Raising Money, Attracting Partners, Building Your Portfolio

By Richard Dolan

I first began my career in the financial realm in the summer of 1991. I applied for a cold-calling position. This meant I would call people cold from the desk of a brokerage firm, warming them to the idea of buying stocks from my boss, who was a licensed stockbroker.

I would go on to make three hundred cold calls a day, every day. I worked alongside some fantastic sales dialers and thoroughly enjoyed my job. I would send information to people via mail or fax, and when they were hot I would direct the person to my boss and he would aim to close a sale. When he did, this was exhibited by him waving an order ticket completed with the name of the newly found client. I would be paid fifty bucks when that happened.

As I grew more confident making these calls, my boss invested time and effort grooming me, sending me off to sales workshops, and seminars and even providing me with books to read. Over that two-year period, I was introduced to and trained by legends such as Zig Ziglar, Harvey Mackay, Bill Good, Steven Covey, and Tony Robbins. I learned so much from these great minds that I sought out the mentorship of Dr. Paul Stoltz, who I believe to be one of the greatest speakers, teachers, and influencers. He introduced me to the research world of behavioural finance, happiness economics, and investor resilience. It was during this apprenticeship that I came to learn and accept that the world of raising money and attracting capital and partners was 80% psychology and 20% mechanics.

During my fifteen-year tenure in the business of raising funds, I learned that you are either raising money for others, raising money with others or raising money for yourself. It took me all that time to realize that true wealth was built in the latter. But money, like life, needs purpose. And without it, time and effort is wasted when you raise money without a specific need that is both purposeful and profitable. There are multiple ways that people can raise money for what they need, this could be a Kickstarter campaign, borrowing from a bank, some will even go onto websites like oxi.casino to see if they can raise their finances by gambling, however, that may be best at being kept as a fun activity to do with their downtime, unless they are a natural at it! Money can be gained in so many diverse ways across the board.

As a real estate investor, in order to get to the next level, you want to raise money and attract capital partners. Why? Because it produces a powerful leverage for your time and effort

Are You a Candidate to Raise Money and Attract Capital Partners?

If you ve built a portfolio, possess a success rate, have a track record, and can help others enter the real estate investment realm with your guidance, leadership, and partnership, then you would be a great candidate to raise money and attract capital partners.

Raising money and attracting capital partners is not about you getting rich at someone else s expense and it s not about what you sell; it s about what you share. It is about influencing people, not bullying them.

Before you begin, a word of caution: Engaging in the act of raising money and attracting partners forces you to commercialize yourself to go from being an investor to being an investment businessperson. It forces you to grow professionally and be vulnerable, accountable, committed, concise, and consistent. When you raise money and attract capital partners, you take on three times more responsibility: the responsibility of other people s money, the responsibility of their commitments to provide it to you, and the responsibility you possess to make good on your word and not dishonour the investment of trust and faith in you.

Starting Your Journey, Raising Money, and Attracting Partners

Most people have financial dreams and fantasies, but few have a goal and a financial intention. In the world of raising money and attracting partners, you will quickly learn that you can t fix people or their money problems or rectify their financial woes. All you can do is empower them to see a financial future that is possible through prudent real estate investing.

When you begin your conversations with potential clients/partners, know that there are three pillars to every conversation you should have with them. It begins with asking them:

1. What is your financial ETHOS?
2. How are you fulfilling it?
3. Do you want help doing it sooner?

Let s begin with one s financial ETHOS, or one s intention to invest. Ethos is Greek for purpose, as in, an acorn s purpose is to be an oak tree. Ask your prospective money partner: What is your financial purpose? What is your wealth s ETHOS?

Allow me to stretch the context. ETHOS is an acronym wherein the E stands for Eliminate: eliminate debts, credit cards, lines of credit, or financial dependency of some kind. The T stands for Transcendence: the drive to build or leave a financial legacy for friends, family, or children. The H stands for Happiness: generally representative of things that would bring you more joy such as vacations, new things even some that could be considered luxurious. The O stands for Opportunity: the opportunity to produce more cash flow, net worth, or overall growth financially. The letter S stands for Suffering: to end financial suffering for family or friends. At times, this can also translate into curbing or eliminating suffering for ailing parents or loved ones.

Start Here

If you are serious about raising money and attracting partners, start with getting clear for yourself on what your very own financial ETHOS is. Only then can you authentically and powerfully attract, engage, and leverage other people s resources with integrity.

Once you are clear on your financial ETHOS, share it with others in such a way that it inspires them to define theirs. It is the perfect thing to share across your social media outlets (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) and is ideal to include on your personal website under your Vision or Personal Mission.

Doing this provides the perfect avenue to share how real estate investing is fulfilling, in part or in whole, your ETHOS. Share on every level how your life has changed or altered. Share how inspired you ve become or how hopeful you now are about your financial future. People need to feel, at a visceral level, that investing in real estate has powerfully transformed even a small part of your life, so as to be inspired to learn how they can begin elevating some part of theirs.

Ultimately, you want to be able to provide the invitation to have others harness you as their financial Sherpa, as it were, to guide them through the real estate investment terrain for themselves and their lives.

As you begin, remember this: most people live financially blind. Many are unknowing, uncertain, and unaware of what they simply do not know. What they need is a goal; what they need is a plan; and to make it all happen they need you.

{{cta(‘8121aea2-888d-4691-a43b-34bff0848ab2′,’justifycenter’)}}