Realasponse™

Fall is here! Ok, maybe it’s not all that exciting given how the market has taken a turn over the last two years, however, the important thing to remember is that there is still plenty of business out there. People haven’t stopped buying homes it’s just that people aren’t running out as quick as they once did to purchase a home. And with winter right around the corner, here comes another slow period in the housing transaction market. But that doesn’t mean you stop marketing. In fact, this is the perfect time given two strong reasons.

For one, most agents and brokers will be wasting money on holiday postcards and seasonal gimmick items that get treated like abundant fruitcakes that EVERY ONE is giving. From the clients perspective, it’s just another, “agent trying to get in good to get my business”.

Also a good reason to market this winter is because many agents won’t survive this winter. It’s sad, but true. Many agents have been bracing themselves for a market miracle which isn’t coming anytime soon. The reason you market hard in the winter is because you want to build repoire come spring and summer. And guess what? With less agents in the ‘08 market you’ll be able to stand out more easier. But it’s not just showing up at their door that will get you into their “housing life”, but offering something valuable that addresses the concerns and needs of today’s prospects that PROVES you know what you’re talking about. For more on that check out: www.realasponse.com

First off, as a real estate professional you’re pressed for time when it comes to creating quality real estate postcards and marketing material. You’re generally given a couple of options. You could go to a graphic designer, however, chances are you’d have to keep following up with the designer and they’d probably be late or you could try to design it yourself with some online automated tool dotted with all kinds of restrictions. Let’s take a closer look at this restrictions.

The #1 thing real estate agents sacrifice when creating real estate postcards using online tools is quality. It’s true. The tools you’re given to make your postcards are limited in flexibility.

FONTS
You can only choose from a certain number of fonts. This is a big mistake given that fonts add character and mood to a really good real estate postcard. Most companies will only provide the basics because they could care less about spending the $50-$100 needed to create great looking copy.

EFFECTS
Another effective visual for any real estate postcard is the ability to use drop shadows and gradients on headers to allow certain elements to jump out and grab the prospects attentions. You can’t do this with do-it-yourself online tools.

LAYOUT BALANCE
Also bad is the ability to easily add and move elements around to maintain balance. Generally adding a new element to your real estate postcard means settling for clutter. With a company like Realaspones.com designing it for you (same day) resizing, moving and cropping elements can be done to maintain order and impact on the postcard.

All in all, the truth is many agents get suckered into believing that do-it-myself postcards mean saving a coupling pennies and possessing equal impact. WRONG! You may save a FEW pennies, however, in today’s market, it’s worth paying pennies more to have a message stand out and be seen and also maximize the chance of a transaction happening because you’ve used all the tools needed to make it happen.