Direct Mail System - Amazon S3 · Direct Mail System. Direct Mail System. In This Section, You Will...

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Direct Mail System

Transcript of Direct Mail System - Amazon S3 · Direct Mail System. Direct Mail System. In This Section, You Will...

Direct Mail System

Preview Of What You Will Learn

Sections:Introduction: Why Direct Mail?.....................................................................5

Generating Leads Using Direct Mail.............................................................7 Direct Mail Simplified in 3 PartsConsistency is Key!

6 Steps to a Successful Direct Mail Campaign........................................11Step 1: Determine Your Budget & PlanStep 2: Identify Your Target Market & Obtain Your ListsStep 3: Create Your Drip Marketing CampaignStep 4: Set Up Your Inbound SystemStep 5: Fulfill Your CampaignsStep 6: Track Your Mailings & Stay Organized

Wrap Up.......................................................................................................33Step-by-Step ProcessDirect Mail Terminology

You Will Be Able To:• Learn the step-by-step process to create successful direct mail marketing campaigns to bring in leads for your real estate business

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Why Direct Mail?

Direct mail is one of the most powerful and proven marketing tools in today’s fast-paced world. Although often overlooked, it is one of the most effective marketing tools and inexpensive ways to generate leads for your real estate business. Considered by some to be “old fashioned”, it remains one of the best ways for locat-ing motivated sellers and must be part of your overall marketing campaigns. To find truly profitable deals on a consistent basis, it’s imperative you utilize direct one-to-one marketing -- do not rely solely on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). As one of the more affordable forms of marketing, direct mail campaigns cost only as much as you are willing to invest.

The number one reason why direct mail is such a powerful tool is that it is measurable. You can track your responses and measure your ROI (return on investment). Unlike advertising, direct mail and direct marketing is trackable, inexpensive, and the results are easily measurable. When developing your business plan, it’s imper-ative to create a system that can predict the number of leads coming into your pipeline each and every month for a low cost.

The FortuneBuilders Direct Mail System gives you the tools necessary to create a successful direct mail mar-keting campaign. CT Homes, LLC has implemented this proven system in it’s own real estate business. Follow these strategies carefully, focus in and take action on your own direct mail campaign and soon you too will be finding all the motivated sellers you can handle!

Introduction

“Until you have enough leads (to meet or exceed your goals) there is no other issue” - Gary Keller

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Direct Mail System

In This Section, You Will Learn:• Advantagesofusingdirectmailtogenerateprofitableleads• Differencesbetween“urgent”and“not-so-urgent”mailinglists• Theimportanceofstayingconsistentwithyourcampaigns

Direct Mail Simplified in 3 Parts

Who? This is the most important aspect of the direct mail campaign. It has been shown that 40% of your success from the direct mail marketing campaign will come from whom you are targeting with your mailing list. There are several types of lists that investors use to market, and they can be broken up into two categories: urgent and not-so-ur-gent.

The urgent category lists homeown-ers that have a huge sense of urgency to sell their homes because they may be facing a loss. These lists include: pre-foreclosure lists, 30/60/90 day-late lists, bankruptcy lists, fire damaged (and Code Violations), and tax-lien lists. With the sense of urgency lists, it is important to note that a large portion of the leads will be time sensitive. Therefore, the ear-lier you reach these clients, the better.

The not-so-urgent category consists of homeowners that may not “need” to sell their home, but they are still very motivated. These lists include: inherited property lists, absentee/ out-of-state homeowner lists, probate lists, expired listings and free and clear lists. However, keep in mind -- although the not-so-urgent list may not have an underlying “need” to sell, they can end up becoming some of your most profitable deals. Much like the urgent mailing lists, timing is extremely crucial; as you never know when the seller may be ready to sell. Therefore, following through with your drip campaigns are very important.

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What? What type of marketing pieces are you using for your mailings? In our experience, sense of urgency lists respond better to a professional mailing on company letter-head. The homeowners’ credit and livelihood are often at stake, so they will want to feel like they are working with an experienced professional who knows what they are doing. On the other hand, homeowners who fall under the not-urgent category are often more likely to respond to a personal touch. At times, mailing them a less professional looking yellow letter is often more effective than a postcard or letter on company letterhead.

How? How do you send out your direct mail? There are two ways: You can fulfill yourself, or partner with a fulfillment company. There are pros and cons of both. Obviously com-piling your list in house will be more cost effective, but you will more than likely only be able to handle fulfilling 2-3 mailing lists at a time. However, if you outsource your campaign to a fulfillment company, it is simply turn key and although your costs will be much higher you no longer have the stress and frustration of fulfillment. When you outsource, you’re also able to implement multiple campaigns.

**NOTE:Manyinvestorstakeahybridapproach,andexecutesomecampaignsinhouse,andothersthroughaprofessionalmailhouse.**

Advantages of Direct Mail

• This may be only way to reach some customers because they don’t like to answer the phone for unknown callers

• Can be completely outsourced or partially outsourced

• For people who dislike cold calling, this is a less threatening way of reaching targeted sellers

• Sellers who call in from your direct mail efforts will generally be more motivated than sellers who call from your shotgun marketing approaches

• Results can be measured very accurately

• One of the easiest forms of marketing to test because of its low cost

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Generating Leads Using Direct Mail

Remember!Make sure you send your mailings on a consistent basis!

