A lot of people ask me about the marketing mistakes I see people make in their wholesale real estate business. I sat down and came up with the 5 biggest mistakes I notice many of my students seem to make over and over again. These mistakes build upon themselves so make sure you pay attention to all of them. It affects you exponentially.

Mistake #1: Not marketing enough – Most people will do something like mail out a handful of postcards and when they don’t get the response they hoped for, they consider their marketing efforts were wasted and throw in the towel. The fact is, some marketing campaigns are going to fail, while some will be very very successful. You have to be persistent in your efforts and do the right amount of marketing to begin to see results.

Mistake #2: Inconsistent campaigns- Sometimes an investor will have a great marketing campaign and get flooded with calls. Then the busy work takes over… paperwork, phone calls, deal structuring, due diligence, etc. The work to get the deal done completely takes over. Suddenly the marketing effort that generated the work in the first place is put on the back burner. This is primarily a time management issue, but I see a lot of people with spotty marketing efforts and they wonder why business dries up so fast. Remember, this business is all about marketing. If you let it slide, so will your business. The secret is to set-up marketing systems that are always running in the background working hard for you.

Mistake #3: No follow-up marketing- Have you ever heard the quote, “the fortune is in the follow-up?” Well it’s absolutely true. You need to not only finds deals, but also market to follow up with the folks you come end up communicating with. This business is all about relationships so be sure to mail your buyers and sellers a friendly letter or card to thank them for doing business with you. Often sellers take a while to decide to sell their property so keeping your name in front of them is just smart business. Never allow your competitor steal your deal because they contacted your seller when he/she was ready to move. Always remember the quote… “The fortune is in the follow-up.”

Mistake #5: Not understanding the different kinds of marketing media- Basically put, do your homework. Understand that certain kinds of marketing like postcards and letters are different than online efforts and vice versa. Marketing has been my life for over 20 years so no one knows this important fact more than me! You should be studying regularly and keeping up with the cutting edge marketing methods and techniques. I literally spend thousands every year on my own marketing education. Even though I am considered an expert, you never stop learning.

Michael Kimble’s daily blog at Wholesale Real Estate blog has more daily tactics and news, as well as real estate investing videos. He also has 4 free marketing systems that you can download, at : Wholesale Real Estate tips.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 4:17 am and is filed under Real Estate.