Printers & Direct Marketing - Posted by Beach Boy

Real Estate Investing
1

Posted by Sophie on October 31, 1999 at 13:44:42:

Bill,

Thanks for sharing that great idea. I’m in the process of sending out a letter (from Joe Kasier’s Ultimate Lease Program) to “for rent” and “for sale”.

I was wondering though, if you don’t mind sharing, where did you come up with your brochure? And basically what did it say? Have you used Bill Bronchick’s brochure from his course? I’ve been planning to send something to out of state owners, but haven’t come up with the right vehicle yet. I could use some pointers, and the wisdom of your experience.

Thanks for sharing your information.

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Printers & Direct Marketing - Posted by Beach Boy

Posted by Beach Boy on October 30, 1999 at 21:57:58:

Hello All,

Newbie question for all the folks using direct mail to look for motivated sellers: does it matter what type of printer you use to print your materials? Specifically, do you send out marketing materials with colors in them or stick with more a professional black & white look you’d get from a laser printer? What gets a better response? The reason I’m asking is that my HP LaserJet just crapped out on me and I got to get a new one. I understand that direct mail is an important part of canvassing for business and wanted to ask this question before buying another printer (this week).

Thanks,
Beach Boy

3

Re: Printers & Direct Marketing - Posted by Bill K. (AZ)

Posted by Bill K. (AZ) on October 31, 1999 at 01:31:53:

Beach Boy,

I found that my best responses didn’t depend on the materials I used. Rather, it depended on getting the information into the hands of my target audience at the right time.

In my early days, I spent a lot of money on 2-color, 2-sided door hangers that were distributed, without a great deal of thought as to my target audience, to every home within a 10 square mile area. The response was pitiful. I was looking for motivated sellers, but I got nothing.

I placed a simple 3-line, black and white ad in my local newspaper. I got a lot of coverage, but I couldn’t be sure that I was reaching my target audience. One thousand dollars later, I didn’t find one deal from that method.

My best response, and first deal, came from sending a plain, laser-printed informational brochure to out-of-state owners of property in my town. The seller in my first deal told me about some of the other brochures that he received. Mine wasn’t the slickest piece. However, he wanted to work with me for two very important reasons:

  1. My information addressed his problems.
  2. I explained my purchase program in easy-to-follow detail.

He didn’t have to call and ask me a thousand questions about how I could help him. From that brochure, he knew what I could do, and that I could solve his problem. The others lacked this approach.

So, by all means, invest in a good printer. You’ll need one in any event. But, my printer was called on for the original. After that, I had copies made, in black and white, at the local print shop for less than I could print them out on my printer. Then, I sent them to my target audience. It can’t hurt to use color, but I haven’t found it to be imperative in getting my message across.

My opinion…better to spend more time on the message, than the medium for the message.

I hope this helps.

Bill K. (AZ)