Consistency is Key! When it comes to direct mail marketing, consistency is key. Once you have effectively implemented your campaigns, it’s important that you stay consistent with your drip campaigns and start to track the effectiveness of each campaign.

One of the biggest mistakes real estate investors make is sending out just a few mailings and then throw in the towel. They are called “campaigns” for a reason. Every campaign should be implemented 3 to 6 times before you decide if it’s working in your favor. If you have gone to the expense of purchasing a prospect list, you owe it to yourself to exhaust all possibilities of marketing to those potential prospects. It is infinitely better and economically smarter to send a letter or postcard five times to a thousand people, rather than to send just one letter to five thousand prospects only once.

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6 Steps to a Successful Direct Mail Campaign

In This Section, You Will Learn:• Thestepsnecessarytocreateyourdirectmailcampaignsystem• Theimportanceofdeterminingabudgetandtrackingyourcampaigns• Waystoidentifyyourtargetmarketandwheretogetyourlists• Thebestwaystosetupandfulfillyourdripcampaigns

Step #1: Determine Your Budget & PlanDetermining a budget for your direct mail campaigns is crucial to your real estate in-vesting business. What is a reproducible and realistic budget that you can consistently utilize every single week? Although you may not have an answer when first starting out with your campaigns, you may want to make a few response rate and budget assumptions to determine an approximate return on investment up front - so that you can first evaluate whether your marketing campaign expense is justified. It may be out of your comfort zone to spend money that you can’t justify immediately, but it’s all about setting a goal and committing to the process. Remember, you’re building a business and it only takes one deal to make all the money spent worthwhile.

We’ve created a tracking spreadsheet for your direct mail campaigns. It’s important to know which letters have been sent, which letters still need to be sent, which letters got returned and schedule when new campaigns need to be mailed. It’s also import-ant to track the cost involved with all pieces as a whole and individually. You’ll want to track your responses from each campaign, as you will need to know what works and what doesn’t. That way, you are better able to tweak your messages, etc. This tool con-tains 3 sections: List Comparison, Budget, and Campaign Tracker. It’s recommended that you take a look at these tracking sheets every single week so you can make the comparison between what you’re spending weekly and what your results are.

Helpful Tip!The best way to get your direct mail campaign organized is to prepare them all at once, upfront and then categorize them by date. Tuesdays are the best days for mail to arrive, because it usually is the least mail heavy day. It’s so import-ant to time your mailings wisely.

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Here’s a quick snapshot of each sheet:

List Comparison SheetIn the list comparison sheet, it’s easy to plug in the different vendors you use for each campaign and the costs associated with using that particular vendor/service. This will help you to compare the same campaign with different vendors to make sure your marketing dollars work best for you.

Budget TrackerThis page keeps track of all money spent for all aspects of your campaigns, includ-ing envelopes, postage, paper, printing, etc. You can calculate how much you’re spending per unit, per month on your campaigns.

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6 Steps to a Successful Direct Mail Campaign

Campaign TrackerThe campaign tracker is very similar to the budget tracker, but a little more in-depth. As you can see, you can insert and track all your different campaigns into the sheet along with the specific list used. It also calculates your conversion rate and cost per lead/deal based on the information you enter into the system.

Step #2: Identify Your Target Market & Obtain Your Lists Defining your target market is all about choosing your audience and sourcing the list to which you will mail. Before you even begin writing your mailing pieces, it’s crucial that you understand your target market. Keep in mind that your mar-keting message should reflect the target market you are seeking – for example, if you are seeking single-family homes in pre-foreclosure, then your message shouldn’t include information about you also buying tax lien foreclosures. Your prospects should feel as though you understand their personal situation and are speaking directly to them through the messaging in your marketing piece.

There are many different niches you can target when formulating your direct mail campaigns:

• Bankruptcy • Eviction• Divorce• Probate• Fire Damaged/Code Violations• Attorneys (i.e. bankruptcy,

probate, divorce)

• 30-60-90 Day • Vacant Property/Absentee Owner• Free & Clear Properties• FSBO (For Sale By Owner)• Pre-NOD (Notice of Default)• Expired Listings

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Some of these lists can be combined and sent the same mailers. For example: 30-60-90 day lists can be combined with Pre-NOD, or fire damaged property leads can also be combined with a Code Enforcement Violation list because the target list and messaging are congruent.

To find a list that’s right for you, it’s important to consider your end goal. For in-stance, if your desire is to build a short sale business, then you will more than likely gear your focus toward pre-foreclosure and 30-60-90 day lists. But on the other hand, if you want to build a passive income rental portfolio, expired listings typical-ly won’t require as much repair and could potentially become great buy and hold properties.

