A live bison in the Seminole reservation in the Everglades.

It has been one of the most revealing journeys I have ever taken, so full of contrast and so rich of events. It has helped me to better separate different moments and different worlds even if they are very closely associated.

I advise you to do something similar: leave the comfort of your home and dive into something very different.

Alligators still rule in the swamps.

In this tour I have began by visiting Sarasota, which I discovered ﾓby accidentﾔ to be be the preferred destination of many international real estate buyers and the house of some European celebrities that have elected Florida as their escape destination. Here you find real estate professionals, lawyers and CPA’s that are geared to provide full service to international buyers, from legal to taxes, from lending, to currency exchange.

It is an international market ready to compete head on with Miami and, differently from the latter, it has already began recovering nicely from the real estate crisis.

Few hours after visiting the sophisticated and rich shops of Sarasota, I was traveling on I75 listening on my iPod to a conference on how to develop your business online leveraging bloggind and “white hat” internet marketing by the “Third Tribe” staff (powerful). And again few hours later I was immersed in a wide expanse land, with little or no houses, boating amongst alligators and traveling next to the buffalo and the bison.

Every moment was separate and each one gave me unique emotions and ideas, which eventually merged together when I finally reached the turbulent traffic of Miami and fought my way towards our hotel on ocean beach.

We are surrounded by so many different worlds and their opposite necessities. Bringing them together is what makes, I believe, a successful entrepreneur. Therefore I want to better understand your individual world so to serve you and I would like you to reply to this post by telling me what can I do to better contribute to your life and business in the future. Please take the time to drop a few lines, I will make sure that your time will be well spent.

Roberto Mazzoni

A lesson from the unconquered people is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

An American Indian totem.

Audio has become a key element for keeping myself updated on my business and passions. I rarely have time to stop and read something, but I can listen to my recordings when I am riding on my car or when I am waiting in line or also when I am jogging. There is so much to know and so much to implement at the same time, that I prefer use my time in front of the computer for implementation, while the new digital media world allows me to consume the information wherever I am an in any format I want.

As I reported in my “Eight Rules to Avoid Social Media Disaster”, you cannot predict where your customer will use the information and therefore must be prepared in providing it to her in many different formats. So this time I am the consumer and I will take some quality time with my family and I will put to test, at the same time, the effectiveness of having my whole conference library on my iPod. I am copying right now 3,000 audio tracks, spanning from real estate to Internet Marketing, list building and professional blogging. I have just downloaded the last private brifieng by problogger Brian Clark to the Third Tribe project members.

The power of having the whole of it at my finger tips in a small portable device is remarkable and the ability to listen to any selected item while I am in a beautiful location, fully immersed in nature and with the people I love most, I am sure will make all the difference in my ability to capture the key information and transform it into action.

Roberto Mazzoni

P.S. If you want to delevop your business around your blog  in a very professional mannel check the Third Tribe project (affiliate link).

Following Osceola’s trail is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Allow your customers to have control of their valuable time.

Our life was actually running at the drum beat of somebody else. I remember for example when I was a kid in Italy, we had a very popular advertising show being run every evening at 9 pm sharp. It was a collection of very spectacular or funny (for the time) advertisements, it featured some of the best actors of the time, each one featuring a “short movie” centered on a specific product. It was very popular.

Almost every kid liked it and they watched it with their families just before going to bed. Therefore this show, named “carousel”, was the signal of the end of the day for a whole generation of kids, not the sun set or some other natural event. That how powerful the television was then.

Today, in the digital media age, we can view our preferred show when we want: we can record it, get it on demand from a subscription service, rent a DVD, download it from the Internet, and so on. Therefore the customer is getting used to control her own time and decide when he wants to consume our services.

