Would you pick up the phone for a lead at 10 pm and risk getting hunted down by the Hell’s Angels for a $20k net profit wholesale deal? Beau would — and he did.
On this equally hilarious and valuable Behind the Deal, we’re discussing what Beau learned about how to deal with estranged families, how to work with appraisers, negotiating with confidence, and how 64 oz jugs of juicy juice just might be the secret to success.
Plus, don’t miss the four juicy secrets at the end about using Google My Business to pick up more leads, and much more!
If you got value out of today’s episode (we know you did), consider sharing it with a friend. Catch more episodes of Behind the Deal & join us live every other Thursday at Carrot.com/deal!
How does a guy go from grinding 60 hours a week to 15 hours a week? How do you go from losing over $100k in 2019 to acquiring 49 rentals in 2021?
Marco Padilla, investor/agent from South Beach, will tell you. He built a wholesaling business that resulted in his “money on fire” as he describes it.
Fast forward to today, he runs his business with all VA’s, is a travel junkie, and most importantly, has found a way to focus on what gives him the most energy.
Don’t defer your life, it may not be there when you get up from your desk.
– Brady Grohne
My 10-Year Retirement from Real Estate Investing & What I Learned w/ Brady Grohne
Read the Full Show Notes Below…
So many people get caught up in the income, that they forget what it’s all about. When Brady Grohne realized he was working himself to the bone, in the hopes of an escape, he took a break. That break turned into a decade of epic adventures all over the world. Today we’re going to see what he learned from 10 years off and exactly how he was able to do it.
How He Did It
Right out of college, Brady dove into the real estate game. He hustled hard and found success, but he wondered what was next. The things he enjoyed doing required him to be young, healthy, and in good shape. He didn’t want to have to wait until he was 60 to ski the Alps.
So after taking a good look at his portfolio, he rethought his strategy, hired a property manager, and moved from NC to a little town just outside of Jackson Hole. He put the real estate business on auto-pilot while he worked nights in a restaurant and spent his days on the slopes.
Brady’s zest for life, the way he sets his priorities, and the way he lives in the moment is something we can all take notes from.
What Brady Learned From 10 Years Off
The goal is the path. I believe that you can’t get fit by working all the time, you can’t improve relationships with family and friends by working all the time, and you can’t get close to your dream life by working all the time. You have to build these other muscles, bonds, habits, passions, and ways of life along the way.
Otherwise, you’re at serious risk of finding yourself old, unhealthy, worn out, bored, and trying to remember what it was you were hoping to do when you finally got to quit working. Don’t defer your life, it may not be there when you finally get up from your desk.
b)I don’t strive for retirement. I like work, particularly in the context of entrepreneurship, and the learning, excitement, and growth it provokes. Quite frankly, retirement seems boring and usually precipitates a rapid decline in quality of life as far as I can tell. Maybe if we didn’t work ourselves to death, we wouldn’t resent it so much and be in such a hurry to get it over with.
Beware of getting too caught up in the game. Having passions and goals that you actively pursue can help to keep career and financial goals in perspective. I love James Patterson’s quote “Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
The other four balls…are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.” And yet work is where most of us put our best energy and justify its impact on our other shattered balls with thinly veiled martyrdom. No offense, but that’s not the life I’m striving for, personally.
This ability to tailor your career around your life is one of the things I love most about the real estate game. Our own little island of misfit toys.
About Brady
Brady lives in a little town in SE Idaho called Victor, right at the base of the Tetons, with his wife Monica and their dog Lox where they spend a slightly gluttonous amount of time playing in the mountains. He started his real estate investment career in Asheville, NC in 2003 armed with the print Iwanna classified ads, a flip phone, some Carleton Sheet’s Professional Education Institute contract forms, and the bravado of a 22-year-old.
Things went really well. But then he decided to take an “early semi-retirement” while his body could still handle the abuse he enjoyed putting it through. That ended up lasting a little over a decade and led to countless outdoor adventures all over the world.
He has since reentered full-time real estate investment with a combination of wholesaling, flipping, Airbnb, and agency and a goal to set up his second “semi-retirement” when he and his wife plan a sailing circumnavigation in 2028.