Although there are many different campaigns and lists you could target, let’s take a closer look at a few that have historically been the most successful for real estate investors and how you can obtain these lists of homeowners.

Absentee Owners

Who Are Absentee Owners?Direct mail campaigns to absen-tee owners have the potential to bring you consistent leads for your business. This is a lead type that is abundant in just about any market. With the right message, this lead source can yield massive amounts of deals very quickly.

Absentee owner leads are gold mines, because the average landlord lasts only a few years. This means that the Attorneys (i.e. bankruptcy, probate, divorce) re is always going to be a huge number of landlords wanting to sell their property, and a large turnover in landlords means money in your pocket. Landlords usually have very little emotional attachment to their property, making it easier to do business with them. In addition, the majority of these homeowners usually own these properties free and clear, which can be a huge benefit to you.

Where to Find the ListThere are a number of different places where you can find absentee owner leads, including:

− Directlyfromyourcounty,listbrokers,countywebsites,etc.− Localtaxassessor’ssite(whichismorethanlikelyveryaccurate)− Localornationallistprovider(forafee)

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Probates & Inherited Properties

What is a probate property?Probate is the legal process that settles a deceased person’s final debts and formally passes the legal title of their property to the intended heirs. More often than not, the heirs to an estate would much rather receive cash than an old property to deal with. It’s important to also keep in mind that inherited properties are usually vacant, and therefore it encourages occurrences such as vandalism, theft or illegal occu-pancy. Most of these owners can’t wait to rid themselves of these headaches. This provides an opening for you and your business to provide an alternate solution for the heirs which is quick and lucrative. Probate records are accessible to the public, making it easy to see how much estate was left by an individual, who the beneficia-ries were, and what they received from the estate.

Where To Find the ListThis campaign is a little different from the others, because only a few states have a commercially produced probate list. As a result, you would more than likely have to manually compile the list yourself. On the positive side, since there are a limited number of list providers that supply a probate list, this means less people are market-ing to this group. This gives you a greater competitive edge over your competitors.

You can locate these records by:− Monitoring probate court information at your county courthouse or town/city

hall

− Searching for postings in a local publication, or tracking online at the court-house website.

− Local or national list provider (for a fee)

Helpful Tip!The probate process is different in every state, so there is no 100% universal method that works to get the list manually at every courthouse or town hall. Likewise, every county courthouse or town hall has different methods of recording the information.

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Pre-Foreclosures / Notice of Default (NOD)

What Are Pre-foreclosures & NOD’s?Obtaining these pre-foreclosure and notice of default leads can be quite easy. Every time a lender starts the foreclosure process, they are required to file necessary pa-perwork. These documents are public knowledge and provide such information as:

It’s important to note that most states have different requirements for the information required for foreclosure filings – so you’re not going to get the same data from state to state. However, different list providers also have access to additional local information related to the property as well.

Types of Foreclosure Lists:− 30, 60 & 90 Day Lists – This is when the homeowner is 1, 2, or 3 months

behind on their mortgage, BEFORE the Lis Pendens or NOD (Notice of Default) has been filed. At this stage, it is not public knowledge and only the home-owner, lender/bank and credit agencies know about it. These are also often called Pre-NOD lists.

− Lis Pendens / NOD (Notice of Default) Filings – This is when the lender files the necessary paperwork and the foreclosure process begins. At this stage, the information is now public record. The only downside with NOD (Notice of Default) leads is that anyone can get their hands on this list. Therefore, most of your competition will also be sending their marketing and information to them as well.

To eliminate more of the competition with foreclosure leads, you can focus on pre-foreclosures. Pre-foreclosure leads allow you to get private information on potential prospects who might be having financial trouble. When a homeowner be-gins to get behind on their mortgage payments, these delinquencies are reported to the credit bureaus and start showing up on their credit reports. This information is not public data, but you can obtain these leads through companies that have ac-cess to credit agency information. These leads are can be more expensive, but much more effective due to the fact there will be less competition reaching out to these homeowners.

− Name of the owner − Address of the property being foreclosed on− Mailing Address of the owner (if tenant occupied)

− Balance owed to the lender − The lender and loan number − Length of delinquent payments

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Ways to Find the List:

• County Recorder’s Office - Although most cities and counties have this data filed electronically, others may not. In that case, you will need to go to the court-house and pull the files manually. This is the most difficult, labor-intensive way to collect the information; but can also get you the leads faster than the other alternatives.

• Do an Online Google Search - Start by searching for “local foreclosure list provider” and your county or city name; then expand out to the state level. You can also search any local publications in your area for these listings.

• Title Company - Contact a local title company in your area and inquire about foreclosure leads. Not all title companies or closing attorneys offer this service, but some do. Those who offer this service may even provide this list to you free of charge with hopes of earning your business when you purchase a property. However, the only downside is that the list may be a little old by the time you get them; and the homeowner will likely receive other letters and postcards before yours.

• Local or national list provider (for a fee) - They compile information on home-owners in default and sell it privately, generally with a small monthly subscrip-tion fee.

