All Forum Posts by: Claire Trammell

@Spencer Scott

What an awesome plan! Especially in the beginning, it is totally worth your while to do this in house. I like your approach with the same message but different fonts. I'm curious to hear which performs better in your market. Keep me posted.

As for postage, I don't know if another way. Letters are basically First Class only since you are doing them in house. Unfortunately, postage is one of the most expensive pieces of a mailing.. However, if there is anyone out there that knows a cheaper way, then I'd be interested to hear that as well.

@Spencer Scott

Lots of great questions here. I might be able to help a bit in regards to your list questions.

Full disclosure: I work for one of Michael's businesses. In fact, I work for his direct mail company. However, in doing so I have pulled many lists and even pulled some for Michael.

More often than not, I use Listsource. There are lots of folks that call in and are confused at what is good criteria and how to pull it. In those cases Michael gives them his recommended criteria, which looks like this:

• 1-3 Bedrooms
• 30%-100% Equity
• 4 yrs. Ownership
• SFR
• Median Price Range
• Absentee
• Owner Occupied
• No Corp
• No Trust

Depending on the amount of leads that are available, you may want to adjust the criteria as needed. 

As for the quantity to begin mailing to, I wouldn't go below 1000 leads. Though, like most things, the more the better. 

Your budget of $3k-$5k, is that monthly or your total budget? If it is monthly, then you should easily be able to do as many as 3000-4000 without breaking the bank. And with that amount you could split your mailings, let's say, weekly to keep the flow of calls coming in all month.

Keep in mind that direct mail tends to work best when you send a campaign of 5-7 different pieces, 4 weeks apart from each other. Follow ups are key as the average person takes 3-5 touches before picking up the phone to respond.

Hope that's at least kind of helpful!

@Christopher Gil

Some folks out there will say "for every X mailers you send you will get Y closings." But, to be blunt, the closing rate is up to you. It really depends on your ability to close. 

Someone who is a bit more sales minded might be able to close more than a newbie could. And since it is so dependent on the investor, there isn't really a way to calculate an average closing rate.

However, if you are consistently sending 2000 mail pieces I don't see why you couldn't close on 5.

Also, direct mail mail tends to work best when you send a campaign of 5-7 different pieces, 4 weeks apart from each other. Follow ups are key as the average person takes 3-5 touches before picking up the phone to respond. That's not to say you won't get any responses in the first few touches, however statistics show it does take a few mailings.

Let us know how it goes! I'm curious to hear your results.

Hello @Ayana Sabree!

You could just go short and simple for the first touch or two. Something as simple as this could work:

Then maybe add more info as you continue communication. 

Hello @Frank LaQuaglia!

Postcards are a great way to reach your leads for a bit cheaper. The stamp alone is less. 

Depending on your quantity and your time available, I would say you could do it in-house. Just using a simple mail merge system will make the postcards more personal and give it the one-on-one conversation feel. 

You could also go to the Post Office and ask for postcard stamps. If I remember correctly those stamps are about $.34 as opposed to the First Class stamp of $.49.

As for results, that's a bit more tricky. The competition in your area as well as the market itself can affect the responses. However, based on our own mailing as well as customer feedback, we have seen an average of about .5% response rate with postcards. 

Keep in mind that direct mail tends to work best when you send a campaign of 5-7 different pieces, 4 weeks apart from each other. Follow ups are key as the average person takes 3-5 touches before picking up the phone to respond.

Let us know how it goes! I'd love to hear what you decide to go with and hear about your success.

What a great thread this is! Lots of great advice. 

@Joe Davalos Thank you for sharing your experience.

@Audrick Brown IV

Great question! Yellow letters are the most popular, and as @Christopher Phillips said "It's supposed to look like someone sent a handwritten letter on a yellow note pad." However, as it has been stated since your question, it isn't necessarily the ONLY or BEST option out there. Since you like blue, why not go with a blue letter? Could be a way to stand out in your market. 

Split testing is a great idea as well. Keep your eye out to see what is being sent in your area, then maybe make a change here or there (paper color, envelope color, font color, font style, etc.) and test to see what will work for you.

Personally, I have been liking a patriotic themed letter. It's the same idea as a yellow letter with a handwritten font and a short, simple message, but it is printed on a letter that has an american flag and a silhouette of a saluting soldier. It gets a slightly higher response rate than a yellow letter so far, but it's still in the early stages of data collection.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do! I love hearing success stories.

First of all, welcome to the BP Community @ParShaun Taplin! Glad to have you in our community!

Secondly, I'm with @Justin Silverio on this one. I would add that a quick search in the BP search bar will yield a number of companies. We aren't allowed to self advertise on here, however, that is good news for you. There are a ton of forum discussions that talk about our pros and cons.

@James Lambert

There are a number of us here on BP. I would recommend you do a bit a research into each company to see which one would fit into what you are looking to achieve. 

Check into things like minimum quantity per order, customization availability and/or fees, and turnaround time.

Also, some companies will send free samples so you can see a physical example and you can get an idea of quality of the product.

Any way you decide to go, I wish you success!

Feel free to reach out if I can help in any way!

Happy investing!

Hello @Todd Stelnick! Welcome to the BP Community!

To answer your first question: yes.

This is a marketing business. Any kind of marketing you can do, do it. I wish there was one way that was best, but if there were we would all be doing it. 

Also, when it comes to a direct mail campaign I typically recommend a different marketing piece every 4 weeks for 5-7 months. As for response rates, here are the average response rates we have seen based on our customer feedback as well as our own mailings throughout the years:

Yellow Letters- average response rate of 8%-9%, all kinds of calls (angry calls, curious calls, tire-kickers, quality calls)

Typed Letters- (similar to the YL) average response rate of 7%-9%, all kinds of calls 

Postcards- average response rate of .5%, mostly quality calls.

Zip Letters- average response rate of 2%, mostly quality calls. (Great for follow ups)

Greeting Cards- average response rate of 2%, mostly quality calls. (Great for follow ups)

Hope this is helpful!