Real Stories of Real Estate Success.

In case you haven't seen the new http://www.mailprint.com/ yet, I want to encourage you to check it out... especially the Case Studies page. This is one of my favorite parts of the new site because it shares real stories of real estate agents and other business people who we've helped overcome their challenges and achieve real results. I want to share some snippets from just a few of the case studies:

Beth Franklin is a broker and office owner who came to Mail Print for help with her prospecting efforts. Within just a couple of months of using one of our monthly mailing programs, she was already seeing results... two listing and a sale. Over the following months, she continued to see similar results.


Scott Thompson came to Mail Print as a newer agent who was trying to establish himself and target an up-scale audience. We created a personal branding package for Scott that gave him a professional logo, look and a bevy of marketing materials with his unique design. Within six weeks of starting to use his new materials, Scott had seven listing, two sales and two referrals as a result.


Teresa Grindinger is a successful real estate team leader who found herself spending too much time on her Just Listed/Sold mailings. When Teresa came to Mail Print, we helped her out by creating a custom postcard template and automating her mailings for her. No more applying stamps and lables! Within six months, the new program had already generated three listings for the team.

Top 8 Things Agents Do to Sabotage Their Mail Lists

So you’ve got your mailing list ready to go. That’s great. But just having a list is not enough. You'll need to maintain, clean, and most importantly, use your list to get the results you want.

Here are some of the ways agents routinely mess up their lists and miss out on valuable business and referrals.

1. Using incomplete addresses.

Make sure your list entries are as complete and accurate as possible. Mailings with incomplete addresses will often not reach their destinations. Or a client will receive a mailing with the wrong name or a misspelled name. These kinds of oversights detract from your professional image and damage your credibility. Make sure entries are complete and correct. Mail Print can help you with this with our data management and database marketing solutions.

2. Not adding new contacts.

Update your list often. Add new contacts to your list as soon as you get them. You want to begin contacting these prospects and generating business, so put them on the list.

Remove old contacts if they are deceased or have moved from the area. This will save you some money and embarrassment and save the new residents from mail that isn’t for them.

3. Failing to add themselves and their family to the list.

Having yourself on the list is a great way to monitor your mailing campaigns. This way you will know when clients receive your mailings. And, you’ll have a chance to see exactly what your clients are receiving and the quality of the product.

Don’t be shy about mailing to your family. They have need for your services just like everyone else and are a great source for referrals. They will likely enjoy seeing your cards and take pride in your industrious nature.

4. Failing to keep the data current.

Stay on top of developments such as marriage, divorce, and death. You don’t want to send mailings to a widow’s departed husband. You want to address the surviving widow. Similarly, you don’t want to send postcards addressed to both Jim and Mary if they are divorced. Keep your data complete and avoid some potentially embarrassing situations.

5. Not making personal contact with people on their lists.

Making phone calls may not be your favorite part of the job. But it is part of the job. Talking with your clients at least once a quarter helps maintain a personal connection, and it gives you a chance to double-check your records. If there is incomplete data, like a missing email address, get it while you’re on the phone.

6. Failing to add past clients to their mailing list.

Stay in touch with those nice people who bought a home with you. They may not need your services for a few years, but that doesn’t mean they won’t bring you referrals. And if you keep in touch, they will be much more likely to do business with you again.

7. Not having a list at all.

If you don’t have a list, start putting one together. This is the most valuable tool you could have. It will bring in lots of business for you if you use it.

8. Mailing to the list only once or twice a year.

Again, mail to your list at least 12-33 times a year. If you mail only once or twice in a year, you might as well just burn your money instead. Repetition is the most important element to any type of advertising. If you want clients to respond to your message, you need them to see the message multiple times.

-Gina

RELATED POSTS: Five Steps to Creating a Winning Mail List, 7 Keys to Making Money with Postcards, Keep your mailing list CLEAN

Eleven Ways to Make a Better Brochure

Your personal brochure is an important part of your marketing plan since it serves as an introduction to prospective clients. Your brochure should clearly state your business’s name, the services you supply, and contact information. It also works as a reminder to past clients that you are still there when they need you.

You want your brochure to be visually attractive and up-to-date. If it is outdated, simply ugly or shoddy looking, the customer will have a negative impression of your business. If you want your clients to see you in a professional light, then you need to present a professional appearance.

Here are some simple rules to follow when creating a brochure:

1) Determine what you want your brochure to achieve. The look, feel and content of your brochure should be determined by the job it must do. Your brochure can be a company overview, a door opener for sales calls, or a reminder to past clients.

2) Keep it simple. Copy should be to the point. It should also be written at a difficulty level appropriate to the audience, erring on the side of simplicity. For general purposes, a 5th grade level is sufficient. When speaking to a group that utilizes jargon, such as lawyers or engineers, the vocabulary of the profession is appropriate.

3) Sell the benefits. Assume the reader is saying, “So what?”Always focus on what you have that benefits the user. Benefits sell; features don’t.

4) Promote service promises. Do you make a unique promise to your clients, such as "we'll sell it in 40 days or but it ourselves"? Promote that promise, relating it to reliability.

5) Include a brief personal history. Establish credentials and credibility.

6) Include testimonials. Good references work wonders. A good testimonial gives your company instant credibility, shows you have an established clientele, creates a common bond with the user, promotes you in a voice not your own, and overall raises you to a higher level of expertise.

7) Promote your unique and special expertise. What do you do that no one else does? In what ways do you lead your industry? What makes you special or different?

