Marketing and my first campaign

[Robbie Knecht]

Hey BP, 

Alright so I just sent out my first direct mail campaign of 541 absentee owners that I got off Listsource. I sent out red postcards that have a big "NOTICE" at the top and right below it it says "I BUY HOMES". I thought that would get peoples attention. The total cost to mail out the postcards (Postcard/Absentee List/Postage) cost $348.41 and about 6-7 hours of handwriting the addresses. I realized I would rather have a mailing service do all that for me the next mailing which I found if I went through Vistaprint $427.97.

I had one of the postcards sent to me so i can see how long it took to for the postcards to start hitting the mail boxes. I received my postcard in the mail 9/21/15 and today is 9/23/15. So far I haven't had a call but am not to worried because I know it is going to take a couple mailings. Also, I attended my last MKE REIA meeting and a gentlemen said that he leaves his business card everywhere he goes. That sparked my interest and I decided to start doing that as well and I also bought car magnets to put on my car.

I have listened to all the wholesaling related podcasts numerous times and have been studying wholesaling via BP members/blogs/forums and the internet and feel I have a lot of knowledge. I have read multiple thing over many times and feel I still have much to learn through experience. Im very passionate about making REI as a big part of my life.

Anyways, what this post is mainly about though is I'm trying to get as much exposure as I can so that I can get the phones to start ringing. I have a lot of time and roughly 6.5k for marketing that I have saved up. I'm excited to start talking to sellers and solving their problems. I want to know what other form of marketing can I do? I'm looking into probate but am having a tough time figuring out how to get the addresses and the executioner name in the Milwaukee area. I look forward to any help and appreciate the valuable time you spent to read through this!

Thanks,

Robbie Knecht

[Noel Lumbo]

Robbie! You accomplished one of the hardest things for most of us; you took action! The next challenge is taking consistent action! You're off to a great start. You learn more from experience (primarily mistakes) than you can learn from ANY book.  The nature of the beast is realize that there will be dry streaks and also realizing there will be times when you're on fire. But commit yourself to a certain amount of marketing you will do EVERY month rain,sleet or snow. Do remember the money is in the follow up! My partner and I just recently closed out on a deal in June, where we made the initial contact in September of last year... we just stayed persistent with the follow up. There were also leads where initially the seller didn't want to sell... and when we followed up they sold it to someone else. Do remember a No today doesn't mean it'll be a no tomorrow.. situations and circumstances CHANGE all the time. Networking is essential. Keep going to REIAs and letting everyone under the sun know that you buy houses and that you also pay referral fees! (details bore benefits sell). I live by the code.. I rather 50% of something than 100% of nothing. I don't look at other wholesalers as competition I look at them as potential allies. I can either teach them something or I can learn something from them, or we can work together and do business or we can just motivate each other. 

"I have a lot of time and roughly 6.5k for marketing that I have saved up. I'm excited to start talking to sellers and solving their problems. I want to know what other form of marketing can I do?"

First and foremost... the beauty of real estate investing is the fact that there are so many different avenues we can pursue.... and even when you've even picked your niche.. there are still so many different ways you can go about generating business. I met another investor who's business is solely based on word of mouth... I've heard of others who's business comes strictly from SEO (online marketing), direct mail etc. And you know the saying "don't put all your eggs in one basket"... but there is also another saying "jack of all trades, but master of none" Get your direct mail down pact. Get it running like a well oiled machine, THEN move onto another method for marketing.  

Your last mail out was an absentee owner list from list source...

I don't know what the competition is like in your market... but an absentee owner list from list source is the starter kit for MOST wholesalers... which means that that list can be OVER SATURATED... and if that same list is getting 99 marketing pieces a month from 99 different wholesalers.. how effective does that make ur marketing??? how much do your conversion rates go down because you're up against a TON of competition? I'm not trying to discourage you from using THAT list but trying to open your eyes to some potential things... and as with anything there is always trial and error.. sometimes you only know... til you know.... what i would suggest you look into going forward are more cherry picked leads... other sources of motivation : Divorce, foreclosure, pending tax sale, code violations..... every city/county is different.. in some places that info is available online.. in some places you have to make a trip downtown to get that info.. BUT that will separate you from everyone else buying a list from list source... requires more work and more attention to detail... but good things come to those that hustle!

Why aren't you printing the address on these postcards using a handwritten font? Just a suggestion that can save you time and from suffering from a massive hand cramp. If you're considering outsourcing it all then more power to ya even better.

So if this next mailing you outsourced it all and for 541 post cards it'll run you 427.97$. Lets break this down and do some math. Up your ante... instead of 541 post cards.. do 1,000. Based off the numbers you provided that would be around 860$ if you do it through vista print. 

you have around 6.5k saved up that you can use for marketing...

That's roughly around 7 months of marketing give or take...

7 months of consistent massive marketing is going to yield results.. just make sure you stay on top of following up!

"I'm looking into probate but am having a tough time figuring out how to get the addresses and the executioner name in the Milwaukee area. I look forward to any help and appreciate the valuable time you spent to read through this!"

This is going to take some due diligence.. every place is different... google is going to be your best friend.. and you're going to have to call the register of wills etc.. for your area and get the info you need

HAPPY INVESTING!