BUYER'S GUIDE: Tool Time

Readers' Picks

BY MELISSA DITTMANN TRACEY

What are the headliners this year on our annual list of top-requested real estate business tools and services? Marketing products that help you keep your name and business in front of potential buyers and sellers. This year’s top 10 reader picks have all been featured in the pages of REALTOR® Magazine and generated the most Reader Service card requests in the past year.

1. Make it personal. The Personal Marketing Co. offers several products to ramp up your marketing efforts, from newsletters and postcards to closing gifts. Four-page, themed newsletters, covering topics such as health and finance, can help your marketing become a must-read for home owners. The company offers design, printing, and mailing services. The Personal Marketing Co., Lenexa, Kan.; 800/458-8245; www.tpmco.com.

2. Give them a sign. Ease the process of promoting your open houses with the Open House System, which includes all the tools you’ll need to draw prospects. The kit includes signs, stock inserts, flags, and frames to display signs. Real Estate Marketing Supplies also offers sign holders, name riders, brochure boxes, magnetic business cards, and lockboxes. Real Estate Marketing Supplies Inc., Stanton, Calif.; 800/777-2622; www.remsinfo.com.

3. Heavy-duty cards. Postcards, business cards, rack cards—Postcard Press can be a one-stop promotional card source. You can design your postcards online by plugging in text, your photo, contact information, and logo and choosing one of several colorful templates. In minutes, you’ll have a finished postcard. The company uses ultra-thick premium card stock. Mailing services also are available. Postcard Press, Rancho Dominguez, Calif.; 800/957-5787; www.postcardpress.com.

4. A magnetic draw. Get your name and contact information on prospects’ refrigerators. Magnetdog.com offers a variety of promotional magnet products, such as 365-day calendars, memo boards, kitchen conversion and measurement reminders, and pro football schedules. Or, use a car sign magnet for some drive-by advertising. Magnetdog.com, Columbia, S.C.; 800/966-1364; www.magnetdog.com.

5. Become the neighborhood know-it-all. Turn yourself into buyers’ go-to resource for localized community information, such as details on home values, crime rates, employment, schools, the cost of living, and other demographics. eNeighborhoods provides localized data to incorporate into your presentations, brochures, or e-mails, or to link to your Web site. The company can help you create neighborhood reports with colorful charts and graphics for any neighborhood in the country. eNeighborhoods Inc., Boca Raton, Fla.; 877/363-4442; www.eNeighborhoods.com.

6. Keep in touch. Show buyers and sellers you’re there for them year-round with a marketing system that sends custom, themed postcards to prospects every month for a year. Stay in Touch offers oversized postcards that include your name and photo. Themed mailings include such collections as “just listed,” “just sold,” prospecting, and financing. Mailing services also available. Stay in Touch Inc., Forest, Va.; 800/241-9991; www.stayintouchsystem.com.

7. The lead generator. Finding prospects in your target audience just became easier. QuantumMail.com’s NeighborMail program allows you to enter a street address for a neighborhood you want to target and then automatically mail postcards to home owners around that address. If you want to widen your search even more, Quantum Direct ZipMail allows you to pinpoint your search to a ZIP code. And RadiusMail allows you to target customers around a specific area. Quantum Direct Inc., Austin, Texas; 800/637-7373; www.quantummail.com.

8. Go cable-free. Stay connected to clients while you’re on the go with a range of Hewlett-Packard products that have built-in wireless capability. Get client signatures displayed on your computer and then e-mail them instantly with the HP Compaq 2710p Business Notebook, which includes a digital eraser pen. The HP iPAQ uses Wi-Fi, infrared, and Bluetooth technologies so you can answer calls, respond to e-mails, edit documents, and locate properties with a built-in GPS. Hewlett Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif.; 800/888-8177 and mention code NAR1; www.hp.com/go/realestate2.

9. Giveaways they’ll love. Boost your community profile by getting your name in front of clients with personalized marketing products from SellSmart. The company offers personalized tote bags, home owner newsletters, magnets, and personalized giveaways for your clients, including everything from a magnetic screwdriver set and letter opener to safety outlet plugs. Get your marketing on home owners’ doorsteps, too, with the company’s colorful door hangers. The company's customized door hangers — which include your name and contact information — allow you to promote listings sold or For Sale in the neighborhood, information on your other nearby listings, or provide recipes and important date reminders. SellSmart, Phoenix; 800/522-0852; www.sellsmart.com.

10. Sign it. Let passersby see your message clearly on your real estate signs. Sign Studios' 1-800-The-Sign offers low-cost For Sale, auction, leasing, construction, and photo signs. Grab even more attention by featuring photos of the property or yourself on your signs. Sign Studios can display high-resolution, color photos or maps on signs. The company will take care of the layout and design work needed to create your eye-catching signs, and you can expect fast service. The signs are created and shipped out within 24 hours of being ordered. No minimum orders are required. Sign Studios, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; 800/843-7446; www.1800thesign.com.

Prices are the manufacturers’ suggested retail prices and are subject to change. This list isn’t comprehensive; NAR doesn’t evaluate or endorse these products and isn’t responsible for changes in company info.

REALTOR Benefits® partners offer special pricing or services to NAR members.