The story of how I finally "made it" in real estate

Hey readers, This is a gentle reminder for those who have been thinking about getting my lead capture tools (I call it the "Ultimate Website"), this is the time to do it. Today you can get it at half the regular price. Keep reading the story of how I got into real estate. I talk a lot about winning independence in real estate. You don't want to be dependent on lead companies like Zillow and Realtor.com. You don't want to be dependent on your broker. Heck, you don't really even want to be dependent on referrals to come your way. If you want to be successful in real estate, you need to take control of your own lead generation, so that you can capture new leads when and where you want. It reminds me of my own personal "Independence Day". I remember it like it was yesterday but it was actually September 1, 2002. You might find it inspirational, so I'll share it with you. I came into real estate -- like many of you -- as a second career. Being new to the business, I followed the advice of many experts whose books I'd read or whose training I took either in person or by recording. Now, I should mention that I had very high expectations: I expected to replace the six-figure income I had earned in my previous career and I was willing to work hard to do it. All the experts agreed that I'd make a lot of money by marketing to my "sphere of influence", producing a steady stream of referral business. I was excited because I am a very relational person, I have a large network of friends and acquaintances, and I make friends easily. That meant I was sure to do well relying on referral based business as long as I was diligent to consistently prospect my network. I divided my network by 25 (number of work days) so I would know how many to call each day, and worked through my database touching each person once a month by phone. I also mailed everyone my newsletter every month as well as postcards each time I got a new listing.. I was doing it just like I'd been trained — I was the poster child for networking or sphere of influence marketing. After three months of doing that, I realized that I was on track to make a whopping $30K for the year (which coincidentally was what the average agent made in 2002). What a disaster. How could I leave a job making $200-300K and jump into a new business making a tiny fraction of that?? The principle is simple: Do what everyone else is doing and you will get the results that everyone else is getting. Duh! That's the dumbest thing anyone can do -- exactly what everyone else does! And yet we fall into that type of thinking all the time. Maybe because it feels "safe". But in fact it's the most dangerous thing anyone can do. To me there's nothing more dangerous than just giving in and accepting a $30K/year income. I decided that wouldn't work for me. I had that "aha moment" where I realized that if I wanted to replace my income I needed to do something different. Sure, I was all for referral-based business — it seems easier because there is already a personal connection so there's no fear of rejection like there is with meeting people outside your network. The problem was that my network (and I had a large network because I had been a local business person for two decades) was not large enough to produce more transaction volume. The world was changing very quickly in 2002, and people just didn't rely on referrals from friends or neighbors like they once did. I would need to have a much bigger network to make more money. And even if I were somehow able to expand my personal network by three or four times, which was doubtful, I wouldn't have the time to adequately prospect that network, much less actually practice any real estate. Let's face it — there are only 24 hours in every day! I was confronted with the simple reality that I would have to supplement that "easy" business with my own lead generation, and I had to figure out a way to do it inexpensively. I had a gut feeling that people had begun to shop online so I set out to find my additional customers there but my website was not producing any business. I was forced to fundamentally rethink my website — to design a website that was focused on capturing leads and not just giving out information. And that changed everything. Nearly overnight, I went from famine to feast. I had so much business I had to either turn it away or find people to help me, so I began to hire agents and formed a team. My independence day was the day I realized that I could no longer depend on the "automatic" referral business to make my income goals. I had been "dependent" on the size of my personal network, and so I was limited in how much business I could do and the income I could earn. When I realized I needed to generate my own leads and not wait for them to come to me, my life and real estate practice changed forever. It was a decision. I DECIDED to be independent. The good news is that you can make that same decision. It's actually easier now than it was in 2002 because you don't have to figure out how to generate the leads like I did. I had to invent the technology to capture the business because it was not available anywhere. Today you don't have to reinvent the wheel… you just have to DECIDE that you want to be independent. Here's the bottom line: This year the average agent will earn just over $40K by doing almost exclusively referral-based business. If you're okay with that sort of income, just do what everyone else is doing, and you can expect those same results. But if you'd like to quit being dependent on your personal network to bring you the business, join me and make this your Independence Day. Get my Ultimate Website system -- the collection of tools I use to capture and covert 2-3 customer leads per day on autopilot. Can you imagine how good it would feel to never wonder where your next client is coming from? Can you imagine how liberating it would feel to TURN AWAY customers you didn't feel like working with!? You may think I sound like a jerk, but it feels awesome. What's holding you back, honestly? You can reply to this email and tell me whatever your hangups are. I won't make fun of you. I've heard everything