Find Motivated Sellers With My 3-Day Mar...

Hey there, investors, Jamel Gibbs here, welcoming you back to Part 2 of my 3-Day Marketing Plan. If you missed Part 1, you can go back and review right there before jumping into this lesson.

As an REI mentor, one of things I specialize in teaching is about systems and how to put systems to work in your business, and that’s what this 2-parter has been about: my fool-proof system to spread a net to capture leads from motivated sellers.

The strategy is to work a specific area and saturate it with your promos and information. Believe me, this works.

We covered the first day of the 3-Day Plan in Part 1, now we’re moving into Day 2. Fasten your seatbelt – there’s a lot of info in this lesson!

Day #2

To prepare for Day #2, you’ll have flyers printed up that specifically target motivated sellers. (Door hangers work well too, but flyers are cheaper.)

In the last lesson, you were instructed to designate 5 full streets as your area of operation. It’s time to travel back to that location. Hopefully, you’ll have several workers along with you. (These could be the students that you hired for the work of Day 1.) Once you are in the area, the objective is to place one flyer on each door - do this all until the houses in all 5 streets have been covered.

Flyer-Creation Tip

The key here is to make sure your flyers are effective. Follow these tips to ensure that you’re making an impact:

You need an eye-catching and attention-getting headline.
Make your phone number (or your website) the largest copy on the flyer.
A clever bit of clipart can add interest… just search Google for “real estate + clipart.” This search will bring up more than enough graphics for you to choose from. (This is optional, but does add a bit of flair.)
Since you’re targeting motivated sellers, you’ll want to make sure the word “fast” or “quick” – something that denotes speed – is added.
Use brightly colored paper such as neon green

NOTE: Each of these tips and ideas can also be applied to a postcard mailing as well.

To add even more appeal, create your flyer to appear as if it were handwritten. The easiest way to do that is by using fonts such as Bradley Hand ITC or Kristen Hand ITC.

You could actually handwrite your flyers too. Handwrite the first one and then make copies. Do whatever works best in your area – test to be sure.

Day #3

content Okay, here we are on Day #3 in our 3-Day Plan. For the next step, you’ll be using bandit signs. These are the signs that are typically made of brightly colored coroplast, but plain old poster board could work too. They come with wire frames (stakes) designed to push easily into the ground. Or the signs can be attached (stapled) up on utility poles. The best time to put out these signs is on Friday after 5 pm. (The code enforcement workers who might take down your signs are now off work.)

Place your signs in strategic locations such as highway exits, corner poles in heavily trafficked areas and close to stop signs that are also in heavily trafficked areas. If you have rental properties of your own, place them in those yards. Go to a few corner properties in your target area, and ask the homeowner’s permission to place your signs in those yards. (You could even offer to pay them – like renting ad space.)

My advice is to place at least 50 to 100 signs per week. Think about it – the more you put out, the more they will be seen, and the more responses you’ll receive.

You’ll find many online companies that deal in bandit signs and the frames. They come in all colors and sizes. As I mentioned with the flyers, use a bright, easy-to-see color that draws attention. The best sign size is 18x24 inch and the best colors are green, bright yellow, or white (use black letters).

Postcard Mailing

Now that the signs are completed and are being put out, it’s time to begin a mail campaign by sending out postcards (or yellow letters). You will need:

List of motivated seller addresses
Direct mail pieces

sign For this part of the plan, you don’t even need to leave the house. You can use your computer and go to USPS.com, or Click2Mail and set up an account. (You can also hire a list company to do this for you.)

You may not be aware of this, but USPS.com has list companies that they work with, so you can get info from them. Personally, though, I use ListSource to find seller lists.

If you choose to work with a list company, here are a few ideas of the types of lists you can focus on:

60/90 days late (pre-foreclosure)
Property-tax delinquents
Bankruptcy filings
Free-and-clear property owners
Out-of-area listings
Leads with or without equity
Divorce leads
Probate leads

NOTE: When “shopping” for lead lists, be sure that phone numbers are included in the package.

Once you have the lead lists, you’re ready to conduct your mail campaign. All you do is mail these mail pieces to your list.

Voice Broadcast

Once the first mailing is complete, you can follow up with a voice broadcast to all those who received the mailing. (This is why you need the phone numbers.) Keep in mind that direct mail will be one of the more expensive steps in this plan, but you’ll get the most deals from it.

And that, investors, brings you to the end of my 3-day marketing plan. Now go out and implement yours today.

Time or Money?

Look, when you’re marketing, you’ll either spend time or money. If you have the cash to go all out for marketing, you’ll save hours of time. But in the beginning, most investors know they’re going to have to sacrifice time until the cash flow catches up. But either way, work is involved!

The key here is to stay consistent and stay on top of the follow-ups. If you do - the leads will start pouring in.