The whole goal of marketing to date has been to build an email list. However I think social media has changed the landscape and it has changed my strategy moving forward.
The money is in the list – or so they say. But will the money always be in the list? That’s something that I’ve been thinking about quite a lot lately. I touched on it briefly in a previous episode, but I’ve actually changed my strategy in terms of how I’m marketing OnProperty and how I’m marketing… Yeah, I guess, more OnProperty because that’s my biggest source of income.
A lot of marketers talk about the “money is in the list.” And so the whole goal of marketing is basically, you create content, you drive people to a website, you convert those people into some sort of free content in exchange for their email address in order to be able to market to them over and over and over again – and that’s super effective.
I think that will still be effective in the future. However, I think there’s something that is more important that’s at play and I think it’s kind of being caused by this whole social media revolution and the changes in social media.
So, social media started, we had MySpace. We did MySpace, yeah, it’s all well and good. But then, we changed to Facebook. Okay, so, we move across to Facebook. Facebook – biggest social platform in the world. Over a billion people use Facebook, it’s absolutely massive. But then what happens? Then, Instagram comes along. So, then, we shift from Facebook to Instagram and we start consuming content on Instagram.
Then Snapchat comes along, so we start using Snapchat. Then there’s something called “Jot”, which a lot of high school people are using because it uses their phones to create a network, so the schools can’t lock it down. So, they move from Facebook to Instagram to Snapchat to Jot and all the while, we’ve got Pinterest happening in the background, we’ve got LinkedIn, we’ve got all of these sorts of things.
So, what used to happen is that people used to consume content on the internet. You’d go to Google. Google is your homepage. You’d search Google to find content and you will then go from there. And so, it was very linear in terms of the way we use the internet was we go to Google and then we’d go through to our website and then we use their email as well. And so, email really was key to get people back to your website.
But now, there’s even more valuable, I think, than someone’s email address. And that’s someone’s – not just their trust, but their “admiration” is probably the best word I can think of at the moment or their gratitude. Yeah, probably their gratitude. That is that you provide so much value to someone that they recognize you as a person, they are grateful to you as a person. They want to follow you and consume the things that you have.
The reason that this is so important is that we’re always going to be jumping from one social network to another. Things are going to be changing. I still use Facebook, but nearly as much as I used to. I’m on Instagram a lot more. I’m not that much on Snapchat just because not many of my friends are on Snapchat and I don’t need to Snapchat teenagers – that would just be super creepy.
Things will constantly change, but if you can get the trust, the admiration, the gratitude of someone, they’re going to follow you across different platforms. So, if they’re on Facebook, they might look for you on Facebook. If they’re on Instagram, they might follow you on Instagram. If they’re on Snapchat, they might follow you on Snapchat.
What’s going to happen over time is that you’ll build trust, you’ll build gratitude with these people and when you market a product or when you finally comes time to ask for something from them, it’s probably going to be pretty easy to convert a whole bunch of people. Because we’ve got a whole generation growing up that don’t really use email. Email is something now that is corporate. Something that old people use in the workplace. Young people, if I want to get in contact with someone, let’s say I want to play Super Smash Brothers with someone on the Gold Coast. I don’t call them. I don’t even text them.
I put a thing on the Facebook groups or I will instant message someone through Facebook Messenger and that’s how we get in contact with people now. I don’t email anyone. I don’t even know any of their email addresses. I don’t need to know any of their email addresses. So, things are changing.
So, the money is in the list – yes, at the moment, but I think as this generation grows up, as the millennials grow up or whoever is below the millennials grows up, things are changing. The way we use the internet is changing. What I’m finding is that my content is going to stay there. There’s still always that process of people going to Google and they search something. Or, maybe they might go to Youtube now and search something. Or, they might go to Pinterest to search something.
So, there’s still always that sort of avenue, but people are subscribing to you in different ways. And less and less are people to subscribing to you via email.
