Newsletters – they’re the non-threatening way to stay in touch with the people important to your success. That would be past customers and clients, your sphere of influence, and current prospects. If you can afford it, include your farm area.
Done correctly, a regularly scheduled newsletter can create a loyalty that prospecting letters, postcards, and advertising never could. They’re like little gifts that you send with no obvious expectation of return. They make your readers slightly beholden to you, while creating a warm and friendly feeling.
Letter by letter you become a trusted friend – a friend they’ll call the next time they need a real estate agent, or to whom they’ll send their other friends.
So what goes into this newsletter? News, of course.
Let your readers know what’s happening in the neighborhood. Did a business open, close, or change hands? Is there a new housing development coming in? Did a landmark building just get torn down? Folks like to know these things, and because you’re in the business of knowing, they’ll come to count on you to let them know.
What about local charities? Are they holding an event? Are you going to be there helping out? Have they just received a grant or a huge donation that’s going to make a big difference in the lives of people or animals (or trees) in your neighborhood?
Give the who, what, why, when, and where that a newspaper columnist would include.
Depending upon the volume of business and the frequency of your newsletters, you can include new listings. I don’t recommend including recently sold listings, however. I got talked into that once and it caused a whole lot of confusion. People were calling wanting to see the places that were already sold because they didn’t really pay attention to the headline. (sigh)
You can also brag a little – but not excessively. If you’ve gained a large percentage of the business in your area you can include a pie chart. If your listings are selling in record time or at a high list to sell percentage you can talk about it. This is also a good place to slip in a mention of your niche market. As in: “During the month of October I was pleased to help 7 young families move into the home of their dreams.” Or perhaps “In August, I helped 5 senior couples relocate to beach front condos – where lawn mowing duties now belong to someone else.”
If you’ve been to school and gotten a new designation, you can tell about it – but be sure to tell why you did it. The reason, of course, is so that you can do an even better job for your customers and clients.
Just to round out the news, I like to include a small column with quotes. Anything uplifting that matches your personality will do. I’ve often had customers call just to tell me that they enjoyed a certain quote – that it really hit home for them that day.
If you’re really stuck, you can get short articles from services such as pages. com. Those can be about home care, safety, new electronic gadgets – anything that fits with your style.
The next question is how to send it. I really believe that a hard copy in the mail means more to people than an email. They’ll pass it around to family, and even show it to friends if you’ve offered something interesting. And… it just feels different. Somehow more important. If you’re sending quite a few, it is worth the expense and trouble to get a bulk rate permit from the post office. You’ll have to sort, but at about 1/3 the price of regular mail, you could easily hire a high school student to do that and still be money ahead.
Be sure to include your photo on your newsletter, just as you do on your cards. Not everyone is a whiz at remembering names, but most of us remember faces.
Don’t let anyone forget you – send them a newsletter. Do it monthly if you can, but at least quarterly.
Marketing Your Real Estate Services With Newsletters
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