Cumino Blog

With every passing day, more real estate investing tips spring up on the internet. It seems like there are now more real estate “gurus” than regular people – and the number of blogs, forums and websites devoted to real estate investing are more numerous than the sands of the sea.

And predictably, not all of the information available is worthwhile or even legitimate. Considering the lax standards on the internet, we hope some of the information provided below will be of value to you. Important: We do not pretend to pass judgment on any of these people or resources – that’s your job.

* Terry Wygal sells internet marketing products to real estate investors. Terry Wygal charges around $800 to teach people to make videos and put them on YouTube – a pricey lesson to be sure.

* Bryan Ellis is a marketing and real estate professional whose website is focused on the intersection of real estate investing with economic news. Ellis has a blog at http://realestate.BryanEllis.com that has become a mainstay among serious investors.

* Gerald Romine focuses on selling his software package, which is helpful for factoring in all project costs on real estate investments and also helps with paperwork. While the software is definitely expensive, it does have nice features.

To varying degrees, these three people are already well know to real estate investors. However, fame does not constitute legitimacy or reliability. We encourage you to check these people out more closely.

In this world it always helps to know search engine optimization technologies or at least to know where you can outsource for a company to optimize your site for you.

The second thing you need to know to survive on the web is either how to build your own websites which you can do by learning HTML, or again knowing who you can outsource this type of work to.

Even people who outsource their own websites often want to go in and make changes themselves and so it’s always good to learn and understand how web design works.

There are a lot of great resources on the web on this. When you build your business the most important thing is your company’s reputation as well as how your company is presented via the web.

Your website is the front line image for your company so although you want your website to be simple and to get the search engine’s attention, you also want it to be sophisticated enough to show the visitor what your company is all about.

Great web design balances the to without going overboard. Your website doesn’t have to be super complicated or high-tech to get your point across that your company is high-tech.

Sometimes just having a great image design on the website can give the illusion that the site is more high tech that it actually is and yet maintains the search engines need for simplicity. The goal here is to present your company image as high-tech if it isn’t fact a high-tech company but you do not need to spend a lot of money on your website to present that image.

London City today is undoubtedly one of the most favourite capitals to stop at in the world. What back packers require in a hotel is certainly going to be exceptionally different from what a traditional London occupant would in all probability deem important. Recently there are countless diverse forms of hotel accommodation about. As a result you ought to think extensively regarding what you’re searching for in a London hotel. This is because it is a very individual opinion and with the variety of choices available to you these days it can easily be a hard one to make.

Modern, traditional, funky, are you looking to be pandered to, have afternoon tea somewhere astounding or simply have a few nights to rest in luxury accommodation.

A few of the more traditional hotels are the oldest & grandest in the City and has to be said that they are on average vacated with a particular type of customer, you’re not if truth be hold going to stay here if you are with your children or relatives. The Ritz, Savoy & Claridges are simply only some of these all of which have been about as long as the Victorian times. They have all been reconstructed since then nevertheless still have lots of their famous virtues & characteristics. There are not many hotels on the planet of late that offer this type of extravagance, hundreds of people travel from all over the glove to stay at these hotels and the employees ensure that there stay is unquestionably worth the while.

With the City these days being a fashionable city to visit it makes sense that they have stylish hotels to go together. Elite hotels are becoming ever more popular and present a different sort of hotel accommodation than you would obtain from your more customary hotels would provide. If you’re trying to discover some of the greatest then go to places such as Knightsbridge, Notting Hill and Soho and you’re expected to find just what you’re wanting. Both the Soho Hotel and St Martin Lane Hotel are some of the finest hotels in the City. Check out Time Out today for the latest deals on London Hotels.

Product, Leads, and advertising the 3 most important elements of any successful home based business.

For this article we will focus on leads. Leads are people that are interested in making money from home. How do we know this?

For starters, they have either put an ad on the internet stating they want a home based business, or they have filled out a form with one of the lead generation companies.

Now how do we go about getting these so called leads? Some businesses put a simple questioner out over the internet that people can access to answer some simple questions.

These questions are usually, how much time a week you can put towards your business, how much money can you invest in your business, why do you want to work from home, etc.

These questioners are usually short and to the point. Once all this information is gathered the business then contacts that individual to sell them on his business opportunity.

Another way to find leads is through the lead generation companies that are on the internet. There business is to compile all the information and then sell it to business owners to use.

This is where it gets touchy. Today there are so many of these “so called” email list, lead lists etc. How do you know who is legit and who isn’t?

My rule of thumb on this is, a company offering a large amount (over 5000) leads a month is probably not a very good source.

So what makes a good source to find leads? Well what you want to look at is companies that offer what we call “double opt-in” leads.

What that means is each lead had to fill out one of those questioners and had to put a valid email address on that questioner, so that company could email them for confirmation.

That is double opt-in, that person filed out the form, and then got an email from the company asking if they filed out the form. If they did they hit a link that would confirm that to the company.

Then you want to look to see if that company also supplies the address, phone, IP address of the lead.

And what I think is most important, does the company offer leads that are spam compliant! This means you will not be accused of spam when you contact that lead! And will this lead be unique to you.

What I mean by unique to you is, once that lead shows up on your list, it will not show up on anyone else’s lead list.

And last but not least price! Please don’t think that the higher the fee the better the leads will be. This is definitely not true; I can vouch for that one.

I have used lead sources to promote my business that cost anywhere from $30 a month for 1000 leads, to $150 a month for 4000 leads. Which do you think I had the better luck with?

