Marketing Maestro: June 2008

At Trump University we have done our share of book marketing but today a book ad caught my eye.  Felix Dennis (founder of Maxim magazine) has a new book out titled How To Get Rich.  The title just comes right out and says what the book is all about.  The ad’s headline is You’ll Never Get Rich Working For Your Boss. Who wouldn’t stop and read that ad? It is very direct and to the point and hits at the heart of the subject matter. This book like so many of the others in the wealth creation industry shares the author’s secrets on how he made his fortune.

A good friend of mine Andrea Nierenberg is a professional networker. She has written a number of books on the subject and just the other day I started to read her latest book Savvy Networking 118 Fast and Effective Tips for Business Success. This book is for anyone who needs to grow their business, market themselves, get clients, sell anything or who just want to build a great network etc. 

The book is structured so that you can basically read from any page and get something out of it. Well item # 26 ‘Change Your Scenery’ was the one I picked today. The point is that we all need to get out of routines and do something different to meet some new people or have new experiences. Thinking about it I realized that I get energized when I get out of the office and break my daily routine. Even going to an industry conference is a great way to get the creative thoughts going again.

I know there are a few AR members who know Andrea and they would probably agree that if you need a spark of inspiration you should pick up one of Andrea’s books.

Now go out and change your routine...

Over at Trump University we have been running a multivariate test on one of our landing pages. The final results are not in but some of the initial findings are worth sharing.  Here are a few key areas most businesses could probably benefit from when building out web pages or writing sales copy.  

• The most important element in terms of increasing conversion is to present copy in bullet points (or some similar format). Basically people don't want to read. People like to get bite size chunks of information.  Bullet points are easy to scan, read and remember.

• Be very direct with your call to action buttons. If you want someone to register then say 'register now' not submit, go, next etc.

Changing some of these elements has helped improve our conversion rate by up to 50% in some cases.

Note: These results are based on our user and test data and might differ for your business.

Have you tested copy formats or button copy?

A friend of mine sent this video of the lemonade business my way.  If only starting, running and marketing a business was this easy and stress free.

I guess everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten is true.... 

Enjoy

I have to admit I personally don't know a lot about Tax Liens but from everyone I speak with here it seems to be a great way to get involved in real estate investing.  Many of our clients have requested that we offer a class on Tax Liens and today we launched a new program to deliver on this request.  The Tax Lien program is going to be part of our Wealth Building Weekends live events.  

To get a bit more info on the topic I asked our experts why investing in tax liens a good idea? 

They answered with just a few of the benefits:

• The maximum rate of return on a tax lien can be much higher other investments (such as stocks). For example, the state of Florida offers a maximum rate of 18% (1.5% per month), while Arizona offers a maximum rate of 16%. In Iowa, a rate of 2% per month (or 24% annual return) is guaranteed.
• Because bidding is a usual practice in investing in tax liens, the states often provide incentives to promote bidding. For example, Florida law guarantees a 5% minimum return regardless of the rate bid (except if the bid is zero percent) or when the lien is redeemed.
• And if you’re worried about collecting on your tax lien investment - if you’re afraid of having to wait for the bank to foreclose on the property on which you hold a lien, the majority of tax liens are redeemed before the property is foreclosed.

The last few weeks have been very busy over at Trump University.  We have been working on about 5 new product launches.  On Friday the first of our new products was released.  We will now help our clients set up their legal entity to protect their business and assets.  All business owners should set up a corporate entity or they risk lawsuits, increased taxes and missing out on available deductions.

Here are some of the things our team of legal professionals now do for our clients when we set up an LLC:

1. Perform your name availability search
   
2. Draft your company’s Articles of Organization
   
3. File all necessary articles with your Secretary of State's Office
   
4. Pay the required fee to your Secretary of State’s Office (this fee is not included in the LLC Formation package as it varies by state)
   
5. Receive file-marked copies from the Secretary of State.
6. Obtain the Employer Identification Number (your tax ID) for the LLC
   
7. If necessary, arrange for Registered Agent services for the LLC
   
8. Draft the Operating Agreement for the LLC
   
9. Draft all other LLC documents including Certificate of Authorization to open a bank account on behalf of the LLC, minutes of initial meeting of members, minutes of annual meeting of members, minutes of annual meeting of managers, etc.
   
10. Answer your questions via email
    
11. Ship your Articles of Organization, EIN Number, Operating Agreement, and all other documents in an LLC Binder.

Stay tuned for our next set of product releases.

Everyone wants to be at the top of their game, gain industry recognition etc.  Well I just met with one of our real estate instructor/investors James Harris. James was talking to me about how real estate professionals have a unique opportunity and advantage to profit in the current real estate market. He believes everyone in the industry can double their income with the right knowledge.  Sellilng more homes is one way and investing is another. 

Since you are reading this on AR you probably know that because of the Internet, 87% of all home buyers and sellers now find their agent online? Meanwhile, the vast majority of agents who don't understand Internet marketing are starving for business - especially in this slow housing market. The old 80/20 rule that says 20% of the agents do 80% of the business is changing. Now, it's 5% of the agents are making 95% of the money - and even in this market, they are profitting.

What do you think?  Do real estate professional have an advantage to make more money today by investing in real estate?