Posted by Mike on December 09, 2002 at 14:40:54:
I am going to send you some email. Thanks.
Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Heather -Tx
Posted by Heather -Tx on December 08, 2002 at 19:56:51:
Just wondering what other methods of Marketing some have found that work ?
Looking for Creative ways, things that make YOU stand out. Besides the normal Bandit signs (Dime a dozen) …Ads in Papers (penny a dozen LOL) And the occasional Magnetics signs on vehicles I see.
Im racking my brain and besides those above and Flyers, I cant seem to think of any more. MAN I need to think MORE Creativly! Anyone else have any ideas or care to share what they use ? This could be very interesting to see what wild ways others have found to get themselves known 
Good investing and Happy Holidays!
Heather
PS I did see the refrigerator art at another site and think thats a Great and Very cheap idea to get your name in their home for a week or so! And have already Got these printed up and gtg. These are the kind of ideas Im looking for Things that make you stand out from the other 500 new REI investors in your neighborhood.
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA) on December 10, 2002 at 16:18:46:
Heather–(TX)---------------
First: one of my favorite songs is “Yellow Rose of Texas.” I think Texas Women are special. Course, part of that might be because my Grandpa Starr thought that and married one, as well as did his son, my Uncle Lyle.
Anyway, down to business.
I have seen some discussion, but, in my opinion, not enough about referral sources.
Most advertising is hitting people who are not ever going to be your customer. At this time of the year, I dump out half of the pages that come in the Sunday newspapers without looking at them–advertising. Wasted money for those advertisers.
I’d suggest that you try to “think like the customer.” Where are the customers going to turn for information and help with their situation? Newspaper advertisements seem to me ok for that, as well as mailed solicitations to people facing foreclosures, etc.
I’d suggest that you try to get people to refer potential clients to you by offering large payments when you get a property, such as $500 or $1,000. Who might “stear” people to you? How about mortgage brokers who cannot get a new loan from people who are in default? How about attorneys who cannot really help the people out? How about people like Household Finance, Beneficial Finance and the like? Maybe agencies that list houses for rent or property managers–the defaulting property owners are looking for a new place to move. How about rental truck and trailer places? The last seems not so good to me. But, who knows? This is the type of thinking, though that might get your message to the right people. Maybe all the local bars in the low-income part of town? The defaulting owners are going there to drown their sorrows?
Good InvestingRon Starr***
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Wes (DFW-TX)
Posted by Wes (DFW-TX) on December 10, 2002 at 12:11:56:
Hi Heather -Tx,
I would recommend reading a “How To” article on this site called “25 Creative Real Estate Marketing Strategies”, by John Burley:
http://www.creonline.com/articles/art-158.html
It has some very good ideas, and as John says in the article - try as many as you can (as your marketing budget allows, of course).
Wes (DFW-TX)
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by rm
Posted by rm on December 09, 2002 at 21:17:10:
For some reason, “creative” seems to be equated with “more expensive.”
I have found that, to a degree, the more expensive the medium, the higher the cost per lead.
Focus on finding INEXPENSIVE ways to market. And keep the marketing costs down. Try to get several low-cost campaigns running, and keep them running. Often, the more successful a company gets, the more inefficiently it spends its marketing dollars.
Paul and Sarah Edwards have an excellent book on this topic called, “Getting Business to Come to You.”
It’s huge, and has more ideas than you could ever use.
And by the way, the reason you see all those signs and ads is because they work. Don’t be fooled into thinking that your market is too small for the same ads and signs placed by you.
Thanks For all the ideas! - Posted by Heather -Tx
Posted by Heather -Tx on December 09, 2002 at 19:26:12:
Thanks alot for taking the time to give out some ideas that seem to work for you all. Im going to give alot of these a try, Even if only one new idea a month maybe due to budget… UNTIL I Get that first deal. Then Im going to spend a nice chunk of that getting my name out there more!
Heather
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by JoeB(Atlanta)
Posted by JoeB(Atlanta) on December 08, 2002 at 21:16:44:
Hi Heather, we’ve tried most of the following with varying results–but you can expirement with them too.
Direct mail/postcards sent out every week, hits a homeowner every 4 mos, again and again (most of our deals come this way).
Lumpy mail (put some gimmicky thing in envelope with your letter, ie coin, aspirin, pen, fake stick of dynamite, mini trashcan) where you link the item to your message.
Pay kids to hand out flyers to all doorknobs or mailboxes in your area.
Voiceblast (you pre-record a 30-sec msg and voiceblast vendors send it out to your list of hundreds or thousands of homeowners instantly) your area every month.
Write articles for local newspaper and/or smaller community papers educating (briefly) homeowners on how to sell subject-to, how to lease-option, etc.
Put several “WeBuyHouses” signs in the front yd of every home you have.
Those are just a few off the top of my head. Dan Kennedy has been the marketing guru that’s helped us the most (type his name into search engine to get his site and materials).
Best of success,
Joe Brillante
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Mike
Posted by Mike on December 08, 2002 at 21:05:42:
Great question. The most creative marketing technique I’ve tried so far is putting up fliers on the bulletin boards of supermarkets.
