Real Estate Marketing Blog

YOU ARE LOSING MONEY…GUARANTEED

If you are not contacting clients, friends and acquaintances monthly!

GOLDEN RULES that you should follow in order to be a Success.

1.     You MUST contact your past clients, friends and acquaintances at least every month.

Over 50% of your business should come from referrals. YOU ARE LOSING MONEY If you are not mailing your contact list consistently. The larger your list the more successful you will be. You really need to sit down and put this lists into a workable database.

2.      Mail Just Listed/ Just Sold / Market updates and Open House Postcards.

Announce your success. Since referrals are the largest part of your business and you want to build up your contact list, these are the second most effective tool at your disposal. You should mail the entire neighborhood and also your current contact list.

3.     Set a Budget and track your results over time

The beauty of direct marketing is that is affordable and track able. If you have 400 contacts then you could be mailing them twelve times per year for as little as 47 cents each or $188 per month. One sale and you pay for the entire year.

4.     Become known as a specialist of your farm.

A business with no prospects will die. You need a reliable consistent source of leads. Since most consumers perceive all real estate professionals to be pretty much the same you must find ways to differentiate yourself. I get calls everyday from customers thanking me two years later telling me that they now get 25, 30 and even 50% of all listings in their neighborhood.

CORPORATE PROGRAMS AND BENEFITS:

• DISCOUNTS: We offer different levels of discounts depending upon the number of employees and ordering level.
• FLEXABILITY: YOU choose how YOU want us to work with YOU! We can work with one manager or individual agents.
• CUSTOMIZATION: We can develop a line of cards JUST FOR YOU or you can use our stock / custom products and Brand them to your company.
• FREE SUPPLIES: We will put together a corporate price list; send you FREE catalogs and samples of any items you wish.
• PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT:  We know what works and what doesn’t! You tell us your ideas, goals and budgets and we will present you with options of how to achieve your goals.

While all of ReaMark’s real estate postcards are printed on the highest-quality, heavy 12 point, gloss stock paper, not all ReaMark postcards are created equally! What I mean is that some postcards generate better results than others. Here are the best rated postcards based on our customer’s feedback:

1. Recipes: Recipe postcards are a great way to build relationships with your clients and prospects by reminding them of your services through mail, while providing them with the gift of a delicious recipe. People love our exclusive recipes and are sure to save the postcard, along with your contact information. Your clients will use these recipes repeatedly, and each time they will be reminded of your real estate services.

2. Home Tips: Second to recipes, we get the best feedback on our Home Tips postcards.  Because each card features a helpful hint that any homeowner will appreciate, they are sure to keep them until they are ready to buy or sell. The longer someone keeps your information, they more likely they will be to use it!

3. Spot 6 Differences: These visual puzzles are irresistible to anyone! Young or old, people will pick up these cards and stare at them for 5 minutes or more! And because we put your name on the front and the back of each card, you get double the exposure! Just imagine how long people will be staring at your cards and contact information. No other postcard out there gives you that kind of concentrated attention for that long!

Add value to your marketing postcards by choosing a product that people are interested in or have a reason to hang onto. When people want to share the information that you send them, they also share your contact information. In these tough economic times, ReaMark wants to help you make the most of your marketing buck. For more marketing tips, to ask questions or place an order, call us at 800-932-2957 and visit our website at www.ReaMark.com.

Occasionally I talk to realtors who complain that they aren’t seeing fantastic results from their direct mail campaign, and the first question I always ask it, “Who are you mailing”. And every time I get practically the same answer, “a farm or prospecting list”. Before you spend a penny prospecting, you need to be mailing your friends, family, and past clients consistently. The top-producing agents know this and have a list of warm contacts, or their sphere of influence, of approximately 400 people. For realtors just starting off, your list may be smaller, 50 or 100 people. But your efforts will be best spent on growing this list overtime. People who know you and trust you are much more likely to call on you when they need to buy or sell.

The second question I ask these realtors is, “How often are you mailing and how long have you been doing it?” At ReaMark, our marketing specialists know that it takes consistent marketing over a time period of at least 6 months before you can really expect to see results. Research shows that approximately 8% of homeowners move each year. The likelihood of someone needing your services at the exact time they receive a single mailing from you is rather low. However, if you continue to market the same person, month after month, when they do have a real estate need, you will be the first person that they think of. Approximately 62% of Sellers will use the first realtor that they call. So it is imperative that you keep your name, face and telephone number in their reach month after month.

ReaMark makes keeping in touch with your sphere of influence easy and affordable. You could mail 100 of your past clients every month for an estimated cost of about 50¢ each. So for about $50 a month you can stay in contact and keep your name and face fresh in their memory to ensure they call you next time they need to buy or sell. Any lapses in marketing such as missed mailings, inconsistent or infrequent mailings could result in lost opportunities, lost business, and ultimately lost income!  For more marketing tips, to ask questions or place an order, call us at 800-932-2957 and visit our website at www.ReaMark.com.