from "I'm waiting for the right timing" to "I can't sign up because I need to talk to my mom first" (I'm not joking). Hit reply and tell me what's on your mind. I'll bet whatever it is it's not as embarrassing as "I need to ask my mommy". Let's get over your hangups now though, because in honor of July 4, I'm offering a sweet deal on my technology. When you use the promo code below, you'll not only get my Ultimate Website system at an incredible price when you choose the 12-month option, but I'll also give you the next 12 months totally free! That is two full years of service for the price of only twelve months. That works out to only $33 per month! But this deal will be available right now only, and then it expires permanently! Discount Code: "NEXT12FREE" (all caps, no quotes) Get My Ultimate Website System + 1 Year Free (Wait. Did you check to see if it's available in your area?) The only thing that might stop you is if is already sold out. I know that your state has very limited availability right now. It only takes 10 seconds to check availability. Just click the link above to check. Are you still on the fence? Read this email from one of my readers... Hi Matt, We haven't met before…but I'm a longtime reader and started using your Ultimate Website in Feb. I know you like to share reader emails, so share this!! I got into real estate ten years ago when the market was booming, and--let's be honest--it was quite easy to make money!! I didn't really know what I was doing so the recession was devastating to my business. I've spent the last several years "just getting by" but this year I've decided that wasn't enough. Your way of doing business has always resonated with me but I've never been willing to part with the money. But I finally bit the bullet and started using your Ultimate Website in February, and I can honestly say this has been my busiest spring ever -- 8 transactions and counting!! To anyone who wants the Ultimate Website but doesn't want to spend the money, let me just say I wish I had gotten over myself a long time ago. I spend almost as much in bananas as I do on my website, and my website makes me money!!! P.S. Can't wait to see my name in your email blast ;) -- June, WI I probably have a lot of readers just like June. My approach to real estate makes intuitive sense to you, but you're a skeptical person. You'd love to have an endless supply of new customers in your inbox every day, but you doubt that it could really be that simple. And because you don't know where your next customer is coming from, you want to save every dollar you can. Well, be like June. Get over yourself and take the plunge. There will never be a better time to do it than now. If you're like most people, you spend more than $33/mo. on Starbucks. Imagine putting that same money into new lead capture technology and being flooded with customers -- as many as five per day while running free ads. Business would be good again, wouldn't it? Get My Ultimate Website System + 1 Year Free (Wait. Did you check to see if it's available in your area?) All the best, -Matt Jones P.S. - Have you joined my private Facebook group yet? It's free, and I'll sharing secret tactics I don't feel comfortable sharing on the blog. Join and meet and new like-minded agents. Guerilla Realty This email was sent to dsoldit.blogpost@blogger.com . You probably joined our list by signing up for one of our amazing free tools, free guides, or you wanted to be notified when we announce new stuff. 99% of everything we do for agents is totally free, no strings attached. The other 1% is even better. Don't let our updates make you mad. If you don't like them, do us both a favor and unsubscribe. Our stuff isn't for everyone.  Unsubscribe | Forward this email to a friend

Zillow's CEO makes a move

Ummmm , Did you hear? Inman News told us weeks ago that Zillow (and therefore Trulia) is banning all manual listings. As of thi

Like   Tweet   +1   Ummmm , Did you hear? Inman News told us weeks ago that Zillow (and therefore Trulia) is banning all manual listings. As of this summer Zillow will only accept listings directly from MLSs or brokerages, and that means that listing agents will lose the ability to post properties directly to the site. The change is designed to put pressure on agents and their MLSs to give their listing feeds over to Zillow, if they haven't already. The new rule will hurt agents who post listings directly to Zillow for free without entering them into the MLS, but it will further solidify Zillow's control over the industry's listing feeds. After several years of consolidation, there are now only two major players and most of the small players have been either bought up or closed down. The two behemoths that remain are Zillow and Move, Inc. (Realtor.com). If you think this doesn't affect your business, then keep reading. The sequence of events we already see unfolding will impact every member of the real estate industry. And I'm not talking five years down the road either. Many of you have already felt the effects of what's happening. From the Washington Post - Bloomberg website, "At stake for Zillow and Realtor.com is $9.7 billion in agent marketing spending this year." There are currently 1.1 million Realtors so that works out to an average of $8,825 per-agent in marketing this year alone! And don't count on that number going down either. Zillow's quarterly revenue growth is at an outrageous 92.1%. PER QUARTER! Realtor.com is growing revenue at a less but still outrageous 50% PER QUARTER! We're not talking about an oddball month -- that is their quarterly growth rate, year-over-year. When markets move toward a monopoly, prices always increase. So much so that Rupert Murdoch's company News Corp recently spent $952 million IN CASH to buy Move, Inc. that was only valued at $841 million. Why do you think they would spend that premium paying over 10% above market value? Why would a very successful billionaire even purchase a company that was floundering and losing market share every quarter? And why would he pay a premium for it to boot? Here's why: He saw a huge financial opportunity. Face it, the nearly ten billion dollars this year in Realtor spending for marketing