Aaron Hoos

I have a confession to make. There were many years when I didn’t like “Rich Dad” Robert Kiyosaki. Only recently have I become a fan but it’s taken me a while to come around.

Robert Kiyosaki is the creator of the Rich Dad brand, and author of a bazillion books like Rick Dad, Poor Dad and Cash Flow Quadrant. Kiyosaki’s message is: Poor people work for their money while rich people have their money work for them. And he uses a quadrant to illustrate his message, showing how poor or middle-class people are either employees or self-employed people who trade their hours for pay while rich people are business owners and investors who use their money to make more money.

I first read one of Kiyosaki’s books back in 2000 (I think it was his Cash Flow Quadrant book, although I can’t remember). The book was okay but I confess I didn’t love it and it took me years before I came around to appreciate and admire Kiyosaki.

Here are the reasons that I wasn’t a fan:

1. KIYOSAKI IS ALL SIZZLE AND NO STEAK

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His ideas about why someone should own a business or invest in real estate were good. But I felt that he lacked the “how-to-do-it” that I was looking for. He is the master of packaging ideas but they didn’t always fulfill a value quotient, in my opinion.

What changed for me recently was a book I picked up called The Real Book of Real Estate in which Kiyosaki’s name is splashed prominently on the front but he has 22 other people write the book… and their insights are really quite valuable. While reading the book, I realized that Kiyosaki doesn’t have to provide the steak. He provides the sizzle and other people can provide the steak.

2. KIYOSAKI’S IDEAS CONFLICTED WITH MY ASPIRATIONS

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I have always aspired to be a writer. That’s all I ever wanted to do. There are parts of being a writer that are “B” (Business owner) qualities, such as writing a book, and Kiyosaki’s advice would be to focus there. But there are parts of being a writer that are “S” (Self-employed), which Kiyosaki says are part of a less-than-ideal business model. The problem was, I really liked being a writer and enjoyed the “B” part of the business as well as the “S” part of the business. (Note: If you’re unfamiliar with Kiyosaki, he makes a distinction between being self-employed, where the business is entire dependent on you, and being a business-owner, where you grow a business that doesn’t require your input). It felt like Kiyosaki was discounting my aspirations.

What changed for me recently was re-reading Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad book (as part of a project for a client). In that book, Kiyosaki makes the excellent point that people should work to learn rather than work for money, then they can use their education to build businesses and invest. I can live with that because it helps me to see that there is a legitimate balance between what I do on the freelancing side of my business and what I do on the book/e-book writing side of my business.

3. KIYOSAKI’S DISCIPLES DROVE ME CRAZY

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Yeah, that might sound harsh but in the past 12 years that I’ve been familiar with Kiyosaki’s ideas and worked with entrepreneurs and real estate investors, many of the biggest Kiyosaki disciples drove me crazy. I can’t tell you how many times I sat down with a prospective client who was stuck in a dead-end job and up to their nose in debt (while I ran my decently successful, debt-free business) only to have them lecture me about why my business needed to be a “B” business instead of an “S” business. And I’ve seen a bunch of aspiring real estate investors regurgitate the words “I want a cash flow positive property” without really understanding what it means, and while turning down potentially lucrative short-term deals because they didn’t meet their idea of a Kiyosaki-quality investment. And Kiyosaki’s emphasis on network marketing has created an army of pro-network-marketers who continue to make the same mistakes that lead to failure in their MLM businesses.

What changed for me was a client I’ve been working with who had me dig back into Kiyosaki’s work for some of his projects. He is an extremely successful real estate investor and lives out many of Kiyosaki’s principles in a way that most aspiring investors only dream of. I started to see Kiyosaki’s principles in action (something I hadn’t seen in the first decade of my familiarity with Kiyosaki’s work).

I’M TURNING INTO A KIYOSAKI FAN… SLOWLY

I’m not yet ready to go out and buy all of Kiyosaki’s books or get a Rich Dad tattoo or attend his seminars (PLEASE don’t invite me) but I have gained a new appreciation for Kiyosaki and I see the value that his platform can provide. I’m not quitting my “S” business just yet but (to use Kiyosaki’s own terminology), I’m building assets in the “B” and “I” categories of his quadrant. And I’m learning to respect his audience.

If you are a Kiyosaki disciple, here are some of my own thoughts for you:

1. Kiyosaki has a good platform but he lacks step-by-step methodology and that might be holding you back. There are other resources out there that might be able to help you. Use Rich Dad as a springboard to do other research from other experts and don’t be afraid to move outside of the Rich Dad boundaries to see how other people are applying Kiyosaki’s ideas.
2. If you’re an employee right now and you want to become rich, it can be hard to go from “E” to “I” in one step. Instead, make a plan to go from “E” to “S” to “B” to “I”. The steps are smaller and you can learn a lot along the way.
3. Not every person aspires to be a real estate investor. There are other kinds of investments out there. You might be suprised.
4. Remember that all of Kiyosaki’s ideas are only good if you actually act on them. If at this time next year you are still an employee and haven’t done anything else to move beyond that, then Kiyosaki’s ideas have no value for you. Action gets results. Figure out what is holding you back and address that.

