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Little or No Money marketing

Updated 7/27/06

Update and Review:

ORGANIZATION

Have you been scheduling time for this business?

Remember to block out the times you can spend on the business and make note of what you will do with time.

The scheduling will be extremely important with these options.

Please be sure to set your schedule and know when you are going to apply time to these approaches.

We will cover in these notes options for marketing your Note Business for little or no money. There are a lot of different options for marketing the note business. Some are going to take more time than others to do. Some approaches will take more money but will bring faster results. I want it to be clear, that the results you get will be directly related to your efforts. TINSTAFL. Some of you may know what this means. For those who don’t I will do more than just spell it out. The initials TINSTAFL stand for There Is No Such Thing As a Free Lunch. Remember that this business is not a get rich quick. It will take work. It will take time and the results are directly related to what you put into it. The results will come faster if you strategically place the marketing funds into the business at places that will help the business grow. However, there are some things that can be done with a lot of effort and little money. It just takes more time generally. So let’s discuss those “cheaper” options for finding notes.

No matter what advertising approach it must be consistent.

Read Newspaper ads:

I have seen success from calling on ads that state seller financing is available. Get a local paper or two and search through the real estate section for any ads indicating there is an option for Seller Finance or owner finance. If they are offering it now there is a chance they have done it before. They may have notes they would want to liquidate so they can free up cash for more investments. Ask for the deal. Some weeks you may see several of these ads and some weeks you may not see any. If you intend to make this a serious part of your business you must be consistent with this approach and search search search. If you search for it for one month and don’t see anything then it won’t work. However, if you keep looking then you will come into one.

Some of the power words or phrases to look for are: Low down low monthly or $X down and $X amount per month. You might see easy terms or developer finance, owner finance, seller finance.

What is the cost? - Some papers are free. Others are $.50 - $2.00. If you buy one per week at the high end what is your cost? About $100.00 per year!

Don’t try to script the call. Just know that you are looking for seller finance deals and you want to know if they have any they have created and if they want to sell them.

Possible script for paper ads:

Hello, is _____ available? This is ______ and I am calling about the ad you are running for seller financing on your property…I wonder, is this something you do a lot or have done previously? Would you be interested in liquidating any of the notes you hold or getting a free appraisal of their current cash value today?

If yes then ask when would be a good time to talk about details of a note they would like to evaluate. Fill out the interview sheet.

Free Classifieds:

Go to www.google.com and do a search for your city and state and the words free classifieds. And that will bring up a ton of options for free advertising in your community. Place several different types of ads to bring potential deals and find investors and sellers. These ads may be placed on radio, TV, newspaper and websites. The ads you place can many varied. You can advertise that you buy trust deeds or notes or cash flows. You could advertise that you can help people make more on their money and look for investors.

The only cost is a bit of your time.

Professional contacts: both local direct visits and through email.

Professionals are a long term part of marketing the note business but once you get it setup you will find it is one of the best things you could ever do. The deals will keep coming forever with very little effort from you! The best way to work with these guys and find professionals willing to send you referrals is to make a direct visit to their offices. The first time you visit you will leave a business card. The second visit will be to leave a small newsletter or brochure with a bit more information. A third visit may be required to find out if they want to work with us. After that one newsletter a month will be sufficient to keep in touch with them. The business cards are a cost of about $5.50 for 250 of them through Vistprint.com for their free cards. You are paying for the shipping costs and they send them to you for free because it has a small ad on the back of each card for them. The newsletters will run .13 - $1.50 depending on how colorful you go with it and how many you print at once and of course who does it for you. (covered in more detail in a full session later on.)

Cost? - Newsletters – under $300.00 per year for 20 letters a week. (more than enough usually).

Add business card cost of $5.50 to that for the year. It will take time before you see any deals come from this approach but they will come and they will keep coming once you start it.

