Building Your Strong “Investor List” in 2023: Raising Capital
This content is provided in partnership with Dave Dubeau. For more information, you can visit him HERE.
How many times have you gone to a networking event, given your business card to someone, and then never heard from them again? It’s rare that people actually keep in touch when they say they’re going to.
When it comes to cultivating an investor list, this is a fundamental mistake.
Creating, communicating with, and managing your prospective investor contact list -- otherwise known as a “database” -- is the key to success as a professional real estate investor and capital raiser.
What is an Investor List?
An investor contact list is exactly what it sounds like: a list of names, contact information, and notes about people who are already investors or who have the potential to become investors.
Keeping in regular touch with your contact list builds your relationship with these people. The stronger your relationship, the more likely they are to invest with you.
Why? Because people invest with people who they know, like, and trust.
Additionally, don’t make the mistake of thinking that an investor is a one-time only deal. If you manage your investor list well, you might be able to utilize the same investor multiple times. More importantly, your good relationship with that investor might lead them to tell their friends about you, generating referrals.
With these things considered, the lifetime value of an investor is exponential and your investor list becomes one of your most invaluable tools.
How to Build an Investor List
STEP 1: GATHER AND FILTER YOUR CURRENT CONTACTS
Export your cell phone’s contact list to an excel spreadsheet. Export contact lists from all your different email addresses. Compile all the contacts from your various social media profiles. If you still have an old-fashioned address book or a jar full of business cards, throw those in, as well!
Before you know it, you’ll have accumulated thousands of contacts in one list. You’ll want to cull this list down to a manageable 200 or so.
STEP 2: PUT YOUR CONTACTS INTO ONE PLACE
While it’s fine to start with Gmail or Outlook, those platforms are designed for sending one or two emails at a time -- not hundreds. Find a specialized email platform that allows you to send emails in bulk all at the same time. Start with something cheap and simple (or a free trial) and work your way up from there.
STEP 3: UPDATE YOUR LIST REGULARLY
A specialized email platform can automate a lot of tasks. Your contacts can update their contact information with the click of a link. If they want to opt out, they can do so easily. You want to update your list’s contact information frequently, but without having to do it by hand every time.
STEP 4: CREATE A TOP 50 SUB-LIST
Identify your Top 50 most promising clients from your list of 200. Who seems most likely to invest with you? Identifying those clients will give your list focus and clarity.
In just a few simple steps, you can be well on your way to a thriving investor list. While it might seem overwhelming at first, you’ll find that it comes together quickly once you get started -- and you’ll be glad that you did when the investments start rolling in.
Now, what do you do with this list?
The short answer is A LOT! There are many great strategies for using your investor prospects list. The long answer is, effectively using your list requires careful planning and methodology.
That’s what we’ll review today.
Here’s what to do once you’ve gotten your investor list.
Discover How To Develop Real Estate With This Step By Step Guide
Warm Up Your Investor List
Think of your investor list as ingredients. In list form, they’re useful, but they’re cold. To make a great real estate meal from these investor ingredients, you’ve got to warm them up. A little corny, but the first step is to warm up your contacts before you start promoting your business and asking for their help.
Start with an email warmup sequence. In this sequence, you should acquaint or re-acquaint yourself with those on your list.
- Send 3 emails over a 10-day period.
- Emails should be short, personal, and friendly.
- The videos in emails 2 and 3 should be about one minute long.
Investor Warm-Up Email 1
The first email can simply reconnect and include some brief information about what you’ve been up to but don’t dive too much into real estate investing. End by asking how your contact is and what they’ve been doing. The email should sound like it’s coming from one friend to another. It’s casual but engaging. It’s NOT salesy.
Investor Warm-Up Email 2
The second message will be similar but should be a VIDEO message. Yes, it’s a little more effort (and maybe a little awkward) to film yourself, but it’s a much more powerful, engaging way to communicate.
So, again, email 2 is not really about your real estate investing. It’s still a personal communication about your life and inquiring about how the other person is doing. These video messages tend to yield far more responses than the first email.
Investor Warm-Up Email 3
The third email in the “warm-up” sequence is the “Transition” message. Again, you’ll include a short one minute video. Here, you should let your contact know that you’ll be doing a better job of staying in touch and that you’d like to let them know more about what you are doing with real estate investing. This email begins to introduce your business more, but it’s still NOT a sales pitch.
This is the message where you begin to shift gears to business, and you should specifically offer a way out if they aren’t interested. Let them know that they can unsubscribe, far fewer will than you may expect.
These warmup emails are the place to re-establish a relationship with the people on your list, but I’ve had several clients book appointments and raise capital right from these emails!
So go ahead…Create and Connect with your investor list!
Interested in Raising Capital to Grow Your Property Portfolio? If so, grab a free copy of my book “The Money Partner Formula” and I’ll show you how to access as much investor Capital as you need to buy as many properties as you want.
Once you have an investor list ready to leverage, it is time to turn that leverage into financing. To learn more about how to convert your network into strong mortgage financing, click the link below for a free strategy call today.