Database Goldmining 6-27-2008

In this article I want to confess a huge marketing mistake I made when I started in real estate investing. I did not keep and maintain a database of leads I generated from my marketing efforts and I did not follow up with the database of leads on a regular basis. This might not be news too many of you, but if you are spending money on any marketing (ads, bandit signs, flyers) and you are getting responses from your marketing efforts then you need to file those leads in a database of some sort. You might use Microsoft Excel and allocate the following to each lead: The date the lead responded, how good a prospect they are (maybe a point system like 1 point for keep following up on this lead until they tell you to stop contacting them because it is that good a deal and or a #2 if they are marginal and you wish to stop after 15 contacts either by phone, letter or in person). You may wish to follow up once a month or weekly whatever is your preference, the most important principle is that you continue to follow up in a sincere, humble manner that does not insult your lead. Remember, once their situation changes your letter, call or personal visit is going to allow them the opportunity to sell you their property. Do not make the mistake of trashing your leads from your marketing efforts, you paid a lot of money for them and just like many other forms of marketing, follow-up is a great way to convert leads into deals. I suggest hiring someone to do all the mailing and logging leads in your database for you so that you can spend time on the most important part of your business which is making offers and getting them accepted. This will also help avoid burn out.