This is going to be long, but also hopefully helpful for people who haven't done a campaign before.
So I started a small yellow letter mailing campaign a few weeks ago. It isn't my first YL campaign, but it is going to be my most persistent. I am mailing to what I admit is a small list, about 300 names, that I divided it up into 4 chunks of ~75 each, with the intent of mailing to a chunk per week, so that each name gets touched about once a month, and I intend to mail to them until they have been hit at least 6 times, maybe 7.
My list covers my local zip code, is aimed at absentee owners who's property hasn't had a sale in the last 10 years (so hopefully there is some equity).
The letters are simple, typical 'I want to buy your house at <address> give me a call' yellow letters, the phone number is a local google voice number that has a message from me about how I buy houses in any condition, can close fast, etc etc, the idea being that the letters generate a higher volume of response and the phone message filters out some/most of the tire kickers.
Of the ~225 letters that have been sent so far (last batch of round 1 goes in the mail next week) I have heard back from about 20 people, and by heard back I mean they listened to the entire voice mail then left me a message. I probably have 1-2 calls with no message left for every one that leaves a message. So far I don't do anything with those, even though I have their phone numbers, because it's supposed to be a filter anyway.
I do all of this myself, I can include the sources I use for materials if anyone is interested or wants to compare prices, but if I recall correctly I estimate I am at about $.77 per letter. With a list this small it doesn't really take much time, maybe a couple hours each week to print, fold, stuff, stamp, etc.
I think that covers my process, so now my questions.
First, any obvious improvements I could make? I have considered using a VA (virtual assistant for anyone new, took me a few posts to realize >.>) to answer and filter instead of the voice mail, but I haven't looked into this yet, and suspect for my low volume it probably isn't worthwhile. Also I am trying to keep costs to a minimum because my budget is tiny.
Second, so obviously anyone who wants off the list gets removed, letters that get sent back as undeliverable, etc. What about people that I hear back from who basically say their house isn't for sale? The implication is it isn't for sale right now but I presume I should mail them again. I also presume that poking them once a month is unnecessary and expensive, so I was thinking of moving them to a separate list that I hit once a quarter with a 'hey, just checking to see how it's going' kind of letter. Thoughts?
Next, I saw a post from someone, I'm going to guess it was Michael Q. (sorry if I am incorrectly attributing credit) suggesting that rather than sending a stream of YL's to instead mix it up some, do a YL, a postcard, a postcard, then another YL. I would have to acquire materials for post cards, but what appeals to me most about this is the lower cost, assuming it has a positive or at least neutral impact on my marketing. My initial intent was to use a slightly tweaked letter for my second touch, and switch from red to blue ink, just to mix it up some, then go back to red ink and probably a standardized 'just checking in' letter for the remaining touches. Has anyone tinkered with this? Any input?
Finally, I am a little concerned about my campaign at large. What I am looking for is a motivated seller. My hope is that if/when I find one that I have enough knowledge to be able to help them and get myself paid in some way. In theory I am approaching this as a wholesaler, because unless I find a situation that comes with financing in place (L/O, sub2, etc) I simply don't have the paperwork to impress a bank. Having said that, I am in a college town with a high enough demand for housing that vacancies tend towards 0%. Even the unintentional landlords seem to be content because they aren't having trouble finding/replacing tenants. So I guess I am asking, should I keep faith that something will pan out from this list, or should I reevaluate, consider a different target market, maybe a smaller town half an hour away or something. I did do a test mailing to a much bigger city (St. Paul, about 90 minutes North of me) and had a much smaller response, I presume due to more competition, and there are other issues with mailing that far away, such as I currently know very little of their market, etc. And, in case it needs to be restated, the reason I am not just mailing to my zip AND a different market: tiny budget.
Oh, and I suppose I should mention, so I've talked with about 20 people, a few were tire kickers, just curious, etc. A couple of them were 'we aren't interested but you should REALLY TALK TO OUR NEIGHBOR' kind of calls, which I am following up on, and I admit those were kind of fun. ("You wouldn't believe what their tenants did to the hosta flower bed!") Probably the largest group of respondents that are of any real interest (I think?) are older guys/people that are looking at retirement and are potentially interested in selling off their portfolio's, maybe a property or two at a time. Unfortunately the key word in there is potentially because for all the people that I have talked to that fall in to that category, none of them seem particularly eager to actually make that happen. It seems like they realize they could sell, they probably should sell ("None of my kids want to deal with these properties when I'm gone.") but they aren't motivated to sell, at least not yet. I should probably put these people on a separate follow up list as well, for when they change their minds, but I don't know, that feels... awkward to me? "Hey, I know we talked about your rentals a few months ago, and it wasn't a fit for me at the time, just checking in to see how things are going." Is that (the feelings of awkwardness) just me being a noobie?
Thanks to anyone/everyone who reads this and gives input.
Nathan