Expired Listings

What Are Expired Listings?An expired listing is when a listing agreement between a Seller and a licensed Real Es-tate Agent expires. Expired listings are usually an indicator that there were problems involved with the sale of a property. For whatever reason, the house was on the mar-ket for sale, but didn’t sell. This creates an opportunity for real estate investors to help homeowners sell their home once their realtor contract expires. By targeting expired listings consistently in a short period of time, you may grab their attention and spark their interest in selling their home again.

How Do You Pull Foreclosure Lists From the Courthouse?

1. Go to the county courthouse, and locate the department which handles foreclosure proceedings

2. Ask the office representative where the most recent lis pendens or notice of default (NOD) filings are

3. They will more than likely refer you to one of three ways to see the most recent filings:

− Online resource or internal computer − Individual case files from which you will have to sift through to pull all of the information− Provide a list of the cases that are upcoming on the docket

**Note:Manyforeclosurelistprovidersdonotprovideaccurateoruptodateinformationallthetime.Beawareofthis,becauseforeclosurelistproviderisdifferentineverystate.Also,thereisapossibilitythatnoteveryareahasanonlinelistavailabletothem**

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A Few Important Facts About Expired Listings− Time changes circumstances: A seller becomes much more motivated the

longer their property takes to sell.

− Competing with Realtor postcards: You won’t be the only one who has access to expired listings. You’ll also be competing with other Realtors soliciting the seller with their marketing campaigns encouraging them to re-list that property with them. You also will be competing with other investors like yourself trying to possibly buy the property.

− Short timeline: Because the property didn’t sell the first time on the sellers timeline, to sell the property may have become much shorter and therefore they become much more motivated to sell and willing to negotiate.

Where to find the listTo obtain expired listings, you will need to work with Realtor/Agent with access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The agent can send you a current list of expired listings in the database. Often times, they can set up a search for expired listings that automatically sends them to you each week.

Delinquent Tax/Tax Lien List

What are delinquent tax lists?Obtaining a delinquent tax or tax lien list can be a very affordable source of income for your real estate business. Most of the time, property owners who are delinquent with their taxes have other pressing issues to deal with, which makes a quick sale of their property an ideal solution. However, it’s important to research and understand your particular city/county and how frequently they pursue back tax liens. There are some areas that rarely foreclose on homeowners who are behind on taxes – so de-linquent taxes may not be a large motivation for a homeowner to sell their property in that particular area. In these cases, delinquent tax lists may not be the best target list to pursue. When it comes to obtaining the delinquent tax/tax lien list for your particular campaign, remember that there are always different rules involved for different cities and towns.

Where to find the listYou can locate tax lien lists by calling the tax collector’s office in your designated area and inquire about the list of homeowners who are a year or more late on their taxes (in some states only). If available, they may require a small fee for the list.

An expired listings campaign should:− Target homeowners whose property expired from the MLS without being sold− Target homeowners who are desperate and running out of time to sell− Focus on homeowners' needs

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Local vs. National List ProviderI recommend working with a local pro-vider versus a national company. Local companies seem to receive and deliver the leads much faster, and can also pro-vide additional local information on the property such as:

- Number of liens and the balance owed on each

- Property zoning

Once you start utilizing list services, you can compare providers to see which compa-nies provide data that is consistently up to date. When it comes to buying this data, be aware of the fact that there will always be a few errors.

• Quality of List is Everything! You will not have an effective direct mail campaign if your list is not strong and efficient. With even the best lists, you should expect at least a 10% margin of error (return mail, wrong addresses, etc.)

• How Recent is the Data? The reliability of your data also depends on how recent it is. When sourcing 30-60-90 day leads, you should question when the data was filed. Is it right after the lis pendens or NOD filing, or is it three months late?

• Do You Have Exclusivity? How many times has the list been re-sold to others? You don’t want a list that has been bought or sold many times, especially within the same timeframe. Ask the list provider if they put a cap on how many times a list is sold. These are important questions to ask.

• What is the Cost? Another important factor to pay attention to when comparing data providers is the cost of the data. Putting together data yourself will be more expensive and time consuming in the long run than buying data from a provid-er. We recommend always buying your data, so long as it is good, and up to date.

Any of these options work, but you need to get the list as soon as possible. The soon-er you get your message in front of the homeowner, the better. Waiting weeks to get your direct mail pieces out is only giving your competition an advantage over you.

Manual List Provider Lead Sourcing Labor Intensive Easy

Cost Free/Part Time Help $30 - $100/month

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Step #3: Set Up Your Drip Marketing Campaign

Once you have your target list in place, you can then execute your drip marketing campaign, which maintains consistent contact with your potential prospects over an extended period of time using various outreach methods.

The process of drip marketing is designed to continuously place your company and your message in front of your potential prospect. That way, when the time comes and the homeowner is finally ready to sell, you’re the first name they think of when looking for your services.

We’ve outlined an example of what a direct mail drip campaign can look like. **Keepinmind:thisisjustanexampleandshouldbetweakedtoyourtargetlistandbudget.

