Don’t want your direct mail to end up in the trash with the rest of the unread mail? Studies show an effective direct mail campaign should draw a .5 to 1 percent response. These 10 tips will help you get the results you want:

1. A clear, bold headline. On the envelope or front of the mailer there should be one central message. The best way to achieve that is with a bold, clear headline that’s not cluttered up with other text. A good guideline is to have the headline fill up at least 15% of the front of the mailer.

2. A graphic that supports the message. The graphic should be easy to understand and add to the message the headline is trying to convey. For instance, if you are trying to get people to list their home you would want to show a home with a SOLD sign clearly visible out front. That graphic reinforces the message more than a simple picture of a home.

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You have to market to stay ahead in business today. Even if you live in a small community, marketing plays a big role in making your business creditable. Consumers today are subjected to anywhere from 1800 – 3000 advertising messages per day. With that large of a statistic, it is no longer viable to rely only on word-of-mouth marketing.

Word-of-mouth marketing is the best way to build a reputation, but if a competitor’s marketing message comes along that hits your consumers’ “buttons” they may be likely to leave your business in search for a better price, closer location or just plain curiosity.

You have to continually market to let people know you exist and so they will not forget about you. The way you do it may vary depending on your type of business, but there is one marketing avenue that will get you an excellent return on investment, if done right. Direct mail.

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Defining â??Correct Estimation of Effortâ??

What is the correct estimation of effort for your marketing? Do you know the answer to that question? Figuring out what it is for your business is relatively simple once youâ??ve done some test mailings. For most business owners, mortgage brokers included, marketing is about as clear and certain as being blindfolded in the middle of a six lane freeway. Because of this they make assumptions that are way off base in the areas of how much to spend and how much to mail out. There is a mathematical formula that I have discovered that works through and through. When you use it, you will never be in the dark again.

I remember a time in my business where we were sending out 2500 postcards per week to our prospective clients. We did quite well â?? until we hit a plateau. A plateau that was totally frustrating. We wanted to grow and were beating our heads against the wall trying to figure out why, no matter how hard we pushed, we were not able to push up to the next level. Then, one day in a fit of thinking-outside-the-box passion, my execs and I decided to double the number to 5000 per week! That simple action burst us through that seemingly impenetrable barrier and my company has never quit expanding since.

What I learned in that instance was something very valuable. I could determine the correct estimation of effort of my marketing to control how fast my company expanded. I learned how to project the amount of income I could make by testing and tracking my postcard marketing. Then I figured out what I needed to do to get more leads and more closes based on my tracking results. So, by tracking the number of leads, how many of those leads closed and for what dollar amount they closed for, I was able to ascertain the future number of leads, the future closes and the return on investment (dollar amount) for each increased postcard mailing. It became a science and that science has paid off. (By the way: My company now mails out 76,000 postcards per week.)How It Can Pay Off For You Too

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So you have been writing mortgages like crazy now for the last few years. You have a pretty big database of customers and hopefully you have been getting and keeping full contact information for them. An organized database is the first key to customer retention.

The next step is to put together a direct mail campaign to keep these customers thinking about you when they think about mortgages. It is often years between times when each customer needs a mortgage professional, and it takes far less than that for them to forget your name. As well as fighting time, you are fighting indifference. Customers who get great service are often reluctant to pass that information along, while customers who feel they have gotten poor service will tell everyone. Most of the time good customers need to be reminded of their experience. By following up with each customer on a regular basis you will not only stay in the front of their mind but you will also start to build a reputation as a solid and responsible business.

So how do you get started? Below are a couple of the most frequently asked questions when starting a campaign to keep in touch with past clients.

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Defining â??Correct Estimation of Effortâ??

