Bottom-line profits are a key to long term success in any business. In real estate, it is often easy to spend and not focus on increasing your net. A careful eye on prudent management of resources distinguishes the agent that just gets by from the one who is running a profitable business.

A shift to make is to ruthlessly cut unnecessary expenses rather than putting the focus on increasing business, which takes additional resources. Consider that each $1 you save, you put that dollar in your pocket. On the other hand, it takes about $1.50 of new income to put that same $1 in your pocket after taxes, etc., to say nothing of the increased time and effort to produce the additional $1.50!

I recommend a quarterly review of expenses to keep you on top of knowing what's generating the best results and which old strategies are no longer working or are producing less.

How are you positioning yourself for the future and changing your ways of doing business to reflect the changing trends? What trends have caused you to change your strategies lately?

Trend Shift - From Traditional Marketing To E-mail Marketing

If you spend a good portion of your marketing budget on traditional mailing pieces and consistently send to the same target market, you have probably produced some good returns over time. Consistent, repetitive exposure is necessary to increase name recognition and credibility. In the past, direct mail postcards were probably the most cost effective and efficient way to do this.

The times, however, are a -changin’! E-mail offers a completely new opportunity to market consistently for a fraction of the cost time and energy. Consider a scenario to send to 500 people on a monthly basis

This example using 500 is a modest example. If you regularly mail to 1000 or more, just multiply the savings! Even if only 1/3rd to ½ of your database or farm have e-mail the savings of time and money are significant.

Getting Started

The first step is, perhaps, the one where most agents stumble - just making the paradigm shift and making the commitment. JUST DO IT! The longer you wait, the more you lose.

Tom Peters said "It is no longer the big eating the small; it is the fast eating the slow."

Build Your Databases

One source of future power is in the gathering and using of information that will give you the ability to pinpoint specific needs or groups with similar interests and build long term relationships by providing value. One to one marketing is the strategy that allows you to precisely fit a client's needs to an opportunity. Building your databases so they can be cross-referenced in many ways is the first step to building this powerbase. Choose a real estate software that allows you to have many fields to search from. Or, simply use a basic Excel spreadsheet. You will then be able to send specific groups targeted messages. Their e-mail address would be one of your fields.

Collect E-mail Addresses from Everyone

Ask for e-mail addresses from your sphere of influence, your farm areas, your prospective clients, everyone who calls, who visits your open houses, who you meet at networking events. EVERYONE! Your next snail mail piece could be a request for them to send you their e-mail address. Or it is a perfect reason to get on the phone and make those warm calls. You'll position yourself as an agent using the latest technology this way, even if they are still technobabies. It is important to all your clients, even ones not using technology, that their agent be technologically savvy and skilled in using every advantage, including the technological ones, to help them in their home buying and selling.

Plan Your Contacts

Just as consistent, repetitive contact has been important in snail mail, creating a system and plan for your e-mail marketing is crucial.

Some questions to address are:

• How often will you contact them? Plan 6 months of messages
• Which categories will receive what? You will have different messages for your previous clients, your prospects and your sphere, perhaps.
• What value can you provide by doing this? What kind of up-to-the-minute information do they need?

Setting up your series of letters for new contacts, or to farm to Expireds or FSBO’s or choosing a vehicle to send to your previous clients should all be part of your planning session. One company that has been a leader in the traditional mail pieces, Sendsations now makes their well-know recipe cards available by e-mail! These QuickClix E-Cards can be clipped to your mails or posted on your website. Now, there's innovation!

Content for E-mail

We knew our snail mail pieces were often only in the prospect's hands for the 3-7 seconds to took to put in the trash. That exposure, however, did give us visual exposure and build name recognition. The purpose of your e-mail is much the same and is best when short. A good subject line and one screen and a great signature (sig) file is all you need. Laborious attention to the content is unnecessary, it's the perception and exposure that makes the difference.

Finding worthwhile content is challenging and time-consuming, but there are several professionally produced newsletters available for your use that make this easy.

One of the best is a high-quality consumer newsletter produced by Real Times and Agent News for agents. Just go to the newsletter sign up on Agent News to have your name, photo and contact information put on a monthly electronic newsletter for buyers and sellers. Every month, you will be forwarded a URL to your newsletter that you can, in turn, e-mail to your farm or link to your Web site. The newsletter uses the best stories from Real Times, makes you look like an Internet star, and it's free!

Members of The Real Estate Cyberspace Society receive a free newsletter as part of the member benefits as well as access to many lists that can help in your e-mail farming. Sandy Teller, real estate webmaster, produces E-News on a yearly subscription that offers many freebies and valuable consumer information.

Or, of course, you can completely customize the messages to fit specific client needs. If you take this route, however, keep it brief and make it easy on yourself by harvesting data to use from information in Real Times or at One Realtor Place or the data you can get from your state and local associations. Short, concise tips that offer value are what you want to send.

Editor's Note: Be sure to credit the author and the source whenever you use any information or quotes from an article. When in doubt, e-mail the source and ask for permission to reprint with reference to the title, author and date published. Not all authors allow redistribution of their work, so permission to reprint must be presented on a case by case basis. To request permission to reprint anything from Real Times, contact .

Sending It

Managing your list with your normal e-mail software may become burdensome. As your databases grow, you will need to invest in software or support.

Options include:

Published: March 5, 1999

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Editor's Note: This article reflects the opinions of Joeann Fossland only and not necessarily the views of this or any other publication, organization or Website owner.

Joeann Fossland GRI, LTG, MCC is a dynamic speaker and business coach. Creator of THE REAL ESTATE GAMETM, she provides coaching solutions enhance your effectiveness and life balance. You can subscribe to her free monthly newsletter, attend free monthly telephone seminars, and find out about classes delivered by email and personal coaching by visiting JoeAnn.com or e-mail her at .