Carrot’s real estate marketing platform has evolved beyond a simple website builder into a comprehensive Lead Generation Hub that helps investors and agents create unique, high-performing websites that convert visitors into leads at a rate 44% higher than industry benchmarks.
Key Takeaways
Carrot websites dominate search results, capturing over 50% of top-3 Google rankings across 225 U.S. markets, giving members a competitive advantage in visibility.
Leads generated through Carrot websites are 7x more likely to convert into deals compared to non-Carrot leads and yield an average profit of nearly $14,000 per deal.
Despite using the same software platform, Carrot members can create vastly different website designs that reflect their unique brand identity using the Visual Editor and customization options.
With Carrot, real estate professionals can build websites that cut through online clutter, capture qualified leads, and become valuable assets rather than liabilities in growing their business.
Tapping into his experience as a real estate investor and online marketer, Trevor Mauch, CEO of Carrot, built his first motivated seller website in 2003.
Almost immediately, the site began generating organic motivated seller leads – it was then Trevor knew he’d found the gap that all entrepreneurs are looking for… where your expertise overlaps the market’s needs.
So he built another site. And another. He finally had the grand idea to create a software company called Carrot. He wanted our websites to be so irresistible that motivated sellers couldn’t help but convert… and the investors using them couldn’t help but grow!
Now we’ve transformed Carrot from being like any other website builder into a Lead Generation Hub, built on a real estate marketing platform with multiple tools and resources to help investors, agents, and hybrids grow their businesses with real impact and freedom. Take a look at some of our member’s performance stats below.
By attracting the right traffic through SEO, Carrot websites capture over 50% of top 3 Google search results across 225 U.S. markets, meaning Carrot members have a competitive advantage in being seen first by high-quality clients.
Carrot sites are stunning and effectively converting traffic into leads at a 44% higher rate than industry benchmarks, making Carrot the industry leader in producing high-quality leads.
Speaking of high-quality leads, Carrot leads are 7x more likely to convert into deals than non-Carrot leads and on average, yield almost $14,000 in profit per deal!
To celebrate Carrot’s accomplishments over the past decade and hopefully convince you to try Carrot (wink wink), we will share 10 of our favorite Carrot member websites.
As you read through, notice the versatility of these sites and the significant differences in style and tone… all easily created by the same software backed by the same crazy people with the same crazy dream: to help entrepreneurs reclaim time for the things that matter most in life.
Gain the most freedom, impact, and growth in your real estate business with highly motivated buyer and seller leads!
Carrot website examples convert leads into deals 7x higher than non-Carrot leads and 2.5x more profitable.
That’s the power of Carrot’s real estate marketing platform…with websites so powerful that we had to call it something else: the Lead Generation Hub.
Take a free, interactive demo today to find out how a Carrot website has helped investors and agents attract, convert, and close more deals than ever before for over 10 years.
Carrot Website Examples
As mentioned, we’ve compiled this list of 10 sites representing how Carrot members are actively adjusting their websites. But before that, let’s take a minute to show you how one builds a real estate website.
To paint a picture, once you become a member at Carrot and are ready to create your unique site, we’ll first have you select Site Type to determine what types of leads you are looking for (ex., Motivated Sellers, Cash Buyers). Next, we’ll have you choose a website template to help you get started on constructing your own design.
Even if you aren’t a web designer, our websites are easily customizable using Carrot’s Visual Editor. This user-friendly design tool eases the process of making your site stand out without the need for any fancy coding. You’ll be able to drag and drop text boxes, images, videos, and more in real-time without ever needing to leave the page (saving you time and stress).
If you’ve seen Carrot sites in the past and are asking yourself, “don’t all Carrot sites look the same?” then these examples prove that you can stand out from the crowd with a little effort. 😉
We want to inspire you with this quick round-up of Carrot websites that our members love. Be sure to scroll through each site to see the endless possibilities!
Additional website design services with amazing results!
Some Carrot website examples below have been optimized using our Concierge Set Up services.
If you don’t have the time to create your website, check out our done-for-you, high-performance Concierge Set Up!
On average, our CSU sites…
Attract more than 3X the traffic of an average Carrot site.
Get more than 5X the leads with 3+ additional leads every month compared to the previous.
A fantastic site design that blends local images, colors, and branding. Kauai Cash Home Buyers packs credibility into three testimonials blocks, including six testimonial videos. Their “Watch Our TV Commercial Below” and accompanying video adds “local” as an important call-out for their market.
MN Nice is a change of pace from other sites—simple, easy to follow, and practical design. The addition of a “You May Have Heard Us On…” section offers a unique way to call out credibility.
KM Homes is an example of a “hybrid” website. The realtor.com and Zillow badges communicate the option to list a house. Further down the page, they also offer an alternative to selling quickly. The website is easy to navigate and uses large images to enhance the clean structure.
412houses.com presents a professional design, relevant content, and features that contribute to its credibility as a platform for real estate activities in the Pittsburgh area.
The website showcases a well-designed, visually appealing and user-friendly layout, which can contribute to a positive browsing experience.
Their “customer reviews” section highlights their past clients suggests a track record of successful transactions and satisfied customers.
Overall, the website’s design, content, and features contribute to its credibility as a platform for buying homes in the Kansas City area.
Professional Design: The website features a well-organized and visually appealing design, which can contribute to a positive user experience.
Clear Purpose: The website explicitly focuses on buying homes in Kansas City, indicating a specific and transparent business model.
Contact Information: The site provides clear contact details, including a phone number and an address. This transparency can enhance trust and credibility.
Accreditations: The website showcases accreditation logos, such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Senior Transition Specialist, which can further enhance its credibility.
The real estate website design for San Diego-based Jessica Wilkinson, a Big Block Realty brokerage, is simple yet effective. Whether you want to investigate properties in and around San Diego, get info on housing buying and selling values, or check out some of her informative real estate blog posts and newsletters.
All aspects of your business are key. That includes your real estate website design. DHS Realty Group utilizes the block editor in a variety of colors to guide guests down the page. The choice of words and color scheme welcomes visitors to their site. The photos are eye-catching, and the icons match the topics.
Unique Property Solutions goes big with videos and authentic local images. Take one look at it, and it’s evident they are a highly engaged “local” business that cares about how visitors learn more about their company and is determined to turn those visitors into leads.
We tried to create the website on our own and had some initial success however our success paled in comparison to what our Concierge team of Taylor, Lisa, Nate and many others behind the scenes helped us achieve! The team was professional, responsive and super easy to work with and we enjoyed creating a great website with their expertise.
TK Properties’ design is clean and practical by showing off local houses with their motivated seller website. The custom logo and branding show off well. The testimonials and the design’s responsive capabilities across the homepage. Overall, a perfect example of website design.
Besides using credibility badges below the hero, Grand Real Estate Investments drives credibility by adding a “Mission” section on their homepage and additional testimonials. They also add local flair with custom location-based images.
It’s like utilizing that website as your core for everything is the key. That’s definitely the key. But it’s so simple to use. It’s not like a regular WordPress site. I love the simplicity. I know how to do everything. – Robert Grand, Grand Real Estate Investments
Conclusion
With Carrot, you can build a unique website that stands out amongst all the clutter online, draws buyers and sellers in, snags their contact information, and becomes an asset (rather than a liability) for helping you grow your business.
You want to own one of your market’s most successful real estate businesses (whether agent or investor).
There are a lot of things you could do. Sending paid ad traffic to a high-converting website, optimizing your ad campaigns for a better click-through rate, and creating sales scripts can make a massive difference in how many leads you generate and how many deals you close monthly.
Following up on your real estate leads is one of the biggest determiners of success.
If an agent or investor has a rigorous and consistent follow-up system,they are far more likely to be successful than those who assume a lead is dead if they don’t get a signed contract after the first phone call.
But you don’t have to take our word for it.
Hone Your Follow-Up Skills & Close More Deals
Cover seller objections, use high-converting warm and cold touch scripts, and follow an easy touchpoint schedule to increase your lead-to-deal conversion.
80% of sales are made between the fifth and twelfth contact.
Let’s pretend that that is true for your business but that you only follow up once with each lead.
That would mean that you’re giving more than 80% of your potential deals to your competitors — just outright handing them over.
Because those leads aren’t just sitting at home waiting for you to pursue them, they’re calling other investors and agents in the area and examining their options.
If you stop contacting them, they’ll forget about you and work with someone else.
Over 80%!
Sound crazy?
Well, even if that percentage is 50% for your business, isn’t that too much?
Even 10% is too much!
Especially in real estate, an industry where one transaction often amounts to tens of thousands of dollars in profit.
Look — you know there’s money in the follow up, but you still have some limiting beliefs about building a follow-up system for your business.
So let me walk you through 3 of the most common myths of follow up in real estate.
Three Real Estate Follow Up Myths
Myth #1: “I need to have a complex CRM before building my follow up system.”
Yes. Having a super fancy CRM will help you organize your lead flow, assign tasks to different team members, and ensure that you follow up with every lead, with the same messages, a pre-determined number of times.
CRMs allow you to organize and automate your follow-up system, making the entire process much simpler.
But CRMs aren’t always cheap.
And they also aren’t always easy to use (some are better than others).
If you think your lack of a CRM or your hatred of technology is an excuse not to follow up with your leads, think again…
Just keep it simple, use an ESP like MailChimp or InvestorFuse (both of which integrate with your Carrot website), and schedule an automated follow-up campaign.
Remember, some sort of follow-up strategy is better than no follow-up strategy.
Myth #2: “Most deals come from first contact, not follow-up.“
Whether you’re an agent or investor, it’s easy to assume that most of your deals come from first contact.
A motivated buyer or seller calls you on the phone, ready to take action now (they might even already know who you are and trust you), and that call effortlessly turns into a closed deal.
That’s how many of your transactions happen now.
But we have to ask the question… do most of your currently closed deals happen like that because if someone isn’t motivated from the get-go, then they won’t be motivated down the road?
Or because you’re not following up and thus not capturing leads that might require more time and effort?
The answer is clear.
After all, no matter how motivated someone is to buy or sell their home, a reasonable person likely won’t just decide to work with you right off the bat — they’ll need to process, think about it, examine other options, and speak with you some more.
And if you’re following up during that decision-making process, they might work well with you.
Myth #3: “I don’t want to follow up too much or annoy my prospects.“
This “myth” isn’t false.
Some real estate follow-up sequences are downright annoying to prospects.
Suppose you’re sending the same thing every time — “Hey! I want to buy your house right now!” — then that’ll get old quickly.
But this belief is a myth in that the follow-up sequence you create doesn’t need to be dull and drab — it can be interesting, engaging, and trust-building.
How?
Well, we think that one of the best ways to build trust and engage prospects with your follow-up sequence is by providing free value.
Send them a link to an article on your website that might help them solve a problem. Give them a piece of advice specific to their situation. Or even offer to get on the phone and discuss their options.
The better the relationship you build with them, the more dividends that relationship will pay you down the road.
Hone Your Negotiation Skills & Close More Deals
Get the fool-proof strategies & step-by-step scripts used by real estate investing’s top closers — all in one resource.
Sometimes, a lead follow-up system’s goal is to get your lead to take the next step for conversion — getting on the phone with you, receiving their cash offer, or going to an open house.
Sometimes, though, the goal will be to get them to accept a cash offer you already made or to stay in contact with them if they become ready to use your services.
Each business is different, and each prospect is different.
What your follow-up system should look like depends on when you’re following up with prospects (what stage they’re at) and what action you need them to take.
Typically, though, the goal of mastering following up is to get the prospect on the phone again so you can work your sales magic — a phone call can serve all purposes.
The 3 Mediums Of Your Follow Up Strategy: Text, Email, and Phone Calls
How you follow up with your prospects — whether through text, email, or phone calls (or, even better, all three) — will partly be determined by your target market and how they like to communicate.
More than one investor, for example, has gotten on the phone with an elderly person looking to sell their home fast, only to find out that they have no idea how to work email.
So adjust with your market’s tendencies.
If you know, they don’t look at their emails and texts, then call them. If they don’t answer the phone, send text messages and emails.
The more you adapt your follow-up strategy to the communication style of each prospect, the better.
Following up is, of course, easier said than done.
You need to figure out what to say and how to say it (covered in the next part of this article) and determine when you will follow up.
So to help with the decision-making process, we’ve put together this free follow-up timeline calendar that you can steal if you like.
Try it, see how it goes, and adjust it as necessary.
When we put it together, we’d tried to put logical spacing between each text, call, and email so that you’ll sometimes need to use free-value-based follow ups…
“Hey! I found something you might be interested in.”
and sometimes, you’ll just be checking in…
“Hey! Just calling to see if you’re still interested in my services.”
Hope it helps!
Note: This calendar is one month’s worth of follow-up for a given prospect who opted-in to your website on Sunday, the 1st. You can follow up more or less than the calendar suggests, but this is a good starting point.
Free Real Estate Follow Up Scripts
To make your follow-up strategy even easier to implement, we will provide you with 3 follow up scripts whether you’re an agent or an investor.
These scripts are written as if for an automated email campaign, but they can be adapted to fit any medium (including text and phone calls).
One of the primary ways we recommend reaching out to your prospects is by offering value rather than just asking for the sale each time (which can get annoying quickly).
How can you provide value?
Well, if you have a blog on your website (check out our Content Tools add-on where we’ll provide you with expert-written blog content every month), then you can send over links to helpful articles that you’ve recently published, making you look like the expert that you are and keeping you top of mind.
For agents and investors, here are 3 follow-up scripts you’re welcome to steal. 🙂
Hard Ask — Use When Trying To Close The Deal
Soft Ask — Use When Trying To Get Prospect To Take Next Step
Free Value — Use When Trying To Stay Connected With Prospect Simply
6 Free Real Estate Follow Up Scripts For Agents (3 For Buyers & 3 For Sellers)
FOR BUYERS
Hard Ask
This depends a bit on what you’re trying to do with the buyer. Here, I assume you want them to choose to work with you rather than another competitor.
Hey [name]!
Great chat the other day.
I’ve spent some time thinking about your situation and I know that I can help you find the perfect home. If you’re okay with it, let me find some listings that I think are within your budget and we can go take a look.
What do you say?
Soft Ask
Hey [name]!