What is the correct estimation of effort for your marketing? Do you know the answer to that question? Figuring out what it is for your business is relatively simple once youâ??ve done some test mailings. For most business owners, mortgage brokers included, marketing is about as clear and certain as being blindfolded in the middle of a six lane freeway. Because of this they make assumptions that are way off base in the areas of how much to spend and how much to mail out. There is a mathematical formula that I have discovered that works through and through. When you use it, you will never be in the dark again.

I remember a time in my business where we were sending out 2500 postcards per week to our prospective clients. We did quite well â?? until we hit a plateau. A plateau that was totally frustrating. We wanted to grow and were beating our heads against the wall trying to figure out why, no matter how hard we pushed, we were not able to push up to the next level. Then, one day in a fit of thinking-outside-the-box passion, my execs and I decided to double the number to 5000 per week! That simple action burst us through that seemingly impenetrable barrier and my company has never quit expanding since.

What I learned in that instance was something very valuable. I could determine the correct estimation of effort of my marketing to control how fast my company expanded. I learned how to project the amount of income I could make by testing and tracking my postcard marketing. Then I figured out what I needed to do to get more leads and more closes based on my tracking results. So, by tracking the number of leads, how many of those leads closed and for what dollar amount they closed for, I was able to ascertain the future number of leads, the future closes and the return on investment (dollar amount) for each increased postcard mailing. It became a science and that science has paid off. (By the way: My company now mails out 76,000 postcards per week.)How It Can Pay Off For You Too

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So you’re are looking to recruit for new mortgage brokers. When you think about doing that you probably hope that you can create enough interest in your company that you have enough hiring prospects to choose from and still be able to get the cream of the crop. There are many options out there for recruiting. But when looking for good mortgage brokers, it is best to look at what will get you the best Return On Investment. Just like in attracting clients to your business and calculating the ROI by tracking what each of those leads spent, take a look through the same window in applying Direct Mail to recruiting brokers.

Direct Mail is one of the best ways to recruit. Why?

1. You can get a targeted list. Because when using direct mail you can easily acquire a very targeted list of mortgage brokers. You can get a list of mortgage brokers with home addresses. You can get a list of brokers with a certain income. You can get a list of brokers in a certain area, a certain age range. This makes it easy to only attract the brokers who will fit into your business model.

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The right direct mailing list targets people who want your product or service.

The wrong list fails to target people who would want to buy from you â?? and it is costly. In fact, this is what people refer to as â??junk mailâ??. It is junk because it is mail that is not relevant to the people it is mailed to and does not take into account their buying habits.

The direct mail mailing list is a key factor in a successful direct mail marketing campaign and a major point to consider in small business marketing strategies where marketing ROI (Return On Investment) is a key concern.

What really makes your direct mail marketing and advertising campaign successful?

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Maybe you have thought about direct mail. Maybe you have wondered whether it could work for you. Maybe you have done it, but it never really paid off. Possibly you thought there was so much to learn that you didnâ??t know where to start. Whatever your particular â??storyâ?? is you are reading this. And yes, there are a million and one ways to do something wrong â?? but there are only a handful of ways to get it right. In this article, I will show you what has brought success to hundreds of mortgage brokers and how direct mail marketing can work for you.

My goal in this article is to help you get started by helping you figure out WHO you should be mailing to and WHAT product to promote to them. In fact â?? I will be writing a series of articles taking you all the way from the research to the tracking of the results and your return on investment. There will be practical exercises for you to do in between the next issues, so roll up your sleeves and get ready to start cooking â?? or start rolling in the dough.

Iâ??ve literally dealt with the marketing of thousands of mortgage brokers and one thing is certainâ?¦ Once you guys start doing really well financially you want to branch out on your own and start your own company. However, most brokers havenâ??t taken Marketing 101, so they tend to fail. Not because they arenâ??t good brokers, but because they arenâ??t good marketers. In fact, it is not only a trend I see in the Mortgage Industry, but many other industries as well. To tell you the truth, with all that I know about marketing Iâ??m confident that I could make ANY business successful. Sounds pretty cocky but hands down, I could do it. Because I know marketing.

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