Outside Company Distribution

There are companies out there that do distribution of post-it notes. There’s a company called Markot. I ‘m not going to recommend them because I tried them and I was not particularly happy. There are others and you can look them up on Google under “post-it note distribution” and your city name. Try one and see how they perform with small batch before you give them more business.

You tell them what neighborhood you want, you give them the post-it notes, and they’ll go out and distribute them on each and every door. They’ll walk up and down the neighborhood and put them on the doors.
I had some problems with one of my vendors. First, was they’d tell you they were delivering them this week, and then something would happen and it would be next, and then the following week. I had some problems getting them to deliver them on the dates they chose.

Second, I was always concerned when they did finally get around to it, because it seemed like my response was fairly muted compared to when I would have the post-it notes delivered myself by my people I trusted. It always made me wonder if they were getting out there in the exact number they stated.

Hire Someone to Distribute

Again, there’s nothing wrong with paying somebody to do it. In fact, that’s what I recommend, that you eventually get somebody to hire to go out and put them on doors. It’s very easy if you know some people – some young kids, 15 year olds or something like that. You can pay them 10 or 15 cents per post-it note to deliver. They can do it after school or on the weekends. It’s a nice part-time job for a kid.

For the most part, if you know the kid and you can trust they’ll actually deliver them and they count how many they delivered – you pay them after they’re completed. You should know when they’re being delivered almost to the moment they’re being delivered. That’s how often you’ll get calls.

If they start delivering them on a particular street at 4:00 in the afternoon and they deliver 300, 400 or 500 of them, it is almost inconceivable that you wouldn’t get a couple of calls. That’s how effective these are.
Some of these calls might not be very productive. You might even occasionally get a cranky person calling to complain. Tell them you’re sorry, apologize, and maybe you’ll have the kids run over and pull theirs off the door of something. Just deal with the cranky calls.

You will be getting calls almost immediately so you will know that they’re being delivered. I know for sure the date they’re being delivered because I get calls. If they deliver on Tuesdays and Thursdays, then I get calls on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If they don’t deliver on Wednesday then maybe the phone is quiet on Wednesday. That’s how effective these are.

Popularity: 37% [?]

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During my tests of over 5000 ugly yellow signs I have identified 11 profitable reason why real estate agents should be using them to generate buyer leads for their business. Now more than ever real estate agents have to think outside the box to be competitive.

1. Low cost. At about $1.98 per sign with stake they are lower than any other advertising media.

Consider the cost of a newspaper line ad which is between $85 and $100 dollars or weekend home showcase ad $250 to $750, then there is the homes magazines charging roughly between $300 to $600 or how about thousands of dollars that are spent on just one direct marketing post card mail out?

2. Consistent advertising because of low cost.

One of the biggest reasons for any business failure is lack of capital for consistent marketing. At $1.98 per sign agents can stay consistent with their lead generation plan.

3. On demand Quickly and easily generates leads when you want them.

Generating real estate buyer leads when you want them has several benefits. They help make your real estate lead generation and your business reliable and predictable.

Too many real estate buyer leads can be overwhelming. Agents often spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a lead generation campaign and are overwhelmed by the response and are unable to follow up on the leads resulting in huge losses.

Ugly Yellow Signs will generate loads of calls for you, but if you happen to get overwhelmed and are unable to get back with all the calls, you are only out a few bucks. And of course you only have to put out signs, as you need, to build your lead generation funnel.

4. Consistent message delivered perfectly hundreds of times.

Having a well scripted recorded message to use with your signs has such a positive impact on response, because a recorded message is nonthreatening, so prospects are far more likely to call on your sign when there is no threat of an agent on the other side of that call.

Plus a recorded message is delivered perfect every time staying consistent. We as agents get bored saying the same message over and over. So sometimes we might change it, or get a little lazy and not deliver it the way we should, every time.

5. They act like a sales force that works for you day and night.

They are like having sales professionals on your team working 24 hours a day 7 days a week without ever complaining. They show up on time to work, and never ask for a raise and even work holidays.

6. Doesnt matter what level your business is at They work.

If you are a new agent you could launch your entire business with just ugly yellow sign strategies. As a new agent, capitol to run your business is usually a little tight and you will most likely want to preserve it at $1.98 for a sign anyone can get the phone to ring and be in business.

Seasoned real estate agents who are looking for options to replace the high cost of in-effective lead generation methods, with low cost highly effective strategies, will find ugly yellow signs can cut expenses and increase there bottom line.

