All Forum Posts by: Brandon Foken

Jerry Puckett After a ton of research and digging through technical specs of printers, I'm picking up the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus. Has good reviews and pretty speedy printing with the lowest TCO of any of the printers I looked at. Also had the ability to print 16lb. paper vs. the Epson's lowest is 17lb.

Blair H.Thanks for your comments. I poked around your website a bit and it is definitely a unique, interesting idea. If you don't mind my asking - are you paying people to hand write all of the copy and envelopes or a printed font?

Justin McClelland I actually came across that tutorial during my marathon google searching yesterday - very nicely done! I looked at that paper you linked to, but cannot justify spending 16 cents a page for printer paper. I'll update everyone on how the paper Michelle found on Amazon works out.

Jerry Puckett After some digging I found the Epson only works for paper weights from 17 - 24 pounds so the 16 pound weight of that yellow paper might not cut it. I'll continue to look around for paper and printer that will work best together. Also - thanks for the blue color - I'll be stealing that!!

Michelle Cheri Thanks for the google search phrasing, I found exactly what I was looking for, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003U6N2PQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&smid=A22378Z03K0GID.

Jerry Puckett Thanks for the tips. I'm now considering purchasing the Epson printer for two reasons: 1)So I can print "handwritten" envelopes and letters which allows for the same typeface on both pieces and 2)So I can use blue ink instead of black. Hopefully the paper linked above will work with that printer.

Warning: Lots of Questions!!

I'm in the process of sourcing my envelopes, paper, etc. for my direct mail campaign for Absentee Owners. My initial plan is to use a "handwritten" font for the marketing copy on the yellow letter while actually handwriting the envelopes (prevents me from buying another printer that can accept envelopes). I'm having a very hard time finding any lined yellow paper that comes separately and not linked together in some way like gum top or in note pads.

When people say they are mailing "yellow letters" are they really yellow? Or do people use lined white paper instead? Has anyone done any testing to see if there is an appreciable difference between "handwritten" letters on different types of paper? What about using no lines and printing your marketing copy on a blank sheet of yellow paper?

I've seen ideas of using lined paper templates and printing those and your marketing copy at the same time, but that seems like a waste of ink to me. In addition, I only have a black/white laser printer so the blue and red lines would not show up. Anyone have any success with this method or alternative ideas?

Finally, I want to do this myself and not use one of the yellowletter.com companies that are out there.

Who would've thought that buying paper would take up this much time and effort? Not me! Any insight is greatly appreciated.

I had to look up Variable Data Printing - wasn't familiar with the term. In a way, yes, I will be using VDP in the form of Microsoft's mail merge functionality.

Not a wholesaler, yet. I need to send out some direct mail before I can come close to calling myself a wholesaler. Sharon Vornholt has some good blog posts and comments about response rates from direct mail. Her thing is that it's all about repeated mailings to the same list 6, 8 or a dozen times before moving on.

I will be mailing to roughly 700 Absentee Owners and about 50 - 75 probates before the end of January. My hope is to land one deal out of the ~750 or so leads. Would also like to hear experienced wholesaler's comments on response and conversion rates.

Good topic, Brandon Turner. Good to put your goals out there and have some level of public accountability.

1. Start direct mail campaign in January.
2. Go back to school - take 6 total courses.
3. Get RE license
4. Attend at least 1 networking event a month.
5. Get two houses under contract and assign.
6. Properly track all marketing metrics - call back rates, bounces, conversion rates, etc.
7. Corporate gig: Open one new account and hit 100% quota for 2013.

Great topic, Michael Spencer. I spent some time last month budgeting for my direct mail activities as well. For the most part our expenses are in line with each other and I like that you budgeted for ink - something that I forgot to take into consideration.

I do think you are paying absolutely too much for envelopes! What kind are you buying? I'm looking at getting regular ole envelopes. Nothing fancy and hand writing the addresses. The envelopes I'm looking at are on Amazon Prime for about 5 to 6 cents an envelope depending if you want them to be self-adhesive or not. Otherwise, I think your projected expenses and mine are pretty similar.

Question: What CRM are you using to manage your leads database? I didn't see that specifically called out in the screenshot.

J Scott I'm a new investor looking to start wholesaling as a primary way to build up some cash reserves before I start my own rehabs/flips. I'm currently enrolled in my local community college (CCSF) for some RE classes with the end goals of getting more educated and getting my license.

My question is: Does your broker have any problems with you being an investor versus a full-time RE agent? In a few weeks I will be starting a direct mail campaign. The end goal after being licensed would be to wholesale houses from distressed/motivated homeowners and to list others that warrant full retail pricing that way I have multiple revenue streams. I'm wondering if a broker would have a problem with me wholesaling some houses while listing others. Would they want all of the action? Would there be some sort of conflict of interest? I know it may be hard to answer in specifics but am curious to know your general thoughts on the subject.

Aaron Mazzrillo, what have you found to be the best way to get a list of code violators in SoCal? Hoping it will be similar here in the Bay Area. Thanks!

Aaron Mazzrillo Thanks for the link and the talk. I'm probably going to have to listen to it a few times to get everything out of it. Just jammed packed with information.