Whats Wrong With The Social Web 2.0 ? (or Web 3 to some)
One of the newest forms of hype information “gurus” are pushing is for real estate investors to use Web 2.0 . This basically means they want real estate investors to be marketing on social networking websites to connect with prospective clients. The problem that many of these investors are running into, is that they are not able to effectively generate the leads, or when they do, they are not convert these interested parties into actual clients.
Yes, Web 2.0 can be used as part of a larger marketing strategy, BUT it is not a “miracle” pill!! Web 2.0 and marketing thereupon still has some inherent factors that you must realize. Firstly that many people who get involved, quickly lose interest !! There are a few things that you should avoid that will give you a much better chance of succeeding using Web 2.0. Many of these gurus have not even figured out yet! (It never ceases to amaze me how small their social networks are as information gurus, yet the pump you full of their expertise?? Would you not want to follow someone who has “mastered” marketing? )
The first thing that you must do is make sure that you commit to a schedule each and every day. You must publish your listings and pictures at the same time every day so that interested parties will know when to look. The problem with releasing this information at random times is that most people have hundreds, if not thousands, on connections on these sites. Therefore, they are receiving an overload of information every day, so they have to filter through this information and pick out the things that they are truly interested in. All it takes is for someone to miss your listings once for that person to move on to someone else, so it is well worth your time to make these posts. Also, make sure that you monitor your company on a consistent basis, as this will allow you to answer any questions that potential clients might have immediately. By actually communicating with people by using Web 2.0, you can bring your services into these peoples’ worlds, which will make you much more accessible for them.
When you are making your daily updates or posts, make sure that you provide value for your followers. If these people feel as though reading what you have to say is a complete waste of time, you will not have a whole lot of success. Even if you do not have many new listings on that particular day, you can still provide these people with information that they can use. You do not have to write a whole lot, but it will be well worth your while to provide these potential clients with some information that can help them going forward.
One statistic to remember is that if you are unable to convert people to visit your site within the first 30-days, these people probably will never become a customer of yours. People who are joining your social networking sites are likely interested in purchasing a home right now. Therefore, they are following you because they believe that you can be of service to them. Once a certain amount of time has elapsed, these people will no longer be interested or will have found someone else to give them a similar service. They will probably get tired of visiting your site as well, since they obviously do not like what you are offering.
The truth about Web 2.0 strategies is that they can work, but you must be committed to making them a useful part of your selling routine. It is not as simple as signing up for an account and inviting people to join, as you must be prepared to convert these people into sales in the same manner you would over the phone. This is not a way to put your business on auto drive, but is rather a method of connecting with your clients in a new and exciting way. By being able to instantly connect with many different people who are interested in what you have to offer, you can definitely increase your chances of success. Make sure that you are active on a daily basis on many different social networking websites, as this is how solid leads are generated online.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Web 2.0 sites should look as professional as possible. You do not want to look like someone who has never used a computer before, so it might pay to have someone help you out with the design. Also, remember that this technology should be used to build up actual leads. When someone shows interest on one of these sites, make sure you follow up in the same way you would a phone call. This is the way that an increasing number of people are expressing their interest in homes and you are selling yourself short if you do not at least follow up. This is a supporting method of providing your prospects with the information that they are looking for, so try to provide them with as much as possible and then move to the next step.
The key here is to act as professional as possible, as difficult as that might sound while using Web 2.0. Since these are social networking sites that are normally reserved for friends and family, you will have to work extra hard in order to provide these people with the professional real estate investor that they are looking for.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they think that if they just put up a few interlinked squeeze pages by a Web 3.0 company is going to bring them hundreds of leads.
Each individual has to take responsibility for their own lead generation using their Web 2.0 sites. I have seen some companies charge 1,000′s of dollars saying they have “created” miracle money pumping squeeze pages for use with Web 2.0 (or Web 3.0) that provide no such results. The fact is that these companies cannot possibly provide the daily work that needs to be done to generate leads. Honestly, ask yourself, how many leads do you convert into sales from companies such as these companies?
By being able to learn and utilize these sites efficiently will definitely put yourself ahead of the other investors in your city, as many of them have not yet figured out how to use Web 2.0. There is a very good chance that social networking will be the next big boom in advertising, so get involved today, and be at the forefront of this new method of selling homes.
