The Flight to DC
It was the morning of October 9th as I await my flight from Bradley International Airport to Washington D.C. when I was performing my usual double and triple checking that all preparations were in place. The previous month was spent coordinating multiple elements of what this trip to DC would entail as I was sent to represent Patch of Land and spread the real estate crowdfunding gospel at the REI Expo, as well as our own DC RECFEN meetup event. I felt confident that the marketing team and I had done everything we could to lay the groundwork for an amazing trip and we were not disappointed.
On the flight to DC, I began practicing both of the presentations that I was to give at the REI Expo and our DC RECFEN Meetup, and they were as follows:
Crowdfunding Real Estate With Patch of Land
This presentation is our Crowdfunding 101 slideshare that allows the participants to get a really clear understanding of how disruptive the real estate crowdfunding industry is and how they may leverage the online marketplace lending phenomenon to either fund more of their deals or invest in passive real estate investments.
Social Marketing for Real Estate Investors
This presentation is our newest addition that takes us further into our education mandate to help real estate investors, both newbies and experienced, to learn how to market their businesses and build a lead generation machine through the social marketing channels that have been very successful for Patch of Land to date.
First Night At REI Expo
After picking up my baggage and getting settled in the Hilton Hotel which would be my home for the next 5 nights, I leisurely made my way to the REI Expo cocktail hour to network with investors as well as get a jump start in setting up the Patch of Land booth early. The opening presentation was about to begin and Laurie March, Remodeler, Designer, star of HGTV’s House Counselor, was the keynote for the evening. It was an incredible presentation and for a guy who admits he has no style, I learned a ton from here speech.
After the presentation, more networking ensued and I made a conscious decision not to stay at my booth but rather, to use the first night and network with the amazing vendors at the expo. I met many potential partners and even co-investors for Patch of Land who were both very interesting as well as interested in what Patch of Land had to offer. These relationships will carry on long after this event has ended and in fact, we are currently collaborating with many of these vendors on other matters.
The Crowd slowly dissipated for the evening all in an effort to be well rested for the full day events that were to commence bright and early.
Day 2 At REI Expo
Everyone was up bright and early for day 2, Saturday, October 10th of the Expo. An opening presentation with Doug Clark, CEO of Equity Capital Group & Clark Venture Capital, got everyone in the mood with the exciting career progression he shared, first as a pilot then into a prolific real estate investor. The vendors were then introduced and I was able to share that times of the Patch of Land presentations.
During the event, many investors came up to the Patch of Land booth and shared their stories with me. From fix and flip developers, to passive income investors, to other private lenders who wanted to partner with Patch of Land, the turnout was fantastic and the people were inspiring. I've been scrambling to keep up with all of the follow up since then but the excitement from all who attended was undeniable.
The event presentations that others were delivering were excellent, and it was now my turn to give our first presentation on how real estate crowdfunding can help investors in their own endeavors. My presentation was well attended and at least 5 - 10 qualified borrowers came up to me afterwards seeking to learn more. We also unveiled opportunities for those who would not qualify for our loans by telling them about our Borrower Referral Program and Affiliate Program which will be rolling out shortly.
The second presentation on Social Marketing was even more well attended. It is amazing how little real estate investors know about how to market their businesses and find more leads, deals, investors, and buyers for their properties. As I was going through the presentation, I could tell everyone was excited because before we knew it, I went 30 minutes over the allotted time. Since we were the last event of the day, we were able to go overtime, but still, it was amazing how much the attendees wanted to learn more about how to market them selves to greater impact.
As our presentation was the closing of the event, all the attendees said their goodbyes during one last evening networking cocktail party while many of the vendors began to take down their booths. The event was an incredible success for all who attended, but this was only part one of our DC trip. We still had our own event to host on Tuesday 10/13/15.
DC RECFEN Meetup
Next up was our own meetup events that we hold nationwide every time we participate in a conference or expo. It has proven to be one of the most direct ways to meet people face to face and to learn from their needs in the local marketplace. Every location is different, and DC proved to be the case as well. We decided to host our event at a WeWork location, and if you have never been to one yet, I recommend stopping by! They are a nationwide co-working space that is filled with amazing entrepreneurs looking to bring their contributions forward through their amazing startups and businesses.
On the day of the event, myself and one of the speakers Kurt Power, Sponsorship Sales at REI Expo, were invited to visit a DC real estate investor who was native to the marketplace. He shows us his offices which included self dubbed war rooms where he would identify fix and flip investments and record educational content for his students whom he was mentoring through live deal flow he was assessing for his own investments. It was inspiring to see and this investor also provided us with a ride to the WeWork location so we can set up early.
Upon entering the venue we quickly got set up and coordinated with the vendors who were serving alcohol and food at the events. We also met up with our event sponsor Dana M. Fidazzo, Attorney & Partner at Venable LLP as well as our other speaker Catherine Norton with NVMS. We chatted briefly to go over the event game plan then we split up to network with the attendees before the panel discussion began. Nearly 100 attendees showed up to the event, both from our own efforts as well as internally through WeWork. After everyone had food and drink in hand, we began the presentation.
The panel discussion started off with everyone introducing themselves and quickly got into the meat and bones of the conversation with questions surrounding future real estate trends as seen at the REI Expo and on the ground assessments as given by NVMS and their nationwide inspection company. The conversation was lively and it eventually lead to the future trend of Real Estate Crowdfunding, where I again began to give a lively presentation to the audience around the topic. We used the same presentation as was delivered during the REI Expo and the response was amazing. There were unique questions being asked and more interest was expressed not only in accessing funds through real estate crowdfunding, but also becoming affiliates of our referral programs.
The Flight Back to CT
The evening was a huge success but I unfortunately had to abruptly end the meeting at 8 p.m. EST as I only had a couple of hours until my flight was to depart for my home base of Connecticut. I quickly packed up, said our goodbyes to the attendees, and caught a cab right in the knick of time to get to the airport on schedule.
On the flight back home I remembered how much fun this trip was and the amazing people that I met along the way. The REI Expo has now become a major partner with Patch of Land and we plan on hosting many more RECFEN meetup events with them as we continue our nationwide awareness tour on the topic of Real Estate Crowdfunding.
I also was very pleased with how the Social Marketing for Real Estate Investors presentation went. It was the first time an audience had scene it, and it allowed me to get some great feedback for the next time I was to give the presentation which was on October 14th at the NYC REIA.
In closing, we would love to host an event in your neck of the woods, so if you are planning any meetup groups or would like us to present at your REIA, please reach out to us here. We would love to send someone from our team out to educate your group about real estate crowdfunding and social marketing for real estate investors.