This is applicable to any field, including real estate where I operate. It is becoming more and common with brokers or investors to have the buyers go visit a house that is for sale or for rent by themselves, without the escort of a Realtor or the owner himself. Maybe the listing broker or the owner gives them the code to a lock box or a neighbor lets them in. The prospective buyer has therefore the chance of looking at the house at her time and her speed, involving anybody he wants before coming to a decision that she is really interested in it and then you can move forward with the negotiation and the financing issues.

It has been noted that people feel safer when they have the chance of doing so and therefore tend to appreciate the house more, or they simply discard it, saving also you own time since you don’t have to go there and show the house to a bunch of people that will never buy it or wait for the arrival of a prospective tenant that never shows up.

There is of course lot’s of benefit also in having the customer escorted there by somebody who can describe the house and overcome comments and answer questions, but this can always happen after the first visit or drive-by. We all have very limited time and any system that goes in the direction of allowing all the parties involved to decide when to do something and the time to spend on it is going to be successful.

Roberto Mazzoni

P.S. if you like this post subscribe to my newsletter or to my RSS feed so to not miss any future nugget.

Are you losing control of your time? is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Eight rules to avoid social media disaster

My field is international real estate and the experts say that in real estate you make money when you solve problems. The same is with any other type of business, but what matters in the first place is finding the people who have these problems so that you can solve them and this bring us to the channels and the format of information that you will have to use to find them. Social media is based on digital media: text, audio, pictures, video in all their various formats. And here are the rules that I have gathered on how to use it:

1. Your customers have very different schedules so you need to allow them to get your information when it is more convenient for them. Direct interaction is valuable and interesting, like in webinars, Q&A calls and social media chatting, but cannot be used on a wide scale. So record your key content and make it available for future reference (click here to read more on this point).

2. You cannot predict where your customer will use the information. She will not necessarily use a computer, therefore prepare to make your content available on portable devices (like the iPod) if possible (click here to read more on this).

3. Create content that can be viewed on as many different devices as possible. Less people have time to spend in front of their computer just for getting information. Production schedules get more and more tight, so produce your content so that it can be consumed in a number of ways.

4. Be concise as much as you can and to the point. This doesn’t mean that you should write little, but avoid padding your content with useless material. Value the time of your people and they will value you. Always give them a short cut to the action items they can perform immediately.

5. Never create an article or video or podcast/MP3 that depends on previous material to be fully understood. Build every single item so that it can be used by itself. You can still create series, but each item in the series should be independent.

6. Keep it simple: it you expect your public to understand what you write because they have read something else before, you will lose. Always define your key terms when you use them and where you use them.

7. If you don’t provide real value in your content then it is pointless. The value is established by what other people think of it. Also the value of a piece of content needs to be evident by its title and presentation. People need to know immediately what’s in it for them.

8. Use as many channels as possible to reach your audience as they will shift in the use of their channels and you will lose them is you use just a few.

By following these simple rules that I have collected from my personal experience and from the writings or presentations of Internet Marketing experts you will be able to grow your public and keep in touch with it in the way it is most convenient to them.

Roberto Mazzoni

P.S. I am sure you have your own opinions about this subject so please leave a comment and invite others to do so. Your viewpoints are important to allow me to improve  my content.

Eight rules to avoid social media disaster is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Extending your reach to international real estate markets

1.It is an informal platform where you can meet other real estate professionals from other countries without having to talk about business from the get go

2.You can interact more easily using the integrated chat, videos, photos, comments and blog posts (linked on Facebook) so to create a story around yourself and allow the foreign real estate professionals to become familiar with you

3.Approximately two thirds of Facebook users are outside of the US, therefore you have a very big audience

4.You can collect some initial information about other people from their profile so that you have something to talk with them already in the initial contacts.

What is more difficult is bridging past this initial contact phase, that lays a good foundation, and move onto a more formal business relationship. Here you can follow the rule of establishing at least five to seven contacts with your prospect before getting down to real business.

I found very effective to first ask questions about what they would like to achieve, what are their ideas about international real estate and which markets they would consider and why. Don’t try to steer them right away, rather provide some valuable general advice that will show your competence and will get them curious about your specific market and what you have to offer.

