Your Guide to Online Postcard Printing Companies

Did you know you can conduct a real estate postcard campaign without ever touching a piece of paper / card stock? It's true. Today, there are more than a dozen online postcard printing companies that will handle every aspect of your direct mail campaign. You can design your postcard online (or upload one you've already designed), purchase a mailing list, and then have the printing company mail them out for you.

This much is good news. But there's also a downside to the sheer number of postcard printing companies online these days. Choosing one to handle your print-and-mail campaign can be overwhelming!

It's also important to realize that not all printing services are created equal. I have worked for two online printers in the past, and I've done business with several more. Some were first-class operations, while other disappointed me greatly. In that regard, online postcard companies are like any other type of business -- there's a full spectrum of good and bad.

The key to choosing the right printing service for your needs is to understand how these companies work, what they offer, etc. I've provided that information in a new tutorial available here on the website. I've even gone a step further and recommended a few companies I've had luck with in the past. Hope you find it useful.

Go there now: Your Guide to Online Real Estate Postcard Printing

You can also learn about these types of companies (and the services they provide) by downloading a copy of my postcard marketing guide.

Have questions about the postcard book?
Email me here: brandon@realestatepostcardbook.com

-Brandon

Promoting Your Real Estate Seminar With Postcards

One of the things I like about postcards as a marketing tool is the sheer versatility they offer. You can use them to support almost any business objective. In this article we will talk about how to use direct mail postcards to promote a real estate seminar or an online webinar.

Seminars are a great business-building tool for those in the real estate industry. In a troubled economy, this is even more true, because the need for information among consumers becomes even greater. So a real estate seminar can be the perfect tool for attracting new clients who are seeking answers to their questions.

You can use postcards to announce your event and increase the attendance level. Once you have a real estate seminar planned out, you would simply put the primary benefit in the headline, and then offer multiple incentives for attending. Next, offer a web-based form that allows people to sign up easily, and you're well on your way to seminar success.

Like all good direct mail strategies, this concept starts with the big idea. It's the idea, the offer and the value that matters most -- the postcard simply conveys these things. In this case, the idea, offer and value all stem from the real estate seminar itself.

Additional Postcard Tips or Seminars

• Convey the primary benefit of your seminar through a strong headline. For example, if it's a home buyer seminar you might say: "Free Real Estate Training Event: All Your Home Buying Questions Answered!"


• Point to a website where people can learn more and sign up for the event.


• Create a sense of urgency: "Space is limited, so reserve your seat today."


• If possible, include a map showing the location.


• Mention a free "take away," like a printout of the presentation or a special report. If at all possible, show an image of the freebie. People believe what they can see.

Before you do any of this, you need to make sure you have a seminar worth attending in the first place. This is the "big idea" that fuels this marketing strategy. If you sit down to write about the benefits on your postcard, but you're unable to come up with any, then you need to go back to the drawing board.

What is the end result of this approach? A room full of prospective clients who need the kind of real estate services this company provides! Can you even put a price on that?

Brandon Cornett has worked in the direct mail industry and has written a postcard marketing book for real estate agents and brokers. You can learn more, purchase the book, or contact the author by visiting http://www.realestatepostcardbook.com

Have questions about the postcard book?
Email me here: brandon@realestatepostcardbook.com. Comments are welcome. Use the comment link below.

-Brandon

Real Estate Prospecting Postcards - 2 Key Ingredients

Real estate prospecting postcards are one of the oldest and most reliable forms of marketing. They have been used nearly as long as the U.S. Postal Service has existed. They can be used to support a wide variety of business goals.

With that being said, there are many ways to wander astray when using prospecting postcards as part of your real estate marketing campaign. When this happens, you end up spending a lot of money without much to show for it. And in marketing, there is nothing worse than a dismal return-on-investment (ROI). It's a waste of money, not to mention being a huge disappointment.

One of the ways you can succeed with real estate prospecting postcards it to learn the common mistakes people make when using them. In my time working around this medium, I would say the two most common mistakes are the following:

1. Asking the postcard to do more than it's capable of doing (lack of realism).


2. Failing to offer a strong enough incentive for the desired action (lack of value).

So if you can avoid these same mistakes, you're already on the path to real estate prospecting success. Let's talk about each one in turn:

Set Realistic Postcard Goals

When you choose the marketing medium, you are sacrificing space in favor of directness. Sure, there's a good chance most of your recipients will read the postcard when they pull it from the mailbox. That's why they call it "direct" mail. But at the same time, you are reducing your entire pitch down to a double-sided piece of paper or card stock. So you have to be realistic with your postcard marketing objectives.

For example, you can't tell people everything about your company, products or services on a postcard. There's just no room for that. So limit your message to support a specific objective. Tell them only what's necessary to achieve the goal of your mailing, and make sure the goal is realistic.

Explain the Reward for the Action Taken

It's a general rule of thumb in marketing that you never ask somebody to do something without telling them what they get out of it. In other words, there must be a clear incentive or reward for taking a certain action. This goes double for direct mail postcards, because you don't have much room to get people motivated.

For example, instead of just saying, "Visit my website to learn more," you could clearly explain the value your website offers: "Visit my website for immediate access to virtual tours on select homes in the area!"

Conclusion

Obviously, there's more to postcard marketing than these two concepts. But if you can start your campaign by avoiding these two common mistakes, you have an edge right from the start. After that, just make sure you have something worth promoting in the first place -- a great product or service. The rest is mere logistics.

Brandon Cornett has worked in the direct mail industry and has written a postcard prospecting book for real estate agents and brokers. You can learn more, purchase the book, or contact the author by visiting http://www.realestatepostcardbook.com

Have questions about the postcard book?

Email me here: brandon@realestatepostcardbook.com. Comments are welcome. Use the comment link below.

-Brandon