All Forum Posts by: Shaun Caldwell

I am beginning to market right now and I understand that marketing is a HUGE part of success. 

Direct mail consists of four aspects. List, message, mail piece, and campaign. In terms of a mailing list it should be parameters ( 30-100% equity base, in your marketplace, etc.). Once you a have defined who your prospect group will be the next step is you rmarketing message. Attention grabbing headline, outline of benefits to seller, strong call to action, etc. Last, what piece to use? As many as you can afford. Why? Each prospect responds differently to different marketing pieces. Moreover, it helps you stand out from your competitors. If you have any more specific questions about direct mail, shoot me a private message. 

@hal mullins, unfortunately as the others have mentioned, there is no one size fits all approach to direct mail. There are however, best practices that increase your chances of generating leads through direct mail. For example having a quality list, compelling message, and a mix of different mail pieces that appeal to different customers and helps differentiate you from your competitors. Last, be consistent. We encourage mailing to the same prospect group at least 6 times. 

@anthony while mailing 100 pieces is better than nothing, a larger mailing will typically yield better results provided your list and mail piece are solid. I don't see any benefit to singling out properties as you described. Your mailing list should take care of that. Each record that you mail to should have certain criteria i.e. equity, SFR, a certain number of bedrooms, etc which it what allows to to flip or wholesale the property and earn a spread.

@Alvin Griershoot me a PM and I'''l go more in depth about the group.

@David Wurzel, a direct mail campaign that highlights the benefits of selling because of the deteriorating neighborhood. They're in a lot of ways similar to absentee owners in that holding on to the distressed property may be costing them money and/or a pain to manage. 

It's a sad but true reality. I responded to a post on Craigslist this past Monday. I only want to talk to decision makers so I always ask the person if they are the person on the title/owner, if they are an agent, or if they are a wholesaler. The guy responds and said something like "I'm marketing the property." I asked him what he meant by that and of course I got no response.... 

@Alvin Grier, to @Rick H.'s point, consider creating relationships where you are the center of influence. I've done just that for my real estate business. I created a mastermind group which facilitates knowledge sharing and leads. We have one seat per business type i.e. carpenter, painter, real estate agent, etc. It works well because the guy painting a house down the street may pass a distressed property on his way to a job which he would gladly tell me about :). Our agent runs comps when I need her to. If I want to sell a house, guess who I'm listing it with? Her! One hand washes the other...

@Account Closed if your concern is about differentiating your marketing pieces from your competition I would encourage you to look at things different. What matters more than the color of the ink, envelope, etc. is having a targeted list that is marketed to consistently with the right message. Also, have a good mixture of your marketing pieces. Not every prospect is the same. Some respond better to postcards, letters, etc. By using a number of different pieces you cast a wider net in terms of catching the attention on your prospects.

@Kelly A., glad to help. Check your inbox. I just sent you a private message.

@Yasmine Bisumber, Craigslist works. Like anything there are best practices. Personally I've found that responding to ads in the for sale by owner section to work well for my business. Some people post ads, which works too. The challenge is staying visible. As you can imagine because it's free to post on Craigslist lots of people use it. Some ethically, some unethically.