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Trying to think outside the box and give back

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Mortgage and Lending with Frontier Home Mortgage

Clint and I are trying to think of ways to help the Realtors we want to work with drive more traffic to their open houses.

A new idea we just tried was a food drive. Heres how it worked:

We advertised via PSA's, Print, and Radio that we were holding a food drive at the following locations : (Each Open House)

To add incentive we offered that for everyone who brought a donation, we would give them a certificate for a free appraisal to use with us in the next 60 days.

So we had FOOD For Lane County supply us with some food barrels, and we created our own signage. Clint and I even knocked on some doors in each neighborhood to make sure they knew what was going on.

Unfortunately, we did not get very many donations. For one thing it so happened that FOOD for Lane County was having two major drives themselves that same day. Also, We implemented the idea two weeks from when we thought of it. In the future, I think we need to give ourselves at least a  month.

However, it was not in vain because we did get a great lead from it. It was so great to work with Realtors who were more than happy to participate.

 We were not really expecting to get any direct leads ourselves from the drive, just hoping to get more activity into those open houses. I was also expecting alot more food! Just goes to show you never know!

Show All Comments Sort:
Monique Ting
INET Realty Honolulu, HI - Honolulu, HI
Your agent under the sun

The food drive is a great idea! I also do believe that you would get a better response with a longer lead time. With many properties on the market in our area, the number of people who show up at Open Houses is sometimes very disappointing.

I think I might just implement that on my next open house!

May 09, 2007 03:16 PM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher
I think it's a wonderful idea as well.  You never know who would drop in to leave food who might know someone who's looking for a home; I'd also advertise it as an Event on all the local web sites for free!
May 09, 2007 03:34 PM
Larry H Morris
Mortgage Solutions Financial - Portland, OR
Larry Morris, NMLS 150073
Very creative idea!! It will be interesting to see how it works in the future.
May 10, 2007 06:21 PM
Kelli Fronabarger
Bend River Realty Inc. - Bend, OR
Realtor - Bend Oregon
Really great idea. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. Have a great week : )
May 13, 2007 05:35 PM
Jared Hokanson
Hokanson Realty & Jared Realty Group - Medford, OR
Your Home Sold, GUARANTEED!*

Jessica,

 I like the concept of a doing a food drive.  If you did it again, what would you do differently to get better participation?

Jun 21, 2007 09:10 AM