Some foreign markets have some special liking for some definite locations in the US. Doing a bit of research on them will put you in the right stream and you won’t be bucking the trend. For exampe, Italians prefer to buy in New York and Miami for the most part. If you know nothing about a foreign market and don’t have the time to find out and you don’t even know the language, find another real estate professional that can bridge you over.

Roberto Mazzoni

P.S.

Subscribe to my list I will provide more tips on how to extend your reach internationally and how to leverage the Web and social media to do it.

Building an international real estate network is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

International real estate businesses are built through partnerships

It is definitely a best business practice if you are considering doing some major rehab work. It is such a labor intensive activity that you need to get a solid understanding and control of the activities by either being involved directly in the work or monitoring very closely those who are performing it for you. Therefore you don’t want to add long travels in the initial burden of learning the trade, learning your market and building your team.

But when you bring it to an international real estate perspective, you rapidly see that you can’t really use the “back yard” concept because your investor or buyer will not be familiar with your specific market and therefore will have no specific interest in it but she will rather look from the best market that can provide her the best return with the minimum effort.

We also know that the Web and social media are playing an ever bigger role in the buying decisions of people, also where real estate is concerned, and they level the playing field big time allowing a potential investor to chose between alternatives in multiple countries, all competing with each other. And which is going to win? The one that feels easier or more familiar to the buyer or investor. She is the one calling the shots therefore she is the one who has to feel the game is going on in her own back yard so to speak, no matter how far away from her that back yard can be.

So is there a “back yard” also on the Web? I have been at an Internet Marketing event recently organized by The Wealth Building Annex in Tampa. It was about social medial marketing strategies and I interviewed the speaker, Phillip Black, about his take on internationalization when it comes to Internet Marketing strategies.

His viewpoint, again, is that you should first develop and consolidate your presence in your own country and then expand from there. So here again we have the back yard concept at play, also in social media marketing, although on a much bigger scale. You develop your message and strategy on the US and then you export it overseas.

It makes sense, but there is more to it. Is it enough for you to get big in the US and then expand just like you are to international level? Unlikely. You can have customers all over the world, that’s for granted, but if you don’t build your international real estate business so that it is specifically tailored to international needs, if you don’t build strong relations and networking outside of the US, your business will simply remain domestic in nature even if you have a few customers abroad and even if the Web allows you to overcome distances and borders. I have seen it happen over and over again with individual entrepreneurs and big corporations.

The players who have been very successful on the international playing field are those that developed a very strong back yard in the US and then expanded world wide through the help of partners that were strong in each respective country or continent. These partners don’t need to be located in the target country necessarily, they might be here in the US, like my companies for example, but must have developed a very specific international focus and must have the right trust relationships overseas.

Roberto Mazzoni

Should you start in your own back yard? is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Nick Sidoti has some unique landlord investment strategies

He has found out a way to secure high rental values by providing special need housing to some types of handicapped people as well as to high end students and retired veterans. The basic concept is to provide fully furnished apartments with full utilities and basic housekeeping provided as part of the rent. You provide a quality of life that is similar to that of an hotel, and at the same time the convenience of an apartment or house. The higher rent comes from the ability to accommodate more than one tenant per unit and get each one paying separately.
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When dealing with special need tenant, like veterans or handicapped people, you get paid directly by the government and the tenant stays in the property for a long time since there are not so many alternatives available on any given market. There are no delays in the payments, most of the maintenance is performed by the government workers taking care of these special people and you can get much more return for your investment with less involvement.

Since it is a very special type of market, you must be thoroughly familiar with the requirements of the government agencies you would be working with and you also need to conduct a very different type of marketing as compared to what is required for regular landlording. I have personally checked with him about the feasibility of this strategy for foreign investors, and he has assured me that these special programs can be performed also by property owners that are not US citizens. You would require naturally a local structure to provide management, but this would be the case also with a local investor.

