One of the most successful marketing strategies for real estate investors over time has been direct mail marketing. Despite the fact that it is so commonly used in most markets, to this day direct mail marketing still produces consistent deals that are generally more profitable than those found on the MLS, or even those found through different For Sale by Owner channels.
That being said, the biggest knock on direct mail marketing is that it’s expensive and the cost can be difficult to manage for those investors just getting started. However, if you’re just getting started in real estate investment, there are other options than outsourcing your direct mail to an expensive company. Below we walk your through the easy steps of making your own yellow letters at home, so you can mail to as many of your leads as is financially feasible.
Real Estate Marketing 101- Homemade Yellow Letters
Step 1: Find The Right Kind Of Yellow Notebook Paper
This may go without saying; however, it’s arguably one of the most important steps. Using yellow notebook paper that theoretically looks like it could have been a hand written letter has been shown to get the best results amongst the different direct mail techniques.
Therefore, given that you will be printing these letters yourself at home, it’s very important that you find yellow notebook paper that will work with your printer, consistently, without causing jams.
Step 2: Write Out The Letter
Though the letters will be printed on your yellow notebook paper, you actually begin by first writing out your letter on a white piece of standard non hole punch printer paper. This is so the original letter will scan without the lines on the notebook paper. If you don’t know exactly what you want to write on the letter, look up some different ideas online at different yellow letter websites.
Just remember to leave the name of the home owner and the address of the property in question blank so that you can fill them in later. It’s also generally best to lay your white printer paper on top of your yellow notebook paper when writing the letter, so you can use the lines of the notebook paper (that should show through the printer paper) to guide your handwriting. This way it will print properly on your notebook paper when the time comes. It can help to tape the pieces of paper to a table in place so they don’t slide as you write the letter.
Step 3: Scan
The next step is to scan the letter written on the white non hole punch paper.
Step 4: Load Printer With Yellow Notebook Paper and Print
Load the printer with as many pieces of the yellow notebook paper as you will need and print off the letters.
Step 5: Write In Names, Addresses, & Stuff Envelopes
Next you’ll take the yellow letters you have printed and you will write in the seller’s name, respective lead address, stuff the envelope, and write the respective mailing address on the front. Keep in mind, many of the property leads you have will be absentee owners, so you’ll want to make sure you write the lead address on the letter, and the owner’s mailing address on the envelope (which in this case would be two different addresses).
Step 6: Add Postage and Mail
Lastly, add postage and mail!
Using this technique, you should be able to send out letters for around $.50 apiece. While this isn’t necessarily cheaper than most yellow letter services, most companies require you to send out at least 500 at a time. This way, you can send out as many as you have the money (and time) to send out.
All that being said, the reality is that in the long run you will never be able to produce enough mail outs on your own to have a 6 or 7 figure business. So, as soon as it’s financially possible, you’ll definitely want to start using a direct mail service.
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