Creating A Solid Direct Mail Piece
By Kathy Kennebrook (The Marketing Magic Lady)

I rarely use “guest colmnists” in Inner Circle Lessons, but this is an important one. In fact, the #1 complaint that I hear from IC members is, “I don’t have enough leads”—and then when I ask whether the questioner is doing any marketing, they say…”um….”.

One of the most important aspects to a marketing campaign that is going to work is to create a solid direct mail piece for your business. These are key points for creating a solid direct mail piece that folks will respond to no matter what business you are in including Real Estate Investing.

The first thing you’ll want to do is to “touch” your prospective customer or seller with “the dream”, or “the solution” to their problem. You’ll want to touch the basic emotions and the needs of your client or seller within the body of your letter, whether that is fear, relief, greed, pride or vanity.

Keep it simple. The grammar doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect. You want to reach this person at their comfort level. Keep your letter relaxed, personal and conversational.

Use simple language; don’t fill your letter with big words or technical words or “industry jargon” that your seller or your customer might not understand.

I also use paragraphs in my letters so that there is a specific break between thoughts and so the letter just flows better and is more pleasing to the eye.

Even though this is a personal letter, I still begin with a powerful headline or first sentence to make sure I have their attention so that they read the rest of my piece.

I also list the benefits to the seller of choosing to work with me the investor, as opposed to perhaps listing their home or trying to sell it themselves. You always need to list the benefits of whatever it is you are selling and why they should buy yours.

In any piece you send out you need to have your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). For the Real Estate Investor this is going to be the ease with which you can help the seller solve their problem and/or debt relief. For every business the USP will be uniquely different.

Always include a strong P.S. In my case the P.S. is “contact me immediately since we budget to purchase a certain number of homes each month.” This motivates them even more to contact me right away.

Create residual mailings so that your seller/customer sees your message over and over again. By doing this you create credibility with your prospect and when they need your services they will contact you first.

When you are creating direct mail pieces or letters no matter what business you are in remember to think about writing your letter as though you are writing to just one person.

For example, you wouldn’t begin your letter “Dear Neighbors” you would begin it “Dear Neighbor” or “Dear Friend”. Within the body of the letter you should write as though you are writing to just one person, so you wouldn’t say something like “all of you” within the body of your letter.

Always remember that if you are handwriting the letter make sure it’s easy to ready, printed might be best. If you are using a computer or printer generated letter be sure and use a font that is easy to read such as 12 or 14 point. And use a type set that is easy to read like Times New Roman.


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Kathy Kennebrook is a speaker, author and real estate entrepreneur. This 4’11”
grandmother is the country’s leading Real Estate Marketing expert on finding
motivated sellers using direct mail. She has been actively investing in real
estate since 1999, and is known throughout the United States and Canada as
the Marketing Magic Lady.