Advertising Advice From A “Mad Men” Era Legend

DC Real Estate Investing

Re: Advertising – Part 1

In our last post we talked about an article that detailed the shared common traits that result in 10k views on a Zillow listing.

What it all boils down to today is that you must have nearly amazing photos and spectacular words to get any type of attention.

If you don’t choose the right photos and words – your listing could simply flop.

No traffic online.

This means no traffic to your house in the real world.

Which means no traffic in your wallet.

Even in an aggressive buyers market – the more people that you can get excited about your listing – the more likely you are to get top dollar.

Better yet – get enough people excited and you might find yourself in a bidding war.

There are many “ingredients” that go into a profitable property flip:

  • Choosing a great neighborhood with good nearby schools
  • Choosing the right home where the bulk of buyers will be interested in “living”
  • Choosing the right materials when you improve the home
  • Not over-improving the property while still being competitive in your upgrades
  • Not over-paying for the property to begin with
  • Doing it all in a timely manner so you can get to the closing table and collect your profit.
  • and many, many more.

All along the way – if you make the right decisions – the process can be really very simple.

When it’s time to write up the listing for sale – it’s nearly effortless.

However, if you choose the wrong house that is just a little too small you can find yourself overpriced, and waiting for the right buyer.

On a recent “real life” home buying show one of the buyers said something that made me laugh out loud.

“I don’t want to see any house that they say is “charming”. Charming just means it’s small.” – Home Buyer on TV Show

The buyers are onto all our old tricks. If the house is small – let’s just play it up for the audience that is out there looking for something small.

For instance, your headline could be

Save on electric bills this winter!
Smaller house = smaller utility bills!

What that does is “targets” your audience. People looking for a monstrous McMansion will pass right on by. On the other hand, it will cause the right person looking for something smaller to stop and stare.

Speak directly to YOUR AUDIENCE. Ignore the rest.

Now on to David Ogilvy. He wrote a book that came out in 1983. The title was Ogilvy on Advertising.

It’s considered timeless by anyone in the advertising industry. If you’ve never heard of it and are seriously running a business you deserve to give it a good slow read – with a highlighter.

Ogilvy spent his career working on ads for major corporations. He would get laser focused on an audience, understand what they wanted and then speak to them in his ads.

Something I really appreciate about the guy – as an ad man –  He wasn’t afraid to ask for the order.

If fact, he seems to sum up his efforts with this quote from his book –

“When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.”

Keep that in mind when you are working on your next property. Whether you are rehabbing the bathroom or writing the listing – are you looking for a pat on the back for being “creative” or are you trying to sell the property?

With that thought, and before we eat up too much time, how about I leave a little more to this discussion for part two?

Now, I hope this does not surprise you. I’m about to ask you for an order.

Come on out on Monday, September 11th. We will be hyper focused talking about marketing tactics and specific advertising for small businesses in our DC area that brings results.

Getting your message in front of the right audience has never been more important.

Learn what it’s like to run monthly 4 and 5 figure marketing campaigns for companies in the DC area and beyond.

You may not have the budget or interest in spending 70-80k in a month on marketing.

That’s completely fine. You can relax.

You can still learn to easily use these tactics and scale them down – or up – depending on your individual needs.

Maybe 70-80$ in ads is all you need to improve results on your listing? Don’t let 70-80$ stand in the way of actually selling a home!

When done right – this type of targeted marketing will pay off with thousands in profit.

You can grab a seat for next Monday night or become a WREIA member here.

*********

Interested in a single night seat or a WREIA Membership?

Save a few dollars and reserve your seat early.

Tremendous Savings and Additional
“Members Only” Perks for WREIA Members

*********

FOCUS and make 2017 a great year for your business!

Let me know how I can help you,

John Peterson
301-881-5541
Washington REIA Network, President
Profitable Property, Founder

Capital One makes record real estate buy in Georgetown – Washington Business Journal

DC Real Estate Investing

Washington Business Journal

Capital One makes record real estate buy in Georgetown
Washington Business Journal
… for $12.2 million. Capital One’s purchase may well be a record for a commercial property sale in D.C. With 3150 M St. NW coming in at 8,769 square feet, the purchase price represents more than $5,720 per square foot for un-leased retail building … 

10k Views On A Zillow Listing? – Here’s How – LINK

DC Real Estate Investing

Re: 10k views on Zillow

On Monday, September 11th we are going to talk about marketing your real estate business.

Most people think about marketing in our business as “looking for homes”.

But let’s talk about the time when you try to sell the property.

Let’s start here and agree that it’s important it is to get your property in front of as many people as possible – who qualify for your home.

Here is a quick link to a Zillow article. In the article, you will read how important the photos and a good description are for your views. They follow it up with a great sample of a well-written property description.

Which is all well and good. Great article.

But…..

What they are leaving out in this story is the fact that in order to sell the property you have to market to a hungry audience and target the people who are qualified to purchase the home.

The good news is – it’s easier than ever to target your market. And you don’t have to worry about getting 10,000 views on Zillow in order to sell a property today.

You only need one view from one person to make a sale. As long as you trigger their emotions in certain ways – they won’t be able to forget your property. (In fact, they will have to see it.)

That’s just a hint of what you have in store for our next WREIA event on Sept. 11th. You are going to learn some great “stuff” about marketing at our September meeting.

Our guest in September is an outside speaker.

Well, sort of.

Many of you know him and have met with him after some of our previous WREIA meetings. We often talk about the various forms of marketing he helps me with throughout the year.

Come on out on Monday, September 11th. He will be hyper focused talking about marketing small businesses in our area that brings results.

