How to Craft a Printable “Handwritten” Yellow Letter Sellers Will Actually Read (With Sample!)

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You know how efficient direct mail marketing can be in this hot market—or so everyone says. This article will show you some simple things you can do to start (or improve) your direct mail campaign. Make your yellow letter stand out by following some quick tips!

1. Keep it short, sweet, and simple.

Organize your thoughts first. Remember, the person receiving this letter will likely give it a three-second glance (if they open it at all), so don’t waste time! Cut to the chase and relay the purpose of the letter immediately. Keep the tone relatable, honest, and straightforward. Think about phrasing—“I want to buy your property” might sound better if you said, “Your property caught my eye, and I’d like to talk about purchasing it from you.” Keep your letter to three to five sentences.

Related: Yellow Letters vs. Postcards: Which Produces More High Quality Real Estate Leads?

2. Get personal.

Personalize your note with two basic elements to pull the reader’s attention in and gain trust: Handwrite the note and envelope and use the actual address of the property somewhere in the letter. Why? The receiver will likely read the letter if it looks like it is handwritten, plus using the address of their property will stand out in the note. Hopefully these two personal touches gets you a deal!

3. Perfect your master copy.

It’s not sustainable to write hundreds of these out, and we all know BiggerPockets loves a good hack. Here’s what you need to hack “handwritten” letters:

• Your lead list (homemade or purchased)
• A plain white piece of computer paper (this will become your master copy)
• Lined yellow legal pad of paper (these will be your copies)
• A nice, inky pen
• A scanner and printer
• Envelopes
• Stamps

Start with the plain piece of white computer paper and carefully put it on top of the yellow legal pad—the lines of the yellow paper should show through to the white paper. Using the lines and margins as guides, write your letter on the white paper. Leave blank spaces in the master copy for the homeowner’s name and property address. You want to carefully plan out where you can leave a natural looking void to fill in the unique property addresses on each of the copies. Take your time and space things flawlessly. Note: It will probably take you a few tries to get the perfect layout.

4. Rinse and repeat.

Once you have your master copy handwritten on the white paper, scan it onto a computer and save it. Take the legal pad and tear out the pages and put them into the paper tray. Print the Master Copy on the yellow paper. It will take some adjustments and re-dos, but eventually it will print exactly on the lines as intended. You can use a traditional copier to accomplish this as well, but I personally like to save the document on a computer so I have it ready for future campaigns. Voila! Print as many as you like.

Related: Want to Land Deals? Better Stand Out in a Sea of Yellow Letters! Here’s How.

Personalize the copies by adding in the owner name and respective property address in the voids you purposely left. Use the same inky black pen so it matches the rest of the letter. The same person who writes the Master Copy should also fill in the owner name and property address to keep handwriting consistent.

Want to go the extra mile? Follow these pro tips to really amp up your direct mail campaign:

• Hand write the addresses on the envelopes. Consider using a virtual assistant found on Upwork, Fiverr, or any other consulting type of website. We have used a VA for our mailers, and it has worked out great!
• Use colorful “greeting card” envelopes instead of white business envelopes. I’ve found that owners are more likely to open something that looks like a greeting card than a billing envelope. These can be found in bulk at any office supply store.
• Use a quality printer, or at least a fresh ink cartridge, to ensure the most realistic copies.

Making small changes to your direct mail campaign might bring big changes to your portfolio. Keeping your letters short but personal and easily mass produced will make your yellow letters fly out the door.

Sample

Dear _____________,

Hi! My name is ___________ and I’m a [property manager/owner] at [business name]. I’m a local investor, and your property caught my eye! I am interested in talking to you about purchasing your property at:

123 Main Street

City Name, State 12345

If you’re interested in selling this or any other property, please call me at [phone number] or get in touch with me at [website/email/social media accounts].

Thanks for your consideration,

Sign Your Name

[Phone number]

[Email]

What method do you use to produce yellow letters?

Let’s chat below!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.