Dear Fellow Real Estate Professional,

Hello I’m Richard Brown, president of ReaMark. I have been in direct marketing for over 25 years with the last 12 years helping Real Estate Professionals, just like you, substantially increase their listings, sales and ultimately their income.

Times are tough in today’s ever changing real estate market. However, all signs point to a slow but steady rise in our business. Affordability is at an all time high while interest rates are at record lows.

Each year I personally take hundreds of calls and the same questions keep popping up time and time again. “Rick, what works best? How can I make more money?”

So last week I sat down, got away from the kids, and really thought about all of the success stories, trials and errors that Realtors have told me during the past two years. With all being equal why are some realtors more successful than others? What does actually work? What has been proven time and time to be the Golden Truths of success? What makes a top agent? How can my business survive when I have less money to spend because I am making less money?

One glaring fact is that my business only makes money if the programs we recommend make you money. And I came up with the four things you should be doing if you are serious about increasing your annual income.

1. You MUST contact your past clients contact list at least every month.

Over 50% of your business should come from referrals. If you are not mailing your contact list then you are losing money. You contact list should includes anyone who knows you, your friends and your family. The larger the list the more successful you will be. You really need to sit down and put this list into a workable database.

2. Mail Just Listed/ Just Sold / Market Updates and Open House Postcards.

Announce your success. Since referrals are the largest part of your business and you want to build up your contact list, these are the second most effective tools at your disposal. You should mail the entire neighborhood and also your current contact list. If your budget is strained these could be part of your planned monthly budget but for better results you should be doing these mailings in addition to your regular contact list.

3. Track your results over time.
The beauty of direct marketing is that is affordable and trackable. If you have 400 contacts then you could be mailing them 12 times per year for as little as 47 cents each or $188 per month. One sale and you pay for the entire year of marketing!

4.Become known as a specialist of your farm.

A business with no prospects will die. You need a reliable consistent source of leads. Since most consumers perceive all real estate professionals to be pretty much the same, you must find ways to differentiate yourself. I get calls everyday from customers thanking me two years later telling me that they now get 50% or more of all listings in their neighborhood. Walk your neighborhood twice per year, create and submit articles and or advertise in the neighborhood newsletters and finally educate them on community activities including the local real estate market.

Did you know that ReaMark can mail your postcards/newsletters/calendars or other marketing materials directly to your clients? All you have to do is send us your mailing list and we will handle all of the details for you. No longer will you have to hassle with applying hundreds of address labels and stamps to your marketing materials and then hauling them off to the post office. Let ReaMark do the work for you! We start by CASS certifying your mailing list, to remove any invalid or duplicate addresses. Then, we ink-jet your clients’ addresses directly onto the marketing piece for a professional finished look. Plus, we add FREE UV coating to all postcards that are mailed with ReaMark’s Mailing Service. Lastly we deliver mail to the post office twice a week to ensure your product mails as soon as production is complete. To learn more, ask questions or place an order, call us at 800-932-2957 or visit our website as www.ReaMark.com.

How to Market Yourself in a Slow Market with Real Estate Postcards

Even though the market can be tough right now, abandoning your marketing plan can be detrimental to your business. If you’re depending on all your past clients to just remember you, then you may be shocked to hear this fact: On average, only 35.5% of homebuyers would use the same agent again without regular contact. That means that you can be losing a whopping 64.5% of your business if you do not market yourself regularly.

In a slow market, rather than cut your marketing plan altogether, trim your expenses to accommodate your budget. Direct mail is proven to be the most cost-effective offline marketing medium. By sending postcards, you can market to each client/prospect every month for as little as 37 cents! 

Your past clients and their referrals on average should account for about 80% of your business. So before you spend a dime prospecting, make sure you market to your client and personal contact list first. Direct mail allows you to track your response rate so you can segment your client list and prospect list and make cuts where necessary.

For more information on Real Estate Postcards and other marketing products, please visit ReaMark.com or call 800-932-2957.

Last month, ReaMark Real Estate Marketing Products celebrated the accomplishment of serving 40,000 satisfied customers. We are very proud of how customers have responded to our unconditional commitment to service, and accomplishing this feat rewards us with confidence.  Most of our customers are ordering our exclusively designed Real Estate Postcards and Real Estate Newsletters. With over 40,000 customers in all fifty states, we receive a large variety of requests for certain types of products. One of our best sellers this year has been our NEW “Spot Six Differences” Real Estate Postcards and our NEW Mail-able Seed Packets. We have also seen a 15% sales increase in our four-page Real Estate Newsletters.