8) Avoid clichés and trendy buzz words. All corporations today are “committed to excellence.” Speak plain English and stick to information that means something. People will tune out the business buzz words, so don’t waste the space in your brochure on them.

9) Avoid showing pictures of your staff. A staff picture may look nice, but it does little to show why someone should do business with your company. It also becomes outdated once someone makes a career change, you bring on new staff, or when hair and clothing styles change.

10) Be politically correct. Unless you want to field constant complaints, be sure your brochure is politically correct. There are many people out there just looking for a chance to complain about a real or imagined slight. Do not attract their attention. Remember that your brochure is a tool for generating business, not for expressing political, social or religious views.

11) Keep your brochure focused on your main points. What exactly do you want your prospect to know about your company? Tell them that. Let your sales people fill in the details.

Check out samples of brochures and other personal branding pieces created by Mail Print.

-Gina

Why Quality and Quantity Matter in Marketing

You’ve heard the old adage: in order to make money, you have to spend money. And it’s certainly true when talking about real estate marketing. More and better quality marketing sent out means more and better exposure that results in a greater return on your investment.

Ask Important Questions

It’s important to keep in mind what you really want out of your marketing dollars when you plan your campaign. Then market and budget for your desired response.

Ask yourself:

• What unique services and benefits do I provide?
• Who will see my message?
• What image do I want to project?
• How much money do I need to spend to meet my goals?
• How much are my competitors spending?
• What are my goals?

Marketing is an Investment

One of the most important things to remember when budgeting for your marketing plan is that it’s an investment. The majority of the cost for any marketing plan is spent up-front, which can be daunting. However, the effects of your campaign are long-lasting and spread out over the life of your marketing piece.

It’s vitally important to any marketing plan to stick to it once it’s been implemented. As with any long-term investment, you have to be prepared to let the plan do what you intended it to do. Research shows that a campaign can take two to four months to really show results. When you're marketing to people with no prior relationship with you, such as a farm area, it may take 1-2 years to see real results. Repetition and patience is key.

Be Seen and Be Seen Often

Bottom line: It’s about quality and quantity. Your marketing budget is a critical part of your business growth. And there’s a viable marketing plan for you no matter how much money you have available. You just have to budget wisely to meet your marketing goals:

• Know your target audience and market to them.
• Create and use a consistent campaign.
• Be clear and concise with your information and offers.
• Stand out with quality design and copy.

Using Customer Stories to Sell

Testimonial marketing is a powerful tool for any business or entrepreneur. It is the most effective way to build credibility in the eyes of your prospective customer. There are two principal applications of this concept that every business should utilize:

1. Geographic target market
2. Customer category target market

Suppose ABC Real Estate Team has helped many people with their first home purchase. A good strategy for the ABC Team would be to target renters and recent college graduates in their market with a mailing telling them success stories from first-time home buyers who used their services.

They could include pictures of their clients, lists of the services provided them, and direct testimonials from those clients. The ABC Team can provide compelling evidence that they know how to handle the needs of first-time home buyers, so they should use it. This is customer category marketing. One first-time home buyer leads to another.

Now let’s also assume that ABC Real Estate Team has a number of loyal clients from the same neighborhood. Wouldn’t it make sense for ABC to contact the other residents in that neighborhood and show them what great work ABC done for their former neighbors? Often, prospective clients can best judge you by the customers you already have.

This doesn’t mean that telling a prospect that you have 200 or however many clients and that you do over a million dollars in business every year will be effective. Simple facts and figures will be forgotten quickly. What you need to do is give specifics. Tell your prospect the true success stories of your business. More importantly, tell them the true success stories of your clients.

So if ABC Real Estate Team sends mailers to their geographic target market detailing how they’ve helped their clients sell their homes 20 days faster than the competition, and they send mailers to all the residents of the neighborhood ABC specializes in, they should see some high-quality leads generated.

By utilizing testimonial marketing and specific stories of client success, ABC shows a real value in their service. And that’s what will bring in the new clients. Use this strategy in your marketing efforts and watch the business come in!

Gina

8 Tips for Effective Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with clients and to keep your name fresh in their minds. A good newsletter also builds credibility, image, and relationships. Follow these 8 guidelines to have an enjoyable newsletter for your clients.

1. Have a Plan

Your newsletter should have a purpose. Set objectives and have a defined audience. These will help you frame the type of material to include.

2. Stick to a Schedule

Decide how often the newsletter should be published. Be realistic. It’s better to increase the number of issues than to decrease it. It is wise to begin with a quarterly or bimonthly piece.

Stick to the schedule you’ve decided on. Set deadlines and make sure you hit them. Give yourself some cushion time just in case. After just a few issues, your audience will start to expect and look forward to your piece.

3. Choose Your Offering

There are two ways to produce a newsletter. You can produce it yourself, or you can hire professionals to do it for you. Doing it yourself of course gives you more direct control over content, but also takes up more of your time. You will need to balance the benefits of time saved using professional quality writing against costs.

4. Gather Information

If you are producing your own content, there are numerous sources for material. Solicit information from customers, suppliers, consultants, and employees. Look in business, trade, professional, and government publications.

5. Have Relevant Information

Don’t waste your clients’ time with puffed-up sales hype. Include useful facts and advice that will help your clients be well-informed consumers.

Things to include: case studies on clients using your product or service (get their permission first), trends in the industry, new product/service information, quizzes, humor or cartoons, quotes, quick tips and information on how to obtain a free consultation or more information.