is a large prize. He wanted a big slice of that pie. "At stake for Zillow and Realtor.com is the share of marketing spending by real estate agents, estimated by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. at $9.7 billion this year." – Washington Post-Bloomberg Just in case you haven't noticed, the cost of online marketing and lead generation is going straight up. We'd heard reports from agents that Zillow has tripled their prices in a year but until we began to study the numbers we thought those might have been isolated cases. Now that the numbers are in, we are beginning to believe it is widespread. Think about it… How else do you think Zillow can grow revenues at 92% per quarter? They only sell to us agents. Their consumer products are all free. Same with Realtor.com. So if you are starting to feel like you have a big dollar sign on your back, welcome to the new age of real estate. And it isn't about to get any cheaper, you can bet. I've talked to agents, many of whom are spending as much as $3,000 per month or more with Zillow or Realtor.com. Sadly, even with that huge investments, the leads they receive are not exclusively theirs. Instead they soon realize they are only one of several agents calling back the same lead. And if you are only one of an army of agents calling your lead back, that makes converting those leads even harder. But there is a better way. Another Option What if instead of buying high-priced, low-quality leads from Zillow or Realtor.com you actually made your own? That's what guerilla marketing is all about. What if instead of spending well over $100 a piece for leads only to be one of many agents to call them, instead you were the only one calling and you made your own leads for less than $2 each? Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well it's not. It's absolutely true when you make your own leads for wholesale instead of buying them for retail. The average agent using our Ultimate Website system spends less than $2 per lead -- $1.39 to be exact -- and that includes the cost of the whole system -- their website, their blog, their call capture hotline, their text lead capture service, their CRM, mobile application, social media integration, web hosting, and coaching. The whole system makes leads for less than the price of a footlong hotdog at Wiener Works! Let me give you an example. Michael TenEyck, an agent in Costa Mesa, California, has been using my Ultimate Website for about a year. Before that he was spending over a thousand a month with Realtor.com with prices going up. Still he was doing most of his business from referrals of friends and past clients. Not only did he drop his marketing bill, but he quadrupled his business in the process. Dear Matt, Prior to using the Ultimate Website my real estate business was limited to 3-4 transactions a year. Mostly word of mouth. I tried Realtor.com but monthly fees for my zip code was over $1,200.00 a month. My mortgage side carried the transactions. After getting the Ultimate Website I have discontinued Realtor.com and I'm now generating 5-8 leads a week and I'm closing 2-3 transactions a month. In addition, the Ultimate Website has been a great purchase lead source for my mortgage company. The year prior to using your system, my annual revenue was $300,000. This year I am on track to exceed $1.2 million in commission revenue -- May 2015 alone was approximately $115,000. I have to tell you that the setup and training was the easiest I've ever experienced. I did a web training with Levi who was awesome and explained how the software works and tips on implementing it. I just hired a personal assistant to respond to and set listing appointments for me. She also took the online training and was on her way in less than a day. I want you to let agents have my email and direct phone number in case they don't believe me or have any questions. I am happy to speak with anyone who is truly serious about improving their business. Michael TenEyck mteneyck@otreehomes.com 909-957-4696 Michael decided he was not going to be dependent any longer. He was going to take the steps to become independent from the lead generators and take his marketing back, spend less money, and do a much better job. Let's face it -- nobody cares about your marketing more than you do. We limit availability of the Ultimate Website system in each market to maximize our users' competitive advantage. If you want to use the same system Michael is using, click here to check availability in your market. Let me to give you another example. Craig Moncreiff, an agent in the San Diego market, decided to become independent over three years ago. He was buying leads from a handful of companies, some of which have now been gobbled up by larger companies. Anyway, not only did Craig take control of his own lead generation, but he got really smart about it. He partnered with a mortgage company and reduced his marketing costs to nearly nothing while increasing his number of leads. _Hey guys, _ I wanted to share my success story with you. I hope you can use it to help other agents who are struggling or looking to increase their business. As you know, I've been using your system for 3 years now. Before using your Ultimate Website I spent a lot of money on leads. I bought leads from Homegain, Reply, zBuyer, and several others. Either the leads were coming in from further and further away or they just got a lot more expensive. The "supposed" best leads in my area are now $315 EACH! And the leads often would say they were just looking or just thinking about selling. Now I get lots of leads. Sure they're not all listings or ready buyers, but it's lots of good conversations. And I don't have to worry that I'm the tenth agent to call them. Usually, I'm the only agent calling. And yes, I do get both listings and buyers from my Ultimate Website. Your system was easy to set up both for myself and my lender. I now use a service to place Craigslist ads and I have a partner pay for it. What a difference! I now make 3-4 leads a day and only have to pay for my Ultimate Website. My best other former lead service was about five shared leads a week and cost $299 a month. Craig Moncreiff sdrealproperties@yahoo.com 