Example Drip Campaign

1st Mailer: You can start your direct mail campaign with a postcard. Postcards are an easy and inexpensive way to start your drip campaign especially when mailing a new list for the first time.

2nd Mailer: Follow up with a 2nd mailer to the same list. This time, send a yellow letter expressing your interest in buying the property cash. The yellow letter will stand out more than a traditional letter and hopefully elicit a greater response rate.

3rd Mailer: Send a simple handwritten letter. This letter should be more personal and not sound like it’s coming from a big company. This can be written on any kind of paper or letterhead, i.e. plain white printer paper, notepads, etc.

4th Mailer: Send a professional letter from your company on a company letterhead.

Example SequencesWe’ve outlined a few example sequenc-es for your direct mail campaign below. Remember, these are just examples and should be customized to fit the goal of your business.

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Absentee Owner/Free & Clear Lists

1st Mailer

2nd Mailer Send in 60 days

3rd Mailer Send in 120 days

4th Mailer Send in 180 days

5th Mailer Send in 240 days

6th Mailer Send in 300 days

*Thenumberofmailersandsequencewillvary,dependingonthestate’sforeclosuretimeline.

Postcards A postcard is a simply designed mailing piece that tells the seller your basic information and lets them know immediately how they can benefit from working with you. You should utilize the small space efficiently to excite the seller and to get them to believe that you can truly remedy their situation.

Postcards are inexpensive, the message is right on front, and there are often no stamps or enve-lope-stuffing involved. When using postcards, make sure that you include a compelling headline, information about how you are going to solve the homeowners’ problem, and your contact informa-tion.

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Probate Lists

1st Mailer

2nd Mailer Send in 30 days

3rd Mailer Send in 60 days

4th Mailer Send in 90 days

Delinquent Tax / Lien Lists

1st Mailer

2nd Mailer Send in 30 days

3rd Mailer Send in 60 days

4th Mailer Send in 90 days

5th Mailer Send in 150 days

Expired Lists

1st Mailer

2nd Mailer Send in 14 days

3rd Mailer Send in 30 days

4th Mailer Send in 45 days

5th Mailer Send in 60 days

Pre-foreclosure/NOD/30-60-90 Lists

1st Mailer

2nd Mailer Send in 7 days

3rd Mailer Send in 14 days

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Here are some tips on how to make your postcard more appealing:

• Give the mailing a personalized feel by handwriting the prospect’s name and address on the envelope. Chances are, they will be less likely to throw away mail pieces that had their name and ad-dress handwritten on them -- even if it was from a stranger!

• Use unique and interesting stamps. This will generate some curiosity from the pros-pect and the longer they look at your postcard, the better chances your message will have to reach them.

Yellow LettersA yellow letter is a handwritten letter on yellow legal or notebook type paper with a handwritten envelope. This marketing piece is designed to be as non-confrontational as possible, as if it were coming from a friend. Because of its design, yel-low letters have a fantastic response rate – proba-bly one of the most effective mailers to utilize.

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Pros Cons

Non-confrontational Difficult to do large campaigns

Great response rate They have to be opened

Takes a Long Time

Pros Cons

Easy to Mass Produce

Typically a much lower response rate than other type of direct mail – sometimes .5%

Less Expensive Than Yellow Letters

No Need to Open

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Direct Mail Example Letter Breakdown

Mr. Fred Foreclosure246 Main St.New Haven, CT 06511

“Helping Homeowners Make Informed Decisions”

Dear Mr. Fred Foreclosure,

If you ever find yourself wanting to sell or refinance your house we can help! Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of people who have financial dilemmas every year and most have no idea what options are available to them.

Our company specializes in solving real estate problems for southern California homeowners and we can help correct almost any financial situation at no cost to you. Here is a short list of what we can do for you:

• Buy your Property Today for Top Dollar− Cash Offer Within 48 Hours− Closings Within 5 Days or on Your Timeline− No Real Estate Commissions− Save Money on Closing Costs

• Buy Your Property in As-is Condition− No Need to do Any Repairs on Your Property

• Work out a Payment Plan with your Existing Lender− Can be Done in as little as 3 Days

• Negotiate Debt with Existing Creditors− Eliminate Existing Debt so You Can Relax

We are a network of professionals helping provide solutions to your existing real estate problems. We are members of the Better Business Bureau and have numerous testimonials from customers can be provided for you. CALL US TODAY so we can discuss your situation immediately.

You can CALL TODAY at XXX-XXX-XXXX and will be happy to assist you. You can also fill out a form on our website www.yourwebsite.com if you prefer. All consultations are completely confidential and absolutely free. We look forward to working with you right away.

Sincerely,

Your NameYour Company NameYour Company Phone NumberYour Company Email Address

P.S. Call today for your Free Consultation. We will make a guaranteed CASH offer in 48hrs or less

Catchy Headline

Commonality/Empathy Statement

Offer/Benefits

Call to Action

Contact InfoGuarantee

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Key Components of Any Direct Mail PieceNow let’s talk about the actual mail piece on the previous page. The text we include in the letter or postcard is used to persuade a homeowner to take action, contact-ing us about selling their property. Let’s break down a mail piece so you understand the different parts.