I hope you’re doing well.
I know you mentioned that you’re interested in finding the perfect home for [purpose]. I’d love to help you with that. Do you have time to swing by my office this week?
Free Value — Use When Trying To Stay Connected With Prospect Simply
Hey [name]!
I just published this article on my website and it’s all about [topic] — super relevant to what you’re going through.
Anyways, I thought you might find it helpful!
Hope you’re well. 🙂
FOR SELLERS
Hard Ask
Hey [name]!
I was just doing some research on your home and I’m confident we can sell it for [$XXX,XXX] — want me to get started listing it?
Soft Ask
Hey [name]!
I’d love to help you get top-dollar for your precious home so you can get moving with your big plans. How can I help you?
Free Value
Hey [name]!
I just published this article on my website that talks about [topic] — I thought it’d be super relevant to your situation and you might get some value out of it.
Hope you’re well!
3 Free Real Estate Follow Up Scripts For Investors
Hard Ask
Hey [name]!
Are you ready to sell your house fast for cash? I’m prepared to give you cash for what I offered you the other day.
Money in your pocket and stress off your shoulders…
Let me know!
Soft Ask
Hey [name]!
I would really like to buy your house for cash. Want to hear my offer?
Free Value
Hey [name]!
I just published this article on my website about [topic] and I thought it might help with your difficult situation. Give it a look.
And call me if you think I can help you out. 🙂
Conclusion
These nine real estate follow up scripts should help you get started down the path to more deals.
Remember, some follow up is better than none. And this is going to get you moving in the right direction.
Create a follow up system that works for you, your business, and your prospects. Then, you’ll reap the benefits of being a business that consistently follows up with its leads.
Building an investing business without a real estate investment business plan is sort of like riding a bike without handlebars.
You might be able to do it… but why would you?
It’s far easier and more practical to set out on your venture with a business plan that outlines things like your lead-flow, where you’ll find funding, and which market(s) you’ll operate.
Plus, according to Entrepreneur, having a business plan increases your chances of growth by 30%.
What is a Real Estate Investment Business Plan and Why Does it Matter?
A real estate investment business plan is a document that outlines your goals, your vision, and your plan for growing the business.
It should detail the real estate business model you’re going to pursue, your chosen method for lead-gen, how you’ll find funding, and how you plan to close deals.
The kit and caboodle.
BUT…
It shouldn’t be overly complicated.
Whether this real estate investment business plan is only for your personal use or to present to someone else, simplicity is best. Be thorough, be clear, but don’t over-explain what you’re going to do.
Also, consider that setting out without a plan would be like — full of unexpected twists and turns — is that something you want to do?
Probably not.
It’s worth taking a few days or weeks to put together a business plan, even if it’s just for your own sake. By the time you’re complete, you’ll have greater confidence in the business you’re setting out to build.
And an entrepreneur’s confidence is everything.
How to Create Your Real Estate Investment Business Plan
Now we get into the nitty-gritty.
How do you create your real estate investment business plan? Here are the 10 steps!
1. Create Your Mission & Vision
This can be considered your “summary” section. You might not think that you need a mission statement or vision for your real estate business.
And you don’t.
We know a lot of real estate investors (many of our members, in fact) don’t have a clear mission or vision that they’ve outlined — and they’re successful regardless.
But if you’re just getting started…
Then we think it’s a worthwhile use of your time.
Because if you don’t know why you’re going to build your real estate investing business, if you don’t see what purpose it serves on a personal and professional level, then it’s not going to be very exciting to you.
You can either use this time to create a mission for your business… or a mission statement for you as it relates to growing your business (depending on your goals).
For instance…
Our mission is to create affordable house opportunities in the Roseburg, Oregon community.
Our mission is to provide homeowners with an exceptional experience when selling their properties for cash.
Or you could go a more personal route…
My mission is to create a business that supports my family.
My mission is to build a company that gives me more time for what matters most to me.
Or you could do both…
My mission is to create a business that supports my family, and my business’ mission is to provide homeowners with an exceptional experience when selling their properties for cash.
Either way, it’s good to think about this before getting started.
Because if you know why you’re going to build your business — and if, ideally, that reason resonates with you — then you’ll be more excited and determined to work hard toward your goals.
It is also an excellent opportunity to outline the core values you’ll adhere to within your business as Brian Rockwell does on his website…
With this information in hand, you’re ready to move on to the next step.
2. Run Competitive Market Analysis
Which market are you going to operate in?
That might be an easy question to answer — if you’re just going to operate in the town where you live, fair enough.
But it’s worth keeping in mind that today’s technology has made it possible to become a real estate investor in any market from pretty much any location (remotely).
So if the market you’re in is lacking in opportunity, then you might consider investing elsewhere.
How do you know which market to choose?
Here are the 10 top real estate markets for investors, according to our own Carrot member data of over 7000 accounts, based on lead volume…
Dallas, TX
Atlanta, GA
Houston, TX
Chicago, IL
Charlotte, NC
New York, NY
Los Angeles, CA
Orlando, FL
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
And here are the top 20 states…
Texas
California
Florida
Virginia
Illinois
Georgia
Ohio
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Oregon
Washington
Kansas
Arizona
Indiana
Michigan
Colorado
Missouri
Tennessee
That’ll give you some ideas.
But what makes a market good or bad for real estate investors? Here are some metrics to pay attention to when you’re doing your research.
Median Home Value — This will tell you how much the average home sells for in the market, which will impact whether you’ll be willing to operate there. Because obviously, you want to play with numbers that feel reasonable to you.
Median Home Value Increase Year Over Year — Ideally, you want to invest in a market where homes are appreciating every year. And a positive increase in this metric is a good sign that the properties you invest in will continue to increase in value.
Occupied Housing Rate — A high housing occupancy rate means it’s easy to find tenants, and there’s a healthy demand for housing. That’s a good sign.
Median Rent — This is the average cost of rent in the market and will give you a good idea of how much you’ll be able to charge on any rentals you own.
Median Rent Increase Year Over Year — If you’re going to buy rentals, it’s a good sign if rental costs increase every year.
Population Growth — When the population grows, it creates demand for housing, both rentals and on the MLS. That’s a good sign for a real estate investor.
Job Growth — Job growth is a sign of a healthy economy and indicates that you’ll have an easier time capitalizing on your real estate investments.
Fortunately, all of this research is super easy to do on Google.
You can just type in the market and the metric in Google and you’ll get meaningful results.
Thank god for technology.
Want more freedom & impact?
From Mindset to Marketing, join our CEO as he unlocks the best stories, tactics, and strategies from America’s top investors and agents on the CarrotCast. If you want to grow your business, you need to check it out!
And the market you’re in — as well as your business goals — will determine which business model you choose.
Here’s a brief overview of each…
Wholesaling — Is a prevalent business model in the real estate world. Wholesalers find deals and flip them to other cash buyers for an assignment fee, typically somewhere between $5,000 to $10,000. It’s low risk and requires little capital upfront (you can get started with as little as $2,000).
Wholetailing — Wholetailing is a mix between wholesaling and house flipping. A wholetailer will find a deal, do some very minor repairs (if any), and sell the house on the MLS themselves. It results in large profits with far less work. But wholetail deals are hard to come by.
BRRRR — This stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. It’s a long-term process for buying and holding rental properties. It’s a great way to build net worth and create generational wealth.
Flipping — House flipping is the most popularized real estate investing method. It consists of purchasing distressed properties, fixing them up, and selling them at a good profit on the MLS, often making upwards of $100,000 per deal. However, this method involves much more risk than the other methods and each deal takes a lot longer to complete.
If you’re just getting started, then we recommend choosing just one business model and doing that until you’ve mastered it.
Down the road, you will likely want to use multiple business models.
We know the most successful real estate investors are wholesalers, wholesalers, flippers, and they own some rental properties.
That allows them to make the most of every opportunity that comes their way.
But again… to start, just choose one.
4. Determine Your Business Goals
At this point, you should have a pretty clear idea of why you’re going to build your real estate investing business.
Are you going to build it because you want to make an impact in your community? Because you want more financial freedom? Because you want more time freedom?
All of the above?
Whatever the case, now it’s time to set some goals related to your mission for the business.
Remember the SMART acronym for goal setting…
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-Bound
Start by thinking about how much money you’d like to make per month — this should be the first income threshold that you’re excited to hit.
Let’s pretend you said $10,000 per month.
Okay, now take a look at your business model. How many properties do you need to have cash-flowing to hit that number? How many deals do you have to do per month? How many flips?
Try to be as realistic with your numbers as possible.
Here are some baselines to consider for the different business models at the $10k/month threshold…
Now you have a general idea of the results you’ll need to hit your first income threshold.
But we haven’t talked about overhead costs.
How much will you need to spend to get those results?
Your answer to that question will be influenced by the market analysis you already did. But it’s pretty standard for the price of finding a deal to hover around $2,000 for a real estate investor (if you’re doing your own advertising).
So now you’re spending $2,000 per deal, or whatever your specific number is. That’s going to have an impact on how much money you’re making. So now we can adjust your goals to be more realistic for hitting that $10k per month marker…
Wholesaling – 4-5 Deals Per Month
Wholetailing – 4-5 Deals Per Month
BRRRR – $1.5 Million in Assets
Flipping – 2-3 Flips Per Year
The idea here is to figure out how many deals you’ll have to do per month to hit your income goals.
Then work that back into figuring out how much you’ll need to spend every month to realistically and predictably hit your goals.
At $2k per deal and intending to hit $10k/month, here’s what your deal-finding costs might look like…
Wholesaling – 4-5 Deals Per Month – $8k-$10k/month
Wholetailing – 4-5 Deals Per Month – $8k-$10k/month
BRRRR – $1.5 Million in Assets – $6k-$8k/month
Flipping – 2-3 Flips Per Year – $4k-$6k/month
That should give you a baseline.
How do those numbers look?
If they feel too high for you right now, lower your initial goal — you want to make your first goal something that you know you can accomplish.
Then, as you gain experience, you can increase your goals and make more money down the road.
Free Real Estate Marketing Plan Template
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Are you going to fund your own deals or find private investors? Or maybe you’re going to get a business loan from a bank?
If you’re just starting as a wholesaler or wholetailer, then it’s recommended funding your own first few deals — that should only cost $2,000 to $5,000… and why overcomplicate things in the beginning when you’re still trying to learn the ropes?
However, as a wholesaler or wholetailer, you’ll still need to find some cash buyers.
Here’s a great video that’ll teach you how to do that…
To consistently grow your cash buyer list (which is an important part of the wholesaling and wholestailing business model), we also recommend creating a buyer website like this…
Learn more about creating your cash buyer website with Carrot over here.
To scale, you might seek out other sources of funding.
Here are some options…
Bank Loan — Getting a loan from a bank might be the most straightforward strategy if you’re just getting started. But keep in mind that the requirements for a loan on an investment property will be more stringent than the requirements were for your primary residence mortgage. And the interest rate will likely be higher as well. For that reason, you might seek out some of the other options.
Hard Money — Hard money loans come from companies that specifically serve real estate investors. They are easier and faster to secure than a bank loan and hard money lenders typically base their approval of the loan on the quality of the investment property rather than the investor’s financial standing.
Private Money — Whereas a hard money loan comes from a company; a private money loan comes from an individual with a good chunk of capital they’re looking to invest. That could be a friend, family member, coworker, and acquaintance. Interest rates and terms on these loans are typically very flexible and the interest rate is usually quite good. Private money is an excellent option for real estate investors looking to scale their business.
But before you seek out funding from those sources, get clear on what exactly you’re going to use those funds for.
Finding funding is even more critical. In fact — if you’re flipping properties or using the BRRRR method.
(It’s a key part of the BRRRR method)
You’ll likely want to use hard money or private money to fund your deals as you grow your business.
Okay…
But how do you find and secure those loans?
Hard money lenders are easy to find — just Google for hard money lenders in your area and call the companies that pop up to get more details.
Private money (which usually has more favorable terms than hard money) is a bit trickier to find but not at all impossible.
To find private money lenders, you can…
Tell Friends & Family — This should be the first thing you do. Tell everyone you can about the business you’re building and the returns you can offer investors. Then ask them if they know anyone who might be interested in investing.
Network — After you’ve exhausted all your friends and family, make a point of getting to know people everywhere you go. The easiest way to do this is to wear branded clothing so people ask about what you do. Talk to people at coffee shops, grocery stores, movie theaters, and anywhere else that you frequent. You never know who you might meet.
Attend Foreclosure Auctions — Foreclosure auctions are jam-packed with people who have cash-on-hand to buy properties. These people might also be interested in investing in your real estate endeavors. Or they might know where to find private money. Either way, it’s in your interest to build relationships with these people. Attend foreclosure auctions and bring some business cards.
Here are some tips on finding private money lenders…
Because no matter which of the business models you’ve chosen… you’re going to need to find motivated sellers.
And you’re going to need to find those people every single month.
There are essentially two parts to a successful lead generation strategy for real estate investing business.
Both pieces are critical…
The Short Term — We call this “hamster-wheel marketing” because it requires you to keep working and spending money to generate leads. Examples include Facebook ads, direct mail, bandit signs, cold calling, driving for dollars, and other tit-for-tat strategies that will burn you out if you’re not careful.
The Long Term — We call this “evergreen marketing” because it requires an upfront investment… but that investment pays off for years and years to come. Examples include increasing brand awareness for your business in your target market(s) and improving your website’s SEO, so that motivated sellers find you.
Short-term tactics are critical when you’re first starting — in fact, they are likely going to be your only source of leads for at least the first few months.
Here are some more details on the most popular and effective methods…
Direct Mail — This should be your go-to method in the beginning. Send a few thousand direct mail pieces to the lists below and see how many calls you get in return. Expect to close about 1 in 25 calls (that’s pretty typical for this method).
Tax default mailing lists
Vacant house lists
Expired listing lists
Pre-foreclosure lists
Out-of-state landlord lists
Cold Calling — This might be more uncomfortable than stubbing your toe on a piece of furniture, but it can still be effective for finding motivated sellers. We have an article all about colding calling — it even has scripts for you to use.
Facebook Ads — Facebook ads is another excellent method for generating leads so long as you have a high-converting website to send them to. If you don’t, get yourself a Carrot website. Each Carrot site is built to convert. Here are some more details about running successful ads on Facebook for your real estate investing business.