7. They have the ability to target specific areas and neighborhoods.

One of my favorite things about them are their ability to generate targeted prospects in specific areas and neighborhoods. This can also be done with some other types of advertising such as direct marketing, but is much more difficult and costly to do.

8. They have the ability to target prospect type.

With their flexibility I am able to target a specific prospect type like first time home buyers, move up buyers, Luxury home buyers.

9. They are Unique in their ability to differentiate YOU in your market area.

With so many me too agents all doing the same things, ugly yellow signs help you to stand out from the crowd of other agents, just like they stand out from other signs on the street.

I get listings all the time because of the attention my signs bring. I have been specifically asked countless times Are you going to use those yellows signs for my property too? In fact they are part of my listing presentation.

10. Increases the chance of selling your own listings.

As I mentioned in the 7 myths article ugly yellow signs wont increase the percentage of double ending your own listing by 50 to 75% but they will increase the odds of selling your own listing between 20 to 30% which is significant when translated into real world dollars.

11.Target BUYERS.

From the day you become a real estate agent you are told you have to list to last. Get listings and lots of them. These days everyone seems to have a lot of listings and no buyers and ugly yellow signs target buyers.

Popularity: 34% [?]

When you think of real estate investing, a number of things may come to mind. If you are already familiar with real estate investing you may think of short sales, bulk reo investing and virtual real estate investing or you may think of it in terms of real estate portfolios and real estate retirement plans. Likely you also wonder how these things will factor into your life as a real estate investor in the current economy.

There is a great deal to know about real estate investing. Getting the most out of real estate investing education involves being familiar with basic RE info. Whether your target is short sales, bulk reo sales, virtual real estate or improving real estate investor abilities, you need to know some real estate investing basics. You should review these three real estate investing basics to learn things even some experts do not know:

1. You will always end up with a positive yield when you invest in real estate investing education. Each real estate deal can represent thousands of dollars in potential wealth. Knowing how to get that wealth is the key to success. Learning about real estate increases your chances of success when you do a real estate deal. A small investment in your education can yield big results when you implement your learning.

2. You have the ability to succeed in real estate investing in any economy. Lots of people believe that real estate success is only possible in a booming economy. In fact a bad economy is not a bad economy for real estate investors. You frequently can get properties at deep discounts. Also, you might find deals that simply could not exist in a booming economy. Poor economies can have the tide turned based on real estate investing. When the economy is not so good, short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate are great. You can save yourself and others from major financial woes if you know how to do these deals.

3. You do not need lots of your own cash to be a successful real estate investor. You can succeed in the real estate investing arena no matter how much money you are working with. There are lots of types of deals that you can perform with the money of other people. Private lenders will lend you their money if they think you are a good investment. The best way to be a good investment is to know as much as possible about real estate investing. Then you will represent a good investment to other people who have money for real estate investing but do not know how to use it.

A good deal of wealth can be generated with real estate investing. You will be able to create an income no matter what the economy. Using knowledge of real estate investing, short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate you will be able to create success for yourself. You will be helped to succeed as a real estate investor by knowing real estate investing basics.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Having one of the reliable IDX MLS solutions for your website is one way of mining for real estate leads 24/7. First of all, such a system would be able to inform you regarding all of the activities that have been performed on your site and the listings that have been searched. In this way, you will have an idea of the kinds or properties that people are interested in, such are foreclosure properties, and you may be able to focus on getting these kinds of properties for your listings. Secondly, the site visitors would also be given the ability to search your local Multiple Listing Services (MLS).

Making it easy for your visitors look for the homes or properties that they are interested in through a widget in your home page is one sure way of getting important leads. This is effective and the website visitor will likely stay on your site for a much longer time compared to when no IDX MLS tool is provided because the Internet surfer will get to search for free and he is not concerned that an agent will try to sell him something. The visitor will have a higher chance of employing the various features on your site if he remains there for a longer time and he is also likely to fill up an online form that permits him to receive updates regarding some properties or homes.

The IDX MLS program will have generated a lead for you once the visitor decides to fill up a form. It is likely that there will be many such leads because realtor websites provide non-stop service and you will have to employ a contact management system to handle all of them. This type of tool will automatically launch a drip marketing campaign and send email messages containing the updates and other data to the different leads. The system is also capable of assessing the motivation level of every lead based on several criteria, including his response to certain messages. This system would then send you a message or the sales agent in charge of this lead when he has reached a motivation level where he is now ready to consummate a deal.

Visitors to your website represent a gold mine of real estate leads and one strategy for mining this resource is for the best prospects is to include an IDX MLS solution in your site along with other tools. It is up to you to take advantage of these tools to increase your sales volume and your income.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Targeting Your Area

The other great thing about postcards is they’re targeted. We can target postcards to a particular neighborhood.