1. HEADLINE: Your headline is the single most important thing at the top of your letter or on the front of your postcard (or envelope). When you look at your mail piece, ask yourself, “What catches your attention?” If your answer isn’t the headline, you might want to make some tweaks. Your headline should be clear, catchy and bold.

2. COMMONALITY/EMPATHY STATEMENT: In case where you’re marketing to dis-tressed sellers, they often feel very alone, and are frustrated looking for somewhere to turn. The opening statement forces the seller to face their problem, while the commonality piece makes them understand that they are not alone and you genu-inely want to help them by providing them with a solution to their problem.

HEADLINE EXAMPLES: • Question Format: Need A Creative Way To Avoid Foreclosure? • Bold Statement: Your Property Sold In 10 Days...Guaranteed! • Educate: How To Sell Your House In 27 Days Or Less • Use A Number: I Can Buy Your House CASH & Close In 7 Days!

COMMONALITY/EMPATHY EXAMPLES: • Every year, hundreds of thousands of people face foreclosure and unfortunately

most have no idea what options are available to them.

• Our company specializes in solving complicated real estate problems and will assist you with finding solutions to any real estate dilemmas you may encounter.

• We’ve helped hundreds of people just like you get out of their situation!

• You’re not alone with your tenant problems. Thousands of evictions are filed each and every day.

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3. OFFER/BENEFITS: Never assume the seller knows the benefits of what you’re of-fering – you need to break it down for them. How are you going to help them? What is your unique selling proposition (USP) that sets you apart from the rest? Perhaps including something like, “helping Florida homeowners since 2008” or “we specialize in solving real estate problems for southern Florida homeowners” will let the home-owner know you are a local company. Working with a local company helping people in their area may be a great benefit to the seller. Your offer should be TAILORED to getting the reader to take action today. Remem-ber, your prospects are thinking, “what’s in it for me”? Step into the shoes of the seller and think of reasons why they would choose to do business with you and craft the benefits around those reasons. For someone who needs to sell his or her prop-erty fast, a better solution is needed. Let the homeowner know what those options and benefits are if they work with you.

4. CALL-TO-ACTION: Your mail piece MUST have a “Call-To-Action” where you urge the homeowner to act quickly. It should be TIME-SENSITIVE to create a sense of ur-gency. This process should be goal-based, telling them exactly what you want them to do. Drive home the message to them to “call today for more information” or “visit your website”. These are a few of the most common call to actions.

5. CONTACT INFORMATION: This seems like a no-brainer, but often many people forget to add this, or have it in small print. Your contact info should be prominent right below your call-to-action. Provide your name, mailing address, phone number, fax number, email and website address directly following the call to action.

OFFER/BENEFIT EXAMPLES: • No Agent Commission: Homeowner saves money. This amounts to thousands of

dollars.

• No Repairs: We buy all houses in as-is condition. Any condition, any location.

• No Showings: No need to schedule multiple showings with non-serious buyers.

• No Stress: We can typically make you an offer within 24 hours.

• Local Market: We specialize in solving real estate problems for local homeown-ers in your area.

CALL-TO-ACTION EXAMPLES: • Please Hurry! I Need To Buy 2 Houses This Month! Call Me Today! • Call Today! I Really Need To Speak To You! • Act Now! Let Me Help You Before It’s Too Late.

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6. GUARANTEE: Companies are afraid of guarantees, but people LOVE them. A guarantee helps your prospect feel comfortable and builds trust that you really want to do right by them.

Step #4: Set Up Your Inbound SystemBefore you even think about sending out a direct mail piece, you must decide how you’re going to handle responses. You need to have your lead intake systems in place. Are you going to take phone calls in your office? Are you going to use a call center? Or are you going to send your prospects to your website to submit infor-mation to you? We’ve listed a few ways below:

• Call Center: Create a script and intake form so phone reps can answer calls for you 24/7 and email/fax you the lead sheets for your review.

• Google Voice: A virtual service that can be redirected to a 3rd party number (your cell or office). The system also records and transcribes the voicemails and emails them to you for review at your convenience.

• Website Squeeze Page: If you’re going to be using a website response option, be sure to use easy-to-type URLs. Utilize a landing/squeeze page style website designed specifically to capture your prospects name, contact info (email/phone) and address of the subject property they’re interested in selling.

EXAMPLE GUARANTEE:

• Guaranteed CASH Offer In 24Hrs Or Less

Remember!Your direct mail piece should include:

•●CatchyHeadline•●StatetheProblem•●WaysYouWillSolvetheProblem•●Offerorbenefitsyoucanprovide•●Call-To-ActiontoActQuickly•●ContactInformation(phonenumberorwebsite)

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Step #5: Fulfill Your CampaignsNow that you’ve compiled your mailing lists and created your mail pieces, you’re ready to fulfill your campaigns. Let’s discuss the difference between outsourcing and in-house fulfillment.