6. Stimulate Feedback

The newsletter is a one-way communication tool. It is important to stimulate feedback to help make the piece more useful. Write about items that require people to call you for more details. Offer free advice. Make it easy for them to respond. Have an 800 number to call, an easy to use fax form, or e-mail and web addresses.

7. Keep It Friendly and Brief

Your writing style should be personal and relaxed. Keep stories short at less than half a page each. If the reading is easy and enjoyable, your customers will read the newsletter.

8. Make It Mandatory

Make sure any staff members read the newsletter. They need to be current with any information written, especially when customers may call for more information.

Newsletters are most successful when they offer practical information. They should not be viewed as advertising pieces. Keep the newsletter’s purpose in mind: building your image and causing people to want to work with you.

At Mail Print, we have several types of newsletters so you can decide the amount of time you want to devote to your newsletter. Our bimonthly Home Talk newsletters have an eye-catching design and content focused on home maintenance and beautification. We also have many newsletter templates that allow you to insert your own text for more involved newsletters. Please give us a call at 1.800.660.0108 for samples or more information.

Gina

Influencing Your SOI - Increasing Your Referrals

Asking for referrals from your sphere of influence is an uncomfortable proposition for many real estate agents. And passive actions like putting "I Love Referrals" on your business card are not enough. Most consumers don't clearly understand what the cliched phrase means, nor how dependant your livelihood is on their consistent lead introduction.

What to do? Here are some tips for effectively communicating with your SOI from coach Maya Bailey. Click here to read the article in its entirety in Broker Agent News.

"Tip 1: Have a script so you know what to say

What you decide to say may vary from person to person. The way you talk to a close friend may be quite different from the way you talk to a distant acquaintance.

There is no one formula of what to say. However, it is very helpful to have something to offer when you call. One idea that many of my clients have found helpful is to call your sphere of influence and offer to be a referral source for them.

In other words, let them know that you have plenty of connections to people who could help them. For example, you know many painters, electrician's, plumbers, etc. and your sphere of influence should know that if they need any names and phone numbers they should call you and you will be happy to provide a referral source for them.

Tip 2: Think of yourself as being "the giver"

Most of us love to be the giver. We know we will be well received and people will like us. We also know that "giving" leads to more business.

Before you pick up the phone to call your sphere of influence ask yourself "what can I give to them?" One way that you could be of service to them, is to offer to be a cross referral partner.
If they have their own business, ask them how their business is doing. Ask them how you could help them at their business. Ask them what kind of referrals they would like to receive. Let them know that you will do your best to send referrals to them. At the end of the conversation, you can say something like, "when you hear of anyone who's interested in buying or selling a home, please call me with their name and number. If it's okay with them, I will call them and make sure that their real estate needs are being taken care of."

Tip 3: Send an "Item of value" each month

What kind of item of value should you send? It used to be that sending newsletters was a hot item. However, most people have gotten too busy to read a newsletter.

The item that works the best is a colorful postcard that gives the events happening in their area. Their sphere of influence is likely to put that postcard on the refrigerator and refer to it often.
Of course, next to the list of events happening in the area is your photo, your phone number, and your tag line such as "relax and let me run the extra mile to fulfill your real estate needs.

• You start to enter their stream of consciousness.
• They start to associate positive ideas with you:
• You are associated with happy events in their area.
• You are associated with brilliant bright, happy colors in the postcard.
• Your face smiles at them every time they go to the refrigerator.

Let me ask you, do you think they are more likely to remember you the next time they have a real estate need or a real estate question?

Tip 4: Don't be afraid to call them too often

As long as you have a good reason to call, they will be happy to hear from you. Trust your own gut instinct about how often you should call them. Many real estate gurus suggest calling people in your sphere of influence about once a month. You may choose that to do that with your "A list", the people most likely to refer to you.
Since you are sending an item of value each month, you can always ask them "did you receive the postcard?" You can follow that with, "so what event are you going to go to?"

Tip 5: Assume the positive

Simply assume that they will be happy to hear from you. Why wouldn't they be? They are receiving a wonderful colorful, informative postcard from you each month, then you are calling and offering them something, and you are conditioning them to want to hear from you.
Assume that you have something valuable to offer, your friendship and your real estate expertise, and people want to hear from you.

Tip 6: Be excited about your business

Remember, "desperation does not sell", but "excitement" does. No matter what the current condition of your business, always say something like, "I am so excited about my business. I get to meet such wonderful people and I'm really in an expansion phase of my business. If you want to help out, just send people my way to have a real estate question or issue, I will be happy to help them."

RELATED POSTS: What’s the very best way to get referrals? Ask for them!, Top Tips For Gaining More Referrals (Part 2 of 2), The Power Of Direct Mail

Three Steps to Successful Niche Marketing

I'd like to pass along some great advice from Bill Miles. You can click here Determining a Niche Market Is As Easy As 1, 2, 3 to read the article in its intirety.

"All too often real estate agents focus their marketing efforts too broadly, and with little success or return on investment. The solution? Determine and develop your niche market.

Niche marketing is the process of focusing on a defined segment of a much larger market. Within Real Estate, there are thousands of different niche markets a real estate professional can identify and serve.

