Bird-dog Compensation
Good morning, fellow Investors.
I am kindly asking your feedback on a bird-dog compensation.
As far as I can see, there are 3 ways of compensating a bird-dog:
1. Fee per address ($5)
2. Fee per closed deal ($500 and up)
3. A combination of both ($5 per address plus $500 per closed deal)
From your experience, which one is most effective?
Should you go with the first option and get 20 vacant properties’ addresses from your bird-dog, how many houses from that 20 would you expect to buy?
Is there any other insensitive that I overlooked?
Thank you
You have to determine is that method the best use of your money. And sometimes the only way to tell is to do it.
As mentioned, I am looking for someone with actual experience using this method. THeories I have in abundance.
Generally it is wiser to garner data and then apply that knowledge in the most effective manner. I spend thousands a month on marketing, I am always looking for new ideas.
[addsig]
Is there no one else that has used this medium?
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Well all marketing works. The worst type of marketing is none at all.
The reason why they say it only worked for a little while is because the store that they are using seems to be getting repeat customers.
Once the usual customers find out about your product then that is it you can count on a decrease in response.
After that point you can count on getting the straglers to call. Would it be worth it? Who knows. But in order to get more business you have to be in as many places as possible.
Are the stores that you plan on using, do they have a lot of repeat business? If so, how would they rate the amount of new customers that they get?
Are those the type of stores that will attract the clients that you would like? Also would your message have a call to action? If it stops working would you be able to change your message?
It might work, just let me know if you try it out.
See these are the questions I love and will come back to answer…. Although being compared to Jim Jones was a bit much…
I do like wine however, and a nice slice of cheese on a crisp cracker makes my taste buds happy.. Damn I am getting hungry think about it, anyone want come over and join me?
Okay enough with the food.
Grocery receipt advertising.
Lets look at the 4 main types of advertising you could do inside a grocery store and one type that you could do outside the grocery store.
Inside the store you could put an advertisement on the back of receipts, on the grocery cart the customers push around, an item divider, and newsstand.
Keep in mind that our business doesn’t have a call to action.. Meaning you cant offer an incentive to run out and do business with us, which is the type of advertising the grocery receipts are for.
If you notice they are full of car wash coupons and pizza discounts. They work great for a business within a mile of the store. Those businesses sell low dollar ticket items and survive on a high rate of return customers. Our business doesn’t fit that model and although your ad will be noticed you must ask yourself; will the return cover the cost? I would say no.
The cart advertising is an image building form of advertising. You’ll notice lenders and real estate agents plaster their pictures of themselves and give reasons to do business. I have yet to meet an agent who can tell me that they received a noticeable increase in business due to this form of advertising.
Now cart advertising is a great media if in conjunction with other medias that are placing the same message to the same viewer. It has been argued that we need to be touched 7 or 8 times before we make a decision to react to a message. So cart advertising may be a better place to spend money…
Item dividers are again not a call to action and I am not so certain, although some may argue differently, that they are image building. I use them as a brand awareness item… I like them because everyone who checks out will see my message and see it at least 3 times. (There are typically three dividers at each check stand). With this said I couldn’t tell you that I have purchase a house because of cart advertising, but I can tell you that in conversations with sellers they have told me they had seen my divider.
All I wanted from the dividers was to touch the viewer and have them recall my message. My other forms of advertising are in place to tell them the story of why they need to call me.
One cool feature about this form of advertising is that their shelf life is typically much greater than what you contract for. Especially in lower income areas. Most advertisers do not cater to low-income households… However we do… and because of that the dividers stay in place until a new advertiser contracts for your spot.
Newsstand advertising worked great and I loved the fact that I could put them in an area I wanted to saturate with my message. With this type of marketing you get to motivate the viewer with an indirect approach.
Seldom do we get to have a media that the consumer wants to receive which is what newsstand items do.. The viewer picks them up to read… Most advertising is a time filler or space filler and annoying to the audience but not newsstand items.
When I looked at newsstand I also wanted to display my brand as well and because of this it was important to choose a rack that I could put my name and telephone number on in a fashion that was similar to all of the other advertising I do.
Outside the store advertising…
These cost me a little less than 5,000 each and I can guarantee that if you park this on a rotating schedule at grocery stores or any high traffic areas you will get a response.
Hope this helped.
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Not to hijack a thread or anything but...
Yeah, I wondered where that Jim Jones thing came from to. I must say, I DID get a chuckle out of it...
Mike,
I must say, you go beyond the conventional marketing that most people teach about.
The dividers, that is brilliant, and the mobile billboard. They are priceless. I love it.