Anyone who has a few deals under their belt is suddenly planning a "training package" or offering to be a mentor (for a hefty fee) or is writing a book. There are plenty of people out there that have incredible experience and offer some really excellent services (Dave Lindahl, for instance, is the real deal with a great program: http://www.rementor.com/). The thing that gets me is that so many investors are now flooding the "market" with training systems and home study courses galore. They see the "Gurus" making tons of money and want a piece of the action, its only natural, right?
My problem with it is two fold: First, I don't see that many of these people understand that in order to make it big in any venture, you need to give before you can get. Second, they are not setting themselves apart from the crowd or finding a good niche to carve out to really make the product shine.
Giving before you get is something I've always believed in passionately. Some of the most successful people you'll meet probably started out asking people "What can I do for you" rather than asking what can I GET out of you. Its one reason why I'm working with Local Real Estate Deals Media, we are looking to help other businesses in their goals first and foremost, and we know that in approaching our business that way we will see exponential returns in the future. We're already seeing that return coming back to us with incredible speed. Dave Lindahl (to use him again as an example) is offering his boot camp for free to people who sign up for his newsletter (visit http://is.gd/Nbtz), a great deal and an example of how even the big guys still abide by this rule. So no matter if you are working on your own training system, book, or just some good real estate deals, don't forget to ask "What can I do to help YOU?" before you even start thinking about your check. Chances are the check will be much bigger and more satisfying when it comes your way.
The second thing that gets to me with all these "Nuru" wannabes (and I know some that will make it because they believe in the things I'm talking about here) is the fact that few are offering something special. I'm sure many of you can relate to having your email boxes full every morning with promotional offers for everything from webinars to boot camps. Which ones do you automatically delete? If you're like me its most of them, because its the same old noise over and over. Please people, tell me something interesting about why you are different, what can you offer that I can't get at 10 other websites? And speaking of websites, am I the only one that wants to see some actual content on these sites, not just an exceedingly long plug on how great the system is without any real statement about what the system DOES. I'm sure some marketing person somewhere did research that proves you get more response without telling site visitors what they're getting, but I can't fathom who those people are that sign up for things blindly!
Of course, there's nothing inherently wrong with developing new businesses out of your real estate investing business, I strongly support individuals coming up with multiple streams of income. There are many great tools, seminars, home-study courses, etc out there that are worth every penny. Just for my own selfish benefit and thousands of others like me, consider a few things before you make your leap into these products, though.
Ask these questions:
- Am I doing this to help others or to get my own piece of the proverbial pie?
- What can I offer to help others before they can help me?
- How is my knowledge and/or system different or better than all the others already out there? (if its really not, you should probably refer to question #1 since you might not be in it for the right reason!)
I, for one, do not need and am not looking for my 15 minutes, and I'm also not looking to sell anyone anything just to generate sales. I'm looking to help those that can benefit from my help and in doing so see all of our success grow. If someday I do come across an idea that prompts me to develop another business, you can be sure that it will be done for the right reasons and with the right methods. A good product will always sell itself no matter what's going on in the world. I would much rather be a part of something that other businesses want to be a part of themselves than one in which I have to force-feed the product to everyone I meet. If I had to do the later, no amount of revenue is worth the bad ju-ju I'd be creating in my life and business.
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I hear you. I used to be highly involved in powerlifting and nutrition.... so much so that at my weight I set world records. Yet I did not go out and write a teaser e-book charging $97 and then a full fledged course at $997 with private coaching sessions for $2997. I didn't hide behind autoresponders telling folks that I was too busy to answer emails.
ReplyDeleteNo, in my endeavor you freely gave away information to help people and you were more than happy to do that.
I have not purchased from Lindahl but did not receive a response when I contacted him, purchased from TC Bradley who hides behind his website, Steve Cook is fantastic and has a great forum, William Tingle is fantastic and I've learned Sub2 from his course, JP Moses is a great guy but I get tired of the teaser emails selling products. Speaking of which... nothing like someone having a product release and receiving 7 emails from different people all with their own affiliate links.