Take for example, a specific neighborhood, horse farm owners, first time home-buyers or beach front properties. As a real estate professional, you run a very small business in comparison to the entire real estate market, so it is critical to your success to identify a niche and serve it properly. Alternatively, attempting to market yourself to an entire geographic region is the fastest way to waste money in real estate because you will never sufficiently differentiate yourself to any one market to be top of mind when the consumer looks for an agent.
So, how do you develop your niche?

Step 1: Identify your niche. Write down all the possible niches you could serve based on your location, expertise and interests. For instance, if you choose to focus on a neighborhood, write down the 20 or 30 neighborhoods (with approximately 500 homes each) closest to where you live and work. Consider your expertise. Do you speak a second language? Do you understand a new home owner's issues? Are you also a mortgage broker? Do you love animals? Do you have a connection to senior citizens? What are your hobbies (music, cars, sports, traveling)? Every one of these things can evolve into a powerful niche for you.

Local school parents could be another great niche. For example, lets assume you have three kids in the local schools. The needs and concerns of parents with kids in the same school may be a great niche. It narrows down your focus from the whole town, to 500-1,000 families. You can easily get involved with the school and your target consumers by starting a parents newsletter or being active in school functions. Over time, the community will begin relying on you for this information and understand you are a real estate agent with their best interests in mind. When these parents (consumers) consider buying or selling a home, or giving a referral, you will be at the top of their mind.

Step 2: Define your niche market as specifically as possible. Ideally you should be able to generate a list of addresses, resident names, phone numbers and emails for your niche market. In addition, you should write down as many of the niche market attributes as possible.

For instance:
What are the homes like? (new, old, expensive)
What are the residents' concerns? (safety, a new park)
Where do buyers come from for these homes?
Where do the residents get their information? (TV, magazine, HOA newsletter, online)
Where do they go to school? (private, parochial or public)

This detailed description of your niche will help you reach them in an efficient, effective manner. If you don't know them, how can you deliver value? Additionally, by working on this definition, you will know what areas to educate yourself on to be effective. Remember, your goal is to add value to everyone in this niche through every interaction you have with them.

Step 3: Develop A Marketing Plan. Before taking action, develop a marketing plan to serve this niche. Initially, you may ask yourself ?what do I have to do to become valuable to this niche?' Maybe you need to attend HOA meetings, learn about local politics or learn about the tax advantages of a second home. Whatever it is, become an expert.

Next, determine how best to reach this niche. Where does this niche get its information? Is it through meetings, via email, with a targeted website or postcards?

Third, develop the specific marketing materials that will appeal to this niche. You have to cut through the clutter, so be specific. Talk directly to their needs and concerns. Don't go for typical real estate marketing collateral and content. Be creative, push the envelope, give them something to remember. If designed successfully, your read and response rates will be much higher than anything you have sent out previously.

"Over my 18-year real estate career and 5 years as CEO of Myneighborhoodagent.com, when a real estate professional designs a postcard with an image from the community or on a topic relevant to the community, we typically see response rates ten times higher than those pieces that are more generic," Randy Ginn, CEO MyNeighborhoodAgent.

Finally, commit to two to three contacts per month for at least 18 months. Reach different segments of this target by varying the types of collateral and the messaging. Continue to educate yourself about this niche. Write down your plan and stick to it. Be in it for the long term.

Conclusion. Taking the time to work through these steps will pay huge dividends as you begin to execute. Your focus will help you clarify what steps you need to take, who you need to talk to, what you need to learn and how to improve your communication to this audience. You are on the right track when consumers begin to react positively to your messages. They will thank you for the information, pass it along to friends and, best of all, they will be happy to refer you to others for their real estate needs."

RELATED POSTS: Find the Right Prospects with the Right List, Cost-Effective Marketing Techniques, 8 Tips for Effective Newsletters

Do You Stalk Your Prospects?

Prospecting can be difficult, especially when your phone calls and emails seem to drop into a black hole. I'd like to pass along excerpts from an article by Meryl K. Evans and Hank Stroll that give tips for converting these leads, without annoying or scaring them in the process.

"We’ve all been there---you send an email or leave a voicemail for a customer/potential client and never hear back. So you try again…and again. You don’t want to be a pest, but why aren’t they responding? Did they receive the message or are they deliberately ignoring you? Where do you draw the line to avoid becoming a "stalker" or "that crazy person who keeps calling and emailing?"

Try the following suggestions to encourage prospects to call you back:

1. Give the person a reason to call back.
2. Customize the message.
3. Try a different approach.

The first thing you want to accomplish is to make sure you will get a response. You want this customer/potential client to return your phone call or answer your email. To do this, go for short and enticing.

Adam, a consultant with MonteConsult, provides the following tips: “Give a hook for prospects to call back, with enough info for them to be interested and curious. But don't give too much so they make a decision not talk to you about the idea. Script out your message and practice with a colleague or yourself. Say exactly what the prospect should want to hear and the call's purpose and goal”.

Another source suggests keeping the message to about 30 seconds or 75 words. Ask a question that gets prospects thinking after they listen to your message.

The second approach deals with customizing the message to fit your customer/potential client. First, do your research before calling anyone. Researching helps identify prospects' needs so you can focus on those when contacting them.

Next, make sure you're calling the right person. The prospect may be too high or too low on the ladder or may be the wrong prospect completely. After you’re confident you’ve made contact with the right person, ask them about themselves. A source suggests the line, "I'd like to learn more about your situation." Something about the words, "your situation" gets people talking. Most important: Be friendly! You want this person to feel comfortable when talking to you. Also, they’ll be more enticed to forge a business relationship with someone they like.