Let’s say you want to do a particular zip code. You can break it down further. You can do part of a zip code. The post office has maps you can get that will break down a zip code into different areas and you can micro focus your marketing in those different areas.

If you have a town where one half of it is fairly wealthy and the other half is maybe middle income, and you want to focus on the middle incomes area, then you can target your postcards to those areas. It’s a tremendous way to not have waste.

If you bought an advertisement in a newspaper, that newspaper goes to the entire town – in theory, I’m not saying precisely. In theory, maybe half of the newspaper is wasted because it’s going to the wealthier part of town. That means you’ve wasted a lot of money in terms of doing newspaper advertisement, whereas with postcards you can micro focus to just a particular area that you want.

Demographic Marketing

The other nice thing about postcards is you can do what’s called demographic marketing. You’re not so worried about area but you’re worried about a particular type of person.

What we try to focus on is out of state owners. Out of state – or out of town owners as I like to call them – are people that own a property but don’t live there. The way we identify that is we find out from a list broker or whomever that the real estate tax bills are going to an address other than the property itself.

If 123 Main Street has the tax bill going to another state, there’s a fairly good assumption that is an investor or some sort of family member that does not live at the property and most likely is a landlord. I can’t guarantee it, but the probability is they’re a landlord. There’s a good chance they might be interested in selling, particularly in this environment.

One of the things we want to suggest to you guys is spend some time and get a list of out of state owners and send postcards to them. My experience has been that you will get a tremendous response. You’ll get a lot of people calling you in terms of wanting to sell.

I invite you to learn more about Real Estate Investing and become a member of our FREE weekly tele-seminar class where we teach tips and strategy on how to grow your real estate investing business and how to raise Private Money by going to http://www.realestatewealthtoday.com/TuesdayTipsSignUp.html.

Mike Lautensack is a full-time real estate entrepreneur, coach and mentor in Philadelphia, PA and creator of the Private Lending Presentation Kit. This powerful done-for-you kit is loaded with tools and techniques to attract and develop a consistent stream of private investors into your real estate business. To learn more about this kit and receive your FREE eBook go to Real Estate Investing Blog.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Credibility is one of the most important elements internet marketers
need and like to have. Credibility is in many cases earned through hard work and you will find does not happen over-night. However, once you lay the foundations, you will find the long days and nights you have put into establishing your business will bring the rewards and open doors leading to recognition and long term loyalty in many of the marketing sectors.Here are 5 methods that will help you establish credibility in your own niche.

1. Write Guest Posts

Writing guest posts is one of the most effective methods you can use to get yourself known within your niche. By having well written and good quality material published on respectable, authoritative sites you can build credibility within your target audience. You will also find that using guest posting can also be very worthwhile in getting a new site recognized by a large audience.

2. Produce Exceptional Content

Writing is traditionally one of the best ways you can create credibility within your niche. However you will need to write exceptional content full of valuable well researched information so that people can be helped to achieve their goals. Your readers will appreciate what you write and will want to come back for more if you continue to provide relevant information and advice to help them succeed in their own niche.

3. Appear Professional

When a visitor comes to your site it is important to provide a good first impression for that person and could be the difference whether the visitor stays on your site or leaves within a few seconds of entering.
Try to design your website so that it looks visually appealing to the visitor and fits the theme of the niche. If you have a brand or logo ensure it is displayed on your site.

4. Post on Related Forums

Find a forum related to your niche and make a point of answering peoples questions. Try to write detailed and informative answers to showcase how much knowledge you have about the topic. This will make you stand out from the crowd and by over providing on value you will soon get noticed by your target audience. Over time people will begin to recognize you as a credible figure and look to learning and finding out more information from you.

5. Form Relationships with High Profile Bloggers in Your Niche

Networking with the right people in your niche can be very worthwhile. For example one link from a prominent figure within your niche can result in instant credibility being formed as they are recommending you to their readers as a credible source of information.

You have to earn this trust by consistently over delivering on your site and providing worthwhile information to your readers. If a high profile blogger believes you provide stand out information, then they will often link to you or perhaps mention you in a post bringing you not only traffic but credibility as well.

Conclusion:

These are 5 different methods you can use to produce credibility in your niche market. In marketing circles it is highly valued because credibility creates trust and as a result people will be more willing to listen to what you have to say and offer.

This is a guest post by Brandon Walker @ FoxMarketer.com

Popularity: 8% [?]