Dear Mr. Internet:
What is the best way to personalize e-mail messages when sending the same message to groups of people?

     Andrew Norton CRS
     RE/MAX Distinctive Real Estate
     McLean, VA  22101

Dear Andy:

Did you ever receive an e-mail where the sender was doing their best to make it sound as if you were the only one they were writing to, but forgot to hide all the other recipient e-mail addresses?   I bet it made you feel real "special", didn't it!

E-mail is the most powerful and direct online tool real estate professionals have at their disposal.  Its power becomes even greater the more you "personalize" and tailor the message for each recipient.  The easiest way to achieve some semblance of personalization when sending e-mail to a group of people is to put all but one of the addresses in the BCC: field (Blind Carbon Copy).  This way each recipient will see their own address, but none of the others.

While this helps, it can hardly be called very personal.  Ideally, each message will begin with the first name of each recipient and perhaps even include additional person-specific information in the body of the message.  The best way to set up and send this kind of message is with e-mail merge software --the online equivalent of word processing mailmerge.

There are many programs that offer this kind of capability.   However, the one I personally use is called WorldMerge from ColoradoSoft.  In addition to being very powerful and easy to use, it is also quite reasonable --retailing for about $39.95*.  For purposes of demonstrating the steps to successfully doing e-mail merge, we'll use a WorldMerge example below:

Step 1 - Set Up Your E-mail Data File:

This is a list of your recipients which should include e-mail address, first name, last name, and any other pertinent fields of information.  Putting them into an Excel spreadsheet is a quick and convenient way of storing this data (WorldMerge will also use MS Access and Text Delimited files).  Put your own information as the first record which will be used to test your e-mail merge before sending it out to the whole list.

Step 2 - Create A New Mail-Merge Project:

This involves launching WorldMerge, choosing "New Project" and following the prompts from the New Project Wizard.  The Wizard will ask you to identify the e-mail data file you want to use (i.e. the one you just set up) and which field represents the recipients e-mail address (this part is important, otherwise the program won't be able to send the messages to the right addresses).

Step 3 - Compose The E-mail Message:

In the window provided, compose the e-mail text using placeholders for the fields of information that will change with each recipient (see screenshot below).  It is a good idea to keep each line to no more than 72 characters long (to avoid unintended line-breaks in the recipients message) and be sure to include your signature at the end of the message!

Step 4 - Test The Merge:

Making sure you select only your record as "active" send a merged e-mail to yourself to see if it comes back looking the way you intended.

Step 5 - Send The Messages:

Select all the recipients in the data file as "active" and then send the merge.  WorldMerge will compose a new message for each recipient, substituting the field placeholders with the respective content, and then send the message.  With a normal dial-up connection you can expect to send 400 - 600 personalized e-mail messages per hour --this sure beats typing them all!

That's pretty much all there is to it.  However, if you want to"get fancy", WorldMerge also allows you to send HTML mail (i.e. Web pages embedded in the message) and even different e-mail attachments for each recipient if you want.  Keep in mind though, sending personalized messages does not exempt you from"Spam" laws.  If you are sending unsolicited e-mail, personalized or otherwise, you need to make sure your actions comply with all laws and regulations in the states of each of the recipients.  Otherwise, some of your recipients may take your message very personally, but not in the way you hoped for!

Good luck, and have fun "getting personal" with your e-mail marketing campaign!

* If you decide to purchase WorldMerge directly from ColoradoSoft and mention that you heard about it from "Mr. Internet!" you will only pay $29.95 (that's a 25% savings!).  In addition, ColoradoSoft will donate another $5 to Children's Miracle Network!  Mr. Internet, RUSSER Communications or any of its staff receive no compensation of any kind from 3rd party vendors for mentioning their products or services.  Any incentives that would have been earned are given back to you, the real estate professional.

Now that you know how to send personalized e-mail, wouldn't it be nice to have something interesting and worthwhile to send to your target market on a regular basis?  How about a very well-written and timely online newsletter that is "branded" with your photo and contact information and provided to you for your unlimited use on a monthly basis.  Oh, by the way, it's free!

You can learn more by going to:
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/nlsignup.htm
where you can sign up for this incredible free service and view a sample issue.  This is a great credibility-building tool and a wonderful way to stay in the forefront of your clients minds.  You know, sometimes the best things in life are free!

Published: April 8, 1999

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

Michael J. Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet®) is an internationally acclaimed speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry and small business. He is also the exclusive Internet columnist for REALTOR® Magazine, the architect of the revolutionary e-ProductivityTM system and leading voice for the use of Virtual Assistants in small business. You can subscribe to his free monthly leading-edge newsletter ePOWER NEWS by going to ePowerNews.com.