I have been planning this blog  and actually started it yesterday but it ended up being FREE, Easy ways to jumpstart your career . Finally I was inspired by Brande Bradford with her blog  Cliff or Trampoline. Brande made some outstanding points in her  piece geared toward the Rookie Agents. Between those two blogs, I felt that a good "back to basics" piece for Rookies and "not-so-rookies" could help those that are possibly struggling and wondering "why" they are in this business.

First and foremost realize what business you are in! Traditionally the answers range from real estate, to the people business, to home distribution and a whole variety of other answers. But you cannot do ANYTHING or make the first dime unless you have a client! Getting clients means that you must "produce leads"-THIS IS WHERE THE BUSINESS STARTS so you MUST BE in the "LEAD GENERATION" Business.

My blog yesterday gave a few tips on how to generate leads with "NO MONEY DOWN" (Sorry I couldn't resist the infomercial opportunity) But today I will go through what I did last year to generate leads in my "Farm". A farm is either a geographic area or demographic to which you will focus your advertising to generate leads in your particular niche. I am skipping a few steps but if you read Brandes Blog mentioned above you will understand how this fits in.

I personally decided that I wanted to start with a geographic farm (geo-farm). I felt this was much easier and quicker than spreading across a wide region trying to find particular demographics. My geo-farm is my neighborhood. Why? Because I have some face recognition (I have magnets on the sides of my vehicle parked out front) as well as some great nosy neighbors. (They love to talk). My farm choice was also made due to the fact that most of the homes here are owner-occupied and when put on the market usually sell very quickly. So here it is step-by-step:

BE SURE TO CHECK WITH YOUR MANAGER CONCERNING REGULATIONS GOVERNING UNSOLICITED MAIL IN YOUR STATE!

· Choose your farm-do your research-a geo-farm must be an area that people want to move into. Is it affordable to the first time home buyer? Is it more Owner Occupied than rental?  Is public transit available? Where are the schools, shops, churches etc What are the major thoroughfares in and out-KNOW YOUR FARM

· Most MLS systems (Locally MRIS) will allow you to search areas by map and tax records. So you should be able to pull all  street addresses for your farm area. Keep in mind that there will also be non-owner occupied addresses as well, so you will want to send to both-the tenant occupying the home and the owner at his home address.

· Pick a farm of a MINIMUM of 500 addresses-I started with 1000.

· When I started-I had never heard of the 8 x 8 so my goal was to mail at least every 3 weeks

· Commit to 1 year on your mailings-so on my original program I mailed 1000 pcs approximately 17 times

· Compose your letter-keep it short, keep it focused, professional and 1 page. Be sure your primary contact information is in the letter at least twice and include your website if you have one.  If you have a good photo and color printer be sure to include it-my personal preference is the upper left hand corner. As an added note I changed on my 3rd moth to postcards to be more cost effective--I received NO calls from postcards so I believe they are too easy to throw away without reading. My recommendation is to stay with letters.

· I changed my letter on the second and third mailings-so the recipients that did open the letter each month weren't getting the same information-but I did keep the letter in the same form for consistency.

· Buy all of your necessary supplies up front so you can sit and finish the entire process at one time. Here's the breakdown:

·                  500 sheets Printer paper                       $4-5-don't get the cheap use 24# with a 97 min bright

·                  500 #10 Envelope                                $5-7

·                  Ink cartridges for printer                       $30-40-This really depends on your printer 

·                  Address Labels                                    $10-15 Can your printer direct print to env?

·                  500 1st class Stamps                           $195 (Now its $215-.43 ea-adjust your bottom line)

                  Total for a 500 mailing                         $244-$262  or .49-.52 cents per piece

Considering that the best cost I have found on postcards printed and mailed is .31 cents-I really don't feel bad about .50 cents, especially since I have only generated calls from LETTERS and not cards.

OK I know your wondering about my ROI (Return on Investment)-here's the actual numbers:

I average 1 (one) listing from each 1151 mailed-at a cost of  $575 for mailing  I am happy with one listing

I average 4-5 buyer calls per 1000 mailed-NOT all buyer calls turn into a sale but I would say that on average 1 (one) will generate a sale.  Bottom line is this -If  I just maintain my numbers generating 2 qualified sales (1 seller/1 buyer) per 1000 my return on $575 invested is between $6K & $10K. You can figure the ROI %-not a bad return.

I started CLOSING on properties 60 days after my first mailing! Now look at this year-I have already received 3 referrals from the clients I worked with last year that I got from working my farm!

Look at the amount of money you HAVE to put in your business every year-not to get clients but just to maintain your license.  So this investment for return has got to be toward the top of your expenses. Of course I am not guaranteeing the same return for anyone-these are just my numbers and what I did that worked.....and still works. Utilizing the farm for the first 2-3 years will grow your leads quickly.  You will start getting referral business, and adding that to your farm will generate a good income for you by year 3.

3 years seems to be a magic number in my research-

· Most agents will stay in the business if they make the first three years

· By year three you have your website up and starting to generate some leads automatically

· You have other systems in place that are lead generating as well as generating referrals from previous clients if you have your systems in place to stay in touch

· Many agents start to shift their goals to Manager, ABR, Broker, or own company

I wish every new agent the best and hope this has been a help.  Be sure to check my other blog from yesterday to see some FREE ways to add to your lead generation.