If you are a real estate investor, your business has one significant difference compared to other types of businesses. Unfortunately, many real estate investors don’t realize this and they market their real estate investing business just like any other business. But it’s a HUGE mistake that could undermine your success.

In the video below, find out if you are making this critical real estate investor marketing mistake (and what you can do about it).

Blogging is a great way for real estate marketers to build search engine optimized traffic and connect with their target market. If you are a real estate marketer, here are 10 blog posts that you should write:

1. Write a blog post that explains what you do and who you do it for. If you have a target market within the real estate industry, for example, be specific about why you serve and why you only serve them.
2. Write a blog post comparing your type of marketing to some of the more traditional types of marketing that real estate agents use.
3. Write case studies that demonstrate why your real estate marketing techniques and ideas are effective.
4. Unless your marketing is completely end-to-end, there might be gaps that other real estate marketers’ systems might help to fill. Review the systems and methods of other real estate marketers.
5. Outline the challenges that real estate agents face and how your system or method helps them. This might make an excellent series of blog posts.
6. Explain the costs that real estate agents face when they choose to wait instead of hiring you immediately.
7. Profile real estate agents who have used your service. Promote them selflessly and generously.
8. List the objections that your clients face and give them tips and ideas to overcome them.
9. Write blog posts about how your marketing techniques fit into a real estate agent’s overall sales funnel. Do they have to do other things before or after they use your systems?
10. If you employ different types of marketing techniques, write an introductory blog post about each one. Make it a longer blog post with lots of helpful tips and resources to other posts in your blog.

Blogging is a great way for real estate investors to build search engine optimized traffic and connect with their target market. If you are a real estate investor, here are 10 blog posts that you should write:

1. Write about what a “bird dog” is and why they’re essential to your business. Talk about the qualities and characteristics needed and, of course, what rewards you offer successful ones.
2. Talk about your successes, but do it in a way that doesn’t come across as bragging. Instead, write “case studies” that describe in measurable detail how you succeeded. (A collection of these on your blog can really help when you’re gathering investors!)
3. Write about the risks you face in your real estate investing and what you do to mitigate each one. For example, consider spending one blog post on each risk and going into a lot of detail about your mitigation efforts.
4. Discuss in detail what you do. This can help investors, apprentices, potential buyers and potential sellers to see that you know what you are doing, and it can help to show the style of investing you do (i.e. wholesaling, flipping, etc.).
5. Describe what your perfect investment would be. What would it look like, what would you do, how would it go smoothly?
6. List the political and social challenges you face and what you do about them. (One example is bureaucracy and the struggle that real estate investors have in getting the right permits in a timely fashion).
7. Write a post about your “secret sauce” – the techniques and methodologies that separate you from less successful real estate investors. Yes, these are your secrets, but let’s be honest: It’s not JUST the techniques that make you successful but how your personality and personal characteristics combine together.
8. Interview the people you’ve sold houses to and post those “success stories” on your blog.
9. If you have investors, write regular updates on your blog about specific projects you’re working on. Keep them in the loop without personal phone calls.
10. Every real estate investor sells to someone. Write a series of blog posts as how-to guides for potential buyers.

Blogging is a great way for real estate agents to build search engine optimized traffic and connect with their target market. If you are a real estate agent, here are 10 blog posts that you should write:

1. Write in-depth about a specific community you specialize in. Give people a sense of who lives there and what’s great about it. See my related blog post about using Storify to help you sell more homes.
2. Identify a news item (the economy is a hot topic right now) and talk about how it impacts your clientele.
3. Write an hour-by-hour blog post of your typical day. Give people a sense of what you do and how you do it.
4. Outline what exactly you do for a client. You don’t have to give away your “secret sauce” but you should describe what you do in enough detail that your clients understand what you do to earn your commission.
5. Create a lengthy step-by-step how-to of buying a home in your jurisdiction. Include all the pieces even if they don’t involve you, such as “find a mortgage broker” and “buy house insurance”.
6. Create a lengthy step-by-step how-to of selling a home in your jurisdiction. Include all the pieces even if they don’t involve you.
7. Write (positive!) reviews of businesses in the communities you serve. Include interviews, photos, and video. Tell them about your blog posts and they’ll be more likely to refer people to your site!
8. Every neighborhood has unique aspects that buyers and sellers should be aware of. These can be both good (older, tree-lined streets!) and bad (tree roots in the sewer systems). Write a blog post that addresses these issues in a positive way and what homebuyers should watch for and negotiate, and how potential homesellers can proactively address these. (Yes, this seems like a “negative” topic to blog about but it allows you to address the issue in a controlled way before a buyer blindsides you with a question you weren’t prepared for).
9. Write about the key destinations that people travel to from the neighborhoods you serve. Talk about driving time and distances.
10. Write about what the ideal client knows or brings with them when you meet them for the first time.