Direct Mail - 1st 500 Letters Started Hitting Today

[Travis Hamilton]

After many hours of networking and burning up the phones with local wholesalers the writing was on the wall that if I want to get the volume of deals done that I expect for this year, that I was going to have to find them myself.  Jerry Puckett's (sorry Jerry, couldn't tag you for some reason) slogan "Market Like A Wholesaler" really started to resonate with me so I took the plunge and signed up with Jerry to get some direct mail out the door.   Here's the info:

• Signed up for 1,000 name list (purchased via Jerry)
• First 500 letters arrived early last week.  Got them stuffed, stamped and out the door last Friday.  BTW, the letters & envelopes looked awesome and were quick and easy to get ready.  For the icing on the cake, I used Harry Potter stamps :)
• I'm assuming the bulk of the SW US letters have hit and the rest will be arriving in the next couple of days.
• So far, I've received about 20 calls back.  The reason I say "about" is because a couple of folks left the "I'm not selling my house, so don't call me back" message with no other info.  And I think the same guy called a few times, to really drive home the point.  He didn't leave any info so he'll be in for a surprise when he gets his 2nd letter next month!
• I got 17 calls with solid information and have spoken to 5. 3 out of the 5 are listed with an agent currently. 1 has been on the MLS forever and will expire at the end of the month, so I'll put the full court press on May 1st.
• 2 calls have already bowed out (one house is in a Life-Trust(?) and she can't sell and the other said to never call him back).
• One of the calls sounds like there may be real opportunity and I'm scheduled to check out the house this Saturday.
• I'll get back to the other 10 that left messages tomorrow (one lady called and left 3 messages - I'm looking forward to getting her on the line).
• As well, I'm assuming I'll get a few more calls tomorrow.
• 3.5% response rate (that should go up when the rest of the letters hit).  
• The last 500 names will be getting their 1st letter here in two weeks.

So far so good!  Can't wait to dig into the remaining leads and see if we can track down a deal.  And for what it's worth - if you are considering direct mail get in touch with Jerry.  I cannot imagine a nicer, more helpful man to work with.  Thanks for everything Jerry!!

This by far, was my favorite voicemail of the day!