Here is a helpful matrix I give my agents regarding marketing.  This shows the per piece price of marketing materials and how much it actually costs to market based on increasing sizes of market areas. 

Money is tight for new agents (all agents) so using marketing money wisely is very important. I suggest agents buy all their marketing material up front and have a plan to send out a marketing piece every two to three weeks.  They probably want to buy enough materials for ten mailings/distributions. 

This plan allocated .26 cents for direct mail.  We have a direct mail center in house and can offer our agents low cost bulk mail.  If they have to use first class postage the cost goes up.  Agents can save money by distributing items door to door or in the bottom newspaper box.  Never put anything in a mail box unless you want to get a very nasty call from the Postmaster.

Our suppliers are:

• Post Cards - www.richmondpostcards.com
• note pads - www.notepadsnationwide.com
• magnets - www.magnetstreet.com 

(This matrix first shows the per piece cost of marketing materials and then the cost of the combined mailing for various market sizes)