I follow a guy called Pat Flynn and I subscribe to his podcast. He’s got 2 podcast, I like one of them. The other one was a bit too basic for me. So, I subscribe to one of his podcast. I subscribe to his emails as well, but I don’t really give a damn about them. I also know he has a Youtube channel and I visit it from time to time. So, my relationship with Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income isn’t through my email list. And if he sends me an email, yeah, I’ll probably read it, but if he mentions something in a podcast and does a call to action in a podcast, he’s actually more likely to reach me that way than he is through email.
So for me and my strategy, rather than focusing on the email marketing – I’m not ignoring email, I’ll still be using email. I have Funnel setup to email people. It’s still an element of marketing, but it is not “the money is in the list”. Its email is the be all and end all because email is changing. I think content is the be all and end all because you can reach someone over and over and over again.
You can reach them at a precise time. And that’s why I’m trying to do content with a call to action that is related to that content and a call to action to one of my products. And so, rather than it being like a hardcore call to action, trying to get someone to sell. It’s kind of like a side note at the end of each video. I’m doing, “Oh, by the way, there’s this that you can do. Just go to propertytools.com.au to sign up.”
So, they’re getting this good content. They then get a call to action at the end and they probably act, but what’s going to happen is they’ll then do another search. They’ll find me again. They’ll do another search; they’ll find me again. They won’t go on to social media, but they might go on to Youtube and they’ll find me.
They might subscribe to my podcast and listen to 10 episodes, or something like that. And then, eventually, they’re going to come to a point and say, “I need some help in finding positive cash flow properties.” They Google it, I come up. They’re like, “Ryan. Sweet. I know him.” They watch it. They see your call to action go to my course or to go to my site and they’re like, “You know what, I’m in a situation in my life right now where I need help with this. And so, I trust Ryan and I’m willing to purchase his products.”
So, I just think the whole buying process, the way that we use the internet is changing. And the way that you interact with your customers is changing as well. And if you’re so focused on email, I think you’re going to miss out on the way that the internet is changing and the way that people relate to internet celebrities, would you call them, or internet personalities. The way that people relate to them is changing. I think the leader in this is Gary Vaynerchuck. I follow him on Youtube. I used to subscribe to his podcast, but not anymore.
I just subscribed on Youtube because it’s the same content. I’ve been following him for a long time. I’ve got his books, I’m his friend on Instagram. If he launches a new book, he doesn’t need to send me an email for me to buy that book. I’m going to find out about it. If he launches a new book, he’s got the #AskGaryVee book coming out.
I know he has the #AskGaryVee book coming out. I’ve already decided to purchase this book ahead of time because I will just purchase anything that he makes. I know that this is coming. Because I’ve been following him, I know that’s coming. He hasn’t even sent out an email. He hasn’t even done a call to action, but I know that there’s a book coming in the future that I’m going to purchase.
So, all that needs to happen – he launches that book, I’ll find out some way. I’ll find out through his Youtube channel or through his podcast or through some other podcast that I listen to that he gets interviewed on or maybe I’ll just see it in Instagram – it’s probably what’s going to happen. As soon as it comes out, what do you think I’m going to do? I’m going to buy it. Did he email me? Did he do a sales Funnel with 4 videos in order to sell me something? No, he didn’t.
He’s just out there putting out content. I trust him. I admire him. I’m very grateful to the advice that he has given. And so, therefore, I’m following him and I’m going to take action based on that. And I’m not the only person who’s doing that. He’s not the only personality that’s doing that. So if you’re thinking long term about selling something.
If you’re thinking about long term about marketing something – yes, email is powerful. Yes, if you collect someone’s email now, put them through a sales funnel, you will convert a certain percentage. But, I think, long term, there’s going to be so much power in being – not being everywhere, but just being where people need you to be and helping them in the way they need you to help them.
Like for OnProperty, for example. If we said, yeah, there’s a “Be Everywhere” strategy. So if people are on Facebook, I need to be on Facebook. Are people on Instagram? I need to be on Instagram. Not really – not in the property space. Facebook, there’s definitely opportunity for videos and content on there, which I haven’t explored – which I probably should. But for me, to do Instagram and to run an Instagram channel – yes, I will reach some people.
