How to Get Private Money Lenders to Trust You
Issue #2300
- WEALTHY: Why the best private lenders might be right down the street (Alan Cowgill)
- HEALTHY: How to keep toxins out of your food and out of your body (Kelley Herring)
- WISE: Grenville Kleiser on integrity
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- More chances for Google to toss your name around (Alexis Siemon)
- How to be a responsible writer (Suzanne Richardson)
- It’s Fun to Know… about powering your cellphone with your shirt
- Add "cap-a-pie" to your vocabulary
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"You are already of consequence in the world if you are known as a man of strict integrity."
Grenville Kleiser
How to Get Private Money Lenders to Trust You… and Give You Their Cash
By Alan Cowgill
In my last article for Early to Rise, I revealed 14 ways that private lenders can help you take your real estate business to an incredible level of success.
Today, I’ll show you how to take the next step: building trust between you and the people who can fund your deals.
When I decided to work with private lenders, I knew the individuals I wanted to reach were financially savvy and could appreciate the generous interest rate I offer. But people with ample finances get tons of requests for their money. So my biggest challenge - and a challenge you’re sure to face when finding private lenders - was getting them to trust me enough to do business with me.
I named my company "Integrity Home Buyers" because the word integrity has meaning for me. It is the way I run my business and my life. The people around me know this, but when I decided to seek out private lenders outside my own circle of friends, they simply didn’t know me. And I was asking those people to give me large sums of money and trust me to do what I said I’d do. So I had to convey my philosophy to them.
You can build trust in dozens of ways. But there are four trust-builders that have helped me find more than enough private lenders to fund all the real estate deals I want to do.
Trust Builder #1: Reach Out to the Right People.
When I started looking for potential lenders, I first determined common denominators among my target group that would help me reach them effectively.
I found that I could get an extremely targeted list of names of potential lenders from a list broker. (You can find a list broker in the phone book or on the Internet.) The list can be tailored almost any way you want, so I requested the names, addresses, and phone numbers of people who met the following criteria:
- They owned their own home.
- They bought items through the mail.
- They owned bank Certificates of Deposit (CDs).
- They were located in our county.
Here’s the logic behind my choices:
1. They owned their own home.
People who own their own home are probably already aware of what a great investment real estate can be.
2. They bought items through the mail.
If they buy things through the mail, I figure they will take time to read things that I send to them through the mail. (One of my primary marketing tools at the time was a postcard.)
3. They owned bank Certificates of Deposit (CDs).
These people obviously have available money. With the banks paying a pathetically low rate on CDs, my program is that much more attractive. (That was true when I got into the business - and CD rates are even lower today.)
4. They were located in our county.
This criterion is crucial to building trust and credibility. I focus on my local market, because it is likely that they already know about me from my other marketing efforts. They’ve seen my "I Buy Houses" signs for years. I sponsor Little League teams, so they may have seen the T-shirts with "I Buy Houses" and my phone number. And they may have read newspaper articles the local paper has done about my company.
In short, I believed from the start that lenders would be comfortable loaning to one of their neighbors. Plus, since they’d already seen my ads and heard about me in the community, they’d believe I was the real deal. And I figured they’d enjoy being able to drive by the house on which they held the mortgage while my crew was doing the work. (This turned out to be another huge trust builder. It made them feel safe, seeing exactly where their money was.)
Trust Builder #2: Crush Your Prospects with Credibility.
Once I received my list of targeted names, I mailed postcards inviting them to a luncheon. I didn’t have a tremendous crowd, but I didn’t need one. The number of guests didn’t matter as much as the number of guests in my targeted market who could take advantage of my program.
One of the best ways to establish your integrity is to create a "credibility kit" that you can hand out to potential lenders. Mine is a 30-page, spiral-bound book. On the cover are color pictures of more than a dozen houses I’ve bought and rehabbed. Before they even open the book, they see before-and-after pictures that show I have a seasoned real estate business… evidence of my work that they can drive by to see in person.
