Greg Herder, Hobbs Herder Advertising, Newport Beach, Calif., takes you step-by-step through three personal marketing plans in three different prices ranges. Before you start, says Herder, you must develop a unique selling proposition. It should: Separate you from the competition, be appropriate to your target market, and match your personality — don’t try to be something you’re not


Plan 1: For the Salesperson With Limited Funds

Plan 2: For a Mid-Level Salesperson Who Wants Consistent Business

Plan 3: For an Already Successful Salesperson Who Wants to Become a Star


Plan 1: For the Salesperson With Limited Funds

This plan is for salespeople with between $2,000 and $5,000 to spend on marketing. It’s based on repeated mailings of a single, strong direct-mail piece because this is the most effective way to allocate your limited funds.
Objective: Create enough of an impact over a relatively short period to obtain business quickly and create a steady cash flow that will allow for the longer-term marketing approach of Plan Two.

Month One

1. Decide how large your target market is. You need to know how many marketing pieces you need. To follow the sequence suggested below, you will need approximately 3,000 brochures.

Estimate how the funds will be allocated: for design and copy, for printing and photography, for mailing and postage. You can confirm these costs later.

2. Create a personal, four-color brochure that focuses on the unique selling proposition you have identified.

3. Look at other brochures, and analyze what you think is effective. Don’t limit yourself to other real estate brochures; good ideas can come from anywhere. List ideas and points you might want to consider for your own brochure.

4. Select a designer and copywriter to help you develop your piece. Sources: other small businesses in your area, local printers, a college advertising department, and the Internet.

5. Look at the designer’s and copywriter’s samples. Do they have the look that you want and that will fit your target audience? Most designers have a distinct style, so don’t select someone whose work you don’t like.

6. Ask for estimates to complete the brochure. Review estimates carefully to see what they include: will vendors make changes at no cost; is photography needed and is the cost covered; is the estimate made on a set number of hours or on the project?

7. Ask the designer to assist you in getting preliminary bids from one or two printers for the general type and quantity of brochures you want. Again, check to be sure what is included in the price: shipping to your office; changes made during printing; overruns?

Month Two

1. Work with the designer and copywriter to finalize your brochure. Allow at least two weeks for copy and two weeks for design. When everything it done to your satisfaction, sign off on the final copy.

2. Have brochures printed. This usually will take two weeks, but get a definite commitment date from your printer. Ask your designer to check the printing while it is in progress to avoid any problems.

3. Develop mailing lists for your brochure. Preprint envelopes or labels so that you will be ready to mail when the brochure is ready. Order envelopes and stationery if you need them for your mailing.
If the mailing is a large one, line up part-time help or contact a mailer so that the mailing can begin promptly.

Month Three

1. Mail your brochure to your sphere of influence with a nice cover letter telling them that you have just completed a new marketing brochure and would love feedback on whether the brochure captures your personality. Remember, this is not a sales letter.

2. Set up a database to track responses from your mailings. Assign a code to each group in your mailing so you can track response. Ninety percent of the real estate professionals we have created brochures generate three to five referrals from just mailing to their sphere of influence.

3. Mail 10 brochures per day into your farm area. If you don’t have a farm, send your brochure to 10 names from the reverse directory.

4. Again, enter responses into your database. Code the source of the lead and rate the quality of each lead from “A” (hot prospect) to “C” (marginal interest).

5. Hand out 10 brochures per day to people you meet. Always have your brochures ready to give out. If you eat out, put your tip on top of your brochure when you leave.

6. Twice a week, mail your brochure with a nice cover letter to the expireds and FSBOs you have located. In the cover letter, simply tell them you are a little different than most practitioners and that, if they like your style, you would love to help me. Then promise you will not call to bother them again.

7. Hold an open house every Saturday and Sunday, and greet people by giving them your brochure and a flyer on the property when they walk in the door.

8. Four days later, follow up with phone calls to everyone who signed the guest book at the open house. Again, code and add leads to the database. Rate the quality of each lead.

Month Four

1. Repeat Steps 2 through 8 from Month Three

2. Mail your brochure again to the prospects rated A in your database with a cover letter reminding them of your contact. Use a merge feature in your word-processing program to customize the letter.

Month Five

1. Repeat Steps 2 through 8 from Month Three.

2. Mail your brochure again to the prospects rated A and B in your database with a cover letter reminding them of your contact. Use a merge feature in your word-processing program to customize the letter to each group

3. Evaluate the results of your mailing. How many responses did you get? What groups responded most favorably? How many responses converted into referrals, listings, or sales?

Results: 95 percent of our company’s salespeople have generated between two and five transactions in the first 30 days after mailing and 10 or more transactions within 90 days of mailing.

Personal Marketing Plan 2 >