Google Ads — Google Ads is one of the most popular platforms for real estate professionals needing to provide quick results with a minimal to high investment depending on markets.
But over time, the goal is to invest in more long-term evergreen marketing tactics so that you can get off the hamster wheel and build a more sustainable business.
Check out the video below to learn more about the critical distinction between short-term and long-term marketing.
At Carrot, we’ve created an online marketing system that makes generating leads super easy and simple for real estate investors.
And it’s 100% evergreen.
Here’s an example of one of our members’ websites that converts like crazy…
But once someone calls you, once you’re checking out a property… How will you know if the property is a good fit for your chosen business model?
After all, not every property will be a fit.
First, ask the following questions when the seller calls…
What is the address of the house you want to sell?
How many bedrooms, bathrooms does it have?
Does it have a garage, basement, or pool?
If you were going to list it with a Realtor, what repairs and/or updating would you say would be needed?
How much is owed on the house?
Do you have an asking price in mind?
Is the house behind on payments?
If I come out and look at the property and make you a cash offer to buy it ‘As-Is’ and close as soon as you want, what would be the least you would be willing to take?
That will provide you with a lot of critical information about what you’re dealing with.
Next, once you’re off the phone, do a bit of due diligence and look at what nearby properties of similar size have sold for in the last 90 days or so — that should give you a ballpark idea for the after-repair value of the property.
If you decide that the property sounds promising, you’ll want to walk through it and take pictures of anything and everything that’ll need to be repaired.
Back at the office, estimate the cost of those repairs — here’s a great resource from REISift that’ll help you estimate rehab costs.
You’ll need to go through this entire process regardless of your business model so that you understand your max offer on the property.
So how do you calculate your max offer?
Use the 75% rule — check out this video from Ryan Dossey…
With that, you’ll know how much to pay for the property, how much to spend on repairs, and how much it’ll sell for.
The more you streamline this part of the process, the better.
8. Create Your Brand
Building a company is one thing.
Building an easily recognizable brand and known to be reputable in your marketplace is quite another.
But that’s an integral part of the process. Consider some of these statistics…
Using a signature color can increase brand recognition by 80 percent.
It takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for people to form an opinion about your website.
Consistent presentation of a brand has seen to increase revenue by 33 percent.
66 percent of consumers think transparency is one of the most attractive qualities in a brand.
When it comes to building a real estate investing brand, your goals are to…
Establish Rapport
Create Easy Recognizability
Dominate The Conversation
The first step in this process is building an online presence – that means creating a high-converting website (i.e., one that systematically turns visitors into leads by capturing their contact information), running advertisements, and ranking in Google for important keywords.
Out of the box, our website templates are built to convert visitors into leads – and you can customize them however you want with your branding materials…
You’ll even receive immediate text notifications when someone signs up to be a lead so that you can contact them right away (speed is the name of the game!).
Having a high-converting website is ground zero for brand-building success. If you don’t have a website that systematically converts visitors into leads, then every dollar you spend on advertising is going to be wasted.
So that’s where we start.
Once you’ve got your website up and running, then – if you’re a Carrot Member and subscribe to the Content Tools add-on – we’ll provide you with blog posts every single month that are written to rank in Google for high-value keywords relevant to your specific market…
You just upload, make some minor tweaks, and publish – and the more you publish, the more traffic you’ll drive.
To help you become a true authority in your market, we also have the following tools…
If you get yourself a Carrot website, that’ll take care of the “Dominate The Conversation” part of the branding process.
But what about these parts?
Establish Rapport
Create Easy Recognizability
Super easy.
Establishing rapport is simply a matter of putting testimonials and case studies on your website. The more of these you have, the more people will trust your brand when they arrive on your website for the first time.
As for creating an easily recognizable brand, create a simple branding package…
Brand Colors
Font
Logo
Brand Name
And then be consistent across all platforms. Use the same colors, font, logo, and brand name on everything – online and offline.
That’ll make it feel like you’re everywhere – which is what you want.
So there you go.
That’s how you create a brand identity as a real estate investor. You’ll know you’ve done it right if people are coming to you out of nowhere – because a friend of a friend told them about you.
And if you want a brand that dominates your market without all of the footwork, we’ve got just the thing – it’s called the Authority Leader Plan… and we’ll do everything for you.
9. Set Growth Milestones
Okay – let’s pretend that you’ve taken all of the steps above.
You’ve got yourself a functioning business and brand with funding, you’ve got consistent lead-flow, and you’re even closing some deals.
Now what?
Well… you want to grow, of course!
You don’t just want to do one deal per month… you want to do three, five, or even ten deals per month.
You want to make more money, increase your net worth, grow your business, and have a significant impact.
How do you do that?
First, you set new goals and milestones for your business’ growth – how many deals do you want to be doing per month in 6 months? In a year?
Then break those goals down by quarter – and turn them into actionable to-dos.
For example, if you’re currently doing one deal per month and you want to be doing five deals per month by the end of Q2, here’s what your goals might look like…
Q1
Send 10,000 Mailers Per Month
Spend $5,000 on Facebook Ads Per Month
Hire Salesperson To Answer Phone
Q2
Send 10,000 Mailers Per Month
Spend $5,000 on Facebook Ads Per Month
Hire Acquisition Manager
Create Workflow Process
Or maybe it’ll look a bit different. Make your to-dos as realistic as possible so that if you do those things… you’re virtually guaranteed to hit your goals.
After all, what’s the point of having goals if you’re not going to hit them?
All in all…
Set milestone goals to grow your business, turn those into to-dos and break them down by quarter. The next and final step of your real estate investment business plan might be even more important…
10. Plan To Delegate
At some point, every real estate investor has to come to terms with a straightforward fact…
You can’t build the business of your dreams on your own. You need to delegate.
You’ve got to partner with other people, build critical relationships, hire people, manage people, create systems and processes to streamline your team’s workflow, and lots more.
One of the most important areas that deserve a highlight is your client communications and satisfaction. Consider setting up a robust cloud contact center software to manage all the communications that will lead to long-term partnerships.
Building a business isn’t so much about hustling and bustling as it is about putting the right pieces in the right place.
How do you scale your business?
The answer is quite simple: you do the same things you’re doing now… but at scale – that means hiring people, training people, and creating clean-cut systems.
That’s how you grow your business.
Automate, delegate, and step outside of your business as much as possible to build a real estate investment company that serves you rather than enslaves you.
Final Thoughts on Real Estate Investment Business Plan
Whew!
What more is there?
You know how to create a mission and vision statement, run market analysis, choose an REI business model, set goals, find funding, generate leads, analyze properties, create a brand, set long-term growth milestones, and delegate.
All that’s left is action.
And reach out anytime with questions – we’re always here to help!
Featured Resource
Free Real Estate Marketing Plan
Generate your free marketing plan video and a downloadable guide to increase lead generation and conversion, gain momentum, and stand out in your market!
We made donations in 38 team members names for a total of $16,500.
The shareholders chose a few causes to donate to as well for a total of $10k
We donated to food banks across the country 10 times for a total of $55,428.86
Our team also went out in December and between just over 50 people each handed out $100 for the giving challenge – to things that were important to each individual employee – with things like over tipping waiters, buying coffee for everyone in line, buying toys for needy kids, helping elderly people, helping recently widowed mothers, etc was about $5300+.
We also hosted a toy drive here at Carrot HQ and from our community here in Roseburg collected over 130 toys for Toys for Tots.
The CarrotCast Podcast continues to inspire our audience. Our sales negotiation series was the most popular this year! Catch all four episodes:
Our team grew by 22 this year as we continue to innovate and be leaders in our industry as well as in our communities.
We’re Honored Again – Carrot On the Inc. 5000 List for the 4th Straight Year!
This year we were placed at the 2,509th fastest-growing company in the nation according to the Inc. 5000 list. Again, major kudos to the Carrot team and our members. We wouldn’t be here without an amazing product, team, and amazing members.
… and more!
Here we go!
Hundreds of Thousands of Leads … You’re Crushing It!
Carrot members crushed lead generation.
You’re pulling in more SEO, paid, and social media online leads as a collective group than any other real estate investor and agent lead generation platform… by far.
Keep crushing it!
Here are some states based on site types…
Seller Sites
11.1M Sessions, 199K leads
Buyer Sites
2.6M sessions, 102K leads
Agent Sites
1.6M sessions, 13K leads
All Other Site Types
2.9M sessions, 146K leads
Other interesting stats…
33.3M pageviews across our network
~32% of all sessions came from organic search
Mobile accounted for 53.4% of all sessions, steep increase from years past (mobile first is way to go)
Mobile conversion rate is 28% higher than for desktop (could be a function of site types and traffic sources)
60.1% of all conversions occurred on mobile compared to 37.3% for desktop and 2% for tablet
Paid search saw a big year of growth on our network (sessions up 6.9% and conversion rate up 16.6%)
Total organic traffic up 8%
Major NEW Features Launched in 2021
We launched many NEW Features for our members.
A Core Value of ours is “Adapt, Evolve, & Always Improve“… and both our members and Carrot continue to push this value. In addition to the features we released in 2021, we helped our members spend more time focusing on their business.
Here is a look back on some of the features our AMAZING team rolled out in 2021 (but not limited to)…
Added more data and insights to the SEO Keyword Rank Tracking tool to make member sites even more competitive in Google Search.
Offered members the all-new ability to purchase more SEO Keyword Packs.
Launched an enhanced version of our Visual Editor including new + improved content generation along with a friendlier and more powerful Lead Form creation toolkit.
Created and enhanced site templates: Agent Seller, Motivated Seller and Hybrid.
Enhanced our IDX feature with a more polished site appearance, advanced map search and made it FREE for Advanced Marketers (minus pass-through fees).
Added the Onboarding Checklist to our Motivated Seller site to get members up and going (and producing leads) faster.
New SEO Keyword Rank Tracking ToolEnhanced Visual Editor
Getting Ahead of Google’s Core Web Vitals Update – We Made Carrot Websites 69.8% Faster Than Custom Websites on Mobile
Core Web Vitals was introduced to Google’s search ranking algorithm. Google partially introduced the update in June and by the end of August, it played a full role in Google’s ranking mix.
Our Dev team worked extremely hard to exceed this Google update. Here’s the data behind Carrot sites vs custom WordPress websites…
Design
Carrot members have seen many design elements scattered around their websites. Changes that make it easier to navigate checklists, read reports, and track leads. Shouting out just some of the amazing work the Design team created in 2021!!
Our Amazing Success and Support Teams
The Success team made a positive impact on many lives in 2021 by fielding 425 onboarding and strategy calls. These calls help our members succeed with inbound and outbound marketing.
The Support team also turned in an amazing year.
Here are some support stats:
Total Conversations: 36993
Total CSAT: 96%
Response time via Live Chat: 2 minutes 9 seconds
Response time via Email Support: 59 minutes 22 seconds
Premium Support CallNumbers
Calls scheduled: 1049
Impromptu calls: 107
Total calls executed: 507
Average phone CSAT: 4.89/5
These two teams always align with our core value: “Craft Amazing Experiences” for our members!
Excellent Net Promoter Score
How do you know if you’re providing value and happiness to your members? How do you know if you’re failing? By using “Net Promoter Score”. It’s basically a question that asks how likely you are to recommend Carrot to a friend or colleague.
With thousands of responses in 2021, the majority scored us 8-10… leaving us with an impressive NPS of 54%.
NPS Scores range from -100 to 100. They vary based on industry and anything above 50 is considered as “Excellent”.
The Support team’s visionis “Putting customers at the heart of everything we do.”
We’ll continue to go all out in 2022 to help make our members successful, excited, and happy… the way people expect companies to serve them in the future after they experience service the “Carrot Way”.
Hundreds of “Doses Of Awesomeness” From Our Members
Hearing amazing stories never gets old! We’re in business to change lives. So much that we have a dedicated #Awesomeness Slack channel.
Here are just a few examples of notes we get each and every day… not counting the hundreds that happen that we never hear about!
We Added 1,246 YouTube Subscribers and Accumulated Over 21.3K in Watch time hours!
2021 Youtube Totals:
Views: 220,443 Likes vs dislikes: 97.4% Watch time: 21,360 hours Shares: 2.093 Impressions: 1,323,213 New subscribers: 1,246 Videos published: 129
Our favorite videos of the year…
Two Carrot Team Retreats + Growing Our Team…
Carrot Team First Retreat 2016…
Carrot Team Retreat 2021!
The Carrot team grew by 22 this year as we continue to innovate and be the leader in our industry. Our winter retreat again took virtually but we meet up for the summer retreat in beautiful Hood River, Oregon.
Retreats are a great way to pull back, celebrate wins, and deep dive into high-level planning for the future.
CarrotCamp (Spring and Fall 2021)
Since its inception in 2017, CarrotCamp has been a success for our members. It’s not just a workshop or seminar, nor is it a retreat.
CarrotCamp is designed to be more like an immersive experience. We deep dive into the campers’ world. We allocate time to unplug and get out of the office and into nature. It’s also time to work with the Carrot team to get massive things done to uplevel business. All the while building relationships with other high-level real estate entrepreneurs that will hopefully last a lifetime.
Thank you again 2021 CarrotCampers!
Spring 2021Fall 2021
Be on the lookout for CarrotCamp 2022 Editions. Kicking off May 2022. Learn more about CarrotCamp.
We Lost One of Our Own…
Sadly, the Carrot team and the world lost a great person. Adrian Nez passed away in the fall. He is missed by many…
We’re Grateful To Have You On This Journey With Us
How Was Your Year?
How was your 2021? Let us know below in the comments section. The amazing, the fair, and the awful 🙂
Also… want to fire up your 2022 and get momentum building?
These resources are the most shared and commented we’ve ever made. They can change your life…
Everything in my life from the outside in looked amazing. My friends, family, and colleagues in the industry thought I was an example of “success.”
I owned 3 separate companies, the world’s best family, amazing business partners in 2 of my businesses, and great customers, and felt I could do anything I set my mind to.
The only problem was… I was overwhelmed and unhappy.
