Whether you’re a new or seasoned investor, you often feel like it’s just you against the world, navigating the changing market and trying to make sure you make the best of the myriad resources available to you. Following are some suggestions for places you can go to help make your business run smoother, and save you money (or time, which IS money!) in an uncertain economy.
Your business cards are your best calling card
Whether you are leaving your info on someone’s front door because they weren’t home when you came calling, or meeting potential investors at real estate events, you want to put your best foot forward. This means NO raggedy edges or hand cut cards, and not spending an arm and a leg on your cards either. The fastest, cheapest resource I’ve ever seen, and they create a marvelous product, too, is VistaPrint. http://www.vistaprint.com
Social networking is the new black
Craigslist is a great start, but at this point, more than a little saturated, and now that folks have started using random keywords to get their ads seen, confusing, too. The latest online resource? Facebook. Yeah, it used to be for kids, but lately, everyone is getting in the game. You can sign up, then sign your business up for a “public profile”. All of this is free. Make people aware of your page either by advertising (for as little as $5 a day) or by posting new info daily. Either way, it’s a terrific new way to make people aware of what you do. http://www.facebook.com
Along the same lines, Twitter will allow you to add followers to your profile, and then you can publish a status at least daily to keep them informed about what you’re doing. Once you set up an account (about 15 minutes) you can be on Twitter less than 5 minutes a day. Best of all, it’s free, too, and there’s a Facebook widget that allows you to post to Twitter and have it post to Facebook at the same time, thereby reducing your workload. http://www.twitter.com
What sign are you?
Bandit signs are a terrific way to get seen, and dollar for dollar, they’re an expense that keeps on paying you back. There are others – you can do a Google search on Bandit Signs, but here’s a good one: http://shop.banditsigns.com
Don't I get one phone call?
Every investor or entrepreneur needs legal advice at some point in time. I’m not saying you’ll ever get sued, and you might want to avoid those $800 courses you can buy because they say you will be at some point in time, but you surely will need an attorney to review docs or give you advice. If you’re raising money or buying houses in more than one state, that’s multiple attorneys. Prepaid Legal is a great resource that’s cheap and effective, and for a low monthly fee will review contracts and write letters monthly, as well as offering you a discount on legal fees. http://www.prepaidlegal.com
If you're already doing all of these things – congratulations – at least when it comes to the low level details you're saving money – and time – for your business.
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