I wonder if all of the mentions are improving my influence score..

I'm old school, I believe that RE is a personal business, that personal contact is important, but I can also see that your comfort level and skill set may influence how you work, but I just prefer to answer the phone and get moving on the matter.

I build my own list based on a number of factors I have found that would influence a person to sell yesterday.

heck I bet most of us would have a difficult time building a list of a hundred COI peeps that can directly influence our geographical market.If so divide that number by 30 and have some conversations on purpose with those who already know you.Other then that and if you have to finance your marketing an aggressive agent working the absentee equity list from the MLS will pay dividends.If you can afford marketing as an expense of investing then direct mail is the gorilla in the marketing arena.Word of caution.

Originally posted by Dev Horn: You can do postcards for about 60 cents (total); the "yellow letters" cost about DOUBLE that@Dev Horn That is way too expensive for both Postcards and YellowLetters..You do however make a great point about using alternative methods for prospecting...The great thing about marketing, done correctly, is that quality leads will come in at a pace that supports your business plan.If I were at a beginning stage I would do the following.1) Create a list of Center of Influence...

Zip letter. 2) webuyhouses.com membership3) center of influence marketing4) training of buyer rep. 5) dinner with lover and great sex.

In whatever you do there will always be competition.People always look for types of businesses where there isn't any.You need to know what other investors are trying to hit in the area.If everyone is accepting a 15 to 20k spread and do more volume then you hitting 30k or more profit every time won't happen with volume unless you move out of the area.The other potential down side is you have a partner so profits have to be split versus a one man show.One person makes 20k spread but 2 people only make 10k.The letters take awhile.I have had people call me 7 months later to list a commercial property from one of my letters.Even if they are not selling they can pass your info onto someone who might be so it pays to mail to them and get access to their influence of people.

These are agents that can make more money seeking potential homeowners and often2) The agent needs to get past the idea of looking for the house "I may want to fall in love with" - as an investor my buying decision is influenced by a wow kitchen.3) I want an agent that will step in and/or step aside during the negotiating process.

DorseyI should also add that direct mail isn't the only way to create business1) center of influence promotion 2) lead sites like www.webuyhouses.com3) networking on BPWhen doing direct mail there are several sites I would use if I didn't own mine. 1) click2mail2) absolutely would try Jerry3) postcard mania

Learn your script and presentation and don't let your experience or social and financial makeup influence your opinion on whether a caller is motivated or not...Listen, use embedded commands, mimic, pace, understand the power of positive and negative phrases and certainly read up on Neurolinguistics.