In this blog post, I’m going to walk through how I fell into the “too many great opportunities” trap, how it nearly crushed my entrepreneurial and life dreams, and how the advice of a pumpkin farmer changed my perspective on business and life.
Why am I opening up and writing this right now?
First, I wrote this post a few years ago, and a lot has happened since then. Good stuff. We’ve grown Carrot to over 8,000 active members and multiple 7 figures in revenue… and I’ve had to use this process multiple times this past year to clear out the “distraction” and focus on the “big pumpkin.”
So just know… this process I went through a few years ago is one I still use to this day… that’s how much it’s changed my life.
Also…
Now is the perfect time of the year to make some mindset adjustments so you can hit next year hard and make it your best year yet. Also, this one shift in my business has made the single most dramatic impact on my income, fulfillment, and impact on the world of anything I’ve ever done.
This article is for you if you…
Are a high achieving entrepreneur and don’t want to settle for living an average life
Feel like you’re working your butt off but not getting closer to your ultimate goals
You have all kinds of revenue coming in, but your bank account isn’t growing as it should
Find yourself saying “yes” to almost any opportunity that looks “good” and is profitable
Start each day feeling overwhelmed at everything you have to do and the little time you have to do it
You wish that finally one of your businesses or business ideas would grow to its full potential rather than doing “decent” and leveling off
If you’re feeling any of those, you’re not alone.
That Was My Life For 2 Years. Busy. Long Hours. Unfocused. Less Happy. Less Fulfilled.
The frustration that I felt like I was doing all of the right things and I was “successful” in many people’s eyes… but I just never felt that I could crack through to my potential.
It seemed like I’d start a bagillion projects because they all had “promise”, but I would rarely take the important things through the finish line.
I’d always have a backlog of “to-do’s” and always seemed to carry the important “to-do’s” over to the next day for weeks and months on end.
I’d get to the end of the day and feel totally wiped out because I was really “busy,”… but I’d look back on the day and always felt like I couldn’t pinpoint what important project I actually pushed forward in a measurable way that day.
Vision… most of the time, I really couldn’t clearly articulate what I wanted in life and what impact I felt that I was made to make on the world… because I was torn by making a vision too specific that it would alienate some of the “important” projects and businesses I’d already committed my time to… but that didn’t jive with what in my heart I knew i loved to do.
And worse, I felt that the more I took on and the more things I had going in my business and life, the better off I was.
In that life, being “busy” was a good thing, and when people asked how I’ve been my default answer was always…
“Really busy as always!”
… almost like it was a badge of honor to be “busy.”
I Hit A Breaking Point, And Things Had To Change. So Here’s What I Did…
I couldn’t do things like this anymore. You can maybe relate.
If I wanted to live the life I knew I was made to live and to make the impact in life I knew I could make, I had to figure out how to change the way I lived and worked.
Then, a deceptively simple mindset shift helped me break through to a new way of living and thriving in life and business.
I now work less, am focused and excited about the vision, am extremely fulfilled, I’m making more money than I ever have, have an amazing team of A-players around me, and I’m helping more people than I’ve ever been able to help.
Enter the pumpkin farmer.
How A World Record Pumpkin Is Grown (and why it matters to you)
… you have the “busy” and unfocused entrepreneur. Likely you. It used to be me.
That overwhelm, lack of finishing things, achieving below your potential, lower income, always being “busy” but nothing to show for it, etc.
That’s how I was during those 2 years of my life.
I started to see success in my businesses, and that success opened up more and more opportunities.
I didn’t realize it then, but opportunities are often times just distractions in disguise.
Each of those arrows is a different project, focus, or thing… that required my energy and time.
And as you may be able to relate… when you are working on so many things… none of those things can really grow to their full potential.
On the right…
… is what happens when you say “no” to 99% of everything (even things that look like great opportunities) and say YES to just the essential few things that are going to help you make the biggest impact in your life and income.
If you add up the length of all of those little arrows in the first diagram, they equal the length of this one long arrow here. So you’re expending the same amount of energy doing a bunch of unfocused things. None of them do all that well, and you feel like you’re spinning your wheels.
But what if you focused on ONLY THE BEST opportunity and used that same energy to make that great? The results are a factor of 10x+.
As a real estate investor, you may try to wholesale, fix and flip, and do that new townhouse development you’ve got your eye on. They all seem related (all real estate)… but each of them requires your focus, energy, and time.
So unless you build out an amazing team of people, none of those sides of your real estate business will really grow to their full potential like they would if you focused on just one of them… BUT MAKING THAT ONE THING EPICALLY GREAT.
That was the decision I made several years back after I read another book called “The Pumpkin Plan“… that hammered home in a very simple way why it was so critical that I trim stuff down in my life and only focus on a few great things.
Enter The Pumpkin Plan And The Farmer
I’ve found over the years that many of the answers we need in business and life can be learned from farmers.
Farming is a 10,000-year-old discipline, and while technology has changed to help make farming more efficient, the essence of what it takes to grow great crops is the same.
You prep the soil, plant the seeds, water and fertilize those seeds, nurture that crop, and harvest it when it’s ready.
But looking back today, at that time when I was overwhelmed, bringing in good money but spinning my wheels… I was spending too much time planting seeds… I had too many crops out there… and none of my crops had a chance to grow to their full potential because I had to tend to so darn many of them.
But in the book “The Pumpkin Plan,” the author talks about an epiphany he had at a similar point in his life after he read an article in his local newspaper where a state record-holding pumpkin farmer was asked how he grows pumpkins that get so damn big.
How to grow giant pumpkins according to a record-setting pumpkin farmer
Taken from the Pumpkin Plan book. Just do yourself a favor and get the book or get the free PDF of the first chapter online.
And that process has crazy similar parallels in life and business.
Notice in steps 3 – 6 how focused that farmer is on getting rid of everything except that one single pumpkin that seems like it’ll grow the biggest and yield the best result.
He knows that if he keeps marginal pumpkins that are “good opportunities” just in case, they may be great… or so he has ones to fall back on if that big one doesn’t work out… none of those pumpkins would ever have a chance of growing as big as it could.
The “ok” pumpkins or “good” pumpkins kill the chances of the great pumpkin from being amazing…
It’s that focusing all of that water energy, sun energy, and his own personal energy on that one pumpkin that has the most promise that makes the pumpkins so amazingly large.
If we relate this life and business… it may look something like this.
How to grow the best life, business, and income possible (following a farmer’s advice)
Notice the same essential themes from farming to business.
Promising seed = your biggest natural strengths.
Water = selling (gotta make those offers and market the heck out of your business!)
Weed like crazy = cut all distractions and things that pose as “opportunities” but are distractions.
Focus all your attention on the biggest pumpkin = focus on your best and most fulfilling opportunity or strength like crazy.
Most real estate investors and entrepreneurs think that trying 14 different things at once is the path to success.
That “trying” direct mail, SEO, PPC, at the same time, is the path to success.
But it’s not.
Maybe dabble with each of them for a month just to see what gets a bit of traction… but then quickly recognize the one that you feel has the best opportunity to crush it for you if you give it more focus… and weed out the rest of the stuff. Then, focus on being insanely great at PPC.
Then once you’re great at PPC, you may want to add SEO.
Or if you are doing wholesale deals, some fix and flips, or developing an apartment building here or there… you’re likely not doing any of them justice.
What if instead, you recognized that your fix and flip business was the one that was the most fun and most profitable?
Then you’d want to weed out the wholesaling and apartment development and laser focus on being the best fix and flip investor in your area.
Your profits, fun, and fulfillment will all multiply.
Or, if you’re like me, who is a serial entrepreneur… you don’t have to cut off everything else you’re working on and choose just 1 thing.
But you should have 1 main thing that eats up 90%+ of your focus for a period of time.
How I Trimmed The Small Pumpkins
For me, at that moment in my life when I had several companies going on… and people were throwing new opportunities at me all of the time… this is what I did.
I got laser-focused on what my unique abilities were (I love business and marketing strategy, I’m a big vision guy, and love amplifying people to think bigger in life and teaching).
I trimmed off everything in my business that didn’t BEST help me do those things above. This also meant a lot of little projects or partnerships that looked like they were a fit at first glance,but they weren’t a “hell ya! I want to do that!” type of project… just a “ya, I could make money on that.”
There’s a BIG difference. I also started having my assistant check my email so I wouldn’t waste time in my inbox every day… but could focus just on the important emails.
I weeded everything that was taking me away from my focus. At one time, I used to be subscribed to probably 50+ email lists. I’d get dozens of marketing emails daily from “gurus” just in case I’d need them someday or in case they had value. I unsubscribed from all email lists, but my favorite 1-2, turned off Facebook email notifications, deleted the Facebook app from my phone, and deleted the Gmail app from my phone.
I also started not feeling bad if I didn’t answer back an email from someone immediately… because anything that wasn’t directly contributing to my laser focus became a low priority.
I focused on growing that one thing the best I could. That one thing was Carrot. Before making this decision, I had always treated this “online website thing” as a side project. One of my many little projects that had potential that I put a half-ass effort into.
But I started thinking, what if I put all my energy into this and made it an amazing company? What if it was so great I could recruit amazing team members, the ideal customers, and could make my business fun and profitable at the same time… while using it as my way to help the most amount of entrepreneurs as possible?
That’s it.
Sounds too simple right?
Well, it is simple. But it can be hard to take that first step because it feels weird.
It feels like you’re cutting out things that are perfectly fine things that are bringing you money… paying the bills.
But if you don’t get rid of those extra things and if you don’t laser focus on that “big pumpkin”… and give it all of your energy, focus, and resources… you’ll likely be spinning your wheels this time next year.
So You Have A Choice…
And looking back, this choice is pretty obvious now… but it wasn’t easy then.
Choice 1: Focus on what you do best and what you love; focus on that 1 business strategy/opportunity and work it like mad. Grow that 1 thing. And be less busy, make more money, and be happier. Buy The Pumpkin Plan (thanks, Mike!) and Essentialism if you’re serious about it.
And… Listen to Mike Line Out How To Plan Your Business For Less Stress And Higher Profits on His Episode of the CarrotCast:
Choice 2: Keep thinking that “more opportunities” is better. Keep thinking that “being busy” is a good thing. Keep hedging your bets by keeping some of those “small pumpkins” on the table as an option to fall back on and ignore the things your biggest pumpkin needs (your full energy and attention).
And keep settling for your life and a business that runs you.
The choice is yours.
It won’t be comfortable at first, but you’ll look back this time next year and marvel at how your life changed. A simpler life, with more focus and more time to do epic stuff rather than half-assing a dozen things.
Follow that pumpkin farmer’s advice and trim your pumpkin vines often (especially at the end of each year).
Do you feel “busy,” over-extended, and stuck at your current income level?
Also, do you want more content like this? Showing behind the scenes of our entrepreneurial journey as we build a multi-million dollar company from the ground by doing the right thing and delivering an amazing product and experience?
If so, we’ll write a lot more about growing your team, creating a culture in your business, hiring, creating income streams other than real estate, increasing productivity, investing your money wisely, etc. If we get enough interest… we’ll start sharing our journey. Let me know in the comment section below.
Hit me with a comment below on what you think you should trim out before the end of the year?
We recently surveyed our Carrot members about their lead-to-deal conversion rate — that is, what percentage of leads become deals. We also asked them about the source of these leads (Carrot leads or Non-Carrot) to determine which efforts provide the most high-quality leads and thus the most deals.
The results were exciting. They indicated that Carrot leads convert 7 times better and are 2.5 times more profitable than non-Carrot leads.
This is something we’ve known anecdotally for a long time — from all of the reviews we’ve received from our members. For example…
“Carrot literally changed my life. Trevor and his crew are the best people on the planet. Get plugged into their system and culture, and you will start generating leads!” – Brian Rockwell
“I have generated just over 200 leads in a little over 4 months using my Carrot site. I couldn’t be more thankful for the services they have provided. Thank you Carrot!” – Hank Tobler
“Closed 3 deals exclusively from SEO leads / Carrot conversions. No PPC. No attribution to any Facebook ads. Just Google search results and credibility.” – Daniel DiGiacomo
… but still, it’s refreshing to see the actual data.
Let’s take a look!
Not a Carrot member? Take a free demo…
Already a Carrot member? Learn more about our 30 Day Challenge…
The Survey Data & What it Means
To be clear, non-Carrot leads refer to any leads that didn’t come through an investor’s Carrot website. Maybe they called, texted, or emailed instead.
Carrot leads, naturally, refer to any leads that came through the investor’s website. They visited and opted into a CTA that looks something like this…
So, what exactly were the results?
Well, we asked Carrot members for their lead-to-deal conversion rate and their average value per deal for both Carrot and non-Carrot leads.
We then used those numbers to calculate the survey respondents’ average value per lead.
Here are the Carrot vs. Non-Carrot results:
Amazing, right?
Carrot leads had an 8.2% lead-to-deal conversion rate, while non-Carrot leads had a 1.11% conversion rate.
Even more surprisingly, Carrot leads that became deals had an average value of $23,089.26, and non-Carrot leads that became deals had an average value of $9,159.11.
That makes the average value per Carrot lead $1,893.40. That is enough to pay for an entire year of our top subscription plan, by the way! And, the average value per non-Carrot lead is $102.07.
Something is going on here, and let’s talk about that.
But before we do, understand that we’re not saying you shouldn’t generate leads one way, but you should generate them another.
Every real estate investor has to find what works for their business and their market, which usually is a mishmash of various marketing tactics.
Here, we’re just looking at some high-level trends that might be helpful for investors to consider.
Why are Carrot leads so much better than Non-Carrot leads?
There are essentially two questions we have to answer.
Why do Carrot leads become deals much more frequently than non-Carrot leads?
Why do Carrot deals have much bigger profit margins than non-Carrot deals?
And the first thing we need to examine is where these leads are coming from. After all, the source determines the quality.
Non-Carrot leads is a broad term that includes a lot of different sources: cold calls, inbound calls from direct mail campaigns and door knocking, flyers, business cards, bandit signs, and so forth.
You might not notice it at first, but all of those sources have a similarity: they all represent outbound marketing efforts.
That is, you go out and try to find people who might be interested in selling their home. You offer them a fair cash offer and a quick turnaround time. You do this by sending them mail, knocking on their door, or calling their phone.
