Finding Motivated Sellers Through Online Marketing with Daniel Barrett

My guest today is Daniel Barrett. Daniel is the founder and CEO of AdWords Nerds, a real estate marketing agency, and the host of the REI Marketing Nerds Podcast. Dan’s incredible success in the REI marketing space has seen him collaborate and work with top-notch investors and companies including, but not limited to, Joe McCall, Alex Youngblood, Tom Krool, and many more.

We begin the episode with Daniel sharing his background story and how he ended up in the real estate space. He shares that he originally was looking to become a teacher, and he went to college to get a master's degree in history and another in education. At some point, Daniel realized that he was not making enough money, and he started freelancing and marketing to boost his cash flow. In his freelancing career, Daniel was helping businesses with SEO and web design, along with supporting local businesses. He was making much more money than he would have made in a full-time teaching position, so he decided to go into freelancing full-time. Daniel spent a couple of years working with anybody until he landed a client in real estate who changed his perspective.

We then talk about how COVID affected Daniel’s business. He shares that he had zero ideas of what to expect in 2020, and it was the first time a significant economic event was occurring when he was self-employed and had kids. According to Daniel, there was a period of drought where sellers, buyers, and investors sat on their money for a while, but there was a very sharp increase after that. The year ended up strong, but in 2021 there was a retraction. The experience was not a big deal as Daniel had learned to be financially disciplined and conservative through the emotional experience in 2020. There were so many changes in the two-year period, the rise and drop of people searching online, brands getting major traction for the first time, google changing algorithms, and brands making more money from fewer leads.

Next, we talk about the real estate market and how the prices are leveling out. Daniel shares that real estate is a market like any other, and all markets operate in similar dynamics. It’s not about what you think the market is going to do, but what you think other people think the market is going to do. According to Daniel, a property's worth is all about perception, and the difference between the inherent economic value and the perceived value is profit. Knowing how you can take advantage of both is key.

We then talk about Daniel's business and how they offer their services. Daniel shares that everybody wants the silver bullet that is always going to work, but it doesn’t exist. All the solutions that investors need are contextual, and before working with any client, they should know about the client’s budget, closure, market, and risk tolerance. They realized that if all your eggs are in google ads or direct mail, there is a huge amount of risk that you take on if your business depends on it. Early on, their primary mode for getting new clients was Facebook. They did Google ads for clients, but Facebook was where they found investors.

Lastly, we talk about the future of pay-per-click and Facebook ads. Daniel shares that we are in a period of massive transition in the online advertising space. According to him, Facebook is bleeding out, and they are having trouble getting back to where they were. Online marketing has traditionally been split between Google and Facebook. On the other hand, the use of TikTok is increasing, and most agencies, digital media, and professional advertising are using it for their ads. The other transition that Daniel talks about is the move to machine learning and artificial intelligence that eliminates most human control. Using multiple channels can help you increase your leads.

Make sure you don’t miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Daniel Barrett and get valuable information on how to find motivated sellers through online marketing!

Notable Quotes:

“The motivated seller lead business is a fun ride. It is never boring as it has something new every day.”