But most people, when they’re thinking about property and looking at property, they’re still just googling stuff. Or they’re going into Youtube and they’re searching for stuff in Youtube. Or, they listen to a daily podcast or a weekly podcast or whatever.
In terms of my market, I don’t need to be everywhere. I just need to be in the most important places that matter the most to my potential customers. So, for me, that’s Google, that’s Youtube and that’s podcast. Because people want to consume content, learn about property investing so I need to be there. Could I get more sales by being in Facebook? Yes. But it would take away from the most important areas that I need to be.
If Facebook was the most important area, then I would be on Facebook and not be in other places, maybe not be in a podcast or not be on Youtube or something. But because the most important places for me to be are Google, Youtube and podcasting, I need to put my focus on that. And if I look at Facebook, then I’m taking away from that.
So, yes, there’s going to be avenues that are good. But then, there’s avenues that are the most important and I guess you need to work out can you impact people more? Can you build more trust, admiration and gratitude by re-investing and investing heavily in the places that are most important or can you get it by going into some social media avenue like Pinterest or something like that? I used to do Pinterest and Pinterest I don’t do anymore because people aren’t searching in Pinterest for property tips. For me, it was just a little tactic to try and get back links so it’s not the most important place that I need to be.
So that is my rant on the changing landscape of the internet. I think it’s going to be years before we really see a lot of people doing this. And before we actually click in our minds and day, “Oh, yeah, this is what’s happening.” And this is the way the internet is changing. And so the reason I think I’ll be successful with OnProperty compared to the other property blogs out there that I’m competing with, compared to the people that have affiliate programs that I’m competing with, compared to the property magazines that are still in print, the reason I think I’ll be more successful than all of them is because I understand how the internet is changing – how the internet is progressing.
And I’m building a relationship with my potential customers that’s based on trust, that’s based on admiration, that’s based on gratitude that will permeate multiple different platforms. And as the internet changes, as people’s behavior changes, then I will change my focus based on that and invest more heavily in where people actually are. And so, when I look at like the podcast space for example, I’m the only daily property podcast.
I made a video on the 10 top property podcast, there wasn’t even 10. There was like 8 and then I had to put through some finance ones in there. A lot of the once that were in there were just really bad or they released a couple of episodes and they were done.
If you want property information in Australia, there’s probably about 5 or 6 podcast, maximum, that you could listen to. And if you want content on a regular basis, I’m the only podcast that offers that. Everyone else is weekly, monthly or every 2 weeks. And so, I am in that space where people are looking, people want this sort of content and I’m over-delivering compared to everyone else.
I guess I encourage any of you guys who are trying to market, find out what is the most important to your customers. How can you build trust, admiration and gratitude – in what areas? How can you over-deliver and just make them so grateful for what you have done that they end up buying all of your products and become your best customer ever. What can you do in order to do that?
I am going to explore some sponsorships for this podcast in the near future, guys. So, if you see me talking about any sort of stuff, I may have secured some sponsorships or I may just be marketing affiliate programs. It’s just something that I want to try to let you guys know some cool tools that I used. Or, I just might recommend products that I like and enjoy that I think you guys will benefit from, even though there’s nothing in it for me – no payment in it for me or anything like that.
Alright guys, that’s it for me. As you can see, I have opinions about the way the internet will change. They could be right; they could be wrong. But I’m pretty certain that this is the way it’s going to progress and I’m pretty certain that everyone is going to be focusing on what worked years ago, instead of focusing on doing the things that are going to pay them dividends 2 or 3 or 5 years down the line.
I think if you start this stuff now, you get a massive head start on people because there’s only so many people in my life that I will trust and that I will put in that sort of “mentor” status. And so, if you get in there first, you kind of lock that down for the future compared to everyone else who might try and do it 5 or 10 years from now.
So, best of luck, guys. If you want instructions, you know what to do, go and buy some furniture.
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