SEO is like owning a house. Paid ads on Facebook is like renting.
– Bryan Driscoll
All About Conversion – How to Optimize Your Digital Marketing for Maximum Conversions w/ Bryan Driscoll
When it comes to generating leads that convert, Bryan Driscoll is crushing it. Using just the standard Carrot site, a few highly-targeted pages, and some PPC, Bryan is bringing in more qualified leads than he knows what to do with.
In fact, he gives the majority of his leads away, focusing only on one zip code. Today we are going to discover how he got here, what he’s doing that works, and why he’d choose Carrot time and time again vs. any other platform for his website.
Read the Full Show Notes Below…
First, you should know that Bryan isn’t in the real estate business. He owns a digital marketing agency and stumbled into real estate after using a wholesaler to buy a home of his own. He learned about the process and thought, “why don’t I just go get the leads and do it myself?”
Today, Bryan is generating leads for himself, other investors in his area, and now leads for buyers all over the country. It means a lot to me that someone who truly understands conversion rate optimization and the dynamics of digital marketing would choose us as their lead-gen platform.
I found Bryan through an ad on Instagram. I was scrolling through my feed and his ads kept grabbing my attention. I checked him out and sure enough, he was a Carrot client.
I found out who he was, discovered he was using just a standard Carrot site, yet somehow he was generating more leads than 90% of our other Carrot members. In fact, he pulled in almost 200 leads in the last 30 days alone.
So how’s he doing it? We’re about to tell you…
Less Can Be More
The first thing that struck me was how simple Bryan’s website really is. His homepage features our standard content, the design hasn’t been altered, and he has even kept the stock photo that we supply.
What he has done is create a good amount of city-specific landing pages that generate highly targeted and motivated leads. Bryan isn’t reinventing the wheel, but he is amplifying more than many others in his market.
SEO Like a Pro
Bryan started his real estate SEO journey back in 2005. He created one website for a friend, saw results, and realized he could do this for other people too. SEO used to be easier. You could even add your keywords at the bottom of the page, change the text to white, and make it so search engines could see your text, but your readers were none the wiser.
Today, Google and the algorithms have evolved. You can no longer manipulate search engines. The content you create needs to be informative and highly targeted. But as stated above, it doesn’t have to be complex.
Some of Bryan’s landing pages are barely over 300 words. He makes sure his content is spot on, his meta description, title tags, and alt attributes all checkout, and he gives the search engines exactly what they want: great content.
The Importance of Pre-Framing
Pre-framing will walk your potential leads through the entire experience. It will answer questions and blast objections You should have a solid FAQ page letting people know that YOU have the ability to solve their problem.
Show them that you have the solution, how you will do it, that you are trustworthy, and how they can take action – in that order.
Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads
Bryan works in the Pittsburg market and for him, both Google Ads leads and Facebook Ads leads cost about the same. You’d think Google would convert better as the leads are searching you out vs.
Facebook where your ad will interrupt the homeowner’s scrolling. However, Bryan sees higher conversion rates from the leads that visit his website from Facebook.
His theory is that this is because, on Google, your top two competitors will likely have ads right up top there with yours. It can be more difficult to stand out vs. when you advertise on Facebook. Your Facebook ad should be bold and direct. Letting people know that you buy houses plain and simple.
Testing it All Out
At Carrot, we tend to through things out there, then continue to test and modify as needed and we encourage our clients to do the same. For Bryan, he tested out the use of 5,000 incredible-looking postcards, only to be left without a single lead. Now, with his focus on the digital realm, he tests out everything he does modify as needed.
We do the same thing with our websites. For example, we have tested our CTA forms using 1-9 fields. We have discovered that 3 really is the magic number. Your form should ask for the address, a phone number, and an email.
And more importantly – it needs to be in that order. You want to start with the least resistant ask first. Giving up the property address is subconsciously easier than giving up your phone or email. Once they have that first field filled out, they are much more likely to fill out those other two. Of course, it’s essential to have the email addresses collected and run a Google Sheets email verification. Thus you will have a valid list of valid people.