Finally, vary your approach tactics. Sales pros rarely rely on phone calls alone. They also add emails and direct mail to their prospecting toolbox. Anna Barcelos, director of marketing with OpenBOX Technologies, recommends a follow-up email: “If you have their email addresses, follow up with an email after the call. Some people are phone communicators, and others are email communicators (that's me). Persistent sales reps who communicate the value they can provide me, always win in my book. Persistence helps too; and remember, don't ever take it personally. People are so overwhelmingly busy these days; it's tough to keep track of phone calls.”

Remember to avoid the whole "Did you get my email/fax/voice mail?" fixation when doing the following up. That gets the conversation off on the wrong foot. Give prospects a reason to follow up by customizing the message and using various communication methods, since everyone has different preferences."

RELATED TOPICS: The "P" Word, Is Door Knocking Dead?, Five Reasons Why Direct Mail Postcards Work

7 Keys to Making Money with Postcards

To be successful, your real estate direct marketing plan needs two essential things. First, it must get attention. If it doesn’t catch the eye, it won’t work. Second, the mailing plan must ensure good profitability.

Using postcards is a smart marketing strategy that is both affordable and attention getting. Since postcards don’t need envelopes, they get a head start. Your message is in front of your customer right away.

Postcards are far cheaper than regular mail. And if you follow a few basic rules, you can generate great results with postcards.

1. Mail to Appropriate Lists

Save yourself a lot of frustration and money by mailing to realistic customers. Mail to the areas where your clients live and to the demographics that match your current client base. Targeting your audience will get you better response rates and more ‘bang’ for your buck.

2. Write a Great Headline

Begin with an action word. Promise a main benefit customers will get when they work with you. Cut out excess words.

3. Write clear copy

Make sure the main message of your postcard is clear and direct. Don’t try to pile too much information on a postcard. If your message is complicated, it might end up in the trash.

Focus on one objective. Your card might double as a coupon, thank customers, advertise a listing, or simply remind people that you’re still there. Stick to that goal and do not deviate from it.

4. Be 100% Honest

Make sure everything on your card is completely true. This is relatively simple to do, and can save a lot of potential headaches.

5. Go Full Color

A colorful image makes your postcard stand out from the other mail, and is proven to generate a better response rate than black and white. While this used to be expensive, advancements in printing technology have made it much more cost effective.

6. Send a Series of Cards

By sending a series of cards you can repeat your message and build familiarity with your clients. Most people won’t respond to an ad they’ve only seen once. Repeated exposure makes your postcard much more effective.

7. Include Your Personal Photo and Contact Info

Including your name, contact info and full-color photo adds a personal touch to your mailings. When people know the name and face of the person they will be calling, they tend to be more comfortable. This is an easy way to increase your response rates.

-Gina

RELATED POSTS: Double Your Response Rate With Color, Five Steps to Creating a Winning Mail List, Five Reasons Why Direct Mail Postcards Work.

Double Your Response Rate With Color

As a CEO at Mail Print, I've enjoyed watching print technology advance in leaps and bounds over the last dozen years. The most exciting part has been passing on the benefits to our clients - helping them create more effective marketing materials.

With the advent of digital color printing came a brilliant world of possibilities. Research shows that color increases retention, response rate and readership significantly over black and white. Advancements in technology over the years have also developed quick and affordable means of creating this color, bringing the technology to the aid of real estate agents.

Color by numbers

Experts say color is better when it comes to direct mail. But just how much better is it? Results vary by study, of course, but the bottom line is the same: use of color significantly increases performance.

• A study by Frank Romano of the Rochester Institute of Technology and industry consultant David Broudy found that adding color to a document along with the recipients name improved response rates by 135 percent.


• According to research by G.A Wright Marketing, Inc., color increased response rates in direct mail by 50 percent, and resulted in an 80 percent improvement in reader recognition.


• A 70 percent increase in decision-making was found by the Bureau of Advertising when color was used.

Colorful decisions

Think of any color and with it will come thoughts, feelings and emotions. Careful consideration of what colors to use in direct mail makes sense since most people spend based on emotion. Not only do you want to use color in your direct marketing, you want to make sure you use the right colors in the right way.

Choose wisely – It’s important to know what colors mean when choosing them for your direct mail. For example, red means power, blue is calming, and green symbolizes growth, harmony and freshness.

Build a brand – Use the colors you choose consistently in your logo, brochures, letterhead, Web site, and all of your marketing materials. Your clients will begin to recognize you by the colors you use.

How much is too much? – Color is most successful when used the right way. Highlight important text, create a distinctive logo, launch an eye-catching postcard series. But be sure to have a purpose for all color used. Color just for the sake of color can cause confusion and be off-putting.

Don't get stuck in black and white; see the difference color can make!

-Gina

RELATED TOPICS: Build Your Business with Postcards, Creating a Cohesive Image, Five Tips for Creating a Powerful Personal Brochure

Becoming a Billion-Dollar Agent

What does it take to become a billion-dollar real estate agent? Logistically, it requires you and your team selling 50-million dollars every year for 20 years. However, the systems and mindsets such prodigious success requires are somewhat easier to achieve.

Bernice Ross lays out some of the key traits of real estate's biggest earners in her Inman News review of Steve Kantor's new book, Billion Dollar Agent -- Lessons Learned. Let's look at some excerpts from the review.