619-252-6560 One of the things I like best about Craig's example is that when he decided to take control of his own lead generation, he was ruthless about it. He took total control, cut his costs huge, then split the bill with a partner, and all the while getting a fivefold increase in his number of leads. That is Guerilla Realty at its best. The Ultimate Website system is already sold out in some markets so it may not be available to your. But it only takes 10 seconds to find out. If you want to take control of your lead generation like Craig, click here to enter your zip code. I don't want to "beat a dead horse" as my grandfather used to say, so I will only give you one more example, although I could give you case after case after case. My final example is Matt Mouser. Matt's practice is in Belmont, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids. One of the reasons I really like Matt's story is that unlike the other two examples, he was starting at square one. He needed to make something happen immediately and had no base of referral business. He had been dependent, not on Zillow or Realtor.com, but still just as dependent. He worked as an assistant on a large real estate team who handed him business. One reason I mention his story is that many agents today are working on teams or for companies, accepting very poor commission splits, and making much less than they should, because they feel trapped. I've talked to many an agent who is working in their company's relocation department, paying 40% off the top to the Relo company for the lead, then splitting the remainder with their broker 50/50. It might not be Zillow but it's just as dependent. Matt's story is great because it illustrates what an agent can do when he decides to become independent and start generating his own leads. Dear Levi and Support Team: Two years ago I was starting from scratch. I had worked for years as an assistant to another agent until I finally decided to branch out on my own. The trouble was: I had no pipeline and no leads! But, I knew from reading the books from Matt Jones that I would be successful, because I could generate my own low cost leads. Now only two years later, I feel like I am living the dream. I generate over 100 leads every month on the Ultimate Website System. I work from a home office and I'm able to follow up on all these leads as my schedule allows from home. My income has doubled two straight years in a row by simply using the business plan provided by your system. I now have a virtual assistant who handles all of my transaction coordination and listing coordination duties. I've never had more freedom and free time, yet I'm earning more money than ever before. This system has allowed me to literally change my family tree. The funny thing is that I was generating new leads within 5 minutes of my orientation coaching call! The process couldn't be more simple and it's so easy a cave man (ie: real estate agent) could do it. Over the last two years I've had many agents call me from around the country to get feedback on your Ultimate Website System. Some of them were current users and some were newbies. The main thing I would tell them is, "Follow the training to the letter. Quit trying to tweak the craigslist ad or ad lib your follow up script. Model what Matt Jones has done first, because he's more successful than you." Thanks a lot! Matt Mouser Realtormouser@gmail.com 616-777-7376 What I like best about Matt is that he is optimistic, teachable, and hard-working -- a great combination. And not only did he survive going independent, but he more than doubled his income each year while working fewer hours and having more freedom. It doesn't get better than that. I think Matt is a perfect example of someone who came to a place in his life where he simply made the decision to become independent and then, just did it. Maybe you are like lots of other agents today who are saying, "Enough!" If so, I encourage you to at least give it a shot. The freedom, the additional income, and the personal satisfaction of being independent are truly worth the effort. In very little time you will be wondering why you didn't do it sooner. Think about it… What do you really have to lose? The worst that could happen is you fail and become dependent again. But if you are like Matt Mouser and are optimistic, teachable, and willing to work hard, you can break free forever. Again, because we limit availability to maximize your competitive advantage, the Ultimate Website system is no longer available in every single market. But it only takes about 10 seconds to find out. This year Zillow and Realtor.com are planning on carving up that $9.7 billion pie. It's time for a feast. If they have their way, next year it will be even more. They are currently gobbling up competitors as quickly as possible. When there are no longer any other companies to buy leads from, it will be "checkmate" for most agents. If you have ever dreamed of breaking free and becoming independent -- independent of lead generation companies or independent of your company or team -- now is the time to go for it. Now is the time to take control of your own real estate future. Now is the time to take control of your own income, and now is the time to take control of your own life. You can generate 2-3 quality leads a day on autopilot without spending a dime in advertising. Start by checking Ultimate Website system availability in your area. Get My Ultimate Website System No thanks, I just want to check availability 2016 was a record breaking year for me and my company Guerilla Realty. We are completely sold out in many markets across the country. But even if your state is highlighted below, it might not be your market. It only takes 10 seconds to find out for sure. Click the button below. Texas Colorado Oregon Nebraska (I was surprised by this one too, but good for them) Pennsylvania Virginia South Carolina And of course Florida and California Check Availability in My Market As always, thanks for reading. Matt Jones Broker/President/CEO Guerilla Realty ©2017 FavoriteAgent.com | 212 Northstone Place, Fayetteville, NC, 28303 Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company