Direct Mail? SEO? MLS? Agents? S.O.I. where to start first!

[Jason Quero]

If you mention any one of those topics from Direct Mail to SEO to Drive By... you can get a million different answers. All proclaiming to be the correct answer. I can attest to you that after 15+ years in the real estate business (working as an broker-agent) that marketing of all forms works. Whether it be print, sphere of influence, the MLS portal for leads, and word of mouth from 1 agent to another agent...all works over time. Work the plan and plan the work! Now as I shift to wear my hat as an investor (for myself) I find myself right back to square one feeling like a newbie (at least in the marketing forum as it pertains to building a real estate investment business). I agree...you need money to make money. In a competitive market like S. Florida I still see and believe that there are deals to be had. Maybe not as many potential deals providing skyrocket returns and maybe a LOT of competition. I get it. If there is anything that being an endurance triathelete has taught me is that you are in competition with yourself to 'run your own race'. You can listen to others' advice which I think is imperative to 'finish the race'. With that said...what I would love to know or hear back from BP forum is what is a cost effective way to build a funnel of leads in the first place. I am all about leveraging time so I am not going to make Drive By's or Door knocking my #1 & #2 ways to get business. But if direct mail is the way to go...what is a good 'rule of thumb' for the minimum amount or DM pieces that should go out monthly? I know that on average it is 4-6 months of mail pieces before you start to see the fruits of your labor. Or is it squeeze/landing pages via Facebook marketing campaigns? over the same period of 4-6 months? There isn't confusion on my end but there seems to be many opinions that split the BP forum to one side or the other and yet from a dollars and sense stand point that makes no sense. I know this for myself because I read the forums almost every day now for the past 2-3 months. There has to be 1 way that is more cost effective & efficient to maximize the time to be able to have enough leads to systematically analyze and make offers on. The question I have...which one is it?! Love to hear back. Thank you.