Of the people who contact you via outbound marketing methods, it’s safe to assume that many of them are just curious. They’re not motivated to sell by any particular circumstances in their life, but your offer caught their attention, and so they call you to find out more.
That’s how most non-Carrot leads are generated.
Now let’s look at Carrot leads.
We’ve built Carrot websites with wicked-fast load speeds, mobile friendliness, and a clean tech stack.
Carrot sites rank for high-value phrases in Google more than any other site builder in the industry (terms like “sell my house fast in ” or “sell my house for cash in .”
Third-party data from Fresh Chalk pointed this out. Here are page speed scores for different website builders (a huge factor for Google rankings).
The same is true for Carrot’s mobile performance (which is now a huge part of internet traffic).
This graphic represents the recent updates that Carrot developers have made to our member sites to get ahead of the latest Google Core Web Vitals update. Learn more about what this graphic means and the changes that we made here.
But that’s only one of the many reasons that Carrot sites sit at the top of the rankings.
The secret to quality lead mastery
Our members also create Evergreen content for their blogs every single month, content that’s optimized to rank in Google.
We also give our members the ability to:
Track their rankings right inside of their account.
Ensure that every page and post is optimized to rank (via a simple checklist).
Create long-form evergreen content by transcribing video content with the click of a button (VideoPost).
This is the difference between hamster wheel marketing…
“If you’re creating a piece of content and you just put it up on Facebook or Instagram, it’s going to be there for 24 to 48, maybe 72 hours before it gets pushed down, forcing you to get back on the hamster wheel and post again, and post again and post again, because the life span of that content is so short.
The lifespan of that content is so short that you have to be on the hamster wheel continually.
If you get off of the hamster wheel, if you stop doing those postings, if you stop doing direct mail, if you stop cold calling or doing RBMs, then your leads will eventually dwindle to a stop, and you’ve got to restart and get back on the hamster wheel.”
“Get into a routine of creating content. Another piece of content this week, another piece of content next week, a blog post next week, a video post, a video post, a location page, and eventually, you’re going to have a brick wall that does all of the work for you.
Remember, it’s going to be slow going in the first three, four, five, six months potentially.
But as long as you’re consistently stacking bricks of quality content that answers real questions from your market, you’re entertaining in your own way; you’re going to start to pick up that momentum.”
At Carrot, we focus on evergreen marketing — consistent action that produces long-term results.
Now, why all of this information about Google rankings, page speed, and tech stack?
Well, because of the way Carrot sites are built, they typically generate a good chunk of leads via evergreen marketing through search engines like Google — this means that motivated sellers find you rather than you trying to find motivated sellers.
That’s called inbound marketing.
And it almost always results in higher quality leads than outbound marketing.
So that answers our first question.
Why do Carrot leads become deals much more frequently than non-Carrot leads?
There’s a high likelihood it’s because many of them are likely coming through search engines.
When you think about it, it’s not all that surprising that outbound marketing leads tend to be lower quality than inbound marketing leads. It’s the difference between you looking for motivated sellers and motivated sellers looking for you.
We get feedback about this difference all the time from our members…
“I consistently get organic leads from my Carrot website. I have purchased my best deals to date through my websites. I highly recommend you implement training and tools available through the platform.” – Beau Eckstein
“I’m getting 2x more motivated seller leads with my custom Carrot site than my old site, and the tools and content help me stand out in my crowded market.” – Tyler Ford
“I am saving between $20,000 and $50,000 every single month in lost lead-gen closing potential after switching from my expensive custom-made site to my Carrot site.” – Carter Steph
And it’s not just hearsay. When we take a peek at the source of traffic and leads for our members, we can see a good chunk coming from the organic content that Carrot helps to provide. So far, in 2021, organic traffic accounts for 25.8% of our member leads.
But what about the second question: why do Carrot deals have more significant profit margins than non-Carrot leads?
Part of the answer is likely the same as the first — since Carrot sites drive organic leads through search engines, investors don’t have to directly pay for those leads like they would have to with a direct mail campaign.
This makes a big difference in per-deal profitability. But that’s not the entire story.
Again, we have to look at where these deals come from.
If someone receives your mailer and it makes them think about selling a property that they’ve owned for a while, and so they call you, they’re probably not going to be as willing or motivated to accept a lower offer.
But if someone is actively looking for someone like you who can buy their home as-is for cash, they’re probably more motivated and thus more willing to accept a lower offer, which results in higher profit margins.
And so that answers our second question…
Why do Carrot deals have much bigger profit margins than non-Carrot deals?
It’s because inbound marketing efforts are less expensive and generate leads that are more motivated to accept lower offers.
Final Thoughts
If there’s a lesson to be learned from all this, it’s about the value of inbound marketing.
When you create an online presence that allows motivated sellers to find you, you can expect to generate much higher quality leads for less money and increase your per-deal profitability.
That’s not to say that you should stop sending direct mail, cold calling, door knocking or driving for dollars. We are huge advocates of those strategies, and they support many Carrot member businesses!
While you’re working on SEO and content, you can also run PPC ads and send direct mail to generate leads more immediately for your business.
That’s the balanced approach that has worked for thousands and thousands of real estate investors, and there’s no reason that it won’t work for you, too.
Click below if you’re ready to take the next step.
As a real estate professional, you know that effective real estate lead generation is a fundamental aspect of business success. The process of acquiring new leads directly translates to cultivating a broader client base, ultimately contributing to increased revenue for your real estate endeavors.
65% of businesses say generating traffic and leads is their biggest marketing challenge. The real estate industry is saturated, and competition is high. Whether it’s agents looking for buyers or investors looking for sellers, the struggle is the same.
How can you beat the competition and get new leads through the door? Lead generation might seem monumental, but with the right strategies, patience, and hard work, you can raise your number of clients through effective lead generation.
This article discusses 43 of the best real estate lead generation strategies.
In fact, these are the same lead generation strategies that many of our Carrot members have used to generate millions of leads (not counting 1000s of phone call leads):
Experts say 20% of real estate professionals pull in 80% of the sales.
And despite how exact those percentages are, there’s a merit of truth to the 80/20 rule. We’ve all met, for instance, the person who out-profits every other real estate professional in their location. More often, though, we meet the real estate professional who generates 80% of leads annually.
The reality is that some people are better at generating leads than others — but only because they implement the right strategies.
Over that time, we’ve learned a thing or two about lead generation in the real estate space… and so have our members.
We want to give you these real estate lead generation strategies that will change your business.
43 Real Estate Lead Generation Strategies for Agents, Brokers, Realtors, and Investors
1. Treat your properties as a storefront… kind of
Our first idea comes from mobile home flipper Paul doCampo, who responded to an inquiry I made on Facebook asking for real estate lead generation strategies.
Here’s what he said.
“Treat your house flips like a storefront almost. Especially in places that have a lot of traffic. Banners, signs, take-home boxes during construction, contractors with a stack of your business cards, and trained what to say. Make your message/USP known to everyone who walks by and make it as easy as possible for them to contact you.”
For real estate agents, that’s par for the course. Most agents wouldn’t try to sell a house without putting a sign in the property’s front yard.
For home flippers, house-front signage and banners often miss real estate lead generation opportunities. While you own the property, you might as well use it as free advertising for your real estate business, “especially in places that have a lot of traffic.”
Here’s the thing about real estate lead generation: you never know where your next deal will come from. If you’re like most real estate professionals, you’ve landed deals in unexpected ways — coffee shop conversations and everyday run-ins.
That is just one more advertising method that allows you to get your message in front of more people. And who knows? Maybe you’ll make $25,000 extra this year just because you put a sign in a yard.
2. Create amazing website content
Your real estate agent or investor website can greatly impact your overall revenue.
And at Carrot, we talk about content marketing on your website.
But that’s intentional. We only do it because content marketing is often an undervalued lead generation strategy — especially in real estate.
Part of that is because some of the benefits of content marketing are evergreen or long-term.
Usually, you won’t see many SEO results for at least six months. Still, content marketing has some short-term benefits — such as immediate promotional opportunities.
If you don’t have great website content to promote, then talking about your website and what you do can come off a bit trite (to put it lightly).
Content marketing lets you subtly talk about your business and what you do without being too heavy-handed.
This is why Nexus Home Buyers creates blog content like this regularly.
Matt had to say when I asked him about real estate lead generation strategies.
“One of the lead sources that we like is writing a short guide or shooting a quick video about how to do something or a guide about your city. For example, in real estate, writing a guide about “How To Winterize Your Home” or a YouTube video about “Winterizing Your Home” will target multiple potential clients in your area.
You create a guide based on your local market. You could even create a guide about the best restaurants you’ve been to in your city.
People love learning about their city or how-to guides. If you are genuinely trying to provide helpful information instead of selling to them, people will visit your site, engage with your content, and potentially become a client.”
Well, the verdict is in, and the stats back him up, whether we’re talking B2B or B2C.
B2B companies that blog 11 or more times every month receive three times the traffic of companies that blog zero to one time per month.
Similarly, B2C businesses that blog 11 or more times every month receive four times as many leads as companies that only blog four or five times a month.
As it turns out, create more content if you want to drive more traffic and pull more leads.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. Check out the video below for a dead-simple content creation strategy we use here at Carrot. With this strategy, you can create a fantastic piece of content in 20 to 30 minutes for about $5.
The ideation phase is one of the most complex parts of creating massive content. How do you know what to talk about? What will interest your audience?
Well, here’s the answer: Go to the FAQ page of your website and create content that answers those questions.
That’s what people are asking, and if you answer, they might work with you in the future.
Hootsuite reports that the top brands on Instagram post 4.9 times per week.
That’s about one post for every business day.
But maybe you’ve never considered using Instagram as a real estate professional. That’s okay – but it’s time to consider it because Instagram is the most visual social media platform with three prominent industries: food, clothing, and real estate.
This is probably precisely why some savvy real estate agents and investors have already flocked to the platform with their hashtags ready and their cameras clicking.
Of course, your Instagram content doesn’t need to be complicated. Just consider RealEstateKirby’s post about how he loves the entryway to a home he’s selling.
Perhaps the biggest secret behind Aaron and Krista Farr’s success has been their consistent and creative activity on social media and their website.
On Instagram and Facebook, they post 2-3 times per day.
Krista claims that consistency, day in and day out, helps them build trust with their market.
Real estate lead generation is all about being in the right place at the right time. You never know when someone will see your Instagram post, call you, and make you $15,000. It could come from anywhere — including Instagram.
Try posting one photo of a property daily for six months and see what happens.
4. Join community efforts
Real estate professionals are something of community advocates.
When entering the real estate industry, you probably tried to relocate to an area you thought would be particularly ripe for sales and profitability. Because you know as well as I do that you don’t just sell a home — you sell the neighborhood, the coffee shop across the street, and the city as a whole.
And if a prospect thinks you don’t love the city you’re operating in even for one second, they won’t give you the time of day.
After all, who wants to live somewhere that the local real estate experts don’t even love?
That’s right. No one.
Perhaps there’s no more sure-fire way to build meaningful relationships, establish local expertise, and show people that you love your town than by supporting community efforts.
Maybe your city is cleaning up its parks or helping to remove graffiti from local buildings. Whatever the case, make time to attend at least some community service events.
You’ll build relationships with local people who might eventually become customers and show people you’re worth working with.
One source reports that consumers value a company’s reputation more than its products.
In other words, the house you’re buying or selling matters, but your reputation matters more.
And if you’re going to build a long-term sustainable business, then maintaining your reputation is non-negotiable.
5. Create a consistent newsletter
There’s no talking about real estate lead generation strategies without discussing email.
Still, email is one of the best opportunities for real estate agents and investors to reach their prospects and valuable connections. For instance, according to Constant Contact, for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $38.
This is probably also why 80% of professionals claim email marketing drives customer acquisition and retention.
Of course, running a consistent newsletter is easier said than done.
Because you still have this daunting question: What should you talk about?
Well, the answer to that question lies in two more questions.
Who are you emailing?
What do you want them to do?
If you are emailing all your connections and want to keep in touch regularly, you might consider sending something fun, as Corinne Bernard does in her email newsletter.
In this case, there’s not anything that you’re asking people to do. You’re simply staying in touch with them so they’ll think of you when they are ready to buy or sell their house.
That illustrates the primary benefit of running a consistent newsletter — when you’re regularly in touch with people, they’ll think of you first when they’re ready to take action.
I also love this email newsletter by Charity Adams. She offers several pieces of content for various audiences and then finishes with a friendly reminder that she’s there to help if people need her.
To start your newsletter as soon as possible, add a form like this to your real estate agent website or your real estate investor website that allows people to sign up.
MailChimp lets you do this easily for free, with up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails.
Then, send your list of valuable content, relevant offers, and exciting updates. They’ll appreciate it, and you’ll generate more leads.
6. Ask for referrals
This tactic is dead simple, so I won’t belabor it: ask your past customers for referrals.
While people are going through the buying process, focus on them. But once they’re taken care of, gently ask them if anyone they know might be interested in your services.
It’s no secret that word-of-mouth is still the most powerful marketing tactic for generating leads — and referrals exploit that fact.
While 83% of consumers are willing to refer someone after a positive experience, only 29% do.
Why?
Because the salesperson rarely asks.
But the salesperson that does ask reaps massive benefits. For instance, people that a friend refers to are four times more likely to buy, and a referred customer’s average lifetime value is 16% higher than non-referrals.
You can say the same thing if you’re asking over the phone. Either way, ask for a referral, whether over the phone, via social media, or by email.
Your past customers represent a goldmine of potential for your business.
7. Record “live” open houses
Technology is changing the way that real estate investors and agents market themselves.
And live video changes how you can do open houses (for agents) or house walkthroughs (for investors). With a smartphone and a Facebook or Instagram account, you can double, triple, or even quadruple the number of people you reach when showing off a house.
How?
Live video.
Plus, people love live video.
Consumers spend almost 83 minutes per day consuming digital video.
While there are many ways to use live video to your advantage as a real estate expert, perhaps showing off properties is the easiest and most effective strategy for your business.
Here’s an example of Zac McHardy running a live video while he manages an open house.
So, how does this generate leads?
Simple. When more people see your properties, there’s a higher chance that one of those people will show interest and buy.
8. Wear a company-branded T-shirt
Founder, Beau Hollis – “The House Buying Guy”
What if people randomly started talking about your real estate business without knowing your profession?
That’d be pretty cool, huh?
By wearing branded clothing, you might be able to make that happen. Not everyone will ask you about the logo on your T-shirt or what your business does, but some will.
And when they do, that gives you an easy way to talk about your real estate company. Some people you speak to might even be interested in working with you.
Again, you never know where a lead or deal will come from. Wearing business-branded clothing is another simple avenue for generating this year’s unexpected revenue.
As GrowthHouse says,
An often overlooked way to generate leads is to wear your name badge or company wear such as a hat or polo shirt. When people ask, ‘Oh, in you’re in real estate—how’s the market?’ Be prepared with a concise answer about how much inventory is on the market, how much prices are increasing or declining, and offer to send them a free report on their property. Agents can use RPR to gather this data quickly and of course, you need their contact information to send them the report. One woman who worked for Coldwell Banker got a CB t-shirt for her dog.
And in today’s digital world, creating a t-shirt with your logo or brand name is pretty easy. You can create a logo for free using Canva. And you can design a custom t-shirt using Custom Ink.
9. Launch an email campaign
Nurturing relationships should be part of your real estate marketing strategy. Email marketing is a great way to do just that!
Emails can help you save, sort, and segment contacts to control the list fully.
Automated email campaigns automatically deliver messages tailored for each person while you’re busy finding new homeowners in the beautiful properties available on the market today.
10. Bandit signs
Bandit signs can be essential for many investors in a real estate marketing system. This is because they create the point-of-contact necessary to initiate transactions and have unmatched exposure, even compared with newer techniques that might seem more sophisticated at first glance.
A bandit sign can go a long way in generating brand awareness for all levels of investors or business owners when placed strategically on public property near their target audience’s destination, even if some may dismiss them as primitive methods compared to contemporary advertising tools on social media networks.
11. Launch a Google Ads account
Google Ads is one of real estate professionals’ most popular online advertising platforms. Google Ads has an excellent track record and can provide quick results with minimal investment on your part, making it an excellent tool to utilize if you want to gain exposure quickly in today’s competitive market.
You can rank #1 in organic search results, but it takes months or years, and there’s no guarantee you’ll achieve high-ranking page positioning. Google Ads instantly lets you compete with other advertisers competing for real estate keywords.
12. Start a podcast
This idea isn’t for everyone — it won’t help you generate leads immediately.
But over time, and with enough consistency, running a real estate podcast can increase brand awareness, establish credibility, and even attract motivated buyers and sellers to call you.
However, this depends on where you operate.
If you invest in a small market, starting a local podcast probably won’t offer much traction.. If you’re in a large market, starting a local podcast might pay off!
13. Interview local businesses for your blog
Interviewing businesses in your local community presents an exceptional opportunity to grow your credibility and authority. This will help expand the reach of your business with a broader audience who is likely interested in what you have to say or offer them.
Shemika Fox, a Real Estate Agent in Santa Cruz, has had major success using this method. Here is an example of one of her interviews.
Interviewing local businesses also:
Allows you to tell your story
Expands your networking
Increases word of mouth around your business
You can repurpose the content into YouTube videos, paid ads, and blog posts
It provides the opportunity to share with your email list
It gives you the perfect content to share on social media
14. Take advantage of Craigslist
Craigslist is a powerful — and easy-to-use — platform for generating leads.
Investors can use Craigslist to find motivated sellers (look for FSBO listings posted a while ago and still haven’t sold or created posts in the house listings section advertising your services) and find cash buyers (create posts in the house listings section advertising your deals).
Agents can use Craigslist as an additional place to list homes or even as an outlet for finding potential sellers (look for people who seem to be having trouble selling their homes as FSBO).
Ensure you post multiple times, refresh as often as possible, and replace posts when they expire. We highly recommend hiring a VA to help manage your Craigslist lead-generation strategy since it’s a little tedious but easy.
15. Create virtual tours
Virtual tours are a great way for real estate agents to find buyers — investors can also use them to promote deals to cash buyers.
Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are probably the best places to post your virtual tours — you can even do it LIVE if the platform allows it.
What’s even cooler is that technology now allows you to create 3D virtual tours where people can go through the homes at their own pace from the comfort of their sofa. Here’s a video that explains how to do that…
16. Submit press releases
When you launch your business — whether you’re an investor or an agent — why not try to garner local attention?
Your local newspapers and radio stations are always looking for news-worthy stories — can you spin an exciting story about your business to make it “newsworthy”?
If you can, then you’ll get free publicity!
Which is always good for business.
Just reach out to local media outlets and tell them an interesting story about how your business started and see if they bite. The more community members who know about your business, the better!
17. Start a partnership
Rome wasn’t built in a day. And it sure as heck wasn’t built by a single person.
You’re not trying to build an empire, of course… you’re trying to build a business — but building a company is also very rarely a one-person job. It requires expertise from many different people as well as partnerships with lots of various experts.
So whether you’re an agent or investor, start looking for partnerships — you can partner with other investors or agents, title companies, hard money lenders, private money lenders, property management companies, and more!
Opportunities are everywhere when you keep your eyes open!
18. Attend foreclosure auctions
If you’re a wholesaler, your business model depends on finding high-quality cash buyers who’ll pay a fair price for your deals and do so quickly and without too much fuss.
Foreclosure auctions are probably the single best place to find these people.
Think about it — people who go to a foreclosure auction have cash on hand to buy a distressed property sight-unseen… doesn’t that sound like exactly the type of person you want on your buyer’s list?
Here’s a great video that goes into more detail on this strategy…
19. Drive for dollars
Driving for dollars is a tactic real estate investors can use to find off-market distressed properties and motivated sellers.
It’s straightforward.
You drive around neighborhoods, write down the addresses of distressed properties, research the homeowners back at base, and add those people to your marketing cycle.
It’s a great way to find deals your competitors are unaware of.
If you want to make this process less time-consuming, contact mail carriers in the area and offer them a little money for every deal they send.
20. Make DIY videos
The real estate space is filled with DIYers who want to learn how to repair and/or renovate their property.
Some want to learn about the first-time home buying process — how to find a mortgage lender, what to expect at house showings, and how to find a trustworthy real estate agent.
In other words, all that real estate knowledge you’ve got in your head would make GREAT content for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. Get in the habit of pulling out your phone to record videos and offer DIY advice — it’ll build brand awareness and make you the go-to expert that people want to work with.
21. Partner with local contractors
Here’s an idea for investors looking for motivated sellers.
Contractors in your area are constantly fixing up distressed properties… or, at the very least, meeting homeowners and offering quotes for fixing those properties.
Some of those homeowners quickly learn that they can’t afford the contractor’s services and thus decline — and the contractor loses time and money.
What if you partnered with contractors in your area and offered them a commission for every deal they bring your way? Then, the next time, a seller tells them, “Well, I can’t afford that.” They can say, “I understand. If you’d rather sell the property, I do know someone who can pay cash and will buy it as-is.”
Win-win.
22. Advertise in the local newspapers
Advertising in the local newspaper is easy to build brand awareness and generate leads for real estate agents or investors.
However, it is also a little bit pricey.
So you’ll want to weigh the pros and cons of putting money toward it.
If you’ve got a big budget and are looking for more outlets to spread the word, then it’s probably a great thing to try (we recommend using a unique phone number to see how many phone calls it generates).
If you have a small budget, every dollar you spend counts. Then, we recommend trying more direct lead-generation methods like Facebook ads and direct mail.
23. Speak at an event
Do you live in a big city with various conferences and events where you could share your expertise? By doing so, you can build partnerships with other real estate professionals in the area and maybe even find some new sources of leads!
24. Advertise on the radio
Local radio stations consistently reach a lot of homeowners.
So if you’ve got the money for it, why not try and advertise on the radio? We recommend using a unique phone number to see how many phone calls the radio ads generate for your business.
25. Start a direct mail campaign
Direct mail is one of the most influential and effective strategies for generating a consistent flow of leads for your real estate business — for investors and agents.
Tax Delinquent List – criteria: 2 years behind, are still the homeowner
Code Violation List – no criteria
Equity List – Absentee Owner, Owner Occupied, and Global (all) – criteria: over 45 years old owner, last sale date between 1990 and 3 years ago.
Inheritance List – USLeadList
Evictions – no criteria
Yard Sale/Garage Sale List – tenants sell before they move
Probate – Recommends getting the course from Rick Ginn
Arrest Record List – list of people recently arrested
If you’re a real estate agent, we recommend sending direct mail by zip code to increase brand awareness.
Also, set out with accurate estimates of how much you expect to spend to acquire each deal — between $2,000 and $4,000 is typical when using direct mail.
26. Follow up on old leads
Generating a flow of steady leads is critical for growing your real estate business, but so is nurturing the leads you already have.
I spoke with Ryan Dossey — a real estate investor in Indiana — before about this, and he told me that 90% of his deals happen during the follow-up process… not during the first phone call.
The same is true for real estate agents. People might not be ready to buy or sell right now, but in 6 or 12 months, when they are prepared to sell… you want to be top of mind.
So, you might consider periodically sending email newsletters like this to the people on your email list.
That’ll increase brand awareness and keep you top-of-mind so that when people are ready to sell, you’ll be the person they come to.
Create a follow-up machine and start
27. Use leaflet drops or inserts
Full leaflets or inserts are another great way to generate real estate leads (similar to direct mail or door hangers).
28. Use your business cards
Business cards might seem a little outdated… but for real estate agents and investors, they’re a great way to build brand awareness and generate leads.
Business cards are effective specifically for local businesses — and even more so for companies that require the client/customer to contact a salesperson.
So yeah… real estate counts.
We recommend printing a few hundred business cards and carrying a few around.
You never know when you will meet someone interested in your services. Hand them out whenever possible; many people will get to know your business over time.
29. Door hangers
Door hangers can also be a great way to build brand awareness and generate leads.
If you’re an investor looking for motivated sellers, consider making door hangers a part of your driving-for-dollars process. After writing down the address for further research, put a hanger on the door so the owner can contact you if they want to sell their home.
If you’re a real estate agent, choose a neighborhood where you’d like to work and put door hangers on the homes — you might also seek out FSBO listings and put door hangers on those properties to offer your services.
30. Attend REIA meetings
REIA meetings provide an excellent opportunity to discover lead-generating methods.
Attending these gatherings is free and open to anyone interested in learning more about real estate investing.
31. Cold call expired listing owners
Cold calling is the most uncomfortable lead generation strategy for real estate investors and agents.
But here’s the thing…
Since it’s uncomfortable, many of your competitors aren’t doing it.
This means that there are deals you could get by cold calling that your competitors will never have access to.
But you don’t have to take our word for it.
Check out this case study of how Max Maxwell used cold calling to grow a $900k real estate investing business. It’s pretty mind-boggling.
32. Share your testimonial stories
How do you convince someone to work with you?
Do you tell them how many homeowners you’ve helped? Do you tell them how long you’ve been working in real estate? Do you tell them you’ve got a trustworthy track record?
All of those tactics can work.
But you know what’s even more powerful?
Stories.
Specifically, true stories about real people you’ve helped buy or sell homes and the beautiful things they’ve had to say about you.
Home Builder Association offers networking events, allowing builders, trades, and industry-related companies to come together to discuss best practices and learn from each other.
This presents an opportunity for your business to get its name out in the community while spreading positivity.
Many local chapters are also involved in making their communities better places to live, supporting and organizing community outreach programs like Habitat for Humanity and Home Aid, and providing homes and support services for the homeless.
This is a great chance to spread positive messages about your company at events that contribute to helping others!
34. Crash garage sales
Garage and yard sales are a great way to find people thinking about selling or at least being willing to chat with you because they’re looking for something better.
Even if the person isn’t moving yet, maybe give them your card so when they plan on leaving, it’s easier to contact you when they are ready!
35. Send postcards to expired listings
Sending postcards to expired listings is a great way to help sellers who may be worried and discouraged. These postcards encourage them that you’re the right agent or investor by asking the right questions and letting them know there is nothing more important than finding someone they can trust with this sale.
Expired listings often have many motivated sellers, making direct response postcard campaigns effective since these anxious buyers want answers fast!
36. Attend local networking events
Most communities have local meetups where entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors gather.
Why not join?
Who knows what opportunities those meetups will present if you attend them consistently.
You’ll likely discover partnerships, additional lead generation strategies, and marketing tactics you wouldn’t have thought of if you hadn’t joined!
37. Contact “For Sale By Owner” listings
FSBO listings can be a great place for real estate agents and investors to find leads.
Investors can contact these sellers and offer their services. For example…
“Hey. I know the home selling process can be a headache. And that’s why we buy people’s homes as-is for cash. We can make you a fair cash offer in just 48 hours, and you can pick the closing date. We’ll even pay all closing costs!”
And agents can do something similar…
“Hey. How is the home selling process going? I know how much of a headache it can be… so I thought I’d offer my services. I have a track record of selling homes quickly and for higher than market prices. Plus, my commission is negotiable! Give me a call if you want to chat.”
Ensure you target a specific zip code so you’re not running ads to people outside your market.
You might consider using “retargeting” via the Facebook pixel. This allows you to show ads to people who visited your website but left without giving you their contact information.
For inspiration, here’s an example of a Facebook ad being run by an investor…
And here’s an example of an advertisement run by a real estate agent…
39. Join a local landlord association
Finding and becoming active in a local landlord association is a great way to build relationships with other real estate experts in your area.
And as we all know… those relationships often lead to business growth down the road.
You’ll learn new business strategies and lead-gen tactics and even have opportunities to collaborate with other real estate professionals.
It’s definitely worth your time!
40. Guest post on a local blog
If you live in a decent-sized city, online blogs will discuss various topics specific to your market — food recommendations, current events, market updates, etc.
And writing for those blogs is an excellent opportunity to drive traffic to your website and build brand awareness.
To find those blogs, search for topics specific to your market.
For instance…
Best restaurants in
What to do in
Real estate updates in
Then, reach out and pitch the owner of the site an idea!
Maximize your real estate marketing efforts by focusing on LinkedIn to generate leads and referrals. To do this, optimize your profile with photos and a summary of your experience, including valuable content that will help you connect better to other contacts in the industry through mutual connections.
