All Forum Posts by: Sharon Vornholt

@Josh Justiniano - @Rick H. is right. I wouldn't hurt to just mail a letter to the address. Someone is obviously picking up the mail.

Sharon

That's great news @Kim Book. Great things happen when you simply take action. Have a great weekend.

Sharon

I agree with @Mark Ferguson Kim. Don't be afraid to think really big. But the trick to achieving those goals is to break them down in to action steps.

Sharon

Kim -

I have written a lot about marketing here and also on my blog. M blog is http://louisvillegalsrealestateblog.com.

I do a podcast as well. Also, my buddy Bill Walston and I are hosting a free Q&A call tonight. All you have to do is register for the call. You can do that here.

http://bit.ly/LiveQAMay

If you can only do 300 letters every month, then that is what you should do. Work with the budget you have and just do it every month. The best thing you can do is to invest in a great big wall calendar, write down your marketing plan and implement it.

Good luck. Sharon

@Kim Book -

You don't need to torture yourself by hand writing your letters. You simply cannot build a sustainable business by doing that. I personally use white, computer generated letters. All of the letters are personalized with the name of the person and the property address. Folks that use yellow letters use a company to generate those letters; they don't hand write them if they are trying to build a real business.

In my probate mailings, I have a girl that will stuff and hand address them for $11 a hundred.

The second problem is that you need a higher volume of letters. 300 is not very many. If you get a 1-3% return (calls) on your direct mail, that is 3-9 calls from your mailing on average. Even a 5% return will only be 15 calls.

In general you will need to talk to about 20 sellers to get one deal. Your volume of mail is simply not high enough especially for the work you are doing.

Sharon

I personally think they are too expensive, and they are more of an "obit" list. When I talked to them, they didn't have the executor's information.

You need 4 pieces of information to work in this niche; the name and the address of the deceased and the executor or PR.

I would call your local probate court and ask where you can find a list.They are published in the newspaper here. Other areas have an online resource in their county. In some areas, you have to go to the courthouse and pull them. Is it work? You bet. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

Just like any other niche, you have to mail monthly until one of 3 things happens:

You buy the house, someone else buys the house or the come off list. They may come off your list because they ask to be taken off or you may have determined that there is no deal. That's it.

Sharon

Thanks for the shout out @Christopher Hunter .

Sharon

@Karen Margrave - That is sweet of you to say that, but I am in awe when of your story.

I can't imagine having to do what you did; moving, starting your business again and not only surviving but thriving. It's an amazing story.

Sharon

@Dave Slaughter - Thanks for the shout out Dave. I do my best!

@Michael Quarles -

Thank you! I consider myself to be a good marketer, but I am always learning. Thanks to you and @Jerry Puckett for always showing up with excellence in mind.

Sharon