You guessed it, the one that gave me 1000 leads for $30 a month was the best deal, and I am averaging about a 28% signup to my business.

It does not sound like a lot, but think, that is 280 people a month, and if only 100 of those do any business for me, that is a bunch of money in my pocket each month. And all that for $30 a month.

So remember when choosing a lead generation company, look for price, double opt-in lead, spam compliant, unique to you, all pert ant information for the lead, and of course how many leads do you get each month!

Entrepreneur Magazine recently named home staging as one of its Hot businesses for 2006. And with start-up costs of $1000 or less, barriers to entry are low. So you can jump right in with very little risk while you keep your current job.

Learn about home staging (hint: staging is also called “home redesign” or “interior redesign” or simply “redesign”) by reading everything you can find on the subject. There are many great resources out there and they all explain the principles a little differently. You will probably take a special liking to a particular author’s style, but it’s good to read as much as you can. You’ll be more comfortable working in the field if you’ve read all of the home staging books you can get your hands on. Not all of them agree on every point, and you will be able to decide for yourself what you think works the best after you gain a little experience.

Practice on your own home and then branch out. You really do not need to get certified or attend expensive programs. The people selling those programs would very much like you to believe you can’t enter the business without their backing. That just isn’t true.

You can keep your current job because home staging is perfect for weekends. Start marketing yourself and use your cell phone as your business phone number. Change your voice-mail message to something professional sounding, stating your name and youe business name. Or just say “Jackie Riley, Professional Home Stager” for now. You do not need to come up with the perfect business name right now–don’t get stuck on that part.

In future articles we’ll go over how to market youself as a home stager. We’ll also discuss various add-ons so you can offer extra service to your clients while boosting your income.

Jackie Riley is a Real Estate Investor who stages all of her homes for sale.
Visit http://www.redesignforprofit.com
for info on staging business start up. I offer an e-book as well as an e-mail coaching service (e-mail me for info)
jackie@redesignforprofit.com

Also check out http://www.home-staging-tips.com

No Time to Finish your Book?
Judy Cullins ©2004 All Rights Reserved.

This number one complaint keeps many a professional from expanding their business through a book. As a book-writing coach, the Number One Question I get is, “How can I find time to write?” Here’s encouragement and how to’s to get your book finished.

1. Write a short book for your first effort.

Expand an article, talk, or report by adding a few stories, anecdotes, quotes, tips, or how-to’s. This book may even be just one chapter idea you have for your longer book. Focused writing sells well too. People Online and off want easy-to-read short information because they are so busy. They don’t want to spend a lot of time reading. Make your first book 10-50 pages.

2. Write your print book and eBook at the same time. It’s like cooking–you create a dish that you can serve twice for a one-time effort.

Make two word files, one for each format.

As you lay out your chapter titles and their theses, decide what components to leave out in your eBook version. You don’t need long stories or a lot of quotes. Give your potential buyers the meat they want. Short, but useful information!

In your print version that you may want to publish via Print on Demand for much less cash outlay, offer more client examples or other stories to illustrate your point. Add extra, useful information in tips, sidebars, charts or graphs. Make your perfect bound print book from 100-120 pages. That’s substantial enough for traditional minds, yet financially fruitful and time saving for the busy entrepreneur. Now, you have two products for the time price of one.

3. Check your daily calendar. What do you spend the most time on? How is that working for you?

What’s happening in your daily life that stops your book?

Do you have too much to do on your daily list? Do you feel guilty you aren’t doing enough? Do your present efforts pay off in new clients or other sales? Perhaps you focus on putting out the fires, email checking time, and other barely important things to help you succeed. If so, look to what to move to the top of your list–your book. Work on it and finish it before you slide away to other interests.

Notice where you spin wheels that don’t bring you new clients, a balanced life or sales. Always focus on what you do and enjoy best and for business, what makes you the most money for the smallest effort.

4. Write down in your daily to do pages of your organizer 2-3 High Level Activities (HLA’s) you need to do to move your book to the finish line.

Include a whole week of HLA’s at a time

Example: Monday.

-List topics and questions to answer for the whole book 2. –Categorize just one chapter’s questions and topics-ie. ch. 2.

Example: Tuesday.

-Write a rough draft of the middle of ch. 2–what questions you will answer
-Answer those questions (now headings)
- Note: If you answer 5 questions, you will have about a 5-page middle of the chapter.

5. Finish the high priority activity before you move on to a lower priority. That means phone calls, emails, and requests from others. Give yourself a definite time each day that is sacred to the cause. Your finished book.

6. Remember the payoffs.

Put less important things on the back burner. Know why your book will payoff. It brings you new clients, it illustrates your savvy expertise, it connects you to others to make their lives better.

Writing a short book can be the most powerful marketing activity. If you don’t work well alone, join a phone coaching session with other book writers. When you get feedback on what you write from a professional group, your writing improves and moves faster to the finish line. Your book coach will gently nudge you to do each assignment before you move on.

7. Don’t buy into the myth, “Writing a book takes too much time”

Actually, the best chapter writing happens fast! With the “Fast-Forward Writing Technique,” the template to write a chapter helps you write it right the first time. Then your book is easy-to-read, compelling, and well organized. Another great benefit is that you only need to edit 3-4 times. Writers without his help spend more time revising than writing the first draft. Get help from people who have been there before. Check out book writing teleclasses and small group “book achievers” coaching groups.

About the Author

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” and “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com.