Nick Sidoti has been involved in real estate investing since 1979 and he has been lecturing for more than 20 years, therefore this is not a new strategy by any means and its longevity adds credibility to it. His conclusions after over two decades of observing other investors is that some people get it and some just don’t (how to make money) So his motto is: “Are you really getting it?” I think I do now.

Roberto Mazzoni

Are you really getting it? is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

US real estate can be attractive to international buyers if properly presented.

You are likely to be asked any of these six questions, maybe all, so you’d better prepare an answer ahead of time.

1. How do I invest in the USA? It includes describing the type of properties and markets you suggest and the reason why they should chose the USA instead of some other international real estate market.
2. How to you purchase a property in the US? The methods and contracts used to buy and sell properties in North America are fairly different from those used overseas. For example, in Italy, the market where a come from, there is no listing agent, no broker, no MLS. There is just an agent that both lists and sells the property, occasionally in cooperation with other agents.
3. Which protection systems should I look for? The answer can be extensive as there are many wealth protection systems in the US which simply don’t exist elsewhere. I would suggest you to provide information about the basic elements, like the various types of deeds, mortgages and promissory notes, insurance policies and company paperwork. Always suggest to your investor to purchase a property from within a US company created as a container for this purpose. It will simplify greatly the closing and the subsequent management.
4. How to read the key documents? This expands on question 3 and it is intended to explain the various components of the paperwork being used. Try to provide some form of translation of the key elements and spend some time to explain them.
5. How to save on taxes? This is a very big one. You don’t realize how much a foreigner can save on taxes by properly investing in the US. This takes some knowledge of the tax systems both in the US and the investor’s original country, but it is an hot subject.
6. How to multiply my return on investment? Any investor who plays in the international real estate field is looking for returns that are substantially higher than those he could get in his own country and that are more protected, considering the distance factor. This is the most challenging of the questions and it requires a deep knowledge of all the five points above and close understanding of your market.

If you can provide quality answers to all of the 6 points above you will gain respect and attention from international buyers and you will be able to expand your potential market.
Roberto Mazzoni

Six questions from international real estate buyers is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Roberto Mazzoni with Aaron Fodiman and his wife Margaret Word Burnside, both directly involved in running Tampa Bay Magazine

The personal story of this gentleman is amazing since he has been extremely successful at three totally different activities, none of which he has chosen before hand. But he was able to excel by focusing on each one of them when the time came by also applying the first of his 12 success rules which is: “if you chase two rabbits, both will escape”.
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The video that I am presenting here shows a short piece of the interview done by Chris with Aaron Fodiman. You will see how the true path to success sometimes presents itself after some trial.

During the one hour speech by Mr. Fodiman I learned many things about the publishing business, to which I belonged for three decades, and my current international real estate business. And the lesson is this: the more you know about the area where you live and operate, the more you can describe its culture, art and way of life, the more chances you have to succeed. I have also learned that Tampa Bay is the 12^th metropolitan area in the United States and that it is even bigger than Miami in terms of economical power. The best way for me to attract international buyers in this area will be to team up with people like Mr. Fodiman so to fully represent the emotion and lifestyle that can be experienced here, which will make investing in this area even more attractive.

Roberto Mazzoni

Learning from a magazine publisher is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Actually it is no surprise that these banks are in trouble considering the sharp reduction of lending activity, just dropped to the low levels of 1997, and considering the staggering amount of foreclosures still waiting to come out. What is actually amazing is that many banks still manage to survive despite everything, thanks to the support funds they are getting form the government and that would be intended in promoting lending and reducing foreclosures.

But now, despite the government props, banks are actually starting to fall off the chart again, some just disappear and other are acquired by other banks and merge with it. Many of the recent additions are banks traded at the stock exchange, so the crisis is getting also to the bigger institutions.

Roberto Mazzoni

The “secret” list of problem banks is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni