Lumpy Mail Strategy
I was thinking about adding a Lifesaver candy to my NOD mailings, but I have concerns about putting an edible product in my envelope.
I have heard about people sending asprin before with success. Is anybody doing anything like this? Did it improve your response rate?
[ Edited by CHS2006 on Date 04/20/2006 ]
Make sure that the post office does not object. There are some very rigid rules about what can be put inside envelopes and still make it through the mail sorting machines. Whenever I have someone mail me keys, I always have them put it in a padded envelope because keys do not make it through the machines.
That was some excellent advice bg, never would have thought about that. And i dont know if the gurus that teach lumpy mail, add in that piece of advice.
Just be sure that everyone gets the incentive. If there is only a chance that you will get the incentive, that is considered a lottery and is illegal in many states.
This is not to be confused with an inducement- "I will give you a _____ if you buy a property from me". That is acceptable.
But if you say "One of the people who buys a property from me will get a _____", that is a lottery.
Chris[ Edited by ypochris on Date 04/20/2006 ]
Da Wiz, you are so cool.
gahomes Nice to meet you.....
And great work on wanting to think outside the box....
In my opinion what is important is spending the necessary money needed to create a duplicable and predictable stream of seller leads... without spending money on campaigns that will not produce at the same rate of return as others.
If I were starting off in my career and had a limited budget I am not so certain that this type of advertising would be the type I would choose. However if I had exhausted all other forms of advertising and wanted to increase my lead count and better yet reinforce my brand then this would be a nice addition.
Understand that Home shows and fair exhibits are not a call to action type of advertising vehicle but more of an image or brand building media. They’re great if you have a product to sell but most companies use them to promote the fact that they are in business for a later sell as well as build a possible client base that they will market to and call upon...
If you decide to do a fair booth I would make it more of a fun event then a I Buy Houses event. And have something to pass out that the fair goers will not throw away… Flyers are really nice but will get tossed in a minute. I like passing out pencils and pens with my name and telephone number on them… pencils are better in my opinion because they are less available to us in our daily lives so we will hold onto them..
Make your booth lively by creating physical actions which will pull people to you… hire a card magician to come out during the day… maybe a balloon person or a dressed up character that children will want to come and touch. Anything that will pull people to you because a banner saying I buy Houses will be walked past and walked past fast.
Have a drawing for a nice dinner out for people who sign your registry.
And you must be energetic and full of life or your experience will be terrible… And there is nothing wrong with hiring nice looking people to work the booth with you to attract the audience to you just make sure you’re there as well to answer the questions. A bubbly cheerleader will go along way however a sexy over the top girl will keep the husbands and wives away to don’t just hire anyone.
You may want to consider car window flyers in the parking lot. However two concerns will be if the fair allows it and damage to vehicles.
When picking the location of your booth make sure that it is on a corner and at the entrance… They are prime real estate location s and will reward you much more then a booth way in the back between two boring booths. The other spot which is good is next to the food.
You mentioned that you wanted to use the fair display as a means to advertise your business to people who may know someone who needs to sell a house. I would rather implement an “on purpose” networking campaign that cost much less than the 1500.00 you will spend.
Network marketing is a viable addition to every investor and each of us should take full advantage of our sphere of influence. If you were to use business cards as a form of network marketing I am sure your rewards would be greater and far less expensive then the fair booth.
There are three types of people you should network with:
People who you know
Your acquaintances
And people you don’t know
All three groups can reward you if you spend the time and energy to on purpose touch those people.
Hope this helps….
And good luck….
[addsig]
Thanks everyone. I will keep thinking of other things and hold off on this. Like I said I was just brainstorming.
GAHomes,
I am just up the road from you. IMHO, unless you have a large marketing budget and are intent on building a brand, I would spend your marketing dollars on things that are tried and true. I put out flyers, bandit signs, pennysaver ads, and direct mail.
At the end of the day, you want to be able to have measureable results of the investment you are making to bring deals in. While "sponsoring" a festival of some sort is nice for top of mind, unless you are doing a full court press in other parts of your marketing, it will be for naught.
Hope that helps. Would love to see what you are doing elsewise.
GA_John
Before you try something like that, you might want to try having a survey a few years to see what kind of people come to these carnivales. It would suck if mainly renters show up.
Two or three years worth of surveys might do the job.
Call your title company and ask them for the list... just ask for customer service....
[addsig]
Thank you,
I mainly need listings for new houses built with low interest rates and in my county there is no land to build , so my title company will not have what I need.
talk to mortgage brokers. they are more likely to know about lists with interest rates vs real estate investors.
maybe www.realquest.com or paysys?
Try www.Sitexdata.com
They are expensive, but their detail is pretty good!!
Good Luck!
[addsig]
thanks matty.
realquest, dataquick, and metroscan
ive spoken to reps at dara and metro, metro has LOT more info but they charge per county and it gets rather exp. dataquick is who i will prob go through, great for accurate comps and more.
www.melissadata.com is also a good, and they are good for geographics as well.
YES put on it "If your house is as UGLY as my car I want to buy it"
[addsig]
I drive my damn Hummer and wear a suit... And somehow still buy houses...
Must be my good looks... NOT
It isn’t what you wear, what you drive, or any of the number excuses we put on our failure....
It is however, how prepared you are to buy the house… How smooth and confident you are with your presentation, did you come across with a sense that you are a professional? Do the sellers feel comfortable and confident that you will follow through with the promises made to them?
And bottom line if you do not have the inner confidence than you will not have the outer confidence..
[addsig]
I find that vinyl lettering on the back window does better than the magnetic door signs.
On the door, you wiz by too fast.
On the back window, anyone behind you in traffic or at a stop has time to read and write down your info.
Keep it simple, large and legiable (no fancy script).
I hope someone sees this since the post is old.
But I saw where someone suggesting using friends/family cars to place ads on.
Does anyone do this? How much would you pay them?
I think I know some people that would actually do this for me.
Thanks!
i remove the sign to go to look at or finalize a deal, to give the prospect the privacy, confidentiality and dignity they may deserve.
I think $35 a month is a bargain- assuming she actually drives the car around...
Chris
She will.
I actually meant to say this on my last post. A good place to find people to do this are stay home moms. They are always looking for ways of earning extra money and this is something that would be so easy for them to do. Also, if my business grows she can help with the mailiings and other things.
It depends how ugly the car is, some people are very judgmental. Try it for a few weeks. The best way to track your results is to hit some of the busiest streets at the busiest times. Drive the car around a few of the local malls. The best place to put some magnetic signs is on a newpaper delivery persons car while they are doing collections in the neighborhoods you are interested in.
The thread you are looking for is "Comprehensive Lead Generation" in this marketing forum. IBuyHouses comes in after about a dozen posts and tells you how a pro does it.
Enjoy!
Chris
Anytime you place an ad in the newspaper, the only thing that is your advantage of your competition is your headline. A good headline will separate you from your competition.
I am assuming that you want to buy houses. So you have to determine what kind of people you want calling you. Having figured that out will bring you in the best results if you can get in their mind and find out their motivation.