Buyers Are Clueless, And Why I Care

Buyers are clueless, and I’ll prove it in a minute.

First, let me explain why this conversation matters to you as a new or seasoned real estate blogger.

Does this scenario sound familiar?

Wife:

“It’s 2am, why are you still messing around on that computer?”

Me:

“I’m blogging for dollars, baby.”

Wife:

“That’s what you said last month.”

If you have chosen blogging as your primary business building model, get use to having that conversation for a year or more.

I made the decision to move my real estate and mortgage marketing activities online full-time in late 2006, and haven’t heard the end of it since… both good and bad.

It’s taken me several years to figure out how to make all of the moving pieces work in a manner that can pay the bills. Equally as challenging, was explaining to friends and family my motivation for the path I’ve chosen.

Many passionate bloggers cringe when they hear the terms “business building” or “lead generation” associated with the selfless act of pouring your heart into a blog post that should be meant to enrich the lives of others.

Unfortunately, financially motivated “Social Media and Relationship Marketing” tones have perverted the way outsiders view our true intentions.

I realize that I’m guilty for perpetuating this common belief that the web was invented so that real estate agents can make money online. Look at any of my past presentations or webinars, and you’ll find “build your business” somewhere in the title or description.

Even though it hasn’t felt right at my core, it’s a simple theme that most non-web related industry professionals can relate to.

It’s just been easier to fall into the trap of justifying my online efforts with an ROI, especially when the non-believers are so eager to offer their unsolicited opinions about how to be successful in business.

Keyword here is Non-Believers.

My friend Rene Rodriguez has been harping on me for years to explain why I care so much about the web.

“Yeah, but why,” he would press. “Why should that matter to me as a consumer, mortgage originator or anyone else that you’re speaking to?”

I’d go into my story about how a couple of top ranking web sites helped us make it through the hard times when the market crashed in 2007, and how with new twins it makes it easier to work on my schedule…. and on and on, without ever being able to give Rene an answer that would make him become a believer.

“Neat, so you’ve found success with an Internet marketing strategy. Why go out of your way to teach other real estate people for free? Doesn’t this create a conflict of interest?”

The problem Rene had with my explanation for my love of the web is that it didn’t inspire him.

He wasn’t able to connect on a personal or emotional level that would allow him to really believe that I cared about something greater than just writing articles pertaining to homeownership education.

I mean, there are plenty of proven ways to make money as a real estate professional that don’t involve the pains we go through as bloggers.

The Turning Point.

As soon as Rene introduced me to Simon Sinek’s perspective on inspiring others, it all made sense.

Being able to articulate my purpose is empowering, and gives me a sense of freedom to do what I love.

I stay up until 2am blogging, I teach others about the web, I obsess over details, links, SEO, page structure, sales cycles, building trust online, and site design because my mission is clear.

The Mission To Help Clueless Buyers

It’s actually a selfish motivation, because I’m a clueless buyer.

I’m either arrogant and know it all, lazy and uninterested in hearing the facts, or simply clueless on where to start my information gathering process.

But, if I do care about a decision I have to make, something so important that my family literally depends on me knowing what the right answer is, my attitude changes:

I let my guard down and ask experts humbling questions that clearly show I am not in a comfortable state of control.

I research all of the facts, read every blog post or review I can find and may even ask some friends for referrals.

Regretfully though, all of the charts, reviews and testimonials generally still aren’t enough to help me make an educated decision on a topic that I’m not an expert about.

If anything, the information overload has left me helpless and hopeless on my own.

Have you ever felt this way about an important decision you had to make?

My wife and went through a challenging time in 2005 with this exact scenario.

We actually faced a similar decision a few years later, but without the heart wrenching feeling that overwhelmed us the first time.

If you have ever sat at the desk of an infertility doctor trying to decide on whether or not your potential family is worth the gamble of your last $30,000, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

“But we read on the Internet that some doctors only charge $5,000 for the same results?”

“True,” Dr. D. compassionately stated, “But your unique scenario requires a different treatment than the specific examples you’re reading about.”

“What are the odds of… if we tried this…. and came back in a year if…?”

See, my wife and I already knew everything we could possibly know from the months and months of research we did. Scratch that, my wife was a pro.

We didn’t need to make an Educated or Informed decision on our own, we wanted to make a Confident decision with the help of an expert we trusted.

We started out clueless about the process, and ended up clueless about which option to choose.

Clueless, but not Hopeless.

It took a true expert earning our trust by patiently and meticulously breaking down a complex process in a manner that we could understand so that we could make a confident decision based on the facts we knew and didn’t know.

Do you know what it’s like to feel confident, empowered, thankful, loyal, humbled…?

(Don’t CLICK HERE for family video, unless you like to cry)

What’s My Why?

I am driven to empower people by giving them the tools and education they need in order make confident decisions.

I do this through blogging and explaining complex processes in a manner that people can understand and trust.

I happen to be a Las Vegas real estate professional.

What’s Your Why?

Salespeople revert to calling buyers liars when they lose focus and allow the buyer’s evolving wants and needs to control the direction of a conversation.

It starts and ends with trust.

Buying a home or qualifying for a mortgage can cause people to feel hopeless and helpless if they are out there on their own doing research.

Whether it’s an involved mortgage program like the FHA 203k Loan, or reaching out to an underwater homeowner with Short Sale advice, I obsess over the details so that people will have all of the information they need to make a confident decision with the help of an expert.

How does your blog or web presence build trust and confidence?