Getting a high-conversion rate doesn’t have to be complicated. Don’t over-complicate the process or the design of your website. Start with a logo and stack things on as you go. Start building using SEO and high-quality content, using Facebook and Google Ads to fill the gap in the meantime.
When you follow the process, you too will be able to generate the leads and close the deals you have only dreamed about in the past.
Workshop: Learn How to Attract More of Your Favorite Clients by Flipping Your Marketing To “Evergreen” at Carrot.com/evergreen
You need a baseline of education and more repetition. I can give you training, but nothing takes the place of the actual doing of it.
– Cris Chico
How to Take Your Wholesaling Operation National (and virtual!) w/ Cris Chico
Read the Full Show Notes Below…
Cris is an OG. He’s the godfather of virtual wholesaling and has been doing deals in outside markets for almost 20 years. Without the luxuries of Google Street View, specialty mailing lists, or even a CRM, Cris has been able to innovate, teach, and change the way deals get done.
Here’s how Cris has used a nationwide strategy to create the most opportunity.
Why Take Wholesaling National?
There are many reasons why wholesales should take their business to a national market. Today, deals can be done anywhere. You don’t necessarily have to live in the same market as the house you are wholesaling. Expanding to a nationwide market will also help you expand the volume of leads you are bringing in the door.
Your cost per lead will go down, and you will have more opportunities to see deals, connect with people, and learn the business. When you are only getting a lead every few days, you’ll feel a lot of pressure to perform. But when several leads are coming in per day, you have more freedom to test sales tactics and gain valuable experience.
Tactics of National Wholesaling
Throughout his career, Cris has been a master of innovation in this industry. He was using public data to insert people’s names and property addresses onto direct mail before anyone else.
He had a system of taking messages before CRMs were a thing. As digital marketing evolved, Cris dove into the world of Facebook advertising. First targeting people by zip code, and then expanding his reach to be nationwide.
When utilizing digital marketing to reach a national audience, here are a few tips Cris recommends…
Aim to get $10k on average per assignment.As you get better, aim for $15k. Of course this will vary by market.
Utilize a detailed form to ensure the respondent is legitimately interested in selling.
Always make a loose offer on the first call. This will help you gauge the sellers flexibility on the price.
When a lead comes in, quickly look on Zillow to ensure it is viable.
Offer additional benefits that aid in relieving pain points – ie allow them to stay in the house for two weeks after the closing.
Use professional paperwork and contracts.
Request pictures of the property with the agreement and be specific as to how the pics should be taken.
Utilize Propelio or similar program to find buyers in the property’s market
Start with Facebook ads, then move on to Google
The creative is the most important part of your ad
Don’t get too personal, insinuating that Facebook or your company knows too much about a person. For example, don’t say, “Are you in foreclosure?” Instead mention that you buy houses in foreclosure.
Don’t yell at people.
Our Affiliate Program
Did you know that we are cutting upwards of $70k in affiliate checks each month? Cris Chico is typically at the top of this list. You can sign up to become an affiliate — it’s EASY + FREE!
Start earning by sharing your affiliate link with your customers, prospects, and on your website. Once you’ve made $50 in sales and we’ve received your W-9, we’ll cut you a check each month! Learn more at Carrot.com/affiliate
Cris Chico
Chico’s virtual wholesaling method is the engine that powers the FlipAnywhere Academy training program, a revolutionary system being used by students to create countless millions in markets all across the USA.
When he’s not helping people create the financial freedom they’ve always wanted, Chico spends his free time with his family in Florida.
If you’re not good at putting certain pieces together, find someone who is. A partner or a vendor like Carrot. Nobody is good at everything.
– Adam Mitchell
The “Hidden Door” Deal w/ Adam Mitchell & Lance Doty
Read the Full Show Notes Below…
In this episode of Behind the Deal, we are back with Adam Mitchell and Lance Doty to go behind the scene of one of their most recent transactions. You’ll learn how to find cash buyers, how to host the perfect real estate meetup, and how to make cash offers with complete transparency while turning a healthy profit.
