Yesterday I told you how I received a letter from a Short Sale investor named Lynn. (Go here to read the full letter.) Anyway, the letter goes into a lot of the emotions that successful real estate investors go through when they’re starting to build their businesses.
Here’s another excerpt from Lynn’s letter, followed by my responses:
“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’ll take that as a very high complement. Yep – what makes us very special is that at the core of our “information business” is a hard-core real estate services business that is in the mud of the deals every day, day-in and day-out. So the information product elements come secondary to the core of what we do. (For crying out loud, we’ve been doing the Short Sale Success Webinar for YEARS and just this week realized that it would add a lot of value to people if we transcribed the call, analyzed it, and packaged it up and made it available to you!
But here’s the truth about most “amazing products” … the Soloflex actually does work! You can actually look like the guy on the infomercial with the abs and pecs BUT only if you bust your butt consistently– for a long time – and eat right and sleep right…and…and…and. But if you do all that, it does work. Look, any information product system (or whatever you want to call it) is the same thing – people have figured out a unique way to do something that WILL help you make more money than you could ever imagined possible at your old job! But guess what… you’ve got to work out… and do it just like at the gym. I’m not talking about going through the motions twice a week and then wondering why you don’t look like the guy on the infomercial.
I would run away fast from anyone who tries to sell you something that supposedly gets you in top physical shape without any physical effort! Run Forest, run! Similarly, I would stay way the heck away from anyone selling a real estate information product guaranteeing that you can quit your job in X days or that it’s easy, or that it doesn’t take any work. That’s just B.S.! Making a fortune, changing your life, and building a future takes work – a lot of work – which is why most people don’t actually do it!
However, you absolutely can shortcut your way through years of a learning curve, shortcut your way with certain technology, and shortcut your way through forests that others have already cut a path through by investing in information products and systems designed by those who have gone through the journey and are willing to share with you. You can dramatically increase the efficiency of your work by spending your time on the right things rather than spinning your wheels when someone who has already done it can just show you what they’ve done.
Here’s a little suggestion – anyone can have one success story to talk about and write a product about it. Before you invest in anyone’s system or product – look for recent evidence that it actually works. I don’t care how good the professional weightlifter model looks in the commercial, I want to know what the experience was like for someone like me (which is why if you watch infomercials they go back and forth from professional models to “regular guys”).
Here’s another tip – every pitchman posts “testimonials” of success stories. Pick up the phone and call the person giving the testimonial and get it straight from them. Do they even know they are being quoted to support sales of someone’s product? Would they agree with how the testimonial is presented? Was it taken out of context? Look, if that’s who the pitchman is putting forward as “the best they got” and when you call, they’re defensive or wishy-washy, well, then… there’s your answer. However, if you call someone who is a raving fan lunatic advocate for the product, well, now you know.
Keep this in mind – the product may actually work, just not for you. Look, when you walk in a gym, there are dozens of machines and weights – and yet a personal trainer is going to design a program that involves only a few of these tools that are right for you and your body type. The same thing is true in the real estate information world – the guy’s program you had a bad experience with may just not be the right machine for YOU but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work for other people. (The hard thing is that there are not too many opportunities to “try out” different products to see which one’s a fit for you without making that investment – I’m working on just such an opportunity for you – but they are few and far between.
One more piece of advice – when you find yourself having invested in something that ended up not being what you needed, put your concerns in writing to the vender. That step will force you to be honest with yourself – are you asking for your money back for the Soloflex because it’s currently holding your underwear in the basement and you don’t use it and now feel stupid for spending all that money? Whose fault is that? Or if you really have a legitimate concern about the quality and viability of the product then put it in writing.
I can only speak for myself, but I have to assume that my colleagues in the business feel the same. I work my butt off on everything I put out there. Our products reflect a tremendous amount of time thinking, planning, writing, re-writing, designing, and testing. And every product I have ever released to the marketplace has always been improved by the constructive comments form those who use it. We’re not perfect and I’m not selling magic wands or potions – so some stuff is better than other stuff and it can always be better. We are constantly updating, revising, and improving our products based on customer feedback. So if you have something helpful to contribute – PLEASE put it in writing, I bet the guru you’re talking about will actually read it, consider it, and act on it – I know I would.
(Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and read Part 3 of my reply to Lynn’s letter.)
Ben
P.S. If you’re serious about your Short Sale business, please check out my brand new Short Sale Spy Report. It’s a monthly insider newsletter where I give you all kinds of great information available NOWHERE else. And remember, if you’re not happy with it, you can just cancel your subscription. There’s no obligation and no commitment!
California has always been one of the top markets for Short Sales, but right now the level of confusion among real estate investors is at an all-time high. Everyone seems to be freaking out in California looking for answers and trying to make sense of all the various opinions, new rules, and trying to figure out what we can and can’t do in the Short Sale world right now.
So I took Syd and Max to the World Football Challenge last night. This was an exhibition soccer tournament where we got to see A.C. Milan (an Italian club) take on a team from Mexico named Club America. (Club America won, if you’re keeping score at home.)
