The Helpful Pointer

Direct mail post cards are one of the fastest and most economical ways to reach your customers. And, because there’s no envelope to open your messages are seen as soon as your post cards are taken out of the mailboxes. Consequently, you have the ability to instantly establish a connection, or kill a deal, so your message must be attractively packaged.

In keeping with that there are important elements of direct mail campaigns that you must include in order to get the most out of your marketing efforts. For example:

1) Keep it simple. Keep copy simple, direct, short and to the point. Also, use words that motivate.

2) Create bold headlines. Grab the reader’s attention and make them at least think about your advertisement.

3) Ask questions. Asking questions is also an attention getter, as the readers of your mailings are likely to pause and think of an answer.

4) Solve their problems. Remember that real estate sales people are in the problem solving business. Your prospects have real estate related problems, and your aim is to have solutions to them.

5) Call to action. Always include a call to action; the prospect must be motivated to respond. Be clear and direct about what it is you want them to do.

6) Choose appealing colors and fonts. Your choice and use of colors, font sizes, white space, etc influences the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, as does your ability to tailor your marketing messages to your targeted audience.

Marketing mailers, flyers, brochures and post cards are more affordable and accessible than ever, as they can now be easily published from your computer. Or, you can still go the conventional route of purchasing your marketing materials from a third party vendor.

And because they’re so affordable small businesses and individuals can wager year round marketing campaigns.

There’s no shortage of statistics about the importance of consistent advertising, but the bottom line is that repetition builds recognition. So, when you start a mailing campaign commit to it for the long haul, as it can take 3- 7 mailings before the recipients connect the mailings with you and your services, at which time you’ll be more than half way there.

So, the main goal of direct mail marketing campaigns is to get your name before as many people as you can, as often as you can, so that when buyers and sellers in your community need an agent they’ll think of you.

The more marketing pieces you put into prospects hands the sooner you develop warm and hot leads, prospects ready to do business with you. And the more frequently you do it the more leads you develop for sustaining your career.

Full gloss direct mail post cards can evoke powerful visual images with short, compelling marketing and sales messages - your messages! And with a direct mail marketing campaign you can deliver your sales messages quickly, often and save money doing it.

So, begin a direct mailing campaign when you’re ready to

• generate more leads with less time and effort

• create a steady stream of responsive prospects, and

• brand yourself as the agent/business of choice

Direct mail is a cost effective solution for every budget, and when combined with face to face, website interaction and other marketing strategies is so effective that it can set the tone for and sustain a real estate agent’s career.

Repeated mailings of a single, strong direct mail piece is a very effective strategy for Realtors on limited budgets, and consistently produces one of the highest rates of return on a small to mid-size size marketing budget… and did I mention you’ll save time while doing it?

Keeping customers informed of your real estate marketing efforts and successes should be your top priority, and simple, eye-catching post cards can be the solution!

Lanard Perry is the webmaster of “Real-Estate-Marketing-Talk”, a real estate marketing site for real estate agents, buyers, sellers and investors. Discover more direct mail marketing ideas at http://www.real-estate-marketing-talk.com/direct-mail-post-cards.html

People put off until tomorrow only those decisions they lack the confidence to make today. We live in a society where no one has time. How ironic is that we don’t have time to do the things we want, but your prospect is going to spend time to think about it? Sure there will be times when your prospect will have to think and ponder about this decision. Most of the time it is a knee jerk reaction, and the prospect is feeling a need to buy and they feel the pressure to buy, so now they will put you off. Remember if you do have to follow up, after they are thinking about it, the emotion has left and you need to reignite the fire before you complete your follow-up.

