008 for $10 million.  We all know they had some closing expenses and paid a sizable commission – so they probably walked away at about break-even.

Let’s not feel bad for Julie and Les though.  A little earlier this summer they bought another beach house up the road from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for $28.8 Million.

We talk about it at WREIA all the time.  Everyone has their motives when they decide to sell a property, but it makes me wonder if Paul saw the property before he bought it.  It is another Malibu oceanfront property, making it a little hard to get away from the sound of the crashing surf.

Paul Allen reportedly didn’t spend much time there.  A source says “He hated the sound of the ocean.”

Join us at WREIA Monday night September 15th, and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you and your business.

John Peterson

I just finished reading an article about a few faculty members at Harvard Business School who completed a study on people who ask questions.

Let me sum up this 31 page by simply saying:

“People who ask more questions appear more competent – in some instances.”

What was interesting about the report was this:  WHO you asked questions to was just as important as WHEN you asked questions. If the task is hard and complicated and you ask an expert, you actually appear more credible to the people you work with, AND the person you asked the question to begin with.  Interesting isn’t it?

However, the opposite is also true – If the task is pretty simple, and you ask a non-expert for advice – well, it actually works against you.  People begin to think that you don’t have the skills necessary to complete the task and you lose credibility.  Paraphrased – You will appear incompetent and people will actually form a bad impression of you.

Now, that doesn’t mean you need to spend all your time caring about what other people think about you. Ask questions if you are having trouble.  But what it does mean is that you need to spend your time talking with the right people, and asking the right questions.

Which brings me to two of the main points we are going to be talking about next Monday night at WREIA.

CREATIVITY and RELATIONSHIPS.

If you don’t put this combination together in the right way – you are going to be lost and alone in the business world for the next 25 years.

You have to agree – Lost and alone is not where you want to be.

Some of you are taking free advice about the world of real estate investing from “investors” who position themselves as “experts” because they flipped two little condos in a rising market.  Trust me, experience matters and to rise to the expert level takes years of practice and in my opinion you need to survive at least one economic downturn before you can rise to the level of “expert.”

Professional investors are entrepreneurs – and they follow a similar career path as professional doctors.  When doctors are getting started, they go through a training period by getting advice and learning from mentors.  Doctors learn on the job by “interning” for a few years, then many go off on their own and open their own office. They work in big cities and small towns.

How many of you would consider having open heart surgery from a “doctor” who just started in 2013 and had performed two surgeries so far?  Not me……  I want the doctor who is two decades into his career and has performed hundreds, if not, thousands of the same procedures.

Just as dangerous is the doctor who sits alone in his office and never improves.  We have all seen or heard about that type of doctor haven’t we?  The 83 year old doctor who can’t let go of his career, and starts making dangerous mistakes, perhaps makes a bad diagnosis and causes further unnecessary harm to his patient.

Wherever you are in your career, the questions you ask matter.  And those questions need to be asked to the right people.  It matters to other people when they are forming their impression of you, and for that reason it should matter to you.

If you are still spending time online in “beginner” areas of our industry like “Bigger Pockets” or other forums where “newbies” hang out, are you still growing?

Next Monday at WREIA we will have content for beginners, certainly.  But it will packed with higher level information for the more advanced real estate entrepreneurs too.  Especially if you are struggling finding new projects – you will want to be with us on Monday night.

Stay tuned… the next email is going to be a question I asked about my business, and the answer was – Pinterest.

Join us at WREIA Monday night September 15th, and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you and your business.

John Peterson