Give Testimonials

That's right! Give testimonials freely.

Why?

Besides helping out someone else (which is usually a good thing to do), they

• provide free advertising (give name and company; maybe slip in your benefits, too)
• showcase your communication skills or accessibility
• demonstrate that you acknowledge other people's good work (making them more likely to want to work with you)
• help separate you; not everyone is willing to take time to do this

Idea: Testimonial Source

This will be a quick one today, but someone gave me an idea worth mentioning.

Every business has different phases to it--including real estate. You can get a testimonial from people different phases.

For instance, you could get a testimonial from your

• Real Estate Agent
• Contractor
• Lawyer
• Mortgage Officer
• Hard Money Lender

Any of these people can vouch for your professionalism, your ability to pay them on time, your willingness to make things easy for them, etc.

Renting or Selling? Know how you want them to get there.

Whether you're trying to sell your property or find a tenant to rent it from you, it's really important to know more than one way (if possible) to get there.

Why?

You want a person to see your "good side" when you first meet them. It's no different for a property. Let them see the good, picturesque side of town. You know. The one with the nicer looking homes and better kept lawns. You don't want to route them through all sorts of boarded up homes. You really don't want to take them through rough neighborhoods. Remember, you are trying to make a good first impression.

So when someone asks you for directions, don't tell them to use Mapquest or some other similar direction-giving website. Know which way will let them see the best your property's neighborhood has to offer.

Market Yourself for Free: Make a Blog

I know a lot of beginning investors who want to advertise their service, but I hear them complain that they don't have enough money to advertise.

How about I talk about one of the ways you can advertise--FOR FREE?

You can advertise yourself writing a blog. (I use Blogger.com, but there are others, if you prefer.) The idea is to provide information that will help people. This way, they WANT to return, maybe even telling other people about your information that you offer. Ideally, you can create a link to your website. Even if you do not, is there anything stopping you from putting in your phone number or e-mail, if you're trying to generate calls?

Some people are worried that it won't look professional like those other websites. Let me put it to you this way. Would you rather visit a professional looking SALES site, or would you rather visit a place that looks so-so but has AWESOME information? I know my answer. You can make your blog look like a sharp website. (Don't use mine as an example. This isn't my objective.)

Plus, there are a whole lot of other twists. Just to name a few: Adsense, Affiliate Marketing links, and Links to Partner Sites.

The biggest thing I see is that is gives a beginning (or anyone else) a chance to advertise (preferrably passively) what they do, and this can be done for free.

So now that you have, at least, one place that you can advertise yourself for free, what's your excuse NOW?

Testimonials: Don't Need to be Perfect: Just Go Get 'em

I know that I don't need to tell anyone that it's always a good idea to get other people saying good things about you. It's also stating the obvious that it helps when we can document these good words about us.

So, why do we all know this, but we still use don't really get them? (I'm included in the guilty party here.)

This post is to honor someone who does a great job with this. Plus, I want to shed some light how easy it could be.

Must all testimonials be IN WRITING? I think you know the answer to that, but here are a couple of examples from a couple of people in a company called The Best Michigan (TBM) Homes (owned by Saravanan Peelamedu and Ron Ristovski) at www.TheBestMIHomes.com.

From a home buyer:



From an outside investor to this company:



How long do you think THESE took to make? No, they're not high-production quality, but the important part is that they have proof from other people that they do a good job.

Basically, if you've done something good for someone, and you know they appreciate it, why wouldn't they want to help you help other people the way you helped them? Just ask for them. Don't be shy!

Getting Started: Motivation: Ask Questions

I'm new in the real estate game. While there are some investors who seem very elitist, the good news is that MOST people seem to be really helpful.

What does this have to do with motivation?

When you're beginning something new, especially something as big as real estate, it can be overwhelming. I have a lot of suggestions for motivating yourself. What is one of easiest ways to do this? Simply find other experts and ask for advice.

Most people LOVE to be experts. Plus, you get some ideas at a pace that is MUCH quicker than you can learn by reading a book. They can talk to you about their personal experiences. If they're really good, they can adjust their explanation to your understanding level.

So, feeling overwhelmed and don't know where to start? Just ask!