You will hear
I need to think about it
I want to sleep on it
We don’t jump into things
I’ll give you a call tomorrow

Why?
Fear of making the wrong choice
Some people are lazy or don’t want to change
Some feel stress and push away
Don’t see all the benefits
Being Nice and don’t want to say no
They really do
Need to talk to partner
Analytical personality

Handle The Procrastination Upfront

It is really great to see somebody who knows how to make a decision. I appreciate your time I know you are really busy and I know how valuable your time is, I’m going to get right down to business. I’m sure you realize my schedule and that my time also is valuable. So with this in mind, I’ll explain all of the facts and if you have any questions, I will be delighted to answer them. If we feel this business and investment fits your needs, I expect you to tell me. On the other hand if you feel as though it doesn’t, please tell me and I’ll be on my way.

Let’s make an agreement, Mrs. prospect, I’m not a high pressure consultant, so you don’t have worry about me trying to get you involved with anything you don’t want. All I want to do today is show you how to increase your income in your business and how it will work for you. Please do me a favor and let me know today if this is a good fit. Fair enough?

Smoke Screen

Do you mind if I ask what aspect of this business you are going to give careful consideration? (think over) Is it the quality of the service? Is it something I have forgotten to cover? Could it be the financial aspects?
If they say yes - handle the concern.

No Nonsense

Look, Mr. Prospect, you and I have spent a couple of hours together, and we both know that this is the right choice for you. There is no reason why you shouldn’t buy today…..

Humor

Mr. Prospect You’re not telling me this just to get rid of me, are you?

End of Your Rope

Mr. prospect either this is a good idea or it is not a good idea so lets make a decision right now (be silent) and they will sign and the others won’t and you won’t have to waste time.

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Beware of the common mistakes presenters and persuaders commit that cause them to lose the deal. Get your free report 10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands and explode your income today.

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you’ve seen some success, but think of the times you couldn’t get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade.

Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available!

Kurt Mortensen teaches over a hundred techniques to give you the ability to effectively work with every customer that walks in your door. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others. Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income.

If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to http://www.PreWealth.com and getting my free report “10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands.” After reading my free report, go to http://www.PreWealth.com/IQ and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale!

Do you feel frustrated at the lack of response to your sales
letters? Do you avoid devising mailers because they are a “waste
of time and effort”? Writing sales letters is an art that
everyone can learn. It is an essential skill for sellers, as the
selling letter must do the job we ourselves would do if we were
present with our customer. You would not drop a brochure on your
customer’s desk and say nothing! And yet, that is what many
sales letters effectively do. They TELL a lot, but SELL nothing.

Why do we talk of “junk mail” in derogatory terms? “Straight
into the dustbin” is the usual comment. In fact, this belies the
fact of how we handle direct mail. Research by the DMA-UK shows
that 69% of business people read direct mail, and 81% of
homeowners read theirs. Moreover, when you know how to harvest
it, you can reap the benefit of this potentially huge readership.

Why does direct mail suffer from such bad press? Mainly because
the letters tell us what they want to tell us, irrespective of
what we might want to hear.

Let’s look at direct mail from the receiver’s point of view,
show you exactly how direct mail is handled when received, and
show you how to garner more attention for your offers, and
better response rates if you are looking for an action from your
reader. How is it read? Do we automatically throw direct
mail shots in the bin? Actually, we don’t. Consider the last
piece of direct mail you received. You looked at the envelope.
Your name was spelt correctly- or you got a little irritated
that it was incorrectly spelt. You opened the envelope.

Consciously or otherwise, you are likely to have scanned (in
order): * The logo of the sender * The spelling of your name and
address. Your job title. * The headline of the letter * The
signature of the sender * The P.S. * The first sentence of the
lead paragraph.

By now, over 95% of readers will have lost interest at some
stage, and your letter is on its way to the dustbin.

Lets’ look at these elements and see how we lose them, and how
you can better hold and focus your reader’s attention.

Company logo

Not much there to lose a reader you may think. However, if you
have had a bad experience with the sending company the mere
sight of their logo can be a major turn off. Personally, any
letter from Hewlett Packard gets my immediate thumbs down, due
to an horrendous experience with one of their printers a couple
of years ago. Nobody at HP would take any responsibility for
solving the problem. It took over seven months to get a refund
on a printer that was faulty from day one. Good-bye and thank
you!