I would like to put more thought into creative direct mail pieces. I think this could be an effective marketing tool if done well.
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Trevor
Posted by Trevor on December 08, 2002 at 20:31:17:
Hi Heather,
I am running into the same problem. I was seriously thinking about doing a billboard.
Trevor
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Heather -Tx
Posted by Heather -Tx on December 09, 2002 at 21:27:52:
Oh I have the Bandit signs and ads too Just looking for even more ways to ad to our marketing. And not all are expensive, Then personalized pens at 19cents each are very inexpensive… along with some others mentioned. The Frig art is almost Free, and once you get to meet them once, They might just have that up on their fridge for a week or more. I plan on doing as many Inexpensive ones as I can all at the same time… and add one at a time in the mix to test them out
Good Investing!
Heather
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by James Buster
Posted by James Buster on December 10, 2002 at 17:02:02:
Somebody in Tampa is doing the billboard thing. Big billboards with purple backgrounds and a white house outline, proclaiming “we buy foreclosures”.
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Heather -Tx
Posted by Heather -Tx on December 08, 2002 at 20:32:16:
I was thinking of adding Park Benches LOL
Creative vs. Effective Marketing - Posted by rm
Posted by rm on December 10, 2002 at 06:02:27:
Just be sure that what you’re using is actually working.
When I worked as an agent, I can’t tell your how many times I listed a home that had a magnet on the frig with some other agent’s mug on it.
You have to look at what you want to accomplish. You’ve mentioned 2 “premiums” that I don’t think are well-suited to what you want to get- calls from distressed sellers.
Frig art and logo pens work for businesses that a customer patronizes more frequently than your target market. A pizza place, an insurance agent, etc. who will do multiple transactions with you.
Logo pens and frig art might make sense if you’re prospecting bankers, attorneys, investors- people who will either send/conduct business with you multiple times over time.
IMO, a one-shot customer (distressed seller) is NOT going to post your frig art. The sales cycle is not long enough, nor does the transaction frequency ideally match the target. On a personal note, I have never rummaged through my pen drawer to find someone’s number, yet half the pens I own have somebody’s company info on it. Come to think of it, I’ll have to remember this idea next time I need someone’s number!
I golf a lot. Because I sometimes play awfully, I’m in the woods at times, trying to find my ball. I’ll often stumble across a ball with a company logo on it. But I’ve never seen a logo ball and said, “Hey- I should call these folks.” It could be said that it contributes to “top-of-mind consciousness.” But did it, really? The average American is exposed to literally thousands of marketing messages every day. And how many CALLS does image advertising generate?
That said, go ahead and test it. Just make sure to ask specifically how they found out about you, when they call. Maybe ask if they saw your name in various places. If you start hearing that they had your thing on the frig, or they found your pen at a restaurant… and you hear it CONSISTENTLY, then by gosh, keep doing it.
Good marketing, good investing to you.
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Dan(FL)
Posted by Dan(FL) on December 08, 2002 at 21:22:44:
Your lol but here you can advertise on the bus stop benches. Just my 2 cents Dan(FL)
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Bill
Posted by Bill on December 08, 2002 at 20:45:22:
I would never put flyers on cars in the parking lots but I did walk around Wal-Marts parking lot and hand out individual flyers to people. I handed out 200 of them. Every person smiled at me when I handed it to them so I guess they weren’t annoyed. Now I’ll have to see if I get any results
Re: Creative vs. Effective Marketing - Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA) on December 10, 2002 at 14:49:57:
rm-----------
Opps, I addressed my earlier response to the original poster rather than you. Sorry.
Good Investing and Good EducatingRon Starr*
Re: Creative vs. Effective Marketing - Posted by Ronald * Starr (In No CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr (In No CA) on December 10, 2002 at 14:47:16:
Heather–(TX)---------
I liked this post. It seems both sensible and smart to me. And a god reminder to think carefully about advertising. I hadn’t really thought much about the dimension you bring up: one time vs multipble contacts, but it makes a lot of sense to me.
Good Investing and Good Adv(ert)isingRon Starr**
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by vern
Posted by vern on December 09, 2002 at 13:00:49:
Heather,
One way that is creative is to offer vacations for those that lease option, buy a house from you, or sell there house to you. I have 7 day Carribean Cruises for $100 each and 4 day criuses for $75 each. Let me know if you are interested in ordering.
Thanks,
Vern
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Tim Fierro (Tacoma, WA)
Posted by Tim Fierro (Tacoma, WA) on December 09, 2002 at 18:14:56:
Vern,
What’s the catch, if any, on getting cruises for $100?
I bring it up as someone @ Thursday Peral Jam concert was trying to trade tickets to Mexico for PJ tickets. I immediately thought of those $100 type deals you hear about. I passed, and I think most others did thinking it was a situation where you are limited when you can travel and other problems.
Do the cruises you offer have any special conditions?
Re: Creative Marketing ??? - Posted by Mike
Posted by Mike on December 09, 2002 at 14:31:29:
Vern. Great idea. I would be interested in getting info about these offers. Is there a website I can check out?