A great way to get more clients you’re probably not using

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When you go to your mailbox to get the mail, what do you see?

Not much, right?

We get and pay most of our bills online and use email to correspond. If your mailbox is like mine, you get a few pieces of advertising and not much else.

You know what that means? Opportunity.

You can use direct mail to sell your services, invite prospective clients to your seminar or virtual event, or drive traffic to your website.

Because “nobody” is mailing any more, a letter or postcard from you will really stand out. Which means you should see a better response than you might have seen in days gone by.

You can acquire (rent) lists from a list broker and mail to “residents,” “homeowners,” “seniors,” “small business owners,” or to any of hundreds of thousands of segments of society.

A list broker will help you choose the best lists for your offer, and hook you up with services that can take care of everything else (copy, printing, mailing, etc.)

Decide what to offer: a service, information (for lead generation), an event, etc. Then, contact your Bar Association to find out if there any advertising rules you have to follow.

If you’re not allowed to advertise your legal services, advertise your book (report, seminar, etc.) and let your book sell your services.

Start with a small test mailing. Mail postcards to homeowners or businesses within a few miles from your office, for example. If you get a decent response, you can mail more.

Another option is to take out display ads (online or off) and mail letters to people who respond. That’s what I did when I began selling my first marketing course.

As someone probably once said, “Fill up people’s mailboxes and they’ll fill up your bank account”.

How to build an email list that does most of your marketing for you

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Sorry for your loss, sign here

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I heard a story on the radio. It seems a real estate broker team sent a condolence letter to a recent widow, and by recent I mean a few days after her husband’s death. The letter expressed condolences, acknowledged that it must be a difficult time, and then pitched the woman on using them to sell the family home.

Classy, huh?

Obviously, surviving spouses are a good target market for real estate brokers, and for other professionals, e.g., probate lawyers. Brokers target recent empty nesters–homeowners with kids graduating, getting married–and that’s fine. It makes sense to target people who are more likely to need your services. Lawyers should, too (assuming there are no ethical restrictions).

But a letter like this, so soon after her loss and so obviously a shameless attempt to take advantage of her situation, is no bueno.

Is there anything these brokers could have done to leverage the “opportunity” presented by the demise of this woman’s husband?

Yes.

They could have mailed a letter that simply introduced themselves, without referencing her loss. As though they were sending that same letter to everyone in the neighborhood.

Offer a planning guide, a free market analysis, and make the case for using them for buying or selling, as brokers do. Let her decide when and if she wants to sell.

Get there early, before other brokers fill up her mailbox. And mail frequently with more information and offers.

In other words, invest more time and money targeting recent widows and widowers, as a group. Just don’t tell them why.

Does your website make your phone ring?

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Promote your practice with a tasty holiday promotion

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A local real estate agent sent me a card for Thanksgiving. It says, “Thanksgiving is the perfect time to remember special clients and friends like you. . .” It closes by saying, “Wishing you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving!”

I don’t know this agent and I assume she sent this card to many of my neighbors. If she’s like most real estate agents, she has a “farm” of 300 or 500 contiguous homes she targets. She advertises to us, mails cards and note pads or calendars and such, and otherwise keeps her name in front of us so that when we’re ready to sell, we’ll think of her.

Anyway, what made this card different is the offer. It says, “Email to order your complimentary FRESH APPLE or PUMPKIN PIE by Monday November 17, 2014” followed by her email address. It continues, “Delivery is Wednesday, November 26, 2014, 2:00 to 6:00 PM”.

Now, what does this accomplish? Well, I assume she will drop off the pies herself and get to meet the homeowners, give them her card, and possibly offer a free home evaluation. If they’re not home, she’ll drop off the pie with her card or note attached, and follow up with a call to make sure they got the pie.

But it’s not about the pies, or meeting homeowners. It’s about creating an impression. It’s about standing out amongst all of the other agents in the area. It’s about anchoring her name with the pie promotion and being remembered for it.

That’s why you create a farm, and that’s why you build a list. So that when the client is ready, your name will be in their “minds and mailboxes”.

My guess is that no more than 25 out of 500 homeowners will request a pie. She’ll pay perhaps $3 per pie, plus the cost of the mailing, so maybe $300. She may get a couple of homeowners who want the free home evaluation, and that may turn into a listing. Or not. But more than a few homeowners who aren’t ready to sell will remember her when they are.

In addition, some of the people who got her offer but didn’t request a pie might be interested in a home evaluation. They may also know people who aren’t on the agent’s list but who are looking for an agent, so she could also get some referrals.

Anyway, could you use an idea like this in your practice? Next month for Christmas or next year? Or any other time?

What could you offer? Who would you mail to?

If you do something like this, I have a suggestion. Instead of asking people to send you an email to accept your offer, tell them to go to a page on your website with a form to fill in their name and email address. This way, they will subscribe themselves to your email list, allowing you to send them more information, offers, and invitations.

The other things this will do is get them to your website, where they can read your articles, offers (i.e., free consultation, download your report, etc.) and begin the process of getting to “know, like, and trust” you.

Okay, gotta go. All this talk about pie is making me hungry.

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