Let's get this back on topic please.

MARKETING can be in many various forms. I know some people that were doing lead capture form pages decades ago. It's not something new this stuff has been around it just gets repackaged as the newest greatest thing since sliced bread.

Getting leads can be great but if you do not have CONVERSION to business and dollars then what do you have? There can be many fail points in the marketing process. You can have the right message to the wrong audience, the wrong message to the right audience, or the right message to the right audience. Then there is the time it takes for the conversion process. Even if the leads come in and are of high quality the business has to have proper systems and skills to convert them into business and income.

Marketing involves testing and tracking each marketing piece. There is a general rule used by many that says if you spend a dollar and are at least getting a dollar back then keep doing it because you are breaking even but expanding brand presence. Now allocation of dollars and budgets can be varied. You might find a higher ROI with digital marketing and decide to ramp that up by 20% of total budget versus mail that is still working but only up that by 7% because not getting as much lead generation.

You also have not just the volume but the quality of the lead. You might only be getting 10 leads that convert but average return is 25,000 per lead versus 40 leads that return 2k each. Processing 40k leads for 80k return is a lot different than 10 leads for 250,000 return. Then you have to break down complexity of the lead and timeline to close versus the total return.

All I will say is that people that have results tend to let those results speak for themselves. One marketing technique is not the end all be all to everything. I have a marketing company I meet with weekly local to me and I pay them a lot but I get a lot in return. We employ multiple strategies across various spectrums. They do not sit there and say there is one way better than everything and do nothing else but this. We have a breakout discussion at each meeting.

Everyone be careful who you do business with. Start out small and test the waters first and over time see how things go. Check references to see testimonials.

My dad passed away many decades ago but a lot of my family worked in upper management at the post office. With mail there are certain days of the week for lower volumes and it can sometimes be beneficial make sure the mail goes out then so likelihood of getting seen it higher. Envelopes although costing more in general tend to get read more. The postcards it is easy for the carriers to throw in the middle of the junk mail and they get lost.

I made 35,000 one time from a handwritten envelope to an apartment building owner so they can work sometimes. 35 cents made me 35k.              

The guy who owned Yellow Letters used to be very active here on BP, did he sell the company does anyone know? Is he still active on here? 

Account Closed your math is off- it’s like 175 calls. I batch it into 6 weekly mailings of 10k each. I have a full time in house lead assistant who takes all the incoming calls. Between mail, ppc, website, and other stuff- she usually has about 40 calls a week. About 60% are “leads” meaning that want to sell. Out of that, she’ll set around 15 appointments and we can close 20%. She also does follow up with old leads that didn’t set an appointment yet and any one we made offers on over 90 days ago. She stays pretty busy. 

For those wondering about in house vs VA- I wanted the control in house. A VA doesn't know the different towns. For example, many of you would get excited about someone wanting $25k for a house. But if you know my area and realize that's Gary, IN, that's not a price I'd pay. So because of the ability to train her daily, she's good at knowing what and where we buy and doesn't set up appointments that will waste her time. Is she more expensive than a $3 VA- absolutely. But she's worth ever cent we pay her (close to $50k last year).

Originally posted by @Michael Noto :

The guy who owned Yellow Letters used to be very active here on BP, did he sell the company does anyone know? Is he still active on here? 

He’s still around here on BP. Hopefully he’s spending less time on BP now and more time trying to fix his company. 

Originally posted by @Adrien S. :

@Mike M. your math is off- it’s like 175 calls. I batch it into 6 weekly mailings of 10k each. I have a full time in house lead assistant who takes all the incoming calls. Between mail, ppc, website, and other stuff- she usually has about 40 calls a week. About 60% are “leads” meaning that want to sell. Out of that, she’ll set around 15 appointments and we can close 20%. She also does follow up with old leads that didn’t set an appointment yet and any one we made offers on over 90 days ago. She stays pretty busy. 

For those wondering about in house vs VA- I wanted the control in house. A VA doesn't know the different towns. For example, many of you would get excited about someone wanting $25k for a house. But if you know my area and realize that's Gary, IN, that's not a price I'd pay. So because of the ability to train her daily, she's good at knowing what and where we buy and doesn't set up appointments that will waste her time. Is she more expensive than a $3 VA- absolutely. But she's worth ever cent we pay her (close to $50k last year).

@Adrien S. Your Comment: "But 0.25% of 65K still generates enough leads for DMM to be profitable"

My Comment: That's 16,250 phone calls. How do you handle the incoming load?

 Got it. So, your 0.25% is a bit closer to 0.00269231% Looks like you may have left out a couple of leading zeros after the period. No worries.