The secret to our success is that we treat each and every customer as the most important customer we have. We realize and understand the importance of what we provide to our Real Estate Professionals, and are not afraid to go the extra mile to make sure that they are satisfied. It is not uncommon for our trained Real Estate sales consultants to assist two or three agents on one call; by ordering as a group customers are able to maximize the value that we provide.

In regards to marketing, it is now Fourth-of-July season for realtors, so we are receiving a lot of orders for Fourth-of-July Real Estate Postcards and Seed Packets. Maintaining our commitment to customer service, we make sure that most orders ship within just three days of receipt.

We realize that times are tough, especially in the Real Estate market. So, we have not increased any of our prices, even though the cost of paper has increased three times in the last twelve months. We feel very fortunate and sincerely appreciate each and every customer we serve with our Real Estate Marketing Products

Why JUST SOLD Real Estate Postcards are your best marketing value right now!

Throughout my nine years of working in Real Estate Marketing, and over two decades of experience in direct marketing, I am yet to find a promotional tool as essential in increasing your leads listing and sales as JUST SOLD Postcards.

With all of the turmoil and media creating concerns regarding buying a home right now, many potential buyers are waiting on the sideline. The best way to prove that Right now is still a good time to buy is to announce your success, in order to generate confidence in your clients and spread the word throughout the neighborhood.

Most of our top agents are mailing at least two JUST SOLD Postcards per month, many including multiple sales accomplishments on a single card, in order to get the best bang for their buck. 

Since referrals should account for over 60% of your business, it is especially important to create a buzz and positive mindset in your previous clients, family, and friends. JUST SOLD Postcards accomplish this by announcing your home-sales to a large group of people on a regular basis.

In addition to JUST SOLD and JUST LISTED cards, over 34,000 of our active customers are also sending out quarterly Market updates. By reporting this information on Jumbo Postcards or in newsletter format, Real Estate experts are drawing in business while informing their target market in an innovative and professional way.

Do not wait any longer! If you have recently sold properties, you owe it to yourself to announce your success. Remember: success breeds success.

At ReaMark, we offer a huge selection of eye-catching and professional looking Real Estate Postcards that can be custom-printed and mailed for as little as 41 cents each.

With the real estate market being slow, you may be wondering if you should continue to use real estate marketing products to drum up business. The answer really depends on your budget, but one thing is for certain: If you are not consistently mailing your past clients and contacts regularly, then you are losing money. The scary fact is this: Only about 12% of sellers use an agent they’ve used before. But your chances of getting a past client’s business again dramatically increase if you’re keeping in touch with them regularly. Direct mail including postcards, newsletters and calendars are the most inexpensive offline way to market to your clients and contacts on a regular basis.

The general rule of thumb in business is that 20% of your clients will be responsible for 80% of your income. This percentage will most likely be higher for Real Estate Professionals if you consider that much of your business comes from referrals from these clients. This means that you are not only marketing for past clients’ business, you are also marketing for them to refer their friends and family members. By mailing them regularly, they’ll be more likely to remember you if someone they know is looking for an agent.

If you’re having trouble covering your marketing costs with the income you are generating, cut back on the prospecting. You should find that it is more cost-effective to market to past clients than to spend money on finding new ones. For more info on real estate marketing products visit ReaMark.com or for marketing advice, call (800) 932-2957.

By sending out real estate postcards regularly, you can gradually build your client base and increase your referrals. Your monthly mailings will serve as a reminder of your services to past clients and will familiarize you to prospects. And by mailing regularly, you help to ensure that your cards will arrive at the key time when they are looking to sell or buy. All of ReaMark’s postcards are professionally designed by our graphics team to stand out in the mail. And you can bet that because over 30,000 Realtors use us for their marketing, we know what works. Also, right now if you order 5 styles of postcards, you get the 6th style for FREE. Here are some different ideas to set up your postcard mail campaign:

1. Choose from anyone of our 30+ series to mail out. We have a huge selection of series including Recipes, Home Tips, Animal Cards, Scenic/Inspirational, Comics, Spot 6 Difference Cards, and Feel Right at Home farming cards. Each series has 12 cards so you can mail out every month.

2. Seasonal postcards for monthly prospecting are a great way to connect with clients and prospects. Holidays and events are a great way to keep in touch, because most everybody has those things in common. Some special events during the year include Spring and Fall Time Change, 4^th of July, Halloween, Memorial and Labor Days, Thanksgiving and the December Holidays.

3. Just Listed Postcards and Just Sold Postcards serve the excellent purpose of physically showing clients and prospects that you are active in the business and that you get results. It is important to send Just Listed/Just Sold cards out in neighborhoods that you have listings in, so the neighbors can see that you are their local expert. It is also crucial that you send these out at the very least to your past clients, so they’ll remember that you get the job done when they (or somebody they know) are ready to buy or sell.

For other marketing ideas using Real Estate Postcards or any other promotional products, please call ReaMark at (800) 932-2957 or visit ReaMark.com