George Cox:After 20 years, and the advent of the internet, I have yet to loose faith in direct mail.

I'm wondering if anyone else has explored the use of PURLs (personalized urls) in direct mail campaigns.

The word every one likes now is sustainable. 3 lbs. foam can actually be used outside in direct sunlight.

On the buying side, with a larger agency wouldn't you indirectly get access to their (larger) internal network to potentially get 1st look at a property from one of their other listing agents before it goes up on the MLS?

I am also willing to get help from people experienced in direct mail campaigns.

These are all pretty straight forward and if you don't place yourself in a position of personal gain, then I appears you would be ok.Common Prohibited TransactionsCategories of Prohibited Transactions In general, the type of transactions that could fall under the prohibited transaction rules pursuant to Code Section 4975 can be viewed in the context of three unofficial categories: Direct Prohibited Transactions4975(c)(1)(A): The direct or indirect Sale, exchange, or leasing of property between an IRA and a “disqualified person” Ben leases an interest in a piece of property owned by his Self Directed IRA to his sonJen sells real estate owned by her Self-Directed IRA to her fatherTodd sells real estate he owns personally to his Self-Directed IRA Carl transfers property he owns personally to his Self-Directed IRA Mary Purchases real estate with her IRA funds and leases it to her mother Kevin uses his Self-Directed IRA funds to purchase an interest in an entity owned by his wife Peter Transfers property he owns personally subject to a mortgage to his Self-Directed IRA.

What about indirect overhead costs? 

Bank of America, N.A. associates, household members and business partners are prohibited from purchasing REO properties, either owned or serviced by the Bank, whether directly or indirectly.

Before spending money on marketing, I want to learn the business better finding and working on deals from the MLS (so they are free), so that I can work out the kinks there and then add in direct mail.Also, being new to the MLS and WS in general, it was easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of residences available, so I was curious as to what some of your strategies may be to help narrow the funnel when looking on the MLS (price point, neighborhood “grade”, days listed, status changes, sqft, beds/baths).Paid Mentor Programs: I am very interested in joining a paid mentor program, and I wanted to ask if anyone here has paid and had success in a mentor program before.

(If yes, begin to record them for training purposes)What are you using to get phone calls in? Direct