The Deal
This particular deal involved a mobile home on a piece of land in a popular area. The lead came in via SEO and was a young woman who was helping out her grandparents. They had been living in a run-down mobile home that the neighbors were eager to see gone. Lance and Adam were able to…
Help the seller pay off what was owed
Help the buyer find an ideal piece of land
Help a contractor who needed the mobile home
And still turn a great profit on a deal where everyone came out ahead
Finding Cash Buyers
One thing a lot of our listeners ask is how to find cash buyers. So much of our marketing is dedicated to finding sellers – it’s important to have a way to sell properties once you have them under contract. Adam and Lance find buyers by…
Searching the top real estate Facebook forums in their market
Getting deals in the door – this will always help to generate new leads
Utilizing SEO and a dedicated Carrot site to find cash buyers
Hosting Meet-Ups
Through networking, both online and in-person, Lance and Adam have been able to grow their buyer list to over 600 people.
The Perfect Real Estate Meet-Up
Most people attend a Meet-Up expecting a pitch. These gatherings usually have a catch, with something being sold at the end. Adam and Lance look at things a bit differently. They are there to share what they know, to network with the community, and to learn. While it has been a great way to find cash buyers, it has also been a great way for them to build credibility in their community. Another great thing they do is to host the Meet-Ups at properties they have under contract. Instead of a bar or restaurant, people can come and see a house mid-construction and when it’s finished!
Making Transparent Offers
So many investors walk into a house, acting as if they will be using their own funds to close when it simply isn’t the case. If you are unable to find a buyer, you will have to cancel the contract, waste the seller’s time, and worry about tarnishing your reputation. When Adam and Lance are wholesaling deals, they are very transparent with their sellers. They let them know that they will use the option period to get a buyer in the door, and once that’s done, they will close. We’ll have more on the ethics of wholesaling coming up in the not-so-distant future – so watch your inbox!
Tips That Actually Work: SEO Grader
Our SEO Grader tool will give you a high-level view to ensure you are doing the right things for SEO. It isn’t overly complicated – it will help you improve your social previews, title tags, and meta description. Be sure to take a look at this great tool when creating any content for your Carrot site!
SEO is the type of marketing that gets cheaper over time.
– Andy Kolodgie
60 Leads Per Month. All from SEO & Carrot w/ Andy Kolodgie
From a full-time software engineer for the Navy to a full-time real estate investor, Andy Kolodgie has found his place as a “real estate marketer.” In just over a year, he’s figured out how to use SEO to generate 60 motivated seller leads per month, while providing a simple and hassle-free selling experience. Today, you’re going to get a glimpse into how he does it, so you can do it too.
Read the Full Show Notes Below…
Hitting the Ground Running
Andy started his business right around the beginning of COVID. He was looking for time and location freedom and knew that one of the best ways to do this is with real estate. Cold calling and direct mail just wasn’t Andy’s style. With his background in engineering for the US Navy, he wanted to utilize his skill set, honing in on the data and how we could make it work for his business. Since starting his business, Andy has been able to generate 60+ leads per month, all from honing in on his SEO.
Landing Pages
Andy has taken a slightly different approach to his landing pages than many of our other clients. As he is searching for motivated seller leads, he has chosen not to niche down, and instead focus on landing pages that target his state. This helps to capture all of the leads who are just on the outskirts of town or who may not be searching with the city name. A great strategy is to create a robust landing page for your state, that includes information on the cities in which you are buying.
Content Quality vs Quantity
Many people believe that they have to be writing blogs every day to improve SEO, but this simply isn’t the case. Andy has found that an abundance of informational content wasn’t attracting the sellers he was looking for. By reducing his posting frequency and focusing on the content that was of the most value to people, Andy was able to trim the fat and score more leads.
Avoiding Bad Backlinks
Backlinks can have a positive effect on your SEO, but should always be done in the right way. Many people will try to take the easy way out, buying links that may not be valid or beneficial. Google sees this and will in turn lower your credibility and ranking. You could be flagged and all of the work you put in could be lost. Instead, utilize methods like HARO backlinks to generate legitimate, trustworthy domain authority that will build your credibility. If you’re a Carrot member, you can also check out our backlink-building service in the marketplace.
Creating a “Content Pillar”
Let’s say many of your leads come from probate situations. We recommend creating a piece of pillar content around this that is several thousand words. Under this article, you can have shorter posts that a related to your topic. We recommend having 4-5 content pillars for your business.