Getting your message in front of the right audience has never been more important.

Learn what it’s like to run monthly 4 and 5 figure marketing campaigns for companies in the DC area and beyond.

You may have no interest in spending 70-80k in a month on marketing.

That’s completely fine. You can relax.

You will learn to easily use these tactics and scale them down – or up – depending on your individual needs.

You can grab a seat for next Monday night or become a WREIA member here.

*********

Interested in a single night seat or a WREIA Membership?

Save a few dollars and reserve your seat early.

Tremendous Savings and Additional
“Members Only” Perks for WREIA Members

*********

FOCUS and make 2017 a great year for your business!

Let me know how I can help you,

John Peterson
301-881-5541
Washington REIA Network, President
Profitable Property, Founder

Ric Edelman says “Retirement is GONE.”

A top financial adviser says the notion of retirement is gone — here’s what he thinks people will do instead

  • Joe Avella and Libby Kane
  • Aug. 16, 2017, 10:35 AM

Ric Edelman is the founder and executive chairman of Edelman Financial Services, one of the nation’s leading financial advising firms, and author of the new book “The Truth About Your Future: The Money Guide You Need Now, Later, and Much Later.”

Ric says the notion of retirement is gone.

Following is a transcript of the video.

The notion that you’re born, go to school, get a job, retire, die. That’s gone. You’re not going to do that anymore.

Life expectancy is most likely going to be extended dramatically, meaning you may very well live to 110 or 120. The notion of retiring at 65 and living 120 there’s no way you’re going to be able to afford a life of leisure for 50 or 60 years.

The notion of retirement is gone. This was the 20th century innovation. It didn’t exist in the 19th century and it’s not going to exist in the 21st century. You’re going to work until you’re 75, 85, 95, 105. And don’t worry about it. It’s not as horrific as it sounds. Because you’re going to want to do that.

You’re going to want to work for two reasons. Number one: you’re going to be healthy enough to do it. You’re going to be as healthy at age 100 as you are at age 40 or 50, and that means you’re going to want to remain viable and a participant in the economy and in the community to be a valued member of the community.

Second, it’s going to be easier than ever to make money thanks to the shared economy, the gig economy, the notion of part-time work, working through the internet. It’s going to be easier than ever to earn a living. You’re not going to have to work 40 or 50 hours a week, and you’re not going to have to make 100 or 200 grand a year to do it. You’ll be able to supplement your income, 20, $30,000, $40,000 a year working on a part-time basis doing whatever you feel like doing. It’s going to be easy to make money, and that means instead of waiting until you’re old to retire you’re going to be able to retire early and often.

We call them sabbaticals right now. So you’ll go to school, you’ll get a job, and then you’ll take a couple of years off, go back to school, and emerge with a totally new career.

And you’ll do this cyclical lifeline frankly for your entire life. So the notion of a linear lifeline is gone. Instead it will be a cyclical lifeline where you will engage in learning, employment, and leisure on a repeating cycle for as long as you live.

It’s going to be fun and it’s going to be enjoyable and it’s going to be beneficial for the community as well. What’s not to love?

Originally found at http://www.businessinsider.com

Content may be edited for style.

Home Prices Rose in Every State in the Nation—Except One – Realtor.com News

DC Real Estate Investing

Details On WREIA Members Event – Sat. Aug. 5th – 9-11 AM

DC Real Estate Investing

Re: WREIA MEMBER ONLY – Saturday Event – Aug. 5th 9-11AM

Over the last few months, our monthly WREIA meetings have focused on Mortgage Notes and Self Directed IRA’s.

Here is your chance to see both of these investor tactics in action.

WREIA MEMBERS are invited to join us this Saturday in Upper Marlboro for our live event. (Address will be sent to MEMBERS only prior to the event.)

Come on out and learn about the real conversations you will have when it comes time to fund a property using Self Directed IRA funds.

Conversations with Investors, Closing Attorney, Sellers or Sellers Agents, and most importantly your directions for your account custodian.

Don’t worry if this sounds intimidating. There are a few basic guidelines I like to follow that makes sure everything takes place without any last minute issues.

All WREIA members will receive an email with more details and a local address.

BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN US!

If you need to enroll as a WREIA member it’s easy enough. Just follow this link to our next WREIA monthly meeting event in Sept. When you sign up as a WREIA member we will include you with all the details for Saturday.

These WREIA member events are a GREAT opportunity to network with serious investors who are using real estate to raise their income and net worth and live the life of a real estate entrepreneur.

Securing those profits is a mystery to many people. Uncover some of those mysteries as you grab a front row seat and learn “from a street level” instead of a classroom.

We will be talking about funding and mortgages but you will also get to see what the renovation BUDGETS are like inside houses in 2017 here in the DC area.

Join me and other WREIA Members this Saturday.

You can grab a WREIA membership at this link.

And remember –

We have WREIA monthly meetings 10 times every year.

We take August and December off to spend time with family, friends or just catch up on life.

This special event will be the only opportunity to network with other WREIA members until our Sept. monthly meeting in Bethesda.

Let me know how I can help you,

John Peterson
301-881-5541
Washington REIA Network, President
Profitable Property, Founder

P.S. Interested in a lender or construction partner for your project? We lend to and partner with people all over the DC area. Call the office and lets set up a time to talk through or walk through your project.


Realtor.com News

Home Prices Rose in Every State in the Nation—Except One
Realtor.com News
“The fact that the oil markets have been a little bit slow probably has as many people looking to leave the state as coming in,” says Chief Economist Danielle Hale of realtor.com®. Even with the decline, it’s unlikely hordes of wannabe homeowners will …