Inside the book, you want to include information that sends a strong message that you are a trustworthy person who knows his or her business. My book includes a brief history of my investing career, my company philosophy, pages of testimonials, certificates from training I have completed, and information-packed special reports.
Trust Builder #3: Become a Household Name.
The credibility kit is a great start, but you can’t stop there. To grow your business, you want your name out there. You want the prospective lender to say, "Hey, I’ve heard of you." Or "I’ve seen the T-shirts on the Little League team you sponsor." Or "You’re the ‘I Buy Houses’ guy." Familiarity makes an impact, and recognition conveys credibility.
For example, about a year ago I was able to add something new to my credibility kit: a copy of an interview with my local newspaper. They did a long article with lots of great information about my company and my lender program. Then, recently, the reporter came back and did an article focusing on the lender program - which, of course, I am now adding to my packet.
Talk about credibility! That’s the kind of publicity money can’t buy.
Trust Builder #4: Join the BBB.
Another credibility-building tool is to join the Better Business Bureau. It’s a great way to let people know that you consider yourself a serious, responsible businessperson. It also authorizes you to use their logo on your materials, which further conveys credibility.
People frequently check with the BBB before making a major financial decision. With good reason. To be a member of the BBB, you have to agree to "follow the highest principles of business ethics and voluntary self-regulation" and "have a proven record of marketplace honesty and integrity."
Early in my career, all of the above strategies combined to take my real estate investing to new heights. I had targeted my market correctly, won the trust of several private lenders, and had awesome results. After just two luncheons, I had $1 million to buy houses with… without having to hassle with a bank.
[Ed note: Alan Cowgill has bought or sold more than 200 investment properties using funds from private investors rather than banks or hard-money lenders. His Private Lending Made Easy is the only training program on the market dedicated to private money. To learn more about how you can grow your wealth with private funds, click here.]
Imagine Knowing of a Casino Where the Dealer Tipped His Hand Before You Made Your Move and Didn’t Care How Many Times You Beat Him.
When Would You Stop Going There?
This is nothing to do with games of chance, but I hope your answer to that question would be a resounding, “NEVER”!! Assuming you’re sane that is… Well, that is a virtually PERFECT analogy of the power of the insider signal!
It’s often said, “The Stock Market is just a big casino”. And it’s true. But the important omission in that statement (to keep the masses out!) is the dealer in this casino tips his hand to the select few… the insiders.
Such powerful knowledge could make YOU very rich indeed… Click to learn more…
Optimizing for Universal Search
Perform a search on Google these days and you may see something peculiar. Alongside the typical Web page results, Google is starting to include images and video clips. This is part of a new trend: "blended" or "universal" search. And by taking advantage of it, you can raise your website’s search engine rankings.
For example, I did a recent search for "Glen Hansard." The results had several images and videos of the singer/songwriter, including footage of his acceptance speech for his (well-deserved) "best song" Oscar for the movie Once.
What does this mean for you and your business? More chances to have your website content ranking high in Google, of course! And, as you know, the more often your website comes up in an organic search, the better your chances of attracting traffic to it.
Here are two ways to take advantage of universal search:
- If you have a lot of images on your site, be sure to use keyword-rich file names and appropriate alt tags. (Alt tags are in the source code of your website. They are used specifically for images.)
- If you are uploading video content to YouTube or Google Video, label them with keyword-rich titles and tags. (The text that appears next to your YouTube video in the search results is the title and description you write when you submit the video to YouTube.)
Optimizing your videos and images this way will have your business ranking with these eye-catching new results in no time!
[Ed Note: Alexis Siemon is ETR’s resident Search Engine Marketing Specialist. For step-by-step instructions on starting your own Internet business, get ETR’s Magic Button program. Click here to learn more.]
Is Nothing Sacred Anymore?
