Category Archives: Marketing

Does Your Advertising Ask Prospects To Do Too Much?

Most advertising and promotion is a waste of money. Instead of applying tried and true direct response advertising methods and asking prospects to take a series of baby steps, most advertisements ask prospects to take a giant leap of faith and call for a free consultation.
To your prospect, this is a risky ordeal. They […]

Advertising, Direct Response, Prospecting

Internet Marketing - The Big Picture

I’ve talked previously about why you should use direct response marketing - specifically, because with direct response marketing, there is no guesswork. You can test everything, measure your results, and choose the methods that get the best response. Internet marketing is no different - it’s just direct marketing on the web.

Direct Response, Internet Marketing, Websites

5 Steps for Planning any Marketing Campaign

In a previous post, I talked about How To Create Your 2008 Business and Marketing Plan. In this post, I want to break that down a bit further and discuss marketing campaigns.
What is a Marketing Campaign?
A marketing campaign is a series of steps designed to achieve a specific result. Think of it as the […]

Advertising, Direct Response, Marketing Plan

Do Your Advertisements Make Sense to Readers?

In my last post, I talked about how easy it is to assume you know what your prospects and clients need. In this post, I’d like to talk more about assumptions in advertising.
For most people, advertising is a waste of money. I’ve gone over some of the reasons why your advertising might not be […]

Advertising, Direct Response

How To Create Your 2008 Business and Marketing Plan

Are you ready for 2008? With the holidays just around the corner, now is a good time to take some time to plan your 2008 strategy. Don’t wait for January 2 - start with this step-by-step guide for making 2008 your best year in real estate.

Business Basics, Marketing Plan

Your Direct Marketing Testing Checklist

In my last post, I discussed why you should test your marketing materials and how you shouldn’t presume to know what your market wants - you should let them tell you. In this post, I’ll talk about the many parts of your ad you can test to improve response rates.

Advertising, Direct Response

A Real Estate Agent’s #1 Marketing Mistake: Not Testing

Many real estate agents are marketing dabblers. They try something (put up a website, send out postcards, advertise in the local paper, run a tv or radio spot, send a newsletter, etc), see it doesn’t work as well as they’d like, then move onto something else. They never stick with it, nor do they ever […]

Advertising, Direct Response

The 4 Types of Direct Marketing Offers

In my last post, I outlined what an offer is and some common mistakes real estate agents make when crafting their offer. In this post, I’ll talk more about the four types of offers: soft, hard, negative and deferred.

Advertising, Direct Response

Why Offers are Key to Your Direct Marketing Success

You’ve probably gotten mailings that tell you things like:

“You may have already won $10 million.”
“Buy one - get one free.”
“Free personal organizer when you subscribe to our magazine.”
“Call today for your free cd.”
“Bring in this coupon and save $25 on purchases of $75.”

Advertising, Direct Response

What is Direct Response Advertising?

In my last article, I described how most people advertise and some of the problems with it. In this article, I’ll talk more about the components of direct response advertising.
The entire point of direct response advertising is to get the prospects that are most likely to buy your services to take a desired action. Here’s […]

Advertising, Direct Response