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Today’s question comes from Jeff Cotterman, out of Indianappolis, Indiana. I’ve spoken to Jeff a few times – he’s been on a number of different calls I’ve ran, and he also booked some consulting time with me a while ago.
Here’s a guy who’s going to make stuff happen, by hook or by crook. He’s always got something he’s working on, and eventually I know one of these things is going to hit for him, big-time.
Here’s what Jeff has to say: “Craig, I am a Realtor in the Indy Metro area. I just listed a home for a lady coming out of Bankruptcy. When a person goes into BK it protects them from foreclosure. However once released from BK the bank can start the foreclosure process again.
With the high rate of BK’s I thought this may be a niche to go after. I am looking ideas for a marketing piece that would hit their hot buttons but also be sensitive to their situation.
Thanks”
What Jeff’s asking is this: how can you go after people who are in BK, and get them to list their homes with him.
I’m going to answer this question, and then I’m going to throw something out there that you really need to think about, before going after any niche.
First off, it’s easy enough to find loads of mailing lists of people who’ve declared BK. I’d create an advertorial style article sent to them in the mail. The article should be written in a third party voice — like a reporter reporting on some news — and it should talk about a Free Report that’s just been released. This free report should be called something like, “How To Recover From Bankruptcy Almost Immediately: Inside Secrets The Government And Your Banks Won’t Tell You.”
In this report, you give away some great information that’ll help people in this situation, including information about selling their home. You also mention how you specialize in working with BK homeowners, and the reasons why.
Then, you offer a Free “Rapid Recovery Home Evaluation,” where you come out and evaluate the home’s sellability.
And there you go. Of course, along the way, you’re going to be getting feedback from your prospects and clients about what’s most important to them, and why they responded to the article and to your free report / sales letter. You want to listen very closely to these comments, because you should tweak your sales copy and perhaps, even your strategy, based on them.
Sound good?
Great, because now let’s talk turkey. There’s a huge difference between identifying a niche, and identifying a good niche to go after. And I think this is one of those situations.
Yes, there are a HUGE number of people declaring bankruptcy nowadays. And with the housing crisis we’re in the middle of, many of them, I’m sure, are doing this solely to avoid foreclosure.
And yes, you can definitely attract them.
But the better question to ask yourself is, “Do you really want to?”
What’s the opportunity cost you’re going to pay, to work in this marketplace, versus working in another marketplace?
You see, the amount of work you have to do, to penetrate any niche, really doesn’t differ much from one niche to the next. So why not work in a niche that’s likely to pay you a lot more money… with a lot less emotional and logistical headaches?
Like upscale homes, for instance. Or relocations? Or any one of a number of residential real estate categories.
See, part of the process you want to go through in selecting a niche, is actually eliminating niches you don’t want to be a part of. It’s only once you’ve done this, that you start stacking the odds in your favor, to have more of a successful outcome.
After all, part of knowing what you do want… is knowing what you don’t want, as well.
So if this were me, I’d look elsewhere. A place outside the financially troubled marketplace, that’s got more optimism… less hassles… and a lot more money to be made as well.
Good luck, Jeff.
Now go sell something, Craig Garber
P.S. This is all about thinking smart. And don’t kid yourself — LOTS of people are making big money out there, even today. The thing is, in times like this, you want to think smarter… not work harder. And here are 21 different ways you can do exactly this.
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