I spend about a $1 a letter (envelope, paper, ink, stamp, labor) and about $0.50 a post card (printing, stamp)

About how much are they charging to get 65,000 postcards out?

Account Closed I’m down to about $0.50 for either. I do standard letters locally which is much cheaper than first class but because it’s local, not a huge delay in it being delivered. For  postcards, I’m still using a national company but will probably bring that locally as well and design my own. Local people care about quality and reputation. YellowLetters.com clearly doesn’t anymore. 

Originally posted by @Adrien S. :

@Mike M. I’m down to about $0.50 for either. I do standard letters locally which is much cheaper than first class but because it’s local, not a huge delay in it being delivered. For  postcards, I’m still using a national company but will probably bring that locally as well and design my own. Local people care about quality and reputation. YellowLetters.com clearly doesn’t anymore.

 A year ago when I used Yellow Letters .com it seemed to take a month for my mailer to get out. I brought mailers in house and I can have 1,000 at a time sent within a few days. There is quite a difference between sending 10,000 a week and sending 1,000 a week granted, but I'm able to target my market more specifically and vary my mailers to track types of mailer response using different pieces. One guy in my area says he's sending out the same amount as you and getting about the same results. FYI

@Travis Wells I personally hand wrote letter to cherry pick properties that I wanted to target. I ended up with 3 responses out of 20 letters one of which I met a landlord that was retiring from the game. Him and I are working together so I can buy a few of his properties over the next few weeks. My advise keep grinding!!

eOriginally posted by @Account Closed :

Originally posted by @Adrien S.:

@Mike M. your math is off- it’s like 175 calls. I batch it into 6 weekly mailings of 10k each. I have a full time in house lead assistant who takes all the incoming calls. Between mail, ppc, website, and other stuff- she usually has about 40 calls a week. About 60% are “leads” meaning that want to sell. Out of that, she’ll set around 15 appointments and we can close 20%. She also does follow up with old leads that didn’t set an appointment yet and any one we made offers on over 90 days ago. She stays pretty busy. 

For those wondering about in house vs VA- I wanted the control in house. A VA doesn't know the different towns. For example, many of you would get excited about someone wanting $25k for a house. But if you know my area and realize that's Gary, IN, that's not a price I'd pay. So because of the ability to train her daily, she's good at knowing what and where we buy and doesn't set up appointments that will waste her time. Is she more expensive than a $3 VA- absolutely. But she's worth ever cent we pay her (close to $50k last year).

@Adrien S. Your Comment: "But 0.25% of 65K still generates enough leads for DMM to be profitable"

My Comment: That's 16,250 phone calls. How do you handle the incoming load?

 Got it. So, your 0.25% is a bit closer to 0.00269231% Looks like you may have left out a couple of leading zeros after the period. No worries.

I spend about a $1 a letter (envelope, paper, ink, stamp, labor) and about $0.50 a post card (printing, stamp)

About how much are they charging to get 65,000 postcards out?

Wow. You truly don't understand the difference between .25% and 25%, yet you're in here trying to correct Adrien, who had his numbers exactly right. .25% = one quarter of one percent. Not 25%. Can't believe I even need to say this.

Originally posted by @Jeff Cagle :

eOriginally posted by @Mike M.:

Originally posted by @Adrien S.:

@Mike M. your math is off- it’s like 175 calls. I batch it into 6 weekly mailings of 10k each. I have a full time in house lead assistant who takes all the incoming calls. Between mail, ppc, website, and other stuff- she usually has about 40 calls a week. About 60% are “leads” meaning that want to sell. Out of that, she’ll set around 15 appointments and we can close 20%. She also does follow up with old leads that didn’t set an appointment yet and any one we made offers on over 90 days ago. She stays pretty busy. 

For those wondering about in house vs VA- I wanted the control in house. A VA doesn't know the different towns. For example, many of you would get excited about someone wanting $25k for a house. But if you know my area and realize that's Gary, IN, that's not a price I'd pay. So because of the ability to train her daily, she's good at knowing what and where we buy and doesn't set up appointments that will waste her time. Is she more expensive than a $3 VA- absolutely. But she's worth ever cent we pay her (close to $50k last year).

@Adrien S. Your Comment: "But 0.25% of 65K still generates enough leads for DMM to be profitable"

My Comment: That's 16,250 phone calls. How do you handle the incoming load?

 Got it. So, your 0.25% is a bit closer to 0.00269231% Looks like you may have left out a couple of leading zeros after the period. No worries.

I spend about a $1 a letter (envelope, paper, ink, stamp, labor) and about $0.50 a post card (printing, stamp)

About how much are they charging to get 65,000 postcards out?

