Business cards by the door? Take-home information kits with your bio as the last page? A sign-up form with email address so you can send them market updates?

Keep brainstorming! This is how great ideas are born. And when you've got a great idea, you can turn it into a great postcard message. And when you make a great offer like that, your postcard response rates will increase dramatically.

About This Article
The following question comes from a real estate postcard questionnaire I sent to more than 3,000 real estate agents and brokers. I compiled hundreds of responses to create a list of the most commonly asked questions. This is one of those questions.

Question:
How do I differentiate my real estate postcards from what all of the other agents are mailing in my area?

Answer:
You're wise not to imitate other agents in your area. The only time you should duplicate a marketing strategy that's already used in your market is when you can do it better -- like ten times better. But as a new agent, it would be difficult to compete by stacking up recent sales.

So why not go where they're not going? Why not come up with a great idea that nobody else is doing in your market, and then build a postcard campaign around it.

Let's brainstorm...

What's going on in your area? Is it a buyer's market or seller's market? What's happening in the news? What are people in your town talking about? How can you capitalize on that? Are you comfortable speaking in front of groups? If so, you could build a seminar program and promote it with postcards.

Do you know any mortgage people in the area? Why not ask them to partner up with you for mutual gain? What if you made the seminar a regular thing, like "First Friday." What if you built a website just for the seminar ... really giving it a life of its own, with testimonials, photos of previous sessions, maps to the location, the works.

Maybe you could get local media coverage? Free donuts? Business cards by the door? Take-home information kits with your bio as the last page? A sign-up form with email address so you can send them market updates?

Keep brainstorming! This is how great ideas are born. And when you've got a great idea, you can turn it into a great postcard message. And when you make a great offer like that, your postcard response rates will increase dramatically.

T

y area?

Answer:
You're wise not to imitate other agents in your area. The only time you should duplicate a marketing strategy that's already used in your market is when you can do it better -- like ten times better. But as a new agent, it would be difficult to compete by stacking up recent sales.

So why not go where they're not going? Why not come up with a great idea that nobody else is doing in your market, and then build a postcard campaign around it.

Let's brainstorm...

What's going on in your area? Is it a buyer's market or seller's market? What's happening in the news? What are people in your town talking about? How can you capitalize on that? Are you comfortable speaking in front of groups? If so, you could build a seminar program and promote it with postcards.

Do you know any mortgage people in the area? Why not ask them to partner up with you for mutual gain? What if you made the seminar a regular thing, like "First Friday." What if you built a website just for the seminar ... really giving it a life of its own, with testimonials, photos of previous sessions, maps to the location, the works.

Maybe you could get local media coverage? Free donuts? Business cards by the door? Take-home information kits with your bio as the last page? A sign-up form with email address so you can send them market updates?

Keep brainstorming! This is how great ideas are born. And when you've got a great idea, you can turn it into a great postcard message. And when you make a great offer like that, your postcard response rates will increase dramatically.

else is doing in your market, and then build a postcard campaign around it.

Let's brainstorm...

What's going on in your area? Is it a buyer's market or seller's market? What's happening in the news? What are people in your town talking about? How can you capitalize on that? Are you comfortable speaking in front of groups? If so, you could build a seminar program and promote it with postcards.

Do you know any mortgage people in the area? Why not ask them to partner up with you for mutual gain? What if you made the seminar a regular thing, like "First Friday." What if you built a website just for the seminar ... really giving it a life of its own, with testimonials, photos of previous sessions, maps to the location, the works.

Maybe you could get local media coverage? Free donuts? Business cards by the door? Take-home information kits with your bio as the last page? A sign-up form with email address so you can send them market updates?

Keep brainstorming! This is how great ideas are born. And when you've got a great idea, you can turn it into a great postcard message. And when you make a great offer like that, your postcard response rates will increase dramatically.

.

Do you know any mortgage people in the area? Why not ask them to partner up with you for mutual gain? What if you made the seminar a regular thing, like "First Friday." What if you built a website just for the seminar ... really giving it a life of its own, with testimonials, photos of previous sessions, maps to the location, the works.

Maybe you could get local media coverage? Free donuts? Business cards by the door? Take-home information kits with your bio as the last page? A sign-up form with email address so you can send them market updates?

Keep brainstorming! This is how great ideas are born. And when you've got a great idea, you can turn it into a great postcard message. And when you make a great offer like that, your postcard response rates will increase dramatically.

Business cards by the door? Take-home information kits with your bio as the last page? A sign-up form with email address so you can send them market updates?

Keep brainstorming! This is how great ideas are born. And when you've got a great idea, you can turn it into a great postcard message. And when you make a great offer like that, your postcard response rates will increase dramatically.

Turn off your internal critic. Get out a sheet of paper and start brainstorming. Scribble madly. Don't worry if your ideas seem outlandish, just keep going. If you come up with five ideas, there's bound to be a gem in there somewhere -- something other agents in your area aren't doing, or something you could do better than anyone else.

Then start filling in the details. Now that you've got your idea, how do you add value? How do you make it remarkable? How do you convey the most important points on a postcard? Sketch it out. Get creative and have fun. That's how the top-performing real estate postcards are born.

The key is to do it before everyone else is doing it. You've got to do it first, or do it better. Otherwise, you're just "another one of those postcards."

Good luck with your real estate postcard marketing!

* Copyright 2007, Brandon Cornett. You may republish this article online if you retain the author's byline and the active hyperlinks below.