A lot of real estate agents send newsletters. Nothing new in that. But what are they sending?
Most of the time its one of those canned things they buy and slap their name at the top and hope that people will think that they actually you wrote it.
The biggest failing about these letters is that they are about real estate, something nobody cares about until they're in the market to buy or sell a home.
Doesn't bother agents though. They continue to send them, rarely asking their audience whether they read them or not, much less whether they're even interested in receiving them.
I spent a lot of years in the direct response advertising business (In laymen's terms, thats the so-called junk mail you get in your mailbox every day).
What people don't realize is that direct response advertising is a very sophisticated business. That "junk mail" is costly to produce and send and companies aren't doing it because they have nothing better to do. They're doing it because they KNOW that it works. They know it because they constantly research, test and refine the content to stay in sinc with the audience they're speaking to.
When communicating with people, it is important to talk to them in language they want to hear, understand and will respond to if asked.
This ain't the case with real estate newsletters. Agents continue to send the same old tired stuff that's not worth the paper its printed on.
Then purpose of a newsletter is to maintain continuity, establish relationships and keep an agent top-of-mind when it finally comes to a real estate transaction.
You can't do that with something that's being tossed in the trash without so much as a backward glance.
That means that a newsletter that actually works can be a very powerful tool in an agent's marketing arsenal.
How about a newsletter that contains information that people can actually use. How about a newsletter that contains all kinds of fun facts and trivia. How about a newsletter that contains valuable how-to information that actually helps people. And, all designed employing knowledge gained from more than 30 years experience in the direct response business. That means that built into the letter are many opportunities for people to call and get more information.
In short, it gets read and it works and I have the feedback to prove it. Agents around the country who use it love it.
I write this letter every month and have for nearly 5 years. It's called the Good Neighbor Letter and can be seen on my website at www.thegoodneighborletter.com.
Its not slick and purposely so. I want people to believe that it really was written by the agent. The information is the interesting part and that's what people respond to.
It's written in a 4-page format so agents can have it printed if they want to, although I do not recommend it because it is so much more cost-effective to send it via email.
Its easy to use and customize and I strongly urge all to check it out.
I started writing the letter because I was so unhappy with all the letters I checked out and found to be sorely lacking.
This baby works and I want everybody to know it. Consider it my contribution to the agent community.
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