My marketing is generating so many leads, that I may have to start creating a post for each business category. Let’s start with a mid-year recap:

January 2010: I started the year off with three businesses: real estate (agency/investing), mobile notary public services, and a designer fragrance online store. Then I added a fashion accessories biz.

July 2010: I’ve retired the designer fragrance and fashion accessories businesses. Real estate and vending and now my top priorities, with notary services running a close second.

I’ve gotten on the habit of a regular lead-generation plan for both my real estate and vending business. And now I get so many calls and emails, I don’t have time to return them all. The only time I have to return calls is during my lunchbreak (I still have a J-O-B), and when I get home from work after 5pm. I’d like to call people early in the morning, but I think 8:30am phone calls might be a bit too much. Then again, some might see me as a go-getter. I guess I’ll have to test that theory and see

For real estate, I’ve been marketing heavily to people facing foreclosure, and the response rate has been good. My recent batch of 78 letters yielded 10 phone calls. That’s a 12% response rate, much better than the supposed “average” response rate of 2%. I’m attributing that to the fact that I only use hand-addressed envelopes and stamps for postage. I know it takes longer, but I believe people open it because it looks like it’s coming from someone they know. All the other mailings I’ve done using labels or printed envelopes got me ZERO response. So I’m sticking with what works. The next step to this will be hiring an assistant to do it every week.

For the vending business, I’ve decided to focus on non-profit groups instead of for-profit locations. My hunch is that since they always need money anyway, they’ll like getting a monthly payout from the machine. I did a test by sending emails to some senior centers in my area. Out of 11 emails sent, two responded that they wanted a machine (that’s an 18% response rate, in case you’re wondering). I placed my first machine at a bar, which I’m due to service for the first time this coming week. It’s a double-head, which I’m going to break down to a single. After reading all the discussions on the Vendiscuss forum, I’ve decided to sell gumballs only. They’re the most profitable, and the easiest item to obtain. I’ll check my results after a month, and if it’s not where I want to be, then I’ll consider incorporating candy. My goal is build my passive business stream and keep it as simple as possible.

One thing I like about this process is that I keep coming to the same “realizations” over and over again. Stay consistent with lead generation, and always keep the goal in mind.

candy bulk vending · lead generation · marketing · real estate investing

I have another potential shortsale deal in the works from someone who received one of my plain ‘ol letters in the mail. I always hand address the letters and use a stamp. I strongly believe these get opened and read at a much higher rate than labeled letters or postcards. The homeowner tried to do a loan modification, but is fairly certain i won’t be approved. This is a rancher with 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. His story is typical: his business failed, had to file bankruptcy, etc. I feel bad for him, but I’m glad that I can probably help and make some money in the process.

This is the second good lead from my letter campaign. Only 44 cents invested to make a few thousand dollars. I’m very excited.

Update on the other deals:

• I called again today to get status on docs for the sub2 I’m working on. They claim my authorization letter expired 90 days from the date it was signed by the borrower. I’ve been dealing with this servicer (Litton Loan Servicing) since April. I love it how they don’t tell you any of those details when you initally send the authorization letter. Now I have to add this to my checklist of initial contact with lenders: verify whether or not authorization expires, and if so, when. Bastards.
• The lender for the duplex shortsale (American Home Mortgage) claims that they received my authorization letter, but they didn’t “see” the borrower’s signature on it. Bullshit. So I have to fax it again. Bastards.

horrible mortgage companies · horrible mortgage servicers · investments · lead generation · shortsales