"What does it take to sell a billion dollars worth of real estate? Steve Kantor's new book, Billion Dollar Agent -- Lessons Learned, contains a revealing series of interviews with elite agents who have sold a billion dollars worth of real estate or are en route to do so. What's particularly intriguing is how forthcoming the agents were in terms of how they built their businesses, what their ratios were of referrals to new business, and most importantly, what they actually did to achieve this level of success.

A key theme in the book is to build your business on your passion and to delegate everything else. You cannot succeed at this level without a strong support team. Another important theme is that the billion-dollar agents wished they had hired their first assistant sooner. A sizeable majority saw an immediate increase in their business when they hired their first assistant.

Another shared trait is having written goals. According to Brad Korb at RE/MAX in Burbank, Calif., 'Ninety-seven percent of those who have written goals achieve them. Only 3 percent of those without written goals achieve their goals. Write down your major definite purpose in life every day and write 10 ways to get to it. … I have business goals, workout goals, spiritual-time goals, family-time goals and financial goals.'

Billion-dollar agents also take time to 'work on' their business rather than just 'working in' their business.... This process is especially important in achieving high levels of production. Taking time to plan allows you to create systems that save time, create order in your business and improve efficiency.

Kantor draws an interesting distinction between what he calls 'hunters' and 'farmers.' Hunters actively prospect for new business by calling on expired listings, for-sale-by-owners and door-knocking, and continuing to call Web leads until they make personal contact. In contrast, 'farmers' rely more on regular contact within their sphere of influence. Based upon the interviews, a sizeable majority of the billion-dollar agents were hunters. As Kantor puts it, 'Almost every billion-dollar agent is a hunter -- an extreme hunter. You would not go hungry on an island stranded with a billion-dollar agent. If there is meat running around the island, they will hunt it down, close the deal and bring home the bacon.'

Another shared characteristic is that these agents are voracious learners. They are always hunting for the next idea that will improve their business. Many of them also have both personal and business coaches. A high percentage attributed their success to the coaching they received.

It's not all business for these agents, however. Over half are actively involved in charity or in other events that allow them to share their abundance with those who are less fortunate than they are.

What holds ordinary agents back? According to Billion Dollar Agent -- Lessons Learned, the most commonly cited reasons were:
1. They fail to follow-up.
2. They lack negotiation skills.
3. They don't put the clients' interests first.
4. They lack listening and communication skills.
5. They don't stay in regular contact."

Related Posts: It's About Speed, The "P" Word.

Top Tips For Gaining More Referrals (Part 2 of 2)

Earlier this week, we looked at the first two of the top tips for gaining referrals: asking for them and joining referral networks. Today, let's wrap up the discussion with three more proven techniques for gaining referrals.

Referral Tip #3 – Use testimonials everywhere

People prefer to do business with someone they trust. Someone who comes recommended has a big advantage in the trust department. Testimonials perfectly announce that there are others who appreciate your work, and that they are so confident in your services that they are willing to stake their reputations on it.

Put together a booklet of testimonials or include testimonials in a brochure. Create audio recordings of happy clients giving their testimonials. Post testimonials on your website with pictures. Build instant credibility with every prospect with testimonials.

Referral Tip #4 – Hand out more business cards

Take a look at your business cards. Do they offer a compelling reason to contact you? They should. Do they offer a voice mail number that your prospects can call to hear about your services? And to hear success stories from happy clients? They should.

Is the backside of your card blank? It shouldn’t be. Put a testimonial, calendar, or sports schedule on the back. Turn your card into a dynamic lead generation piece.

Hand out at least TWO of your new business cards to everyone you meet. If someone tells you how great a job you’ve done, hand them FIVE!

Tell them something like: “I certainly appreciate the good word. If you think you’d be doing your friends and family a favor, maybe you could pass these out next time you see them and throw in a good word for me.”

Referral Tip #5 – Use Direct Mail

Direct mail is easy, time-efficient, and effective. All it takes is a simple postcard to your valued real estate customers and contacts once a month to remind them that you’re still in business and you appreciate referrals. That’s it.

Direct mail is THE way to stay in touch with a large number of contacts and have your contact information in their hands on a regular basis. Keep in mind that direct mail doesn’t replace phone and in-person contact, it is only meant to enhance those methods.

By regularly reminding your clients and contacts of your business and the real estate services you provide, you greatly increase the chances that they will remember you when they have a friend who needs your help. It’s amazing what a little postcard can do.

-Gina

Related Posts: Top Tips For Gaining More Referrals (Part 1 of 2), What’s the very best way to get referrals? Ask for them!, Five Reasons Why Direct Mail Postcards Work

Build Your Business with Postcards

Using postcards in your 2007 marketing plan can greatly enhance sales. They can be sent out in search of new contacts, to follow-up, or to maintain and build relationships with referral sources. When a postcard is used properly, no other marketing tool can compare to it. Effective design and copy will grab your reader’s attention. Your postcard should also motivate consumers to action. Postcards are extremely effective and considerably cheaper than other marketing methods, and allow you to target specific contacts and areas for high return on investment.

Only 2% of sales are made on the first contact, so create a direct mail campaign that will send postcards to your customers several times a year. The more you send, the more likely they will remember you when they, or a friend, are ready to make a move. Here are some postcard ideas that will keep your customers interested:

Anniversary: These cards can be used for client wedding or home purchase anniversaries.

Birthdays: A simple birthday card can be a delightful surprise to unsuspecting customers.

Farming: Build recognition in your farm area by mailing a series of postcards that carry your name, photo and contact info.