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I completely agree. We got caught in Web 3.0 Riches program sales spiel. They offered a system that would produce leads like no other, coupled with a great sounding “money back guarantee.” As soon as we signed up we were charged $1,495.00 and monthly charges of $97.00. We were told that it would take a couple months to get results, which we understood. We didn’t go into this expecting a miracle; we expected a progressive growth in results: a few leads in the beginning and growth from there.
By the end of the third month, we were no closer to getting a single lead than we were when we started. All we had was my personal name posted all over the internet (in such sites as linkedin.com, biggerpockets.com, activerain.com, etc.) and the sorriest looking squeeze page I have ever seen. I would not have attached my company name to this page if they had paid me. Here are some verbatim phrases and titles from the page. The grammatical errors are not a mistake; this is exactly how they were posted on the page. These are also complete titles; so, you are not seeing them out of context. This was it!
“Experience, You Don’t Have To Demand That We ‘Sell My House In Nashville Today’.”
“Getting buyers so you can ‘sell my house in Nashville today’ is what we do!”
“Just one week will produce offers for your house; better than you ever thought possible!”
“Seller education is part of our business strategy; to be a savvy seller, you must understand the market.”
“We have several different selling methods and can help you apply the correct one to sell fast.”
“Get more information on your options, payments and our practices which aid the seller to get out fast.”
“We’ll work to fulfill your goals in short time.”
Several attempts to get this corrected still produced terrible results.
We requested a cancellation since we had not received any results from the site and, of course, were told that we cannot get a refund. The “money back guarantee” has conveniently vanished…
We’re in the process of escalating the issue in several ways to get our money back. Once we get it back, I’ll update here to help anyone is going through the same situation…I expect there will be many.
Response to cancelation request:
Sorry for any delay in response, I had to speak with my manager about your inquiry. I am sorry that I do not have a desired response to help you with your request as our no-return policy is made clear within the Terms of Service. This is the document that you signed electronically on the checkout page when you purchased (you can review the terms of the service here… http://……../info/terms/) have passed your issue along to my superior and expect that they will be back with you shortly. It is my hopes that since you have already paid for the service that we can help you utilize the program to its fullest potential. We look forward to helping you build your business and believe you will find that your investment was well spent. Sincerely,Sarah Web 3.0 Team
Addtional response:
I'm sorry to hear that you feel this way. I did look into your inquiries within the ticket system and it looks like they have been responded to. I see that you did just submit a change form that was acted on. They are also in the process of changing your name to your business name on everything that has been put on the web so far.
We stopped work upon receiving your email, but unfortunately we have incurred expense setting up your system as described in the Terms of Service http://web.realestateinvestor.com/info/terms you agreed to electronically when you purchased the program. Since your enrollment about 2 months ago, we have completed the following steps on your project:
Platform Set Up
01) Research Selected Target Audience
02) Research Local Search Keywords
03) Select Two Ideal Keyword Phrases
04) Conduct Domain Name Research
05) Private Domain Name Registration
06) Complete Server and Hosting Setup
07) DNS Domain Name Configuration
08) Set Email Marketing Domain Settings
09) Email Marketing SMTP Settings
10) Create New Email Marketing List
11) Setup and Connect WordPress Blog
12) Optimize Blog and Install All Plugins
13) Create Opt-in Form for Squeeze Page
14) Write Unique Text for Squeeze Page
15) Basic Optimization of Onpage Copy
16) Optimize Meta Data for Squeeze Page
17) Update All User Account Information
18) Quality Control Content and Function
Internet Marketing Set Up
01) IP Configuration and E-mail Setup
02) Create Onpage SEO Report for Client
03) Google Local Business Submission
04) Other Local Biz Directory Submissions
05) Profiles on Real Estate Social Networks
06) Squidoo Lens & Hub Page Account Set Up
07) Set Up Premium Blog Directory Accounts
08) Article Directory Account Creations (200+)
09) Podcast Directory Account Creations
10) Video Directory Account Creations (25+)
11) Social Bookmarking Account Creation
12) Submit to RSS Feed Aggregators (20+)
13) Configure and Optimize Video & Podcast
