If you are using e-mail as a communication tool, you are already primed to make it your number one marketing method. An e-mail newsletter costs you nothing, and it can keep you in front of your sphere of influence, according to Allen F. Hainge, CRS, , an RS Council Senior Instructor and principal of Allen F. Hainge Seminars.

"E-mail is a marketing tool that can double your income and decrease expenses by about 40%," advises Hainge. "The purpose is to keep in contact with your sphere of influence. The newsletter goes out at the touch of a key and within four minutes, everyone to whom you have it addressed will have it."

Hainge believes the biggest difference between heavy hitters and average agents is that top agents prospect their contacts on a continuous basis, many with expensive mass mailings of postcards and newsletters. He says, "Most agents don't have the budget, the organizational skills, or the assistants to do mass mailings." E-mail can be a great equalizer and an advantage not only for experienced agents, but agents who are just getting started.

Hainge can speak from experience. "It used to cost me about $4,000 to do a mass mailing. Consequently, I didn't do them as often as I would have liked." So he countered the costs with a free e-mail newsletter - "Real Estate Computer News & Views." "We started the e-mail newsletter a little over one year ago, and now we e-mail every Monday to over 4,000 real estate folks worldwide. It is a way of keeping my business in front of people by giving them information that they are interested in."

The concept is exactly the same for agents. "They can contact their sphere of influence as often as they want and the only cost is their Internet service provider's fee," suggests Hainge.

How It Works

It is important to collect everyone's e-mail address that you come in contact with so you can build your customer base.

If you don't already check your e-mail regularly - start. Hainge knows from agent responses in his seminars that most agents don't check their e-mail regularly. "The consumer is sending them e-mail and the agents don't reply," says Hainge. "Top sales associates are using technology and using it regularly, and they will more likely get the business because they answer e-mail promptly."

Judi Wolfson, an Allen Hainge Seminars CyberStarTM, says, "I do a tremendous amount of business on the Internet, and often because I am the first one to answer a consumer inquiry.

Build a list and then put the list into groups. Jot down three or four paragraphs on something of interest and then they mail it to the appropriate group. You can put your contacts into groups, such as homebuyers, sellers, out-of-town referring agents and in-town agents. Content is not a problem - you can find something to interest them in the newspaper, on the Internet or any number of places," explains Hainge.

"There are three ways to send the newsletter off. The preferred way is to do it through their e-mail program. They keep their e-mail list in their address book and send the e-mails to that list, but the drawback to that method is that each message goes out one at a time. That takes a long time."

"The second method is through a listserve. This is someone who maintains the list and to whom you send the newsletter when it is ready to go. Mine charges $15 a month and when I add a name, I just e-mail it to his computer. When I send out a newsletter, I send it to an address he gives me, and in four minutes, 4,000 people around the world have it. The point is, if I use a listserve, with one click, the message goes to everybody."

"The third method is the best way to go for agents and that is to use a personalized e-mail software package such as NetMailer or WorldMerge. What these programs do is allow the user to use merge codes. When you do a group email message, you put in the code, such as or , and the merge code goes through the e-mail list and personalizes the mailing. The receiver will get a personalized message, such as "Dear Mary, How are things in Los Angeles?" Again, the only drawback is that the message is sent one at a time, but it is well worth it. The person on the other end is getting a message that makes them feel special."

Published: July 27, 1998

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.