Mailing campaign questions

[Allen Ayres]

I wanted to pass my mailing campaign by the forums and see what you think.

I got a list of out of state absentee owners that I will be sending yellow letters to.

I will send 75 a week for a total of 300 a month. I plan on sending this list 3 mailings spaced 4 weeks apart.

My wife will answer the initial call while I am at work and get the basic information. This will include all the information to pull comps as well as what they owe and how much they are asking. If those two numbers are too close, she will tell them that it appears they dont qualify to eliminate me having to call a dead lead without any equity. I will make a followup call on all possible deals after I pull comps.

This is my plan and I just want to see what you think. Also, does this sound like too few letters and when should I add a new list to the mix? Should I wait until I finish one campaign or do two simultaneously?

[Cristina Corredor]

Hi Allen,

You can expect a 2%-3% response, that would be 6 to 9 calls (that's I guess a good average). We can say that from 50 leads there´s one deal so everything depends on what your goals are. If your goal is to do a couple of deals a year, this may work, but if you are aiming higher, then you will have to adjust your numbers according to your goals. You can increase the numbers to this particular campaign or maybe try other 1 or 2, I think 2 - 3 fully executed and tracked campaigns its a healthy number. It all depends on your goals, your budget, your time, experience, strengths.... Whatever campaign you choose, be sure to fully execute it, don´t run "to the next shinny thing" before ending with that one.

Hope it helps,

Cristina.

[RIchard Roop]

I have mailed millions of direct mail pieces to absentee owners.

I use a list source that also allows me to select loan-to-value so I choose 0 to 49% LTV. This will make the list you pull more qualified... fewer records but better records. I prefer free and clear or very high equity deals. If you are OK with higher LTV leads you can select those ranges.

If you can't get LTV in your area try selecting purchase date. If they owned the property for 10 or 15 years then chances of having equity is greater.

Any "yellow letter" message you use can likely fit on a postcard. I prefer to mail 2 or 3 postcards for the price of one letter. I use a feature on click2mail.com to merge in their name and property address into the message, to personalize it. I then use a typewriter style font to make it look personal. I also upload a background image with some handwritten stuff to again make it look personal.

Like with a letter, you want it designed so that it looks like you only sent them they message, not to hundreds or thousands of others.

[Dev Horn]

I agree with Richard re: targeting with a list. I believe it is Click2Mail that uses the "loan to value" (LTV) filter; ListSource.com uses "Equity %" and they charge a pretty hefty 10 cents per record to use that filter. That said, we like the ListSource.com data, and it is the only site of the 2 to offer the ability to select "Out of State" (OOS) Absentee Owners.

Also, don't just toss out the "non-motivated" seller leads - form a relationship with an Agent/Broker where you give them good listing leads in exchange for them pulling comps for you, or sell your "non-m" leads to Agents for $50 or $100 a piece. Agents are HUNGRY for listings right now - let them help to offset your marketing expense.