Be sure to create a complete profile:
Your company page is where you can share your company’s history, mission statement, and interests—and it should be filled with every detail about what makes your business unique. We encourage our partners to use the About section of their pages to tell others who they are and why people might want to do business with them.
Make your company page stand out from other agents. Fill it with interesting posts and many photos.
42. Implement text message marketing
Direct mail, advertising, and cold calling used to be the primary marketing options available to real estate agents and investors.
64% of consumers think businesses should contact them via SMS more often.
About 61% of marketers still don’t use SMS. If you start now, you’ll be on the cutting edge.
It takes the average person 90 seconds to respond to a text message.
29% of SMS marketing recipients click on links in SMS messages.
Crazy, right?
We recommend adding SMS to your follow-up and lead-generation processes — you can use a tool like SimpleTexting to get started.
43. Generate buyer leads by becoming a Zillow Premier Agent
Zillow is the most frequently visited real estate website, and buyers spend a lot of time there.
With 186 homes viewed per second, they’re coming here to get information about their next home.
The Zillow Premier Agent program puts you in the spotlight along with your prospects’ viewing activity and gives access to great perks like featured placement in the agent finder and live connections programs.
Conclusion
You don’t want to fall into most real estate professionals making only 20% of the sales. Instead, you want to be one of the 20% that generate 80% of the revenue.
What differentiates the many who don’t and the few who do?
At least in part, using the right real estate lead generation tactics.
And while these 43 real estate lead generation strategies won’t solve all your lead generation woes, they offer a great place to start.
How do we know? Because we’ve tested them and published the results in our Market Harvest Report.
What are your best lead generation strategies? Let us know in the comments below!
Back in June, we introduced you to the latest big update to Google’s ranking algorithm – Core Web Vitals – and promised we’d be back with more information about how our team here at Carrot has responded to make sure your site speed and performance are up-to-par when it comes to this latest update.
Today, we’re back to let you know that not only have your Carrot websitesjust become 50% faster thanks to the upgrades from our Engineering team, but your competitive advantage in site speed and performanceagainst your non-Carrot competitors has grown!
Core Web Vitals are the latest elements to be introduced to Google’s search ranking algorithm. They were partially introduced to the algorithm in June and, as of the end of August, play a full role in Google’s ranking mix.
It’s been proven that page speed impacts the conversion rate of visitors to leads on websites, and Google has taken steps to make page speed more of a ranking factor (while still a very low factor when compared to quality content, quality backlinks, etc.).
While there are various things that go into determining overall page experience in Google’s eyes, Core Web Vitals generally apply to how quickly a site loads, how quickly it becomes interactive for a user, and how visually stable it is while it’s loading.
The actual Core Web Vitals themselves are comprised of Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). In plain English, the way your website code is structured and how clean it is, matters to page speed. Below the surface, there is a multitude of related metrics that can be used to determine how well you are doing at meeting benchmarks for those big three.
How Fast Are Carrot Websites Already vs. The Big Tech Players
As we’ve reported in the past, Carrot sites are known for being among the fastest in the world on desktop. A study of over 150,000 websites (real estate and non-real estate) showed that Carrot sites were faster than every other website builder they tested… except for one. We nearly tied with Google’s own, very simple, Google My Business websites.
We’ve continued to keep this page speed edge for our clients (all included in every Carrot plan) on desktop.
Now Onto Mobile Page Speed
If you’ve run a report using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool, you’ve probably noticed that mobile scores tend to be lower than desktop. There are a few reasons for that. The first reason is that, although technology has come a long way, phones simply aren’t as powerful as desktop computers. That’s obvious. The other is how mobile speed scores are tested – by using an older generation phone with a 3G connection as the testing “device.” That’s why we caution against reading too much into the baseline mobile scores you see when you run some of these tools.
For example, this is from Google’s own Pagespeed Insights tool on Google.com itself. Google itself scores a 71 out of 100 on mobile speed and a 99 out of 100 on desktop (our Carrot templates score a 98-99 out of 100 upon launch on desktop as well).
Google’s Mobile Pagespeed Score On Their Own Website
Amazon.com’s Mobile Pagespeed Score
Zillow’s Mobile Pagespeed Score
All 3 of these websites above are known as some of the best-ranking websites in the world, despite the low mobile page speed score you may see in Google’s Pagespeed Insights tool.
Why do we show you the 3 sites above? To show that Google isn’t weighing page speed in Google rankings as a primary ranking factor yet, but also to show you how Carrot sites compare to some of the largest and most valuable websites in the world when running these baseline tests.
So as Google works page speed more and more into its ranking factors, Carrot members are already ahead of the game.
[Data] Carrot Sites Now 69.8% Faster than Custom WordPress Websites
What We Did to Improve Core Web Vitals and Site Speed On All Carrot Websites
We already knew that Carrot sites were fast, but Google’s update led us to set out to make them even faster.
Over the last few months, our team has been working to audit, identify, and optimize several facets of our sites and network with Core Web Vitals and site speed in mind. Through the use of a new, robust tracking system, we’ve been able to highlight key areas that impact every single site on our network.
These include:
Font-related improvements
Image-related improvements
Javascript/CSS-related improvements
Template-level improvements
By breaking this overarching site speed and performance theme into several smaller buckets, our Engineering team was able to directly address any snags in site performance and go to work fixing them.
While the concept of Core Web Vitals and site speed is certainly not new to us at Carrot, the introduction of them into Google’s ranking algorithm meant that we had to double down on this work over the course of the past several months.
We won’t bore you with the super technical details, but here are a few things our great team of Engineers did to help your site – and every site on our network – become faster and up-to-par with the Core Web Vitals update:
Revisited several code packages and determined whether or not we still need them, and if we do, looked at how we can better optimize when it comes time for a site to load
Tested and optimized how and when we load webfonts on a page
Ensured images are being properly deferred off-screen where applicable and reduced the number of resources needed to load them
Conducted a deep dive into our Javascript packages and unbundled them where it made sense to do so, lending a great improvement to site speed and loading
Enough Of The Technical Stuff … How Much Faster Did Carrot Websites Get?
Across the handful of templates and sites we tracked before, during, and after this Engineering work, Mobile Performance Scores increased significantly – by anywhere from 25 to 50%!
** Note – When we reference scores in this article, we are referencing absolute baseline scores using Google’s Lighthouse Tool. Make sure to read up on our guidance on testing tools and their associated caveats in the Dos and Don’ts Guide **
Across the handful of templates and sites we tracked before, during and after this Engineering work, Mobile Performance Scores increased significantly – by anywhere from 25% to 50!
Beneath the surface of the top-line Performance Score, we identified several important metrics that we knew we could target for improvement.
Among these were:
Largest Contentful Paint (one of the primary CWV metrics)
Time To Interactive and Total Blocking Time as measurements of input delay
and Cumulative Layout Shift (another primary metric)
The end result?Sites that load faster, require fewer resource-heavy elements and maintain visual stability.
These three metrics (combined with Cumulative Layout Shift) directly impact all three areas of Core Web Vitals and – as a result – your overall Performance Score.
It’s important to note – every single one of these improvements is sourced from the mobile version of our sites.
Because the desktop versions of our sites were already lightning-fast (meeting or exceeding CWV benchmarks for every category), we were able to focus our attention on anything impacting mobile scores specifically.
This is great because Google has signaled that only mobile search is impacted by this latest algorithm update… yet another way Carrot is staying ahead of the game and delivering high-impact improvements for our members.
So How Do We Stack Up To The Competition?
After seeing such significant improvements to site speed and performance, we wanted to know: How do we stack up to the competition now? We set out to collect a sample of CWV and site speed scores for a myriad of non-Carrot sites in large real estate markets.
These included custom WordPress sites, other site builders (Weebly, Squarespace, etc.), other site builders that cater to the real estate industry, and custom sites that aren’t built on the WordPress engine.
We matched our most popular template up against them and were blown away by the results!
Carrot sites beat 92.5% of competitor sites in terms of Mobile Performance Score!
Better yet, we outperformed 75.9% of sites in Largest Contentful Paint, 88.8% of sites in Total Blocking Time, and 79.6% of sites in Cumulative Layout Shift!
Check out how we performed against each category below:
(Reminder: LCP and TBT are measured in seconds so lower scores are better; a lower score is better for CLS as well!)
Here’s the full breakdown…
Category
Mobile Performance Score
LCP (sec.)
TBT (ms.)
CLS
Carrot Site
73
4.8
110
0.000
Custom WordPress
43
11.17
1,947
0.173
Custom Not WP
53
7.9
580
0.111
Site Builders
36
10.0
1,918
0.028
RE Site Builders
38
9.29
1,247
0.092
We always knew that Carrot sites outperform the competition in terms of SEO and conversion, and now we know that the man-hours and effort we’ve devoted to site speed and performance over the past several months has increased our competitive advantage even more!
What’s Next For Core Web Vitals and Site Speed At Carrot?
Just because Google has now fully introduced Core Web Vitals and site speed metrics to their ranking algorithm doesn’t mean our work is done. We still have a healthy backlog of ideas to improve site speed and performance on our network that we’ll keep hammering away at over the next weeks and months.
We’re also going to be expanding and improving the system and process we use to track Core Web Vitals scores here at Carrot.
We not only want to be able to see measurable, quantifiable gains in these scores as we continue our work over time, but we also want to catch (and fix!) anything that may negatively affect site speed scores on Carrot sites before that impact is actually seen.
We’re also going to be developing some ways to analyze aggregate organic traffic across our network leading up to and following Google’s announced roll-out of this update. There are still open questions across the industry about when, where, and how much we will see this impact on rankings and inbound organic traffic.
As one of the largest network of real estate sites on the Internet, we hope to help answer some of these questions and bring you the insights you need to know.
Core Web Vitals – and Google’s definition of “page experience” in general – is still a relatively new concept, and it’s sure to evolve in the coming months and years. Google itself has signaled that this is the case…
“Because we continue to work on identifying and measuring aspects of page experience, we plan to incorporate more page experience signals on a yearly basis to both further align with evolving user expectations and increase the aspects of user experience that we can measure.”
As the discussion of Core Web Vitals continues to evolve and we learn more from Google, we’ll be sure to bring you those updates and any guidance or improvements for your sites. In the meantime, enjoy your better, faster Carrot site without needing to spend thousands of dollars on web development contractors to keep your site fast.
Not a Carrot member and tired of hassling with the tech when it comes to keeping your site fast and ahead of the curve?
Now is the perfect time to switch from a clunky, custom site to a Carrot site that’s been engineered for optimal performance in page speed, conversion rate, SEO, and everything else you need to dominate your market.
No one likes to waste money! Negative keywords are one of the most underutilized tools PPC advertisers have at their fingertips. They can help you save a budget for the best quality searches when used correctly.
We want you to hit the ground running with your campaign quality, so we’ve added 100 negative keywords you can include in your PPC accounts. It will keep your keep ads from showing for words such as “gta” and “paint,” which are sure to accompany some keywords you’re bidding on.
⬇️ Grab a FREE Negative Keyword List for Motivated Sellers ⬇️
Let’s say you’re an investor who’s creating your first Google Ads campaign. You’d like to show up on searches to sell a house. Although, it can be a mistake to advertise for a broad term. Here’s what can happen:
Advertiser bids on “sell home” and a searcher comes along and types in “sell home furniture,” looking at the many options to sell their home furniture.
Your ad featuring an option to sell their home fast for cash shows.
The searcher accidentally clicks your ad, driving up your bill, without any intention of selling you their house.
This is a fairly common example. As you’ll discover, from video games to furniture to spiritual statues, lots of search terms represent something that has nothing to do with selling a house fast.
What Are Negative Keywords for Real Estate & How Do They Appear In Google Ads?
Negative keywords give you an opportunity to block search terms that you don’t want your ad to be shown for. Let’s take a look at the common types of negative keywords that can be added:
no notation at all indicates a broad match
[brackets] represent a keyword in exact match
“quotations” represent a keyword in phrase match
You can add these negative keywords at the campaign level & ad group level. Campaign level negatives mean those will not appear within an ad group for any keyword. Ad group level means you can set a particular negative keyword for a singular ad group. For the real estate industry, it’s best practice to add negative keywords at the campaign level.
Let’s take a look at how negative keywords are often used.
More of the traditional use of negative keywords works well for the real estate industry.
For example, if you’re looking to capture leads where people are searching looking to sell their house fast without an agent; then you’ll want to block searches for “sell a house with an agent” and “find an agent to sell my house” by adding “agent” to your negative keyword list.
*Tip* You should use Google’s search terms report to find new negative keywords. But, do beware that if you add keywords using this method, Google defaults them as an exact match.
How to Build a Strong Negative Keyword List
First, if you have a Google or Bing rep, they should be able to help you build lists of negative keywords they use for similar accounts. But you’ll need to ensure these Google or Bing created lists aren’t taking away from your important search phrases.
Remember, reps know their products but probably don’t know the industry.
The same might be true if you’re having someone manage your account.
Next, as with planning any keyword list, you can explore Google Ads Keyword Planner and/or use the Google Suggestion method to see related terms and understand what you might want to weed out.
You’ll need to have a Google Ads account to use their tool. For Google Suggestions, search and look at the suggestions below the organic rankings. Here’s an example,
Another tool that we use for keyword suggestions is Ubersuggest. This tool is similar to the Google Ads tool, but you don’t need to be logged into your AdWords account to use it. It’s a good tool because it lets you type in a keyword phrase and then groups variations on that keyword into organized segments, like this:
Sell house
As you can see, I’ve highlighted in orange some potential negative keywords for a business looking for motivated sellers.
Without using this tool, you might have known that “sell house tax” is a popular search. Now you can turn “tax” into a negative keyword to block any searches with the term “tax” within it.
Lastly, you should also use Google’s “related search” to id new negative keywords. This very effective method allows you to see what related search terms Google sees as popular. Then, you can remove the unrelated Here’s how it would look when performing a search for “sell my house fast”:
As you can see, you can add “market value” to your negative keyword list.
Using Negative Keywords With Microsoft (Bing) Ads
Bing Ads is a platform that we shouldn’t forget. We’ve researched to back up the effect that Bing can be a viable option for generating leads via PPC. So, negative keyword best practices should be included there too.