Customer name & address. There is NOTHING that drives
people nuts the way a misspelling of their name does.

As a sales coach and trainer I have learned this lesson the hard
way. The slightest error on a name card, say, and out comes the
pen to correct it. Kathleen with a “K” or a “C”. Stephen with a
“ph” or a “v”. Anne, with or without an “e” on the end. Our
given name is the thing that distinguishes us as individuals. We
love it. We can’t resist the sound of it. A man named Tony will
pay little attention to a shout of “Jack”, but call his name and
he is genetically programmed to respond. He will search for the
source of the sound. He will tell those around him to quieten.

When the sale letter starts “Dear customer” or “Dear fellow
gardener” you know you are one of the lucky 50,000 people
getting this letter today. I’m only a number, a category.
Where’s that dustbin?

Personalise and go to whatever lengths it takes in order to
spell your recipient’s name, title and address correctly.

Headline

This is one of the major milestones and is the death of many
mailers.

Suppose you pay an electricity / gas bill each month. You have
received a letter from the utility company and the headline
reads: “Are electricity prices causing you panic attacks? Reduce
your bill by 25% per month”. Into the dustbin? I don’t think so,
because the headline grabs you! Cost is a concern of every
electricity bill payer. “Special FREE offer to previous Dell
computer owners”. You are a Dell user. Dustbin? Naaaah! Let’s
see what they are offering. Yes, we know it’s a sales letter,
but let’s check anyway.

Your headline must spell out the biggest Promise, Value,
Benefit, Guarantee, or Merit that the reader will receive in
return for reading the letter and taking some action. And the
headline must have impact! It must appeal to THIS reader. (See
“Magic words” below for content ideas). Even better if your
headline incorporates the Problem, the Solution, and the Target
Audience in the headline. People are focussed on problems!
Define the target’s key problem and offer a solution combined
for big impact. “Do you find it difficult to find maternity
clothes that really fit? Here is your answer” Problem,
solution, target audience. Your target readers will want to know
what it is about.

Notes for Email: Headlines Think about this. You open
your Outlook Express in the morning and maybe a hundred emails
are downloaded. How do you decide which ninety five emails to
zap? Simple. You base it on the content of each Subject
Line!

Therefore, if you wish to have your selling email opened by
others, the Subject Line becomes the most important part of the
whole email! Getting your email opened by the recipient may be
your toughest task. Pay as much attention to your email subject
line as you would to the construction an advertisement headline
(and you usually pay a pro to do that for you)….See notes
above on headlines.

Signature of Sender

Again, apparently not that important. But how convinced are you
by the guy who signs the Reader’s Digest letters- “Tom
Champagne”. You think this is a real man? You innocent old
thing. Our company sends out approximately 1200 pieces of direct
mail once every six weeks and I insist that each one is
personally signed with my name. (I do my share, but our staff
members do the bulk of the signing). Each $1000 we invest in
direct mail returns approximately $13000 in revenue. Real people
signing in real ink is, I believe, an important element in the
success of this initiative.

And we hand write the salutation. Another little touch which
tells our readers they really exist for us. Troublesome, yes,
but look at the financial return.

The P.S. Along with the headline, if people read nothing
else they will generally read the PS! The PS is an essential
part of sales letters and every letter should have one. (The
equivalent in an email is the “signature”…..a subtle sales
message with a call to action which should be contained
automatically in email that leaves your office).

Your P.S. should contain the biggest Promise, Value, Benefit,
Guarantee, or Merit that the reader will receive in return for
reading the letter and taking some action. - and it must have
value for them..

Lead Paragraph / sentence. By now if you still have your
reader, you need to firmly hook them to read the remainder of
your letter. How? By ensuring that your lead para/ sentence
contains the biggest Promise, Value, Benefit, Guarantee, or
Merit that the reader will receive in return for reading the
letter and taking some action-the MWR- your Most Wanted
Response. If you can persuade your reader to get as far as
this, they are likely highly interested and will read the
complete letter.