By Suzanne Richardson
Using examples from the real world can make your writing stronger, more specific, and more believable. So when you’re trying to come up with top-notch content for your blog, website, or e-letter, you might be tempted to call on real life. Well, that’s fine if you’re referencing your own experiences. But it gets a little tricky when you try to incorporate stories from the lives of your friends, family, and coworkers.
Does your mother really want you writing about her ordeal at the gynecologist? Would your college roommate approve of you using him as a model of what too much takeout and beer can do to a body? Would your office mate mind illustrating the cons of wearing too much cologne? Or would these people be shocked and embarrassed to find themselves starring on your blog?
As a writer - blogger, e-newsletter writer, journalist, or book author - you are responsible for protecting the people you talk about. Michael Masterson references his personal experiences with people all the time in Early to Rise. But he is careful to do one of two things first: (1) He gets permission to write about the conversation, e-mail, etc., or (2) he disguises the identities of the people.
[Ed. Note: Check out Michael Masterson’s unedited, uncensored (and sometimes unexpected) ruminations on his blog.]
Don’t AGE Yourself With Your Cooking
The way you cook may be just as important to your health as the food itself.
"Advanced glycation end products" (AGE) is a class of toxins that have been linked to inflammation, insulin resistance, diabetes, vascular and kidney disease, and Alzheimer’s. And they are absorbed into your body when you eat animal products cooked or processed at high temperatures. (Think grilling, frying, smoking, or broiling, as well as pasteurizing.)
A recent study published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences evaluated 172 healthy men and women in two age groups - a younger group (between the ages of 18 and 45) and an older group (between the ages of 60 and 80). The researchers wanted to determine how age and diet influences the accumulation of AGE in the body.
While researchers found that AGE levels were 35 percent higher in the older group, they could be very high in young, healthy people, as well. In fact, AGE levels in some of the younger, healthy adults in this study were as high as those seen in diabetic patients.
The higher the consumption of foods rich in AGE, the higher the blood levels of AGE and CRP and other markers of inflammation… in all the study participants.
So how can you cook to AGE less? It’s pretty simple. Just keep the heat down and maintain the water content in your food. That means enjoying more raw, fresh foods. And when you do turn on the heat, choose to boil, slow-roast, steam, or stew. Also, because pasteurizing promotes AGE, opt for raw milk, cheeses, and juices.
[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet (www.healinggourmet.com), and is editor-in-chief of the Healing Gourmet book series. Learn more about how simple lifestyle choices can improve your health by reading ETR’s free natural health e-letter.]
It’s Fun to Know: Power Your Cellphone With Your Shirt
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a fabric that can generate enough power to run a cellphone, mp3 player, or similar electronic device. The fabric is made up of high-tech microscopic fibers that generate electricity when rubbed together. The goal is to make clothing that would enable the wearer’s movements to power any electronics plugged into it.
The researchers envision a wide variety of applications for this technology, including military and medical uses. But there are still two obstacles they have to overcome: making the fabric waterproof and making it washable.
(Source: Reuters)
Turn A Single $100 Investment Into A $2,000-A-Week Profit Machine
In the next seven days, 4,589 people will leave their jobs, never go back… and have all the money they will ever need.
I would tell you that these people are “very lucky,” but the fact of the matter is that there is no luck involved.
It’s happening everywhere. Ordinary people - including people who never finished school - starting their own businesses… and making in the neighborhood of $40,000… $60,000… even $100,000 or more a year.
Even though all these people are “ordinary” in some ways, one thing is certainly “out of the ordinary” about them:
Many used the same secret to start a business on less than $100. You can do it, too. Here’s how.
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Cap-a-Pie
"Cap-a-pie" (cap-uh-PEE) - from the French - means "head-to-toe."
Example (as used by Arnold Beichman in the Washington Times): "In another age, there would have been beheadings, clanging prison doors in the dark Tower; there would have been a second royal court with an army preparing to do battle, prancing steeds and knights armored cap-a-pie."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker … build your self-confidence and intellect … increase your attractiveness to others … just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR’s new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008