"Learn direct response marketing" with Omer Reiner

Omer Reiner is the co-founder of FL Cash Home Buyers, LLC - a real estate investment company based in Ft. Lauderdale that has been buying & selling properties in Florida since 2011. Reiner has a background in Yoga, and specializes in direct response marketing, SEO, and online branding.

Can you tell our readers about your background? 

I was born in Israel and after serving in the Israeli army for 3 years, I travelled to India and SE Asia for about a year, and then ended up in a Yoga Ashram in Miramar FL for a Yoga teacher's certification course. I ended up living there for 6 years and immersed myself in the study of Yoga & meditation under the guidance of my spiritual teacher, Yogi Hari. 

While I was living at the ashram, I was introduced to Real Estate investing and got my real estate license in early 2011. It was a few years after, in 2014, that I met my current business partner at a Yoga class that I taught at the Ashram. We both had our own real estate companies back then and after doing a few deals together, we decided to partner up and grow the Florida Cash Home Buyers brand together.  

What inspired you to start your business?

I was introduced to real estate by my spiritual teacher while living in his Ashram. He had owned about 60 rental properties in the past and that gave him the financial freedom he wanted so that he could focus on his yoga practice and teaching while supporting his family.

At that time, I knew I wanted to start a family, but I didn’t want to depend on teaching yoga for a living because I felt that I did not want to turn my hobby into a business. So witnessing first hand the freedom that my teacher experienced through real estate, gave me the motivation to start my own real estate career.

Where is your business based?

Our business address is in Ft. Lauderdale, but our whole team is virtual. Since we started our business we have all worked from our home offices. The business office is mainly used for team meetings and some appointments with clients.  

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

My partner and I started the business by taking several courses on real estate investing and I also obtained my Realtor’s license. In addition to that, we joined a mentorship program with a seasoned local investor that taught us a lot about the business.

In our early days, my partner and I used to handle everything. From marketing to answering calls, to going on appointments with sellers, managing construction, and then selling the houses. One of the issues that we were facing was that we knew we wanted to grow the business, but being so busy with the day to day grunt work, we had no time to think about how to scale it up. So one of the first things we started to work on was to hire people to replace us in the daily activities of the business so we have more free time to work “on” the business vs. “in” the business. Finding good people to join our team was also a challenge and it took us time to refine our hiring process to get it to the point that it’s at today. 

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

Online marketing has been the most effective way for us to become well known in Florida. One of the skills I learned after starting the business is SEO and online branding. It took us some time, but at this point, our website ranks at the top of Google for key search terms that a lot of our customers are typing in. This results in a steady stream of clients for us and has greatly helped our business succeed. 

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?  

One of the main challenges of owning this type of business is that it has a bad reputation. People naturally think it’s a scam, and I can’t blame them. There are some crooked individuals out there that do unethical things under the disguise of “cash for houses” business. So when people come across our business, many of them are skeptical and feel that we’ll just try to take advantage of them.

The way we overcome this is to build trust and credibility with people so that they know we are a legitimate business and are not out there trying to steal people’s homes and take advantage of their hardships. We do this by getting positive reviews and testimonials from previous clients. This really helps demonstrate that we are a legit business and increases people’s trust in us.

How do you stay focused?

What really helps me stay focused is time blocking, eliminating distractions (turn the phone on airplane mode and turn email notifications off on desktop) and working in focus sessions of 90 minutes. Between the sessions, I find that taking a short walk outside, doing some breathing exercises, stretching, or doing a headstand really helps me regain mental focus and clarity for the next focus session or meeting. 

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?  

I think that what really puts us apart from many of our competitors is why we are in business. Yes, we’re in it to make some money, but that’s not our main goal in life and I think customers can feel that. We regularly donate to charity and our main focus is to really make a positive impact on people’s lives and make the world a better place.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

The most effective marketing strategy for us has been organic SEO. We’ve been working on our website since around 2013 and it’s been the most consistent form of lead generation for us. At this point, the leads that we get through the site are pretty much free and are the best quality compared to other marketing channels.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?  

A couple of things. First, learn direct response marketing. Leads are the lifeblood of business, so you should be able to generate them at a low enough cost for your business to be profitable.

Second, get a mentor. It will greatly shorten your growth and learning curve.  

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

My favorite app is propertyleads.com because it allows us to really filter down our outbound marketing to the most qualified prospects. My favorite blog is Neil Patel’s blog. He always provides a lot of value about online marketing and branding which I love. My favorite book is “A Game Plan For Life” by John Wooden. It is really inspiring and demonstrates how to live a more fulfilling and meaningful life. 

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

My favorite business tool is leadsherpa.com because it’s a TCPA compliant SMS marketing tool for real estate investors which has greatly improved our return on investment for marketing.

Who is your business role model? Why?

My business role model is John Wooden. I love his definition of achievement and success. This applies to both life and business – “Never try to be better than anyone else, but never cease to be the best YOU can be. That’s an achievement!”

How do you balance work and life?  

Yoga and meditation really help me stay calm, centered and keep things in perspective. To make sure I don’t over-work and lose time with the family, I really stick to my working hours and stop working when I agreed with my wife. 

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Yoga, meditation, chanting and going for walks in the woods.

What do you have planned for the next six months?  

Well, with COVID-19 going on, that changed up some of my plans for travel, but business-wise, I plan on learning Google Adwords, and I’m also working on securing some radio spots for us in South Florida. 

How can our readers connect with you?

Feel free to reach out to me via email – Omer@floridacashhomebuyers.com or visit us online at www.FloridaCashHomeBuyers.com.