Body of the Sales letter Notice that EVERYTHING so far is
focussed on your reader? Nothing at all about yourself yet.
Excellent! Until your readers are hooked in something of high
value to themselves, you and your service are unimportant.
Didn’t you learn that in Selling Basics? I know, it just slipped
your mind for a moment.

The body of your letter is where you give your reader the
essential facts and information. It can be relatively
straightforward, as your reader now wants this information.
Remember to use short paragraphs, sub headings, and bullet
points to highlight certain aspects for them. Words and language
are the tools of your trade so each word, phrase, and sentence
must be examined for its “word picture” impact on your reader.
Too many so- called sales letters are informative, but can be
negative in persuading us to give the MWR. Litmus Test: If I
suggested that something was “cheap” what would you
automatically associate with the item? See what I mean. Words
such as “shoddy”, “inferior”, “poor quality” probably popped
into your mind. Yet recently, I received a mailer with the
headline: “We make the CHEAPEST shock absorbers in town!”
Dustbin! Every word in your letter, mailer, or web page must be
crafted to do a job for you. Understanding that every word
generates a meaning or a picture in your reader’s mind, each
word must be tested for relevance. You don’t really want me to
believe that you make shoddy shock absorbers, do you?

Long copy works If you have hooked your reader and they
want information, there is no need to confine your letter to
being a one pager. Long copy works. If possible though, arrange
to break your sentences in midstream at the page turnover stage,
with a “(cot’d next page”) indicator….. preferably on a juicy
point you are making.

The 12 most persuasive words in the English language A
study conducted at UCLA (1988) shows the following to be the
most persuasive words in the English language: You, Free,
Discover, Proven, Save, Health, Safe, Love, Value, Extra, New,
Announcing. And if these are the most persuasive words in
our language, what are the implications for you when writing
sales letters designed to garner an MWR? In your headlines,
P.S.’s, lead paragraphs, and body copy use these “magic words”
to generate positive images and associations in your reader’s
minds and you will greatly increase your chances of getting your
MWR.

So much expense is wasted on fancy four colour glossy brochures
that fail the most important test. They fail to get the MWR.
Words sell! If oyou owuld really like ot understand this, here
is the biggest favour I’ll do for you. Download this book and
learn to to do the business! “Make Your Words Sell!” is
incontestably the best book on the topic of writing for the web/
email/ direct salesletters,. Highly recommended if you want to
write sparkling targeted copy. Check it out here:
http://myws.sitesell.com/GEC.html

And you must ask for action in every letter. “Act now”, “For a
limited time only”, “Respond today”. Make it easy for them to
get back to you.

Golden rules of Direct Response: 40 % of response comes
from the value and desirability of your offer. 40 % of your
response comes from making your offer to the right target
audience. 20% comes from the creative “packaging ” of your offer.

Resources: If you really wish to write copy that sells,
“Make Your Words Sell”…… http://myws.sitesell.com/GEC.html
……is the Bible. Particularly strong on understanding your
customer’s mindset and how to appeal to it. And great
information on making your words do their selling job. Check
this out, even if you do not wish to purchase. This book
includes two extra books - “How to write anE-book”, and
“The 333 most persuasive words in English” (categorised)
http://myws.sitesell.com/GEC.html And for Those Selling a
Service… or Could Be! It’s *THE* Most Overlooked
Opportunity on the Net. Build an ever-growing client base until
you can say… “I’m sorry… I’m not taking new clients.” A
Theme-Based Content Site is perfect because every personal
service revolves around a theme. DL this 306 page Free book to
your desktop. (PDF file zipped) It seriously over -delivers, and
will focus your thinking about your personal service business
big time. http://service-selling.sitesell.com/GEC.html
Copywriting: Jennifer Stewart is a master of the English
language. If you’d like learn how to give your business writing/
letters, / web pages/ direct mailers a selling makeover, her
site is well worth the click!

You can reach her here:
http://www.write101.com/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=maiti
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