One difference between Microsoft (Bing) Ads and Google Ads is that you can only add phrase and exact match types for negative keywords.
If you’re importing a Google Ads account into Bing, just be aware that your broad match terms will be converted into phrase match.
Add individual negative keywords to ad groups or campaigns
Step 1: Select Keywords and Targeting > Keywords, Negative.
Step 2: Click add negative keywords and select Ad group negative or Campaign negative keywords.
Step 3: If prompted, select the destination for the new negative keyword and click OK.
Step 4: Enter the negative keyword in the edit panel.
Add multiple negative keywords
It isn’t possible to add campaign and ad group negative keywords at the same time with the Make multiple changes tool. Choose to add either negative keywords or campaign negative keywords.
Select Keywords and Targeting > Keywords, Negative.
Click Make multiple changes.
Select My data includes columns for campaigns and/or ad groups or Use selected destinations. – If you select Use selected destinations, select Add as campaign-level negative keywords or Add as ad group-level negative keywords.
Type or paste your negative keywords in the grid.
Click Process.
The Make multiple changes tool will display the number of changes made. Click Finish and review changes.
Review your pending changes. To add the pending changes to your account, click Keep. To undo your changes, click Reject.
Conclusion
Bidding on the highest-converting keywords in your market is only part of the battle. A solid set of negative keywords you’re continuously expanding upon helps tally victories. Google does a pretty good job filing through millions of ads to serve the right one to the right searcher at the right time. But there is still plenty of room for mistakes, so keep up on your negative keywords!
If you don’t like wasting your hard-earned money, negative keywords are one of the best ways to ensure you spend money on the right searches.
Starter Negative Keywords for Real Estate List – 100 Words to Get You Started
“The only way to build authority is through content.”
If you’re serious about generating leads, real estatetestimonials can be a key content element because they are unbiased comments that prompt visitors to give you their contact information.
Key Takeaways
Quality testimonials establish trust and authority when formatted correctly with real names, photos, and specific details rather than vague statements or just initials.
Video testimonials represent the highest level of effectiveness as they capture nonverbal communication and emotions that text alone cannot convey.
Ask strategic questions like “What problem did you need to solve?”, “Why did you choose us?”, and “What surprised you?” to gather compelling testimonial content that addresses prospect concerns.
Even a slight increase in conversion rates through properly formatted testimonials could mean thousands of additional dollars in monthly revenue for your real estate business.
Key takeaway: 123% increase in leads for sites with personalization.
We compared a batch of our CSU member’s motivated seller sites over 6 months to see the difference in the lead count.
Now, there are, of course, other factors that play into site conversion. It’s also a great reminder that great-looking sites still need the personalization element to round out.
We compared member sites WITHOUT personalization on the homepage (no testimonials, photos of the member, etc.) and homepages CONTAINING testimonials (1-3) and a personal photo in the about section.
The result?
PROOF: 123% increase in leads for sites with personalization!
Our most engaged members create the most content and get the most leads.
Using real estate testimonials on your site in text or video, you introduce content that will authoritatively promote your business.
You should be using real estate testimonials to help establish credibility and authority. Quality testimonials increase conversions because they aren’t looked upon as sales pitches. If they come across in an unbiased voice, they will build trust. You’re using real people to show success in your service.
In the end, your testimonials will convert more visitors into buyers and sellers if you use them correctly.
According to a study… “Testimonials and case studies are considered the most effective content marketing tactics.” In short, in a crowded market like today, great testimonials for real estate agents and investors formatted correctly can boost your leads and deals. They help add credibility to an untrusting world.
Additionally, as those values go vertical, many aspiring wholesalers start flipping houses, making for increasingly saturated online spaces.
But before panic sets in, breathe. It’s not as bad as it sounds… well, but it’s also an opportunity. It’s a chance to flex your real estate muscles, to stand head and shoulders above that semi-debilitating clutter, to be the solution rather than contribute to the problem.
What I will teach you will apply whether you’re an investor, buyer, seller, or agent.
I will teach you how to build credibility by leveraging testimonials that shine.
Let’s dive in!
What is a Real Estate Testimonial?
A real estate testimonial relays a story from a current to a potential client. The shorter, the better (unless you sacrifice quality). You don’t want an hour-long testimonial.
When a client has a great experience, let them share it. Get real testimonials. Potential clients experience shopping anxiety — you know, that feeling before buying something that says, “It costs too much. It’s not good enough. How do you know it’s what you want?” — and testimonials are one way of shooting down this discouraging devil.
The testimonial says, “Other people have worked with this company and had a good experience. I probably will, too.”
Here are some examples from one of our member sites:
Example Real Estate Testimonials
Why are high-quality testimonials such a big deal?
If used correctly, testimonials for real estate agents and investors are important for website visitors (and your conversion rate).
They can…
Completely eradicate concerns that prospects had about working with your business.
Build immediate trust for who you are and what you do.
Convince prospects to give you their information via an opt-in form or call you on the phone directly).
Consider that 88% of consumers claim that they read at least 10 reviews before deciding whether they can trust a company or not (and they have to trust you if they’re going to work with you) or that 88% of people trust online testimonials just as much as personal recommendations from a friend.
To prove just how powerful testimonials can be (at least the conversion rate side of things), Unbounce reported on an A/B test. Ideal for testing, Version A and Version B are identical save for one difference: Version B includes a testimonial above the website’s opt-in form.
In the end, Version B increased the conversion rate by 34%.
Let’s put that in perspective for a wholesaler’s website.
Imagine you drive 1,000 website visits every month, generating 100 leads per month on your website (a 10% conversion rate — typical for Carrot websites), and you close 1 in 25 leads. That means you’re doing about 4 deals per month at, let’s assume, $10,000 profit per deal.
Boom — you add a glowing testimonial to your website and increase your conversion rate by 34%, from 10% to 13.4%.
Now, you will get more than 130 leads per month with the same amount of traffic (1,000 website visits). And since you close 1 in 15 to 25 leads, you’ll now do more than 5 deals monthly with the same amount of website traffic.
By putting a testimonial on your website, you added $10,000 in monthly wholesale fees (from $40,000 to $50,000 per month).
And the same goes for real estate agents. You can increase your conversion rate and monthly income by adding excellent real estate testimonials to your website.
Of course, I’m not promising that you’ll get exactly those results. I’m just trying to illustrate how powerful a slight boost in your website’s conversion rate can be on your business revenue (at Carrot, we provide high-converting websites out-of-the-box for our members)… and that testimonials can help you achieve that slight, powerful boost.
But… all of this depends on using high-quality testimonials.
You Might Be Doing It Wrong
Most people have testimonials helpful in taking up website canvas, but little else.
To avoid spitting lousy devil killers, I will walk you through the four levels of a quality real estate testimonial. Unfortunately, most people are stuck in levels one and two.
Level 1: The Basic Real Estate Testimonial
The first level is your most basic testimonial:
“Hey, Mark was great to work with. – J.K.”
If a level one testimonial is on your website, it’s best to take it down. It’s not helping. There are no specifics. It doesn’t say what Mark did for you that was so great. It doesn’t say how Mark did it.
It doesn’t end there if this lack of context isn’t enough. The signature says, “J.K.,” the client’s initials. Although the testimonial is made a joke by the initials J.K. (if someone has these initials, don’t even get their testimonial…), initials, even without such inconvenient letters, are impersonal and potentially create distrust in the viewer.
A testimonial doesn’t always help your reputation. Level one testimonials, particularly, can damage it.
Level 2: Be Specific
Level two is better, but still in the sad zone 😢
Do not use painfully vague real estate testimonials.
“Mark did what he said he’d do, closed on time, and I refer him to friends. – John Kennedy”
It says Mark is reliable, timely, and good enough to get a referral. Level two is getting more specific.
When a testimonial is ambiguous, it can work against building trust for your business and create unease in the prospect’s mind. If this testimonial is real, why isn’t it more specific?
Notice, also, that the testimonial used the person’s name, John Kennedy, not his initials. However, skeptics abound even with a real name and an honest, mildly-specific testimonial. The more specific, the better… and fewer critics.
Here’s a sample of a good review for a real estate investor:
“Best Decision I’ve Ever Made!!! I was in a situation where I needed to get out of my house ASAP and Colby came through for Me!!! Nobody else will ever beat his services and I’m relieved I don’t have the financial stress any longer!!! I will forever be grateful for what he did for me!!!”
But specificity isn’t all that counts toward your level. Even if your testimonial is true, you must convince people it’s true. It’s all thanks to that crowded real estate space with no shortage of lies and deceit.
Level 3: Be Real
Unfortunately, being authentic isn’t enough in our world of “alternative facts” and reality television.
It’s tempting just to write your real estate testimonial under an alias name and throw it on your website to increase the conversion rate. It sure would take a lot less time, and it might even boost your conversion rate if you’re a great writer.
But chances are, the testimonial you’ll receive from someone who authentically loves your service will be far more powerful (and conversion-boosting) than something you throw together yourself. Plus, people can usually tell when a testimonial is fake.
You have to convince people you’re authentic.
How?
Well, levels three and level four testimonials seem more believable simply because they include a visual and they’re a bit more specific:
“I inherited a house and couldn’t sell it, but found Mark online. I was skeptical, but their offer was fair, we closed on time, and I’d work with him again. – John Kennedy – Tampa Seller”
Viewers will look at an image or video, and immediately, the dud of a testimonial becomes impactful.
The image could be a picture of you and the prospect at the closing table or their face. It could be you shaking their hand or a short video of them discussing the process.
Your only goal is to make it real, to make it believable. Don’t forget to include a short bio for the testimonial giver; tell the viewer who’s recommending you. Even something as short as “John Kennedy, Tampa seller.”
Here is an example of a good testimonial with an image of the client and the investor:
“Thank you for all your help and walking me through the mess I got stuck with. You explained everything and went over the contract step by step; never once did your answers change. You gave us all the information we needed and we could see you were serious about what you do. If someone asks if I know who could help them, I would not hesitate to name you as a reference as you are an honest person. Once again, thank you so much.” – Louise R. Friel
Level 4: Record Video Real Estate Testimonials
If you want to climb to the testimonial pinnacle, make a video. Record a video of the whole process of your client, recommending you, emotions, and all.
Video captures something text cannot: the human ability to communicate nonverbally. And that’s a powerful prospect.
Here are a few examples of good “real” written testimonials:
2nd Chance Investment Group
“Like many others in this unstable economy, and after looking into other organizations, such as Keep Your Home California, I exercised my options by contacting Second Chance Investment Group in Chino Hills, CA. It was the best phone call I could have made. Now I am doing better than ever – free of debt. And moving forward with a clear mind. Thanks, Ray Foster and Second Chance. Keep up the good work.” – Sheryl Brown-Pearce
Townsend Realty Group
“Townsend Realty Group has been the finest company to work with as we sell our home in Canton. We have sold several homes and have never had such a professional and compassionate company guide us through the process. Their realtors are always a phone call away and are readily available to help in any way. Their team made some great recommendations for selling our home, and they also helped us avoid pouring lots of money into getting the home ready for the market!” – Ray and Patricia Massengale
Florida Cash Home Buyers
“Thanks to all the fine people I have dealt with in the past 2 to 3 weeks. I especially like to thank Annette with the law firm. She was very helpful in processing the closing paperwork. Alejandro kept me aware of my need to show the property to various people. Thanks again to all that helped with the sale and closing.” – Glenda Skaggs
Video Real Estate Testimonial Examples
Here are a few examples of good “real” video testimonials:
Let me end with one final tip…
You Need to Ask Good Questions
Don’t forget to set yourself up for success at the gate. You must ask the right questions to get a high-quality real estate testimonial.
Here are some questions to ask to get POWERFUL testimonials:
What problem did you need to solve,and did we solve it as you expected? — You want to pull out the pain they were experiencing before working with you. What were they going through? Could they even sleep at night? What was the emotional pain like? How stressful was the situation?
Why did you choose to work with us? — You want to understand better what made them decide to solve their stressful situation by working with you. What was going through their head? What was the final straw that made them give you a call?
Why did you choose us instead of some other company? — Why not somebody else? This question will help illustrate your USP and what sets you apart from competitors in your market.
What was your favorite part about working with us? — Being on the other side of that stressful situation, what was the client most enjoyed most during the time they worked with you? It could be how fast you closed or how easy it was.
What surprised you about working with us? — Asking this question can get the client talking about the thing they loved about working with you that was the most unexpected (i.e., how you went above and beyond for them).
Elements of an Effective Real Estate Testimonial
To recap, these are the elements necessary for a killer testimonial. Check these off your list before posting.
Be specific
Be authentic
Be thorough
Emphasize benefits
Include a picture of a face, or better yet, record a short video
Short bio
Ask good questions
Where to Place Testimonials on Your Website
There are several options for placing testimonials on your website. Some investors dedicate an entire page to reviews or testimonials, while others prefer to sprinkle one or two on their homepage and other landing pages. However, it’s important to remember that buyers and sellers researching and wanting to know you better are more likely to visit your reviews page, “How it works” page, or “Our company” page.
Placing testimonials on your reviews page can be especially powerful, as this is where potential customers will go to read about the experiences of others who have used your products or services. You may also want to consider creating YouTube videos showcasing your business on your homepage and city landing pages, as this has been shown to increase search engine rankings correctly.
While you may not see many people watching these videos on your landing pages, once they are shared on your reviews page and other platforms, they can be highly effective in building trust and credibility with potential customers.
Here are a couple of examples of how Carrot members use testimonials:
Kind House Buyers – Reviews Page (scroll on the image to see the full page)
Simply Sold Testimonials Page (scroll on the image to see the full page)
Suppose you’re uncomfortable on video, email past clients the questions above and ask for their answers. Call a friend and ask them to vouch for your character if you can’t think of any clients who’d give you a testimonial.
As your business grows, you’ll get better real estate testimonials, improving your conversion rate even further. But it’s a process.
Testimonials can increase conversion rates if you use them correctly, and there are very few instances where a testimonial would hurt your conversion rate.
So work with what you have.
So embrace it; get some testimonials and add them to your website. Remember, a slight increase in conversion could mean thousands of dollars per month for your business.
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