Direct mail is a different animal all its own. The name of the game with direct mailing post cards is just like other advertising mediums, and that is repetition. There are really two ways to advertise your real estate investing business with post cards. The one main benefit of using direct mail is that you can get directly to the persons mailbox where you can almost guarantee that the client will have the opportunity to get your message. Along with this advantage comes a disadvantage that you need to be aware of, and that is that people have their own natural junk mail filter on when they check their mail and you have about 3 seconds to grab their attention before your postcard winds up in the garbage.

 
Method #1 Doing a blanket campaign thoroughly covering a specifically chosen area multiple times.

A Blanket campaign covering an entire area works like this.

In any normal blanket direct mail campaign whether they are selling hunting knives, flashlights, or coins etc… the direct mailer considers himself a raving success if he gets his averages up to a 1% response rate. That means for every one thousand postcards you send out he can expect one response. As with any type of advertising I tell people to make sure that they hit an area at least 5 times to really start getting the message across and if you cant afford to do it at least 5 times then don’t do it at all.

The nice part about direct mailing for real estate deals is that you don’t have to have a huge response to get your money back. Where my average profit is $20k on a deal I really only have to do one to make it worth my time. The last Direct mail Blanket campaign I did was a neighborhood of 1500 homes. I mailed them every weeks for 6 weeks that is a total of 9000 postcards and over $3200.00 in postage. And I spent about $1000.00 dollars on postcards. Over the 6 weeks period I got 20 calls that resulted in 2 deals that netted a combined $32,000 profit a nice 87% return on my investment.

Although there are many cheaper way to advertise I still stand behind doing direct mail campaigns when you can, the lead types you get will be different that those from a door hanger or a post it note or even a sign lead. A certain percentage of the population that will not respond to your other forms of advertising will respond to a direct mail piece so don’t discount this form of advertising just because of the cost.

Method #2 Sending out postcards to a specific list that you have generated yourself or purchased.
·    Example #1 Sending out postcards to a list of homes in Pre-Foreclosure that you got from a courthouse or NOD (Notice Of Default) listing Service
·    Example #2 would be mailing a postcard to a list of FSBO properties as they come on the market. Or from a FSBO Listing service.

What I have also done in the past is keep a stack of postcards on my desk with postage and each day as a new FSBO comes out in the newspaper I drop a postcard to them in the mail. (I also recommend cold calling FSBO’s but that’s another topic for another day) This method will usually give you a much higher call back ratio as the people you are sending a postcard to already have a property that they have said they want to sell. This type of campaign can be done for a much lower  amount of money as a stack of 1000 postcards could in most markets last you an entire year. If you are going to go with this method of advertising then I highly recommend that while you are preparing the first post card to go out that you actually prepare 5 more and put them in 5 separate stacks. At the beginning of each week drop the next stack in the mail and so forth so that every card you mail out is going out once a week for 5 weeks. No matter what form of advertising you use you need to plan on doing it at least 5 times or not at all.  Mailing out postcards in this matter is no different. 

Now lets talk about designing your postcard. Regardless of the type of campaign you are doing the 3 second rule still applies. You have 3 seconds to grab the potential sellers interest and then its gone.

There are 2 sides to the postcards, the front  and back here are some basic guidelines for how to design one for yourself.

The Front: This side has the mailing address and the return address printed on it. Because of this space for a headline is about all you get. Keep the headline simple and to the point (Remember the 3 second rule) If you are mailing to a foreclosure list then “Stop Foreclosure” can be an excellent headline, if you are mailing to a FSBO list then ”We Buy Houses” is a great headline. Just keep your headline simple and make them want to turn the card over. If you have room have a secondary headline (around 35 characters) printed as well. Maybe a promise to get them an offer within 24 hours, or a promise that you pay cash or something. Just make sure you keep it short, and make them want to turn it over. Here is a sample of a mailer that is used by one of my students:

 
The Back: You will need to repeat your primary and secondary headline that you  did on the front on the top because you never know which side of the postcard they will see first.

Now you have enough space for more sales copy. Here is the 3 basic sections of what you should put on your postcard.

1.    Describe the problem: The first part of the flyer should be simple as well but highlight the potential sellers problems. The key to writing a good sales letter is “What’s In It For Me ?” always keep your sales copy revolving around the sellers problems. Don’t waste time explaining how long you have been in business or talking about yourself the reader doesn’t care. Just stick to What’s in it for me. A good format is bullet points with questions that are based off of sellers problems.  You have very little space to work with so keep it as simple as possible. Here are some examples.
 2.    Solve the problem: Now that you have hit on the sellers problems they have identified with your flyer and want to read on. All you have to do now is solve their problem. Show them how you are uniquely qualified to solve their problem. Still holding to the what’s in it for me principle.
Here are some examples.
 3.    Now a call to action: By now the reader should be ready to take whatever action you want. In this case the call to action is that you want the potential seller to call you or contact you immediately about their property for sale. Tell them what to do and what to expect.
Here are some examples.
 4.    Guarantee: Close with a guarantee, a guarantee provides the client with  assurance that his problem will be heard it can be simple and the guarantee can many times be seen with the call to action (see number 4)