Facebook Advertising
There seems to be a trend towards Facebook Advertising. There are many phases of Facebook Advertising. The first is of course doing it the easy way. Go on Facebook and place an ad. Then see if Facebook can live up to their claims. As usual, Real Estate advertising on any media brings out the wannabes. Those people who would like to buy a house, but never did the proper planning. And maybe, just maybe, a Facebook ad will bring in a new buyer or seller. But at what cost? There is the initial cost. Which is rather low compared to most social media outlets. But there is a time commitment. You have to try a number of ads to target different groups of buyers. Then you have to be wary of all the anti-discrimination laws and of course the way people view them. By groups, I am talking about price ranges and general interests.
Any type of advertising can work or fail. So – in steps the advertising consultants and experts. The problem is, most of them never sold a house. They have no idea what the Real Estate business is about. So they plaster the media with half hearted ads that may be less effective than any ad you designed yourself. If you are in Real Estate, you are supposed to know what people want. The best advertising Real Estate Agents can do is to present themselves as the expert in their field. What kind of impression does a Real Estate Agent make when they hire people to do a simple task for them?
Go with the simple ads that attract attention and show you are the expert – like:
What is the market doing in your neighborhood?
How can you be sure the Title work is complete and accurate when you buy your next home?
Real Estate Agents know and recommend the BEST Lenders based on their experience of actually working with them.
Those are questions every home buyer and seller needs to know. Stick with knowledge Buyers and Sellers need to know. Then step in as the expert in the field.
Of course Facebook adverting hatched a new set of scammers. Let’s face it. Many people with nothing more than a laptop, and some at Internet cafes launched a personal business trying to pass themselves off as Facebook adverting experts. Like I said, they know nothing about buying or selling homes, but they compete for your business. That is a dangerous road to travel. They can place you in hot water because they know nothing about the adverting laws Real Estate agents and brokers have to follow. You are the expert. You are supposed to know these things. If you don’t know them, you probably shouldn’t have a license.
Of course there are a few legitimate adverting companies who use Facebook as a media. And they may bring you in new business. On the other hand, you have to be wary of the fly by night businesses. Many of them are from overseas. Many of them are not registered and licensed businesses. You are supposed to be the expert. The NAR and congress placed the responsibility of being experts on Internet scams on the shoulders of Real Estate Brokers. We are supposed to be up on the subject and able to share that information with our clients. The NAR has articles on the subject, plans, and information we are able to share. Did you read it? Are you the expert you claim to be?
And of course there are companies out there that are what I refer to as snakes in the grass. Those are companies who try to recruit unsuspecting people and convince them they will make a fortune after taking their classes and training on being Facebook advertising experts. Beware of those snakes on the Internet.
They are good at adverting. They send out millions of emails. They use Facebook to advertise. They look like they know what they are doing. But they will never give you the step by step process you need to succeed. All they have is a script designed to separate a fool from their money.
I’ve looked onto one of those scammers. They claim to offer FREE classes, videos, books, and such. But that requires a monthly membership. I’ve even seen churches use that scam to offer Bible Studies and training. What is this world coming to? I’ve also seen this used in Real Estate Investing. I’ve seen people loose thousands of dollars. So I wrote an article about that. And it save thousands of people money.
https://crossroadsre.net/what-lures-people-into-an-online-scam/
When I look at the books the Facebook adverting scammers offer, it is like I am reading one of those self help books from the 1980’s. Remember those days? Self help books were all around. We had PC’s. That is short for personal computers. The computer was housed in a big tower. The screen was 14 or 15 inches and weighed a ton. But those computers worked. Many of those self help books concentrated on that new computer thing. Looking back I can see how useless those books were. The authors knew nothing about fixing computers. So they never give you any idea how to trouble shoot a computer, take it part, replace parts, or put together a custom computer. Those authors didn’t know a thing about programming. But they wrote about how you should be motivated to take advantage of the coming trend. None of those authors in the 1980’s saw anything like Amazon or Google. But they wrote about being in that 1% that would succeed and make a fortune. In other words, those books never told anyone how to actually take the first step to being successful. Those authors made millions and proved, you don’t have to have brains, know how, or experience to write books and make millions.
The books today copy the same ideas. If you ask me, they copy entire chapters from those old books. If you need a motivational book save yourself some money. Go online and buy some old used books. They have the same information as the new books. And neither will give you any idea of that the first step is to start a business.
Okay let’s let reality sink in for a moment. Some guy is telling you how to think outside the crowd and get rich. Well what is the first step? Of course the 1st step is to write a business plan. They all use scripts to scam money. But they are not gong to share that secret. Then you need to crunch some figures to set up a budget. Another detail those books, seminars, and videos seem to omit. Then you need to file for a business license and register in your state. Some of those scammers actually have a registered business. They went through the process and should be able to explain it to you. But they don’t. They don’t give a damn about you or anyone else. All they want is your charge card number.
Of course I am writing from the views of a Real Estate Agent. I am actually a licensed Broker and I own my own business. I am in the process of adding new Agents. I expect to find and work with Agents who know how to do their job. Like filing for the business license. They have to know about Internet security. And they have to know a lot about marketing. How are you going to sell a $500,000 house for a client if you don’t know how to generate your own leads? I put Agents who are experts in the field. They are Independent Contractors running their own business. And they better be able to prove they know what they are doing. My training is designed to make great Agents better. I don’t want to see one of them or anyone else falling to these new Facebook adverting scams.