I received the following e-mail message the other day from a student Key Holder. This email is so deep and rich with valuable nuggets for real estate investors that I thought I would share it on the blog along with my thoughts, point by point.
Ben,
I really enjoyed your webinar. Sometimes I get overexcited at first and tend to spend way too much money, but for $20 a month I can afford to see what you have to offer. I say this at a time when I am cutting back on my expenses, and one thing that irks the heck out of me is the way this investing business has become such a financial drain on all of us aspiring investors. I know this is part of XXXX’s “multilple streams of income” method of getting rich, but if you ask me it’s nothing more than a transference of money (mostly on a monthly basis) from those who are really trying to make investing work for them into the pockets of those that can outsmart and out-market their fellow man. I’m interested in following the person who is willing to get back to real estate investing and leave the scamming for the scammers.
I am currently cancelling a credit card just to get one guru called XXXXs (by the way I don’t mention names) out of my back pocket, since he/his office have their system set up so a subscriber can’t get through to a live person. I’ll bet they’ll get a hold of me when their next charge doesn’t go through. Like I said – I don’t mention names so I won’t tell you about the so-called “preacher” who tried the same tactic and that cost me too.
But, since I have been on board with you guys I feel I have finally found someone I can work with and give me the help I really need. I can’t say enough good about your director Jeff. He is so patient and so persistent at helping me understand and get it right. And I really like the way you present your service in such an understanding and clear manner-and you seem to be keeping your pricing within reason.
Thanks for the opportunity to give some feedback.
Lynn
Thanks Lynn! Here are my thoughts. I tried to respond to you on a line-by-line basis:
“Ben, I really enjoyed your webinar.”
Lynn is talking about our last Short Sale Success Webinar. We do that every month – we feature a real live success story and take you through it line-by-line and step-by-step to show how someone just like you actually put a check for a profit in his or her pocket. It’s a solid hour of 100% real content that goes deep into the details of successful transactions.
“Sometimes I get over excited at first and tend to spend way too much money, but for $20 a month I can afford to see what you have to offer.”
Here Lynn is talking about our Short Sale Spy Report, which I mentioned at the end of last week’s Short Sale Success Webinar. Lynn – that’s the whole idea of the Spy Report – to give you access to real cutting edge current information without breaking your bank account. Let me be completely transparent here – a friend of mine said to me a couple of months ago, “Ben, you have tons and tons and tons of real hard-core cutting edge information flowing through your office because of the Service and you’re not sharing it!”
He was right – not that we were holding anything back on purpose, it’s just that we are generally so busy on a day-to-day basis with deals that we haven’t stopped to share the knowledge other than a couple times a year at our live Breakthrough Events.
So, based on this feedback, I hired more staff who could help me collect this information and make it available and that’s what led to the creation of the Spy Report.
“I say this at a time when I am cutting back on my expenses and one thing that irks the heck out of me is the way this investing business has become such a financial drain…”
First, that’s why we priced the Spy Report so reasonably! I figured rather than compiling a massive “course” to sell for thousands of dollars – which would be a lot of work for me and a lot of pain to buyers who are the ones shelling out the big bucks – we’d keep it heavy on content, but light on delivery and price. That way it’s easier for us to produce and easier on your wallet!
Now, about your “financial drain” comment… Lynn, I feel your pain. I remember counting it up one day many years ago and at the time I had spent more than $60,000 on seminars and information products. And guess what, I still spend money on this stuff! (Just last month Deena and I attended a seminar and spent $2,500 to attend plus flights, hotels and food!)
Here’s the deal – some people can go to the book store or library and sit there for days to become an expert at something. If you’re like me though, I just don’t have time for that and therefore I want someone who has figured it out and can spoon feed it to me. Well if that’s how we want to learn – leveraging other people’s time, experience and knowledge – then they’re going to expect to get paid for it.
Even when we “want to give it away,” it still costs someone money to “give it away.” Take the Spy Report for example – it takes a lot of time to write it, edit it, compile it, think it through and then mail it out. That takes a commitment of my time and the money I’m paying my staff to help – so the product has to generate revenue to pay for itself or it “can’t afford” to exist in the marketplace. (Good news – the response to the Spy Report has been so fantastic that it has proven it “can afford itself” and I expect to see it around for a very long time.)
Lynn, there’s a lot in your email… so check out my next blog post where I responded to more of your other concerns.