14) Overall Quality Assurance Review
SEO & Internet Traffic Assault (in progress)
01) Select a Content Topic for Target Audience
02) Create Original Version of Article and Edit
03) Begin Writing of 10+ Unique Article Versions
04) Post Original to WordPress Blog and Ping
05) Social Bookmarking Round 1 (squeeze Page & Blog)
06) Develop Visual Content for Online Video
07) Create Squidoo Lens and Optimize for Keywords
08) Write and Post Classified Ad for Backpage.com
09) Submit to Premium Article Directories (Batch 1)
10) Social Bookmark Round 2 (Squidoo Lens)
11) Social Networking Blog Submission (Batch 1)
12) Social Bookmark Round 3 (Active Rain)
13) Create Hubpages Hub and Optimize Keywords
15) Submit to Premium Article Directories (Batch 2)
16) Social Bookmark Round 4 (Blog)
17) Social Networking Blog Submission (Batch 2)
18) Social Bookmark Round 5 (Hubpages)
19) Record and Upload Audio for Video and Podcast
20) Begin Submissions to All Video Sharing Sites
21) Begin Submissions of Audio to Podcast Sites
23) Complete All Video and Podcast Submissions
24) Social Bookmark Round 6
25) Begin Submitting to All Article Sites (200+)
27) Complete Submissions to All Article Websites
There were several people that worked on your project including a web developer, copy writer, quality assurance lead and an SEO advisor. Generally speaking, our return policy is like that of other services in that we do not refund after work has been completed. As a business owner yourself, I am sure you can understand that there are costs associated with the labor and other expenses incurred to develop a unique internet marketing program using the information you provided us in your original questionnaire.
Perhaps a representative way to look at it is this – let's say you hired a contractor to do some improvements for a home you just purchased. The price for the project was $1,500. After completing a significant portion of the work, you change your mind, decide to not have the remainder of the work done and ask for a refund. Would it be reasonable to ask the contractor to give you back your money for the work that has been completed?
On occasion, we have customers who “suspend” their account in anticipation of re-activating it down the road when the timing may be better for them. Although their squeeze page and blog are no longer live, we can store the platform for future use and their monthly maintenance fee is no longer incurred.
We look forward to hearing back from you and we’re more than happy to discuss this with you on the phone if you would like. Just let us know the best number to reach you at as well as a couple windows of time throughout the day. We will confirm one with you via email and will be sure to call you.
Angela
Customer Service
RealEstateInvestor.com
So their ONE YEAR Money back is fraudulent then … As I read the sales letter, it said simply prove to them that you did not get leads cheaper somewhere else, you get your money back.
You should take it to the state's attorney general…
and the FTC…
Have had exactly the same experience with Web 3.0 Riches. Zero leads in the last four months. Typos on the web page and the video blog posted for us by the company was horrible. Factual incorrect and completely amateur. It would actually convince a seller not to do business with our company. Initial response to my most current complaint took four days to respond to and it looks like they cut and pasted the response above listing all the things they supposedly did. Also promised to forward the complaint to a manager who I have never heard from.
@Job
Shall we get together for an FTC complaint? Same problem here. They sent me the same list of things that they did. They just cut and paste the same stuff all over the web and call it yours. It’s insane.
Jennifer, I think that would be a good idea, if nothing else, to keep others from falling prey to this scam. Maybe Duncan can facilitate communication between us and any other investors who have been scammed by this company so we can organize a joint complaint.
We are currently disputing the charge with our bank; and I recommend you do the same.
We did also submit a complaint to the BBB against Realestateinvestor (3.0). As expected, it did not resolve anything; but it will stay on their record and serve as a warning to prevent future scams by this company.
It would be a good idea for other investors who’ve had problems with them to also submit a complaint to the BBB. The more complaints they show, the stronger the warning to those considering doing business with them. You can submit the complaint right on the website.
For those who are considering the 3.0 system, they might want to check out their BBB profile. They are rated D+ (on an A to F scale). Hopefully, once more investors submit their complaints, the rating will go to the F they really should have.
BBB profile: http://www.bbb.org/dayton/business-reviews/real-estate-services/real-estate-investor-in-springfield-oh-17185