In-House vs. Outsource FulfillmentMany investors choose to start by fulfilling their campaigns themselves, especially in the beginning. Obviously fulfilling your list in house will be more cost effective, but you will more than likely be able to handle fulfilling only two to three mailing lists at a time. In many cases, investors become easily overwhelmed due to the time that in-house fulfillment requires; so they outsource their campaigns to an outside fulfill-ment company. Using a fulfillment company provides a turnkey solution to sending your mass mailings to the public. Although your costs will be much higher than if you do it yourself, you no longer have the stress and frustration of fulfillment, and it’s easier to implement multiple campaigns. As an alternative to using a professional mail house, you could hire someone to handle your campaigns in house for you as well.

6 Steps to a Successful Direct Mail Campaign

Helpful Tip!Typically, the smaller mailings such as expired listings, tax lien lists and probate lists, are much easier to fulfill yourself. Some of the larger lists, such as pre-foreclosures, inherit-ed properties, out of state owners and absentee owners will more than likely require a mail house to fulfill.

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System to In-House FulfillmentThis is very simple to do yourself, if you have the time to commit or hire/train some-one in your local market to do this.

• Place Ad on Craigslist - Advertise for someone to do “direct mailings from home”

• Email the Applicant an Interview Sheet - Interview those who re-spond, and create a system where they can obtain the list weekly or monthly (you will email the list to them or create a designated place from which they can download the list, i.e. from a list provider)

• Purchase Your Mailing Supplies - You will need envelopes, paper/blank post-cards, stamps (you can purchase these in bulk)

• Save Mailing List in RealeFlow - This makes it easy, because when someone calls from your marketing efforts, you have their information readily accessible in the database

• Email List to Individual Performing the Mail Merge & Fulfill the Campaign - They already have the marketing pieces on file, so it will be easy to have them fulfill the campaign

• Drop Letters Off to You - Make sure to double check the numbers for accuracy

• Drop in the Mail

There are many postage options available when distributing your direct mail campaigns. The best choice for your real estate business depends primarily on the size and frequency of your direct mail campaigns and how quickly you need them delivered.

The US Postal Service (USPS) has approved various postage systems that make it possible for business owners to forgo the typical stamp, even for low-volume mail-ings. *For the most up-to-date news on desktop and Internet postage in the United States, check in with the USPS.

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Here are some available options to you:

1. First-Class Mail: It’s quicker than most other large mailing options, and comes with an advantage: Mail sent with bad addresses is returned to you so you can update your database.

2. Presorted First-Class Mail: This option offers you a price savings over First-Class Mail. To receive the discount, you must have 500 or more pieces in the mailing and sort (or group) the mail by ZIP Code.™

3. Standard Mail: Formerly known as “bulk” mail, Standard Mail costs less than First-Class Mail, although it doesn’t provide address correction services. A minimum of 200 pieces or 50 pounds of mail is required.

If you’re doing a large mailing (and plan on doing them on a regular basis), you might want to consider investing in a postage meter. You’ll be able to post large batches of mail in no time at all. If you’re doing a smaller quantity, save yourself a trip to the post office by using an online postage service, which allows you to print postage stamps directly from your computer.

Most investors prefer to outsource this task to a company with the knowledge and equipment needed to fulfill their direct mail campaigns at the lowest postage pos-sible. Some of these companies can also combine your mailings with others to get you even more postage discounts. Before undertaking any mailings yourself, talk to a local postage and mailing company about how they might be able to help you with your monthly direct mail campaigns.

System to Outsourcing (Fulfillment Company) • Research and locate a direct mail fulfillment company to do your campaigns• Give them the marketing pieces to use as templates• Save mailing list in RealeFlow - this makes it easy, because when someone calls

from your marketing efforts, you have their information readily accessible in the database

• Provide company with your mailing list (each week)• They create and send out the mailers for you

Remember!Make sure you input your data into the Direct Mail Tracker Spreadsheet. This will help to determine the best option for you!

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Step #6: Track Your Mailings & Stay Organized

Tracking and evaluating your direct mail campaign effectively will give you a com-petitive edge over other investors because you will be able to determine where your money is best spent.

As we’ve discussed, most prospective sellers will not respond until the third or fourth time they receive a direct mail piece. Without developing direct mail systems, there will be no effective way of ensuring that your mail systems reach your pro-spective sellers each and every week. Your goal should be to set these systems up so your campaigns can run on autopilot and you can focus your efforts on buying properties.

Whenever you send out any piece of direct mail, make sure there is a way of tracking the response rate. Tracking your responses from each mailing is the only way you can figure out if it’s working like it should. Without proper tracking, it will be difficult to spend your marketing dollars wisely. Once you determine the effectiveness of a particular mailer, you should put more money into that campaign.

By doing this, you can improve on your response rate and increase your effective-ness, therefore allowing you to make wise decisions with your marketing dollars.

