Property ManagementSuccessful Farming: From Snail Mail to E-mail
Bottom-line profits are a key to long term success in any business. In real estate, it is often easy to spend and not focus on increasing your net. A careful eye on prudent management of resources distinguishes the agent that just gets by from the one who is running a profitable business.
A shift to make is to ruthlessly cut unnecessary expenses rather than putting the focus on increasing business, which takes additional resources. Consider that each $1 you save, you put that dollar in your pocket. On the other hand, it takes about $1.50 of new income to put that same $1 in your pocket after taxes, etc., to say nothing of the increased time and effort to produce the additional $1.50!
I recommend a quarterly review of expenses to keep you on top of knowing what"s generating the best results and which old strategies are no longer working or are producing less.
How are you positioning yourself for the future and changing your ways of doing business to reflect the changing trends? What trends have caused you to change your strategies lately?
Trend Shift - From Traditional Marketing To E-mail Marketing
If you spend a good portion of your marketing budget on traditional mailing pieces and consistently send to the same target market, you have probably produced some good returns over time. Consistent, repetitive exposure is necessary to increase name recognition and credibility. In the past, direct mail postcards were probably the most cost effective and efficient way to do this.
The times, however, are a -changin’! E-mail offers a completely new opportunity to market consistently for a fraction of the cost time and energy. Consider a scenario to send to 500 people on a monthly basis
ItemSnail MialE-Mail
Cost/Mail Piece500 x .20 = $100500 x 0.0 = $0
Postage500 x .128 = $64500 x 0.0 = $0
Time to Label, Stamp, ect..1-2 Hours = $20N/A
Total$184$0
Monthly Savings = $164 Plus 1-2 Hour Time
Yearly Savings = $1,968 Plus 12-24 Hours Time
This example using 500 is a modest example. If you regularly mail to 1000 or
more, just multiply the savings! Even if only 1/3rd to Ѕ of your database or
farm have e-mail the savings of time and money are significant.
Getting Started
The first step is, perhaps, the one where most agents stumble - just making
the paradigm shift and making the commitment. JUST DO IT! The longer you wait,
the more you lose.
Tom Peters said "It is no longer the big eating the small; it is the fast
eating the slow."
Build Your Databases
One source of future power is in the gathering and using of information
that will give you the ability to pinpoint specific needs or groups with
similar interests and build long term relationships by providing value. One to
one marketing is the strategy that allows you to precisely fit a client"s
needs to an opportunity. Building your databases so they can be
cross-referenced in many ways is the first step to building this powerbase.
Choose a real estate software that allows you to have many fields to search
from. Or, simply use a basic Excel spreadsheet. You will then be able to send
specific groups targeted messages. Their e-mail address would be one of your
fields.
Collect E-mail Addresses from Everyone
Ask for e-mail addresses from your sphere of influence, your farm areas,
your prospective clients, everyone who calls, who visits your open houses, who
you meet at networking events. EVERYONE! Your next snail mail piece could be a
request for them to send you their e-mail address. Or it is a perfect reason to
get on the phone and make those warm calls. You"ll position yourself as an
agent using the latest technology this way, even if they are still
technobabies. It is important to all your clients, even ones not using
technology, that their agent be technologically savvy and skilled in using
every advantage, including the technological ones, to help them in their home
buying and selling.
Plan Your Contacts
Just as consistent, repetitive contact has been important in snail mail,
creating a system and plan for your e-mail marketing is crucial.
Some questions to address are:
How often will you contact them? Plan 6 months of messages
Which categories will receive what? You will have different messages for your
previous clients, your prospects and your sphere, perhaps.
What value can you provide by doing this? What kind of up-to-the-minute
information do they need?
Setting up your series of letters for new contacts, or to farm to Expireds
or FSBO’s or choosing a vehicle to send to your previous clients should all be
part of your planning session. One company that has been a leader in the
traditional mail pieces, Sendsations now makes
their well-know recipe cards available by e-mail! These QuickClix E-Cards can
be clipped to your mails or posted on your website. Now, there"s innovation!
Content for E-mail
We knew our snail mail pieces were often only in the prospect"s hands for
the 3-7 seconds to took to put in the trash. That exposure, however, did give
us visual exposure and build name recognition. The purpose of your e-mail is
much the same and is best when short. A good subject line and one screen and a
great signature (sig) file is all you need. Laborious attention to the content
is unnecessary, it"s the perception and exposure that makes the difference.
Finding worthwhile content is challenging and time-consuming, but there are
several professionally produced newsletters available for your use that make
this easy.
One of the best is a high-quality consumer newsletter produced by Real Times and Agent News for agents. Just go to the newsletter sign up on
Agent News to have your name, photo and contact information put on a monthly
electronic newsletter for buyers and sellers. Every month, you will be
forwarded a URL to your newsletter that you can, in turn, e-mail to your farm or
link to your Web site. The newsletter uses the best stories from Real Times,
makes you look like an Internet star, and it"s free!
Members of The Real Estate Cyberspace
Society receive a free newsletter as part of the member benefits as well
as access to many lists that can help in your e-mail farming. Sandy Teller, real estate webmaster, produces
E-News on a yearly subscription that offers many freebies and valuable consumer
information.
Or, of course, you can completely customize the messages to fit specific
client needs. If you take this route, however, keep it brief and make it easy
on yourself by harvesting data to use from information in Real Times or at One Realtor Place or the data you can
get from your state and local associations. Short, concise tips that offer
value are what you want to send.
Editor"s Note: Be sure to credit the author and the source whenever you
use any information or quotes from an article. When in doubt, e-mail the source
and ask for permission to reprint with reference to the title, author and date
published. Not all authors allow redistribution of their work, so
permission to reprint must be presented on a case by case basis. To request
permission to reprint anything from Real Times, contact
//
Sending It
Managing your list with your normal e-mail software may become burdensome.
As your databases grow, you will need to invest in software or support.
Options include:
Use an e-mail software such as EudoraPro to send out up to 1000 pieces
Set up your own "list" and manage it with a listserve:
A free one is available from ListBot
Or the cost is about $15 per month from a listserv provider
The Future
Anne Morrow Lindbergh reminds us "Only in growth, reform, and change,
paradoxically enough, is true security to be found" The future belongs to
those who innovate, and see opportunities others have not yet seized. Switching
your marketing from snail mail to e-mail will put money in your pocket today.
It will also position you ahead of 95% of the agents in the marketplace.
Congratulations if you are already using it".
what"s your next step?
And, if you aren’t...can you afford to be left behind?