Finding the right buyers

Sherlock – sounds good and its an honest question and valid problem. In my business I see the good the bad and the ugly of how selling agents work, sounds like you want to be in the good category.

So….if I was in your shoes lookign to build a name and find investors. I would start with an online presence, a website building my brand as helpful, knowledgable, offering free tips that help without expecting a sale upfront. Put those tips in a blog format, build a fb page following by offering free articles, or checklists or ebooks. Link it all up to linkedin profile and get your posts shared via buffer or hootsuite will make it easier. Once I had a bit of traction growing online through my existing networks I would invest some $ into paid advertising in a range of targeted local offline media (local paper, local letterbox drops, etc) and also some paid online marketing (boosting fb posts, ppc on google etc).

Along the way you need to be helpful to each client and go over and above to serve them well. Towards the end of each transaction ask each client (sellers and buyers) for a short testimonial. Start to put those testimonials in blog posts, in your ads etc. Social proof is a big deal, the more you offer a culture of excellence, backed but a normal friendly request for people to share your story, you will get the vibe growing. Referral business is the cheapest most effective form of advertising. Its how my business built before I had spend a $ on ads.

For an example of a selling agent who does all this quite well check out http://www.penskiproperty.com/#!blog/c16dx Penelope Nicholls she has a blog, posts to linkedin etc. She is helpful during the transaction but has a sense of the bigger picture and is always growing her “fan” base.

Like Corey said – network. Get your name and brand out there. Hold an information night (not a property spruiking night). Have a few SME’s presenting on relevant topics to investing such as a quantity surveyor talking about maximising depreciation, a valuer talking about the market, a broker talking about lending solutions etc etc and have a pack to hand out that has everyone’s details.

You become front of mind for investors and the other presenters (more than likely) would be happy to present for free or a small charge as they would be promoting their business too.

Though, I would be wary of recommending houses based on someone’s situation as you’re leaning towards offering personal advice which you need quals and licences for.