Postcard Response Rates• The average fulfilled postcard has the lowest response rate • Expect a .5 to 1% response rate

Direct Mail Response Rates• On average, about 30 leads may result in 10 appointments• After running the numbers and making offers on those 10 properties, you should end up

with about 1-2 under contract (on average)• You should be sending out around 3,000 mail pieces every month on average (NOTE: If

you‘re fulfilling your mail in house, you probably won’t be able to manage that volume. However, 3,000 monthly mail pieces is standard if utilizing a mail house to fulfill your campaigns, and running 3-4 drip campaigns at once.)

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Be careful not have unrealistic expectations with your response rate. It’s okay if only 1 out of 100 mailings get you a handful of phone calls. Also, when sending bulk mail, it is normally expected to receive 8-10% of your mailings returned for bad addresses.

Consistency is the key! Keep in mind you will likely get responses from your first mail-ing -- but, often it takes a little more persistence to get through to some prospects. Assuming all sellers are going to be ready to sell the first time you send mail to them is short sighted. Many people won’t respond until the 3rd, 4th, 5th or even 6th time. Sometimes, sellers will look at your mail piece for a year or more before they pick up the phone to call you. In that case, YOU want to be the one still mailing to these folks when they finally become motivated; and they will remember you because your message has been in front of them many different times. Remember, timing is every-thing and circumstances change over time.

Tracking Your ResultsAs I discussed earlier in this system, you must track your results based on the goals you set for your marketing campaign. For example, if your goal was to increase traffic to your website or increase inbound calls, put mechanisms in place to determine if web traffic or calls increased, and by how much. If you wanted more home-seller leads, how many home-seller leads were generated? And, so on.

Tracking your results starts with one very simple question: HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US? This question must be asked at every interaction (inbound call takers, web forms, etc). I’d also recommend adding a unique response tracking system (i.e. website landing page for that specific direct mail piece or a unique toll-free number, etc).

Helpful Tips!• Live postage and hand written notes will all increase

your response rate• Use colored envelopes or odd sized envelopes for even

better results• Stamps sometimes outperform metered mail• Personalize your piece with the seller’s name and the

property address that you are interested in• Colored stationary/mail piece/letterhead (see through

window)

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Wrap Up

Direct Mail Terminology

• Alternative Delivery: A method of delivery which does not use the postal system. An example would be a company like Fed-Ex or a company that will hang door hangers for you.

• Business Reply Card: A card that is included in your direct mail piece that is filled out by the recipient and dropped back in the mail to you the sender. Usually the card has a postage paid stamp so all the customer has to do is drop it back in the mail filled out.

• Bulk Rate Mailings: This is when you send a large number of mailers out at once and you can get discounted prices on your mailings.

• Co-Op Mailing: This is when several advertisers will mail together to save on costs. You can include information about another business in your letters. You can do this with other non-competitive businesses and make them pay for a majority of the mailing cost.

• Lumpy Mail: Including an odd sized object in the direct mail piece like a piece of candy or a magnet. This will increase the likelihood of your direct mail piece being opened because it stands out.

• Metered Mail: This is when your postage is printed onto the letter itself instead of being stamped. Metered mail is always cheaper than having your mail stamped, but it is never as effective because it looks more like junk mail.

• Self-Mailers: A letter that folds up into its own envelope. These generally cost less to produce and can be a great alternative to envelopes when doing bulk mailings.

#1DETERMINE YOUR BUDGET & PLAN

How much money can you commit monthly on your

drip campaign?

#2CHOOSE TARGET MARKET & SOURCE THE LISTSBased on your budget, what list type do you want to pursue?

Pull them yourself or use list providers.

#3CREATE YOUR DRIP

CAMPAIGNS Determine which mailers to use - postcards, letters, etc. & map out the sequences for different

target lists

#4SET UP YOUR

INBOUND SYSTEMSet up system to capture leads via phone/web before sending out your mail pieces (i.e. phone

numbers for tracking, call center account, lead-capture

website etc.)

#5SET UP YOUR

FULFILLMENT PROCESSDecide whether to fulfill your

campaigns in-house or outsource

#6ANALYZE

INCOMING LEADSAnalyze leads that come into your funnel and qualify them to turn them into deals

#7TRACK YOUR MAILINGS

Track your drip campaigns & response rates by using the

direct mail tracker spreadsheet. Stay organized & continue the

process monthly

DIRECT MAIL PROCESS

This information is for educational purposes. We don’t believe in push-button profits—we believe in proven business systems, education,drive and hard work. We are committed to teaching you how to reach your goals. In promoting our educational programs, we illustratesuccess stories. We want you to know, students are not compensated for their testimonials. However, many of our most successful studentsjoin our team as Coaches and Trainers. As stipulated by law, we cannot and do not guarantee results or offer legal advice. As with anybusiness, your results will vary and will be based on your drive, effort, follow-through and other variables beyond our control. We believe infull transparency, and a high standard of integrity, that is why we encourage you to read our full earnings and income disclaimer by visitingwww.fortunebuilders.com/earnings-income-disclaimers/

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