Holiday Greetings: Send holiday wishes to your customers year round. There are holidays practically every day of the year, so pick one and create a contact around it.

Invitation: Invite frequent referral sources and current clients to an open house or "customer appreciation" party.

Just Listed/Sold: When you list or sell a home, let everyone in the surrounding neighborhood know you're the agent of choice. Great for getting the word out to key referral sources as well.

Promote New Service: Use your postcards to notify potential clients and referral sources about new services you now offer your clients.

Regain Lost Customers: Send out a series of postcards to customers who have not purchased from you in over a year.

Thank You: Send to clients to thank them for their past business or referrals.

Web Site: With so many web sites out there, a postcard can remind consumers of your site and boost Internet sales.

-Gina

Top Ten Real Estate Marketing Mistakes

How good are your marketing efforts? Keep these common mistakes in mind to keep your business headed in the right direction.

1. Not Having a Unique Selling Proposition
Why should someone do business with you rather than your competitor? What makes you unique? This is probably the most important thing any new agent should consider. Your business needs to have a unique quality that makes it stand out.

2. Not Identifying Customers’ Needs
How do you find out what they need? Ask. It’s not hard, but many agent never think to do it. If you know what the customer wants from you, you’ll be a lot more successful at providing it. Some agents find that quick service is most important, others find that it’s friendly service that customers want. The key is to ask, don’t try to read minds.

3. Selling Features Instead of Benefits
Your clients want to know one thing – what’s in it for me? If you aren’t answering this question, chances are, they won’t be buying anything from you.

4. Not Using Headlines in Print Ads
Headlines are ads for ads. If you’re lucky, you have about 1 second to get someone’s attention with a print ad. If they see a block of small print with nothing to tell them what it is, they’ll just move on to the next headline. The headline is there to keep the reader’s attention.

5. Not Testing
Testing is vital to making your advertising work. You need to test your headlines, offers, prices, pitches, everything. It’s easy to do. Instead of running one ad for three weeks, you can run three different ads in those three weeks and measure their productivity. You can test different mediums against each other, too. Does your product sell better on the radio or in newsprint? If you aren’t testing, you’re just guessing.

6. Making It Difficult for Customers
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. If you have to jump hurdles to do business with a company, are you going to put up with it, or find another service? That’s right, you’re headed somewhere else. If your potential client can’t find your phone number, or gets lousy service, they’re headed to a competitor.

7. Not Keeping the Customer Database Updated
Current clients are your most valuable assets. Cultivate the relationship you have already built with them. In order to do this, you must have their information in a database. Make sure it is updated regularly and kept clean. Direct mail to this list can bring in huge amounts of business. Send them special offers. Ask them for referrals. Ask for their opinions and advice. Don’t let this valuable resource go to waste.

8. Not Eliminating Risk
One great way to encourage people to try your service is to eliminate the risk. Offer a free consultation or an "easy out" policy. Not confident enough? Then you need to work on your or service.

9. Not Educating Customers
Many agents claim to have better service, but the best ones explain why they are the best. Don’t expect people to take your word because they won’t. Explain to your customers why your service is the right choice for them.

10. Not Sticking with What Works
After you have done your testing (see #5), you must stick to the things that work. Keep plugging away with your best offer in your best medium and don’t stop until you find something better.

-Gina.

Five Steps to Creating a Winning Mail List

When it comes to building a mailing list, bigger is often better. Being in front of as many people as possible on a continuous and on-going basis will allow you to reap huge rewards. Remember the movie phrase, “if you build it, they will come?” Build your list, and you’ll see clients – and profits – come your way.

1. Put everyone on your mailing list – Everyone. Don’t even hesitate to think, “should I?” the answer is always YES!

If you’re not sure who “everyone” is, start with past clients, friends and family, Chamber of Commerce members and members of any social group you belong to.

Don’t forget the vendors you do business with. They certainly appreciate the fact that you spend money with them and are sure to acknowledge that they “owe” you a few favors. You use their services – could they use yours?

2. Use what you’ve already got –How many people do you meet every day? Do you part ways before you get their address and phone number? Don’t let that happen!

Anyone who you meet during the course of a day will make a great addition to your mailing list. Think about it – you've already established a personal connection, and you can easily get their business card or phone number during the course of your conversation. Don’t pass up opportunities you create every day

3. Segment your list – Get more out of your mailings by dividing your master list into several smaller lists that will allow you to send specific, personalized messages to your contacts. You can send a “thank you for your business” card to your past clients on a regular basis; mail an “I enjoy our business relationship” piece to all of your vendor clients; or send a “free consultation” postcard to prospective clients.

Don’t underestimate the value of a personal message that recognizes your contact as an individual – not just another name on your list.

4. Take a number – Think of a good client meeting like a good first date – you want to get their phone number, so you can turn that good start into a great relationship.

Putting phone numbers on your mailing list can increase the success of your mail campaign. Phone calls add a personal touch to your relationship and ingrain you deeply in the memories of prospects and referral sources. If you've never done it before, try calling all of your past clients to say “thank you” for their business and wishing them a happy New Year. With phone numbers and addresses on the same list, you can quickly mail a follow-up note as soon as you’ve made the call.

5. Mail monthly, call quarterly, or more often – Many companies will take the time to build a killer mail list, but then mail on an inconsistent basis, or not mail at all! Direct mail is the most time- and cost-efficient means of keeping in touch with your prospects and clients. With real estate marketing postcards, you can be in their hands every month for just a few dollars per year. When you figure the lifetime and referral value of a client, those few dollars can return huge profits!

