Help with Marketing Budget - Posted by ETalbert (TN)

Real Estate Investing
1

Posted by Nathan(oh) on February 24, 2002 at 17:48:57:

To be honest, I would do a little of all three. Flyers can be printed and distributed pretty cheap, so I would print about 250-500 or even more and go after a target neighborhood. The key here is to pick your target area and go after that first. Once you get that area going, broaden your focus. Do the same with some bandit signs and biz cards are pretty cheap too. If you have a cheap local paper there, I recommend that too. The trick is to get your name out there all at once and keep it there.

Another cheap thing to look at is a magnetic sign for your car. That is pretty cheap and is permanent.

Just get your name out in a target area and things will build from there. Good Luck.

nathan

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Help with Marketing Budget - Posted by ETalbert (TN)

Posted by ETalbert (TN) on February 24, 2002 at 17:16:11:

I’m ready to jump in now. I’ve read all articles, posts and have taken a couple of courses. I’ve also read 8 books lately. My plan is to begin by flipping some properties. The whole plan is ready except for one thing…
I have a budget of $500 for advertising/marketing. Where is that money best spent?
Business Cards
Flyers
Bandit Signs

Which marketing tactic brings the most prospects? I will use all marketing tactics, but when I have enough money, until then I need suggestions which give the biggest bang for the buck. By the way, this marketing is to find motivated sellers.
Any help, as always, is appreciated.
ETalbert

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You need a plan. - Posted by Tim Jensen

Posted by Tim Jensen on February 25, 2002 at 12:35:55:

ETalbert,

I think it is great that you have done all the groundwork and are ready to start investing. I think the most important thing you need to have now is a plan.

The plan doesn’t have to be complex, just answer these seven questions.

  1. What is your Unique selling proposition?
  2. What image do you want to send out?
  3. What is your marketing objective?
  4. What benefits can you offer a seller?
  5. Who is your target market?
  6. What marketing vechicles are you thinking of using?
  7. How much will you spend on marketing?

I think that this is the first step in figuring out where to spend that $500.

Tim

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Re: Help with Marketing Budget - Posted by J. Clifton

Posted by J. Clifton on February 24, 2002 at 22:16:51:

On $500, you can do the following:

WEB: $10-15 to get a domain name, preferably from a site that offers free hosting and pop email with it. Or, add a cheap $5/mo unified messaging service (such as ureach) and now you have a site, email, 800 number and fax to put on your literature.

AD: Take half the budget and put it into a 6-12 mo classified in the local penny saver zine.

REFERRALS: Start networking, costing you only carfare. Club meetings, chamber of commerce functions, expos, seminars, etc. Call 3 new professional players a day.

MAIL: At the start you only have enough to mail out to say 500 people by postcard, on your budget, unless you decide to forego the classified ad above. Choose, then do 1-2 mailings to your best targets.

TELEPHONE: Put together an effective 30-40 second “commercial” for your business on your voicemail. In addition to strictly waiting for people to call you, fax 5-6 flyers or offer letters to agents/wk, and call 20-30 FSBOs by day, to leave your message on their machine/wk (if a live person answers, talk to them or just say “wrong number”).

HANDOUTS: Have 500-1000 striking business cards and 500-1000 flyers printed up ($50-100). The cards get handed out at clip of 30-40/wk for 6 months. Post 50 flyers a week on bulletin boards. Take your old magazines, tape a flyer to them, and ‘donate them’ to waiting room areas of offices in your target area. Or, by a few hundred cheapo pens wholesale ($50-100), print out your classified on small laser/inkjet label paper (like Avery #8667), stick the mini-labels on the pens, and presto! you have a promotional item to give away.

Hope this helps.