“After being in the business since 1974, the most essential advertising to help people recognize me, when ready to buy or sell, is to continually send simple small post cards about listings (and not about me).”

“I print them with my own computer, 4 on a page, and send out weekly to a small number (200) every Monday. I keep it simple so that I consistently do it. That is only 50 pages printed on card stock and cut into 4. Put a post card stamp on it and it goes first class. That way it’ll be returned if they have moved, and I also get my mailing list corrected. I find agents try to send out too many at one time and never repeat sending because it cost too much or is overwhelming to them. Always take baby steps, send to a different neighborhood, or group of people each Monday. When done, start over with the same people. I usually try to repeat every 30 days.”

“I also send out a newsletter every 45 days to the whole group–3 fold, bulk mail, yellow paper with black print. They read this newsletter and compliment me all the time because they know me through the post cards. I have done this since 1989 and I work from referrals most of the time now, but I have system and keep with it. My past customers, and present customers are added immediately to my list.”

“Many move out of the area and I take them off, keeping my list updated by that 1st class mail post card. Just think baby steps and you will do it! I use a cartoon caricature of me to stand out from other agents.”

Whenever one of your clients moves, they must all do one thing: Change their address. What better service than to help them with the chore? And what better way to accumulate a lot of names, and make an offer to those people on their “change of address” list? Kathleen Cope tells us that it works:

“Buyers love to show off their new home and I give them a closing gift that lets them do just that!

I design business and post cards that have a full color picture of their new home on one side of the card with the words “We’ve Moved” and on the back it has their names, address, phone number(s) and email address(es). At the bottom it says “Call our Real Estate Agent-YOUR name, YOUR phone number for great service” Of course the verbiage is totally customizable.” Below is an “Anatomy Of A Change Of Address Post Card” system a number of agents are using with great success. One side of the card can be a photo of the new home. OR, it could simply be a rendering of a home, with a headline, “We’ve Moved”. You can also use your photo editor to place your web site below the photo of the home (CLICK HERE to see last week’s issue for exactly how to do this).

Do you find yourself abandoning “Just Sold” direct mail strategies in your areas because…well…they just don’t work? Maybe all you’re missing is the right elements to get folks to call you.

Here are 7 direct-response “elements” proven to get your “Just Sold” (or any other marketing) noticed, read, and motivating qualified listing prospects to CALL YOU. You can use these elements in a post card, #10 letter or any other medium for that matter.

Here are the details of this strategy, plus a sample post card you can create in about 10 minutes…

Have you ever sent a farm piece, newsletter, just listed or just sold and had it bomb?

You’re not alone. Each year, the REALTOR^® community wastes millions of dollars on worthless marketing, because they fail to understand the “elements” that make people want to respond. Here are 7 crucial elements to think about the next time you create that post card…write that letter…or send a farming piece in an effort to generate business…

Element #1: Select a hungry list. The quality of the prospect you select is more than 70% of your marketing battle. Send a great promotion to a list of people not interested in selling and you’ve wasted your money. Send a “mediocre” promotion to people in the market ready to sell – and your phone will be ringing off the hook. So how do you find a quality list?

By using your “marketing senses.” For example, when farming, hop on your trusty MLS computer and compare the potential of multiple areas, ranking average time to sell, # homes on the market, # of dominating agents in the area, sales price to listing price, etc. You’ll find that one or two areas will pop-out as greater potential than others.

Next, find out how long the average homeowner owns their home in the area. If its 5 years, then maybe you should create another “select” that pulls a list of folks who’ve owned their home 4 to 7 years. Keep pulling selects to narrow down the “high potential” prospect. This way you’re maximizing the money you spend on your marketing right up front. Does this make sense?

Element #2: Attract Attention. You need to be careful here. Attracting attention by itself isn’t going to make your marketing work. You need to attract attention with something of BENEFIT to your reader in order to get them to move forward. I’m talking about using a benefit-rich HEADLINE – just like the newspapers use.

Great headlines attract attention, relay a benefit, and capture interest to motivate the reader to read the body copy – the story. In this example, agent Richard Mead uses the headline “Five Months on the Market and Nothing But Excuses.” His headline agitates a problem many home sellers feel when their home is on the market. The more you can stimulate emotion with your marketing, the more effective it will be.

Element #3: HARMONIZE with Your Reader. There’s no better way to get a prospect “involved” with your marketing than with a story describing their situation (or possible situation). People love stories. In this case, the agent “harmonizes” with the seller emotions by telling a story about a problem the homeowner experienced because their home wasn’t selling.

Element #4: Introduce a Unique Solution. The biggest problem with real estate is that buyers and sellers see REALTORS^® as ALL THE SAME. They perceive you the same as the next agent – and that partially explains the emergence of discount brokers. When consumers perceive value as equal, they negotiate PRICE. So anything you can do to make yourself a “unique product” is going to heighten their interest and see you as different. In this case, the agent talks about a new approach to getting buyers to look at his listings, thereby increasing the exposure to more prospects for the home.

Element #5: Telegraph RESULTS of Your Unique Solution. You need to demonstrate the effectiveness of your solution, and – preferably – give concrete proof of those results. In this case, the agent describes getting an offer in 18 days for higher than the listing price, and netting the seller more money.

Element #6: Referral Programming. In this case, the agent describes the homeowner saying “I will recommend this agent to friends and family…”. That strategy does two things: 1) It telegraphs that the agent must be a great agent because they get a lot of referrals, and 2) It programs the reader to think about the agent for referrals.

Element #7: An OFFER and CALL TO ACTION. This is the most important element of any marketing. Most agents are totally clueless to this dynamic: People will NEVER call you without a specific, self-serving, almost irresistible REASON for calling. Read that again. If you don’t give them a reason for calling, you’ve wasted all your money. It’s not about YOU, or your fancy broker, or your colossal production. It’s about THEM. Offer something they will want, and they’ll call. Otherwise, you’ll be a lonely agent.

In this case the agent makes an offer for a Free Consumer Report targeted for listing prospects, and the reader can call a toll-free “recorded” voice message to order it – hence they’re not going to speak with a live person and “get sold.”

Here’s the front and back of Richard’s post card. See if you can recognize all 7 elements, and use them in your own marketing. It’s easier than you think…