Andy is helping other investors take advantage of the data in their markets! Reach out to him at thehouseguys@thehouseguysdc.com or at 202-570-4651 to find out what he can do for your business!
Be a man or woman of integrity, both with yourself and others. Not only will this build confidence, but it will allow you to hit bigger and bigger goals because you have a track record of following through.
– Greg Helbeck
The Analytics, Data, and Numbers You Should Be Tracking to Gain Consistency in Your Business w/ Greg Helbeck
In the first episode with Greg Helbeck we talked about negotiations, raising margins, and the questions he always asks his leads when talking about their property.
A lot of his deals are done remotely, which makes it even more important that he stays on top of his analytics. Today we will be diving into what you should be tracking, how you should be tracking it, and who you should be comparing yourself to. (Hint: it’s not other people.)
Read the Full Show Notes Below…
Greg lives in San Diego but does most of his deals in his home state of New York. As such, he relies on the data to tell him what’s working. Just showing up each day and being productive isn’t enough. You need to know what’s working, what’s not, and more importantly why.
This will allow you to pinpoint where you need to step-up or step-back
Metrics = Freedom
For many entrepreneurs, taking action isn’t a problem. They thrive on the hustle and have the motivation to work long hours day in and day out. The thing is – maybe they don’t have to.
When Greg started his business, he was putting out signs, knocking on doors, doing Craigslist ads, handwriting letters, and everything else new investors do when they are looking for those first few deals.
What he didn’t realize is while he felt like he was being productive in his goals, what he was doing was actually pushing them further away from them. He wasn’t tracking what he did, when he did it, or what the results were. He was throwing out a net and hoping for the best.
While his persistence helped him find his initial success in real estate, if he had been tracking, he would have been able to accomplish more, while spending less time and money in the process.
What to Track
When Greg realized he was in the direct marketing business and not the real estate business he had his lightbulb moment. He knew he needed to better gauge his efforts so he could grow his business and find better uses for his time. Greg began tracking his metrics strategically.
Income – Are you really making money? The first thing to do is make sure your books are in order so you know exactly where you’re starting. This will help you to forecast and set the goals to help you get to where you want to be.
Leads – Take a look at your leads about once a week. Where are they coming from? Who are they? How can you help them?
Offers – How many offers are you making each week? Who are they for?
Deals – How many of your offers are actually turning into closed deals?
Revenue – How much are you making per deal and what could be done to improve your margins on the next one?
Once a week Greg will sit down for about 20 minutes to review his numbers. On a monthly basis, he will spend an hour or so to take a more in-depth look to make sure things are staying on track.
Putting it All Together
When Greg is tracking these analytics in his business, he will look at his past performance to forecast the future. If his business isn’t performing how he would like, he can look at the numbers to see where he can improve.
While building Carrot I have learned that you don’t need to track each and everything, rather focus on the 3-7 KPIs that really matter. If we aren’t hitting our numbers, it’s not the end of the world, but at least we will be able to determine where we need to improve.
Playing the Long Game
Keeping track of your numbers doesn’t need to be a long or intimidating process. A simple spreadsheet can help you quickly compare trends from one week to the next. You’ll be able to forecast and predict your outcomes and if something isn’t lining up, you’ll be able to respond accordingly.
When you are first starting out, it can be easy to become discouraged by low numbers. It’s important to remember that in many cases, the efforts you are putting in now, will be rewarded not today, but a couple of months down the road.
PPC, SEO, and direct mail campaigns all take time to build momentum too.
Stay the course and always lead with math over emotion.
Setting Your Benchmarks
As Simon Sinek says in his book, The Infinite Game, we are in this for the long haul. There is no end or defined players. Businesses change all of the time and the bell isn’t going to sound for things to stop.
When setting your goals and benchmarks, it can be so easy to compare yourself to what others in your field are doing.
Social media can give the appearance of “success” but you never know what is going on behind the scenes.
To define your goals, all you need to do is try to be a bit better than you were before. It is nice to set targets, but as you grow your business it’s ok to take some of the pressure off and just enjoy the ride.