Wow. You truly don't understand the difference between .25% and 25%, yet you're in here trying to correct Adrien, who had his numbers exactly right. .25% = one quarter of one percent. Not 25%. Can't believe I even need to say this.

You win. You must have read "How To Win Friends and Influence people". Now the question is, would anyone want to invest with you? Probably not twice. ;-)

Originally posted by @Account Closed :

Originally posted by @Jeff Cagle:

eOriginally posted by @Mike M.:

Originally posted by @Adrien S.:

@Mike M. your math is off- it’s like 175 calls. I batch it into 6 weekly mailings of 10k each. I have a full time in house lead assistant who takes all the incoming calls. Between mail, ppc, website, and other stuff- she usually has about 40 calls a week. About 60% are “leads” meaning that want to sell. Out of that, she’ll set around 15 appointments and we can close 20%. She also does follow up with old leads that didn’t set an appointment yet and any one we made offers on over 90 days ago. She stays pretty busy. 

For those wondering about in house vs VA- I wanted the control in house. A VA doesn't know the different towns. For example, many of you would get excited about someone wanting $25k for a house. But if you know my area and realize that's Gary, IN, that's not a price I'd pay. So because of the ability to train her daily, she's good at knowing what and where we buy and doesn't set up appointments that will waste her time. Is she more expensive than a $3 VA- absolutely. But she's worth ever cent we pay her (close to $50k last year).

@Adrien S. Your Comment: "But 0.25% of 65K still generates enough leads for DMM to be profitable"

My Comment: That's 16,250 phone calls. How do you handle the incoming load?

 Got it. So, your 0.25% is a bit closer to 0.00269231% Looks like you may have left out a couple of leading zeros after the period. No worries.

I spend about a $1 a letter (envelope, paper, ink, stamp, labor) and about $0.50 a post card (printing, stamp)

About how much are they charging to get 65,000 postcards out?

Wow. You truly don't understand the difference between .25% and 25%, yet you're in here trying to correct Adrien, who had his numbers exactly right. .25% = one quarter of one percent. Not 25%. Can't believe I even need to say this.

You win. You must have read "How To Win Friends and Influence people". Now the question is, would anyone want to invest with you? Probably not twice. ;-)

 

I'm not looking for anyone to "invest with me".. however if I was, at least they could rest assured that they were partnered with someone who can work a decimal point.

Originally posted by @Jeff Cagle :

Originally posted by @Mike M.:

Originally posted by @Jeff Cagle:

eOriginally posted by @Mike M.:

Originally posted by @Adrien S.:

@Mike M. your math is off- it’s like 175 calls. I batch it into 6 weekly mailings of 10k each. I have a full time in house lead assistant who takes all the incoming calls. Between mail, ppc, website, and other stuff- she usually has about 40 calls a week. About 60% are “leads” meaning that want to sell. Out of that, she’ll set around 15 appointments and we can close 20%. She also does follow up with old leads that didn’t set an appointment yet and any one we made offers on over 90 days ago. She stays pretty busy. 

For those wondering about in house vs VA- I wanted the control in house. A VA doesn't know the different towns. For example, many of you would get excited about someone wanting $25k for a house. But if you know my area and realize that's Gary, IN, that's not a price I'd pay. So because of the ability to train her daily, she's good at knowing what and where we buy and doesn't set up appointments that will waste her time. Is she more expensive than a $3 VA- absolutely. But she's worth ever cent we pay her (close to $50k last year).

@Adrien S. Your Comment: "But 0.25% of 65K still generates enough leads for DMM to be profitable"

My Comment: That's 16,250 phone calls. How do you handle the incoming load?

 Got it. So, your 0.25% is a bit closer to 0.00269231% Looks like you may have left out a couple of leading zeros after the period. No worries.

I spend about a $1 a letter (envelope, paper, ink, stamp, labor) and about $0.50 a post card (printing, stamp)

About how much are they charging to get 65,000 postcards out?

Wow. You truly don't understand the difference between .25% and 25%, yet you're in here trying to correct Adrien, who had his numbers exactly right. .25% = one quarter of one percent. Not 25%. Can't believe I even need to say this.

You win. You must have read "How To Win Friends and Influence people". Now the question is, would anyone want to invest with you? Probably not twice. ;-)

I'm not looking for anyone to "invest with me".. however if I was, at least they could rest assured that they were partnered with someone who can work a decimal point.

Fine, and also be a big pitooey to deal with. I'm not sure if anyone would invest with you or not, but your contumelious response based on basal proclivity is both opprobrious and droll as I gambol by dint of apperception.