How to attract more sellers and Buyers easily?
Congratulations, you just got a house under contract and now you need to attract qualified buyers, but how should you go about writing a great ad?
I know this is probably something that all of you experienced wholesalers do all the time but if you’re just starting out wholesaling let me tell you it isn’t that hard to attract a lot of buyers to your ad if you do a few things differently than other wholesalers. You don’t need a long-winded advertisement to get your main point across. Also, think about this, a good ad could very easily bring you more sellers too!
What is the most important part of your ad? You may think it’s a flowery description of the property or lots of cool pictures but in reality it’s the headline. Right, the way you list the headline and yes the main picture is compelling as well.
After taking courses on effective Craigslist ad writing, I found that my ads began to get more attention. One of the first things that helps is to have a eye-catching headline. It’s true that most people scroll through Craigslist looking at the pictures before they stop and click on a specific ad but, what makes a person want to read an ad? Of course, it’s the headline and either a catchy phrase or something that just caught a person’s eye and their curiosity.
Write the headline in all caps to showcase what you’re saying. Experiment with different headings such as:
I BUY HOUSES FAST FOR WHOLESALE
SELL YOUR HOUSE NOW!
I SELL HOUSES WITH OWNER FINANCING
NO BANKS NEEDED-WE WILL FINANCE FOR YOU!
You know that everyone uses the phrase: I BUY HOUSES-ANY CONDITION-ANY REASON but will that stop someone in their tracks if they see those words in 10 different ads? Probably not.
Just think of how you react when all you see are the same ads with the same wording by 10 different wholesalers! How does a person know who they should call? What do you think a buyer or seller is concerned about when they look for someone to work with to either sell or buy a property? What is their main concern? This is probably the most important process you can go through when writing an advertisement for Craigslist or any ad for that matter. You must put yourself in the other person’s shoes and try to imagine what they are thinking and worrying about. What is most important to them in buying or selling a property?
Look at all the ads you see daily on Craigslist and you’ll notice that there isn’t much of a difference in the wording they use. So, it’s time to get creative but you also need to get to the point quickly to catch someone’s attention. Once you come up with your headline you should try changing it when you update your ad or write new ads. This will give you an idea of what wording works best.
The body of your ad shouldn’t be in all capital letters as it will seem that you’re screaming at the reader or that you’re desperate. Try putting your contact information at the top and bottom of the ad and be sure you use a Call To Action. A Call To Action is basically telling someone to take action today.
Sales Psychologists have stated that although a person reading your ad or any ad for that matter will want to take action, you must tell them what to do once they read the ad. It has been stated that people are more likely to respond quickly and not put off contacting you until later if you give them a clear Call To Action such as Call Now or Call Today!
You can also code your ads to see what wording brings more responses by using different names in the ad. One of my students uses his middle name Josh on some ads and his first name Anthony on other ads. So then if someone calls for Josh he knows it’s a response from ad#1 on Craigslist and if they call for Anthony he knows they’re responding to ad#2 from Craigslist. If you have a VA (virtual assistant) overseas posting ads for you, give them a nickname. That way you’ll know when their postings are being effective.
Keeping Ads Current-
You want to keep your ad current and near the top of the lists. As I stated before as others post their ads to Craigslist it will force your ad lower and lower on the page. Although I have recently noticed that I have received more calls for ads lower on the page, it is always better to have you ad “above the fold” which is a newspaper term meaning at the top so that it receives more views.
If you have someone posting ads or if you’re doing it yourself there is a 48 hour rule with re-posting ads on Craigslist so you might want to post your ads on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday time frame. So that your ads are fresh for the weekend and then if someone misses reading ads over the weekend they will see your ad at the top of the page on Monday. You would have to go in and delete the old ads so that you can post the same ad at the top of the list. Or, you can switch up the paragraphs in your ad and change the wording a bit and just post away.
If they sense you are posting too often Craigslist will “Ghost” your ad. Ghosting means that Craigslist will send you an acknowledgement that you ad was posted but it was not really posted. Be sure to enter Craigslist as a consumer and see your ad with your own eyes. Otherwise, you could be spending time to post for nothing.
Also, when adding pictures to your ads, be sure to put the picture of the front of the house first and then add pictures of the back of the house next followed by pictures of the rooms as you would see them if you were walking through the house. Showing the living area, kitchen, then bedrooms and baths is a more logical way to show off the interior of the house. The more pictures the better but, be sure your pictures are crisp and clear. Oh and the pictures that some Realtors post that show curved walls really doesn’t do justice to a house. Try to post the best photos that you can for others to see.
One thing we all know for sure is that Craigslist is ever evolving. You can go on Google to learn what Craigslist is up to and how to keep up with their ever-changing algorithms. I know one change they made some time ago was to ban the use of website addresses in ads.
Using these ideas to find buyers and sellers on Craigslist is both free and effective. Using creative ads coupled with advertising in different sections of Craigslist and in different cities will bring in consistent sellers and buyers to grow your wholesaling business.