Go to business expos: The business and home expos and shows that are put on around the states are great opportunities to meet professionals outside of business hours. These shows are often put on over the weekends and in the evenings. Get involved with your local community (contact the local Chamber of Commerce or the local city or county government) and find out what is happening when and then make it a priority to be there. Any of the professionals you would talk to directly you can talk to at these shows if they are there. There are many events where you might find these different professionals. Take those opportunities to talk to them.

Cost? Some have an entry fee… $3 - $10.00 perhaps.

Under $200 per year? I think so.

Internet research:

Search the internet for online newspapers and advertisements for RE and trust deed notes. In many areas newspapers are available online now. You can search for online newspapers on google.com and then look through the results. This will take a lot of time perhaps and will require dedication to find the deals you need to make this happen for you. You may also see ads on websites for trust deed notes for sale or similar notes. There is a lot of communication out there for you to find potential deals. Some weeks you may find several potential deals and other weeks nothing. Over time it will bring things your way if you stick with it. Do not be naïve about this approach however, It will be time consuming and tedious. If you are looking for something easy this is not it.

Cost? $0.00 Other than an internet connection there is nothing involved here but time.

Temporary seller finance: …with builders, contractors, developers and FSBO sellers, rehab investor. This is a more advanced part of the paper business. You will need to understand how to create a good note to take this approach. You will be teaching property owners how to sell with seller finance and create a note that is worth selling. If you do it right you will be able to have investors waiting in the wings to speak to you about buying these notes before they are even created! It would be a good idea if you are going to use this approach to have a newsletter that explains the approach to your sellers. Michael Morrongiello of Sunvest Inc. has a great article about creating a marketable note.( http://www.reiclub.com/articles/creating-marketable-notes ) Eddie Speed has a free book on creating them that goes through great details about it. Just go to www.google.com and search for Eddie Speed seller finance free download. http://www.colonialfundinggroup.com/cgi-bin/dlm/download.pl?ID=1003 Totalnotesolutions.com has a great letter in their package that explains the temporary seller finance approach very well. Their package runs $69 or so for 12 letters emailed to you. You can then have them printed at your local print shop for .20 each or so. If you contact 10 of these individuals a week you will find yourself with some deals by the end of the year.

Total cost? – Under $200.00 per year.

Go to Investor Clubs:

Go join as many investor clubs in your area as you can. These clubs may not be focused on your part of the business but the rehab investors who go to these clubs regularly may be able to benefit from your insight to Temporary Seller Finance. This approach teaches sellers of property how to use the seller finance option and still get their cash. You create a note that is sellable and the investor will buy it right after it is created. You can help them create the perfect note and sell it to get their cash. This will help them sell their property faster and may allow you to gain new ongoing resources for note deals.

Co-Op advertising:

Co-Op advertising can be one of the best ways to market you business cheap. With this approach you will contact local businesses and professionals and talk about sending your material out with marketing they are already doing. I have done this with Title companies who process notes as part of the services they offer. Sometimes you will find such companies who do this and they will be willing to send your message out with them. Offer a free training about creating notes or caring for notes.

Title companies, Escrow companies, Note servicing companies. If they are sending the payments to the sellers they may be willing to insert your flyer each month.

Real Estate agents: These guys may not know a lot about the note industry but you might be able to talk to groups of them to educate them on the power of temporary seller financing. If you can talk to the group then you might find some resources.

College and community education classes…You could put together a brief class or discussion on the creation notes and care of existing notes. These classes are put on in many communities and will give you an opportunity to talk to local professionals or individuals who have carried back a note. It may possibly allow you to find some existing note holders who hold notes and want to sell them. Put together a brochure that will explain what you are teaching and maybe give a small blurb stating that you can buy notes as well.

Cost? $200 for some flyers or brochures.

Mobile Home notes:

You can find mobile home notes through contact to Mobile Home parks and dealers and manufacturers. You can talk to sellers at the parks. You may need a few flyers or newsletters and maybe some business cards for this but you will find some deals this way as well. More on this later.

Cost? $100 - $200 for some flyers or brochures.

Homework:

1] Review this information and pick at least 2 or 3 to add to your marketing.