Direct mail, when executed consistently, works wonders for real estate agents. Just don’t forget to make personal contact with your prospects and clients. Most people procrastinate so long that eventually they don’t make the calls at all. To keep current with your contacts, set aside a few minutes every day to make 5-10 calls from your prospect list (don’t try to call all your prospects at one time – you’ll find yourself feeling very overwhelmed!).

If you’ve read through each of these steps and you’re still asking yourself more questions than you know the answers to, feel free to email or call me.

-Gina.

Real Estate Farming Success - Part 2

Last time, we looked at setting up you farming strategy and becoming the expert on your farm area. Now, let's look at how to get your name out in your farm area to build your market share.

Mail Postcards Monthly

Mailing postcards monthly is a great way to brand your name and services to your area. Use your company logo along with your own logo or slogan, and photo. Use just listed and just sold postcards to show the active, pending, and recently sold properties in the area.

Incorporate the same style and colors every time you mail, and mail regularly to begin building your brand immediately.

Include a short, friendly note stating that you specialize in the area and include the latest updates for information.

Be sure to plug in a note of urgency: “Get more info… No hassles… No obligation!” or “We’ll sell your property FAST and for MORE MONEY.”

Ask for referrals.

Start a Newsletter in your Farm Area

Get a local mortgage broker to cooperate with you on the newsletter. Include their logo and defray your costs.

Include local information, neighborhood activities, special events, and keep it current.

Set Up an Open House System

If you don’t have a listing of your own, offer to sit on the property for an agent in your office or a home for sale by owner. Introduce yourself to the neighborhood. Be sure to advertise in advance, and hand out plenty of brochures and business cards.

Five Reasons Why Direct Mail Postcards Work

Real estate agents are bombarded by an increasing number of mediums for communicating with their prospects, clients and referral sources. Among all the new technologies, direct mail postcards still remain one of the most effective marketing techniques. Here are five reasons why:

Instant Impact. Postcards do not have envelopes that separate your message from the customer. Recipients can quickly and easily read your message without having to take the extra step of opening an envelope. Grabbing a prospect's attention immediately can mean the difference between a sale and the wastebasket.

Measurable Response. Postcards allow you to test your marketing idea before developing an expensive advertising campaign. If you send out 100 postcards and five people respond, you can quickly determine a five percent response rate. If you would like a higher return, you can easily and cheaply modify your postcard and try again.

Flexibility. Direct mail postcards can be used for almost any marketing reason. They can be an introduction to your business or website, an offer, a reminder, a thank you, or an announcement of a new listing or sale. The possibilities are endless.

Quick Information. Postcards rapidly inform customers of new listings, open houses, reduced properties, limited offers, and market changes. With direct mail postcards, your recipients are always up to date on your business.

Effective Response. The return rate of a direct mail postcard is higher than the return rate of a TV or newspaper ad. Direct mail postcards allow you to market directly to your target audience and eliminates wasting time and money on generic marketing.

Keep your mailing list CLEAN

The importance of keeping your list clean was never more clear than an experience by Broward County, Florida Property Appraisers office when twenty-five thousand of its tax notices were returned as “undeliverable.” An audit of the returned tax notices found that the preponderance of them were indeed undeliverable, not a Postal Service problem.

To keep your list clean follow the outline below:

• Mail your list at least twice a year using First Class or First Class Presort Postage. This will insure that every piece that is undeliverable is returned to you. You do not need to pay the return postage.
  
• When mailing via Standard Class US Mail use an endorsement like RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED. You will be charged for the return postage and a service fee, but it is worth it to not produce and mail subsequent pieces.
  
• Manage your mail list on a daily basis. Keep the list fresh and clean. PLUS, when you get a piece of return mail update your list immediately.

If you follow these basic rules your list will stay fresh, clean and deliverable.

Real Estate Marketing, Made Easy

I spent last week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with some great REALTOR friends. It was a wonderful week of sun, sand and fun. As we all tried to forget about work and enjoy each others' company I found that the conversation always dropped back into the world of real estate and as the marketing person they were all trying to pick my brain.

Here at Mail Print we work really hard to make life easy for our clients. Many of them have us execute one of our standard mailings each month. The agents keep their list updated and we just MAKE IT HAPPEN. In this group of agents there was one in particular, Brian Courtney. Brian said to me, “Gina, I don’t know why every agent doesn’t use your services. You guys make it so easy.”

After I paid Brian off, we talked a little more. I asked him what he thought his mailings did for him. His comment back was pretty basic, “my clients call me and if nothing else they say, "I got your postcard, and by the way, my sister is moving to Kansas City, can you help her?" Brian went on to tell me that his last mailing to only 120 past clients and key referral sources netted him 10 calls!!!

Brian told me that he mails every month without fail. Sometimes he mails something from our standard offerings and other times he spends a little extra and has our staff create a custom card.

Brian told me his best card is always one that has a few property photos on the front of recently SOLD homes, with a little bit on the back about a recently LISTED property. In fact Brian gave me permission to show his card on the blog.

Brian knows that he needs to keep in touch with his past clients each and every month. He knows that he needs to remind them he is a successful agent who is actively listing and SELLING homes. Brian is certain to be a success for many years to come.

Posts related to this topic: Five Ways to Earn More with Transactional Marketing, The Power of Direct Mail